Search results for: large language models (LLMs)

Authors: Sudheer Kumar Gundati, Umasankar Patro

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Carbon nanotube (CNT) – polymer composites have been extensively studied due to their exceptional electrical and mechanical properties. In the present study, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) – multi-walled CNT composites were prepared by melt-blending technique using pristine (ufCNT) and a modified dilute nitric acid-treated CNTs (fCNT). Due to this dilute acid-treatment, the fCNTs were found to show significantly improved dispersion and retained their electrical property. The fCNT showed an electrical percolation threshold (PT) of 0.15 wt% in the PVDF matrix as against 0.35 wt% for ufCNT. The composites were made into films of thickness ~0.3 mm by compression-molding and the resulting composite films were subjected to various property evaluations. It was found that the water contact angle (WCA) of the films increased with CNT weight content in composites and the composite film surface became hydrophobic (e.g., WCA ~104° for 4 wt% ufCNT and 111.5° for 0.5 wt% fCNT composites) in nature; while the neat PVDF film showed hydrophilic behavior (WCA ~68°). Significant enhancements in the mechanical properties were observed upon CNT incorporation and there is a progressive increase in the tensile strength and modulus with increase in CNT weight fraction in composites. The composite films were tested for strain-sensing applications. For this, a simple and non-destructive method was developed to demonstrate the strain-sensing properties of the composites films. In this method, the change in electrical resistance was measured using a digital multimeter by applying bending strain by oscillation. It was found that by applying dynamic bending strain, there is a systematic change in resistance and the films showed piezo-resistive behavior. Due to the high flexibility of these composite films, the change in resistance was reversible and found to be marginally affected, when large number of tests were performed using a single specimen. It is interesting to note that the composites with CNT content notwithstanding their type near the percolation threshold (PT) showed better strain-sensing properties as compared to the composites with CNT contents well-above the PT. On account of the excellent combination of the various properties, the composite films offer a great promise as strain-sensors for structural health-monitoring.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, electrical percolation threshold, mechanical properties, poly(vinylidene fluoride), strain-sensor, water contact angle

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Davood Vatankhah, Reza Mokhtari Malekabadi, Mohsen Saghaei

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Function of urban transportation systems depends on the existence of the required infrastructures, appropriate placement of different components, and the cooperation of these components with each other. Establishing various neighboring parking spaces in city neighborhood in order to prevent long-term and inappropriate parking of cars in the allies is one of the most effective operations in reducing the crowding and density of the neighborhoods. Every place with a certain application attracts a number of daily travels which happen throughout the city. A large percentage of the people visiting these places go to these travels by their own cars; therefore, they need a space to park their cars. The amount of this need depends on the usage function and travel demand of the place. The study aims at investigating the spatial distribution of the public parking spaces, determining the effective factors in locating, and their combination in GIS environment in Khomeinishahr of Isfahan city. Ultimately, the study intends to create an appropriate pattern for locating parking spaces, determining the request for parking spaces of the traffic areas, choosing the proper places for providing the required public parking spaces, and also proposing new spots in order to promote quality and quantity aspects of the city in terms of enjoying public parking spaces. Regarding the method, the study is based on applied purpose and regarding nature, it is analytic-descriptive. The population of the study includes people of the center of Khomeinishahr which is located on Northwest of Isfahan having about 5000 hectares of geographic area and the population of 241318 people are in the center of Komeinishahr. In order to determine the sample size, Cochran formula was used and according to the population of 26483 people of the studied area, 231 questionnaires were used. Data analysis was carried out by usage of SPSS software and after estimating the required space for parking spaces, initially, the effective criteria in locating the public parking spaces are weighted by the usage of Analytic Hierarchical Process in the Arc GIS software. Then, appropriate places for establishing parking spaces were determined by fuzzy method of Order Weighted Average (OWA). The results indicated that locating of parking spaces in Khomeinishahr have not been carried out appropriately and per capita of the parking spaces is not desirable in relation to the population and request; therefore, in addition to the present parking lots, 1434 parking lots are needed in the area of the study for each day; therefore, there is not a logical proportion between parking request and the number of parking lots in Khomeinishahr.

Keywords: GIS, locating, parking, khomeinishahr

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Authors: Brad Fox

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Between something and nothing, a bit of both, neither/nor, a figment of the imagination, the womb of the universe - questions of what matter is, where it exists and what it means continue to surge up from the bottom of our concepts and theories. This paper looks at divergences and convergences, intimations and mistranslations, in a lineage of thought that begins with Plato’s Timaeus, travels through Arabic Spain and Syria, finally to end up in the language of science. Up to the 13th century, philosophers in Christian France based such inquiries on a questionable and fragmented translation of the Timaeus by Calcidius, with a commentary that conflated the Platonic concept of khora (‘space’ or ‘void’) with Aristotle’s hyle (‘primal matter’ as derived from ‘wood’ as a building material). Both terms were translated by Calcidius as silva. For 700 years, this was the only source for philosophers of matter in the Latin-speaking world. Bernard Silvestris, in his Cosmographia, exemplifies the concepts developed before new translations from Arabic began to pour into the Latin world from such centers as the court of Toledo. Unlike their counterparts across the Pyrenees, 13th century philosophers in Muslim Spain had access to a broad vocabulary for notions of primal matter. The prolific and visionary theologian, philosopher, and poet Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi could draw on the Ikhwan Al-Safa’s 10th Century renderings of Aristotle, which translated the Greek hyle as the everyday Arabic word maddah, still used for building materials today. He also often used the simple transliteration of hyle as hayula, probably taken from Ibn Sina. The prophet’s son-in-law Ali talked of dust in the air, invisible until it is struck by sunlight. Ibn Arabi adopted this dust - haba - as an expression for an original metaphysical substance, nonexistent but susceptible to manifesting forms. Ibn Arabi compares the dust to a phoenix, because we have heard about it and can conceive of it, but it has no existence unto itself and can be described only in similes. Elsewhere he refers to it as quwwa wa salahiyya - pure potentiality and readiness. The final portion of the paper will compare Bernard and Ibn Arabi’s notions of matter to the recent ontology developed by theoretical physicist and philosopher Karen Barad. Looking at Barad’s work with the work of Nils Bohr, it will argue that there is a rich resonance between Ibn Arabi’s paradoxical conceptions of matter and the quantum vacuum fluctuations verified by recent lab experiments. The inseparability of matter and meaning in Barad recall Ibn Arabi’s original response to Ibn Rushd’s question: Does revelation offer the same knowledge as rationality? ‘Yes and No,’ Ibn Arabi said, ‘and between the yes and no spirit is divided from matter and heads are separated from bodies.’ Ibn Arabi’s double affirmation continues to offer insight into our relationship to momentary experience at its most fundamental level.

