Search results for: binary system

Authors: Chayma Bahar, Chokri Baccouch, Hedi Sakli, Nizar Sakli

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Harvesting and transport of optical and radiofrequency signals are a topical subject with multiple challenges. In this paper, we present a Optical RECTENNA system. We propose here a hybrid system solar cell antenna for 5G mobile communications networks. Thus, we propose rectifying circuit. A parametric study is done to follow the influence of load resistance and input power on Optical RECTENNA system performance. Thus, we propose a solar cell antenna structure in the frequency band of future 5G standard in 2.45 GHz bands.

Keywords: antenna, IoT, optical rectenna, solar cell

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: M. Sneha Reddy, M. Arun Kumar, V. Kameswara Rao

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Chromites are binary transition metal oxides with a general formula of ACr₂O₄, where A = Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Cu²⁺. Chromites have a normal-type spinel structure with interesting applications in the areas of applied physics, material sciences, and geophysics. They have attracted great consideration because of their unique physicochemical properties and tremendous technological applications in nanodevices, sensor elements, and high-temperature ceramics with useful optical properties. Copper chromite is one of the most efficient spinel oxides, having pronounced commercial application as a catalyst in various chemical reactions like oxidation, hydrogenation, alkylation, dehydrogenation, decomposition of organic compounds, and hydrogen production. Apart from its usage in chemical industries, CuCr₂O₄ finds its major application as a burn rate modifier in solid propellant processing for space launch vehicles globally. Herein we synthesized the nanoparticles of copper chromite using the co-precipitation method. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, BET, and TG-DTA. The synthesized nanoparticles of copper chromites were used as a catalyst for the thermal decomposition of various high-energy materials.

Keywords: copper chromite, coprecipitation method, high energy materials, catalytic thermal decomposition

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Authors: J. E. Jung, J. M. Yang, J. W. Kim

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The railway market across the world has been standardized with the globalization strategy of Europe. On the other hand, the Korean urban railway system is operated by 10 operators which have established their standards and independently managed BOMs. When operators manage different BOMs, lack of system compatibility prevents them from sharing information and hinders work linkage and efficiency. Europe launched a large-scale railway project in 1993 when the European Union went into effect. In particular, the recent standardization efforts of the EU-funded MODTRAIN project are similar to the approach of the urban rail system standardization research that is underway in Korea. This paper looks into the BOMs of Koran urban rail transit operators and suggests the standard BOM for the rail transit system in Korea by reviewing rail vehicle technologies and the MODTRAIN project of Europe. The standard BOM is structured up to the key device level or module level, and it allows vehicle manufacturers and component manufacturers to manage their lower-level BOMs and share them with each other and with operators.

Keywords: BOM, Korean rail, urban rail, standardized

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Mao Ju

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The system of general counsel (GC) is an important governance structure designed for the construction of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the rule of law. This article is based on the setting of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and takes the efficiency of M&As to examine the implementation effect of the system of GC for SOEs. Research has found that: (1) companies implementing the system of GC for SOEs have higher efficiency in M&As, manifested in better operational and market performance, and this effect depends on the professional ability and power of the GC. This indicates that the GC of SOEs has played a positive role in the decision-making process of M&As, which helps to improve the efficiency of M&As. (2) The impact of the GC of SOEs on the efficiency of M&As is heterogeneous, and this positive effect is mainly reflected in local and commercial SOEs. (3) The path of this impact is that the GC of SOEs can help reduce ineffective M&As in advance, enhance the ability to integrate M&As after the fact and reduce the risk of goodwill impairment and bankruptcy. This article reveals the impact of the construction of SOEs under the rule of law with the system of GC as the core of M&As activities, providing intuitive evidence for the implementation effect of the GC of SOEs. The research conclusion has important practical guiding value for comprehensively deepening the construction of the rule of SOEs under the rule of law and writing a good chapter on the Chinese path to modernization of SOEs.

