Search results for: incident information system

Authors: Thi Phuong Ly Tran

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Being a basic and unique to human beings, cognitive activity possesses spiritualistic characteristics and is conveyed through languages. Words that represent rational cognition or processes related to rationality as follow: know, think, understand, doubt, be afraid, remember, forget, think (that), realize (that), find (that), etc. can reflect the process by which human beings have transformed cognitive activities into diversified and delicate manners through linguistic tasks. In this research article, applying the descriptive method and comparative method, we would like to utilize the application of the theoretical system of linguistic characteristics of cognitive verbs in Vietnamese language in comparison with English language. These achievements of this article will meaningfully contribute to highlight characteristics of Vietnamese language and identify the similarities and differences in the linguistic processes of Vietnamese and English people as well as supply more knowledge for social requirements such as foreign language learning, dictionary editing, language teaching in schools.

Keywords: cognitive activity, cognitive perspective, Vietnamese language, English language

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Authors: Sunday Odunaiya

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The statistics of banks in operation in this current dispensation compared to some decades ago has brought about a lot of changes on the face of the financial system. The demand of customers, technological advancement, and government policies among others has therefore generated a lot of heat for financial sector’s growth, sustenance and survival. This paper discusses mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in banking sector using West Africa as a yardstick of evaluation. It explains rigorously the conditions that warrant mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector, its effect, and how to ensure mergers and acquisitions effectiveness in the banking sector. The conceptual and empirical review of the relevant literature were done systematically while value-increasing and value-decreasing theories were used to substantiate the discourse. Findings of this paper show that mergers and acquisitions is a practical and conscious activity in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast from earliest time till date with tremendous turnaround in the financial sector. It was found out that M&A is consensually arrived at by the targets and the acquirer on a value-based account. In other words, merger and acquisition is a deliberate decision reached by the management of such bank for a ‘just cause’.

Keywords: acquisitions, merger, management, financial sector

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Authors: A. A. Adekunle, A. M. Omoare, W. O. Oyediran

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This study was carried out to assess rural women’s skill acquisition in the processing of locust bean in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 90 women locust bean processors for this study. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The result showed that the mean age of respondents was 40.72 years. Most (70.00%) of the respondents were married. The mean processing experience was 8.63 years. 93.30% of the respondents relied on information from fellow locust beans processors and friends. All (100%) the respondents did not acquire improved processing skill through trainings and workshops. It can be concluded that the rural women’s skill acquisition on modernized processing techniques was generally low. It is hereby recommend that the rural women processors should be trained by extension service providers through series of workshops and seminars on improved processing techniques.

Keywords: locust bean, processing, skill acquisition, rural women

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Authors: Ronghui (Kevin) Zhou

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This research intends to explore the enactment of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), in term of the ESD concept, in primary schools in China, and investigate the factors that have positively or negatively impacted the outcome of ESD in urban primary schools in China. The proposed research question is: how is the ESD concept perceived and enacted by the local education stakeholders. This research is conducted in multiple primary schools in China and has questionnaired and interviewed multiple education stakeholders, including school principals, school teachers, and bureau from the municipal Ministry of Education. Factor analysis, regression analysis, and critical discourse analysis are adopted to interpret and analyze the data. The preliminary findings suggest that contested ESD definition, education system pressures, education policy enforcement, and power dynamics between stakeholders are the key factors that have determined to what degree is ESD enacted, and to what extent is ESD practiced in primary schools in China.

Keywords: education for sustainable development, China, primary education, case study

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Authors: Sandra Cardoso, Gaspar Pais, Judite Neves, Sandra Cavaca, Fernando Araújo

