Search results for: number system

Authors: Isam A. H. Al Zubaidy

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A quick process may be needed to get the benefit the big generated quantity of waste oil sludge (WOS). The process includes the mixing process of WOS with commercial diesel fuel. Different ratios of WOS to diesel fuel were prepared ranging 1:1 to 20:1 by mass. The mixture was continuously mixing for 10 minutes using bench type overhead stirrer and followed by filtration process to separate the soil waste from filtrate oil product. The quantity and the physical properties of the oil filtrate were measured. It was found that the addition of up to 15% WOS to diesel fuel was accepted without dramatic changes to the properties of diesel fuel. The amount of waste oil sludge was decreased by about 60% by mass. This means that about 60 % of the mass of sludge was recovered as light fuel oil. The physical properties of the resulting fuel from 10% sludge mixing ratio showed that the specific gravity, ash content, carbon residue, asphaltene content, viscosity, diesel index, cetane number, and calorific value were affected slightly. The color was changed to light black color. The sulfur content was increased also. This requires other processes to reduce the sulfur content of the resulting light fuel. A new desulfurization process was achieved using adsorption techniques with activated biomaterial to reduce the sulfur content to acceptable limits. Adsorption process by ZnCl₂ activated date palm kernel powder was effective for improvement of the physical properties of diesel like fuel. The final sulfur content was increased to 0.185 wt%. This diesel like fuel can be used in all tractors, buses, tracks inside and outside the refineries. The solid remaining seems to be smooth and can be mixed with asphalt mixture for asphalting the roads or can be used with other materials as an asphalt coating material for constructed buildings. Through this process, valuable fuel has been recovered, and the amount of waste material had decreased.

Keywords: oil sludge, diesel fuel, blending process, filtration process

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Authors: Takeru Furuawa, Kohei Takizawa, Daisuke Kuwahara, Shunjiro Shinohara

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In the field of a space propulsion, an electric propulsion system has been developed because its fuel efficiency is much higher than a conventional chemical one. However, the practical electric propulsion systems, e.g., an ion engine, have a problem of short lifetime due to a damage of generation and acceleration electrodes of the plasma. A helicon plasma thruster is proposed as a long-lifetime electric thruster which has non-direct contact electrodes. In this system, both generation and acceleration methods of a dense plasma are executed by antennas from the outside of a discharge tube. Development of the helicon plasma thruster has been conducting under the Helicon Electrodeless Advanced Thruster (HEAT) project. Our helicon plasma thruster has two important processes. First, we generate a dense source plasma using a helicon wave with an excitation frequency between an ion and an electron cyclotron frequencies, fci and fce, respectively, applied from the outside of a discharge using a radio frequency (RF) antenna. The helicon plasma source can provide a high-density (~1019 m-3), a high-ionization ratio (up to several tens of percent), and a high particle generation efficiency. Second, in order to achieve high thrust and specific impulse, we accelerate the dense plasma by the axial Lorentz force fz using the product of the induced azimuthal current jθ and the static radial magnetic field Br, shown as fz = jθ × Br. The HEAT project has proposed several kinds of electrodeless acceleration schemes, and in our particular case, a Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF) method has been extensively studied. The RMF scheme was originally developed as a concept to maintain the Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) in a magnetically confined fusion research. Here, RMF coils are expected to generate jθ due to a nonlinear effect shown below. First, the rotating magnetic field Bω is generated by two pairs of RMF coils with AC currents, which have a phase difference of 90 degrees between the pairs. Due to the Faraday’s law, an axial electric field is induced. Second, an axial current is generated by the effects of an electron-ion and an electron-neutral collisions through the Ohm’s law. Third, the azimuthal electric field is generated by the nonlinear term, and the retarding torque generated by the collision effects again. Then, azimuthal current jθ is generated as jθ = - nₑ er ∙ 2π fRMF. Finally, the axial Lorentz force fz for plasma acceleration is generated. Here, jθ is proportional to nₑ and frequency of RMF coil current fRMF, when Bω is fully penetrated into the plasma. Our previous study has achieved 19 % increase of ion velocity using the 5 MHz and 50 A of the RMF coil power supply. In this presentation, we will show the improvement of the ion velocity using the lower frequency and higher current supplied by RMF power supply. In conclusion, helicon high-density plasma production and electromagnetic acceleration by the RMF scheme with a concept of electrodeless condition have been successfully executed.