Keywords: Karen Barad, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, primal matter, Bernard Silvestris

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Authors: Tatyane Lopes de Freitas, Antonio Diogo S. Vieira, Susana Marta Isay Saad, Maria Ines Genovese

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The fruit processing industries generate a large volume of residues to produce juices, pulps, and jams. These residues, or by-products, consisting of peels, seeds, and pulps, are routinely discarded. Fruits are rich in bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, which have positive effects on health. Dry residues from two fruits, acerola (M. emarginata D. C.) and orange (C. sinensis), were characterized in relation to contents of ascorbic acid, minerals, total dietary fibers, moisture, ash, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates, and also high performance liquid chromatographic profile of flavonoids, total polyphenols and proanthocyanidins contents, and antioxidant capacity by three different methods (Ferric reducing antioxidant power assay-FRAP, Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity-ORAC, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging activity). Acerola by-products presented the highest acid ascorbic content (605 mg/100 g), and better antioxidant capacity than orange by-products. The dry residues from acerola demonstrated high contents of proanthocyanidins (617 µg CE/g) and total polyphenols (2525 mg gallic acid equivalents - GAE/100 g). Both presented high total dietary fiber (above 60%) and protein contents (acerola: 10.4%; orange: 9.9%), and reduced fat content (acerola: 1.6%; orange: 2.6%). Both residues showed high levels of potassium, calcium, and magnesium, and were considered sources of these minerals. With acerola by-product, four formulations of probiotics fermented milks were produced: F0 (without the addition of acerola residue (AR)), F2 (2% AR), F5 (5% AR) and F10 (10% AR). The physicochemical characteristics of the fermented milks throughout of storage were investigated, as well as the impact of in vitro simulated gastrointestinal conditions on flavonoids and probiotics. The microorganisms analyzed maintained their populations around 8 log CFU/g during storage. After the gastric phase of the simulated digestion, the populations decreased, and after the enteric phase, no colonies were detected. On the other hand, the flavonoids increased after the gastric phase, maintaining or suffering small decrease after enteric phase. Acerola by-products powder is a valuable ingredient to be used in functional foods because is rich in vitamin C, fibers and flavonoids. These flavonoids appear to be highly resistant to the acids and salts of digestion.

Keywords: acerola, orange, by-products, fermented milk

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: W. Q. Wang, Y. Yin, D. B. Zou, T. P. Yu, J. M. Ouyang, F. Q. Shao

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High-energy-density state, i.e., matter and radiation at energy densities in excess of 10^11 J/m^3, is related to material, nuclear physics, astrophysics, and geophysics. Laser-driven particle beams are better suited to heat the matter as a trigger due to their unique properties of ultrashort duration and low emittance. Compared to X-ray and electron sources, it is easier to generate uniformly heated large-volume material for the proton and ion beams because of highly localized energy deposition. With the construction of state-of-art high power laser facilities, creating of extremely conditions of high-temperature and high-density in laboratories becomes possible. It has been demonstrated that on a picosecond time scale the solid density material can be isochorically heated to over 20 eV by the ultrafast proton beam generated from spherically shaped targets. For the above-mentioned technique, the proton energy density plays a crucial role in the formation of warm dense matter states. Recently, several methods have devoted to realize the focusing of the accelerated protons, involving externally exerted static-fields or specially designed targets interacting with a single or multi-pile laser pulses. In previous works, two co-propagating or opposite direction laser pulses are employed to strike a submicron plasma-shell. However, ultra-high pulse intensities, accurately temporal synchronization and undesirable transverse instabilities for a long time are still intractable for currently experimental implementations. A mechanism of the focusing of laser-driven proton beams from two-ion-species arched targets is investigated by multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When an intense linearly-polarized laser pulse impinges on the thin arched target, all electrons are completely evacuated, leading to a Coulomb-explosive electric-field mostly originated from the heavier carbon ions. The lighter protons in the moving reference frame by the ionic sound speed will be accelerated and effectively focused because of this radially isotropic field. At a 2.42×10^21 W/cm^2 laser intensity, a ballistic proton bunch with its energy-density as high as 2.15×10^17 J/m^3 is produced, and the highest proton energy and the focusing position agree well with that from the theory.

Keywords: Coulomb explosion, focusing, high-energy-density, ion acceleration

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Authors: Vineet Barwal, Sajid Husain, Nanhe Kumar Gupta, Soumyarup Hait, Sujeet Chaudhary

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High perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and low damping constant (α) in ferromagnets are one of the few necessary requirements for their potential applications in the field of spintronics. In this regards, ferromagnetic τ-phase of MnAl possesses the highest PMA (Ku > 107 erg/cc) at room temperature, high saturation magnetization (Ms~800 emu/cc) and a Curie temperature of ~395K. In this work, we have investigated the magnetotransport behaviour of this potentially useful binary system MnₓAl₁₋ₓ films were synthesized by co-sputtering (pulsed DC magnetron sputtering) on Si/SiO₂ (where SiO₂ is native oxide layer) substrate using 99.99% pure Mn and Al sputtering targets. Films of constant thickness (~25 nm) were deposited at the different growth temperature (Tₛ) viz. 30, 300, 400, 500, and 600 ºC with a deposition rate of ~5 nm/min. Prior to deposition, the chamber was pumped down to a base pressure of 2×10⁻⁷ Torr. During sputtering, the chamber was maintained at a pressure of 3.5×10⁻³ Torr with the 55 sccm Ar flow rate. Films were not capped for the purpose of electronic transport measurement, which leaves a possibility of metal oxide formation on the surface of MnAl (both Mn and Al have an affinity towards oxide formation). In-plane and out-of-plane transverse magnetoresistance (MR) measurements on films sputtered under optimized growth conditions revealed non-saturating behavior with MR values ~6% and 40% at 9T, respectively at 275 K. Resistivity shows a parabolic dependence on the field H, when the H is weak. At higher H, non-saturating positive MR that increases exponentially with the strength of magnetic field is observed, a typical character of hopping type conduction mechanism. An anomalous decrease in MR is observed on lowering the temperature. From the temperature dependence of reistivity, it is inferred that the two competing states are metallic and semiconducting, respectively and the energy scale of the phenomenon produces the most interesting effects, i.e., the metal-insulator transition and hence the maximum sensitivity to external fields, at room temperature. Theory of disordered 3D systems effectively explains the crossover temperature coefficient of resistivity from positive to negative with lowering of temperature. These preliminary findings on the MR behavior of MnAl thin films will be presented in detail. The anomalous large MR in mixed phase MnAl system is evidently useful for future spintronic applications.

Keywords: magnetoresistance, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, spintronics, thin films

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Authors: Sara Asham Mahrous Kamel

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A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

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Authors: S. Grinnell

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A PhD Research Project exploring the Social Health and Well-Being Impacts associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, with an aim to produce a Best Practice Support Guidance for those anticipating dealing with planning applications or submitting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). Amid a possible global energy crisis, founded upon a number of factors, including unstable political situations, increasing world population growth, people living longer, it is perhaps inevitable that Hydraulic Fracturing (commonly referred to as ‘fracking’) will become a major player within the global long-term energy and sustainability agenda. As there is currently no best practice guidance for governing bodies the Best Practice Support Document will be targeted at a number of audiences including, consultants undertaking EIAs, Planning Officers, those commissioning EIAs Industry and interested public stakeholders. It will offer a robust, evidence-based criteria and recommendations which provide a clear narrative and consistent and shared approach to the language used along with containing an understanding of the issues identified. It is proposed that the Best Practice Support Document will also support the mitigation of health impacts identified. The Best Practice Support Document will support the newly amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (2011/92/EU), to be transposed into UK law by 2017. A significant amendment introduced focuses on, ‘higher level of protection to the environment and health.’ Methodology: A qualitative research methods approach is being taken with this research. It will have a number of key stages. A literature review has been undertaken and been critically reviewed and analysed. This was followed by a descriptive content analysis of a selection of international and national policies, programmes and strategies along with published Environmental Impact Assessments and associated planning guidance. In terms of data collection, a number of stakeholders were interviewed as well as a number of focus groups of local community groups potentially affected by fracking. These were determined from across the UK. A theme analysis of all the data collected and the literature review will be undertaken, using NVivo. Best Practice Supporting Document will be developed based on the outcomes of the analysis and be tested and piloted in the professional fields, before a live launch. Concluding statement: Whilst fracking is not a new concept, the technology is now driving a new force behind the use of this engineering to supply fuels. A number of countries have pledged moratoria on fracking until further investigation from the impacts on health have been explored, whilst other countries including Poland and the UK are pushing to support the use of fracking. If this should be the case, it will be important that the public’s concerns, perceptions, fears and objections regarding the wider social health and well-being impacts are considered along with the more traditional biomedical health impacts.