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In 2021, Portugal has 63 emergency department (ED) visits per 100 people annually, the highest numbers in Europe. While EDs provide a critical service, high use is indicative of inappropriate and inefficient healthcare. In Portugal, all ED have the Manchester Triage System (MTS), a clinical risk management tool to enable that patients are seen in order of clinical priority. In 2023, more than 40% of the ED visits were of non-urgent conditions (blue and green), that could be better managed in primary health care (PHC), meaning wrong use of resources and lack of health literacy. From 2017, the country has a phone line, SNS24 (Contact Centre of the National Health Service), for triage, counseling, and referral service, 24 hours/7 days a week. The pilot project ‘Call before, save lives’ was implemented in the municipalities of Póvoa de Varzim and Vila do Conde (around 150.000 residents), in May 2023, by the executive board of the Portuguese Health Service, with the support of the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, and local authorities. This geographical area has short travel times, 99% of the population a family doctor and the region is organized in a health local unit (HLU), integrating PHC and the local hospital. The purposes of this project included to increase awareness to contact SNS 24, before going to an ED, and non-urgent conditions oriented to a family doctor, reducing ED visits. The implementation of the project involved two phases, beginning with: i) development of campaigns using local influencers (fishmonger, model, fireman) through local institutions and media; ii) provision of telephone installed on site to contact SNS24; iii) establishment of open consultation in PHC; iv) promotion of the use of SNS24; v) creation of acute consultations at the hospital for complex chronic patients; and vi) direct referral for home hospitalization by PHC. The results of this project showed an excellent level of access to SNS24, an increase in the number of users referred to ED, with great satisfaction of users and professionals. The second phase, initiated in January 2024, for access to the ED, the need for prior referral was established as an admission rule, except for certain situations, as trauma patients. If the patient refuses, their registration in the ED and subsequent screening in accordance with the MTS must be ensured. When the patient is non-urgent, shall not be observed in the ED, provided that, according to his clinical condition, is guaranteed to be referred to PHC or to consultation/day hospital, through effective scheduling of an appointment for the same or the following day. In terms of results, 8 weeks after beginning of phase 2, we assist of a decrease in self-reported patients to ED from 59% to 15%, and a reduction of around 7% of ED visits. The key for this success was an effective public campaign that increases the knowledge of the right use of the health system, and capable of changing behaviors.

Keywords: contact centre of the national health service, emergency department visits, public campaign, health literacy, SNS24

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Authors: Aptin Rahnavard, Ghavamaldin Asadian, Khalil Pourshamsian, Mariamalsadat Taghavi

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Dog rose is one of the important rose species in Iran that the distant past had been considered due to nutritional value and medicinal. Despite its long history of use, due to poor information on the genetic modification of plants has been done resources inheritance. In this study was to assess the genetic diversity. Total of 30 genotypes Dog rose from areas of northern Iran in the Caspian region (provinces of Guilan and Mazandaran) were evaluated using 25 RAPD primers. The number of bands produced total of 202 and for each primer were measured in a bands with an average 8-band .The number of polymorphic bands per primer ranged from 1 to 13 and the bands were in the range of 300 to 3000 bp. Based on the results OPA-04 primer with 13 bands and PRA-1, E-09 and A-04 with 5-band were created maximum and minimum number of amplified fragments. Molecular marker genotypes showed a high degree of polymorphism. Studied genotypes based on RAPD results were divided into 2 groups and 2 subgroups. Most similar in subgroups A2 and B group was the lowest.

Keywords: rosa canina spp., RAPD marker, genetic variation, caspian climate

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Authors: Lizbeth Puerta, Enselmina Marín

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The purpose of this research is to present a survey to be applied to professors of public universities, to identify the factors that benefit or hinder the university-industry relation. Hence, this research studies some elements that integrate the variables: Knowledge management, technology management, and technology transfer; to define the existence of a relation between these variables and the industry necessities of innovation. This study is exploratory, descriptive and non-experimental. The research question is: What is the impact of the knowledge management, the technology management, and the technology transfer, made by administrative support areas of the public universities, in the industries innovation? Thus, literature review was made to identify some elements that should be considered to design a survey that allows to obtain valid information to the study variables. After this, the survey was developed, and the Content Validity Analysis was made through the Lawshe Model. The analysis indicated that the Content Validity Index (CVI) was 0.80. Hence, it was determined that this survey presents acceptable psychometric properties to be used as an evaluation tool.

Keywords: innovation, knowledge management, technology management, technology transfer

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Authors: Francesco Morgan Bono, Simone Cinquemani

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This research aims to enhance bridge monitoring by employing innovative techniques that incorporate exogenous factors into the modeling of sensor signals, thereby improving long-term predictability beyond traditional static methods. Using real datasets from two different bridges equipped with Linear Variable Displacement Transducer (LVDT) sensors, the study investigates the fundamental principles governing sensor behavior for more precise long-term forecasts. Additionally, the research evaluates performance on noisy and synthetically damaged data, proposing a residual-based alarm system to detect anomalies in the bridge. In summary, this novel approach combines advanced modeling, exogenous factors, and anomaly detection to extend prediction horizons and improve preemptive damage recognition, significantly advancing structural health monitoring practices.

