Search results for: Ultimate goal
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3578

Search results for: Ultimate goal

2078 The Asia-European Union (EU) Traffic Safety Benchmarking

Authors: Ghazwan Al-Haji

Abstract:

Traffic safety has become a major concern in Southeast Asia due to the increasing number of road accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries. Southeast Asia has one of the highest road traffic fatality rates in the world, in terms of both population and number of cars, nearly six times higher than the EU region. One of the reasons for this concerning trend is the increasing share of motorcycles as a form of transportation throughout Southeast Asia. The purpose of this study is to benchmark traffic safety situations and statistics in six countries in Asia and the EU, which Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. The research will assess the priorities and causes of road accidents in the target nations. Further, the study will analyze the existing practices and promote best practices that can be implemented toward safer roads in Asian target countries. In order to achieve this goal, the study categorizes various factors contributing to traffic accidents and best practices into 4 pillars (Safer Behavior, Safer Roads, Safer Vehicles and Road Safety Management). The result of the study consists of a list of recommendations that can be applied by policymakers to promote safer roads in Asia towards 2030. The study is co-financed by the EU project ASIASAFE.

Keywords: traffic safety, ASIASAFE, Southeast Asia, EU project

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2077 A Robust Optimization Model for Multi-Objective Closed-Loop Supply Chain

Authors: Mohammad Y. Badiee, Saeed Golestani, Mir Saman Pishvaee

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In recent years consumers and governments have been pushing companies to design their activities in such a way as to reduce negative environmental impacts by producing renewable product or threat free disposal policy more and more. It is therefore important to focus more accurate to the optimization of various aspect of total supply chain. Modeling a supply chain can be a challenging process due to the fact that there are a large number of factors that need to be considered in the model. The use of multi-objective optimization can lead to overcome those problems since more information is used when designing the model. Uncertainty is inevitable in real world. Considering uncertainty on parameters in addition to use multi-objectives are ways to give more flexibility to the decision making process since the process can take into account much more constraints and requirements. In this paper we demonstrate a stochastic scenario based robust model to cope with uncertainty in a closed-loop multi-objective supply chain. By applying the proposed model in a real world case, the power of proposed model in handling data uncertainty is shown.

Keywords: supply chain management, closed-loop supply chain, multi-objective optimization, goal programming, uncertainty, robust optimization

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2076 The Analysis of Space Syntax Used in the Development Explore of Hangzhou city’s Centratity

Authors: Liu Junzhu

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In contemporary China,city is expanding with an amazing speed. And because of the unexpected events’ interference, spatial structure could change itself in a short time, That will lead to the new urban district livingness and unfortunately, this phenomenon is very common.On the one hand,it fail to achieve the goal of city planning, On the other hand,it is unfavourable to the sustainable development of city. Bill Hillier’stheory Space Syntax shows organzation pattern of each space,it explains the characteristics of urban spatial patterns and its transformation regulation from the point of self-organization in system and also, it gives confirmatory and predictive ways to the building and city. This paper used axial model to summarize Hangzhou City’s special structure and enhanced comprehensive understanding of macroscopic space and environment, space structure,developing trend, ect, by computer analysis of Space Syntax. From that, it helps us to know the operation law in the urban system and to understand Hangzhou City’s spatial pattern and indirect social effect it has mad more clearly, Thus, it could comply with the tendency of cities development in process and planning of policy and plan our cities’ future sustainably.

Keywords: sustainable urban design, space syntax, spatial network, segment angular analysis, social inclusion

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2075 The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Process Innovation through Knowledge Sharing

Authors: Sawsan J. Al-Husseini, Talib A. Dosa

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Transformational leadership has been identified as the most important factor affecting innovation and knowledge sharing; it leads to increased goal-directed behavior exhibited by followers and thus to enhanced performance and innovation for the organization. However, there is a lack of models linking transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and process innovation within higher education (HE) institutions in general within developing countries, particularly in Iraq. This research aims to examine the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the transformational leadership and process innovation relationship. A quantitative approach was taken and 254 usable questionnaires were collected from public HE institutions in Iraq. Structural equation modelling with AMOS 22 was used to analyze the causal relationships among factors. The research found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between transformational leadership and process innovation, and that transformational leadership would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities and influencing process innovation in the public HE in Iraq. The research has developed some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders and provided evidence to support the use of TL to increase process innovation within HE environment in developing countries, particularly in Iraq.

