Search results for: social/critical model of disability

Authors: Juan C. Pérez-Mesa, Emilio Galdeano-Gómez, Jerónimo De Burgos-Jiménez, José F. Bienvenido-Bárcena, José F. Jiménez-Guerrero

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Environmental cost and transport congestion on roads resulting from product distribution in Europe have to lead to the creation of various programs and studies seeking to reduce these negative impacts. In this regard, apart from other institutions, the European Commission (EC) has designed plans in recent years promoting a more sustainable transportation model in an attempt to ultimately shift traffic from the road to the sea by using intermodality to achieve a model rebalancing. This issue proves especially relevant in supply chains from peripheral areas of the continent, where the supply of certain agrifood products is high. In such cases, the most difficult challenge is managing perishable goods. This study focuses on new approaches that strengthen the modal shift, as well as the reduction of externalities. This problem is analyzed by attempting to promote intermodal system (truck and short sea shipping) for transport, taking as point of reference highly perishable products (vegetables) exported from southeast Spain, which is the leading supplier to Europe. Methodologically, this paper seeks to contribute to the literature by proposing a different and complementary approach to establish a comparison between intermodal and the “only road” alternative. For this purpose, the multicriteria decision is utilized in a p-median model (P-M) adapted to the transport of perishables and to a means of shipping selection problem, which must consider different variables: transit cost, including externalities, time, and frequency (including agile response time). This scheme avoids bias in decision-making processes. By observing the results, it can be seen that the influence of the externalities as drivers of the modal shift is reduced when transit time is introduced as a decision variable. These findings confirm that the general strategies, those of the EC, based on environmental benefits lose their capacity for implementation when they are applied to complex circumstances. In general, the different estimations reveal that, in the case of perishables, intermodality would be a secondary and viable option only for very specific destinations (for example, Hamburg and nearby locations, the area of influence of London, Paris, and the Netherlands). Based on this framework, the general outlook on this subject should be modified. Perhaps the government should promote specific business strategies based on new trends in the supply chain, not only on the reduction of externalities, and find new approaches that strengthen the modal shift. A possible option is to redefine ports, conceptualizing them as digitalized redistribution and coordination centers and not only as areas of cargo exchange.

Keywords: environmental externalities, intermodal transport, perishable food, transit time

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Temidayo Otunniyi

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This paper presents a low computational channelization algorithm for the multi-standards platform using poly phase implementation of a critically sampled hybrid Trigonometry generalized Discrete Fourier Transform, (HGDFT). An HGDFT channelization algorithm exploits the orthogonality of two trigonometry Fourier functions, together with the properties of Quadrature Mirror Filter Bank (QMFB) and Exponential Modulated filter Bank (EMFB), respectively. HGDFT shows improvement in its implementation in terms of high reconfigurability, lower filter length, parallelism, and medium computational activities. Type 1 and type 111 poly phase structures are derived for real-valued HGDFT modulation. The design specifications are decimated critically and over-sampled for both single and multi standards receiver platforms. Evaluating the performance of oversampled single standard receiver channels, the HGDFT algorithm achieved 40% complexity reduction, compared to 34% and 38% reduction in the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and tree quadrature mirror filter (TQMF) algorithm. The parallel generalized discrete Fourier transform (PGDFT) and recombined generalized discrete Fourier transform (RGDFT) had 41% complexity reduction and HGDFT had a 46% reduction in oversampling multi-standards mode. While in the critically sampled multi-standard receiver channels, HGDFT had complexity reduction of 70% while both PGDFT and RGDFT had a 34% reduction.

Keywords: software defined radio, channelization, critical sample rate, over-sample rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Afshin Shahbazi, Hadi Shadi Naghadeh, Ahmad Khodadadi Darban

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In the Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process, tiny ferromagnetic particles coated with solvent extractant are used to selectively separate radionuclides and hazardous metals from aqueous waste streams. The contaminant-loaded particles are then recovered from the waste solutions using a magnetic field. In the present study, Cyanex272 or C272 (bis (2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid) coated magnetic particles are being evaluated for the possible application in the extraction of Thorium (IV) from nuclear waste streams. The uptake behaviour of Th(IV) from nitric acid solutions was investigated by batch studies. Adsorption of Thorium (IV) from aqueous solution onto adsorbent was investigated in a batch system. Adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetic studies of Thorium (IV) onto nanoparticles coated Cyanex272 were carried out in a batch system. The factors influencing Thorium (IV) adsorption were investigated and described in detail, as a function of the parameters such as initial pH value, contact time, adsorbent mass, and initial Thorium (IV) concentration. Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process adsorbent showed best results for the fast adsorption of Th (IV) from aqueous solution at aqueous phase acidity value of 0.5 molar. In addition, more than 80% of Th (IV) was removed within the first 2 hours, and the time required to achieve the adsorption equilibrium was only 140 minutes. Langmuir and Frendlich adsorption models were used for the mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium. Equilibrium data agreed very well with the Langmuir model, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 48 mg.g-1. Adsorption kinetics data were tested using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intra-particle diffusion models. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the chemical adsorption was the rate-limiting step.

Keywords: Thorium (IV) adsorption, MACS process, magnetic nanoparticles, Cyanex272

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Jasna Milošević Đorđević, Jelisaveta Blagojević, Jovana Timotijević, Alison Mckinley