Keywords: structural health monitoring, dynamic models, sindy, railway bridges

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Authors: Shathya Duobiene, Gediminas Račiukaitis

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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are an emerging technology that opens up a new field of research. The significant advance in WSN leads to an increasing prevalence of various monitoring applications and real-time assistance in labs and factories. Selective surface activation induced by laser (SSAIL) is a promising technology that adapts to the WSN design freedom of shape, dimensions, and material. This article proposes and implements a WSN-based temperature and humidity monitoring system, and its deployed architectures made for the monitoring task are discussed. Experimental results of newly developed sensor nodes implemented in university campus laboratories are shown. Then, the simulation and the implementation results obtained through monitoring scenarios are displayed. At last, a convenient solution to keep the WSN alive and functional as long as possible is proposed. Unlike other existing models, on success, the node is self-powered and can utilise minimal power consumption for sensing and data transmission to the base station.

Keywords: IoT, network formation, sensor nodes, SSAIL technology

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Authors: Shah Muhammad Butt

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The study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of e-governance in Pakistan's public universities and how that adoption has affected organizational performance. An online Likert scale survey was utilized to gather information from 350 participants from different public universities in Pakistan. The data were examined using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The findings suggest that organizational culture, infrastructure, and leadership support are among the elements impacting the adoption of e-governance at Pakistan's public sector universities. A further finding of the study was that e-governance adoption benefited organizational performance, including effectiveness, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The study emphasizes the significance of e-governance adoption at public sector universities and the demand for successful policies and strategies to support its implementation. To increase organisational performance and raise the standard of higher education in Pakistan, policymakers and university administrators should use the study's findings to develop and practice e-governance policies and initiatives.

Keywords: e-governance, adoption, public sector universities, Pakistan, organizational performance, higher education, technology, ICT, factors, comparative analysis

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Authors: Kashish Sareen, Jatinder Singh Bal

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The use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has grown vastly in the last era, pointing out the crucial need for scalable and energy-efficient routing and data gathering and aggregation protocols in corresponding large-scale environments. Wireless Sensor Networks have now recently emerged as a most important computing platform and continue to grow in diverse areas to provide new opportunities for networking and services. However, the energy constrained and limited computing resources of the sensor nodes present major challenges in gathering data. The sensors collect data about their surrounding and forward it to a command centre through a base station. The past few years have witnessed increased interest in the potential use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) as they are very useful in target detecting and other applications. However, hierarchical clustering protocols have maximum been used in to overall system lifetime, scalability and energy efficiency. In this paper, the state of the art in corresponding hierarchical clustering approaches for large-scale WSN environments is shown.

Keywords: clustering, DLCC, MLCC, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: Nabhan H. N. Al-Harrasi

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Action Research (AR) plays an important role in improving the problematical situation. It is a process that enhances thinking and practise and bridges the gap between abstract and concrete thinking. Nowadays, AR as a methodology is wildly used to implement projects based on understanding the needs of owners, considering the organizational culture, meeting the requirements, encouraging partnership, representing different viewpoints, and building the project. This research describes the whole processes of digitizing Post-graduate theses and all articles published in 6 Journals at Sultan Qaboos University. AR implemented to respond to the university needs to enhance accessibilities to its information resources and make them available through the national repository. In order to prepare the action plan, the library administration met to discuss several points related to the proposed project, the most important of which are: • Providing digitalization devices. • Locating a specific part of the Library as a Digitization Unit. • Choosing a team. • Defining tasks. • Implementing the proposed project and evaluating the whole processes.

Keywords: action research, digitization, Theses, Journal articles, open access, Oman

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Authors: David Tena-Gago, Jose M. Alcaraz Calero, Qi Wang

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The evolution and integration of automated vehicles have become more and more tangible in recent years. State-of-the-art technological advances in the field of camera-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer vision greatly favor the performance and reliability of the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), leading to a greater knowledge of vehicular operation and resembling human behavior. However, the exclusive use of this technology still seems insufficient to control vehicular operation at 100%. To reveal the degree of accuracy of the current camera-based automated driving AI modules, this paper studies the structure and behavior of one of the main solutions in a controlled testing environment. The results obtained clearly outline the lack of reliability when using exclusively the AI model in the perception stage, thereby entailing using additional complementary sensors to improve its safety and performance.

