Search results for: equal access

Authors: Kreso Ivandic, Filip Dodigovic, Damir Stuhec

Abstract:

The paper deals with the proposed 'Material' and 'Action-resistance factor' design methods in designing the embedded retaining walls. The parametric analysis of evaluating the differences of the output values mutually and compared with classic approach computation was performed. There is a challenge with the criteria for choosing the proposed calculation design methods in Eurocode 7 with respect to current technical regulations and regular engineering practice. The basic criterion for applying a particular design method is to ensure minimum an equal degree of reliability in relation to the current practice. The procedure of combining the relevant partial coefficients according to design methods was carried out. The use of mentioned partial coefficients should result in the same level of safety, regardless of load combinations, material characteristics and problem geometry. This proposed approach of the partial coefficients related to the material and/or action-resistance should aimed at building a bridge between calculations used so far and pure probability analysis. The measure to compare the results was to determine an equivalent safety factor for each analysis. The results show a visible wide span of equivalent values of the classic safety factors.

Keywords: action-resistance factor design, classic approach, embedded retaining wall, Eurocode 7, limit states, material factor design

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Ajish Sreedharan

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With the fast evolution of digital data exchange, security information becomes much important in data storage and transmission. Due to the increasing use of images in industrial process, it is essential to protect the confidential image data from unauthorized access. As encryption process is applied to the whole image in AES ,it is difficult to improve the efficiency. In this paper, wavelet decomposition is used to concentrate the main information of image to the low frequency part. Then, AES encryption is applied to the low frequency part. The high frequency parts are XORed with the encrypted low frequency part and a wavelet reconstruction is applied. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has high efficiency, and satisfied security suits for image data transmission.

Keywords: discrete wavelet transforms, AES, dynamic SBox

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Abdulmagid A. Khattabi, Ahmed A. Hablous, Mofied M. Elnemry

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The carbon steel is of one of the most common mineral materials used in engineering and industrial applications in order to have access to the required mechanical properties, especially after the change of carbon ratio, but this may lead to stimulate corrosion. It has been used in models of solids with different carbon ratios such as 0.05% C, 0.2% C, 0.35% C, 0.5% C, and 0.65% C and have been studied using three testing durations which are 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and 8 weeks and among different corrosion environments such as atmosphere, fresh water, and salt water. This research is for the purpose of finding the effect of the carbon content on the corrosion resistance of steels in different corrosion medium by using the weight loss technique as a function of the corrosion resistance. The results that have been obtained through this research shows that a correlation can be made between corrosion rates and steel's carbon content, and the corrosion resistance decreases with the increase in carbon content.

Keywords: proportion of carbon in the steel, corrosion rate, erosion, corrosion resistance in carbon-steel

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Authors: Abdel Khalek Selim, Safaa Mahmoud

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Experiments were designed to study nitrogen loss through leaching in soil columns treated with different nitrogen sources and elemental sulfur. The soil material (3 kg alluvial or calcareous soil) were packed in Plexiglas columns (10 cm diameter). The soil columns were treated with 2 g N in the form of Ca(NO3)2, urea, urea + inhibitor (Nitrapyrin), another set of these treatments was prepared to add elemental sulfur. During incubation period, leaching was performed by applying a volume of water that allows the percolation of 250-ml water throughout the soil column. The leachates were analyzed for NH4-N and N03-N. After 10 weeks, soil columns were cut into four equal segments and analyzed for ammonium, nitrate, and total nitrogen. Results indicated the following: Ca(NO3)2 treatment showed a rapid NO3 leaching, especially in the first 3 weeks, in both clay and calcareous soils. This means that soil texture did not play any role in this respect. Sulfur addition also did not affect the rate of NO3 leaching. In urea treatment, there was a steady increase of NH4- and NO3–N from one leachate to another. Addition of sulfur with urea slowed down the nitrification process and decreased N losses. Clay soil contained residual N much more than calcareous soil. Almost one-third of added nitrogen might have been immobilized by soil microorganisms or lost through other loss paths. Nitrification inhibitor can play a role in preserving added nitrogen from being lost through leaching. Combining the inhibitor with elemental sulfur may help to stabilize certain preferred ratio of NH4 to NO3 in the soil for the benefit of the growing plants.

