Search results for: the applying models and sufficiency development

Authors: Xu Rumin, Chen Jianyi, Yue Ti, Wang Yaan

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With the rapid development of subsea oil and gas exploitation, the demand for the related underwater process equipment is increasing fast. In order to reduce the energy consuming, people tend to separate the gas and oil phase directly on the seabed. Accordingly, an advanced separator is needed. In this paper, the pressure drop of a new type of separator named Gas Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone (GLCC) which is used in the subsea system is investigated by both experiments and numerical simulation. In the experiments, the single phase flow and gas-liquid two phase flow in GLCC were tested. For the simulation, the performance of GLCC under both laboratory and industrial conditions was calculated. The Eulerian model was implemented to describe the mixture flow field in the GLCC under experimental conditions and industrial oil-natural gas conditions. Furthermore, a relationship among Euler number (Eu), Reynolds number (Re), and Froude number (Fr) is generated according to similarity analysis and simulation data, which can present the GLCC separation performance of pressure drop. These results can give reference to the design and application of GLCC in deep sea.

Keywords: dimensionless analysis, gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone, numerical simulation, pressure drop

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Ran Etgar, Sarit Freund

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Agile project management (APM) has been developed originally for software development project. Construction projects seemed to be more apt to traditional water-fall approach than to APM. However, Construction project suffers from similar problems that necessitated the invention of APM, mainly the need to break down the project structure to small increments, thus minimizing the needed managerial planning and design. Since the classical structure of APM is not applicable the way it is to construction project, a modified version of APM was devised. This method, nicknamed 'The anchor method', exploits the fundamentals of APM (i.e., iterations, or sprints of short time frames or timeboxes, cross-functional teams, risk reduction and adaptation to changes) and adjust them to the construction world. The projects had to be structured appropriately to proactively and quickly adapt to change. The method aims to encompass human behavior and lean towards adaptivity rather than predictability. To enable smooth application of the method, a special project management software was developed, so as to provide solid administrational help and accurate data. The method is tested on a bunch of construction projects and some key performance indicators (KPIs) are collected. According to preliminary results the method is indeed very advantageous and with proper assimilation can radically change the construction project management paradigm.

Keywords: agile project management, construction, information systems, project management

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Mujahid S. Alharbi

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The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue For Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: building, construction, management, project, standardization

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Mochamad Chalid, Imam Prabowo

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The pollution due to non-degradable material such as plastics, has led to studies about the development of environmental-friendly material. Because of biodegradability obtained from natural sources, polylactid acid (PLA) and ijuk fiber are interesting to modify into a composite. This material is also expected to reduce the impact of environmental pollution. Surface modification of ijuk fiber through alkalinization with 0.25 M NaOH solution for 30 minutes, was aimed to enhance it’s compatibility to PLA, in order to improve properties of the composite such as the mechanical properties. Alkalinization of the ijuk fibers annihilates some surface components such as lignin, wax and hemicelloluse, so the pore on the surface clearly appeared, decreasing of the density and diameter of the ijuk fibers. The change of the ijuk fiber properties leads to increase the mechanical properties of PLA composites reinforced the ijuk fibers through strengthening of the mechanical interlocking with the PLA matrix. An addition to enhance the distribution of the fibers in the PLA matrix, the stirring during DCM solvent evaporation from the mixture of the ijuk fibers and the dissolved-PLA can reduce amount of the trapped-voids and fibers pull-out phenomena, which can decrease the mechanical properties of the composite.

Keywords: polylactic acid, Arenga pinnata, alkalinization, compatibility, adhesion, morphology, mechanical properties, volume fraction, distributiom

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Mohamed R. Mhereeg

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The paper discusses the implementation of the MultiAgent classification System (MACS) and utilizing it to provide an automated and accurate classification of end users developing applications in the spreadsheet domain. However, different technologies have been brought together to build MACS. The strength of the system is the integration of the agent technology with the FIPA specifications together with other technologies, which are the .NET widows service based agents, the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services, the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Oracle Data Mining (ODM). Microsoft's .NET windows service based agents were utilized to develop the monitoring agents of MACS, the .NET WCF services together with SOA approach allowed the distribution and communication between agents over the WWW. The Monitoring Agents (MAs) were configured to execute automatically to monitor excel spreadsheets development activities by content. Data gathered by the Monitoring Agents from various resources over a period of time was collected and filtered by a Database Updater Agent (DUA) residing in the .NET client application of the system. This agent then transfers and stores the data in Oracle server database via Oracle stored procedures for further processing that leads to the classification of the end user developers.