Keywords: the system of general counsel, merger and acquisition efficiency, state-owned enterprises, mergers and acquisitions

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Authors: Asrat Agalu Abejew

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Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a silent tsunami and one of the top global threats to health care and public health. It is one of the common agendas globally and in Ethiopia. Emerging AMR will be a double burden to Ethiopia, which is facing a series of problems from infectious disease morbidity and mortality. In Ethiopia, although there are attempts to document AMR in healthcare institutions, comprehensive and all-inclusive analysis is still lacking. Thus, this study is aimed to determine trends in AMR from 2016-2021. Methods: A retrospective analysis of secondary data recorded in the Amhara Public Health Institute (APHI) from 2016 to 2021 G.C was conducted. Blood, Urine, Stool, Swabs, Discharge, body effusions, and other Microbiological specimens were collected from each study participants, and Bacteria identification and Resistance tests were done using the standard microbiologic procedure. Data was extracted from excel in August 2022, Trends in AMR were analyzed, and the results were described. In addition, the chi-square (X2) test and binary logistic regression were used, and a P. value < 0.05 was used to determine a significant association. Results: During 6 years period, there were 25143 culture and susceptibility tests. Overall, 265 (46.2%) bacteria were resistant to 2-4 antibiotics, 253 (44.2%) to 5-7 antibiotics, and 56 (9.7%) to >=8 antibiotics. The gram-negative bacteria were 166 (43.9%), 155 (41.5%), and 55 (14.6%) resistant to 2-4, 5-7, and ≥8 antibiotics, respectively, whereas 99(50.8%), 96(49.2% and 1 (0.5%) of gram-positive bacteria were resistant to 2-4, 5-7 and ≥8 antibiotics respectively. K. pneumonia 3783 (15.67%) and E. coli 3199 (13.25%) were the most commonly isolated bacteria, and the overall prevalence of AMR was 2605 (59.9%), where K. pneumonia 743 (80.24%), E. cloacae 196 (74.81%), A. baumannii 213 (66.56%) being the most common resistant bacteria for antibiotics tested. Except for a slight decline during 2020 (6469 (25.4%)), the overall trend of AMR is rising from year to year, with a peak in 2019 (8480 (33.7%)) and in 2021 (7508 (29.9%). If left un-intervened, the trend in AMR will increase by 78% of variation from the study period, as explained by the differences in years (R2=0.7799). Ampicillin, Augmentin, ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, and Tobramycin were almost resistant to common bacteria they were tested. Conclusion: AMR is linearly increasing during the last 6 years. If left as it is without appropriate intervention after 15 years (2030 E.C), AMR will increase by 338.7%. A growing number of multi-drug resistant bacteria is an alarm to awake policymakers and those who do have the concern to intervene before it is too late. This calls for a periodic, integrated, and continuous system to determine the prevalence of AMR in commonly used antibiotics.

Keywords: AMR, trend, pattern, MDR

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Retius Chifurira

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Logistic regression model is the most used regression model to predict meteorological drought probabilities. When the dependent variable is extreme, the logistic model fails to adequately capture drought probabilities. In order to adequately predict drought probabilities, we use the generalized linear model (GLM) with the quantile function of the generalized extreme value distribution (GEVD) as the link function. The method maximum likelihood estimation is used to estimate the parameters of the generalized extreme value (GEV) regression model. We compare the performance of the logistic and the GEV regression models in predicting drought probabilities for Zimbabwe. The performance of the regression models are assessed using the goodness-of-fit tests, namely; relative root mean square error (RRMSE) and relative mean absolute error (RMAE). Results show that the GEV regression model performs better than the logistic model, thereby providing a good alternative candidate for predicting drought probabilities. This paper provides the first application of GLM derived from extreme value theory to predict drought probabilities for a drought-prone country such as Zimbabwe.