Keywords: electric propulsion, electrodeless thruster, helicon plasma, rotating magnetic field

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Authors: J. Martin Leal-Graciano, Juan J. Pérez-Gavilán, A. Reyes-Salazar, J. H. Castorena, J. L. Rivera-Salas

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The experimental results about the global behavior of twelve 1:2 scaled reinforced concrete frame subject to in-plane lateral load are presented. The main objective was to generate experimental evidence about the use of steel bars within mortar bed-joints as shear reinforcement in infill walls. Similar to the Canadian and New Zealand standards, the Mexican code includes specifications for this type of reinforcement. However, these specifications were obtained through experimental studies of load-bearing walls, mainly confined walls. Little information is found in the existing literature about the effects of joint reinforcement on the seismic behavior of infill masonry walls. Consequently, the Mexican code establishes the same equations to estimate the contribution of joint reinforcement for both confined walls and infill walls. A confined masonry construction and a reinforced concrete frame infilled with masonry walls have similar appearances. However, substantial differences exist between these two construction systems, which are mainly related to the sequence of construction and to how these structures support vertical and lateral loads. To achieve the objective established, ten reinforced concrete frames with masonry infill walls were built and tested in pairs, having both specimens in the pair identical characteristics except that one of them included joint reinforcement. The variables between pairs were the type of units, the size of the columns of the frame and the aspect ratio of the wall. All cases included tie-columns and tie-beams on the perimeter of the wall to anchor the joint reinforcement. Also, two bare frame with identical characteristic to the infilled frames were tested. The purpose was to investigate the effects of the infill wall on the behavior of the system to in-plane lateral load. In addition, the experimental results were compared with the prediction of the Mexican code. All the specimens were tested in cantilever under reversible cyclic lateral load. To simulate gravity load, constant vertical load was applied on the top of the columns. The results indicate that the contribution of the joint reinforcement to lateral strength depends on the size of the columns of the frame. Larger size columns produce a failure mode that is predominantly a sliding mode. Sliding inhibits the production of new inclined cracks, which are necessary to activate (deform) the joint reinforcement. Regarding the effects of joint reinforcement in the performance of confined masonry walls, many facts were confirmed for infill walls: this type of reinforcement increases the lateral strength of the wall, produces a more distributed cracking and reduces the width of the cracks. Moreover, it reduces the ductility demand of the system at maximum strength. The prediction of the lateral strength provided by the Mexican code is property in some cases; however, the effect of the size of the columns on the contribution of joint reinforcement needs to be better understood.

Keywords: experimental study, Infill wall, Infilled frame, masonry wall

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Authors: Prakash Singh

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Employees who are satisfied at their place of work rate their leaders’ intrapersonal competencies as being high. They also believe that a leader’s intrapersonal competencies influence their sense of job satisfaction. Employees who indicate that they are unhappy at their place of work rate their leaders’ intrapersonal competencies as being low. They also believe that a leader’s intrapersonal intelligence influence their feeling of job satisfaction. The leader’s appropriate intrapersonal competencies are crucial to the creation of a motivated and satisfied employee team. In this study, the quantitative research method was used to determine the employees’ perceptions of their leaders’ intrapersonal competencies and their influence on their job satisfaction; the six competencies being self-awareness, self-confidence, self-expression, self-control, adaptability, and optimism. All the competencies of leaders identified in this quantitative study can therefore be described as intervening variables that influence an employee’s sense of job satisfaction. The number of responses that indicate that each of the intrapersonal competencies of a leader that will have an influence on an employee’s sense of job satisfaction, ranges from 93% (a leader’s sense of self-awareness) to 99% (a leader’s ability to be adaptable). As the responses are significantly similar, it can be stated that the respondents indicate that all the intrapersonal competencies of a leader can influence an employee’s sense of job satisfaction. The findings of this study strongly suggest that in order to be satisfied at work, employees prefer to be led by leaders who are confident in their leadership roles; who send out clear, unambiguous messages; who maintain self-control; who are adaptable and flexible;, who face the future with optimism and who support the establishment of a collegial working environment. Evidently, the findings corroborate the hypothesis that employees believe that the intrapersonal competencies of leaders have a positive influence on the employees’ sense of job satisfaction. This study’s findings, therefore, confirm that the key to the leaders’ self-knowledge is access to their own feelings and the ability to discriminate among them and draw upon them to guide behaviour in their organisations. This exploratory study makes a contribution to the emerging research being accomplished on leaders’ intrapersonal intelligence with more research still needing to be attempted to determine to what extent these competencies of leaders can reshape the organizational climate and culture.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, employees’ job satisfaction, leaders’ intrapersonal competencies, leaders’ self-knowledge