Keywords: MACS, implementation, multi-agent, SOA, autonomous, WCF

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Lanyan Peng, Ling Chen

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Leishan Miao New-Year is one of the grandest festivals in the southeastern of Guizhou Province in China. It was officially listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008, as a traditional folk cultural activity organized by the local Miao people. With the rise of cultural tourism, after 19 years of exploration, the local government has successfully built Miao New-Year into a cultural card that is well-known at home and abroad. During the Miao New-Year period, it has attracted 3.8 million tourists and achieves a win-win situation in the economy and culture. However, tourism development has changed the living environment and living state of the local people. And it is accompanied by changes in the form of the festival, the content of the festival, and the local people’s needs and attitudes to the festival. This paper uses the field investigation method to achieve 410 questionnaires and 35 interviews, exploring the process and the reasons for changes of Leishan Miao New-Year’s cultural function. Among all the functions, the economic function, identity function, and entertainment function have been enhanced, and the marriage and love function has been extended. In the meanwhile, sacrificial function has been weakened. There are some trends in functions. The function of commemorating ancestor and self-entertainment has been changed to entertaining people and economic pursuit.

Keywords: Miao New-Year, Miao nationality, festival function, changes

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Mateusz Paszko, Konrad Pietrykowski, Krzysztof Skiba

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Due to low-altitude and relatively low flight speed, today’s combat assets like missile weapons equipped with infrared guidance systems are one of the most important threats to the helicopters performing combat missions. Especially meaningful in helicopter aviation is infrared emission by exhaust gases, regressed to the surroundings. Due to high temperature, exhaust gases are a major factor in detectability of a helicopter performing air combat operations. This study presents the results of simulating the flow of the mixture of exhaust and air in the flow duct of an injective exhaust cooler, adapted to cooperate with the PZL 10W turbine engine. The simulation was performed using a numerical model and the ANSYS Fluent software. Simulation computations were conducted for set flight conditions of the PZL W-3 Falcon helicopter. The conclusions resulting from the conducted numerical computations should allow for optimisation of the flow duct geometry in the cooler, in order to achieve the greatest possible temperature reduction of exhaust exiting into the surroundings. It is expected that the obtained results should be useful for further works related to the development of the final version of exhaust cooler for the PZL W-3 Falcon helicopter.

Keywords: exhaust cooler, helicopter, numerical simulation, stealth

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Martina Kanciruk, Jac J. W. Andrews, Tyrone Donnon

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The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of history of obesity for the development of childhood overweight and/or obesity. Accordingly, a systematic literature review of English-language studies published from 1980 to 2012 using the following data bases: MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Dissertation Abstracts International was conducted. The following terms were used in the search: pregnancy, overweight, obesity, family history, parents, childhood, risk factors. Eleven studies of family history and obesity conducted in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis of these studies indicated that family history of obesity is a significant risk factor of overweight and /or obesity in offspring; risk for offspring overweight and/or obesity associated with family history varies depending of the family members included in the analysis; and when family history of obesity is present, the offspring are at greater risk for developing obesity or overweight. In addition, the results from moderator analyses suggest that part of the heterogeneity discovered between the studies can be explained by the region of world that the study occurred in and the age of the child at the time of weight assessment.

Keywords: childhood obesity, overweight, family history, risk factors, meta-analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 504

Authors: Emad M.Abdullat, Hasan A. Ader-Rahman, Rayyan Al Ali, Arwa.A.Hudaib

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This retrospective study aims to determine the epidemiological features of such deaths in one of the general teaching hospitals in Jordan with a focus on weaning practices and its relation to sucking as major factors underlying the mechanism of choking in infants and young children. The study utilized a retrospective design to review the records of forensic cases due to foreign body aspiration examined at the forensic department at the Jordan University Hospital. A total of 27 cases of choking in the pediatric age group were retrieved from the reports of the autopsy cases dissected. All cases of children who died due to chocking by foreign bodies were under 11 years old. Choking by food materials constituted (44.4%) of cases under 3 years of age while choking by non-food material were less prevalent under 3 years of age and comprising 18.5% of the cases. Health care personnel and parents need to be aware that introduction of solid food, unlike exclusive breast or formula-milk feeding, can have serious consequences if occurring in inappropriate timing or consistency during early childhood physical and functional development. Parents need to be educated regarding the appropriate timing and process of weaning.

Keywords: chocking, infants, weaning practices, young children

Procedia PDF Downloads 475

Authors: Lis Tamayo-Rivera, Anette Lopez-Sierra, Diana Salvador-Garcia, Joel E. Valdivieso-Villegas, María del Pilar Gutiérrez-Amador, Ariadna Sánchez-Castillo.

