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Authors: Muhammad Umair, Yuri Nikolaev, Denis Artemov, Ighor Uzhinsky

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A flexible manufacturing system is an integral part of a smart factory of industry 4.0 in which every machine is interconnected and works autonomously. Robots are in the process of replacing humans in every industrial sector. As the cyber-physical-system (CPS) and artificial intelligence (AI) are advancing, the manufacturing industry is getting more dependent on computers than human brains. This modernization has boosted the production with high quality and accuracy and shifted from classic production to smart manufacturing systems. However, material handling for such automated productions is a challenge and needs to be addressed with the best possible solution. Conventional clamping systems are designed for manual work and not suitable for highly automated production systems. Researchers and engineers are trying to find the most economical solution for loading/unloading and transportation workpieces from a warehouse to a machine shop for machining operations and back to the warehouse without human involvement. This work aims to propose an advanced multi-shape tooling solution for highly automated manufacturing systems. The currently obtained result shows that it could function well with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and modern conveyor belts. The proposed solution is following requirements to be automation-friendly, universal for different part geometry and production operations. We used a bottom-up approach in this work, starting with studying different case scenarios and their limitations and finishing with the general solution.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, cyber physics system, Industry 4.0, material handling, smart factory, flexible manufacturing system

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Maher Aburrous, Adel Khelifi, Manar Abu Talib

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Transactions performed by financial institutions on daily basis require XML encryption on large scale. Encrypting large volume of message fully will result both performance and resource issues. In this paper a novel approach is presented for securing financial XML transactions using classification data mining (DM) algorithms. Our strategy defines the complete process of classifying XML transactions by using set of classification algorithms, classified XML documents processed at later stage using element-wise encryption. Classification algorithms were used to identify the XML transaction rules and factors in order to classify the message content fetching important elements within. We have implemented four classification algorithms to fetch the importance level value within each XML document. Classified content is processed using element-wise encryption for selected parts with "High", "Medium" or “Low” importance level values. Element-wise encryption is performed using AES symmetric encryption algorithm and proposed modified algorithm for AES to overcome the problem of computational overhead, in which substitute byte, shift row will remain as in the original AES while mix column operation is replaced by 128 permutation operation followed by add round key operation. An implementation has been conducted using data set fetched from e-banking service to present system functionality and efficiency. Results from our implementation showed a clear improvement in processing time encrypting XML documents.

Keywords: XML transaction, encryption, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), XML classification, e-banking security, fuzzy classification, cryptography, intelligent encryption

Procedia PDF Downloads 411

Authors: P. Thepnarintra, S. Nikorn

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Agricultural machinery industry plays an important role in the industrial development especially the production industry of the country. There has been continuing development responding to the higher demand of the production. However, the problem in agricultural machinery production still exists. Thus, the purpose of this research is to investigate problems on fundamental factors of industry based on the entrepreneurs’ point of view. The focus was on the small and medium size industry receiving a factory license typed number 0660 from the Department of Industrial Works. The investigation was on the comparison between the management of the small and medium size agricultural industry in 3 provinces in the central region of Thailand. Population in this study consisted of 189 company managers or managing directors, of which 101 were from the small size and 88 were from the medium size industry. The data were analyzed to find percentage, arithmetic mean, and standard deviation with independent sample T-test at the statistical significance .05. The results showed that the small and medium size agricultural machinery manufacturers in the central region of Thailand reported high problems in every aspect. When compared the problems on basic factors in running the business, it was found that there was no difference statistically at .05 in managing of the small and medium size agricultural machinery manufacturers. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the small and medium size agricultural machinery manufacturers on the aspect of policy and services of the government. The problems reported by the small and medium size agricultural machinery manufacturers were the services on public tap water and the problem on politic and stability of the country.

Keywords: agricultural machinery, manufacturers, problems, on running the business

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Sawitree Wongkittirungrueang

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The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the effect of social stories on social interaction of students with autism. The sample was Pratomsuksa level 5 student with autism, Khon Kaen University Demonstration School, who was diagnosed by the Physician as High Functioning Autism since he was able to read, write, calculate and was studying in inclusive classroom. However, he still had disability in social interaction to participate in social activity group and communication. He could not learn how to develop friendship or create relationship. He had inappropriate behavior in social context. He did not understand complex social situations. In addition, he did seemed not know time and place. He was not able to understand feeling of oneself as well as the others. Consequently, he could not express his emotion appropriately. He did not understand or express his non-verbal language for communicating with friends. He lacked of common interest or emotion with nearby persons. He greeted inappropriately or was not interested in greeting. In addition, he did not have eye contact. He used inadequate language etc. He was elected by Purposive Sampling. His parents were willing to allow them to participate in this study. The research instruments were the lesson plan of social stories, and the picture book of social stories. The instruments used for data collection, were the social interaction evaluation of autistic students. This research was Quasi Experimental Research as One Group Pre-test, Post-test Design. For the Pre-test, the experiment was conducted by social stories. Then, the Post-test was implemented. The statistic used for data analysis, included the Mean, and Standard Deviation. The research findings were shown by Graph. The findings revealed hat the autistic students taught by social stories indicated better social interaction after being taught by social stories.