Keywords: transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, process innovation, structural equation modelling, developing countries

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2074 Contributions of Natural and Human Activities to Urban Surface Runoff with Different Hydrological Scenarios (Orléans, France)

Authors: Al-Juhaishi Mohammed, Mikael Motelica-Heino, Fabrice Muller, Audrey Guirimand-Dufour, Christian Défarge

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This study aims at improving the urban hydrological cycle of the Orléans agglomeration (France) and understanding the relationship between physical and chemical parameters of urban surface runoff and the hydrological conditions. In particular water quality parameters such as pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, major dissolved cations and anions, and chemical and biological oxygen demands were monitored for three types of urban water discharges (wastewater treatment plant output (WWTP), storm overflow and stormwater outfall) under two hydrologic scenarii (dry and wet weather). The first results were obtained over a period of five months.Each investigated (Ormes and l’Egoutier) outfall represents an urban runoff source that receives water from runoff roads, gutters, the irrigation of gardens and other sources of flow over the Earth’s surface that drains in its catchments and carries it to the Loire River. In wet weather conditions there is rain water runoff and an additional input from the roof gutters that have entered the stormwater system during rainfall. For the comparison the results La Chilesse is a storm overflow that was selected in our study as a potential source of waste water which is located before the (WWTP).The comparison of the physical-chemical parameters (total dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, conductivity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), concentration of major cations and anions) together with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) helped to characterize sources of runoff waters in the different watersheds. It also helped to highlight the infiltration of wastewater in some stormwater systems that reject directly in the Loire River. The values of the conductivity measured in the outflow of Ormes were always higher than those measured in the other two outlets. The results showed a temporal variation for the Ormes outfall of conductivity from 1465 µS cm-1 in the dry weather flow to 650 µS cm-1 in the wet weather flow and also a spatial variation in the wet weather flow from 650 µS cm-1 in the Ormes outfall to 281 μS cm-1 in L’Egouttier outfall. The ultimate BOD (BOD28) showed a significant decrease in La Corne outfall from 210 mg L-1 in the wet weather flow to 75 mg L-1 in the dry weather flow because of the nutrient load that was transported by the runoff.

Keywords: BOD, COD, the Loire River, urban hydrology, urban dry and wet weather discharges, macronutrients

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2073 Technical Determinants of the Success of the Quality Management Systems Implementation in Automotive Industry

Authors: Agnieszka Misztal

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The popularity of the quality management system models continues to grow despite the transitional crisis in 2008. Their development is associated with the demands of the new requirements for entrepreneurs, such as risk analysis projects and more emphasis on supervision of outsourced processes. In parallel appropriate to focus attention on the selection of companies aspiring to quality management system. This is particularly important in the automotive supplier industry, where requirements transferred to the levels in the supply chain should be clear, transparent and fairly satisfied. The author has carried out series of researches aimed at finding the factors that allow for the effective implementation of the quality management system in automotive companies. The research was focused on four groups of companies: 1) manufacturing (parts and assemblies for the purpose of sale or for vehicle manufacturers), 2) service (repair and maintenance of the car), 3) services for the transport of goods or people, 4) commercial (auto parts and vehicles). Identified determinants were divided in two types of criteria into: internal and external, as well as: hard and soft. The article presents hard - technical factors that automotive company must meet in order to achieve the goal of the quality management system implementation.

Keywords: automotive industry, quality management system, automotive technology, automotive company

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2072 A Guide to User-Friendly Bash Prompt: Adding Natural Language Processing Plus Bash Explanation to the Command Interface

Authors: Teh Kean Kheng, Low Soon Yee, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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In 2022, as the future world becomes increasingly computer-related, more individuals are attempting to study coding for themselves or in school. This is because they have discovered the value of learning code and the benefits it will provide them. But learning coding is difficult for most people. Even senior programmers that have experience for a decade year still need help from the online source while coding. The reason causing this is that coding is not like talking to other people; it has the specific syntax to make the computer understand what we want it to do, so coding will be hard for normal people if they don’t have contact in this field before. Coding is hard. If a user wants to learn bash code with bash prompt, it will be harder because if we look at the bash prompt, we will find that it is just an empty box and waiting for a user to tell the computer what we want to do, if we don’t refer to the internet, we will not know what we can do with the prompt. From here, we can conclude that the bash prompt is not user-friendly for new users who are learning bash code. Our goal in writing this paper is to give an idea to implement a user-friendly Bash prompt in Ubuntu OS using Artificial Intelligent (AI) to lower the threshold of learning in Bash code, to make the user use their own words and concept to write and learn Bash code.

Keywords: user-friendly, bash code, artificial intelligence, threshold, semantic similarity, lexical similarity

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2071 Exploring the Relationship between Employer Brand and Organizational Attractiveness: The Mediating Role of Employer Image and the Moderating Role of Value Congruence

Authors: Yi Shan Wu, Ting Hsuan Wu, Li Wei Cheng, Pei Yu Guo

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Given the fiercely competitive environment, human capital is one of the most valuable assets in a commercial enterprise. Therefore, developing strategies to acquire more talents is crucial. Talents are mainly attracted by both internal and external employer brands as well as by the messages conveyed from the employer image. This not only manifests the importance of a brand and an image of an organization but shows people might be affected by their personal values when assessing an organization as an employer. The goal of the present study is to examine the association between employer brand, employer image, and the likelihood of increasing organizational attractiveness. In addition, we draw from social identity theory to propose value congruence may affect the relationship between employer brand and employer image. Data was collected from those people who only worked less than a year in the industry via an online survey (N=209). The results show that employer image partly mediates the effect of employer brand on organizational attractiveness. In addition, the results also suggest that value congruence does not moderate the relationship between employer brand and employer image. These findings explain why building a good employer brand could enhance organization attractiveness and indicate there should be other factors that may affect employer image building, offering directions for future research.