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Due to fast progress in communication systems development, garnets are an attractive material due to their unique optical and magnetic properties. The band gap energy (Eg) of Yttrium- Iron Garnet (Y3Fe5O12, YIG) is a key parameter to determine its potential technological applications; however, band gap values can be strongly influenced by the synthesis route and processing method. Electronic features of polycrystalline Yttrium-Iron Garnet samples were obtained through optical diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Optical characterization of polycrystalline YIG samples allowed to observe a clear difference in the amplitude and position of the high and low reflectivity bands around the fundamental absorption energy edge, thus, a review of different criteria to estimate Eg by Tauc plot method is also discussed. The differences observed in the optical properties agree with differences in the structural and microstructural characteristics.

Keywords: diffuse reflectance, energy gap, polycrystal, tauc plot, yttrium-iron garnet

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Stephen Orimoloye, Jose Horrillo-Caraballo, Harshinie Karunarathna, Dominic E. Reeve

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Prediction of wave overtopping is an essential component of coastal seawall designing and management. Not only that excessive overtopping is reported for impermeable seawalls under bimodal waves, but overtopping is also showing a high sensitivity to the peakedness of the random wave propagation patterns. In the present study, we present a comprehensive analysis of the effects of peakedness of bimodal wave patterns of the overtopping of sloping seawalls. An energy-conserved bimodal spectrum with four different spectra peak periods and swell percentages was applied to estimate wave overtopping in both numerical and experimental flumes. Results of incident surface elevations and bimodal spectra were accurately captured across the flume domain using sets of well-positioned resistant-type wave gauges. Peakedness characteristics of the wave patterns were extracted to derive a relationship between the non-dimensional overtopping and the peakedness across the wave groups in the wave series. The full paper will briefly describe the development of the spectrum and present a comprehensive results analysis leading to the derivation of the relationship between dimensionless overtopping and peakedness of bimodal waves.

Keywords: wave overtopping, peakedness, bimodal waves, swell percentages

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Rebecca Greenberg, Nipa Chauhan, Rashad Rehman

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Paternalism, in its traditional form, seems largely incompatible with Western medicine. In contrast, Family-Centred Care, a partial response to historically authoritative paternalism, carries its own challenges, particularly when operationalized as family-directed care. Specifically, in neonatology, decision-making is left entirely to Substitute Decision Makers (most commonly parents). Most models of shared decision-making employ both the parents’ and medical team’s perspectives but do not recognize the inherent asymmetry of information and experience – asking parents to act like physicians to evaluate technical data and encourage physicians to refrain from strong medical opinions and proposals. They also do not fully appreciate the difficulties in adjudicating which perspective to prioritize and, moreover, how to mitigate disagreement. Introducing a mild form of paternalism can harness the unique skillset both parents and clinicians bring to shared decision-making and ultimately work towards decision-making in the best interest of the child. The notion expressed here is that within the model of shared decision-making, mild paternalism is prioritized inasmuch as optimal care is prioritized. This mild form of paternalism is known as Beneficent Paternalism and justifies our encouragement for physicians to root down in their own medical expertise to propose treatment plans informed by medical expertise, standards of care, and the parents’ values. This does not mean that we forget that paternalism was historically justified on ‘beneficent’ grounds; however, our recommendation is that a re-integration of mild paternalism is appropriate within our current Western healthcare climate. Through illustrative examples from the NICU, this paper explores the appropriateness and merits of Beneficent Paternalism and ultimately its use in promoting family-centered care, patient’s best interests and reducing moral distress. A distinctive feature of the NICU is the fact that communication regarding a patient’s treatment is exclusively done with substitute decision-makers and not the patient, i.e., the neonate themselves. This leaves the burden of responsibility entirely on substitute decision-makers and the clinical team; the patient in the NICU does not have any prior wishes, values, or beliefs that can guide decision-making on their behalf. Therefore, the wishes, values, and beliefs of the parent become the map upon which clinical proposals are made, giving extra weight to the family’s decision-making responsibility. This leads to why Family Directed Care is common in the NICU, where shared decision-making is mandatory. However, the zone of parental discretion is not as all-encompassing as it is currently considered; there are appropriate times when the clinical team should strongly root down in medical expertise and perhaps take the lead in guiding family decision-making: this is just what it means to adopt Beneficent Paternalism.

Keywords: care, ethics, expertise, NICU, paternalism

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Samuel Quashie

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This study is aimed at demonstrating the applicability and contribution of ‘Conceptual and Funnelling Methods’ during the literature review stages, for PhD in Construction Management, which focused on the ‘Development of an Integrated Management for Post-Disaster Reconstruction’, the viability of this approach using conceptual and funnel methods are demonstrated. The ‘conceptual review method’ builds upon the strengths of relevant material, detailing major points and areas covered and evaluates lesser relevant literature. Publications are reviewed in an integrated style, challenging the scientific theory and seeking to develop new insights. The funnel method grouped reviews by commonality, regardless of the topic or thesis statement. It shows that the literature review is acquired using different kinds of information to increase the variety and diversity of the investigation. Results demonstrated conceptual and funnel methods ability to reviewed and appraised the relevant literature. It puts them into an integrated style, allows an evaluation of credentials, originality, theory base, context and significance of the quality work to emerge. Objectives of the review are met and gaps in knowledge are identified and direct further studies to answer the research questions.