Keywords: social story, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), autism, social interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Md. Arifur Rahman, Ummya Salma, Nazrul Islam

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Private sector banking business is one of the leading businesses of Bangladesh as it is profitable and directly attached with the economic development of the country. Training has got very high importance in this sector for increasing the performance of the banks. It has a long term impact on a number of aspects of the bank employees and their performances. It is an investment of the organization that is permanent in nature. Study shows that there are positive relationships between training and the employee commitment, job retention, job satisfaction and company performance. Training is also concerned with promotion, compensation, work-life policies, career development, task and contextual performance of the employees. As such, this paper aims at identifying the impact of training on employee commitment, job retention, job satisfaction and the performance of the private sector banks in Bangladesh. Both primary and secondary data were used to conduct the study. Data were collected from the bank officers who were trained in their banks. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the present situation of the banks and their employees. Inferential statistics were used to identify the factors and their significance concerned with training. Results show that there is a significant relationship between the performance and the training of the employees. It also shows that the training can motivate employees and encourage them to work hard. However, this study did not find any relationship between the commitment of the employees and the training. This study suggests that for increasing the performance of the banks, training is a must which is to be given deliberately for improving the specific skills of the bank employees.

Keywords: training, promotion, compensation, work-life policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Ha T. T. Ly, Truc B. Truc, Hai N. Truong, Mai P. T. Nguyen, Ngoc D. Ngo, Khanh V. Tran, Hai T. Le

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Beta thalassemia is one of the most common inherited blood disorders, which is characterized by decreased or absent in beta globin expression. Patients with Beta thalassemia whose anemia is not so severe as to necessitate transfusions are said to have thalassemia intermedia. Objective: The goal of this study is prenatal diagnosis for pregnancy woman with Beta thalassemia intermedia and her husband with Beta thalassemia carrier at high risk of Beta thalassemia major in Northern of Vietnam. Material and method: The family has a 6 years-old compound heterozygous thalassemia major for CD71/72(+A) and Hbb:c. -78A>G/nt-28(A>G) male child. The father was heterozygous for CD71/72(+A) mutation which is Beta plus type and the mother was compound heterozygosity of two different variants, namely, Hbb: c. -78A>G/nt-28(A>G) and CD26(A-G) HbE. Prenatal Beta thalassemia mutation detection in fetal DNA was carried out using multiplex Amplification-refractory mutation system ARMS-PCR and confirmed by direct Sanger-sequencing Hbb gene. Prenatal diagnoses were perfomed by amniotic fluid sampling from pregnant woman in the 16-18th week of pregnancy after the genotypes of parents of the probands were identified. Result: When amniotic fluid sample was analyzed for Beta globin gene (Hbb), we found that the genotype is heterozygous for CD71/72(+A) and CD26(A-G) HbE. This genotype is different from the 1st child of this family. Conclusion: Prenatal diagnosis helps the parents to know the genotype and the thalassemia status of the fetus, so they can have early decision on their pregnancy. Genetic diagnosis provided a useful method in diagnosis for familial members in pedigree, genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.

Keywords: beta thalassemia intermedia, Hbb gene, pedigree, prenatal diagnosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Yingisani Chabalala, Elhadi Adam, Khalid Adem Ali

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Mapping smallholder fruit plantations using optical data is challenging due to morphological landscape heterogeneity and crop types having overlapped spectral signatures. Furthermore, cloud covers limit the use of optical sensing, especially in subtropical climates where they are persistent. This research assessed the effectiveness of Sentinel-1 (S1) and Sentinel-2 (S2) data for mapping fruit trees and co-existing land-use types by using support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) classifiers independently. These classifiers were also applied to fused data from the two sensors. Feature ranks were extracted using the RF mean decrease accuracy (MDA) and forward variable selection (FVS) to identify optimal spectral windows to classify fruit trees. Based on RF MDA and FVS, the SVM classifier resulted in relatively high classification accuracy with overall accuracy (OA) = 0.91.6% and kappa coefficient = 0.91% when applied to the fused satellite data. Application of SVM to S1, S2, S2 selected variables and S1S2 fusion independently produced OA = 27.64, Kappa coefficient = 0.13%; OA= 87%, Kappa coefficient = 86.89%; OA = 69.33, Kappa coefficient = 69. %; OA = 87.01%, Kappa coefficient = 87%, respectively. Results also indicated that the optimal spectral bands for fruit tree mapping are green (B3) and SWIR_2 (B10) for S2, whereas for S1, the vertical-horizontal (VH) polarization band. Including the textural metrics from the VV channel improved crop discrimination and co-existing land use cover types. The fusion approach proved robust and well-suited for accurate smallholder fruit plantation mapping.

Keywords: smallholder agriculture, fruit trees, data fusion, precision agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Rujira Jitrwung, Kuntima Krekkeitsakul, Weerawat Patthaveekongka, Chiraphat Kumpidet, Jarukit Tepkeaw, Krissana Jaikengdee, Anantachai Wannajampa

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Flue gas discharging from coal fired or gas combustion power plant contains around 12% Carbon dioxide (CO₂), 6% Oxygen (O₂), and 82% Nitrogen (N₂).CO₂ is a greenhouse gas which has been concerned to the global warming. Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is a topic which is a tool to deal with this CO₂ realization. Flue gas is drawn down from the chimney and filtered, then it is compressed to build up the pressure until 8 bar. This compressed flue gas is sent to three stages Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), which is filled with activated carbon. Experiments were showed the optimum adsorption pressure at 7bar, which CO₂ can be adsorbed step by step in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stage, obtaining CO₂ concentration 29.8, 66.4, and 96.7 %, respectively. The mixed gas concentration from the last step is composed of 96.7% CO₂,2.7% N₂, and 0.6%O₂. This mixed CO₂product gas obtained from 3 stages PSA contained high concentration CO₂, which is ready to use for methanol synthesis. The mixed CO₂ was experimented in 5 Liter/Day of methanol synthesis reactor skid by 3 step processes as followed steam reforming, reverse water gas shift, and then hydrogenation. The result showed that proportional of mixed CO₂ and CH₄ 70/30, 50/50, 30/70 % (v/v), and 10/90 yielded methanol 2.4, 4.3, 5.6, and 6.0 Liter/day and save CO₂ 40, 30, 20, and 5 % respectively. The optimum condition resulted both methanol yield and CO₂ consumption using CO₂/CH₄ ratio 43/57 % (v/v), which yielded 4.8 Liter/day methanol and save CO₂ 27% comparing with traditional methanol production from methane steam reforming (5 Liter/day)and absent CO₂ consumption.