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Authors: Mira Kadric

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The proposed paper deals with a new developed approach for interpreting teaching, combining traditional didactics with a new element. The fundamental principle of the approach is taken from the theatre pedagogy (Augusto Boal`s Theatre of the Oppressed) and includes the discussion on social power relations. From the point of view of education sociology this implies strengthening students’ individual potential for self-determination on a number of levels, especially in view of the present increase in social responsibility. This knowledge constitutes a starting point and basis for the process of self-determined action. This takes place in the context of a creative didactic policy which identifies didactic goals, provides clear sequences of content, specifies interdisciplinary methods and examines their practical adequacy and ultimately serves not only individual translators and interpreters, but all parties involved. The goal of the presented didactic model is to promote independent work and problem-solving strategies; this helps to develop creative potential and self-confident behaviour. It also conveys realistic knowledge of professional reality and thus also of the real socio-political and professional parameters involved. As well as providing a discussion of fundamental questions relevant to Translation and Interpreting Studies, this also serves to improve this interdisciplinary didactic approach which simulates interpreting reality and illustrates processes and strategies which (can) take place in real life. This idea is illustrated in more detail with methods taken from the Theatre of the Oppressed created by Augusto Boal. This includes examples from (dialogue) interpreting teaching based on documentation from recordings made in a seminar in the summer term 2014.

Keywords: augusto boal, didactic model, interpreting teaching, theatre of the oppressed

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Authors: Agata Zakrzewska, Dominik Kopeć, Adrian Ochtyra

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The growing number of new cameras, sensors, and research methods allow for a broader application of thermal data in remote sensing vegetation studies. The aim of this research was to check whether it is possible to use thermal infrared data with a spectral range (3.6-4.9 μm) obtained during the day and the night to assess the health condition of selected species of deciduous trees in an urban environment. For this purpose, research was carried out in the city center of Warsaw (Poland) in 2020. During the airborne data acquisition, thermal data, laser scanning, and orthophoto map images were collected. Synchronously with airborne data, ground reference data were obtained for 617 studied species (Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Aesculus hippocastanum, Tilia cordata, and Tilia × euchlora) in different health condition states. The results were as follows: (i) healthy trees are cooler than trees in poor condition and dying both in the daytime and nighttime data; (ii) the difference in the canopy temperatures between healthy and dying trees was 1.06oC of mean value on the nighttime data and 3.28oC of mean value on the daytime data; (iii) condition classes significantly differentiate on both daytime and nighttime thermal data, but only on daytime data all condition classes differed statistically significantly from each other. In conclusion, the aerial thermal data can be considered as an alternative to hyperspectral data, a method of assessing the health condition of trees in an urban environment. Especially data obtained during the day, which can differentiate condition classes better than data obtained at night. The method based on thermal infrared and laser scanning data fusion could be a quick and efficient solution for identifying trees in poor health that should be visually checked in the field.

Keywords: middle wave infrared, thermal imagery, tree discoloration, urban trees

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Authors: Kyoung Hoon Kim

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This paper presents a comparative exergy analysis of ammonia-water Rankine cycles with and without regeneration and Kalina cycle for recovery of low-temperature heat source. Special attention is paid to the effect of system parameters such as ammonia mass fraction and turbine inlet pressure on the exergetical performance of the systems. Results show that maximum exergy efficiency can be obtained in the regenerative Rankine cycle for high turbine inlet pressures. However, Kalina cycle shows better exergy efficiency for low turbine inlet pressures, and the optimum ammonia mass fractions of Kalina cycle are lower than Rankine cycles.