Keywords: accuracy assessment, AI-driven mobility, artificial intelligence, automated vehicles

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Authors: Nazia Yaqub

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Globally, the number of cases of international parental child abduction has remained consistent in the past decade despite the legal provision designed to prevent and deter abduction, and so it appears the current legal approach to prevent abduction is lacking. Reflecting on the findings of an empirical study conducted by the author between 2017-19 on parental abduction from the UK, the article considers a solution to the predicament of protecting children at risk of abduction through electronic monitoring. The electronic monitoring of children has negative connotations, particularly in its use in the criminal justice system, yet in the context of family law proceedings, the article considers whether electronic monitoring could serve a protective rather than a punitive purpose. The article reflects on the use of electronic monitoring in parental abduction cases by the Family Courts and examines the ethical considerations of the proposal, drawing on the rights found in the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Keywords: law, parental child abduction, electronic monitoring, legal solutions

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Authors: Ghafor Ahmadi, Nader Bohloli Zynab

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Rapid scientific changes are the driving force of upheaval. As new technologies arrive, human’s life changes and information becomes one of the productive sources besides other factors. Optimum application of each technology depends on precise recognition of that technology. Options of mobile phones are constantly developing and evolving. Meanwhile, one of the influential variables for improving the performance and eternity of organizations is creativity. One of the new technologies tied with development and innovation is mobile phone. In this research, the contribution of different dimensions of mobile technologies such as perceived use, perceived enjoyment, continuance intention, confirmation and satisfaction to creativity of employees were investigated. Statistical population included 510 employees of Kermanshah Petrochemical Company. Sample size was defined 217 based on Morgan and Krejcie table. This study is descriptive and data gathering instrument was a questionnaire. Applying SPSS software, linear regression was analyzed. It was found out that all dimensions of mobile technologies except satisfaction affect on creativity of employees.

Keywords: mobile technologies, continuance intention, perceived enjoyment, perceived use, confirmation, satisfaction, creativity

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Authors: Rahal Nacer, Beghdad Houda, Tehami Mohamed, Souici Abdelaziz

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Although the shrinkage of the concrete causes undesirable parasitic effects to the structure, it can then harm the resistance and the good appearance of the structure. Long term behaviourmodelling of steel-concrete composite beams requires the use of the time variable and the taking into account of all the sustained stress history of the concrete slab constituting the cross section. The work introduced in this article is a theoretical study of the behaviour of composite beams with respect to the phenomenon of concrete shrinkage. While using the theory of the linear viscoelasticity of the concrete, and on the basis of the rate of creep method, in proposing an analytical model, made up by a system of two linear differential equations, emphasizing the effects caused by shrinkage on the resistance of a steel-concrete composite beams. Results obtained from the application of the suggested model to a steel-concrete composite beam are satisfactory.

Keywords: composite beams, shrinkage, time, rate of creep method, viscoelasticity theory

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Authors: N. Moudir, N. Moulai-Mostefa, Y. Boukennous, I. Bozetine, N. Kamel, D. Moudir

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the study focuses on a novel process of silver powders synthesis for the preparation of conductive pastes used for solar cells metalization. Butyl-Carbitol and butyl-carbitol Acetate have been used as solvents and reducing agents of silver nitrate (AgNO3) as precursor to get silver powders. XRD characterization revealed silver powders with a cubic crystal system. SEM micro graphs showed spherical morphology of the particles. Laser granulometer gives similar particles distribution for the two agents. Using same glass frit and organic vehicle for comparative purposes, two conductive pastes were prepared with the synthesized silver powders for the front-side metalization of multi-crystalline cells. The pastes provided acceptable fill factor of 59.5 % and 60.8 % respectively.

Keywords: chemical reduction, conductive paste, silver nitrate, solar cell

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Authors: Majid Karimabadi, Ahmad Farzaneh Kore, Behnam Azadegan

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The evolution of magnetized quark gluon plasma (QGP) in the framework of magneto- hydrodynamics is the focus of our study. We are investigating the temporal and spatial evolution of QGP using a second order viscous hydrodynamic framework. The fluid is considered to be magnetized and subjected to the influence of a magnetic field that is generated during the early stages of relativistic heavy ion collisions. We assume boost invariance along the beam line, which is represented by the z coordinate, and fluid expansion in the x direction. Additionally, we assume that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the reaction plane, which corresponds to the y direction. The fluid is considered to have infinite electrical conductivity. To analyze this system, we solve the coupled Maxwell and conservation equations. By doing so, we are able to determine the time and space dependence of the energy density, velocity, and magnetic field in the transverse plane of the viscous magnetized hot plasma. Furthermore, we obtain the spectrum of hadrons and compare it with experimental data.