Keywords: Ph.D, construction management, critical literature review, conceptual and funnel methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 400

Authors: Sirapop Nuannimnoi, Hojjat Baghban, Ching-Yao Huang

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Over the past decade, with the fast development of blockchain technology since the birth of Bitcoin, there has been a massive increase in the usage of Cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are not seen as an investment opportunity due to the market’s erratic behavior and high price volatility. With the recent success of deep reinforcement learning (DRL), portfolio management can be modeled and automated. In this paper, we propose a novel DRL-based multi-agent system to automatically make proper trading decisions on multiple cryptocurrencies and gain profits in the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. We also extend this multi-agent system with horizontal federated transfer learning for better adapting to the inclusion of new cryptocurrencies in our portfolio; therefore, we can, through the concept of diversification, maximize our profits and minimize the trading risks. Experimental results through multiple simulation scenarios reveal that this proposed algorithmic trading system can offer three promising key advantages over other systems, including maximized profits, minimized risks, and adaptability.

Keywords: cryptocurrency portfolio management, algorithmic trading, federated learning, multi-agent reinforcement learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Ozhan Simsek, Dicle Donmez, Burhanettin Imrak, Ahsen Isik Ozguven, Yildiz Aka Kacar

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Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is known to be one of the oldest edible fruit tree species, with a wide geographical global distribution. Fruits from the two defined varieties (Hicaznar and 33N26) were taken at intervals after pollination and fertilization at different sizes. Seed samples were used for transcriptome sequencing. Primary sequencing was produced by Illumina Hi-Seq™ 2000. Firstly, we had raw reads, and it was subjected to quality control (QC). Raw reads were filtered into clean reads and aligned to the reference sequences. De novo analysis was performed to detect genes expressed in seeds of pomegranate varieties. We performed downstream analysis to determine differentially expressed genes. We generated about 27.09 gb bases in total after Illumina Hi-Seq sequencing. All samples were assembled together, we got 59,264 Unigenes, the total length, average length, N50, and GC content of Unigenes are 84.547.276 bp, 1.426 bp, 2,137 bp, and 46.20 %, respectively. Unigenes were annotated with 7 functional databases, finally, 42.681(NR: 72.02%), 39.660 (NT: 66.92%), 30.790 (Swissprot: 51.95%), 20.212 (COG: 34.11%), 27.689 (KEGG: 46.72%), 12.328 (GO: 20.80%), and 33,833 (Interpro: 57.09%) Unigenes were annotated. With functional annotation results, we detected 42.376 CDS, and 4.999 SSR distribute on 16.143 Unigenes.

Keywords: next generation sequencing, SSR, RNA-Seq, Illumina

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Ana Caroline Ibrahim Lino, Denise Bomtempo Birche de Carvalho

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The background of this research is the international process of control and monitoring of illicit psychoactive substances that has commenced in the early 20th century. This process was intensified with the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and had its culmination in the 1970s with the "War on drugs", a doctrine undertaken by the United States of America. Since then, the phenomenon of drug prohibition has been pushing debates around alternatives of public policies to confront their consequences at a global level and in the specific context of Latin America. Previous research has answered the following key questions: a) With what characteristics and models has the international illicit drug control system consolidated in Latin America with the creation of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)? b) What drug policies and programs were determined as guidelines for the member states by the OAS and CICAD? The present paper mainly addresses the analysis of the drug strategies developed by the OAS/CICAD for the Americas from 2004 to 2016. The primary sources have been extracted from the OAS/CICAD documents and reports, listed on the Internet sites of these organizations. Secondary sources refer to bibliographic research on the subject with the following descriptors: illicit drugs, public policies, international organizations, OAS, CICAD, and reducing the demand and supply of illicit drugs. The "content analysis" technique was used to organize the collected material and to choose the axes of analysis. The results show that the policies, strategies, and action plans for Latin America had been focused on anti-drug actions since the creation of the Commission until 2010. The discourses and policies to reduce drug demand and supply were of great importance for solving the problem. However, the real focus was on eliminating the substances by controlling the production, marketing, and distribution of illicit drugs. Little attention was given to the users and their families. The research is of great relevance to the Social Work. The guidelines and parameters of the Social Worker's profession are in line with the need for social, ethical, and political strengthening of any dimension that guarantees the rights of users of psychoactive substances. In addition, it contributed to the understanding of the political, economic, social, and cultural factors that structure the prohibitionism, whose matrix anchors the deprivation of rights and violence.