Keywords: organizational attractiveness, employer brand, employer image, value congruence

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2070 The Effect of Using Water Wireless Aqua Com System on the Development of Dolphin Kick Movements on the Female Swimming Team at the Faculty of Physical Education

Authors: Wisal Alrabadi

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The study's goal was to see how the use of water wireless Aqua Com System and its accompanying music affected the Female Swimming Team at the Faculty of Physical Education's development of dolphin kick movements. To that end, a training program consisting of (12) training units spread out over four weeks, three units per week, was created and applied to a study sample of (10) students from the swimming pool enrolled in the first semester of the academic year 2022. Pre-measuring and timing the movements of dolphins kicking with and without fins above and below, measuring the water's surface over a distance of 25 meters. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences in favor of telemetry from the start within the limits of the area specified for a distance of 15 m after the comparison between the pre and post-measurement using the test (T) of the double samples, and this indicates the impact of the training program using the Aqua Com System in the swimming team(Female) at Faculty of Physical Education, and in light of this a set of recommendations was developed.

Keywords: aqua com system training program, accompanying music, dolphin kick movements, swimming team female

Procedia PDF Downloads 156
2069 Optimization of Groundwater Utilization in Fish Aquaculture

Authors: M. Ahmed Eldesouky, S. Nasr, A. Beltagy

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Groundwater is generally considered as the best source for aquaculture as it is well protected from contamination. The most common problem limiting the use of groundwater in Egypt is its high iron, manganese and ammonia content. This problem is often overcome by applying the treatment before use. Aeration in many cases is not enough to oxidize iron and manganese in complex forms with organics. Most of the treatment we use potassium permanganate as an oxidizer followed by a pressurized closed green sand filter. The aim of present study is to investigate the optimum characteristics of groundwater to give lowest iron, manganese and ammonia, maximum production and quality of fish in aquaculture in El-Max Research Station. The major design goal of the system was determined the optimum time for harvesting the treated water, pH, and Glauconite weight to use it for aquaculture process in the research site and achieve the Egyptian law (48/1982) and EPA level required for aquaculture. The water characteristics are [Fe = 0.116 mg/L, Mn = 1.36 mg/L,TN = 0.44 mg/L , TP = 0.07 mg/L , Ammonia = 0.386 mg/L] by using the glauconite filter we obtained high efficiency for removal for [(Fe, Mn and Ammonia] ,but in the Lab we obtained result for (Fe, 43-97), ( Mn,92-99 ), and ( Ammonia, 66-88 )]. We summarized the results to show the optimum time, pH, Glauconite weight, and the best model for design in the region.

Keywords: aquaculture, ammonia in groundwater, groundwater, iron and manganese in water, groundwater treatment

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2068 Reconnaissance Geophysical Study on the Southeastern Part of Al-Qashah Aera, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors: Ali Al-Bakri, Mohammed Sazid

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The investigated study area locates about 72 km from Jeddah city, Makkah district, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study mainly aimed to define only in detail the most significant zones of possible mineralization and outline their subsurface parameters (location and strike) in the southeast part of Jabal Al-Qashah. Several geophysical methods have been conducted to carry out the goal. Among these methods are the ground magnetic method, self-potential (SP) method, and induced polarization (IP) method. Integrating these methods aims to help in delineating the possible mineralization in the study area. The magnetic survey was conducted along 17 profiles where these profiles were chosen to be perpendicular to the strike of the quartz shear zone. Self-potential was applied along with five profiles covering the study area. At the same time, induced polarization was used along with one profile located at the western side of the study area corresponding to some magnetic and SP profiles. The most interesting zones of mineralization were successfully determined by comparing the results of residual magnetic profile (3), SP profile (1), and IP profile, where geological structures control some mineralization.

Keywords: geophysical methods, magnetic method, self-potential, induced polarization, Jabal Al-Qashah

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2067 Data-Driven Strategies for Enhancing Food Security in Vulnerable Regions: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Crop Yield Predictions, Supply Chain Optimization, and Food Distribution Networks

Authors: Sulemana Ibrahim

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Food security remains a paramount global challenge, with vulnerable regions grappling with issues of hunger and malnutrition. This study embarks on a comprehensive exploration of data-driven strategies aimed at ameliorating food security in such regions. Our research employs a multifaceted approach, integrating data analytics to predict crop yields, optimizing supply chains, and enhancing food distribution networks. The study unfolds as a multi-dimensional analysis, commencing with the development of robust machine learning models harnessing remote sensing data, historical crop yield records, and meteorological data to foresee crop yields. These predictive models, underpinned by convolutional and recurrent neural networks, furnish critical insights into anticipated harvests, empowering proactive measures to confront food insecurity. Subsequently, the research scrutinizes supply chain optimization to address food security challenges, capitalizing on linear programming and network optimization techniques. These strategies intend to mitigate loss and wastage while streamlining the distribution of agricultural produce from field to fork. In conjunction, the study investigates food distribution networks with a particular focus on network efficiency, accessibility, and equitable food resource allocation. Network analysis tools, complemented by data-driven simulation methodologies, unveil opportunities for augmenting the efficacy of these critical lifelines. This study also considers the ethical implications and privacy concerns associated with the extensive use of data in the realm of food security. The proposed methodology outlines guidelines for responsible data acquisition, storage, and usage. The ultimate aspiration of this research is to forge a nexus between data science and food security policy, bestowing actionable insights to mitigate the ordeal of food insecurity. The holistic approach converging data-driven crop yield forecasts, optimized supply chains, and improved distribution networks aspire to revitalize food security in the most vulnerable regions, elevating the quality of life for millions worldwide.