Keywords: carbon capture utilization and storage, pressure swing adsorption, reforming, reverse water gas shift, methanol

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Júlia Cristina Bonaldo, Christophe L. Martin, Martiniano Piccico, Keith Beale, Roop Kishore, Severine Romero-Baivier

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Refractory composite materials employed in steel casting applications are prone to cracking and material damage because of the very high operating temperature (thermal shock) and mismatched properties of the constituent phases. The fracture behavior of a model MgO-C composite refractory is investigated to quantify and characterize its thermal shock resistance, employing a cold crushing test and Brazilian test with fractographic analysis. The discrete element method (DEM) is used to generate numerical refractory composites. The composite in DEM is represented by an assembly of bonded particle clusters forming perfectly spherical aggregates and single spherical particles. For the stresses to converge with a low standard deviation and a minimum number of particles to allow reasonable CPU calculation time, representative volume element (RVE) numerical packings are created with various numbers of particles. Key microscopic properties are calibrated sequentially by comparing stress-strain curves from crushing experimental data. Comparing simulations with experiments also allows for the evaluation of crack propagation, fracture energy, and strength. The crack propagation during Brazilian experimental tests is monitored with digital image correlation (DIC). Simulations and experiments reveal three distinct types of fracture. The crack may spread throughout the aggregate, at the aggregate-matrix interface, or throughout the matrix.

Keywords: refractory composite, fracture mechanics, crack propagation, DEM

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Kaushal Kishore

Abstract:

Immense amount of imported fuels are used in Fiji for electricity generation, transportation and for carrying out miscellaneous household work. To alleviate its dependency on fossil fuel, paramount importance has been given to instigate the utilization of renewable energy sources for power generation and to reduce the environmental dilapidation. Amongst the many renewable energy sources, wind has been considered as one of the best identified renewable sources that are comprehensively available in Fiji. In this study the wind resource assessment for three locations in Rakiraki, Fiji has been carried out. The wind resource estimation at Rokavukavu, Navolau and at Tuvavatu has been analyzed. The average wind speed at 55 m above ground level (a.g.l) at Rokavukavu, Navolau, and Tuvavatu sites are 5.91 m/s, 8.94 m/s and 8.13 m/s with the turbulence intensity of 14.9%, 17.1%, and 11.7% respectively. The moment fitting method has been used to estimate the Weibull parameter and the power density at each sites. A high resolution wind resource map for the three locations has been developed by using Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP). The results obtained from WAsP exhibited good wind potential at Navolau and Tuvavatu sites. A wind farm has been proposed at Navolau and Tuvavatu site that comprises six Vergnet 275 kW wind turbines at each site. The annual energy production (AEP) for each wind farm is estimated and an economic analysis is performed. The economic analysis for the proposed wind farms at Navolau and Tuvavatu sites showed a payback period of 5 and 6 years respectively.

Keywords: annual energy production, Rakiraki Fiji, turbulence intensity, Weibull parameter, wind speed, Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: S. Gharbi, S. Labidi, M. Mars, M. Chelli, F. Ladeb

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The purpose of this study is to reduce radiation dose for chest CT examination by including Tube Current Modulation (TCM) to a standard CT protocol. A scan of an anthropomorphic male Alderson phantom was performed on a 128-slice scanner. The estimation of effective dose (ED) in both scans with and without mAs modulation was done via multiplication of Dose Length Product (DLP) to a conversion factor. Results were compared to those measured with a CT-Expo software. The size specific dose estimation (SSDE) values were obtained by multiplication of the volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) with a conversion size factor related to the phantom’s effective diameter. Objective assessment of image quality was performed with Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) measurements in phantom. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results showed including CARE Dose 4D; ED was lowered by 48.35% and 51.51% using DLP and CT-expo, respectively. In addition, ED ranges between 7.01 mSv and 6.6 mSv in case of standard protocol, while it ranges between 3.62 mSv and 3.2 mSv with TCM. Similar results are found for SSDE; dose was higher without TCM of 16.25 mGy and was lower by 48.8% including TCM. The SNR values calculated were significantly different (p=0.03<0.05). The highest one is measured on images acquired with TCM and reconstructed with Filtered back projection (FBP). In conclusion, this study proves the potential of TCM technique in SSDE and ED reduction and in conserving image quality with high diagnostic reference level for thoracic CT examinations.