Keywords: generalized extreme value distribution, general linear model, mean annual rainfall, meteorological drought probabilities

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Authors: E. Popov, N. Yorino, Y. Zoka, Y. Sasaki, H. Sugihara

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This paper discusses the performance of critical trajectory method (CTrj) for power system transient stability analysis under various loading settings and heavy fault condition. The method obtains Controlling Unstable Equilibrium Point (CUEP) which is essential for estimation of power system stability margins. The CUEP is computed by applying the CTrjto the boundary controlling unstable equilibrium point (BCU) method. The Proposed method computes a trajectory on the stability boundary that starts from the exit point and reaches CUEP under certain assumptions. The robustness and effectiveness of the method are demonstrated via six power system models and five loading conditions. As benchmark is used conventional simulation method whereas the performance is compared with and BCU Shadowing method.

Keywords: power system, transient stability, critical trajectory method, energy function method

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Authors: N. Hatraf, N. Moummi

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The interest in air conditioning using renewable energies is increasing. The thermal energy produced from the solar energy can be converted to useful cooling and heating through the thermochemical or thermophysical processes by using thermally activated energy conversion systems. The ambient air contains so much water that very high dehumidification rates are required. For a continuous dehumidification of the process air, the water adsorbed on the desiccant material has to be removed, which is done by allowing hot air to flow through the desiccant material (regeneration). A solid desiccant cooling system transfers moisture from the inlet air to the silica gel by using two processes: Absorption process and the regeneration process. The main aim of this paper is to study how the dehumidification rate, the generation temperature and many other factors influence the efficiency of a solid desiccant system by using TRNSYS software. The results show that the desiccant system could be used to decrease the humidity rate of the entering air.

Keywords: dehumidification, efficiency, humidity, Trnsys

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Authors: Somkiat Korbuakaew, Bongkoch Puttawong

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This research aims to study the level of e-office system competence of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University graded by age, education background, position and work experience. Sample of this research is 291 staff at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Data were collected by questionnaire. Statistics used in the research are percentage, mean and standard deviation. The result shows that the overall competence of E-office System of the university staff is at average level. When considered in each aspect, it was found that competency level for creating-forwarding-signing documents is high, while competency level for booking meeting rooms, requesting for transportation service, blackboard system, public relations and making appointment and meeting are average.

Keywords: competence, e-office, education background, work experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: El Miloudi Djelloul

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Teaching program of `A plan for educating and training outstanding engineers' is divided into intramural teaching program and enterprise practice teaching program. Based on analyzing the basic principles of teaching plans which teaching plan follows for undergraduate mechanical and electrical engineering, major contents of specialty teaching project are studied amply. The study contents include the system optimization and reform of common curriculum, specialty curriculum and practice curriculum. The practice indicated that under outstanding engineers training mode, the optimized curriculum system have practicability, and achieve the training objectives.

Keywords: curriculum system, mechanical and electronic engineering, outstanding engineers, teaching program

Procedia PDF Downloads 526

Authors: Ahmad Rouhani

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Iran has several potentials for using renewable energies, so use them could significantly contribute to energy supply. The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential of the country and select the appropriate DG technologies with consideration the potential and primary energy resources in the regions. In this context, hybrid energy systems proportionate with the potential of different regions will be determined based on technical, economic, and environmental aspect. In the following, the proposed structure will be optimized in terms of size and cost. DG technologies used in this project include the photovoltaic system, wind turbine, diesel generator, and battery bank. The HOMER software is applied for choosing the appropriate structure and the optimization of system sizing. The results have been analyzed in terms of technical and economic. The performance and the cost of each project demonstrate the appropriate structure of hybrid energy system in that region.

Keywords: feasibility, hybrid energy system, Iran, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 485

Authors: Ali Ramezani

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Balancing feeding system of plastic injection molding has overriding importance as it minimizes the process’s product defects such as weld line, shrinkage, sink marks and warpage. This article presents the difference between optimization of feeding system in identical multi-cavity molding and family molding using Moldflow Plastic Insight software. In this work, the effect of dimension, shape, position and type of gates and runners on the products quality was studied. The optimization was carried out by analyzing plastic injection molding process parameters, including melt temperature, mold temperature, cooling time, cooling temperature packing time and packing pressure. It was found that symmetrical feeding system is the most efficient shape for diminishing defects in identical multi-cavity molding. However, the same results were not concluded for family molding due to the differences between volume, mass, thickness and shape of cavities.