Keywords: alluvial soil, calcareous soil, elemental sulfur, nitrate leaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: J. Luché-Thayer, C. Perronne, C. Meseko

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We reviewed how certain institutional policies and practices, as well as questionable research, are creating obstacles to care and informed consent for Lyme and relapsing fever Borreliosis patients. The interference is denying access to treatments that meet the internationally accepted standards as set by the Institute of Medicine. This obstruction to care contributes to significant human suffering, disability and negative economic effect across many nations and in many regions of the world. We note how evidence based medicine emphasizes the importance of clinical experience and patient-centered care and how these patients benefit significantly when their rights to choose among treatment options are upheld.  

Keywords: conflicts of interest, obstacles to healthcare accessibility, patient-centered care, the right to informed consent

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Yee Hooi Min, Abdul Hadi, M. N., A. G. Kay Dora

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Form-finding has to be carried out for tensioned fabric structure in order to determine the initial equilibrium shape under prescribed support condition and pre-stress pattern. Tensioned fabric structures are normally designed to be in the form of equal tensioned surface. Tensioned fabric structure is highly suited to be used for realizing surfaces of complex or new forms. However, research study on a new form as a tensioned fabric structure has not attracted much attention. Another source of inspiration minimal surface which could be adopted as form for tensioned fabric structure is very crucial. The aim of this study is to propose initial equilibrium shape of tensioned fabric structures in the form of Monkey Saddle. Computational form-finding is frequently used to determine the possible form of uniformly stressed surfaces. A tensioned fabric structure must curve equally in opposite directions to give the resulting surface a three dimensional stability. In an anticlastic doubly curved surface, the sum of all positive and all negative curvatures is zero. This study provides an alternative choice for structural designer to consider the Monkey Saddle applied in tensioned fabric structures. The results on factors affecting initial equilibrium shape can serve as a reference for proper selection of surface parameter for achieving a structurally viable surface. Such in-sight will lead to improvement of rural basic infrastructure, economic gains, sustainability of built environment and green technology initiative.

Keywords: anticlastic, curvatures, form-finding, initial equilibrium shape, minimal surface, tensioned fabric structure

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Authors: Akindele Ojo, Olanike Ojo, Agatha Oseghale

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The empirical study examined the allocative efficiency of small holder tuber crop farmers in North central, Nigeria. Data used for the study were obtained from primary source using a multi-stage sampling technique with structured questionnaires administered to 300 randomly selected tuber crop farmers from the study area. Descriptive statistics, data envelopment analysis and Tobit regression model were used to analyze the data. The DEA result on the classification of the farmers into efficient and inefficient farmers showed that 17.67% of the sampled tuber crop farmers in the study area were operating at frontier and optimum level of production with mean allocative efficiency of 1.00. This shows that 82.33% of the farmers in the study area can still improve on their level of efficiency through better utilization of available resources, given the current state of technology. The results of the Tobit model for factors influencing allocative inefficiency in the study area showed that as the year of farming experience, level of education, cooperative society membership, extension contacts, credit access and farm size increased in the study area, the allocative inefficiency of the farmers decreased. The results on effects of the significant determinants of allocative inefficiency at various distribution levels revealed that allocative efficiency increased from 22% to 34% as the farmer acquired more farming experience. The allocative efficiency index of farmers that belonged to cooperative society was 0.23 while their counterparts without cooperative society had index value of 0.21. The result also showed that allocative efficiency increased from 0.43 as farmer acquired high formal education and decreased to 0.16 with farmers with non-formal education. The efficiency level in the allocation of resources increased with more contact with extension services as the allocative efficeincy index increased from 0.16 to 0.31 with frequency of extension contact increasing from zero contact to maximum of twenty contacts per annum. These results confirm that increase in year of farming experience, level of education, cooperative society membership, extension contacts, credit access and farm size leads to increases efficiency. The results further show that the age of the farmers had 32% input to the efficiency but reduces to an average of 15%, as the farmer grows old. It is therefore recommended that enhanced research, extension delivery and farm advisory services should be put in place for farmers who did not attain optimum frontier level to learn how to attain the remaining 74.39% level of allocative efficiency through a better production practices from the robustly efficient farms. This will go a long way to increase the efficiency level of the farmers in the study area.

Keywords: allocative efficiency, DEA, Tobit regression, tuber crop

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Authors: Abhiram Siva Prasad Pamula

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Access to clean drinking water becomes scarce due to the increase in extreme weather events because of the rise in the average global temperatures and climate change. By 2030, approximately 47% of the world’s population will face water shortages due to uncertainty in seasonal rainfall. Over 10000 varieties of synthetic dyes are commercially available in the market and used by textile and paper industries, negatively impacting human health when ingested. Besides humans, textile dyes have a negative impact on aquatic ecosystems by increasing biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand. This study assesses different treatment methods that remove dyes from textile wastewater while focusing on energy, economic, and engineering aspects of the treatment processes.