Keywords: anthropomorphic phantom, computed tomography, CT-expo, radiation dose

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Huda S. Al-Azmi

Abstract:

There is a growing consensus that adoption of teachers’ self-efficacy measurement tools help to assess teachers’ abilities in specific areas in order to improve their skills. As a result, different instruments to assess teachers’ ability were developed by academics and practitioners. However, many of these instruments focused either on general teaching skills, or on the other hand, were very specific to one subject. As such, these instruments do not offer a tool to measure the ability of teachers in teaching 21^st century skills such as innovation skills. Teaching innovation skills helps to prepare students for lives and careers in the 21^st century. The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument measuring teachers’ self-efficacy of teaching innovation skills related to the classroom context and evaluating the teachers’ beliefs regarding their ability in teaching innovation skills. To reach this goal, the 16-item instrument measures four dimensions of innovation skills: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. 211 secondary-school teachers filled out the survey to quantitatively analyze the quality of the instrument. The instrument’s reliability and item analysis were measured by using jMetrik. The results concluded that the mean of self-efficacy ranged from 3 to 3.6 without extreme high or low self-efficacy scores. The discrimination analysis revealed that one item recorded a negative correlation with the total, and three items recorded low correlation with the total. The reliabilities of items ranged from 0.64 to 0.69 and the instrument needed a couple of revisions before practical use. The study concluded the need to discard one item and revise five items to increase the quality of the instrument for future work.

Keywords: critical thinking, collaboration, innovation skills, self-efficacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 214

Authors: Angel G. De Leon Hernandez

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A structure is defined as a physical system or, in certain cases, an arrangement of connected elements, capable of bearing certain loads. The structures are presented in every part of the daily life, e.g., in the designing of buildings, vehicles and mechanisms. The main goal of a structure designer is to develop a secure, aesthetic and maintainable system, considering the constraint imposed to every case. With the advances in the technology during the last decades, the capabilities of solving engineering problems have increased enormously. Nowadays the computers, play a critical roll in the structural analysis, pitifully, for university students the vast majority of these software are inaccessible due to the high complexity and cost they represent, even when the software manufacturers offer student versions. This is exactly the reason why the idea of developing a more reachable and easy-to-use computing tool. This program is designed as a tool for the university students enrolled in courser related to the structures analysis and designs, as a complementary instrument to achieve a better understanding of this area and to avoid all the tedious calculations. Also, the program can be useful for graduated engineers in the field of structural design and analysis. A graphical user interphase is included in the program to make it even simpler to operate it and understand the information requested and the obtained results. In the present document are included the theoretical basics in which the program is based to solve the structural analysis, the logical path followed in order to develop the program, the theoretical results, a discussion about the results and the validation of those results.

Keywords: stiffness matrix method, structural analysis, Matlab® applications, programming

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Zahra Khoshnood, Reza Khoshnood

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The aim of present study was to monitor the presence of Trichodina sp. in Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss collected from various fish farms in the western provinces of Iran during January, 2013- January, 2014. Out of 675 sampled fish 335, (49.16%) were infested with Trichodina. The highest prevalence was observed in the spring and winter followed by autumn and summer. In general, the intensity of infection was low except in cases where outbreaks of Trichodiniasis endangered the survival of fish in some ponds. In light infestation Trichodina is usually present on gills, fins and skin of apparently healthy fish. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis only appear on fish with heavy infections and cases of moderate ones that are usually exposed to one or more stress factors including, rough handling during transportation from ponds, overcrowdness, malnutrition, high of free ammonia and low of oxygen concentration. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis in sampled fish were sluggish movement, loss of appetite, black coloration, necrosis and ulcer on different parts of the body, detached scales and excessive accumulation of mucous in gill pouches. The most obvious histopathological changes in diseased fish were sloughing of the epidermal layer, aggregation of leucocytes and melanine-carrying cells (between the dermis and hypodermis) and proliferative changes including hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the epithelial lining cells of gill filaments which resulted in fusion of secondary lamellae. Control of Trichodiniasis, has been achieved by formalin bath treatment at a concentration of 250 ppm for one hour.

Keywords: gill, histopathology, rainbow trout, Trichodina

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Yang Xiao-Jun, Yu Tian-Hao, Hu Ying-Qi

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Breathing in foreign objects during the operation of the aircraft engine, impurities in the aircraft fuel and products of incomplete combustion can produce deposits on the surface of the turbine blades. These deposits reduce not only the turbine's operating efficiency but also the life of the turbine blades. Based on the small open wind tunnel, the simulation of deposits on the leading edge of the turbine has been carried out in this work. The effect of film cooling on particulate deposition was investigated. Based on the analysis, the adhesive mechanism for the molten pollutants’ reaching to the turbine surface was simulated by matching the Stokes number, TSP (a dimensionless number characterizing particle phase transition) and Biot number of the test facility and that of the real engine. The thickness distribution and growth trend of the deposits have been observed by high power microscope and infrared camera under different temperature of the main flow, the solidification temperature of the particulate objects, and the blowing ratio. The experimental results from the leading edge particulate deposition demonstrate that the thickness of the deposition increases with time until a quasi-stable thickness is reached, showing a striking effect of the blowing ratio on the deposition. Under different blowing ratios, there exists a large difference in the thickness distribution of the deposition, and the deposition is minimal at the specific blow ratio. In addition, the temperature of main flow and the solidification temperature of the particulate have a great influence on the deposition.