Keywords: data-driven strategies, crop yield prediction, supply chain optimization, food distribution networks

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2066 Development of a Digital Healthcare Intervention to Reduce Digital and Healthcare Inequality in Rural Communities with a Focus on Hypertensive Management

Authors: Festus Adedoyin, Nana Mbeah Otoo, Sofia Meacham

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Hypertension is one of the main health issues in Ghana, where prevalence is higher in rural than in urban areas. This is due to the challenges rural areas have in accessing technology and healthcare services for hypertension control. This study's goal is to create a digital healthcare solution to alleviate this inequality. Through an analysis of current technology and problems, using the ring onion methodology, the study determined the needs for the intervention and evaluated healthcare disparities. An online application with teleconsultation capabilities, reminder mechanisms, and clinical decision support is part of the suggested solution. In outlying areas, mobile clinics in containers with the required equipment will be established. Heuristic evaluation and think-aloud sessions were used to assess the prototype's usability and navigational problems. This study highlights the need to develop digital health interventions to help manage hypertension in rural locations and decrease healthcare disparities. To develop and improve digital healthcare solutions for rural areas worldwide and in Ghana, this study might be used as a tool for future research.

Keywords: digital health, health inequalities, hypertension management, rural areas

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2065 Integration of Climatic Factors in the Meta-Population Modelling of the Dynamic of Malaria Transmission, Case of Douala and Yaoundé, Two Cities of Cameroon

Authors: Justin-Herve Noubissi, Jean Claude Kamgang, Eric Ramat, Januarius Asongu, Christophe Cambier

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The goal of our study is to analyse the impact of climatic factors in malaria transmission taking into account migration between Douala and Yaoundé, two cities of Cameroon country. We show how variations of climatic factors such as temperature and relative humidity affect the malaria spread. We propose a meta-population model of the dynamic transmission of malaria that evolves in space and time and that takes into account temperature and relative humidity and the migration between Douala and Yaoundé. We also integrate the variation of environmental factors as events also called mathematical impulsion that can disrupt the model evolution at any time. Our modelling has been done using the Discrete EVents System Specification (DEVS) formalism. Our implementation has been done on Virtual Laboratory Environment (VLE) that uses DEVS formalism and abstract simulators for coupling models by integrating the concept of DEVS.

Keywords: compartmental models, DEVS, discrete events, meta-population model, VLE

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2064 Optimizing Logistics for Courier Organizations with Considerations of Congestions and Pickups: A Courier Delivery System in Amman as Case Study

Authors: Nader A. Al Theeb, Zaid Abu Manneh, Ibrahim Al-Qadi

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Traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial integer optimization problem that asks "What is the optimal route for a vehicle to traverse in order to deliver requests to a given set of customers?”. It is widely used by the package carrier companies’ distribution centers. The main goal of applying the TSP in courier organizations is to minimize the time that it takes for the courier in each trip to deliver or pick up the shipments during a day. In this article, an optimization model is constructed to create a new TSP variant to optimize the routing in a courier organization with a consideration of congestion in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Real data were collected by different methods and analyzed. Then, concert technology - CPLEX was used to solve the proposed model for some random generated data instances and for the real collected data. At the end, results have shown a great improvement in time compared with the current trip times, and an economic study was conducted afterwards to figure out the impact of using such models.

Keywords: travel salesman problem, congestions, pick-up, integer programming, package carriers, service engineering

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2063 Fault-Tolerant Configuration for T-Type Nested Neutral Point Clamped Converter

Authors: S. Masoud Barakati, Mohsen Rahmani Haredasht

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Recently, the use of T-type nested neutral point clamped (T-NNPC) converter has increased in medium voltage applications. However, the T-NNPC converter architecture's reliability and continuous operation are at risk by including semiconductor switches. Semiconductor switches are a prone option for open-circuit faults. As a result, fault-tolerant converters are required to improve the system's reliability and continuous functioning. This study's primary goal is to provide a fault-tolerant T-NNPC converter configuration. In the proposed design utilizing the cold reservation approach, a redundant phase is considered, which replaces the faulty phase once the fault is diagnosed in each phase. The suggested fault-tolerant configuration can be easily implemented in practical applications due to the use of a simple PWM control mechanism. The performance evaluation of the proposed configuration under different scenarios in the MATLAB-Simulink environment proves its efficiency.