Keywords: illicit drug policies, international organizations, latin America, prohibitionism, reduce the demand and supply of illicit drugs

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Amitkumar Barot, Vijaykumar Sinha

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There is growing interest in the development of new materials based on recycled polymers from plastic waste, and also in the field of lubricants much effort has been spent on substitution of petro-based raw materials by natural-based renewable ones. This is due to the facts of depleting fossil fuels and due to strict environmental laws. In relevance to this, new technique for the formulation of grease that combines the chemical recycling of poly (ethylene terephthalate) PET with the use of castor oil (CO) has been developed. Comparison to diols used in chemical recycling of PET, castor oil is renewable, easily available, environmentally friendly, economically cheaper and hence sustainability indeed. The process parameters like CO concentration and temperature were altered, and further, the influences of the process parameters have been studied in order to establish technically and commercially viable process. Further thereby formed depolymerized product find an application as base oil in the formulation of grease. A depolymerized product has been characterized by various chemical and instrumental methods, while formulated greases have been evaluated for its tribological properties. The grease formulated using this new environmentally friendly approach presents applicative properties similar, and in some cases superior, compared to those of a commercial grease obtained from non-renewable resources.

Keywords: castor oil, grease formulation, recycling, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Ana M. Korol, Bibiana Riquelme, Osvaldo A. Rosso

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Since erythrocyte deformability analysis is mostly qualitative, the development of quantitative nonlinear methods is crucial for restricting subjectivity in the study of cell behaviour. An electro-optic mechanic system called erythrodeformeter has been developed and constructed in our laboratory in order to evaluate the erythrocytes' viscoelasticity. A numerical method formulated on the basis of fractal approximation for ordinary (OBM) and fractionary Brownian motion (FBM), as well as wavelet transform analysis, are proposed to distinguish chaos from noise based on the assumption that diffractometric data involves both deterministic and stochastic components, so it could be modelled as a system of bounded correlated random walk. Here we report studies on 25 donors: 4 alpha thalassaemic patients, 11 beta thalassaemic patients, and 10 healthy controls non-alcoholic and non-smoker individuals. The Correlation Coefficient, a nonlinear parameter, showed evidence of the changes in the erythrocyte deformability; the Wavelet Entropy could quantify those differences which are detected by the light diffraction patterns. Such quantifiers allow a good deal of promise and the possibility of a better understanding of the rheological erythrocytes aspects and also could help in clinical diagnosis.

Keywords: red blood cells, deformability, nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, wavelet trannsform

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: B. K. Yadav, A. Gandhi, A. K. Verma, T. S. Rao, A. Saraswat, E. R. Kumar, M. Sarkar, K. N. Vyas

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This paper deals with the conceptual design of Experimental Helium Cooling Loop (EHCL) for Indian Test Blanket Module (TBM) and its related thermal hydraulic experiments. Indian TBM team is developing Lead Lithium cooled Ceramic Breeder (IN-LLCB) TBM to be tested in ITER. The TBM box structure is cooled by high pressure (8 MPa) and high temperature (300-500C) helium gas. The first wall of TBM made of complex channel geometry having several parallel channels carrying helium gas for efficient heat extraction. Several mock-ups of these channels need to be tested before finalizing the TBM first wall design and fabrication. Besides the individual testing of such mock-ups of breeding blanket, the testing of Pb-Li to helium heat exchanger, the operational experience of helium loop and understanding of the behaviour of high pressure and high temperature system components are very essential for final development of Helium Cooling System for LLCB TBM in ITER. The main requirements and characteristics of the EHCL and its conceptual design are presented in this paper.

Keywords: DEMO, EHCL, ITER, LLCB TBM

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Roberto Cerchione, Emilio Esposito, Mario Raffa

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The relevance and the strategic importance of engineering skills in innovation and in the development of businesses and organizations push to investigate the role of the engineer in society today. In the twentieth century the emergence of a variety of technical and scientific knowledge has led to the rise of new areas of skills going from a "all-comprehensive" engineering to an engineering characterized by many specializations. Organizational and structural changes within companies and the emergence of an industrial society based on multiple interrelationships led to the transformation of engineering education. The objective of this work is to report main steps and many pioneering experiences, both national and international, that have led to establish a graduate degree program in Engineering Management and its subsequent evolution in Entrepreneurial Engineering. The first section of this article focuses on the origins and precursors of Engineering Management education. The second section concerns main Italian education programs. Then the attention is focused on the evolution of Engineering Management in Naples, on the intersectoral nature of this degree program, on the relationship with business community, associations, labor market, small businesses and environment. Finally, the discussion of recent years about the skills that characterize entrepreneurial engineer in society are presented.