Keywords: deposition, experiment, film cooling, leading edge, paraffin particles

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Bander Alzahrani

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Information-centric networking (ICN) using architectures such as Publish-Subscribe Internet Routing Paradigm (PSIRP) is one of the promising candidates for a future Internet, has recently been under the spotlight by the research community to investigate the possibility of redesigning the current Internet architecture to solve many issues such as routing scalability, security, and quality of services issues.. The Bloom filter-based forwarding is a source-routing approach that is used in the PSIRP architecture. This mechanism is vulnerable to brute force attacks which may lead to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. In this work, we present a new forwarding approach that keeps the advantages of Bloom filter-based forwarding while mitigates attacks on the forwarding mechanism. In practice, we introduce a special type of forwarding nodes called Edge-FW to be placed at the edge of the network. The role of these node is to add an extra security layer by validating and inspecting packets at the edge of the network against brute-force attacks and check whether the packet contains a legitimate forwarding identifier (FId) or not. We leverage Certificateless Aggregate Signature (CLAS) scheme with a small size of 64-bit which is used to sign the FId. Hence, this signature becomes bound to a specific FId. Therefore, malicious nodes that inject packets with random FIds will be easily detected and dropped at the Edge-FW node when the signature verification fails. Our preliminary security analysis suggests that with the proposed approach, the forwarding plane is able to resist attacks such as DoS with very high probability.

Keywords: bloom filter, certificateless aggregate signature, denial-of-service, information centric network

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Mohammad Naeem Lakanwall

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Background:The thyroid gland, located just below the vocal cord on each side of and anterior to the trachea, is one of the main endocrine glands. Its normal weight is 15 to 20 grams in adults. The thyroid secretes two most important hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine, usually called T4 and T3, respectively. These hormones greatly increase the metabolic rate of the body. In addition to T3 and T4, the thyroid gland secrets calcitonin as well which is a significant hormone for calcium metabolism. Objective: The aim of this study is to estimate the proportion of and to identify factors associated with thyroid dysfunction among individuals coming to a tertiary care facility in Kabul, Afghanistan. Material and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study design was conducted from July to Sep 2018. Blood samples were obtained, serum TSH levels were measured, and the patients were divided into three diagnostic categories according to their serum TSH concentrations. 1) Hypothyroidism 2) Hyperthyroidism 3) Normal thyroid Results: A total of 127 individuals were part of the sample for the final analysis. The majority of study participants (77%) were females. A large number of the participants (92%) did not have a family history of thyroid dysfunction and the majority of the female participants, (85%) were not pregnant in the last two years. Furthermore, 98% of participants, were non-smokers. Conclusion: The findings of the current study showed a high prevalence of thyroid dysfunctions in individuals coming to FMIC for thyroid functions tests. The findings also indicated that aging and smoking are the factors associated with thyroid dysfunctions. Further studies are needed to find out the prevalence of and factors associated with thyroid dysfunctions.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Kabul, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, triiodothyronine, thyroxine

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Samuel Fekadu A., Esayas Alemayehu B., Bultum Oljira D., Seid Tiku D., Dessalegn Dadi D., Bart Van Der Bruggen A.

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The peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process was evaluated for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color from healthcare wastewater. A 2-level full factorial design with center points was created to investigate the effect of the process parameters, i.e., initial COD, H₂O₂, pH, reaction time and current density. Furthermore, the total energy consumption and average current efficiency in the system were evaluated. Predictive models for % COD, % color removal and energy consumption were obtained. The initial COD and pH were found to be the most significant variables in the reduction of COD and color in peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process. Hydrogen peroxide only has a significant effect on the treated wastewater when combined with other input variables in the process like pH, reaction time and current density. In the peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation process, current density appears not as a single effect but rather as an interaction effect with H₂O₂ in reducing COD and color. Lower energy expenditure was observed at higher initial COD, shorter reaction time and lower current density. The average current efficiency was found as low as 13 % and as high as 777 %. Overall, the study showed that hybrid electrochemical oxidation can be applied effectively and efficiently for the removal of pollutants from healthcare wastewater.

Keywords: electrochemical oxidation, UV, healthcare pollutants removals, factorial design

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Suzan Ibrahim

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Oil-based muds are the most regularly used rotary drilling methods in the oil and gas industry. However, they have a negative impact on the environment, which leads to restrictions of their application in many countries of the world. Consequently, looking for new eco-friendly alternative formulations of oil-based drilling fluids for the exploration of troublesome formations. As one of the developments of Novel formulation of environmentally friendly drilling fluids and investigation of the formulation for jatropha oil-based drilling fluid samples at different concentrations of viscosifiers such as low viscosity polyanionic cellulose (PAC- LV), high viscosity polyanionic cellulose (PAC-V) and local Egyptian bentonite. The oil-water ratio was taken as 70:30, which is beneficial in producing a low fluid loss. 15 drilling fluid samples were formulated different concentrations of bentonite, PAC- LV and PAC-V individually and their mud density, rheological properties, electrical stability and filtration loss properties were determined. The rheological performance showed at higher concentrations of viscosifier, the trend of viscosity increment of PAC performed in a similar way to bentonite. The best result of electrical stability by using the lowest concentration of viscosifier was achieved with PAC-V. The lowest fluid loss volumes were obtained by using the highest concentrations (4 g) of viscosifiers. Mud cake thickness of samples increased by using viscosifiers; however, a lower range was achieved compared to API specification. From the overall experiment, it can be concluded that as the concentrations of viscosifier increase, the viscosity trend increase in a similar way to both PAC-V and bentonite. But we must note that the PAC-V is a more environmentally friendly additive and a renewable resource, cheaper than bentonite and improves properties of eco-friendly OBMs well. It is a preferable choice for oil-based drilling fluids.