Keywords: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, socio-economic health, well-being

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Authors: André Augusto Ceballos Melo

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Design to facilitate the recognition of congruent prosthetic movements, context-to-motion translations guided by image, verbal prompt, users nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, paralinguistics, scene context, and object recognition contributes to this process though it can also be applied to other tasks, such as walking, Prosthetic limbs as assistive technology through gestures, sound codes, signs, facial, body expressions, and scene context The context-to-motion model is a machine learning approach that is designed to improve the control and dexterity of prosthetic limbs. It works by using sensory input from the prosthetic limb to learn about the dynamics of the environment and then using this information to generate smooth, stable movements. This can help to improve the performance of the prosthetic limb and make it easier for the user to perform a wide range of tasks. There are several key benefits to using the context-to-motion model for prosthetic limb control. First, it can help to improve the naturalness and smoothness of prosthetic limb movements, which can make them more comfortable and easier to use for the user. Second, it can help to improve the accuracy and precision of prosthetic limb movements, which can be particularly useful for tasks that require fine motor control. Finally, the context-to-motion model can be trained using a variety of different sensory inputs, which makes it adaptable to a wide range of prosthetic limb designs and environments. Stable diffusion is a machine learning method that can be used to improve the control and stability of movements in robotic and prosthetic systems. It works by using sensory feedback to learn about the dynamics of the environment and then using this information to generate smooth, stable movements. One key aspect of stable diffusion is that it is designed to be robust to noise and uncertainty in the sensory feedback. This means that it can continue to produce stable, smooth movements even when the sensory data is noisy or unreliable. To implement stable diffusion in a robotic or prosthetic system, it is typically necessary to first collect a dataset of examples of the desired movements. This dataset can then be used to train a machine learning model to predict the appropriate control inputs for a given set of sensory observations. Once the model has been trained, it can be used to control the robotic or prosthetic system in real-time. The model receives sensory input from the system and uses it to generate control signals that drive the motors or actuators responsible for moving the system. Overall, the use of the context-to-motion model has the potential to significantly improve the dexterity and performance of prosthetic limbs, making them more useful and effective for a wide range of users Hand Gesture Body Language Influence Communication to social interaction, offering a possibility for users to maximize their quality of life, social interaction, and gesture communication.

Keywords: stable diffusion, neural interface, smart prosthetic, augmenting

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Authors: Suresh B. Shinde

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The present paper examined the selective fictional works of the Indian writers in the Marathi language which reflects the gradual erosion of sexual repression of modern women characters. Furthermore, the study employed the attitudinal survey method to counter check the fictional reality of the Indian women in real life in the modern era. The Indian writers in an early stage from the pre and post-independence period pictured the women characters such as sexually suppressed and adherence to male sexual dominance. Gangadhar Gadgil a ‘Sahitya Akademi’ award winner writer in his story ‘Ek Manus’ shown that a husband, abnormally exploited her wife. G. A. Kulkarni a ‘Sahitya Akademi’ award winner writer shown that a young lady character suppressed her proposal of marriage with she loved due to the social pressure and conventions. Arvind Gokhale and Kamal Desai have also pictured lady characters who suppressed their sexual urges even they were highly educated. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the trends of Marathi literature is dramatically changed accordingly the women fictions. Gouri Deshpande, the popular story writer, penetrates modern woman very clearly. Two lady characters are living happily together accepting revolts of society for a sexual relationship. Meghna Pethe, another well-known writer in her story, depicts a women character who was lived with her friend as live-in-relationship and enjoying the erotic sex. How so far, it was seen that the pre and post-independence women fictions are gradually changed regarding her sexually urges. This reality leads to design the survey research design in which 100 college girls and 100 middle-aged women were surveyed with sexual attitude scale and feminist identity test. It was hypothesized that the today's college girls would higher on sexual attitude and feminist identity than middle-aged women. Moreover, it was also assumed that sexual attitude and feminist identity would have a strong positive correlation. The obtained data analyzed through Students’ test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The results reveal that the today's college girls are having a high level of sexual attitude and feminist identity than middle-aged women. Results also reveal that sexual attitude and feminist identity have a strongest positive correlation. How so far the survey research has provided the reality ground to the modern women in Indian fictions in Marathi literature. The findings of the research have been discussed accordingly the gender equality as well as psychological perspectives.

Keywords: sexual repression, women in Indian fictions, sexual attitude, feminist perspectives

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Authors: Maria Sofia Palagonia, Doriano Brogioli, Fabio La Mantia

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In the last decade, lithium has become an important raw material in various sectors, in particular for rechargeable batteries. Its production is expected to grow more and more in the future, especially for mobile energy storage and electromobility. Until now it is mostly produced by the evaporation of water from salt lakes, which led to a huge water consumption, a large amount of waste produced and a strong environmental impact. A new, clean and faster electrochemical technique to recover lithium has been recently proposed: electrochemical ion pumping. It consists in capturing lithium ions from a feed solution by intercalation in a lithium-selective material, followed by releasing them into a recovery solution; both steps are driven by the passage of a current. In this work, a new configuration of the electrochemical cell is presented, used to study and optimize the process of the intercalation of lithium ions through the hydrodynamic condition. Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn₂O₄) was used as a cathode to intercalate lithium ions selectively during the reduction, while Nickel Hexacyano Ferrate (NiHCF), used as an anode, releases positive ion. The effect of hydrodynamics on the process has been studied by conducting the experiments at various fluxes of the electrolyte through the electrodes, in terms of charge circulated through the cell, captured lithium per unit mass of material and overvoltage. The result shows that flowing the electrolyte inside the cell improves the lithium capture, in particular at low lithium concentration. Indeed, in Atacama feed solution, at 40 mM of lithium, the amount of lithium captured does not increase considerably with the flux of the electrolyte. Instead, when the concentration of the lithium ions is 5 mM, the amount of captured lithium in a single capture cycle increases by increasing the flux, thus leading to the conclusion that the slowest step in the process is the transport of the lithium ion in the liquid phase. Furthermore, an influence of the concentration of other cations in solution on the process performance was observed. In particular, the capturing of the lithium using a different concentration of NaCl together with 5 mM of LiCl was performed, and the results show that the presence of NaCl limits the amount of the captured lithium. Further studies can be performed in order to understand why the full capacity of the material is not reached at the highest flow rate. This is probably due to the porous structure of the material since the liquid phase is likely not affected by the convection flow inside the pores. This work proves that electrochemical ion pumping, with a suitable hydrodynamic design, enables the recovery of lithium from feed solutions at the lower concentration than the sources that are currently exploited, down to 1 mM.