Keywords: T-type nested neutral point clamped converter, reliability, continuous operation, open-circuit faults, fault-tolerant converters

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2062 Creation of Greenhouses by Students, Using the Own Installations of the University and Increasing the Growth of Plants

Authors: Espinosa-Garza G., Loera-Hernandez I., Antonyan N.

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To innovate, it is necessary to perform projects directed towards the search of improvement. The agricultural technique and the design of greenhouses have been studied by undergraduate engineering students from the Tecnológico de Monterrey using the campus areas. The purpose of this project was to incite students to create innovations and help rural populations of the state to solve one of the problems that they are dealing with nowadays. The main objective of the project was to search for an alternative technique that will allow the planting of the “chile piquín” plant, also known as Capsicum annuum, to grow quicker as it germinates. The “chile piquín” is one of the original crops of Mexico and forms the basis of the Mesoamerican cultures’ diet since the pre-hispanic era. To fulfill with today’s demand, it is required to implement new alternative methods to increase the “chile piquín’s” growth. The project lasted one semester with the participation of engineering students from multiple majors. The most important results from this academic experience were that, from the proposed goal, the students could analyze the needs of their town and were capable of introducing new and innovative ideas with the aim of resolving them. In the present article the pedagogic methodologies that allowed to carry out this project will be discussed.

Keywords: academic experience, chile piquín, engineering education, greenhouse design, innovation

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2061 Road Maintenance Management Decision System Using Multi-Criteria and Geographical Information System for Takoradi Roads, Ghana

Authors: Eric Mensah, Carlos Mensah

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The road maintenance backlogs created as a result of deferred maintenance especially in developing countries has caused considerable deterioration of many road assets. This is usually due to difficulties encountered in selecting and prioritising maintainable roads based on objective criteria rather than some political or other less important criteria. In order to ensure judicious use of limited resources for road maintenance, five factors were identified as the most important criteria for road management within the study area. This was based on the judgements of 40 experts. The results were further used to develop weightings using the Multi-Criteria Decision Process (MCDP) to analyse and select road alternatives according to maintenance goal. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), maintainable roads were grouped using the Jenk’s natural breaks to allow for further prioritised in order of importance for display on a dashboard of maps, charts, and tables. This reduces the problems of subjective maintenance and road selections, thereby reducing wastage of resources and easing the maintenance process through an object organised spatial decision support system.

Keywords: decision support, geographical information systems, multi-criteria decision process, weighted sum

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2060 Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction in Mizoram, India

Authors: Lalrokima Chenkual

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Legal provision and various guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority in India strives for setting up of disaster management authority from the central government to the district level. Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction practice is still relevant as the communities are the victim as well as the first responder in any incidents. The primary goal of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction is to reduce vulnerability of the concerned community and strengthen its existing capacity to cope with disaster. By involving the community in the preparedness phase, it not only increases the likelihood of coordinated action by the communities to help in mitigating disasters and lessening the impact of disaster but also brings the community together to address the issue collectively. Community participation ensures local ownership, addresses local needs, and promotes volunteerism and mutual help to prevent and minimise damage. Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction is very much relevant for Mizoram as the society is closed knit, population is very less, religion homogeneity i.e Christianity, very active and widespread community-based organization viz, Young Mizo Association, MHIP (Women Federation), MUP (Elders Clubs which are guided together by Mizo code of morals conduct termed as Tlawmngaihna.

Keywords: community, close-knit, first responder, Tlawmngaihna

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2059 A Genetic Algorithm Approach to Solve a Weaving Job Scheduling Problem, Aiming Tardiness Minimization

Authors: Carolina Silva, João Nuno Oliveira, Rui Sousa, João Paulo Silva

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This study uses genetic algorithms to solve a job scheduling problem in a weaving factory. The underline problem regards an NP-Hard problem concerning unrelated parallel machines, with sequence-dependent setup times. This research uses real data regarding a weaving industry located in the North of Portugal, with a capacity of 96 looms and a production, on average, of 440000 meters of fabric per month. Besides, this study includes a high level of complexity once most of the real production constraints are applied, and several real data instances are tested. Topics such as data analyses and algorithm performance are addressed and tested, to offer a solution that can generate reliable and due date results. All the approaches will be tested in the operational environment, and the KPIs monitored, to understand the solution's impact on the production, with a particular focus on the total number of weeks of late deliveries to clients. Thus, the main goal of this research is to develop a solution that allows for the production of automatically optimized production plans, aiming to the tardiness minimizing.