Keywords: textile wastewater, dye removal, treatment methods, hazardous pollutants

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Parthiban Srinivasan

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PubMed provides online access to the National Library of Medicine database (MEDLINE) and other publications, which contain close to 25 million scientific citations from 1865 to the present. There are close to 80 million author name instances in those close to 25 million citations. For any work of literature, a fundamental issue is to identify the individual(s) who wrote it, and conversely, to identify all of the works that belong to a given individual. Due to the lack of universal standards for name information, there are two aspects of name ambiguity: name synonymy (a single author with multiple name representations), and name homonymy (multiple authors sharing the same name representation). In this talk, we present some results from our extensive work in author name disambiguation for PubMed citations. Information will be presented on the effectiveness and shortcomings of different aspects of successful name disambiguation such as parsing, validation, standardization and normalization.

Keywords: disambiguation, normalization, parsing, PubMed

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Authors: Alphan Telek

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Political secularism is different from philosophical secularism in terms of its inclusionary, peaceful, liberal and democratic aspects. Secularism as a political principle not only takes the separation of state and religion as a basis but also it aims to exclude any kind of ethnic, religious, racial, gender domination at the state level. Thus, although political secularism does not see any problem with the visibility and implementation of religious views and symbols in the public sphere, it stands against the fusion of political power and religious views or more generally any kind of identity. Iranian context especially the post-reformist period, which starts in 2005, shows religious and/or reformist intellectuals try to put forward the political secularism and make it attractable to the large masses. Three prominent figures of reformist intellectualism Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohsen Kadivar and Akbar Ganji form the basic vocabulary of political secularism in the post-reformist period of Iran. Their intellectual and political struggle against the Islamic regime’s anti-democratic policies and actions do carry significance not only for Iranian democracy but also for all Muslim people around the world that demand a more equal, free, and just society. The political and intellectual discourses of Iranian intellectuals indicate that political secularism is a requirement of democratic state and society. In this paper, it is discussed the relationship between political secularism, state, society, and Islam. Thus, it will be argued that secularism as a political principle is increasingly held by Iranian intellectuals to show the relation between secularism and democracy.

Keywords: political secularism, Iranian intellectuals, democracy, Middle East

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Authors: Shyamani Hettiarachchi, Gopi Kitnasamy

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Background: The potentially high level of physical need and dependency experienced by children with cerebral palsy could affect the quality of life (QOL) of the child, the caregiver and his/her family. Poor QOL in children with cerebral palsy is associated with the parent-child relationship, limited opportunities for social participation, limited access to healthcare services, psychological well-being and the child's physical functioning. Given that children experiencing disabilities have little access to remedial support with an inequitable service across districts in Sri Lanka, and given the impact of culture and societal stigma, there may be differing viewpoints across respondents. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Tamil version of the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life for Children (CPQOL-Child) Questionnaire. Design: An instrument development and validation study. Methods: Forward and backward translations of the CPQOL-Child were undertaken by a team comprised of a physiotherapist, speech and language therapist and two linguists for the primary caregiver form and the child self-report form. As part of a pilot phase, the Tamil version of the CPQOL was completed by 45 primary caregivers with children with cerebral palsy and 15 children with cerebral palsy (GMFCS level 3-4). In addition, the primary caregivers commented on the process of filling in the questionnaire. The psychometric properties of test-retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity were undertaken. Results: The test-retest reliability and internal consistency were high. A significant association (p < 0.001) was found between limited motor skills and poor QOL. The Cronbach's alpha for the whole questionnaire was at 0.95.Similarities and divergences were found between the two groups of respondents. The child respondents identified limited motor skills as associated with physical well-being and autonomy. Akin to this, the primary caregivers associated the severity of motor function with limitations of physical well-being and autonomy. The trend observed was that QOL was not related to the level of impairment but connected to environmental factors by the child respondents. In addition to this, the main concern among primary caregivers about the child's future and on the child's lack of independence was not fully captured by the QOL questionnaire employed. Conclusions: Although the initial results of the CPQOL questionnaire show high test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the instrument, it does not fully reflect the socio-cultural realities and primary concerns of the caregivers. The current findings highlight the need to take child and caregiver perceptions of QOL into account in clinical practice and research. It strongly indicates the need for culture-specific measures of QOL.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, CPQOL, culture, quality of life

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Authors: Yamamah Abdulrazaq, Lahieb A. Abrahim, Samuel E. Davies, Iain Shewring