Keywords: desalination battery, electrochemical ion pumping, hydrodynamic, lithium

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Authors: Zexiao Zheng, Irene M. C. Lo

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Organic pollutants, ammonia, and bacteria are major contaminants in sewage, which may adversely impact ecosystems without proper treatment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are operated to remove these contaminants from sewage but suffer from high carbon emissions and are powerless to remove emerging organic pollutants (EOPs). Herein, we have developed a low operational carbon emissions multifunctional photoelectrochemical (PEC) system for saline sewage treatment to simultaneously remove organic compounds, ammonia, and bacteria, coupled with H2 evolution. A reduced BiVO4 (r-BiVO4) with improved PEC properties due to the construction of oxygen vacancies and V4+ species was developed for the multifunctional PEC system. The PEC/r-BiVO4 process could treat saline sewage to meet local WWTPs’ discharge standard in 40 minutes at 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and completely degrade carbamazepine (one of the EOPs), coupled with significant evolution of H2. A remarkable reduction in operational carbon emissions was achieved by the PEC/r-BiVO4 process compared with large-scale WWTPs, attributed to the restrained direct carbon emissions from the generation of greenhouse gases. Mechanistic investigation revealed that the PEC system could activate chloride ions in sewage to generate reactive chlorine species and facilitate •OH production, promoting contaminants removal. The PEC system exhibited operational feasibility at different pH and total suspended solids concentrations and has outstanding reusability and stability, confirming its promising practical potential. The study combined the simultaneous removal of three major contaminants from saline sewage and H2 evolution in a single PEC process, demonstrating a viable approach to supplementing and extending the existing wastewater treatment technologies. The study generated profound insights into the in-situ activation of existing chloride ions in sewage for contaminants removal and offered fundamental theories for applying the PEC system in sewage remediation with low operational carbon emissions. The developed PEC system can fit well with the future needs of wastewater treatment because of the following features: (i) low operational carbon emissions, benefiting the carbon neutrality process; (ii) higher quality of the effluent due to the elimination of EOPs; (iii) chemical-free in the operation of sewage treatment; (iv) easy reuse and recycling without secondary pollution.

Keywords: contaminants removal, H2 evolution, multifunctional PEC system, operational carbon emissions, saline sewage treatment, r-BiVO4 photoanodes

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Authors: Muhammad Khairi bin Sulaiman

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The utilization of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction industry has provided an opportunity for designers in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry to proceed from the conventional method of using manual drafting to a way that creates alternative designs quickly, produces more accurate, reliable and consistent outputs. By using BIM Software, designers can create digital content that manipulates the use of data using the parametric model of BIM. With BIM software, more alternative designs can be created quickly and design problems can be explored further to produce a better design faster than conventional design methods. Generally, BIM is used as a documentation mechanism and has not been fully explored and utilised its capabilities as a design tool. Relative to the current issue, Modular Coordination (MC) design as a sustainable design practice is encouraged since MC design will reduce material wastage through standard dimensioning, pre-fabrication, repetitive, modular construction and components. However, MC design involves a complex process of rules and dimensions. Therefore, a tool is needed to make this process easier. Since the parameters in BIM can easily be manipulated to follow MC rules and dimensioning, thus, the integration of BIM software with MC design is proposed for architects during the design stage. With this tool, there will be an improvement in acceptance and practice in the application of MC design effectively. Consequently, this study will analyse and explore the function and customization of BIM objects and the capability of BIM software to expedite the application of MC design during the design stage for architects. With this application, architects will be able to create building models and locate objects within reference modular grids that adhere to MC rules and dimensions. The parametric modeling capabilities of BIM will also act as a visual tool that will further enhance the automation of the 3-Dimensional space planning modeling process. (Method) The study will first analyze and explore the parametric modeling capabilities of rule-based BIM objects, which eventually customize a reference grid within the rules and dimensioning of MC. Eventually, the approach will further enhance the architect's overall design process and enable architects to automate complex modeling, which was nearly impossible before. A prototype using a residential quarter will be modeled. A set of reference grids guided by specific MC rules and dimensions will be used to develop a variety of space planning and configuration. With the use of the design, the tool will expedite the design process and encourage the use of MC Design in the construction industry.

Keywords: building information modeling, modular coordination, space planning, customization, BIM application, MC space planning

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Authors: Housein Deli, Loui Al-Shrouf, Hammoud Al Joumaa, Mohieddine Jelali

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When forming metallic materials, fluctuations in material properties, process conditions, and wear lead to deviations in the component geometry. Several hundred features sometimes need to be measured, especially in the case of functional and safety-relevant components. These can only be measured offline due to the large number of features and the accuracy requirements. The risk of producing components outside the tolerances is minimized but not eliminated by the statistical evaluation of process capability and control measurements. The inspection intervals are based on the acceptable risk and are at the expense of productivity but remain reactive and, in some cases, considerably delayed. Due to the considerable progress made in the field of condition monitoring and measurement technology, permanently installed sensor systems in combination with machine learning and artificial intelligence, in particular, offer the potential to independently derive forecasts for component geometry and thus eliminate the risk of defective products - actively and preventively. The reliability of forecasts depends on the quality, completeness, and timeliness of the data. Measuring all geometric characteristics is neither sensible nor technically possible. This paper, therefore, uses the example of car seat rail production to discuss the necessary first step of feature selection and reduction by correlation analysis, as otherwise, it would not be possible to forecast components in real-time and inline. Four different car seat rails with an average of 130 features were selected and measured using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The run of such measuring programs alone takes up to 20 minutes. In practice, this results in the risk of faulty production of at least 2000 components that have to be sorted or scrapped if the measurement results are negative. Over a period of 2 months, all measurement data (> 200 measurements/ variant) was collected and evaluated using correlation analysis. As part of this study, the number of characteristics to be measured for all 6 car seat rail variants was reduced by over 80%. Specifically, direct correlations for almost 100 characteristics were proven for an average of 125 characteristics for 4 different products. A further 10 features correlate via indirect relationships so that the number of features required for a prediction could be reduced to less than 20. A correlation factor >0.8 was assumed for all correlations.

Keywords: long-term SHM, condition monitoring, machine learning, correlation analysis, component prediction, wear prediction, regressions analysis

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Authors: Gulfam Haider, sana danish

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Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have emerged as powerful tools for image classification, and the choice of optimizers profoundly affects their performance. The study of optimizers and their adaptations remains a topic of significant importance in machine learning research. While numerous studies have explored and advocated for various optimizers, the efficacy of these optimization techniques is still subject to scrutiny. This work aims to address the challenges surrounding the effectiveness of optimizers by conducting a comprehensive analysis and evaluation. The primary focus of this investigation lies in examining the performance of different optimizers when employed in conjunction with the popular activation function, Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU). By incorporating ReLU, known for its favorable properties in prior research, the aim is to bolster the effectiveness of the optimizers under scrutiny. Specifically, we evaluate the adjustment of these optimizers with both the original Softmax activation function and the modified ReLU activation function, carefully assessing their impact on overall performance. To achieve this, a series of experiments are conducted using a well-established benchmark dataset for image classification tasks, namely the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research dataset (CIFAR-10). The selected optimizers for investigation encompass a range of prominent algorithms, including Adam, Root Mean Squared Propagation (RMSprop), Adaptive Learning Rate Method (Adadelta), Adaptive Gradient Algorithm (Adagrad), and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). The performance analysis encompasses a comprehensive evaluation of the classification accuracy, convergence speed, and robustness of the CNN models trained with each optimizer. Through rigorous experimentation and meticulous assessment, we discern the strengths and weaknesses of the different optimization techniques, providing valuable insights into their suitability for image classification tasks. By conducting this in-depth study, we contribute to the existing body of knowledge surrounding optimizers in CNNs, shedding light on their performance characteristics for image classification. The findings gleaned from this research serve to guide researchers and practitioners in making informed decisions when selecting optimizers and activation functions, thus advancing the state-of-the-art in the field of image classification with convolutional neural networks.