Keywords: genetic algorithms, textile industry, job scheduling, optimization

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2058 Corrosion Inhibition of AA2024 Alloy with Graphene Oxide Derivative: Electrochemical and Surface Analysis

Authors: Nisrine Benzbiria, Abderrahmane Thoume, Mustapha Zertoubi

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The goal of this research is to investigate the corrosion inhibition potential of functionalized graphene oxide (GO) with oxime derivative on AA2024-T3 surface in synthetic seawater. The utilization of functionalized graphene oxide is creating a category of corrosion inhibitors known as organically modified nanomaterials. In our work, the functionalization of GO by chalcone oxime enables graphene oxide to have enhanced water solubility and a good corrosion mitigation capacity. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was utilized to evaluate the main functional groups of the inhibitor. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization curves (PDP) showed that the inhibitor acts as a mixed-type inhibitor. The inhibitory efficiency (IE) improved as the concentration increased to a value of 96% after one hour of exposure to a medium containing 60 mg/L ppm of the inhibitor. According to thermodynamic calculations, the adsorption of the inhibitor on the AA2024-T3 surface in 3% NaCl followed the Langmuir isotherm. The formation of a barrier layer was further confirmed by surface analysis. The protective film prevented the alloy dissolution and limited the accessibility of attacking ions, as evinced by solution analysis techniques.

Keywords: AA2024-T3, NaCl, electrochemical methods, FT-IR, SEM/AFM, DFT, MC simulation

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2057 Digital Activism and the Individual: A Utilitarian Perspective

Authors: Tania Mitra

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Digital Activism or Cyber Activism uses digital media as a means to disseminate information and mobilize masses towards a specific goal. When digital activism was first born in the early 1990s, it was primarily used by groups of organized political activists. However, with the advent of social media, online activism has filtered down to the individual- one who does not necessarily belong to or identify with an agenda, group, or political party. A large part of digital activism today stems from the individual’s notion of what is right and wrong. This gives rise to a discourse around descriptive ethics and the implications of the independent digital activist. Although digital activism has paved the way for and bolstered support for causes like the MeToo Movement and Black Lives Matter, the lack of a unified, organized body has led to counterintuitive progressions and suspicions regarding the movements. The paper introduces the ideas of 'clout' culture, click baits, and clicktivism (the phenomenon where activism is reduced to a blind following of the online trends), to discuss the impacts of exclusive digital activism. By using Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian approach to ethics, that places emphasis on the best possible outcome for a society, the paper will show how individual online activism reaching for a larger, more common end can sometimes lead to an undermining of that end, not only in the online space but also how it manifests in the real world.

Keywords: digital activism, ethics, independent digital activist, utilitarianism

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2056 Bottling the Darkness of Inner Life: Considering the Origins of Model Psychosis

Authors: Matthew Perkins-McVey

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The pharmacological arm of mental health treatment is in a state of crisis. The promises of the Prozac century have fallen short; the number of different therapeutically significant medications that successfully complete development shrinks with every passing year, and the demand for better treatments only grows. Answering these hardships is a renewed optimism concerning the efficacy of controlled psychedelic therapy, a renaissance that has seen the return of a familiar concept: intoxication as a model psychosis. First appearing in the mid-19th century and featuring in an array of 20th century efforts in psychedelic research, model psychosis has, once more, come to the foreground of psychedelic research. And yet, little has been made of where this peculiar, perhaps even intoxicatingly mad, the idea originates. This paper seeks to uncover the conceptual foundations underlying the early emergence of model psychosis. This narrative will explore the conceptual foundations behind their independent development of the concept of model psychosis, considering their similarities and differences. In the course of this examination, it becomes apparent that the definition of endogenous psychosis, which formed in the mid-19th century, is the direct product of emerging understandings of exogenous psychosis, or model psychosis. Ultimately, the goal is not merely to understand how and why model psychosis became thinkable but to examine how seemingly secondary concept changes can engender new ways of being a psychiatric subject.

Keywords: history of psychiatry, model psychosis, history of medicine, history of science

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2055 The Existential in a Practical Phenomenology Research: A Study on the Political Participation of Young Women

Authors: Amanda Aliende da Matta, Maria del Pilar Fogueiras Bertomeu, Valeria de Ormaechea Otalora, Maria Paz Sandin Esteban, Miriam Comet Donoso

Abstract:

This communication presents proposed questions about the existential in research on the political participation of young women. The study follows a qualitative methodology, in particular, the applied hermeneutic phenomenological (AHP) method, and the general objective of the research is to give an account of the experience of political participation as a young woman. The study participants are women aged 18 to 35 who have experience in political participation. The techniques of data collection are the descriptive story and the phenomenological interview. Hermeneutic phenomenology as a research approach is based on phenomenological philosophy and applied hermeneutics. The ultimate objective of HP is to gain access to the meaning structures of lived experience by appropriating them, clarifying them, and reflectively making them explicit. Human experiences are always lived through existential: fundamental themes that are useful in exploring meaningful aspects of our life worlds. Everyone experiences the world through the existential of lived relationships, the lived body, lived space, lived time, and lived things. The phenomenological research, then, also tacitly asks about the existential. Existentials are universal themes useful for exploring significant aspects of our life world and of the particular phenomena under study. Four main existentials prove especially helpful as guides for reflection in the research process: relationship, body, space, and time. For example, in our case, we may ask ourselves how can the existentials of relationship, body, space, and time guide us in exploring the structures of meaning in the lived experience of political participation as a woman and a young person. The study is still not finished, as we are currently conducting phenomenological thematic analysis on the collected stories of lived experience. Yet, we have already identified some fragments of texts that show the existential in their experiences, which we will transcribe below. 1) Relationality - The experienced I-Other. It regards how relationships are experienced in our narratives about political participation as young women. One example would be: “As we had known each other for a long time, we understood each other with our eyes; we were all a little bit on the same page, thinking the same thing.” 2) Corporeality - The lived body. It regards how the lived body is experienced in activities of political participation as a young woman. One example would be: “My blood was boiling, but it was not the time to throw anything in their face, we had to look for solutions.”; “I had a lump in my throat and I wanted to cry.”. 3) Spatiality - The lived space. It regards how one experiences the lived space in political participation activities as a young woman. One example would be: “And the feeling I got when I saw [it] it's like watching everybody going into a mousetrap.” 4) Temporality - Lived time. It regards how one experiences the lived time in political participation activities as a young woman. One example would be: “Then, there were also meetings that went on forever…”