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Young people in Serbia, have grown up in turbulent times during the Balkan wars, in a cultural and economic isolation without adequate education on (ethnic, gender, social,..) equality. They often have very strong patriarchal gender stereotypes. The perception of gender in Serbia is still heavily influenced by traditional worldview and young people have little opportunity in traditional educational system to challenge it, receiving no formal sex education. Educational policies have addressed achieving gender equality as one of the goals, supporting all young people to gain better educational opportunities, but there are obvious shortcomings of the official education system in implementation of those goals. Therefore new approaches should be implemented. We evaluate the impact of non traditional approach, such as participatory theatre performance with strong transformative potential, especially in relation to gender issues. Theatre based intervention (TBI) was created to provoke the young people to become aware of their gender constructs. Engaging young people in modern form of education such as transformative gender intervention through participatory theatre could have positive impact on their sex knowledge and understanding gender roles. The transformative process in TBI happens on two levels – the affective and the cognitive. The founding agency of the project and evaluation is IPPF. The most important aim of this survey is evaluation of the transformative TBI, as a new educational approach related to better understanding gender as social construct. To reach this goal, we have measured attitude change in three indicators: a) gender identity/ perception of feminine identity, perception of masculine identity, importance of gender for personal identity, b) gender roles on the labor market, c) Gender equality in partnership & sexual behavior. Our main hypothesis is that participatory theatre-based intervention can have a transformational potential in challenging traditional gender knowledge and attitudes among youth in Serbia. To evaluate the impact of TB intervention, we implement: online baseline and end-line survey with nonparticipants of the TBI on the representative sample in targeted towns (control group). Additionally we conducted testing the experimental group twice: pretest at the beginning of each TBI and post testing of participants after the play. A sample of 500 respondents aged 18-30 years, from 9 towns in Serbia responded to online questionnaire in September 2017, in a baseline research. Pre and post measurement of all tested variables among participants in nine towns would be performed. End-line survey with 500 respondents would be conducted at the end of the project (early year 2018). After the first TBI (60 participants) no impact was detected on measured indicators: perception of desirable characteristics of man F(1,59)= 1.291, p=.260; perception of desirable characteristics of women F(1,55)=1.386, p= .244; gender identity importance F(1,63)= .050, p=.824; sex related behavior F(1,61)=1,145, p=.289; gender equality on labor market F(1,63)=.076, p=.783; gender equality in partnership F(1,61)=.201, p=.656; However, we hope that following intervention would bring more data showing that participatory theatre intervention explaining gender as a social construct could have additional positive impact in traditional educational system.

Keywords: educational impact, gender identity, gender role, participatory theatre based intervention

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Muhammad Yayat Afianto, Darmawan, Agung Putra Utama, Hari Kushardanto

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Fish Forever, Rare’s innovative coastal fisheries program, combined community-based conservation management approach with spatial management to restore and protect Indonesia’s small-scale fisheries by establishing Fishing Managed Access Area. A ‘TURF-Reserve’ is a fishery management approach that positions fishers at the center of fisheries management, empowering them to take care of and make decisions about the future of their fishery. After two years of the program, social marketing campaigns succeeded in changing their behavior by adopting the new conservation behavior. The Pride-TURF-R campaigns developed an overarching hypothesis of impact that captured the knowledge, attitude and behavior changes needed to reduce threats and achieve conservation results. Rare help Batu Belah fishers to develop their group, developed with their roles, sustainable fisheries plan, and the budget plan. On 12th February 2017, the Head of Loka Kawasan Konservasi Perairan Nasional (LKKPN) which is a Technical Implementation Unit for National Marine Conservation Areas directly responsible to the Directorate General for Marine Spatial Management in the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries had signed a Partnership Agreement with the Head of Batu Belah Village to manage a TURF+Reserve area as wide as 909 hectares. The fishers group have been collecting the catch and submitting the report monthly, initiated the installation of the buoy markers for the No Take Zone, and formed the Pokmaswas (community-based surveillance group). Prior to this behavior adoption, they don’t have any fisheries data, no group of fishers, and they have still fishing inside the No Take Zone. This is really a new behavior adoption for them. This paper will show the process and success story of the social marketing campaign to conserve marine habitat in Anambas through Pride-TURF-R program.

Keywords: behavior adoption, community participation, no take zone, pride-TURF-R

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Alain Villemeur

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The relationships between the profit share in income on the one hand and the growth rates of output and employment on the other hand have been studied for 17 advanced economies since 1961. The vast majority (98%) of annual values for the profit share fall between 20% and 40%, with an average value of 33.9%. For the 17 advanced economies, Gross Domestic Product and productivity growth rates tend to fall as the profit share in income rises. For the employment growth rates, the relationships are complex; nevertheless, over long periods (1961-2000), it appears that the more job-creating economies are Australia, Canada, and the United States; they have experienced a profit share close to 1/3. This raises a number of questions, not least the value of 1/3 for the profit share and its role in macroeconomic fundamentals. To explain these facts, an endogenous growth model is developed. This growth and distribution model reconciles the great ideas of Kaldor (economic growth as a chain reaction), of Keynes (effective demand and marginal efficiency of capital) and of Ricardo (importance of the wage-profit distribution) in an economy facing creative destruction. A production function is obtained, depending mainly on the growth of employment, the rate of net investment and the profit share in income. In theory, we show the existence of incentives: an incentive for job creation when the profit share is less than 1/3 and another incentive for job destruction in the opposite case. Thus, increasing the profit share can boost the employment growth rate until it reaches the value of 1/3; otherwise lowers the employment growth rate. Three key findings can be drawn from these considerations. The first reveals that the best GDP and productivity growth rates are obtained with a profit share of less than 1/3. The second is that maximum job growth is associated with a 1/3 profit share, given the existence of incentives to create more jobs when the profit share is less than 1/3 or to destroy more jobs otherwise. The third is the decline in performance (GDP growth rate and productivity growth rate) when the profit share increases. In conclusion, increasing the profit share in income weakens GDP growth or productivity growth as a long-term trend, contrary to the trickle-down hypothesis. The employment growth rate is maximum for a profit share in income of 1/3. All these lessons suggest macroeconomic policies considering the profit share in income.