Keywords: deep neural network, optimizers, RMsprop, ReLU, stochastic gradient descent

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Shegufta Zahan, Muhammad A. Zahin, Muhammad M. Hossain, Raquib Ahsan

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Rice Husk Ash (RHA) is one of the agricultural waste byproducts available widely in the world and contains a large amount of silica. In Bangladesh, stones cannot be used as coarse aggregate in infrastructure works as they are not available and need to be imported from abroad. As a result, bricks are mostly used as coarse aggregates in concrete as they are cheaper and easily produced here. Clay is the raw material for producing brick. Due to rapid urban growth and the industrial revolution, demand for brick is increasing, which led to a decrease in the topsoil. This study aims to produce lightweight block aggregates with sufficient strength utilizing RHA at low cost and use them as an ingredient of concrete. RHA, because of its pozzolanic behavior, can be utilized to produce better quality block aggregates at lower cost, replacing clay content in the bricks. The whole study can be divided into three parts. In the first part, characterization tests on RHA and clay were performed to determine their properties. Six different types of RHA from different mills were characterized by XRD and SEM analysis. Their fineness was determined by conducting a fineness test. The result of XRD confirmed the amorphous state of RHA. The characterization test for clay identifies the sample as “silty clay” with a specific gravity of 2.59 and 14% optimum moisture content. In the second part, blocks were produced with six different types of RHA with different combinations by volume with clay. Then mixtures were manually compacted in molds before subjecting them to oven drying at 120 °C for 7 days. After that, dried blocks were placed in a furnace at 1200 °C to produce ultimate blocks. Loss on ignition test, apparent density test, crushing strength test, efflorescence test, and absorption test were conducted on the blocks to compare their performance with the bricks. For 40% of RHA, the crushing strength result was found 60 MPa, where crushing strength for brick was observed 48.1 MPa. In the third part, the crushed blocks were used as coarse aggregate in concrete cylinders and compared them with brick concrete cylinders. Specimens were cured for 7 days and 28 days. The highest compressive strength of block cylinders for 7 days curing was calculated as 26.1 MPa, whereas, for 28 days curing, it was found 34 MPa. On the other hand, for brick cylinders, the value of compressing strength of 7 days and 28 days curing was observed as 20 MPa and 30 MPa, respectively. These research findings can help with the increasing demand for topsoil of the earth, and also turn a waste product into a valuable one.

Keywords: characterization, furnace, pozzolanic behavior, rice husk ash

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Authors: Nicolaas Unland, John Webb

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The acidification and mobilisation of metals during the oxidation of acid sulfate soils exposed during lake bed drying is an increasingly common phenomenon under climate scenarios with reduced rainfall. In order to assess the risk of generating high concentrations of acidity and dissolved metals, chromium suite analysis are fundamental, but sometimes limited in characterising the potential risks they pose. This study combines such fundamental test work, along with incubation tests and 1D modelling to investigate the risks associated with the drying of Third Reedy Lake in South East Australia. Core samples were collected from a variable depth of 0.5 m below the lake bed, at 19 locations across the lake’s footprint, using a boat platform. Samples were subjected to a chromium suite of analysis, including titratable actual acidity, chromium reducible sulfur and acid neutralising capacity. Concentrations of reduced sulfur up to 0.08 %S and net acidities up to 0.15 %S indicate that acid sulfate soils have formed on the lake bed during permanent inundation over the last century. A further sub-set of samples were prepared in 7 columns and subject to accelerated heating, drying and wetting over a period of 64 days in laboratory. Results from the incubation trial indicate that while pyrite oxidation proceeded, minimal change to soil pH or the acidity of leachate occurred, suggesting that the internal buffering capacity of lake bed sediments was sufficient to neutralise a large proportion of the acidity produced. A 1D mass balance model was developed to assess potential changes in lake water quality during drying based on the results of chromium suite and incubation tests. Results from the above test work and modelling suggest that acid sulfate soils pose a moderate to low risk to the Third Reedy Lake system. Further, the risks can be effectively managed during the initial stages of lake drying via flushing with available mildly alkaline water. The study finds that while test work such as chromium suite analysis are fundamental in characterizing acid sulfate soil environments, they can the overestimate risks associated with the soils. Subsequent incubation test work may more accurately characterise such soils and lead to better-informed management strategies.

Keywords: acid sulfate soil, incubation, management, model, risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Wissal Ben Arfi, Jean-Michel Sahut

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The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of the succession process from a knowledge management perspective. By doing that, succession process in family businesses, as an environment for creating and sharing knowledge, was explored. Design/Methodology/Approach: To support our reasoning, we collected qualitative data through 16 in-depth interviews conducted with all decision makers involved in the family businesses succession process in France. These open-ended responses were subsequently exposed to thematic discourse analysis. Findings: Central to this exhibit is the nature and magnitude of knowledge creation and sharing among the actors within the family succession context and how can tacit knowledge sharing facilitate the succession process. We also identified factors that inhibit down the knowledge creation and sharing processes. The sharing and creation of knowledge among members of a family business appear to be a complex process that must be part of a strategy for change. This implies that it requests trust and takes a certain amount of time because it requires organizational change and a clear and coherent strategic vision that is accepted and assimilated by all the members. Professional and leadership skills are of particular importance in knowledge sharing and creation processes. In most cases, tacit knowledge is crucial when it is shared and accumulated collectively. Our findings reveal that managers should find ways of implementing knowledge sharing and creation processes while acknowledging the succession process within family firms. This study highlights the importance of generating knowledge strategies in order to enhance the performance and the success of intergenerational succession. The empirical outcomes contribute to enrich the field of succession management process and enhance the role of knowledge in shaping family performance and longevity. To a large extent, the lessons learned from the study of succession processes in family-owned businesses are that when there is a deliberate effort to introduce a knowledge-based approach, this action becomes a seminal event in the life of the organization. Originality/Value: The paper contributes to the deep understanding of interactions among actors by examining the knowledge creation and sharing processes since current researches in family succession focused on aspects such as personal development of potential, intra-family succession intention, decision-making processes in family businesses. Besides, as succession is one of the key factors that determine the longevity and the performance of family businesses, it also contributes to literature by examining how tacit knowledge is transferred, shared and created in family businesses and how this can facilitate the intergenerational succession process.