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An electric water heater (EWH) is a powerful appliance that uses electricity in residential, commercial, and industrial settings, and the ability to control them properly will result in cost savings and the prevention of blackouts on the national grid. This article discusses the usage of timers in EWH control strategies for demand-side management (DSM). Up to the authors' knowledge, there is no systematic mapping review focusing on the utilisation of EWH control strategies in DSM has yet been conducted. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to identify and examine main papers exploring EWH procedures in DSM by quantifying and categorising information with regard to publication year and source, kind of methods, and source of data for monitoring control techniques. In order to answer the research questions, a total of 31 publications published between 1999 and 2023 were selected depending on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data indicate that direct load control (DLC) has been somewhat more prevalent than indirect load control (ILC). Additionally, the mixing method is much lower than the other techniques, and the proportion of Real-time data (RTD) to non-real-time data (NRTD) is about equal.

Keywords: demand side management, direct load control, electric water heater, indirect load control, non real-time data, real-time data

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

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Core-shell composite structure is a common method to regulate the spectral absorption of nanofluids, but there occur complex preparation processes, which limit the applications in some fields, such as photothermal utilization and catalysis. This work proposed point-mode Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanofluids to regulate the spectral capturing ability and simplify the preparation process. Non-noble TiN nanoparticles with the localized surface plasmon resonance effect are dispersed in Cu₂O nanoparticles for forming a multi-point resonance source to enhance the spectral absorption performance. The experimental results indicate that the multiple resonance effect of TiN effectively improves the optical absorption and expands the absorption region. When the radius of Cu₂O nanoparticles is equal to 150nm, the optical absorption of point-mode Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanoparticles is best. Moreover, the photothermal conversion efficiency of Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanofluid can reach 97.5% at a volume fraction of 0.015% and an optical depth of 10mm. The point-mode nanostructure effectively enhances the optical absorption properties and greatly simplifies the preparation process of the composite nanoparticles, which can promote the application of multi-component photonic nanoparticles in the field of solar energy.

Keywords: solar energy, nanofluid, point-mode structure, Cu₂O/TiN, localized surface plasmon resonance effect

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Authors: Willem J. A. Louw

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The wave of new advanced computing technology that has been developed during the recent past has significantly changed the way we communicate, collaborate and collect information. It has created a new technology environment and paradigm in which our children and students grow-up and this impacts on their learning. Research confirmed that Generation Y students have a preference for learning in the new technology environment. The challenge or question is: How do we adjust our teaching and learning to make the most of these changes. The complexity of effective and efficient teaching and learning must not be underestimated and changes must be preceded by proper objective research to prevent any haphazard developments that could do more harm than benefit. A blended learning approach has been used in the Forestry department for a few numbers of years including the use of electronic-peer assisted learning (e-pal) in a fixed-computer set-up within a learning management system environment. It was decided to extend the investigation and do some exploratory research by using a range of different Tablet devices. For this purpose, learning activities or assignments were designed to cover aspects of communication, collaboration and collection of information. The Moodle learning management system was used to present normal module information, to communicate with students and for feedback and data collection. Student feedback was collected by using an online questionnaire and informal discussions. The research project was implemented in 2013, 2014 and 2015 amongst first and third-year students doing a forestry three-year technical tertiary qualification in commercial plantation management. In general, more than 80% of the students alluded to that the device was very useful in their learning environment while the rest indicated that the devices were not very useful. More than ninety percent of the students acknowledged that they would like to continue using the devices for all of their modules whilst the rest alluded to functioning efficiently without the devices. Results indicated that information collection (access to resources) was rated the highest advantageous factor followed by communication and collaboration. The main general advantages of using Tablets were listed by the students as being mobility (portability), 24/7 access to learning material and information of any kind on a user friendly device in a Wi-Fi environment, fast computing process speeds, saving time, effort and airtime through skyping and e-mail, and use of various applications. Ownership of the device is a critical factor while the risk was identified as a major potential constraint. Significant differences were reported between the different types and quality of Tablets. The preferred types are those with a bigger screen and the ones with overall better functionality and quality features. Tablets significantly increase the collaboration, communication and information collection needs of the students. It does, however, not replace the need of a computer/laptop because of limited storage and computation capacity, small screen size and inefficient typing.