Keywords: QGP, magnetohydrodynamics, hadrons, conversation

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Authors: Luv Sharma

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Sex determination has been the most intriguing puzzle for forensic pathologists and anthropologists, for which efforts have been made for a long. Sexual dimorphism is well established in the adult pelvis, and it is known to provide the highest level of information about sexual dimorphism. This study was conducted to know whether this dimorphism exists in fetal bones or not. A total of 34 pairs of fetal pelvis bones (22 males and 12 Females), ages ranging from 4 months to full term, were collected from unidentified dead fetuses brought to the Department of Forensic Medicine for routine medicolegal autopsies to study for sexual dimorphism in the Department of Anatomy, Pt. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak. Samples were divided into 2 age groups, and various metric parameters were recorded with the help of a digital vernier caliper. Data obtained was subjected to descriptive and discriminant functional analysis. Results of Descriptive and Discriminant Functional Analysis showed that sex determination can be done with 100% accuracy by using different combinations of parameters of fetal ilium. This study illustrates that sexual dimorphism exists from early fetal life after mid-pregnancy; it can be clearly established by discriminant functional analysis.

Keywords: Ilium, fetus, sex determination, morphometric

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Authors: Prashant Kumar, Edamana Prasad

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The White light emitting material has an emerging field in recent years due to their widespread application in the field of optoelectronics and cellular display. In the present study, we have achieved white light emission in gel medium through partial resonance energy transfer from different donors (naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene) to lanthanides {Eu(III) and Tb(III)}. The gel was formed by the self- assembly of glucose cored poly(aryl ether) dendrons in DMSO-Water mixture (1:9 v/v). The white light emission was further confirmed by the CIE coordinates (Commission Internationale d’ Eclairage). Moreover, we have developed three different white light emitting system by utilizing three different donor moiety namely, naphthalene-Tb(III)-Eu(III) {I}, phenanthrene-Tb(III)-Eu(III) {II}, and pyrene-Tb(III)-Eu(III) {III}. The CIE coordinates for I, II and III were (0.35, 0.37), (0.33, 0.32) and (0.35, 0.33) respectively. Furthermore, we have investigated the energy transfer from different donors (phenanthrene, naphthalene, and pyrene) to lanthanide {Eu(III)}. The efficiency of energy transfer from phenanthrene-Eu(III), naphthalene-Eu(III) and pyrene-Eu(III) systems was 11.9%, 3.9%, and 3.6%, respectively. Detailed mechanistic aspects will be displayed in the poster.

Keywords: dendron, lanthanide, resonance energy transfer, white light emission

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Authors: Joao Teotonio Manzi

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Reversibility, irreversibility, equilibrium and steady-state that play a central role in the thermodynamic analysis of processes arising in the context of reactive systems are discussed in this article. Such concepts have generated substantial doubts, even among the most experienced researchers, and engineers, because from the literature, conclusive or definitive statements cannot be extracted. Concepts such as the time-reversibility of irreversible processes seem paradoxical, requiring further analysis. Equilibrium and reversibility, which appear to be of the same nature, have also been re-examined in the light of maximum entropy. The goal of this paper is to revisit and explore these concepts based on classical thermodynamics in order to have a better understanding them due to their impacts on technological advances, as a result, to generate an optimal procedure for designing, monitoring, and engineering optimization. Furthermore, an effective graphic procedure for dimensioning a Plug Flow Reactor has been provided. Thus, to meet the needs of chemical engineering from a simple conceptual analysis but with significant practical effects, a macroscopic approach is taken so as to integrate the different parts of this paper.

Keywords: reversibility, equilibrium, steady-state, thermodynamics, reactive system

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Authors: D. Dixon, J. Nicol, J. A. Coulter, E. Harrison