Keywords: balancing feeding system, family molding, multi-cavity, Moldflow, plastic injection

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: L. Abdou, O. Taibaoui, A. Moumen, A. Talib Ahmed

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This paper proposes an application of the simulated annealing to optimize the detection threshold in an ordered statistics constant false alarm rate (OS-CFAR) system. Using conventional optimization methods, such as the conjugate gradient, can lead to a local optimum and lose the global optimum. Also for a system with a number of sensors that is greater than or equal to three, it is difficult or impossible to find this optimum; Hence, the need to use other methods, such as meta-heuristics. From a variety of meta-heuristic techniques, we can find the simulated annealing (SA) method, inspired from a process used in metallurgy. This technique is based on the selection of an initial solution and the generation of a near solution randomly, in order to improve the criterion to optimize. In this work, two parameters will be subject to such optimisation and which are the statistical order (k) and the scaling factor (T). Two fusion rules; “AND” and “OR” were considered in the case where the signals are independent from sensor to sensor. The results showed that the application of the proposed method to the problem of optimisation in a distributed system is efficiency to resolve such problems. The advantage of this method is that it allows to browse the entire solutions space and to avoid theoretically the stagnation of the optimization process in an area of local minimum.

Keywords: distributed system, OS-CFAR system, independent sensors, simulating annealing

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Authors: Noha El-Gohary, Thanaa El-Shater, A. A. Mahfouz, M. M. Sakr

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Searching for high power conversion efficiency and long lifetime are important goals when designing a power supply subsystem for satellite applications. To fulfill these goals, this paper presents a power supply subsystem for small satellites in which flywheel energy storage system is used as a secondary power source instead of chemical battery. In this paper, the model of flywheel energy storage system is introduced; a DC bus regulation control algorithm for charging and discharging of flywheel based on space vector pulse width modulation technique and motor current control is also introduced. Simulation results showed the operation of the flywheel for charging and discharging mode during illumination and shadowed period. The advantages of the proposed system are confirmed by the simulation results of the power supply system.

Keywords: small-satellites, flywheel energy storage system, space vector pulse width modulation, power conversion

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Authors: Cesar Eduardo Hernández Curiel, Victor Hugo Benítez Baltazar, Jesús Horacio Pacheco Ramírez

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This paper is devoted to present the advances in the design of a prototype that is able to supervise the complex behavior of water quality parameters such as pH and temperature, via a real-time monitoring system. The current water quality tests that are performed in government water quality institutions in Mexico are carried out in problematic locations and they require taking manual samples. The water samples are then taken to the institution laboratory for examination. In order to automate this process, a water quality monitoring system based on wireless sensor networks is proposed. The system consists of a sensor node which contains one pH sensor, one temperature sensor, a microcontroller, and a ZigBee radio, and a base station composed by a ZigBee radio and a PC. The progress in this investigation shows the development of a water quality monitoring system. Due to recent events that affected water quality in Mexico, the main motivation of this study is to address water quality monitoring systems, so in the near future, a more robust, affordable, and reliable system can be deployed.

Keywords: pH measurement, water quality monitoring, wireless sensor networks, ZigBee

Procedia PDF Downloads 404

Authors: Chun-Ming Huang, Yi-Jun Liu, Yi-Jie Hsieh, Jin-Ju Chue, Wei-Lin Lai, Chun-Yu Chen, Chih-Chyau Yang, Chien-Ming Wu