Keywords: tablets, teaching, blended learning, tablet quality

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Authors: Ali Ganoun, Wesam Algablawi, Wasim BenAnaif

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Video based traffic surveillance based on License Plate Recognition (LPR) system is an essential part for any intelligent traffic management system. The LPR system utilizes computer vision and pattern recognition technologies to obtain traffic and road information by detecting and recognizing vehicles based on their license plates. Generally, the video based LPR system is a challenging area of research due to the variety of environmental conditions. The LPR systems used in a wide range of commercial applications such as collision warning systems, finding stolen cars, controlling access to car parks and automatic congestion charge systems. This paper presents an automatic LPR system of Libyan license plate. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated with three video sequences.

Keywords: license plate recognition, localization, segmentation, recognition

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Authors: Sangeeta Tripathi, Muna Al Shahri

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This research article presents the changing role and status of women in Oman. Transformation of women’s status started with the regime of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 1970. It is always desired by the Sultan to enable women in all the ways for the balance growth of the country. Forbidding full face veil for women in public offices is one of the best efforts for their empowerment. Women education is also increasing rapidly. They are getting friendly with new information communication technology and using different social media applications such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook for interaction and economic growth. Though there are some traditional and tribal boundaries, women are infused with courage and enjoying fair treatment and equal opportunities in different career positions. The study will try to explore changing mindset of young Omani women towards these traditional tribal boundaries, cultural heritage, business and career: ‘How are young Omani women making balance between work and social prestige?’, ‘How are they preserving their cultural values, embracing new technologies and approaching social network to enhance their economic power.’ This paper will discover their hurdles while using internet for their new entrepreneur. It will also examine the prospects of online business in Oman. The mixed research methodology is applied to find out the result.

Keywords: advertising, business, entrepreneurship, tribal barrier

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Authors: Hamidreza Miri, Farahnaz Momtazi

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Wheat is one of the most important crops in Fars province, and because of water shortage, there is a great emphasis on its water use efficiency in the production field. A field experiment was conducted in 2021 and 2022 in order to evaluate wheat yield and its components in raised planting system in Arsanjan, Fars province. The experiment was conducted as a split plot with three irrigation treatments (irrigation equal to evapotranspiration, 80% of evapotranspiration irrigation (moderate drought stress), and 60% of evapotranspiration irrigation (severe drought stress)) as the main plot and three planting methods (conventional flat planting, 60 cm raised bed planting and 120 cm raised bed planting) as a subplot. The results indicated that drought stress significantly decreased traits such as plant height, grain yield, ear number, seed number, and biological yield while increasing seed protein. Raised bed planting significantly increased the traits in comparison with conventional flat planting. So that plating with a 120 cm raised bed increased grain yield by 22.1% and 25.9% in the first and second years, respectively. This increase was 17% for biological, 75 for ear number, and 21% for seed number. Planting in raised bed system reduced the adverse effect of drought stress on wheat traits. In conclusion, based on the observed results planting in raised bed system can be adopted as an appropriate planting pattern for improving yield and water productivity in experimental regions and similar climates.

Keywords: wheat, raised bed planting, drought stress, yield, water use

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Rika van Zyl

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South Africa’s racial discrimination past has led to the drafting of the Constitution with the Bill of Rights for the people of South Africa. The Bill of Rights prohibits the state from unfairly discriminating directly or indirectly on certain grounds, one of which is race and another is gender. This has forced changes to the law of succession. The customary law rule of male primogeniture was abolished to ensure that women were not excluded from the intestate succession of the male head of the family in 2005. It was said that this rule cannot be reconciled with the notions of equality and human dignity contained in the Bill of Rights. The freedom of testation has further come under fire in South Africa, where it was found to be unfair discrimination and against public policy to exclude a specific gender (women) from inheriting in a private will. Although no one has the right to inherit in South Africa, any person with an interest can approach the court alleging that a right in the Bill of Rights has been infringed. A will that is found inconsistent with the South African Bill of Rights then cannot be enforced. Recent case law found that to leave out a specific gender (women) from a will, based entirely on the fact that they are of said specific gender, is in contravention of the Constitution and should, therefore, be declared invalid. It was said that the courts should take a transformative constitutional approach when equality rights are affected. Otherwise, the historical and insidious unequal distribution of wealth in South Africa will continue along the fault lines such as gender. This decision has opened the debate on the extent to which the state can interfere with the private autonomy of an individual who is deceased. Some of these arguments will be discussed, including the ambit of public policy in this regard.