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The ease with which they can be functionalized, combined with their excellent biocompatibility, make gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) ideal candidates for various applications in nanomedicine. Indeed several promising treatments are currently undergoing human clinical trials (CYT-6091 and Auroshell). A successful nanoparticle treatment must first evade the immune system, then accumulate within the target tissue, before enter the diseased cells and delivering the payload. In order to create a clinically relevant drug delivery system, contrast agent or radiosensitizer, it is generally necessary to functionalize the AuNP surface with multiple groups; e.g. Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) for enhanced stability, targeting groups such as antibodies, peptides for enhanced internalization, and therapeutic agents. Creating and characterizing the biological response of such complex systems remains a challenge. The two commonly used methods to attach multiple groups to the surface of AuNPs are the creation of a mixed monolayer, or by binding groups to the AuNP surface using a bi-functional PEG linker. While some excellent in-vitro and animal results have been reported for both approaches further work is necessary to directly compare the two methods. In this study AuNPs capped with both PEG and a Receptor Mediated Endocytosis (RME) peptide were prepared using both mixed monolayer and PEG linker approaches. The PEG linker used was SH-PEG-SGA which has a thiol at one end for AuNP attachment, and an NHS ester at the other to bind to the peptide. The work builds upon previous studies carried out at the University of Ulster which have investigated AuNP synthesis, the influence of PEG on stability in a range of media and investigated intracellular payload release. 18-19nm citrate capped AuNPs were prepared using the Turkevich method via the sodium citrate reduction of boiling 0.01wt% Chloroauric acid. To produce PEG capped AuNPs, the required amount of PEG-SH (5000Mw) or SH-PEG-SGA (3000Mw Jenkem Technologies) was added, and the solution stirred overnight at room temperature. The RME (sequence: CKKKKKKSEDEYPYVPN, Biomatik) co-functionalised samples were prepared by adding the required amount of peptide to the PEG capped samples and stirring overnight. The appropriate amounts of PEG-SH and RME peptide were added to the AuNP to produce a mixed monolayer consisting of approximately 50% PEG and 50% RME. The PEG linker samples were first fully capped with bi-functional PEG before being capped with RME peptide. An increase in diameter from 18-19mm for the ‘as synthesized’ AuNPs to 40-42nm after PEG capping was observed via DLS. The presence of PEG and RME peptide on both the mixed monolayer and PEG linker co-functionalized samples was confirmed by both FTIR and TGA. Bi-functional PEG linkers allow the entire AuNP surface to be capped with PEG, enabling in-vitro stability to be achieved using a lower molecular weight PEG. The approach also allows the entire outer surface to be coated with peptide or other biologically active groups, whilst also offering the promise of enhanced biological availability. The effect of mixed monolayer versus PEG linker attachment on both stability and non-specific protein corona interactions was also studied.

Keywords: nanomedicine, gold nanoparticles, PEG, biocompatibility

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Authors: Dalila Oulhaci, Mohammed Zahaf

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The watering technique is essential to maintain a moist perimeter around the roots of the crop. This is the case with topical watering, where the soil around the root system can be kept permanently moist between the two extremes of water content. Moreover, one of the oldest methods used since Roman times throughout North Africa and the Near East was based on the repeated pouring of water into porous earthen vessels buried in the ground. In this context, these two techniques have been combined by replacing the earthen vase with plastic bottles filled with sand which release water through their perforated walls into the surrounding soil. The objective of this work is to first determine the purifying power of the activated sludge treatment plant of Toggourt and then that of the bottled Sawdust filter. For the station, the BOD purification rate was (96.5%), the COD purification rate was (87%) and suspended solids (90%). For the bottle, the BOD removal rate was (35%), and COD removal rate was (12.58%). This work falls within the framework of water saving, sustainable development and environmental protection, and also within the framework of agriculture.

Keywords: wasterwater, sawdust, purification, irrigation, touggourt (Algeria)

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Authors: Chanyuan Gu, Shouming Zhong

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Synchronization is a fundamental phenomenon that enables coherent behavior in networks as a result of interactions. The purpose of this research had been to investigate the problem of anti-phase synchronization for complex delayed dynamical networks with output coupling. The coupling configuration is general, with the coupling matrix not assumed to be symmetric or irreducible. The amount of the coupling variables between two connected nodes is flexible, the nodes in the drive and response systems need not to be identical and there is not any extra constraint on the coupling matrix. Some pinning controllers are designed to make the drive-response system achieve the anti-phase synchronization. For the convenience of description, we applied the matrix Kronecker product. Some new criteria are proposed based on the Lyapunov stability theory, linear matrix inequalities (LMI) and Schur complement. Lastly, some simulation examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed conditions.

Keywords: anti-phase synchronization, complex networks, output coupling, pinning control

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Authors: Nidhi Gaur, Padmaja Joshi, Vijay Jain, Rajeev Srivastava

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Web application architecture is important to achieve the desired performance for the application. Performance analysis studies are conducted to evaluate existing or planned systems. Web applications are used by hundreds of thousands of users simultaneously, which sometimes increases the risk of server failure in real time operations. We use Coloured Petri Net (CPN), a very powerful tool for modelling dynamic behaviour of a web application system. CPNs extend the vocabulary of ordinary Petri nets and add features that make them suitable for modelling large systems. The major focus of this work is on server side of web applications. The presented work focuses on modelling restructuring aspects, with major focus on concurrency and architecture, using CPN. It also focuses on bringing out the appropriate architecture for web and database servers given the number of concurrent users.