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The market of wearable devices has been growing rapidly in two years. The integration of sensors and wearable devices has become the trend of the next technology products. Thus, the academics and industries are eager to cultivate talented persons in sensing technology. Currently, academic and industries have more and more demands on the integrations of versatile sensors and applications, especially for the teams who focus on the development of sensor circuit architectures. These teams tape-out many MEMs sensors chips through the chip fabrication service from National Chip Implementation Center (CIC). However, most of these teams are only able to focus on the circuit design of MEMs sensors; they lack the key support of further system demonstration. This paper follows the CIC’s main mission of promoting the chip/system advanced design technology and aims to establish the environments of the modularized sensing system platform and the system design flow with the measurement and calibration technology. These developed environments are used to support these research teams and help academically advanced sensor designs to perform the system demonstration. Thus, the research groups can promote and transfer their advanced sensor designs to industrial and further derive the industrial economic values. In this paper, the modularized sensing platform is proposed to enable the system demonstration for advanced sensor chip design. The environment of sensor measurement and calibration is established for academic to achieve an accurate sensor result. Two reference sensor designs cooperated with the modularized sensing platform are given to show the sensing system integration and demonstration. These developed environments and platforms are currently provided to academics in Taiwan, and so that the academics can obtain a better environment to perform the system demonstration and improve the research and teaching quality.

Keywords: modularized sensing platform, sensor design and calibration, sensor system, sensor system design flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Muhammad Umar Khan, Mahesh Kumar, Faraz Neakakhtar

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Although industrialization marks to the economy of a country yet it increases the pollution and temperature of the environment. The world is now shifting towards green energy because the utilization of fossil fuels is resulting in global warming. So we need to develop systems that can operate on renewable energy resources and have low heat losses. The combined solar and geothermal multigeneration system can solve this issue. Rather than making rankine cycle purely a solar-driven, heat from solar is used to drive vapour absorption cycle and reheated to generate power using geothermal reservoir. The results are displayed by using Engineering Equation Solver software, where inputs are varied to optimize the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system. The cooling effect is 348.2 KW, while the network output is 23.8 MW and reducing resultant emission of 105553 tons of CO₂ per year. This eco-friendly multigeneration system is capable of eliminating the use of fossil fuels and increasing the geothermal energy efficiency.

Keywords: cooling effect, eco-friendly, green energy, heat loses, multigeneration system, renewable energy, work output

Procedia PDF Downloads 265

Authors: Abdullah Eqal Al Mazrooei

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In this paper, a nonlinear dynamical system is presented. This system is a bilinear class. The bilinear systems are very important kind of nonlinear systems because they have many applications in real life. They are used in biology, chemistry, manufacturing, engineering, and economics where linear models are ineffective or inadequate. They have also been recently used to analyze and forecast weather conditions. Bilinear systems have three advantages: First, they define many problems which have a great applied importance. Second, they give us approximations to nonlinear systems. Thirdly, they have a rich geometric and algebraic structures, which promises to be a fruitful field of research for scientists and applications. The type of nonlinearity that is treated and analyzed consists of bilinear interaction between the states vectors and the system input. By using some properties of the tensor product, these systems can be transformed to linear systems. But, here we discuss the nonlinearity when the state vector is multiplied by itself. So, this model will be able to handle evolutions according to the Lotka-Volterra models or the Lorenz weather models, thus enabling a wider and more flexible application of such models. Here we apply by using an estimator to estimate temperatures. The results prove the efficiency of the proposed system.

Keywords: Lorenz models, nonlinear systems, nonlinear estimator, state-space model

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: H. Hammoudi, S. Bendenia, I. Batonneau-Gener, J. Comparot, K. Marouf-Khelifa, A. Khelifa

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X zeolites were prepared by ion-exchange with Cu2+ and/or Zn2+ cations, at different concentrations of the exchange solution, and characterised by thermal analysis and nitrogen adsorption. The acidity of the samples was investigated by pyridine adsorption–desorption followed by in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Desorption was carried out at 150, 250 and 350 °C. The objective is to estimate the nature and concentration of acid sites. A comparison between the binary (Cu(x)X, Zn(x)X) and ternary (CuZn(x)X) exchanges was also established (x = level of exchange) through the Cu(43)X, Zn(48)X and CuZn(50)X samples. Lewis acidity decreases overall with desorption temperature and the level of exchange. As the latter increases, there is a conversion of some Lewis sites into those of Brønsted during thermal treatment. In return, the concentration of Brønsted sites increases with the degree of exchange. The Brønsted acidity of CuZn(50)X at 350 °C is more important than the sum of those of Cu(43)X and Zn(48)X. The found values were 73, 32 and 15 μmol g-1, respectively. Besides, the concentration of Brønsted sites for CuZn(50)X increases with desorption temperature. These features indicate the presence of a synergistic effect amplifying the strength of these sites when Cu2+ and Zn2+ cations compete for the occupancy of sites distributed inside zeolitic cavities.