Keywords: advanced countries, GDP growth, employment growth, profit share, economic policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Joseph George, Anne Kotteswara Roa

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Skin disease is one of the most common and popular kinds of health issues faced by people nowadays. Skin cancer (SC) is one among them, and its detection relies on the skin biopsy outputs and the expertise of the doctors, but it consumes more time and some inaccurate results. At the early stage, skin cancer detection is a challenging task, and it easily spreads to the whole body and leads to an increase in the mortality rate. Skin cancer is curable when it is detected at an early stage. In order to classify correct and accurate skin cancer, the critical task is skin cancer identification and classification, and it is more based on the cancer disease features such as shape, size, color, symmetry and etc. More similar characteristics are present in many skin diseases; hence it makes it a challenging issue to select important features from a skin cancer dataset images. Hence, the skin cancer diagnostic accuracy is improved by requiring an automated skin cancer detection and classification framework; thereby, the human expert’s scarcity is handled. Recently, the deep learning techniques like Convolutional neural network (CNN), Deep belief neural network (DBN), Artificial neural network (ANN), Recurrent neural network (RNN), and Long and short term memory (LSTM) have been widely used for the identification and classification of skin cancers. This survey reviews different DL techniques for skin cancer identification and classification. The performance metrics such as precision, recall, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F-measures are used to evaluate the effectiveness of SC identification using DL techniques. By using these DL techniques, the classification accuracy increases along with the mitigation of computational complexities and time consumption.

Keywords: skin cancer, deep learning, performance measures, accuracy, datasets

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Hamadi Cherif, Christophe Coquelet, Paolo Stringari, Denis Clodic, Laura Pellegrini, Stefania Moioli, Stefano Langè

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Biogas is a promising technology which can be used as a vehicle fuel, for heat and electricity production, or injected in the national gas grid. It is storable, transportable, not intermittent and substitutable for fossil fuels. This gas produced from the wastewater treatment by degradation of organic matter under anaerobic conditions is mainly composed of methane and carbon dioxide. To be used as a renewable fuel, biogas, whose energy comes only from methane, must be purified from carbon dioxide and other impurities such as water vapor, siloxanes and hydrogen sulfide. Purification of biogas for this application particularly requires the removal of hydrogen sulfide, which negatively affects the operation and viability of equipment especially pumps, heat exchangers and pipes, causing their corrosion. Several methods are available to eliminate hydrogen sulfide from biogas. Herein, reactive absorption in structured packed column by means of chemical absorption in aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions is considered. This study is based on simulations using Aspen Plus™ V8.0, and comparisons are done with data from an industrial pilot plant treating 85 Nm3/h of biogas which contains about 30 ppm of hydrogen sulfide. The rate-based model approach has been used for simulations in order to determine the efficiencies of separation for different operating conditions. To describe vapor-liquid equilibrium, a γ/ϕ approach has been considered: the Electrolyte NRTL model has been adopted to represent non-idealities in the liquid phase, while the Redlich-Kwong equation of state has been used for the vapor phase. In order to validate the thermodynamic model, Henry’s law constants of each compound in water have been verified against experimental data. Default values available in Aspen Plus™ V8.0 for the properties of pure components properties as heat capacity, density, viscosity and surface tension have also been verified. The obtained results for physical and chemical properties are in a good agreement with experimental data. Reactions involved in the process have been studied rigorously. Equilibrium constants for equilibrium reactions and the reaction rate constant for the kinetically controlled reaction between carbon dioxide and the hydroxide ion have been checked. Results of simulations of the pilot plant purification section show the influence of low temperatures, concentration of sodium hydroxide and hydrodynamic parameters on the selective absorption of hydrogen sulfide. These results show an acceptable degree of accuracy when compared with the experimental data obtained from the pilot plant. Results show also the great efficiency of sodium hydroxide for the removal of hydrogen sulfide. The content of this compound in the gas leaving the column is under 1 ppm.

Keywords: biogas, hydrogen sulfide, reactive absorption, sodium hydroxide, structured packed column

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Liu Bijin

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Floating breakwaters have several advantages, including being environmentally friendly, easy to construct, and cost-effective regardless of water depth. They have a broad range of applications in coastal engineering. However, they face significant challenges due to the unstable effect of wave dissipation, structural vulnerability, and high mooring system requirements. This paper investigates the wave dissipation performance of a floating breakwater structure. The structure consists of double cylinders, double vertical plates, and horizontal connecting plates. The investigation is carried out using physical model tests and numerical simulation methods based on STAR-CCM+. This paper discusses the impact of wave elements, relative vertical plate heights, and relative horizontal connecting plate widths on the wave dissipation performance of the double-cylinder, double-plate floating breakwater (DCDPFB). The study also analyses the changes in local vorticity and velocity fields around the DCDPFB to determine the optimal structural dimensions. The study found that the relative width of the horizontal connecting plate, the relative height of the vertical plate, and the size of the semi-cylinder are the key factors affecting the wave dissipation performance of the DCDPFB. The transmittance coefficient is minimally affected by the wave height and the depth of water entry. The local vortex and velocity field formed around the DCDPFB are important factors for dissipating wave energy. The test section of the DCDPFB, constructed according to the relative optimal structural dimensions, showed good wave dissipation performance during offshore prototype tests. The test section of DCDPFB, constructed with optimal structural dimensions, exhibits excellent wave dissipation performance in offshore prototype tests.

Keywords: floating breakwater, wave dissipation performance, transmittance coefficient, model test

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Asal Pournaghshband

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This paper presents the development of a finite element model to study the large deflection behavior of restrained stainless steel cellular beams at elevated temperature. Cellular beams are widely used for efficient utilization of raw materials to facilitate long spans with faster construction resulting sustainable design solution that can enhance the performance and merit of any construction project. However, their load carrying capacity is less than the equivalent beams without opening due to developing shear-moment interaction at the openings. In structural frames due to elements continuity, such beams are restrained by their adjoining members which has a substantial effect on beams behavior in fire. Stainless steel has also become integral part of the build environment due to its excellent corrosion resistance, whole life-cycle costs, and sustainability. This paper reports the numerical investigations into the effect of structural continuity on the thermo-mechanical performance of restrained steel beams with circle and elongated circle shapes of web opening in fire. The numerical model is firstly validated using existing numerical results from the literature, and then employed to perform a parametric study. The structural continuity is evaluated through the application of different levels of axial restraints on the response of carbon steel and stainless steel cellular beam in fire. The transit temperature for stainless steel cellular beam is shown to be less affected by the level of axial stiffness than the equivalent carbon steel cellular beam. Overall, it was established that whereas stainless steel cellular beams show similar stages of behavior of carbon steel cellular beams in fire, they are capable of withstanding higher temperatures prior to the onset of catenary action in large deflection, despite the higher thermal expansion of stainless steel material.