Keywords: equality, discrimination, succession, public policy

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Authors: Tomasz Borowski, Dawid Sołoducha, Rafał Rakoczy, Marian Kordas

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The application of magnetic field is essential for a wide range of technologies or processes (i.e., magnetic hyperthermia, bioprocessing). From the practical point of view, bioprocess control is often limited to the regulation of temperature at constant values favourable to microbial growth. The main aim of this study is to determine the effect of various types of electromagnetic fields (i.e., static or alternating) on the heat transfer in a self-designed magnetically assisted reactor. The experimental set-up is equipped with a measuring instrument which controlled the temperature of the liquid inside the container and supervised the real-time acquisition of all the experimental data coming from the sensors. Temperature signals are also sampled from generator of magnetic field. The obtained temperature profiles were mathematically described and analyzed. The parameters characterizing the response to a step input of a first-order dynamic system were obtained and discussed. For example, the higher values of the time constant means slow signal (in this case, temperature) increase. After the period equal to about five-time constants, the sample temperature nearly reached the asymptotic value. This dynamical analysis allowed us to understand the heating effect under the action of various types of electromagnetic fields. Moreover, the proposed mathematical description can be used to compare the influence of different types of magnetic fields on heat transfer operations.

Keywords: heat transfer, magnetically assisted reactor, dynamical analysis, transient function

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Authors: Khater N., Rahmine S., Bougoffa C., Bouguenna T., Ouanes H.

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Moringa oleifera L. species is considered one of the most useful trees in the world, possessing many interesting properties that make it of great scientific interest. It has been described as the miracle tree, the tree of a thousand virtues, the tree of life and God's gift to man. The present study aims to introduce, produce, and develop Moringa Oleifera as a species with high ecological potential (resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and productivity), high added value, and multiple virtues. The aim of this work is to study the germination potential of this species under different temperature conditions. In this study, the germination assay was tested in two different temperature ranges: internal (laboratory ambient temperature between 22°c and 25°c) and external (seasonal temperature between 4°c and 8°c). Morphological and physiological analyses were carried out by Shoot length (SL), root length (RL), diameter at the crown (DC), fresh weight of shoots (FWS), fresh weight of roots (FWR), dry weight of shoots (DWS) and dry weight of roots (DWS). For all these variables, the results of the study reveal a significant difference between the two temperature intervals, with a high germination rate of 81. 81% and plant growth was rapid (7cm during 24h) in the laboratory temperature; in contrast to the external temperatures, a germination rate value of around 27% was recorded, and germination took place after 20 days of sowing, with slower plant growth. The results obtained show that a temperature greater than or equal to 25° is the ideal temperature for the germination and growth of moringa seeds and has a positive influence on the speed and percentage of germination.

Keywords: moringa oleifera, temperature, germination rate, growth, biomass

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Authors: Mohanaad Talal Shakir, Saad AJAJ Khalaf, Nawar Ahmed Aljumaily, Mustafa Talal Shakere

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Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Objectives of this paper are to investigate the role of the Enterprise System and Cloud Computing Services to assist and guide him to ensure the initiative become successful. The cloud computing technology offers great potential for Enterprise such as the speed of dealing with data and product introductions, innovations and speed of response. The use of cloud computing technology leads to the rapid development and competitiveness of enterprises in various fields.

Keywords: cloud computing, information management, marketing, enterprise systems

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Authors: Nikunj Agarwal, M. P. Sebastian

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Cloud computing can reduce the start-up expenses of implementing EHR (Electronic Health Records). However, many of the healthcare institutions are yet to implement cloud computing due to the associated privacy and security issues. In this paper, we analyze the challenges and opportunities of implementing cloud computing in healthcare. We also analyze data of over 5000 US hospitals that use Telemedicine applications. This analysis helps to understand the importance of smart phones over the desktop systems in different departments of the healthcare institutions. The wide usage of smartphones and cloud computing allows ubiquitous and affordable access to the health data by authorized persons, including patients and doctors. Cloud computing will prove to be beneficial to a majority of the departments in healthcare. Through this analysis, we attempt to understand the different healthcare departments that may benefit significantly from the implementation of cloud computing.

Keywords: cloud computing, smart devices, healthcare, telemedicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Katherine O'Grady-Bray