Keywords: applied hermeneutic phenomenology, existentials, hermeneutics, phenomenology, political participation

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2054 Influence of the Coarse-Graining Method on a DEM-CFD Simulation of a Pilot-Scale Gas Fluidized Bed

Authors: Theo Ndereyimana, Yann Dufresne, Micael Boulet, Stephane Moreau

Abstract:

The DEM (Discrete Element Method) is used a lot in the industry to simulate large-scale flows of particles; for instance, in a fluidized bed, it allows to predict of the trajectory of every particle. One of the main limits of the DEM is the computational time. The CGM (Coarse-Graining Method) has been developed to tackle this issue. The goal is to increase the size of the particle and, by this means, decrease the number of particles. The method leads to a reduction of the collision frequency due to the reduction of the number of particles. Multiple characteristics of the particle movement and the fluid flow - when there is a coupling between DEM and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The main characteristic that is impacted is the energy dissipation of the system, to regain the dissipation, an ADM (Additional Dissipative Mechanism) can be added to the model. The objective of this current work is to observe the influence of the choice of the ADM and the factor of coarse-graining on the numerical results. These results will be compared with experimental results of a fluidized bed and with a numerical model of the same fluidized bed without using the CGM. The numerical model is one of a 3D cylindrical fluidized bed with 9.6M Geldart B-type particles in a bubbling regime.

Keywords: additive dissipative mechanism, coarse-graining, discrete element method, fluidized bed

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2053 Evaluating the Destination Image of Iran and Its Influence on Revisit Intention: After Iran’s 2022 Crisis

Authors: Hamideh S. Shahidi

Abstract:

This research examines destination image and its impact on tourist revisit intention. Destination images can evolve over time, depending on a number of factors. Due to the multidimensional nature of destination image, the full extent of what might influence that change is not yet fully understood. As a result, the destination image should be measured with a heavy consideration of the variables used. Depending on the time and circumstances, these variables should be adjusted based on the research’s objectives. The aim of this research is to evaluate the image of destinations that may be perceived as risky, such as Iran, from the perspective of European cultural travellers. Further to the goal of understanding the effects of an image on tourists’ decision-making, the research will assess the impact of destination image on the revisit intention using push and pull factors and perceived risks with the potential moderating effect of cultural contact (the direct interaction between the host and the tourists with different culture). In addition, the moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance on revisit intention after Iran’s crisis in 2022 will be measured. Furthermore, the level of uncertainty avoidance between gender and age will be compared.

Keywords: destination image, Iran’s 2022 crisis, revisit intention, uncertainty avoidance

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2052 Development of a Delivery System for Statin Targeted Spray is a Breakthrough Therapy in Alzheimer’s Prevention

Authors: Fakhr Eddin Alnaal, Angela Dahdal, Duaa Aladib, Sabeen Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ghoraibi, Bissan Ahmed

Abstract:

Dementia is one of the diseases which had several stages and Alzheimer’s term was selected in respect for the first doctor Alzheimer who defined the first symptoms of this diseases in a woman whom was well treated by him. The fact that this is a type of a silent disease on which you have a long-term process of neurological degradation and suddenly gives symptoms which are most often irreversible, on clinical level likely we can consider it as a malignancy, one in terms of that it is sudden shocking irreversible and on the level of behavior and some mortality beside the lack of early detection tools for diagnosis. Therefore, the goal of our project is to test the concept of the ability of Statin in prevention of such disease and we investigated that both on experimental level and most importantly on clinical one, the clinical part was performed in a recognized house of aged people who had accidently a high cholesterol and were for years given Statin to treat that elevation, however after the symptoms of Alzheimer’s appeared and when diagnosed, they were well treated and rapidly recovered compared to Alzheimer’s patients in the same house who did not receive Statin had a mild improvement in their symptoms after the therapy, on the other hand we confirmed such observation by a well-organized experimental work.