Keywords: family-owned businesses, succession process, knowledge, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Elena Pummer, Holger Schuettrumpf

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By today underground pumped storage plants as an outstanding alternative for classical pumped storage plants do not exist. They are needed to ensure the required balance between production and demand of energy. As a short to medium term storage pumped storage plants have been used economically over a long period of time, but their expansion is limited locally. The reasons are in particular the required topography and the extensive human land use. Through the use of underground reservoirs instead of surface lakes expansion options could be increased. Fulfilling the same functions, several hydrodynamic processes result in the specific design of the underground reservoirs and must be implemented in the planning process of such systems. A combined 3D numerical and experimental approach leads to currently unknown results about the occurring wave types and their behavior in dependence of different design and operating criteria. For the 3D numerical simulations, OpenFOAM was used and combined with an experimental approach in the laboratory of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Using the finite-volume method and an explicit time discretization, a RANS-Simulation (k-ε) has been run. Convergence analyses for different time discretization, different meshes etc. and clear comparisons between both approaches lead to the result, that the numerical and experimental models can be combined and used as hybrid model. Undular bores partly with secondary waves and breaking bores occurred in the underground reservoir. Different water levels and discharges change the global effects, defined as the time-dependent average of the water level as well as the local processes, defined as the single, local hydrodynamic processes (water waves). Design criteria, like branches, directional changes, changes in cross-section or bottom slope, as well as changes in roughness have a great effect on the local processes, the global effects remain unaffected. Design calculations for underground pumped storage plants were developed on the basis of existing formulae and the results of the hybrid approach. Using the design calculations reservoirs heights as well as oscillation periods can be determined and lead to the knowledge of construction and operation possibilities of the plants. Consequently, future plants can be hydraulically optimized applying the design calculations on the local boundary conditions.

Keywords: energy storage, experimental approach, hybrid approach, undular and breaking Bores, 3D numerical approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 208

Authors: Sarah Maiter

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Heightened globalization, migration, displacement of citizens, and refugee needs is putting increasing demand for approaches to social services for diverse populations that responds to families to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable members while providing supports and services. Along with this social works re-focus on socially just approaches to practice increasingly asks social workers to consider the challenging circumstances of families when providing services rather than a focus on individual shortcomings alone. Child protection workers then struggle to ensure safety of children while assessing the needs of families. This assessment can prove to be difficult when providing services to immigrant, refugee, and racially diverse families as understanding of and familiarity with these families is often limited. Furthermore, child protection intervention in western countries is state mandated having legal authority when intervening in the lives of families where child protection concerns have been identified. Within this context, racialized immigrant and refugee families are at risk of misunderstandings that can result in interventions that are overly intrusive, unhelpful, and harsh. Research shows disproportionality and overrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrant families in the child protection system. Reasons noted include: a) possibilities of racial bias in reporting and substantiating abuse, b) struggles on the part of workers when working with families from diverse ethno-racial backgrounds and who are immigrants and may have limited proficiency in the national language of the country, c) interventions during crisis and differential ongoing services for these families, d) diverse contexts of these families that poses additional challenges for families and children, and e) possible differential definitions of child maltreatment. While cultural and ethnic diversity in child rearing approaches have been cited as contributors to child protection concerns, this approach should be viewed cautiously as it can result in stereotyping and generalizing that then results in inappropriate assessment and intervention. However, poverty and the lack of social supports, both well-known contributors to child protection concerns, also impact these families disproportionately. Child protection systems, therefore, need to continue to examine policy and practice approaches with these families that ensures safety of children while balancing the needs of families. This presentation provides data from several research studies that examined definitions of child maltreatment among a sample of racialized immigrant families, experiences of a sample of immigrant families with the child protection system, concerns of a sample of child protection workers in the provision of services to these families, and struggles of families in the transitions to their new country. These studies, along with others provide insights into areas of consideration for practice that can contribute to safety for children while ensuring just and equitable responses that have greater potential for keeping families together rather than premature apprehension and removal of children to state care.

Keywords: child protection, child welfare services, immigrant families, racial and ethnic diversity

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: RAJ KUMAR G.C.

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There are tremendous opportunities to maximize smallholder farmers’ income from small-scale water resource development through micro irrigation and multiple-use water systems (MUS). MUS are an improved water management approach, developed and tested successfully by iDE that pipes water to a community both for domestic use and for agriculture using efficient micro irrigation. Different MUS models address different landscape constraints, water demand, and users’ preferences. MUS are complemented by micro irrigation kits, which were developed by iDE to enable farmers to grow high-value crops year-round and to use limited water resources efficiently. Over the last 15 years, iDE’s promotion of the MUS approach has encouraged government and other key stakeholders to invest in MUS for better planning of scarce water resources. Currently, about 60% of the cost of MUS construction is covered by the government and community. Based on iDE’s experience, a gravity-fed MUS costs approximately $125 USD per household to construct, and it can increase household income by $300 USD per year. A key element of the MUS approach is keeping farmers well linked to input supply systems and local produce collection centers, which helps to ensure that the farmers can produce a sufficient quantity of high-quality produce that earns a fair price. This process in turn creates an enabling environment for smallholders to invest in MUS and micro irrigation. Therefore, MUS should be seen as an integrated package of interventions –the end users, water sources, technologies, and the marketplace– that together enhance technical, financial, and institutional sustainability. Communities are trained to participate in sustainable water resource management as a part of the MUS planning and construction process. The MUS approach is cost-effective, improves community governance of scarce water resources, helps smallholder farmers to improve rural health and livelihoods, and promotes gender equity. MUS systems are simple to maintain and communities are trained to ensure that they can undertake minor maintenance procedures themselves. All in all, the iDE Nepal MUS offers multiple benefits and represents a practical and sustainable model of the MUS approach. Moreover, there is a growing national consensus that rural water supply systems should be designed for multiple uses, acknowledging that substantial work remains in developing national-level and local capacity and policies for scale-up.

Keywords: multiple-use water systems , small scale water resources, rural livelihoods, practical and sustainable model

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Liya Kalinnikova Magnusson

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The present and ongoing research investigation are focusing on special educational origins in Moldova for children with disabilities and its development towards inclusion. The research is coordinated with related research on inclusion in Ukraine and other countries. The research interest in these issues in Moldova is caused by several reasons. The first one is based upon one of the intensive processes of deconstruction of special education institutions in Moldova since 1989. A large number of children with disabilities have been dropping out of these institutions: from 11400 students in 1989 to 5800 students in 1996, corresponding to 1% of all school-age Moldovan learners. Despite the fact that a huge number of students was integrated into regular schools and the dynamics of this data across the country was uneven (the opposite, the dynamics of exclusion was raised in Trans-Dniester on the border of Moldova), the volume of the change was evident and traditional special educational provision was under stable decline. The second reason is tied to transitional challenges, which Moldova met under the force to economic liberalisation that led the country to poverty. Deinstitutionalization of the entire state system took place in the situation of economic polarization of the society. The level of social benefits was dramatically diminished, increasing inequality. The most vulnerable from the comprehensive income consideration were families with many children, children with disabilities, children with health problems, etc.: each third child belonged to the poorest population. In 2000-2001: 87,4% of all families with children had incomes below the minimum wage. The research question raised based upon these considerations has been addressed to the investigation of particular patterns of the origins of special education and its development towards inclusion in Moldova from 1980 until the present date: what is the pattern of special education origins and what are particular arrangements of special education development towards inclusion against inequality? This is a qualitative study, with relevant peer review resources connected to the research question and national documents of educational reforms towards inclusion retrospectively and contemporary, analysed by a content analysis approach. This study utilises long term statistics completed by the respective international agencies as a result of regular monitoring of the implementation of educational reforms. The main findings were composed in three big themes: adoption of the Soviet pattern of special education, ‘endemic stress’ of breaking the pattern, and ‘paradoxes of resolution’.