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For some deaf children, reading books can be a challenge. Frank Barnes School (FBS) provides guided reading time with Teachers of the Deaf, in which they read books with deaf children using a bilingual approach. The vocabulary and context of the story is explained to deaf children in BSL so they develop skills bridging English and BSL languages. However, the success of this practice is only achieved if the person is fluent in both languages. FBS piloted a scheme to convert an Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) book into an e-book that can be read using tablets. Deaf readers at FBS have access to both languages (BSL and English) during lessons and outside the classroom. The pupils receive guided reading sessions with a Teacher of the Deaf every morning, these one to one sessions give pupils the opportunity to learn how to bridge both languages e.g. how to translate English to BSL and vice versa. Generally, due to our pupils’ lack of access to incidental learning, gaining new information about the world around them is limited. This highlights the importance of quality time to scaffold their language development. In some cases, there is a shortfall of parental support at home due to poor communication skills or an unawareness of how to interact with deaf children. Some families have a limited knowledge of sign language or simply don’t have the required learning environment and strategies needed for language development with deaf children. As the majority of our pupils’ preferred language is BSL we use that to teach reading and writing English. If this is not mirrored at home, there is limited opportunity for joint reading sessions. Development of the e-Book required planning and technical development. The overall production took time as video footage needed to be shot and then edited individually for each page. There were various technical considerations such as having an appropriate background colour so not to draw attention away from the signer. Appointing a signer with the required high level of BSL was essential. The language and pace of the sign language was an important consideration as it was required to match the age and reading level of the book. When translating English text to BSL, careful consideration was given to the nonlinear nature of BSL and the differences in language structure and syntax. The e-book was produced using Apple’s ‘iBook Author’ software which allowed video footage of the signer to be embedded on pages opposite the text and illustration. This enabled BSL translation of the content of the text and inferences of the story. An interpreter was used to directly ‘voice over’ the signer rather than the actual text. The aim behind the structure and layout of the e-book is to allow parents to ‘read’ with their deaf child which helps to develop both languages. From observations, the use of e-books has given pupils confidence and motivation with their reading, developing skills bridging both BSL and English languages and more effective reading time with parents.

Keywords: bilingual book, e-book, BSL and English, bilingual e-book

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Authors: V. Hashim, P. N. Dileep

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Stent implantation is being seen as the most successful method to treat coronary artery diseases. Different types of stents are available in the market these days and the success of a stent implantation greatly depends on the proper selection of a suitable stent for a patient. Computer numerical simulation is the cost effective way to choose the compatible stent. Studies confirm that the design characteristics of stent do have great importance with regards to the pressure it can sustain, the maximum displacement it can produce, the developed stress concentration and so on. In this paper different designs of stent were analyzed together with balloon to optimize the stent and balloon system. Commercially available stent Palmaz-Schatz has been selected for analysis. Abaqus software is used to simulate the system. This work is the finite element analysis of the artery stent implant to find out the design factors affecting the stress and strain. The work consists of two phases. In the first phase, stress distribution of three models were compared - stent without balloon, stent with balloon of equal length and stent with balloon of extra length than stent. In second phase, three different design models of Palmaz-Schatz stent were compared by keeping the balloon length constant. The results obtained from analysis shows that, the design of the strut have strong effect on the stress distribution. A design with chamfered slots found better results. The length of the balloon also has influence on stress concentration of the stent. Increase in length of the balloon will reduce stress, but will increase dog boning effect.

Keywords: coronary stent, finite element analysis, restenosis, stress concentration

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Authors: Kamran Siddique, Hiroyuki Asada, Yoshifumi Ogami

Abstract:

Micro gas turbine (MGT) nowadays has a wide variety of applications from drones to hybrid electric vehicles. As microfabrication technology getting better, the size of MGT is getting smaller. Overall performance of MGT is dependent on the individual components. Each component’s performance is dependent and interrelated with another component. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to each and every individual component of MGT. In this study, the focus is on improving the performance of the compressor in order to improve the overall performance of MGT. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is being performed using the software FLUENT to analyze the design of a micro compressor. Operating parameters like mass flow rate and RPM, and design parameters like inner blade angle (IBA), outer blade angle (OBA), blade thickness and number of blades are varied to study its effect on the performance of the compressor. Pressure ratio is used as a tool to measure the performance of the compressor. Higher the pressure ratio, better the design is. In the study, target mass flow rate is 0.2 g/s and RPM to be less than or equal to 900,000. So far, a pressure ratio of above 3 has been achieved at 0.2 g/s mass flow rate with 5 rotor blades, 0.36 mm blade thickness, 94.25 degrees OBA and 10.46 degrees IBA. The design in this study differs from a regular centrifugal compressor used in conventional gas turbines such that compressor is designed keeping in mind ease of manufacturability. So, this study proposes a compressor design which has a good pressure ratio, and at the same time, it is easy to manufacture using current microfabrication technologies.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, FLUENT microfabrication, RPM

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Ekapon Thienthaworn

Abstract:

This research aims to study the exposure and satisfaction toward online news of undergraduate students in Bangkok, Thailand. This research is the survey research which 400 questionnaires are used to collect data with the accidental sampling technique and the data collected are analyzed with descriptive statistics. The result can be divided into 2 sections as follow: (1) Undergraduate students in Bangkok consume online news via most of the Smartphone. In most cases, they use average more than 2 hours per day. Most times to consume news are 22.01- 02.00 pm. Primary source is Facebook and the most interested news genre is entertainment news and headline of the day. (2) Undergraduate students in Bangkok have positive attitude in online news is a fastness and easy-to-access. Negative attitude is piracy. Finally, average satisfaction in consuming online news is in high levels.