Keywords: education, engineering management, entrepreunerial engineering, engineering skills, managerial skills, entrepreneurial skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 472

Authors: Konstantinos G. Papaioannou, Panagiotis K. Serdaris

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This study, examines the level of implementation of Human Resource Management (HRM) activities in law enforcement agencies in Greece. Recognizing that HRM is crucial for maximizing organizational performance, the study aims to evaluate its application within Greek law enforcement. A quantitative-descriptive survey was conducted, involving 996 executives from Greek Law Enforcement Agencies (477 from the Hellenic Police and 519 from the Hellenic Coast Guard), through random sampling. The survey, revealed significant concerns regarding the minimal implementation of HRM practices, in both agencies. The findings indicate that HRM practices, such as HR planning, recruitment, job position, selection, training and development, personnel management, compensation, labor relations and health and safety, are minimally applied. Neither the Hellenic Police nor the Hellenic Coast Guard appears to follow a comprehensive HRM plan. The study, contributes both theoretically and practically by highlighting the lack of HRM implementation in these agencies. The data suggest that by adopting strategic HRM practices, these organizations can enhance personnel performance and better fulfill their societal roles. Future research should extend to law enforcement agencies in other countries to draw more representative conclusion.

Keywords: coastguard, human resources management, law enforcement agencies, performance management, police

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Authors: Bilge Yaman Islak, Erhan Ayas

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The densification behavior of TiB₂ – Ti₃SiC₂ composites is investigated for temperatures in the range of 1200°C to 1400°C, for the pressure of 40 and 50MPa, and for holding time between 15-30 min by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. Ti, Si, TiC and 5 wt.% TiB₂ were used to synthesize TiB₂ – Ti₃SiC₂ composites and the effect of different sintering parameters on the densification and phase evolution of these composites were investigated. The bulk densities were determined by using the Archimedes method. The polished and fractured surfaces of the samples were examined using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The phase analyses were accomplished by using the X-Ray diffractometer. Sintering temperature and holding time are found to play a dominant role in the phase development of composites. TiₓCᵧ and TiSi₂ secondary phases were found in 5 wt.%TiB₂ – Ti₃SiC₂ composites densified at 1200°C and 1400°C under the pressure of 40 MPa, due to decomposition of Ti₃SiC₂. The results indicated that 5 wt.%TiB₂ – Ti₃SiC₂ composites were densified into the dense parts with a relative density of 98.77% by sintering at 1300 °C, for 15 min, under a pressure of 50 MPa via SPS without the formation of any other ancillary phase. This work was funded and supported by Scientific Research Projects Commission of Eskisehir Osmangazi University with the Project Number 201915C103 (2019-2517).

Keywords: densification, phase evolution, sintering, TiB₂ – Ti₃SiC₂ composites

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Authors: Miriam Filipová, Peter Balco

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At present, in Slovak and Czech Republic, the education within the field of Project Management is carried out either within the higher education or via commercial entities, whilst the most used contents are the commonly used methodologies of project management. Obtaining a diploma after completing a university degree or a training certificate does not automatically mean the success of the project or the success of the project manager. The importance of leadership and soft skills in project management is either not included at all within the training of project managers, or it is only partially reflected. From the methodology perspective, the most important things during the preparation and management of the projects are preparation of the project plan, resource planning, and project realization in accordance with the chosen methodology. However, the key element on which the success of the project depends on are the people – whether they are team members on the supplier's side, the stakeholders, or the end users. This research focuses on the real needs of working project managers, on the development of their strengths, expertise, skills, and knowledge regarding leadership and soft skills. At the same time, it looks into identifying the elements that they consider to be key to the success of the projects they have managed and successfully delivered. The result of this research is the input for creating recommendations for a comprehensive education of project managers in the field of leadership and soft skills.

Keywords: project management, leadership, soft skills, education, academic degree, certificates, skills, talents, knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 144

Authors: O. D. A. N. Perera, H. G. Wanigasinghe

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Tender jackfruit is an underutilized biomass, which still has a good consumer demand. Valorization of this ingredient into meat analog would obtain greater consumer acceptance due to concerns about health, the environment, and living sustainably of mankind have increased significantly in this decade, opening the market for meat substitutes. The objective of this research was to create a plant-based meat substitute with a structure similar to meat products. In this study, three different combinations of tender jackfruit were used to create vegan burger patties, which were then examined for their textural, physico-chemical, and sensory qualities. The developed burger patties have been compared with store-bought chicken patties. The developed vegan burger patties P1, P2, and P3 had a comparable flavor preference to the control and demonstrated considerable general acceptability (p >.05). P3 has a high quantity of protein (17.10 ± 0.02%) and fiber (6.40 ± 0.06%). At the same time, the vegan burger patty resulted in less fat, high fiber, and high protein which meets the vegan consumer requirements.