Keywords: special education, statistics, educational reforms, inclusion, children with disabilities, content analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Dina Moheb Rashid Michael

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A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Comsun Thongchai, Vorapoj Promasatayaprot

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Background: Child development center is a day care center that gathers large numbers of children in the same areas. As a result, it provides high opportunity for infection, especially gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. Ubon Ratchathani has been a province with an increasing number of cases of Hand foot and mouth disease each year reported between 2014 and 2016. Accorded to a recent investigation reported, HFMD occurred in the Child Development Center and kindergartens, this was a place where HFMD spreads. This research was aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and behavior about hand foot and mouth disease preventing of child caregivers in child development centers, Ubon Ratchathani Province. Method: Descriptive study was conducted between April and July, 2017. The study instruments used questionnaires and in-depth interviews on their practices of prevention and environment management of HFMD. The samples of survey questionnaires were caregivers who are working in 160 child development centers of the 160 parishes in Ubon Ratchathani province. The data was analyzed by percentages, means and standard deviations and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Result: The results showed that the majority were female (96.3%), average age 41 years (68.3%), marital status were couples (85.7%) and studied in undergraduate (75.2%). with a period of performance as teachers in child development centers range from 10 to 14 years were percentage 58.7 and 71.8 percent of them had been trained by health worker about the control HFMD. The knowledge for preventive in hand foot mouth disease on child caregivers was at high level. The mean score was 2.76 (S.D. = 0.114). The attitude of child caregivers was at a moderate level. Its mean score was 2.28 (S.D. = 0.247). On the other hand, the level of environmental management to prevent HFMD was low. The mean score was 1.34 (S.D. = 0.215). The factor of personal characteristics as gender, age, educational level, duration at work, knowledge and attitude of preventive HFMD was associated with Preventive of Behaviors to a statistically significant level (p<0.05 respectively). Conclusion: These results should be concerned to develop knowledge and improving practice for preventive hand foot mouth disease of child caregivers in child development centers by training. Preparation of media education, Surveillance of hand foot mouth disease and health behaviors promotion with community participation need to be supported continuously.

Keywords: preventive behavior, child development center, hand foot mouth disease, Thailand

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: R. Hurtado-Ortiz, D. Clermont, M. Schüngel, C. Bizet, D. Smith, E. Stackebrandt

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Microbiological resources and their derivatives are the essential raw material for the advancement of human health, agro-food, food security, biotechnology, research and development in all life sciences. Microbial resources, and their genetic and metabolic products, are utilised in many areas such as production of healthy and functional food, identification of new antimicrobials against emerging and resistant pathogens, fighting agricultural disease, identifying novel energy sources on the basis of microbial biomass and screening for new active molecules for the bio-industries. The complexity of public collections, distribution and use of living biological material (not only living but also DNA, services, training, consultation, etc.) and service offer, demands the coordination and sharing of policies, processes and procedures. The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) is an initiative within the European Strategy Forum Infrastructures (ESFRI), bring together 16 partners including 13 European public microbial culture collections and biological resource centres (BRCs), supported by several European and non-European associated partners. The objective of MIRRI is to support innovation in microbiology by provision of a one-stop shop for well-characterized microbial resources and high quality services on a not-for-profit basis for biotechnology in support of microbiological research. In addition, MIRRI contributes to the structuring of microbial resources capacity both at the national and European levels. This will facilitate access to microorganisms for biotechnology for the enhancement of the bio-economy in Europe. MIRRI will overcome the fragmentation of access to current resources and services, develop harmonised strategies for delivery of associated information, ensure bio-security and other regulatory conditions to bring access and promote the uptake of these resources into European research. Data mining of the landscape of current information is needed to discover potential and drive innovation, to ensure the uptake of high quality microbial resources into research. MIRRI is in its Preparatory Phase focusing on governance and structure including technical, legal governance and financial issues. MIRRI will help the Biological Resources Centres to work more closely with policy makers, stakeholders, funders and researchers, to deliver resources and services needed for innovation.

Keywords: culture collections, microbiology, infrastructure, microbial resources, biotechnology

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: N. E. Gallagher, C. E. Neville, N. Lyner, J. Yarnell, C. C. Patterson, J. E. Gallacher, Y. Ben-Shlomo, A. Fehily, J. V. Woodside

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Hearing loss is highly prevalent in older people and can reduce quality of life substantially. Emerging research suggests that potentially modifiable risk factors, including risk factors previously related to cardiovascular disease risk, may be associated with a decreased or increased incidence of hearing loss. This has prompted investigation into the possibility that certain nutrients, foods or dietary patterns may also be associated with incidence of hearing loss. The aim of this study was to determine any associations between dietary patterns and hearing loss in men enrolled in the Caerphilly study. The Caerphilly prospective cohort study began in 1979-1983 with recruitment of 2512 men aged 45-59 years. Dietary data was collected using a self-administered, semi-quantitative, 56-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline (1979-1983), and 7-day weighed food intake (WI) in a 30% sub-sample, while pure-tone unaided audiometric threshold was assessed at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz, between 1984 and 1988. Principal components analysis (PCA) was carried out to determine a posteriori dietary patterns and multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to examine associations with hearing level (pure tone average (PTA) of frequencies 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz in decibels (dB)) for linear regression and with hearing loss (PTA>25dB) for logistic regression. Three dietary patterns were determined using PCA on the FFQ data- Traditional, Healthy, High sugar/Alcohol avoider. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, both linear and logistic regression analyses showed a significant and inverse association between the Healthy pattern and hearing loss (P<0.001) and linear regression analysis showed a significant association between the High sugar/Alcohol avoider pattern and hearing loss (P=0.04). Three similar dietary patterns were determined using PCA on the WI data- Traditional, Healthy, High sugar/Alcohol avoider. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, logistic regression analyses showed a significant and inverse association between the Healthy pattern and hearing loss (P=0.02) and a significant association between the Traditional pattern and hearing loss (P=0.04). A Healthy dietary pattern was found to be significantly inversely associated with hearing loss in middle-aged men in the Caerphilly study. Furthermore, a High sugar/Alcohol avoider pattern (FFQ) and a Traditional pattern (WI) were associated with poorer hearing levels. Consequently, the role of dietary factors in hearing loss remains to be fully established and warrants further investigation.