Keywords: axial restraint, catenary action, cellular beam, fire, numerical modeling, stainless steel, transit temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Yousef Barahmeh

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This paper is a linguistic and pragmatic analysis of the use of the diminutive in Colloquial Jordanian Arabic (CJA). It demonstrates a peculiar form of the diminutive in CJA inflected by means of feminine plural ends with -aat suffix. The analysis shows that the pragmatic function(s) of the diminutive in CJA refers primarily to ‘littleness’ while the morphological inflection conveys the message of ‘the plethora’. Examples of this linguistic phenomenon are intelligible and often include a large number of words that are culture-specific to the rural dialect in the north of Jordan. In both cases, the diminutive in CJA is an adaptive strategy relative to its pragmatic and social contexts.

Keywords: Colloquial Jordanian Arabic, diminutive, morphology, pragmatics

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Makinde David Olajide

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Proverb is an important aspect of most indigenous culture in Africa including that of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. As revealed by recent studies, Yoruba proverbs as an important cultural heritage are threatened and near extinct. This fear of proverb extinct in Yoruba cultural growth has been observed and expressed at different fora by many researchers and professionals including Art historians, culture patrons, social critics’ and teachers among others. Investigation revealed that the intangible nature of proverb is largely responsible for its continuous disappearance in the language structure and creative speeches which give the unique identity to the Yoruba people. Some of the factors that are responsible for culture extinct include: absence of moonlight stories by the elderly, the nuclear family system, and total assimilation of western culture, the concept of modernity and urban nature of Yoruba towns among others. Therefore, to preserve this creative heritage (proverb), there is need for a conscious shift of the traditional role of proverbs in speech development to its use as tool for artistic creations and expressions in visual form. The study was carried out between June, 2013 and February, 2015 in three Yoruba towns; Ilorin, Ede and Ogbomoso selected from Kwara, Osun and Oyo states respectively. The data used in this study were collected through oral and structured interviews. Fifteen interviewers were purposively selected in each of the study areas. It also employs the use of electronic and printed media to generate relevant literature on the subject matter. The study revealed that many Yoruba proverbs are preserved or hidden in text books, monograph, home videos, films and pastoral messages. However, this has not stopped the problem of lack of understanding of its usage, meaning and reasons for its extinction that may hinder its preservation for the incoming generations. This study concludes that indigenous culture can be revived and preserved for future generations when there is a conscious attempt to integrate or convert their traditional roles for present day realities and relevance in our social and educational needs.

Keywords: culture, assimilation, extinct, heritage, preservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Pranjal Johri, Misbah Ul-Islam

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Power Transformers are one of the most critical and failure prone entities in an electrical power system. It is an established practice that each design of a power transformer has to undergo numerous type tests for design validation and routine tests are performed on each and every power transformer before dispatch from manufacturer’s works. Different countries follow different standards for testing the transformers. Most common and widely followed standard for Power Transformers is IEC 60076 series. Though these standards put up a strict testing requirements for power transformers, however, few aspects of transformer characteristics and guaranteed parameters can be ensured by some additional tests. Based on certain observations during routine test of a transformer and analyzing the data of a large fleet of transformers, three propositions have been discussed and put forward to be included in test schedules and standards. The observations in the routine test raised questions on design flux density of transformer. In order to ensure that flux density in any part of the core & yoke does not exceed 1.9 tesla at 1.1 pu as well, following propositions need to be followed during testing:  From the data studied, it was evident that generally NLC at 1.1 pu is apporx. 3 times of No Load Current at 1 pu voltage.  During testing the power factor at 1.1 pu excitation, it must be comparable to calculated values from the Cold Rolled Grain Oriented steel material curves, including building factor.  A limit of 3 % to be extended for higher than rated voltages on difference in Vavg and Vrms, during no load testing.  Extended over excitation test to be done in case above propositions are observed to be violated during testing.

Keywords: power transfoemrs, no load current, DGA, power factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Masoud Mohammadpour, Blair Carlson, Radovan Kovacevic

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The quality of laser welded-brazed (LWB) joints were strongly dependent on the main process parameters, therefore the effect of laser power (3.2–4 kW), welding speed (60–80 mm/s) and wire feed rate (70–90 mm/s) on mechanical strength and surface roughness were investigated in this study. The comprehensive optimization process by means of response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function was used for multi-criteria optimization. The experiments were planned based on Box– Behnken design implementing linear and quadratic polynomial equations for predicting the desired output properties. Finally, validation experiments were conducted on an optimized process condition which exhibited good agreement between the predicted and experimental results. AlSi3Mn1 was selected as the filler material for joining aluminum alloy 6022 and hot-dip galvanized steel in coach peel configuration. The high scanning speed could control the thickness of IMC as thin as 5 µm. The thermal simulations of joining process were conducted by the Finite Element Method (FEM), and results were validated through experimental data. The Fe/Al interfacial thermal history evidenced that the duration of critical temperature range (700–900 °C) in this high scanning speed process was less than 1 s. This short interaction time leads to the formation of reaction-control IMC layer instead of diffusion-control mechanisms.