Keywords: coloured Petri Nets (CPNs), concurrent users, per- formance modelling, web application architecture

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Authors: R. S. Giraddi, B. Thirupam Reddy, D. N. Kambrekar

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Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) an important commercial vegetable crop is ravaged by a number of insect-pests during both vegetative and reproductive phase resulting into significant crop loss.Thrips, Scirtothripsdorsalis, mite, Polyphagotarsonemuslatus and whitefly, Bemisiatabaci are the key sap feeding insects, their infestation leads to leaf curl, stunted growth and yield loss.During flowering and fruit formation stage, gall midge fly, Asphondyliacapparis (Rubsaaman) infesting flower buds and young fruits andHelicoverpaarmigera (Hubner) feeding on matured green fruits are the important insect pests causing significant crop loss.The pest is known to infest both flower buds and young fruits resulting into malformation of flower buds and twisting of fruits.In order to manage these insect-pests a combi product consisting of imidacloprid and betacyfluthrin (Soloman 300 OD) was evaluated for its bio-efficacy, phytotoxicity and effect on predator activity.Imidacloprid, a systemic insecticide belonging to neo-nicotinoid group, is effective against insect pests such as aphids, whiteflies (sap feeders) and other insectsviz., termites and soil insects.Beta-Cyfluthrin is an insecticide of synthetic pyrethroid group which acts by contact action and ingestion. It acts on the insects' nervous system as sodium channel blocker consequently a disorder of the nervous system occurs leading finally to the death. The field experiments were taken up during 2015 and 2016 at the Main Agricultural Research Station of University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.The trials were laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications using popular land race of Byadagi crop variety.Results indicated that the product at 21.6 + 50.4% gai/ha (240 ml/ha) and 27.9 + 65% gai/ha (310 ml/ha) was found quite effective in controlling thrips (0.00 to 0.66 thrips per six leaves) as against the standard check insecticide recommended for thrips by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad wherein the density of thrips recorded was significantly higher (1.00 to 2.00 Nos./6 leaves). Similarly, the test insecticide was quite effective against other target insects, whiteflies, fruit borer and gall midge fly as indicated by lower insect population observed in the treatments as compared to standard insecticidal control. The predatory beetle activity was found to be normal in all experimental plots. Highest green fruit yield of 5100-5500 kg/ha was recorded in Soloman 300 OD applied crop at 310 ml/ha rate as compared to 4750 to 5050 kg/ha recorded in check. At present 6-8 sprays of insecticides are recommended for management of these insect-pests on the crop. If combi-products are used in pest management programmes, it is possible to reduce insecticide usages in crop ecosystem.

Keywords: Imidacloprid, Betacyfluthrin, gallmidge fly, thrips, chilli

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Authors: Vaibhav Singh Rajput, Ravi Kumar Jatoth, Nagu Bhookya, Bhasker Boda

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In this paper proportional, integral, derivative (PID) controller is used to control the pitch angle of the aircraft when the elevation angle is changed or modified. The pitch angle is dependent on elevation angle; a change in one corresponds to a change in the other. The PID controller helps in restricted change of pitch rate in response to the elevation angle. The PID controller is dependent on different parameters like Kp, Ki, Kd which change the pitch rate as they change. Various methodologies are used for changing those parameters for getting a perfect time response pitch angle, as desired or wished by a concerned person. While reckoning the values of those parameters, trial and guessing may prove to be futile in order to provide comfort to passengers. So, using some metaheuristic techniques can be useful in handling these errors. Hybrid GA-PSO is one such powerful algorithm which can improve transient and steady state response and can give us more reliable results for PID gain scheduling problem.