Keywords: ammonia-water, Rankine cycle, Kalina cycle, exergy, exergy destruction, low-temperature heat source

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Authors: Machimontorn Promtong, Sherman C. P. Cheung, Guan H. Yeoh, Sara Vahaji, Jiyuan Tu

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The wide range of industrial applications involved with boiling flows promotes the necessity of establishing fundamental knowledge in boiling flow phenomena. For this purpose, a number of experimental and numerical researches have been performed to elucidate the underlying physics of this flow. In this paper, the improved wall boiling models, implemented on ANSYS CFX 14.5, were introduced to study subcooled boiling flow at elevated pressure. At the heated wall boundary, the Fractal model, Force balance approach and Mechanistic frequency model are given for predicting the nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter, and bubble departure frequency. The presented wall heat flux partitioning closures were modified to consider the influence of bubble sliding along the wall before the lift-off, which usually happens in the flow boiling. The simulation was performed based on the Two-fluid model, where the standard k-ω SST model was selected for turbulence modelling. Existing experimental data at around 5 bars were chosen to evaluate the accuracy of the presented mechanistic approach. The void fraction and Interfacial Area Concentration (IAC) are in good agreement with the experimental data. However, the predicted bubble velocity and Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) are over-predicted. This over-prediction may be caused by consideration of only dispersed and spherical bubbles in the simulations. In the future work, the important physical mechanisms of bubbles, such as merging and shrinking during sliding on the heated wall will be incorporated into this mechanistic model to enhance its capability for a wider range of flow prediction.

Keywords: subcooled boiling flow, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), mechanistic approach, two-fluid model

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Authors: Daniel O. Kleinsman

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The 2019 terrorist attack on two masjidain in Christchurch, New Zealand, was a shocking demonstration of the harm that can be caused by hate crime. As legal and governmental responses to the attack struggle to provide effective remedies to its victims, restorative justice has emerged as a tool that can assist, in terms of both meeting victims’ needs and discharging the obligations of the state under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), arts 2(3), 26, 27. Restorative justice is a model that emphasizes the repair of harm caused or revealed by unjust behavior. It also prioritises the facilitation of dialogue, the restoration of equitable relationships, and the prevention of future harm. Returning to the case study, in the remarks of the sentencing judge, the terrorist’s actions were described as a hate crime of vicious malevolence that the Court was required to decisively reject, as anathema to the values of acceptance, tolerance and mutual respect upon which New Zealand’s inclusive society is based and which the country strives to maintain. This was one of the reasons for which the terrorist received a life sentence with no possibility of parole. However, in the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack, it was found that victims felt the attack occurred within the context of widespread racism, discrimination and Islamophobia, where hostile behaviors, including hate-based threats and attacks, were rarely recorded, analysed or acted on. It was also found that the Government had inappropriately concentrated intelligence resources on the risk of ‘Islamist’ terrorism and had failed to adequately respond to concerns raised about threats against the Muslim community. In this light, the remarks of the sentencing judge can be seen to reflect a criminal justice system that, in the absence of other remedies, denies systemic accountability and renders hate crime an isolated incident rather than an expression of more widespread discrimination and hate to be holistically addressed. One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission was to explore with victims the desirability and design of restorative justice processes. This presents an opportunity for victims to meet with state representatives and pursue effective remedies (ICCPR art 2(3)) not only for the harm caused by the terrorist but the harm revealed by a system that has exposed the minority Muslim community in New Zealand to hate in all forms, including but not limited to violent extremism. In this sense, restorative justice can also assist the state in discharging its wider obligations to protect all persons from discrimination (art 26) and allow ethnic and religious minorities to enjoy their own culture and profess and practice their own religion (art 27). It can also help give effect to the law and its purpose as a remedy to hate crime, as expressed in this case study by the sentencing judge.

Keywords: hate crime, restorative justice, minorities, victims' rights

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Authors: Raj Kishore Swain, Kamdev Sethy, Sumanta Kumar Mishra