Keywords: laser welding-brazing, finite element, response surface methodology (RSM), multi-response optimization, cross-beam laser

Procedia PDF Downloads 346

Authors: El Harraj Abdeslam, Raissouni Naoufal

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The detection of moving objects from a video image sequences is very important for object tracking, activity recognition, and behavior understanding in video surveillance. The most used approach for moving objects detection / tracking is background subtraction algorithms. Many approaches have been suggested for background subtraction. But, these are illumination change sensitive and the solutions proposed to bypass this problem are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a robust yet computationally efficient background subtraction approach and, mainly, focus on the ability to detect moving objects on dynamic scenes, for possible applications in complex and restricted access areas monitoring, where moving and motionless persons must be reliably detected. It consists of three main phases, establishing illumination changes in variance, background/foreground modeling and morphological analysis for noise removing. We handle illumination changes using Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), which limits the intensity of each pixel to user determined maximum. Thus, it mitigates the degradation due to scene illumination changes and improves the visibility of the video signal. Initially, the background and foreground images are extracted from the video sequence. Then, the background and foreground images are separately enhanced by applying CLAHE. In order to form multi-modal backgrounds we model each channel of a pixel as a mixture of K Gaussians (K=5) using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Finally, we post process the resulting binary foreground mask using morphological erosion and dilation transformations to remove possible noise. For experimental test, we used a standard dataset to challenge the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method on a diverse set of dynamic scenes.

Keywords: video surveillance, background subtraction, contrast limited histogram equalization, illumination invariance, object tracking, object detection, behavior understanding, dynamic scenes

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Mahan Qwamizadeh, Kun Zhou, Zuoqi Zhang, Yong Wei Zhang

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Typical load-bearing biological materials like bone, mineralized tendon and shell, are biocomposites made from both organic (collagen) and inorganic (biomineral) materials. This amazing class of materials with intrinsic internally designed hierarchical structures show superior mechanical properties with regard to their weak components from which they are formed. Extensive investigations concentrating on static loading conditions have been done to study the biological materials failure. However, most of the damage and failure mechanisms in load-bearing biological materials will occur whenever their structures are exposed to dynamic loading conditions. The main question needed to be answered here is: What is the relation between the layout and architecture of the load-bearing biological materials and their dynamic behavior? In this work, a staggered model has been developed based on the structure of natural materials at nanoscale and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been used to study the dynamic behavior of the structure of load-bearing biological materials to answer why the staggered arrangement has been selected by nature to make the nanocomposite structure of most of the biological materials. The results showed that the staggered structures will efficiently attenuate the stress wave rather than the layered structure. Furthermore, such staggered architecture is effectively in charge of utilizing the capacity of the biostructure to resist both normal and shear loads. In this work, the geometrical parameters of the model like the thickness and aspect ratio of the mineral inclusions selected from the typical range of the experimentally observed feature sizes and layout dimensions of the biological materials such as bone and mineralized tendon. Furthermore, the numerical results validated with existing theoretical solutions. Findings of the present work emphasize on the significant effects of dynamic behavior on the natural evolution of load-bearing biological materials and can help scientists to design bioinspired materials in the laboratories.

Keywords: load-bearing biological materials, nanostructure, staggered structure, stress wave decay

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Lokesh Harshe

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The building construction sector is using 36% of global energy consumption with 39% of CO₂ emission. Professionals in the Built Environment Sector have long been aware of the industry’s contribution towards CO₂ emissions and are now moving towards more sustainable practices. As a result of this, many organizations have introduced rating systems to address the issue of global warming in the construction sector by ranking construction projects based on sustainability parameters. The pre-construction phase of any building project is the most essential time to make decisions for addressing the sustainability aspects. Traditionally, it is very difficult to collect data from different stakeholders and bring it together to form a decision based on factual data to perform sustainability analyses in the pre-construction phase. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the solution where one single model is the result of the collaborative approach of BIM processes where all the information is shared, extracted, communicated, and stored on a single platform that everyone can access and make decisions based on real-time data. The focus of this research is on the Indian Green Rating System IGBC® with the objective of understanding IGBC® requirements and developing a framework to create the relationship between the rating processes and BIM. A Hypothetical (Architectural) model of a hostel building is developed using AutoCAD 2019 & Revit Arch. 2019, where the framework is applied to generate results on sustainability analysis using Green Building Studio (GBS) and Revit Add-ins. The results of any sustainability analysis are generated within a fraction of a minute, which is very quick in comparison with traditional sustainability analysis. This may save a considerable amount of time as well as cost. The future scope is to integrate Architectural, Structural, and MEP Models to perform accurate sustainability analyses with inputs from industry professionals working on real-life Green BIM projects.

Keywords: sustainability analyses, BIM, green rating systems, IGBC®, LEED

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: S. Al-Sowayan

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The impact of selective excitation of circular helical modes of graded-index fibers on its capacity is analyzed using a model for propagation delay variation with launch offset and angle that resulted from misalignment of source and fiber axis. Results show that promising technique to improve graded-index fiber capacities.

Keywords: fiber measurements, fiber optic, communications, circular helical modes

Procedia PDF Downloads 786

Authors: Qijiao He, Lin Ye

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To evaluate the effect of the ribs on internal structure in film hole and the film cooling performance on outer surface, the numerical study investigates on the effects of rib configuration on the film cooling performance with ribbed cross-flow coolant channel. The base smooth case and three ribbed cases, including the continuous rib case and two cross-truncated rib cases with different arrangement, are studied. The distributions of adiabatic film cooling effectiveness and heat transfer coefficient are obtained under the blowing ratios with the value of 0.5 and 1.0, respectively. A commercial steady RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) code with realizable k-ε turbulence model and enhanced wall treatment were performed for numerical simulations. The numerical model is validated against available experimental data. The two cross-truncated rib cases produce approximately identical cooling effectiveness compared with the smooth case under lower blowing ratio. The continuous rib case significantly outperforms the other cases. With the increase of blowing ratio, the cases with ribs are inferior to the smooth case, especially in the upstream region. The cross-truncated rib I case produces the highest cooling effectiveness among the studied the ribbed channel case. It is found that film cooling effectiveness deteriorates with the increase of spiral intensity of the cross-flow inside the film hole. Lower spiral intensity leads to a better film coverage and thus results in better cooling effectiveness. The distinct relative merits among the cases at different blowing ratios are explored based on the aforementioned dominant mechanism. With regard to the heat transfer coefficient, the smooth case has higher heat transfer intensity than the ribbed cases under the studied blowing ratios. The laterally-averaged heat transfer coefficient of the cross-truncated rib I case is higher than the cross-truncated rib II case.