Keywords: invert emulsion mud, oil-based mud, rheological properties, viscosifier

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: H. Nouri, S. Chavoshi Borujeni, S. Anderson, S. Beecham, P. Sutton

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The potential risk of salt leaching through wastewater irrigation is of concern for most local governments and city councils. Despite the necessity of salinity monitoring and management in urban greenery, most attention has been on agricultural fields. This study was defined to investigate the capability and feasibility of monitoring and predicting soil salinity using near sensing and remote sensing approaches using EM38 surveys, and high-resolution multispectral image of WorldView3. Veale Gardens within the Adelaide Parklands was selected as the experimental site. The results of the near sensing investigation were validated by testing soil salinity samples in the laboratory. Over 30 band combinations forming salinity indices were tested using image processing techniques. The outcomes of the remote sensing and near sensing approaches were compared to examine whether remotely sensed salinity indicators could map and predict the spatial variation of soil salinity through a potential statistical model. Statistical analysis was undertaken using the Stata 13 statistical package on over 52,000 points. Several regression models were fitted to the data, and the mixed effect modelling was selected the most appropriate one as it takes to account the systematic observation-specific unobserved heterogeneity. Results showed that SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) was the only salinity index that could be considered as a predictor for soil salinity but further investigation is needed. However, near sensing was found as a rapid, practical and realistically accurate approach for salinity mapping of heterogeneous urban vegetation.

Keywords: WorldView3, remote sensing, EM38, near sensing, urban green spaces, green smart cities

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Zihua Wu, Yueming He, Xiaoxiao Yu, Yuanyuan Wang, Huaqing Xie

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The match of Solar thermoelectric generator (STEG) and phase change materials (PCM) can enhance the solar energy storage and reduce environmental impact from the day-and-night transformation and weather changes. This work utilizes D-mannitol (DM) matrix as the suitable PCM for coupling with thermoelectric generator to achieve the middle-temperature solar energy storage performance at 165℃-167℃. DM/MWCNT composite phase change materials prepared by ball milling not only can keep a high phase change enthalpy of DM material but also have great photo-thermal conversion efficiency of 82%. Based on the self-made storage device container, the effect of PCM thickness on the solar energy storage performance is further discussed and analyzed. The experimental results prove that PCM-STEG coupling system can output more electric energy than pure STEG system because PCM can decline the heat transfer and storage thermal energy to further generate the electric energy through thermal-to-electric conversion when the light is removed. The increase of PCM thickness can reduce the heat transfer and enhance thermal storage, and then the power generation performance of PCM-STEG coupling system can be improved. As the increase of light intensity, the output electric energy of the coupling system rises accordingly, and the maximum amount of electrical energy can reach by 113.85 J at 1.6 W/cm2. The study of the PCM-STEG coupling system has certain reference for the development of solar energy storage and application.

Keywords: solar energy, solar thermoelectric generator, phase change materials, solar-to-electric energy, DM/MWCNT

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Vun Yee Thien, Kenneth Francis Rodrigues, Clemente Michael Vui Ling Wong, Wilson Thau Lym Yong

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Transcriptomes associated with the process of photosynthesis have offered insights into the mechanism of gene regulation in terrestrial plants; however, limited information is available as far as macroalgae are concerned. This investigation aims to decipher the underlying mechanisms associated with photosynthesis in the red alga, Kappaphycus alvarezii, by performing a differential expression analysis on a de novo assembled transcriptomes. Comparative analysis of gene expression was designed to examine the alteration of light qualities and its effect on physiological mechanisms in the red alga. High-throughput paired-end RNA-sequencing was applied to profile the transcriptome of K. alvarezii irradiated with different wavelengths of light (blue 492-455 nm, green 577-492 nm and red 780-622 nm) as compared to the full light spectrum, resulted in more than 60 million reads individually and assembled using Trinity and SOAPdenovo-Trans. The transcripts were annotated in the NCBI non-redundant (nr) protein, SwissProt, KEGG and COG databases with a cutoff E-value of 1e-5 and nearly 30% of transcripts were assigned to functional annotation by Blast searches. Differential expression analysis was performed using edgeR. The DEGs were designated to six categories: BL (blue light) regulated, GL (green light) regulated, RL (red light) regulated, BL or GL regulated, BL or RL regulated, GL or RL regulated, and either BL, GL or RL regulated. These DEGs were mapped to terms in KEGG database and compared with the whole transcriptome background to search for genes that regulated by light quality. The outcomes of this study will enhance our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying light-induced responses in red algae.

Keywords: de novo transcriptome sequencing, differential gene expression, Kappaphycus alvareziired, red alga

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Authors: Aleme Mekuria, Samuel Mathewos

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Background: Teenage pregnancy has long been a worldwide social, economic and educational concern for the developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. Studies on adolescent sexuality and pregnancy are very limited in our country. Therefore, this study aims at assessing the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and its determinants among school adolescents of Arba Minch town. Methods: Institution- based, cross-sectional study was conducted from 20-30 March 2014. Systematic sampling technique was used to select a total of 578 students from four schools of the town. Data were collected by trained data collectors using a pre-tested, self-administered structured questionnaire. The analysis was made using the software SPSS version 20.0 statistical packages. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of teenage pregnancy. Results: The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among school adolescents of Arba Minch town was 7.7%. Being grade11(AOR=4.6;95%CI:1.4,9.3) and grade12 student (AOR=5.8;95% CI:1.3,14.4), not knowing the correct time to take emergency contraceptives(AOR=3.3;95%CI:1.4,7.4), substance use(AOR=3.1;95%CI:1.1,8.8), living with either of biological parents (AOR=3.3;95%CI:1.1,8.7) and poor parent-daughter interaction (AOR=3.1;95%CI:1.1,8.7) were found to be significant predictors of teenage pregnancy. Conclusion: This study revealed a high level of teenage pregnancy among school adolescents of Arba Minch town. A significant number of adolescent female school students were at risk of facing the challenges of teenage pregnancy in the study area. School-based reproductive health education and strong parent-daughter relationships should be strengthened.