Keywords: acidity, adsorption, pyridine, zeolites

Procedia PDF Downloads 227

Authors: Mbadiwe S. Benyeogor, Oladayo O. Olakanmi, Kosisochukwu P. Nnoli, Olusegun I. Lawal, Eric JJ. Gratton

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For a robot or any vehicular system to navigate in off-road terrain, its driving mechanisms and the electro-software system must be capable of generating, controlling, and moderating sufficient mechanical power with precision. This paper proposes an autonomous robot with a gyro-stabilized active suspension system in form of a hybrid quadrupedal wheel drive mechanism. This system is to serve as a miniature model for demonstrating how off-road vehicles can be robotized into efficient terramechanical mobile platforms that are capable of self-balanced autonomous navigation and maneuvering on rough and uneven topographies. Results from tests and analysis show that the developed system performs as expected. Therefore, our model and control devices can be adapted to computerizing, automating, and upgrading the operation of unmanned ground vehicles for off-road navigation.

Keywords: active suspension, autonomous robots, edge computing, navigational sensors, terramechanics

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Authors: Mahdi Bazarganigilani

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Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems can play crucial roles in diagnosing crucial diseases such as breast cancer at the earliest. In this paper, a CAD system for the diagnosis of breast cancer was introduced and evaluated. This CAD system was developed by using spatio-temporal analysis of data on a set of consecutive thermographic images by employing wavelet transformation. By using this analysis, a very accurate machine learning model using random forest was obtained. The final results showed a promising accuracy of 91% in terms of the F1 measure indicator among 200 patients' sample data. The CAD system was further extended to obtain a detailed analysis of the effect of smaller sub-areas of each breast on the occurrence of cancer.

Keywords: computer-aided diagnosis systems, thermographic analysis, spatio-temporal analysis, image processing, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 210

Authors: H. J. Liu, Y. A. Chan, C. K. Pai, K. C. Tseng, Y. H. Chen, Y. L. Chan, T. C. Kuo

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To satisfy the mission requirement of the FORMOSAT-7 project, NSPO has initialized a self-reliant development on satellite propulsion technology. A trade-off study on different types of on-board propulsion system has been done. A green propellant, high-concentration hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 hereafter), is chosen in this research because it is ITAR-free, nontoxic and easy to produce. As the components designed for either cold gas or hydrazine propulsion system are not suitable for H2O2 propulsion system, the primary objective of the research is to develop the components compatible with H2O2. By cooperating with domestic research institutes and manufacturing vendors, several prototype components, including a diaphragm-type tank, pressure transducer, ball latching valve, and one-Newton thruster with catalyst bed, were manufactured, and the functional tests were performed successfully according to the mission requirements. The requisite environmental tests, including hot firing test, thermal vaccum test, vibration test and compatibility test, are prepared and will be to completed in the near future. To demonstrate the subsystem function, an Air-Bearing Thrust Stand (ABTS) and a real-time Data Acquisition & Control System (DACS) were implemented to assess the performance of the proposed H2O2 propulsion system. By measuring the distance that the thrust stand has traveled in a given time, the thrust force can be derived from the kinematics equation. To validate the feasibility of the approach, it is scheduled to assess the performance of a cold gas (N2) propulsion system prior to the H2O2 propulsion system.