Keywords: exposure, satisfaction, online news, Bangkok

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Linyu Wang, Jiahui Ma, Jianhong Xiang, Hanyu Jiang

Abstract:

For the pilot design of the sparse channel estimation model in Multiple Input Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems, the observation matrix constructed according to the matrix cross-correlation criterion, total correlation criterion and other optimization criteria are not optimal, resulting in inaccurate channel estimation and high bit error rate at the receiver. This paper proposes a pilot design method combining high-power sum and high-power variance criteria, which can more accurately estimate the channel. First, the pilot insertion position is designed according to the high-power variance criterion under the condition of equal power. Then, according to the high power sum criterion, the pilot power allocation is converted into a cone programming problem, and the power allocation is carried out. Finally, the optimal pilot is determined by calculating the weighted sum of the high power sum and the high power variance. Compared with the traditional pilot frequency, under the same conditions, the constructed MIMO-OFDM system uses the optimal pilot frequency for channel estimation, and the communication bit error rate performance obtains a gain of 6~7dB.

Keywords: MIMO-OFDM, pilot optimization, compressed sensing, channel estimation

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Authors: M. C. Arcuri, L. Gai, F. Ielasi

Abstract:

Italian Central Guarantee Fund (CGF) has the purpose to facilitate Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)’ access to credit. The aim of the paper is to study the evaluation method adopted by the CGF with regard to SMEs requiring its intervention. This is even more important in the light of the recent CGF reform. We analyse an initial sample of more than 500.000 guarantees from 2012 to 2018. We distinguish between a counter-guarantee delivered to a mutual guarantee institution and a guarantee directly delivered to a bank. We investigate the impact of variables related to the operations and the SMEs on Altman Z’’-score and the score consistent with CGF methodology. We verify that the type of intervention affects the scores and the initial condition changes with the new assessment criterions. 

Keywords: banks, default risk, Italian guarantee fund, mutual guarantee institutions

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Authors: Y. B. Kirankumar, J. D. Mallapur

Abstract:

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an emerging technology, which has great invention for various low cost applications both for mass public as well as for defence. The wireless sensor communication technology allows random participation of sensor nodes with particular applications to take part in the network, which results in most of the uncovered simulation area, where fewer nodes are located at far distances. The drawback of such network would be that the additional energy is spent by the nodes located in a pattern of dense location, using more number of nodes for a smaller distance of communication adversely in a region with less number of nodes and additional energy is again spent by the source node in order to transmit a packet to neighbours, thereby transmitting the packet to reach the destination. The proposed work is intended to develop Energy Efficient Node Placement Algorithm (EENPA) in order to place the sensor node efficiently in simulated area, where all the nodes are equally located on a radial path to cover maximum area at equidistance. The total energy consumed by each node compared to random placement of nodes is less by having equal burden on fewer nodes of far location, having distributed the nodes in whole of the simulation area. Calculating the network lifetime also proves to be efficient as compared to random placement of nodes, hence increasing the network lifetime, too. Simulation is been carried out in a qualnet simulator, results are obtained on par with random placement of nodes with EENP algorithm.

Keywords: energy, WSN, wireless sensor network, energy approach

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Authors: Chun-Chuan Yang, Jeng-Yueng Chen, Yi-Ting Mai, Chen-Ming Yang

Abstract:

In this paper, the design of integrated sleep scheduling for relay nodes and user equipments under a Donor eNB (DeNB) in the mode of Time Division Duplex (TDD) in LTE-A is presented. The idea of virtual time is proposed to deal with the discontinuous pattern of the available radio resource in TDD, and based on the estimation of the traffic load, three power saving schemes in the top-down strategy are presented. Associated mechanisms in each scheme including calculation of the virtual subframe capacity, the algorithm of integrated sleep scheduling, and the mapping mechanisms for the backhaul link and the access link are presented in the paper. Simulation study shows the advantage of the proposed schemes in energy saving over the standard DRX scheme.

Keywords: LTE-A, relay, TDD, power saving

Procedia PDF Downloads 502