Keywords: underutilized, high fibre, soya protein isolate, cooking yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Mohammedi Ferhate, Hakim Chadli, Laggoun Chaouki

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The main objectives of work in this area are, first, obtaining the high laser energies in short time durations needed for the feasibility studies of laser induced thermodynamically exothermic chemical reactions , second, investigating the physical principles that can be used to make laser sources capable of delivering high average powers. We note that, in order to reach both objectives, one has to convert electrical or chemical energy into laser energy, using dense gaseous media.. We present results from the early development of an F atom source appropriate for HF and DF chemical laser research. We next explain the very important difficulties encountered in working with dense gases for that purpose, and we shall describe how, especially at Evaluation of downstream-mixing scheme –levels transitions (001) → (100) and (001) → (020) gas dynamic laser The physical phenomena that control the operation of presently existing laser devices are now sufficiently well understood, so that it is possible to predict that new generations of lasers could be designed in the future. The proposed model of excitation and relaxation levels was finally proved by the computational numerical code of Matlab toolboxes of different parameters of nozzle.

Keywords: hydrogen, combust, chemical laser, halogen atom

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Authors: C. Mekala, Indumathi M. Nambi

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Nitrogen pollution in groundwater arising from wastewater and fertilizer application through vadose zone is a major problem and it causes a prime risk to groundwater based drinking water supplies. Nitrogenous compounds namely ammonium, nitrate and nitrite fate and transport in soil subsurface were studied experimentally. The major process like sorption, leaching, biotransformation involving microbial growth kinetics, and biological clogging due to biomass growth were assessed and modeled with advection-dispersion reaction equations for ammonium, nitrate and acetate in a saturated, heterogeneous soil medium. The transport process was coupled with freundlich sorption and monod inhibition kinetics for immobile bacteria and permeability reduction due to biomass growth will be verified and validated with the numerical model. This proposed mathematical model will be very helpful in the development of a management model for a sustainable and safe wastewater reuse strategies such as irrigation and groundwater recharge.

Keywords: nitrogen species transport, transformation, biological clogging, biokinetic parameters, contaminant transport model, saturated soil

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Authors: S. Vavias, T. R. Brewer, T. S. Farewell

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Coastal floods have been identified as an important natural hazard that can cause significant damage to the populated built-up areas, related infrastructure and also ecosystems and habitats. This study attempts to fill the gap associated with the development of preliminary assessments of coastal flood vulnerability for compliance with the EU Directive on the Assessment and Management of Flood Risks (2007/60/EC). In this context, a methodology has been created by taking into account three major parameters; the maximum wave run-up modelled from historical weather observations, the highest tide according to historic time series, and the sea level rise projections due to climate change. A high resolution digital terrain model (DTM) derived from LIDAR data has been used to integrate the estimated flood events in a GIS environment. The flood vulnerability map created shows potential risk areas and can play a crucial role in the coastal zone planning process. The proposed method has the potential to be a powerful tool for policy and decision makers for spatial planning and strategic management.

Keywords: coastal floods, vulnerability mapping, climate change, extreme weather events

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Authors: Yaser Ghasemi Aryan, Firoozeh Moghiminejad, Mohammadreza Shahraki

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Background: The cooperative institution is considered the first and most essential pillar of strengthening social capital, whose sustainability is the main guarantee of survival and continued participation of local communities in natural resource management projects. The Village Development Group and the Microcredit Fund are two important social and economic institutions in the implementation of the International Project for the Restoration of Degraded Forest Lands (RFLDL) in Sarayan City, South Khorasan Province, which has learned positive lessons from the participation of the beneficiaries in the implementation. They have brought more effective projects to deal with desertification. However, the low activity or liquidation of some of these institutions has become one of the important challenges and concerns of project executive experts. The current research was carried out with the aim of explaining the main components of the instability of these institutions. Materials and Methods: This research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method, practical in terms of purpose, and the method of collecting information is two documentary and survey methods. The statistical population of the research included all the members of the village development groups and microcredit funds in the target villages of the RFLDL project of Sarayan city, based on the Kochran formula and matching with the Karjesi and Morgan table. Net people were selected as a statistical sample. After confirming the validity of the expert's opinions, the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.83, which shows the appropriate reliability of the researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: The results related to the extraction of obstacles to the stability of social and economic networks were classified and prioritized in the form of 5 groups of social-cultural, economic, administrative, educational-promotional and policy-management factors. Based on this, in the socio-cultural factors, the items ‘not paying attention to the structural characteristics and composition of groups’, ‘lack of commitment and moral responsibility in some members of the group,’ and ‘lack of a clear pattern for the preservation and survival of groups’, in the disciplinary factors, The items ‘Irregularity in holding group meetings’ and ‘Irregularity of members to participate in meetings’, in the economic factors of the items "small financial capital of the fund’, ‘the low amount of loans of the fund’ and ‘the fund's inability to conclude contracts and attract capital from other sources’, in the educational-promotional factors of the items ‘non-simultaneity of job training with the granting of loans to create jobs’ and ‘insufficient training for the effective use of loans and job creation’ and in the policy-management factors of the item ‘failure to provide government facilities for support From the funds, they had the highest priority. Conclusion: In general, the results of this research show that policy-management factors and social factors, especially the structure and composition of social and economic institutions, are the most important obstacles to their sustainability. Therefore, it is suggested to form cooperative institutions based on network analysis studies in order to achieve the appropriate composition of members.