Keywords: Alzheimer's, dementia, silent disease, statin

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2051 Deregulation of Thorium for Room Temperature Superconductivity

Authors: Dong Zhao

Abstract:

Abstract—Extensive research on obtaining applicable room temperature superconductors meets the major barrier, and the record Tc of 135 K achieved via cuprate has been idling for decades. Even though, the accomplishment of higher Tc than the cuprate was made through pressurizing certain compounds composed of light elements, such as for the LaH10 and for the metallic hydrogen. Room temperature superconductivity under ambient pressure is still the preferred approach and is believed to be the ultimate solution for many applications. While racing to find the breakthrough method to achieve this room temperature Tc milestone in superconducting research, a report stated a discovery of a possible high-temperature superconductor, i.e., the thorium sulfide ThS. Apparently, ThS’s Tc can be at room temperature or even higher. This is because ThS revealed an unusual property of the ‘coexistence of high electrical conductivity and diamagnetism’. Noticed that this property of coexistence of high electrical conductivity and diamagnetism is in line with superconductors, meaning ThS is also at its superconducting state. Surprisingly, ThS owns the property of superconductivity at least at room temperature and under atmosphere pressure. Further study of the ThS’s electrical and magnetic properties in comparison with thorium di-iodide ThI2 concluded its molecular configuration as [Th4+(e-)2]S. This means the ThS’s cation is composed of a [Th4+(e-)2]2+ cation core. It is noticed that this cation core is built by an oxidation state +4 of thorium atom plus an electron pair on this thorium atom that resulted in an oxidation state +2 of this [Th4+(e-)2]2+ cation core. This special construction of [Th4+(e-)2]2+ cation core may lead to the ThS’s room temperature superconductivity because of this characteristic electron lone pair residing on the thorium atom. Since the study of thorium chemistry was carried out in the period of before 1970s. the exploration about ThS’s possible room temperature superconductivity would require resynthesizing ThS. This re-preparation of ThS will provide the sample and enable professionals to verify the ThS’s room temperature superconductivity. Regrettably, the current regulation prevents almost everyone from getting access to thorium metal or thorium compounds due to the radioactive nature of thorium-232 (Th-232), even though the radioactive level of Th-232 is extremely low with its half-life of 14.05 billion years. Consequently, further confirmation of ThS’s high-temperature superconductivity through experiments will be impossible unless the use of corresponding thorium metal and related thorium compounds can be deregulated. This deregulation would allow researchers to obtain the necessary starting materials for the study of ThS. Hopefully, the confirmation of ThS’s room temperature superconductivity can not only establish a method to obtain applicable superconductors but also to pave the way for fully understanding the mechanism of superconductivity.

Keywords: co-existence of high electrical conductivity and diamagnetism, electron pairing and electron lone pair, room temperature superconductivity, the special molecular configuration of thorium sulfide ThS

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2050 Effects of Soil-Structure Interaction on Seismic Performance of Steel Structures Equipped with Viscous Fluid Dampers

Authors: Faramarz Khoshnoudian, Saeed Vosoughiyan

Abstract:

The main goal of this article is to clarify the soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects on the seismic performance of steel moment resisting frame buildings which are rested on soft soil and equipped with viscous fluid dampers (VFDs). For this purpose, detailed structural models of a ten-story SMRF with VFDs excluding and including the SSI are constructed first. In order to simulate the dynamic response of the foundation, in this paper, the simple cone model is applied. Then, the nonlinear time-history analysis of the models is conducted using three kinds of earthquake excitations with different intensities. The analysis results have demonstrated that the SSI effects on the seismic performance of a structure equipped with VFDs and supported by rigid foundation on soft soil need to be considered. Also VFDs designed based on rigid foundation hypothesis fail to achieve the expected seismic objective while SSI goes into effect.

Keywords: nonlinear time-history analysis, soil-structure interaction, steel moment resisting frame building, viscous fluid dampers

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2049 Robust ResNets for Chemically Reacting Flows

Authors: Randy Price, Harbir Antil, Rainald Löhner, Fumiya Togashi

Abstract:

Chemically reacting flows are common in engineering applications such as hypersonic flow, combustion, explosions, manufacturing process, and environmental assessments. The number of reactions in combustion simulations can exceed 100, making a large number of flow and combustion problems beyond the capabilities of current supercomputers. Motivated by this, deep neural networks (DNNs) will be introduced with the goal of eventually replacing the existing chemistry software packages with DNNs. The DNNs used in this paper are motivated by the Residual Neural Network (ResNet) architecture. In the continuum limit, ResNets become an optimization problem constrained by an ODE. Such a feature allows the use of ODE control techniques to enhance the DNNs. In this work, DNNs are constructed, which update the species un at the nᵗʰ timestep to uⁿ⁺¹ at the n+1ᵗʰ timestep. Parallel DNNs are trained for each species, taking in uⁿ as input and outputting one component of uⁿ⁺¹. These DNNs are applied to multiple species and reactions common in chemically reacting flows such as H₂-O₂ reactions. Experimental results show that the DNNs are able to accurately replicate the dynamics in various situations and in the presence of errors.

Keywords: chemical reacting flows, computational fluid dynamics, ODEs, residual neural networks, ResNets

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