Keywords: FORMOSAT-7, green propellant, Hydrogen peroxide, thruster

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Authors: Diana K. Kwok

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Despite the fact that Hong Kong government aims to develop an inclusive society, sexual minority students continue to encounter sexual prejudice without legal protection. They also have difficulties accessing relevant services from mental health and educational professionals, who do not receive systematic training to work with sexual minority students. Informed by the literature on sexual prejudice, heterosexual hegemony, genderism, as well as code of practice for frontline practitioners, the authors explored self-perceived knowledge of teachers and sexual minorities on sexuality and sexual prejudice, and how they perceive prejudice towards sexual minorities in Chinese cultural context. Semi-structure qualitative interviews were carried out with 31 school personnel informants (school teachers and counseling team members) and 25 sexual minority informants on their understanding of sexuality knowledge, their perception of sexual prejudice within school context in Hong Kong, as well as their suggested themes on teachers training on sexual prejudice reduction. This presentation specifically focuses on transcripts from sexual minority informants. Data analysis was carried out through NVivo, and followed the procedures spelt out in the qualitative research literature. Trustworthiness of the study was addressed through various strategies. Preliminary themes emerged from transcript content analysis: 1) A gap of knowledge between sexual minority informants and teachers; 2) Perception on sexual prejudice within cultural context; 3) Heterosexual hegemony and genderism within school system; 4) Needs for mandatory training: contents and strategies. The sexual minority informants found that teachers they encountered were predominantly adopted concepts of binary sex and dichotomous gender. Informants also indicated that the teachings of Confucianism cultural values, religiosity in Hong Kong might well be important cultural forces contributing to sexual prejudice manifested in school context. Although human rights and social justice concepts were embedded in professional code of practice of teachers and school helping professionals, informants found that teachers they encountered may face a dilemma when supporting sexual minority students navigating heterosexual hegemony and genderism in, as a consequence of their personal, institutional, cultural and religious backgrounds. Acknowledgments: The sexual prejudice project was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (ECS28401614), 2015 to 2017.

Keywords: sexual prejudice, Chinese teachers, Chinese sexual minorities, teacher training

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Authors: Stanley Fore, Sharon Chipeperekwa

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The start of the 2011 academic year in South Africa saw a number of Institutions of Higher Learning introducing online registration for their students. The efficiency and effectiveness of Information Systems are increasingly becoming a necessity and not an option for many organizations. An information system should be able to allow end users to access information easily and navigate with ease. The selected University of Technology (UoT) in this research is one of the largest public institution of higher learning in the Western Cape Province and boasts of an enrolment of more than 30000 students per academic year. An observation was made that, during registration students’ stand in long queues waiting to register or for assistance to register. The system tends to ‘freeze’ whilst students are registering and students are in most cases unfamiliar with the system interface. They constantly have to enquire what to do next when going through online registration process. A mixed method approach will be adopted which comprises of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study uses constructs of the updated DeLone and McLean IS success model (2003) to analyse and explain the student’s perceptions of the online registration system. The research was undertaken to establish the student’s perceptions of the online registration system. This research seeks to identify and analyse the challenges and success factors of introducing an online registration system whilst highlighting the extent to which this system has been able to solve the numerous problems associated with the manual era. The study will assist management and those responsible for managing the current system to determine how well the system is working or not working to achieve user satisfaction. It will also assist them going forward on what to consider before, during and after implementation of an information system. Respondents will be informed of the objectives of the research, and their consent to participate will be sought. Ethical considerations that will be applied to this study include; informed consent and protection from harm, right to privacy and involvement of the research.

Keywords: online registration, information systems, University of Technology, end-users

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Authors: F. Lhafiane, A. Elbyed, M. Bouchoum

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The design of Reverse logistics Network has attracted growing attention with the stringent pressures from both environmental awareness and business sustainability. Reverse logistical activities include return, remanufacture, disassemble and dispose of products can be quite complex to manage. In addition, demand can be difficult to predict, and decision making is one of the challenges tasks. This complexity has amplified the need to develop an integrated architecture for product return as an enterprise system. The main purpose of this paper is to design Multi agent system (MAS) architecture using the Prometheus methodology to efficiently manage reverse logistics processes. The proposed MAS architecture includes five types of agents: Gate keeping Agent, Collection Agent, Sorting Agent, Processing Agent and Disposal Agent which act respectively during the five steps of reverse logistics Network.