Keywords: cooperative institution, social capital, network analysis, participation, Sarayan.

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Authors: Gilberto Goracci, Fabio Curti

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This work presents a robust, light, and inexpensive algorithm to perform autonomous orbit determination using onboard magnetometer data in real-time. Magnetometers are low-cost and reliable sensors typically available on a spacecraft for attitude determination purposes, thus representing an interesting choice to perform real-time orbit determination without the need to add additional sensors to the spacecraft itself. Magnetic field measurements can be exploited by Extended/Unscented Kalman Filters (EKF/UKF) for orbit determination purposes to make up for GPS outages, yielding errors of a few kilometers and tens of meters per second in the position and velocity of a spacecraft, respectively. While this level of accuracy shows that Kalman filtering represents a solid baseline for autonomous orbit determination, it is not enough to provide a reliable state estimation in the absence of GPS signals. This work combines the solidity and reliability of the EKF with the versatility of a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) architecture to further increase the precision of the state estimation. Deep learning models, in fact, can grasp nonlinear relations between the inputs, in this case, the magnetometer data and the EKF state estimations, and the targets, namely the true position, and velocity of the spacecraft. The model has been pre-trained on Sun-Synchronous orbits (SSO) up to 2126 kilometers of altitude with different initial conditions and levels of noise to cover a wide range of possible real-case scenarios. The orbits have been propagated considering J2-level dynamics, and the geomagnetic field has been modeled using the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coefficients up to the 13th order. The training of the module can be completed offline using the expected orbit of the spacecraft to heavily reduce the onboard computational burden. Once the spacecraft is launched, the model can use the GPS signal, if available, to fine-tune the parameters on the actual orbit onboard in real-time and work autonomously during GPS outages. In this way, the provided module shows versatility, as it can be applied to any mission operating in SSO, but at the same time, the training is completed and eventually fine-tuned, on the specific orbit, increasing performances and reliability. The results provided by this study show an increase of one order of magnitude in the precision of state estimate with respect to the use of the EKF alone. Tests on simulated and real data will be shown.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, extended Kalman filter, orbit determination, magnetic field

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Authors: Chinyama Lukama, Million Phiri, Namuunda Mutombo

Abstract:

Background: Improving access and utilization to high-quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services, including family planning (FP) commodities, is central to the global developmental agenda of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the importance of family planning use in enhancing maternal health outcomes and fertility reduction, the prevalence of adolescents and young women using modern contraception is generally low in SSA. Zambia is one of the countries in Southern Africa with a high prevalence of teenage pregnancies and fertility rates. Despite many initiatives that have been implemented to improve access and demand for family planning commodities, utilization of FP, especially among adolescents and young women, has generally been low. The objective of this research agenda was to better understand the determinants of modern contraceptive use in adolescents and young women in Zambia. This analysis produced findings that will be critical for informing the strengthening of sexual and reproductive health policy strategies aimed at bolstering the provision and use of maternal health services in order to further improve maternal health outcomes in the country. Method: The study used the recent data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2018. A sample of 3,513 adolescents and young women (ADYW) were included in the analysis. Multilevel logistic regression models were employed to examine the association of individual and contextual factors with modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women. Results: The prevalence of modern contraception among sexually active ADYW in Zambia was 38.1% [95% CI, 35.9, 40.4]. ADYW who had secondary or higher level education [aOR = 2.16, 95% CI=1.35–3.47], those with exposure to listening to the radio or watching television [aOR = 1.26, 95% CI=1.01–1.57], and those who had decision-making power at household level [aOR = 2.18, 95% CI=1.71–2.77] were more likely to use modern contraceptives. Conversely, strong neighborhood desire for large family size among ADYW [aOR = 0.65 95% CI = 0.47–0.88] was associated with less likelihood to use modern contraceptives. Community access to family planning information through community health worker visits increased the likelihood [aOR = 1.48, 95% CI=1.16–1.91] of using modern contraception among ADYW. Conclusion: The study found that both individual and community factors were key in influencing modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women in Zambia. Therefore, when designing family planning interventions, the Government of Zambia, through its policymakers and sexual reproductive health program implementers at the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with stakeholders, should consider the community context. There should also be deliberate actions to encourage family planning education through the media.

Keywords: adolescents, young women, modern contraception use, fertility, family planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 91