Keywords: cross-flow, cross-truncated rib, film cooling, numerical simulation

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Authors: Behnaz Sohani, Sahand Shahalinezhad, Amir Rahmani, Aliyu Aliyu

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Recently, medical imaging and specifically medical image processing is becoming one of the most dynamically developing areas of medical science. It has led to the emergence of new approaches in terms of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases. In the process of diagnosis of lung cancer, medical professionals rely on computed tomography (CT) scans, in which failure to correctly identify masses can lead to incorrect diagnosis or sampling of lung tissue. Identification and demarcation of masses in terms of detecting cancer within lung tissue are critical challenges in diagnosis. In this work, a segmentation system in image processing techniques has been applied for detection purposes. Particularly, the use and validation of a novel lung cancer detection algorithm have been presented through simulation. This has been performed employing CT images based on multilevel thresholding. The proposed technique consists of segmentation, feature extraction, and feature selection and classification. More in detail, the features with useful information are selected after featuring extraction. Eventually, the output image of lung cancer is obtained with 96.3% accuracy and 87.25%. The purpose of feature extraction applying the proposed approach is to transform the raw data into a more usable form for subsequent statistical processing. Future steps will involve employing the current feature extraction method to achieve more accurate resulting images, including further details available to machine vision systems to recognise objects in lung CT scan images.

Keywords: lung cancer detection, image segmentation, lung computed tomography (CT) images, medical image processing

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Authors: Timma Reddy, Srikonda Ramesh

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India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters such as Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides. It has become a recurrent phenomenon as observed in last five decades. The survey indicates that about 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is susceptible to drought. Climate change is likely to be perceived through experience of extreme weather events. There is growing societal concern about climate change, given the potential impacts of associated natural hazards such as cyclones, flooding, earthquakes, landslides etc, hence it is essential and crucial to strengthening our settlements to respond to such calamities. So, the research paper focus is to analyze the effective planning strategy/mechanism to integrate disaster mitigation measures in coastal regions in general and Capital Region of Andhra Pradesh in particular. The basic hypothesis is to govern the appropriate special planning considerations would facilitate to have organized way of protective life and properties from natural disasters. And further to integrate the infrastructure planning with conscious direction would provide an effective mitigations measures. It has been planned and analyzed to Vijayawada city with conscious land use planning with reference to space syntax trajectory in accordance to required social infrastructure such as health facilities, institution areas and recreational and other open spaces. It has been identified that the geographically ideal location with reference to the population densities based on GIS tools the properness strategies can be effectively integrated to protect the life and to save the properties by means of reducing the damage/impact of natural disasters in general earth quake/cyclones or floods in particularly.

Keywords: modular, trajectories, social infrastructure, evidence based syntax, drills and equipments, GIS, geographical micro zoning, high resolution satellite image

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Authors: A. Jourani, C. Trevisiol, S. Bouvier

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The aim of this work is to study the coupled effect of microstructure and surface roughness on friction coefficient, wear resistance and wear mechanisms. Friction tests on 35NCD16 steel are performed under different normal loads (50-110 N) on a pin-on-plane configuration at cyclic sliding with abrasive silicon carbide grains ranging from 35 µm to 200 µm. To vary hardness and microstructure, the specimens are subjected to water quenching and tempering at various temperatures from 200°C to 600°C. The evolution of microstructures and wear mechanisms of worn surfaces are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For a given microstructure and hardness, the friction coefficient decreases with increasing of normal load and decreasing of the abrasive particle size. The wear rate increase with increasing of normal load and abrasive particle size. The results also reveal that there is a critical hardness Hcᵣᵢₜᵢcₐₗ around 430 Hv which maximizes the friction coefficient and wear rate. This corresponds to a microstructure transition from martensite laths to carbides and equiaxed grains, for a tempering around 400°C. Above Hcᵣᵢₜᵢcₐₗ the friction coefficient and the amount of material loss decrease with an increase of hardness and martensite volume fraction. This study also shows that the debris size and the space between the abrasive particles decrease with a reduction in the particle size. The coarsest abrasive grains lost their cutting edges, accompanied by particle damage and empty space due to the particle detachment from the resin matrix. The compact packing nature of finer abrasive papers implicates lower particle detachment and facilitates the clogging and the transition from abrasive to adhesive wear.

Keywords: martensite, microstructure, friction, wear, surface roughness

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Authors: M. G. Murtaza, E. E. Tzirtzilakis, M. Ferdows

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Biomagnetic fluid dynamics is an interdisciplinary field comprising engineering, medicine, and biology. Bio fluid dynamics is directed towards finding and developing the solutions to some of the human body related diseases and disorders. This article describes the flow and heat transfer of two dimensional, steady, laminar, viscous and incompressible biomagnetic fluid over a non-linear stretching sheet in the presence of magnetic dipole. Our model is consistent with blood fluid namely biomagnetic fluid dynamics (BFD). This model based on the principles of ferrohydrodynamic (FHD). The temperature at the stretching surface is assumed to follow a power law variation, and stretching velocity is assumed to have a nonlinear form with signum function or sign function. The governing boundary layer equations with boundary conditions are simplified to couple higher order equations using usual transformations. Numerical solutions for the governing momentum and energy equations are obtained by efficient numerical techniques based on the common finite difference method with central differencing, on a tridiagonal matrix manipulation and on an iterative procedure. Computations are performed for a wide range of the governing parameters such as magnetic field parameter, power law exponent temperature parameter, and other involved parameters and the effect of these parameters on the velocity and temperature field is presented. It is observed that for different values of the magnetic parameter, the velocity distribution decreases while temperature distribution increases. Besides, the finite difference solutions results for skin-friction coefficient and rate of heat transfer are discussed. This study will have an important bearing on a high targeting efficiency, a high magnetic field is required in the targeted body compartment.