Keywords: pitch rate, elevation angle, PID controller, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, phugoid

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Authors: E Tolufase

Abstract:

The demand, high costs and health implications of using energy derived from hydrocarbon compound have necessitated the continuous search for alternative source of energy. The World energy market is facing some challenges viz: depletion of fossil fuel reserves, population explosion, lack of energy security, economic and urbanization growth and also, in Nigeria some rural areas still depend largely on wood, charcoal, kerosene, petrol among others, as the sources of their energy. To overcome these short falls in energy supply and demand, as well as taking into consideration the risks from global climate change due to effect of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from fossil fuels’ combustion, brought a lot of attention on efficiently harnessing the renewable energy sources. A very promising among the renewable energy resources for a clean energy technology for power production, vehicle and domestic usage is biogas. Therefore, optimization of biogas yield and quality is imperative. Hence, this study investigated yield and quality of biogas using low cost bio-digester and combination of various feed stocks referred to as co-digestion. Batch/Discontinuous Bio-digester type was used because it was cheap, easy, plausible and appropriate for different substrates used to get the desired results. Three substrates were used; cow dung, chicken droppings and lemon grass digested in five separate 21 litre digesters, A, B, C, D, and E and the gas collection system was designed using locally available materials. For single digestion we had; cow dung, chicken droppings, lemon grass, in Bio-digesters A, B, and C respectively, the co-digested three substrates in different mixed ratio 7:1:2 in digester D and E in ratio 5:3:2. The respective feed-stocks materials were collected locally, digested and analyzed in accordance with standard procedures. They were pre-fermented for a period of 10 days before being introduced into the digesters. They were digested for a retention period of 28 days, the physiochemical parameters namely; pressure, temperature, pH, volume of the gas collector system and volume of biogas produced were all closely monitored and recorded daily. The values of pH and temperature ranged 6.0 - 8.0, and 220C- 350C respectively. For the single substrate, bio-digester A(Cow dung only) produced biogas of total volume 0.1607m3(average volume of 0.0054m3 daily),while B (Chicken droppings ) produced 0.1722m3 (average of 0.0057m3 daily) and C (lemon grass) produced 0.1035m3 (average of 0.0035m3 daily). For the co-digested substrates in bio-digester D the total biogas produced was 0.2007m³ (average volume of 0.0067m³ daily) and bio-digester E produced 0.1991m³ (average volume of 0.0066m³ daily) It’s obvious from the results, that combining different substrates gave higher yields than when a singular feed stock was used and also mixing ratio played some roles in the yield improvement. Bio-digesters D and E contained the same substrates but mixed with different ratios, but higher yield was noticed in D with mixing ratio of 7:1:2 than in E with ratio 5:3:2.Therefore, co-digestion of substrates and mixing proportions are important factors for biogas production optimization.

Keywords: anaerobic, batch, biogas, biodigester, digestion, fermentation, optimization

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Authors: Artur Krukowski, Emmanouela Vogiatzaki

Abstract:

The article presents results from the AF3 project “Advanced Forest Fire Fighting” focused on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)-based 3D surveillance and 3D area mapping using high-resolution photogrammetric methods from multispectral imaging, also taking advantage of the 3D scanning techniques from the SCAN4RECO project. We also present a proprietary embedded sensor system used for the detection of fire ignitions in the forest using near-infrared based scanner with weight and form factors allowing it to be easily deployed on standard commercial micro-UAVs, such as DJI Inspire or Mavic. Results from real-life pilot trials in Greece, Spain, and Israel demonstrated added-value in the use of UAS for precise and reliable detection of forest fires, as well as high-resolution 3D aerial modeling for accurate quantification of human resources and equipment required for firefighting.

Keywords: forest wildfires, surveillance, fuel volume estimation, firefighting, ignition detectors, 3D modelling, UAV

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Authors: Saif Hussein Abdallah Alghazo, Norshima Humaidi

Abstract:

Adopting cybersecurity protective behaviour among the employees is seriously considered in the organization, especially when the Internet of Things (IoT) is widely used in Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) era. Cybersecurity issues arise due to weaknesses of employees’ behaviour such as carelessness and failure to adopt good practices of information security behaviour. Therefore, this study aims to explore the dimensions that might influence employees’ behaviour to adopt good cybersecurity practices and to develop a new holistic model related to this concept. The study proposed this by reviewing the existing works of literature related to this field extensively, especially by focusing on the existing theory such as Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Moreover, this study has also explored the role of cybersecurity competency among the security manager in the organization since this construct is essential to enhance the protective behaviour towards cybersecurity among the employees in the organization. The proposed research model is important to be quantitatively tested in the future as the findings will serve as the input to the act that will enhance employee’s cybersecurity protective behaviour in the IR 4.0 environment.

Keywords: cybersecurity protective behaviour, protection motivation theory, IR 4.0, cybersecurity competency

Procedia PDF Downloads 135