Keywords: reverse logistics, multi agent system, prometheus methodology

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Authors: Diriba Dereje

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Background: Cardiac and renal disease are the most prevalent chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) affecting the community in a significant manner. The best and recommended method in halting CNCD is by working on prevention as early as possible. This is only possible if early surrogate markers are identified. As part of the stated solution, this study will identify an association between microalbuminuria (an early surrogate marker of renal and cardiac disease) and lung function test among adult in the community. Objective: The main aim of this study was to assess an association between microalbuminuria (an early surrogate marker of renal and cardiac disease) and lung function test among adult in the community. Methodology: Community based cross sectional study was conducted among 384 adult in Jimma town. A systematic sampling technique was used in selecting participants to the study. In searching for the possible association, binary and multivariate logistic regression and t-test was conducted. Finally, the association between microalbuminuria and lung function test was well stated in the form of figures and written description. Result and Conclusion: A significant association was found between microalbuminuria and different lung function test parameters.

Keywords: microalbuminuria, lung function, association, test

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Authors: Abdelghani Choucha, Lakhdar Chaib, Salem Arif

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This paper treated the problem of power system stability with the aid of Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) installed in the transmission line of single machine infinite bus (SMIB) power system. A fractional order PID (FOPID) controller has been applied as a robust controller for optimal SSSC design to control the power system characteristics. Additionally, the SSSC based FOPID parameters are smoothly tuned using Invasive Weed Optimization algorithm (IWO). To verify the strength of the proposed controller, SSSC based FOPID controller is validated in a wide range of operating condition and compared with the conventional scheme SSSC-POD controller. The main purpose of the proposed process is greatly enhanced the dynamic states of the tested system. Simulation results clearly prove the superiority and performance of the proposed controller design.

Keywords: SSSC-FOPID, SSSC-POD, SMIB power system, invasive weed optimization algorithm

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Authors: Muhammad M. A. S. Mahmoud

Abstract:

Natural gas sweetening process is a controlled process that must be done at maximum efficiency and with the highest quality. In this work, due to complexity and non-linearity of the process, the H₂S gas separation and the intelligent fuzzy controller, which is used to enhance the process, are simulated in MATLAB – Simulink. The new design of fuzzy control for Gas Separator is discussed in this paper. The design is based on the utilization of linear state-estimation to generate the internal knowledge-base that stores input-output pairs. The obtained input/output pairs are then used to design a feedback fuzzy controller. The proposed closed-loop fuzzy control system maintains the system asymptotically-stability while it enhances the system time response to achieve better control of the concentration of the output gas from the tower. Simulation studies are carried out to illustrate the Gas Separator system performance.

Keywords: gas separator, gas sweetening, intelligent controller, fuzzy control

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Authors: Amel Ltifi, Ahmed Zouinkhi, Mohamed Salim Bouhlel

Abstract:

Security and trust management in Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (VANET) is a crucial research domain which is the scope of many researches and domains. Although, the majority of the proposed trust management systems for VANET are based on specific road infrastructure, which may not be present in all the roads. Therefore, road security should be managed by vehicles themselves. In this paper, we propose a new Self Organized Trust Management system (SOTM). This system has the responsibility to cut with the spread of false warnings in the network through four principal components: cooperation, trust management, communication and security.

Keywords: ative vehicle, cooperation, trust management, VANET

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Authors: Zulfikar Dinar Wahidayat Putra

Abstract:

Water scarcity become a major challenge in an arid area. One of the arid areas is La Serena city in the Northern Chile which become a case study of this paper. Based on that, this paper tries to identify a sustainable water system by using urban harvest approach as a method to achieve water self-sufficiency for a neighborhood area in the La Serena city. By using the method, it is possible to create sustainable water system in the neighborhood area by reducing up to 38% of water demand and 94% of wastewater production even though water self-sufficient cannot be fully achieved, because of its dependency to the drinking water supply from water treatment plant of La Serena city.

Keywords: arid area, sustainable water system, urban harvest approach, self-sufficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 264