Keywords: biomagnetic fluid, FHD, MHD, nonlinear stretching sheet

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Authors: Hassan Ibrahim

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The prevalence of hyperacusis, an auditory condition characterized by heightened sensitivity to sounds, continues to rise, posing challenges for effective diagnosis and intervention. It is believed that this work deepens will deepens the understanding of hyperacusis etiology by employing graph theory as a novel analytical framework. We constructed a comprehensive graph wherein nodes represent various factors associated with hyperacusis, including aging, head or neck trauma, infection/virus, depression, migraines, ear infection, anxiety, and other potential contributors. Relationships between factors are modeled as edges, allowing us to visualize and quantify the interactions within the etiological landscape of hyperacusis. it employ the concept of the metric dimension of a connected graph to identify key nodes (landmarks) that serve as critical influencers in the interconnected web of hyperacusis causes. This approach offers a unique perspective on the relative importance and centrality of different factors, shedding light on the complex interplay between physiological, psychological, and environmental determinants. Visualization techniques were also employed to enhance the interpretation and facilitate the identification of the central nodes. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge surrounding hyperacusis by offering a network-centric perspective on its multifaceted causes. The outcomes hold the potential to inform clinical practices, guiding healthcare professionals in prioritizing interventions and personalized treatment plans based on the identified landmarks within the etiological network. Through the integration of graph theory into hyperacusis research, the complexity of this auditory condition was unraveled and pave the way for more effective approaches to its management.

Keywords: auditory condition, connected graph, hyperacusis, metric dimension

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Authors: J. Fryt, K. Pietras, T. Smolen

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Intergenerational similarities in values may be effect of value transmission within families or socio-cultural trends prevailing at a specific point in time. According to salience hypothesis, salient family values may be transmitted more frequently. On the other hand, many value studies reveal that generational shift from social values (conservation and self-transcendence) to more individualistic values (openness to change and self-enhancement) suggest that value transmission and value change are two different processes. The first aim of our study was to describe similarities and differences in values of young women and their parents. The second aim was to determine which value similarities may be due to transmission within families. Ninety seven Polish women aged 19-25 and both their mothers and fathers filled in the Portrait Value Questionaire. Intergenerational similarities in values between women were found in strong preference for benevolence, universalism and self-direction as well as low preference for power. Similarities between younger women and older men were found in strong preference for universalism and hedonism as well as lower preference for security and tradition. Young women differed from older generation in strong preference for stimulation and achievement as well as low preference for conformity. To identify the origin of intergenerational similarities (whether they are the effect of value transmission within families or not), we used the comparison between correlations of values in family dyads (mother-daughter, father-daughter) and distribution of correlations in random intergenerational dyads (random mother-daughter, random father-daughter) as well as peer dyads (random daughter-daughter). Values representing conservation (security, tradition and conformity) as well as benevolence and power were transmitted in families between women. Achievement, power and security were transmitted between fathers and daughters. Similarities in openness to change (self-direction, stimulation and hedonism) and universalism were not stronger within families than in random intergenerational and peer dyads. Taken together, our findings suggest that despite noticeable generation shift from social to more individualistic values, we can observe transmission of parents’ salient values such as security, tradition, benevolence and achievement.

Keywords: value transmission, value change, intergenerational similarities, differences in values

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Authors: Dorothy I. Riddle

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Limited mobility (or an inability to walk more than 15 meters without sitting down to rest) restricts full community participation for 13 percent of Canadian adults or 4.2 million persons), yet Canadian accessibility standards are silent on distance to be walked as an accessibility barrier to be addressed. Instead, they focus on ensuring access for the wheeled mobility devices used regularly by le The Accessible Canada Act mandates that Canada be barrier free by 2040, which will necessitate eliminating distance to be walked as a barrier in federal programs and services. This paper details the results of a multi-year research project funded by Accessibility Standards Canada to document the lived experience of those struggling with limited mobility and make recommendations regarding how to ensure accessibility for those with limited mobility. Over 2,600 Canadians from across Canada participated in an online survey and follow-up focus groups. The results underscored the importance of providing not only mobility supports in public facilities but also the information necessary for planning access to federal programs and services. As numerous participants indicated, if they weren’t sure how far they would have to walk, they simply stayed home and depended on friends and relatives for help with errands or appointments. This included failing to participate in civic activities, such as voting, for fear of having to walk too far and stand unsupported for too long. Types of information that were deemed critical included whether or not mobility aids were available, where seating to rest was located throughout the facility, what alternatives to standing while waiting for service and having to walk to the service provider (rather than the provider coming to the customer) were available, and diagrams of accessible parking and its relationship to elevators and services.

Keywords: accessibility standards, distance to be walked, limited mobility, mobility aids, service to customer

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Authors: James M. Wakiru, Liliane Pintelon, Peter Muchiri, Stanley Mburu

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Maintenance performance measurement (MPM) represents an integrated aspect that considers both operational and maintenance related aspects while evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of maintenance to ensure assets are working as they should. Three salient issues require to be addressed for an asset-intensive organization to employ an MPM-based framework to optimize maintenance. Firstly, the organization should establish important perfomance metric(s), in this case the maintenance objective(s), which they will be focuss on. The second issue entails aligning the maintenance objective(s) with maintenance optimization. This is achieved by deriving maintenance performance indicators that subsequently form an objective function for the optimization program. Lastly, the objective function is employed in an optimization program to derive maintenance decision support. In this study, we develop a framework that initially identifies the crucial maintenance performance measures, and employs them to derive maintenance decision support. The proposed framework is demonstrated in a case study of a geothermal drilling rig, where the objective function is evaluated utilizing a simulation-based model whose parameters are derived from empirical maintenance data. Availability, reliability and maintenance inventory are depicted as essential objectives requiring further attention. A simulation model is developed mimicking a drilling rig operations and maintenance where the sub-systems are modelled undergoing imperfect maintenance, corrective (CM) and preventive (PM), with the total cost as the primary performance measurement. Moreover, three maintenance spare inventory policies are considered; classical (retaining stocks for a contractual period), vendor-managed inventory with consignment stock and periodic monitoring order-to-stock (s, S) policy. Optimization results infer that the adoption of (s, S) inventory policy, increased PM interval and reduced reliance of CM actions offers improved availability and total costs reduction.