Keywords: ageing, diet, dietary patterns, hearing loss

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Jayashree And Gajjam

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Intellectual humility (IH) is defined as a virtuous mean between intellectual arrogance and intellectual self-diffidence by the ‘Doxastic Account of IH’ studied, researched and developed by western scholars not earlier than 2015 at the University of Edinburgh. Ancient Indian philosophical texts or the Upanisads written in the Sanskrit language during the later Vedic period (circa 600-300 BCE) have long addressed the virtue of being humble in several stories and narratives. The current research paper questions and revisits these character traits in an Indian context following an experimental method. Based on the subjective reports of more than 400 Indian teenagers and adults, it argues that while a few traits of IH (such as trustworthiness, respectfulness, intelligence, politeness, etc.) are panhuman and pancultural, a few are not. Some attributes of IH (such as proper pride, open-mindedness, awareness of own strength, etc.) may be taken for arrogance by the Indian population, while other qualities of Intellectual Diffidence such as agreeableness, surrendering can be regarded as the characteristic of IH. The paper then gives the reasoning for this discrepancy that can be traced back to the ancient Indian (Upaniṣadic) teachings that are still prevalent in many Indian families and still anchor their views on IH. The name Upanisad itself means ‘sitting down near’ (to the Guru to gain the Supreme knowledge of the Self and the Universe and setting to rest ignorance) which is equivalent to the three traits among the BIG SEVEN characterized as IH by the western scholars viz. ‘being a good listener’, ‘curious to learn’, and ‘respect to other’s opinion’. The story of Satyakama Jabala (Chandogya Upanisad 4.4-8) who seeks the truth for several years even from the bull, the fire, the swan and waterfowl, suggests nothing but the ‘need for cognition’ or ‘desire for knowledge’. Nachiketa (Katha Upanisad), a boy with a pure mind and heart, follows his father’s words and offers himself to Yama (the God of Death) where after waiting for Yama for three days and nights, he seeks the knowledge of the mysteries of life and death. Although the main aim of these Upaniṣadic stories is to give the knowledge of life and death, the Supreme reality which can be identical with traits such as ‘curious to learn’, one cannot deny that they have a lot more to offer than mere information about true knowledge e.g., ‘politeness’, ‘good listener’, ‘awareness of own limitations’, etc. The possible future scope of this research includes (1) finding other socio-cultural factors that affect the ideas on IH such as age, gender, caste, type of education, highest qualification, place of residence and source of income, etc. which may be predominant in current Indian society despite our great teachings of the Upaniṣads, and (2) to devise different measures to impart IH in Indian children, teenagers, and younger adults for the harmonious future. The current experimental research can be considered as the first step towards these goals.

Keywords: ethics and virtue epistemology, Indian philosophy, intellectual humility, upaniṣadic texts in ancient India

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Alberto Jiménez-Vargas, Manuel de Jesús Palacios-Gallegos, Miguel Ángel Hernández-López, Rafael Campos-Amezcua, Julio Cesar Solís-Sanchez

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An optimal wind turbine blade design must be able of capturing as much energy as possible from the wind source available at the area of interest. Many times, an optimal design means the use of large quantities of material and complicated processes that make the wind turbine more expensive, and therefore, less cost-effective. For the construction and installation of a wind turbine, the blades may cost up to 20% of the outline pricing, and become more important due to they are part of the rotor system that is in charge of transmitting the energy from the wind to the power train, and where the static and dynamic design loads for the whole wind turbine are produced. The aim of this work is the develop of a blade fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulation that allows the identification of the major damage zones during the normal production situation, and thus better decisions for design and optimization can be taken. The simulation is a dynamic case, since we have a time-history wind velocity as inlet condition instead of a constant wind velocity. The process begins with the free-use software NuMAD (NREL), to model the blade and assign material properties to the blade, then the 3D model is exported to ANSYS Workbench platform where before setting the FSI system, a modal analysis is made for identification of natural frequencies and modal shapes. FSI analysis is carried out with the two-way technic which begins with a CFD simulation to obtain the pressure distribution on the blade surface, then these results are used as boundary condition for the FEA simulation to obtain the deformation levels for the first time-step. For the second time-step, CFD simulation is reconfigured automatically with the next time-step inlet wind velocity and the deformation results from the previous time-step. The analysis continues the iterative cycle solving time-step by time-step until the entire load case is completed. This work is part of a set of projects that are managed by a national consortium called “CEMIE-Eólico” (Mexican Center in Wind Energy Research), created for strengthen technological and scientific capacities, the promotion of creation of specialized human resources, and to link the academic with private sector in national territory. The analysis belongs to the design of a rotor system for a 5 kW wind turbine design thought to be installed at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Keywords: blade, dynamic, fsi, wind turbine

Procedia PDF Downloads 473

Authors: Nathalie Stephenne, Mathieu Veschkens, Stéphane Palm, Christophe Charlemagne, Jacques Defoux

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According to Europe’s first River basin Management Plans (RBMPs), 56% of European rivers failed to achieve the good status targets of the Water Framework Directive WFD. In Central European countries such as Belgium, even more than 80% of rivers failed to achieve the WFD quality targets. Although the RBMP’s should reduce the stressors and improve water body status, their potential to address multiple stress situations is limited due to insufficient knowledge on combined effects, multi-stress, prioritization of measures, impact on ecology and implementation effects. This paper describes a webGis prototype developed for the Walloon administration to improve the communication and the management of sediment dredging actions carried out in rivers and lakes in the frame of RBMPs. A large number of stakeholders are involved in the management of rivers and lakes in Wallonia. They are in charge of technical aspects (client and dredging operators, organizations involved in the treatment of waste…), management (managers involved in WFD implementation at communal, provincial or regional level) or policy making (people responsible for policy compliance or legislation revision). These different kinds of stakeholders need different information and data to cover their duties but have to interact closely at different levels. Moreover, information has to be shared between them to improve the management quality of dredging operations within the ecological system. In the Walloon legislation, leveling dredged sediments on banks requires an official authorization from the administration. This request refers to spatial information such as the official land use map, the cadastral map, the distance to potential pollution sources. The production of a collective geodatabase can facilitate the management of these authorizations from both sides. The proposed internet system integrates documents, data input, integration of data from disparate sources, map representation, database queries, analysis of monitoring data, presentation of results and cartographic visualization. A prototype of web application using the API geoviewer chosen by the Geomatic department of the SPW has been developed and discussed with some potential users to facilitate the communication, the management and the quality of the data. The structure of the paper states the why, what, who and how of this communication tool.

Keywords: sediments, web application, GIS, rivers management

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Authors: Srushti Patil, Preethi Baligar, Gopalkrishna Joshi, Gururaj N. Bhadri

Abstract:

In designing learning environments, the instructional strategies can be tailored to suit the learning style of an individual to ensure effective learning. In this study, the information shared on social media like Facebook is being used to predict learning style of a learner. Previous research studies have shown that Facebook data can be used to predict user personality. Users with a particular personality exhibit an inherent pattern in their digital footprint on Facebook. The proposed work aims to correlate the user's’ personality, predicted from Facebook data to the learning styles, predicted through questionnaires. For Millennial learners, Facebook has become a primary means for information sharing and interaction with peers. Thus, it can serve as a rich bed for research and direct the design of learning environments. The authors have conducted this study in an undergraduate freshman engineering course. Data from 320 freshmen Facebook users was collected. The same users also participated in the learning style and personality prediction survey. The Kolb’s Learning style questionnaires and Big 5 personality Inventory were adopted for the survey. The users have agreed to participate in this research and have signed individual consent forms. A specific page was created on Facebook to collect user data like personal details, status updates, comments, demographic characteristics and egocentric network parameters. This data was captured by an application created using Python program. The data captured from Facebook was subjected to text analysis process using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count dictionary. An analysis of the data collected from the questionnaires performed reveals individual student personality and learning style. The results obtained from analysis of Facebook, learning style and personality data were then fed into an automatic classifier that was trained by using the data mining techniques like Rule-based classifiers and Decision trees. This helps to predict the user personality and learning styles by analysing the common patterns. Rule-based classifiers applied for text analysis helps to categorize Facebook data into positive, negative and neutral. There were totally two models trained, one to predict the personality from Facebook data; another one to predict the learning styles from the personalities. The results show that the classifier model has high accuracy which makes the proposed method to be a reliable one for predicting the user personality and learning styles.

Keywords: educational data mining, Facebook, learning styles, personality traits

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