Keywords: adolescent, Arba minch, risk factors, school, southern Ethiopia, teenage pregnancy

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Authors: Abel Olusegun Egunjobi, Olusegun Oyeleye Adesanya

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Teaching effectiveness of lecturers in a tertiary institution in Nigeria is one of the determinants of the lecturer’s productivity. In this study, therefore, lecturers’ teaching effectiveness was examined vis-à-vis their multimedia technologies utilisation in Colleges of Education (CoE) in South-West, Nigeria. This is for the purpose of ascertaining the relationship and contribution of multimedia technologies utilisation to lecturers’ teaching effectiveness in Nigerian colleges of education. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study, while a multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the study. A stratified sampling technique was used to select colleges of education, and a simple random sampling method was employed to select lecturers from the selected colleges of education. A total of 862 lecturers (627 males and 235 females) were selected from the colleges of education used for the study. The instrument used was lecturers’ questionnaire on multimedia technologies utilisation and teaching effectiveness with a reliability coefficient of 0.85 at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and t-test. The findings showed that the level of multimedia technologies utilisation in colleges of education was low, whereas lecturers’ teaching effectiveness was high. Findings also revealed that the lecturers used multimedia technologies purposely for personal and professional developments, so also for up to date news on economic and political matters. Also, findings indicated that laptop, Ipad, CD-ROMs, and computer instructional software were the multimedia technologies frequently utilised by the lecturers. There was also a significant difference in the teaching effectiveness between lecturers in the Federal and State COE. The government should, therefore, make adequate provision for multimedia technologies in the COE in Nigeria for lecturers’ utilisation in their instructions so as to boost their students’ learning outcomes.

Keywords: colleges of education, lecturers’ teaching effectiveness, multimedia technologies utilisation, Southwest Nigeria

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Authors: Nacéra Benoussaid, Lehalali Meriem, Benchabane Messaoud

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Our work focuses on the production of compound antibiotic effect of volatile nature namely hydrogen cyanide and the production and identification of molecules phénazinique by some strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas spp isolated from the rhizosphere of some trees for a possible use as bio pesticides antifungal effect and/or antibiotic. We tested the production of hydrogen cyanide of 21 strains of Pseudomonas spp. fluorescent among them 19 strains (90, 47%) showed a positive cyanogenesis.The antagonism test executed in vitro showed that Pseudomonas strains have a higher anti fungal effect relative to their antibacterial effect with diameters of inhibition zones up to 3, 9 cm recorded by the strain F48 against Coleosporiumsp compared with recorded results against bacteria with a maximum inhibition of 1, 26 cm among this antagonistic strain.Three strains were selected by testing for producing phénazines namely PI9, BB9 and F20. The effect of the antimicrobial activity was performed on different culture media (GN, King B, ISP2 and PDA). The results of our study allowed us to retain the King B medium as ideal medium for the production of secondary metabolite. The produced phenazinique compounds was extracted from various organic solvents, and after the results of antibiographie against germs - targets, the extracts of ethyl acetate gave the best results compared to dichloromethane and hexane.The Analysis of these compounds of antibiotic phenazinique effect within layer chromatography (CCM) and high performance liquid chromatography( HPLC) indicate that both strains PI9 and F20 are productive of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA). The BB9 strain is suspected to be productive of another phenazinique compound.

Keywords: Pseudomonas ssp. fluorescents, antagonism in vitro, secondary metabolite, phenazines, biopesticide.

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Authors: D. Jayalakshmi, S. S. Bhosale

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This paper, in its first part, presents the state-of-the-art literature of design approaches for geosynthetic reinforced unpaved roads. The literature starting since 1970 and the critical appraisal of flexible pavement design by Giroud and Han (2004) and Jonathan Fannin (2006) is presented. The design example is illustrated for Indian conditions. The example emphasizes the results computed by Giroud and Han's (2004) design method with the Indian road congress guidelines by IRC SP 72 -2015. The input data considered are related to the subgrade soil condition of Maharashtra State in India. The unified soil classification of the subgrade soil is inorganic clay with high plasticity (CH), which is expansive with a California bearing ratio (CBR) of 2% to 3%. The example exhibits the unreinforced case and geotextile as reinforcement by varying the rut depth from 25 mm to 100 mm. The present result reveals the base thickness for the unreinforced case from the IRC design catalogs is in good agreement with Giroud and Han (2004) approach for a range of 75 mm to 100 mm rut depth. Since Giroud and Han (2004) method is applicable for both reinforced and unreinforced cases, for the same data with appropriate Nc factor, for the same rut depth, the base thickness for the reinforced case has arrived for the Indian condition. From this trial, for the CBR of 2%, the base thickness reduction due to geotextile inclusion is 35%. For the CBR range of 2% to 5% with different stiffness in geosynthetics, the reduction in base course thickness will be evaluated, and the validation will be executed by the full-scale accelerated pavement testing set up at the College of Engineering Pune (COE), India.