Keywords: maintenance, vendor-managed, decision support, performance, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Mequanint Birhan

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Modern urban environments present a dynamically growing field where, notwithstanding shared goals, several mutually conflicting interests frequently collide. However, it has a big impact on the city's socioeconomic standing, waiting lines and queues are common occurrences. This results in extremely long lines for both vehicles and people on incongruous routes, service coagulation, customer murmuring, unhappiness, complaints, and looking for other options sometimes illegally. The root cause of this is corruption, which leads to traffic jams, stopping, and packing vehicles beyond their safe carrying capacity, and violating the human rights and freedoms of passengers. This study focused on the optimizing time of passengers had to wait in public vehicle stations. This applied research employed both data gathering sources and mixed approaches, then 166 samples of key informants of transport station were taken by using the Slovin sampling formula. The length of time vehicles, including the drivers and auxiliary drivers ‘Weyala', had to wait was also studied. To maximize the service level at vehicle stations, a queuing model was subsequently devised ‘Menaharya’. Time, cost, and quality encompass performance, scope, and suitability for the intended purposes. The minimal response time for passengers and vehicles queuing to reach their final destination at the stations of the Tepi, Mizan, and Bonga towns was determined. A new bus station system was modeled and simulated by Arena simulation software in the chosen study area. 84% improvement on cost reduced by 56.25%, time 4hr to 1.5hr, quality, safety and designed load performance calculations employed. Stakeholders are asked to put the model into practice and monitor the results obtained.

Keywords: Arena 14 automatic rockwell, queue, transport services, vehicle stations

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Authors: Alastair Hales, Xi Jiang

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Numerical methods are used to evaluate the operation of confined face-to-face piezoelectric fan arrays as pitch, P, between the blades is varied. Both in-phase and counter-phase oscillation are considered. A piezoelectric fan consists of a fan blade, which is clamped at one end, and an extremely low powered actuator. This drives the blade tip’s oscillation at its first natural frequency. Sufficient blade tip speed, created by the high oscillation frequency and amplitude, is required to induce vortices and downstream volume flow in the surrounding air. A single piezoelectric fan may provide the ideal solution for low powered hot spot cooling in an electronic device, but is unable to induce sufficient downstream airflow to replace a conventional air mover, such as a convection fan, in power electronics. Piezoelectric fan arrays, which are assemblies including multiple fan blades usually in face-to-face orientation, must be developed to widen the field of feasible applications for the technology. The potential energy saving is significant, with a 50% power demand reduction compared to convection fans even in an unoptimised state. A numerical model of a typical piezoelectric fan blade is derived and validated against experimental data. Numerical error is found to be 5.4% and 9.8% using two data comparison methods. The model is used to explore the variation of pitch as a function of amplitude, A, for a confined two-blade piezoelectric fan array in face-to-face orientation, with the blades oscillating both in-phase and counter-phase. It has been reported that in-phase oscillation is optimal for generating maximum downstream velocity and flow rate in unconfined conditions, due at least in part to the beneficial coupling between the adjacent blades that leads to an increased oscillation amplitude. The present model demonstrates that confinement has a significant detrimental effect on in-phase oscillation. Even at low pitch, counter-phase oscillation produces enhanced downstream air velocities and flow rates. Downstream air velocity from counter-phase oscillation can be maximally enhanced, relative to that generated from a single blade, by 17.7% at P = 8A. Flow rate enhancement at the same pitch is found to be 18.6%. By comparison, in-phase oscillation at the same pitch outputs 23.9% and 24.8% reductions in peak downstream air velocity and flow rate, relative to that generated from a single blade. This optimal pitch, equivalent to those reported in the literature, suggests that counter-phase oscillation is less affected by confinement. The optimal pitch for generating bulk airflow from counter-phase oscillation is large, P > 16A, due to the small but significant downstream velocity across the span between adjacent blades. However, by considering design in a confined space, counterphase pitch should be minimised to maximise the bulk airflow generated from a certain cross-sectional area within a channel flow application. Quantitative values are found to deviate to a small degree as other geometric and operational parameters are varied, but the established relationships are maintained.

Keywords: piezoelectric fans, low energy cooling, power electronics, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Atiya Khan

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Recent research on the condition of school education in India has reaffirmed the importance of quality teacher professional development, especially in light of the rapid changes in teaching methods, learning theories, curriculum, and major shifts in information and technology that education systems are experiencing around the world. However, the quality of programs of teacher professional development in India is often uneven, in some cases non-existing. The educational authorities in India have long recognized this and have developed a range of programs to assist in-service teacher education. But, these programs have been mostly inadequate at improving the quality of teachers in India. Policy literature and reports indicate that the unevenness of these programs and more generally the lack of quality teacher professional development in India are due to factors such as a large number of teachers, budgetary constraints, top-down decision making, teacher overload, lack of infrastructure, and little or no follow-up. The disparity between the government stated goals for quality teacher professional development in India and its inability to meet the learning needs of teachers suggests that new interventions are needed. The realization that globalization has brought about an increase in the social, cultural, political and economic interconnectedness between countries has also given rise to transnational opportunities for education systems, such as India’s, aiming to build their capacity to support teacher professional development. Moreover, new developments in communication technologies seem to present a plausible means of achieving high-quality professional development for teachers through the creation of social learning spaces, such as transnational learning networks. This case study investigates the potential of one such transnational learning network to support the quality of teacher professional development in India, namely the Australia-Asia BRIDGE School Partnerships Project. It explores the participation of some fifteen teachers and their principals from BRIDGE participating schools in Delhi region of India; focusing on their professional development expectations from the BRIDGE program and account for their experiences in the program, in order to determine the program’s potential for the professional development of teachers in this study.

Keywords: case study, Australia-Asia BRIDGE Project, teacher professional development, transnational learning networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 254