Keywords: base thickness, design approach, equation, full scale accelerated pavement set up, Indian condition

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Authors: Seema Sangwan, Ekta Narwal, Kannepalli Annapurna

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation on drought stress tolerance in 3 genotypes of wheat subjected to moderate water stress, i.e. HD 3043 (drought tolerant), HD 2987 (drought tolerant), and HD 2967 (drought sensitive). Various growth parameters were studied, e.g. total dry weight, total shoot and root length, root volume, root surface area, grain weight and number, leaf area, chlorophyll content in leaves, relative water content, number of spores and percent colonisation of roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Total dry weight, root surface area and chlorophyll content were found to be significantly high in AMF inoculated plants as compared to the non-mycorrhizal ones and also higher in drought-tolerant varieties of wheat as compared to the sensitive variety HD 2967, in moderate water stress treatments. Leakage of electrolytes was lower in case of AMF inoculated stressed plants. Under continuous water stress, leaf water content and leaf area were significantly increased in AMF inoculated plants as compared to un-inoculated stressed plants. Overall, the increased colonisation of roots of wheat by AMF in inoculated plants weather drought tolerant or sensitive could have a beneficial effect in alleviating the harmful effects of water stress in wheat and delaying its senescence.

Keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, wheat, drought, stress

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Authors: Alireza Naseri, Susan L. Holdt, Charlotte Jacobsen

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In 2014, the global amount of carrageenan production was 60,000 ton with a value of US$ 626 million. From this number, it can be estimated that the total dried seaweed consumption for this production was at least 300,000 ton/year. The protein content of these types of seaweed is 5 – 25%. If just half of this total amount of protein could be extracted, 18,000 ton/year of a high-value protein product would be obtained. The overall aim of this study was to develop a technology that will ensure further utilization of the seaweed that is used only as raw materials for carrageenan production as single extraction at present. More specifically, proteins should be extracted from the seaweed either before or after extraction of carrageenan with focus on maintaining the quality of carrageenan as a main product. Different mechanical, chemical and enzymatic technologies were evaluated. The optimized process was implemented in lab scale and based on its results; the new experiments were done a pilot and larger scale. In order to calculate the efficiency of the new upstream multi-extraction process, protein content was tested before and after extraction. After this step, the extraction of carrageenan was done and carrageenan content and the effect of extraction on yield were evaluated. The functionality and quality of carrageenan were measured based on rheological parameters. The results showed that by using the new multi-extraction process (submitted patent); it is possible to extract almost 50% of total protein without any negative impact on the carrageenan quality. Moreover, compared to the routine carrageenan extraction process, the new multi-extraction process could increase the yield of carrageenan and the rheological properties such as gel strength in the final carrageenan had a promising improvement. The extracted protein has initially been screened as a plant protein source in typical food applications. Further work will be carried out in order to improve properties such as color, solubility, and taste.

Keywords: carrageenan, extraction, protein, seaweed

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Authors: Adem Öğüt, M. Tahir Demirsel

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Rapid changes and developments today, besides the opportunities and facilities they offer to the organization, may also be a source of danger and difficulties due to the uncertainty. In order to take advantage of opportunities and to take the necessary measures against possible uncertainties, organizations must always follow the changes and developments that occur in the business environment and develop flexible structures and strategies for the alternative cases. Perceived environmental uncertainty is an outcome of managers’ perceptions of the combined complexity, instability and unpredictability in the organizational environment. An environment that is perceived to be complex, changing rapidly, and difficult to predict creates high levels of uncertainty about the appropriate organizational responses to external circumstances. In an uncertain and complex environment, organizations experiencing cutthroat competition may be successful by developing their corporate entrepreneurial ability. Corporate entrepreneurship is a process that includes many elements such as innovation, creating new business, renewal, risk-taking and being predictive. Successful corporate entrepreneurship is a critical factor which has a significant contribution to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, to renew the organization and to adapt the environment. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of perceived environmental uncertainty of managers on corporate entrepreneurship performance. The research was conducted on 222 business executives in one of the major industrial zones of Turkey, Konya Organized Industrial Zone (KOS). According to the results, it has been observed that there is a positive statistically significant relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and corporate entrepreneurial activities.

Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, industrial zone, perceived environmental uncertainty, uncertainty

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Authors: Adedoyin Opeyemi Osokoya

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The study assesses the influence of social media on perceived learning outcome of agricultural science students in tertiary institutions in Oyo state, Nigeria. The four-stage sampling procedure was used to select participants. All students in the seven tertiary institutions that offer agriculture science as a course of study in Oyo State was the population. A university, a college of agriculture and a college of education were sampled, and a department from each was randomly selected. Twenty percent of the students’ population in the respective selected department gave a sample size of 165. Questionnaire was used to collect information on respondents’ personal characteristics and information related to access to social media. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, correlation, and multiple regression at the 0.05 confidence level. Age and household size were 21.13 ± 2.64 years and 6 ± 2.1 persons respectively. All respondents had access to social media, majority (86.1%) owned Android phone, 57.6% and 52.7% use social media for course work and entertainment respectively, while the commonly visited sites were WhatsApp, Facebook, Google, Opera mini. Over half (53.9%) had an unfavourable attitude towards the use of social media for learning; benefits of the use of social media for learning was high (56.4%). Removal of information barrier created by distance (x̄=1.58) was the most derived benefit, while inadequate power supply (x̄=2.36), was the most severe constraints. Age (β=0.23), sex (β=0.37), ownership of Android phone (β=-1.29), attitude (β=0.37), constraints (β =-0.26) and use of social media (β=0.23) were significant predictors of influence on perceived learning outcomes.

Keywords: use of social media, agricultural science students, undergraduates of tertiary institutions, Oyo State of Nigeria

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