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Selenium is an essential trace element for the chicken with a variety of biological functions like growth, fertility, immune system, hormone metabolism, and antioxidant defense systems. Selenium deficiency in chicken causes exudative diathesis, pancreatic dystrophy and nutritional muscle dystrophy of the gizzard, heart and skeletal muscle. Additionally, insufficient immunity, lowering of production ability, decreased feathering of chickens and increased embryo mortality may occur due to selenium deficiency. Nano elemental selenium, which is bright red, highly stable, soluble and of nano meter size in the redox state of zero, has high bioavailability and low toxicity due to the greater surface area, high surface activity, high catalytic efficiency and strong adsorbing ability. To assess the effect of dietary nano-Se on performance and expression of gene in Vencobb broiler birds in comparison to its inorganic form (sodium selenite), four hundred fifty day-old Vencobb broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 9 dietary treatment groups with two replicates with 25 chicks per replicate. The dietary treatments were: T1 (Control group): Basal diet; T2: Basal diet with 0.3 ppm of inorganic Se; T3: Basal diet with 0.01875 ppm of nano-Se; T4: Basal diet with 0.0375 ppm of nano-Se; T5: Basal diet with 0.075 ppm of nano-Se, T6: Basal diet with 0.15 ppm of nano-Se, T7: Basal diet with 0.3 ppm of nano-Se, T8: Basal diet with 0.60 ppm of nano-Se, T9: Basal diet with 1.20 ppm of nano-Se. Nano selenium was synthesized by mixing sodium selenite with reduced glutathione and bovine serum albumin. The experiment was carried out in two phases: starter phase (0-3 wks), finisher phase (4-5 wk) in deep litter system. The body weight at the 5th week was best observed in T4. The best feed conversion ratio at the end of 5th week was observed in T4. Erythrocytic catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in all the nano selenium treated groups at 5th week. The antibody titers (log2) against Ranikhet diseases vaccine immunization of 5th-week broiler birds were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the treatments T4 to T7. The selenium levels in liver, breast, kidney, brain, and gizzard were significantly (P < 0.05) increased with increasing dietary nano-Se indicating higher bioavailability of nano-Se compared to inorganic Se. The real time polymer chain reaction analysis showed an increase in the expression of antioxidative gene in T4 and T7 group. Therefore, it is concluded that supplementation of nano-selenium at 0.0375 ppm over and above the basal level can improve the body weight, antioxidant enzyme activity, Se bioavailability and expression of the antioxidative gene in broiler birds.

Keywords: chicken, growth, immunity, nano selenium

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Authors: Ganiyu Rasaq Omokeji

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The growing recognition of the pivotal role of universities in promoting socio-economic development has led to a focus upon the expansion of the sector around the world. As the economy and society become more ‘knowledge intensive’, the role of universities in development is more onerous than just teaching, research, and service. It is to help create the open society upon which the progress of ideas depends on. Driven to fulfill this role, universities are likely to become even more important in building regional networks of their host communities. Currently, there are about 129 universities in Nigeria, with a total number of 37 federal, 36 state, and 56 privately owned universities. Fountain University is among the private universities in Nigeria located in Osogbo, Osun State. The university is committed to the total development of men and women in an enabling environment, through appropriate teaching, research, and service to humanity, influenced by Islamic ethics and culture. The university focuses on educational development and growth that are relevant to the nation’s manpower needs and global competitiveness through a gradual but steady process. This paper examines the role of Private University in the socio-economic development of host community using Fountain University as a case study. The research methodology design for this paper has a total of 200 respondents. The research instrument of data collection was a questionnaire and in-depth interview (IDI). The finding reveals that Fountain University plays an important role in socio-economic and cultural development through their Islamic culture. The paper recommend that universities must bridge the gaps between creative individual with innovative ideas and the application of technology for economic progress and social betterment of their host communities. University also must serve as a bridge that carries the traffic of social and economic development.

Keywords: private university, socio-economic development, host communities, role of universities and community development

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Authors: H. Mekki, A. Djerioui, S. Zeghlache, L. Chrifi-Alaoui

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Induction motor (IM)Induction motor (IM) are nowadays widely used in industrial applications specially in electric vehicles (EVs) and traction locomotives, due to their high efficiency high speed and lifetime. However, since EV motors are easily influenced by un-certainties parameter variations and external load disturbance, both robust control techniques have received considerable attention during the past few decades. This paper present a robust controller design based sliding mode control (SMC) and high gain flux observer (HGO) for induction motor (IM) based Electric Vehicles (EV) drives. This control technique is obtained by the combination between the field oriented and the sliding mode control strategy and present remarkable dynamic performances just as a good robustness with respect to EV drives load torque. A high gain flux observer is also presented and associated in order to design sensorless control by estimating the rotor flux only using measurements of the stator voltages and currents. Simulations results are provided to evaluate the consistency and to show the effectiveness of the proposed SMC strategy also the performance of the HGO for Electric Vehicles system are nowadays widely used in industrial applications specially in electric vehicles (EVs) and traction locomotives, due to their high efficiency high speed and lifetime. However, since EV motors are easily influenced by un-certainties parameter variations and external load disturbance, both robust control techniques have received considerable attention during the past few decades. This paper present a robust controller design based sliding mode control (SMC) and high gain flux observer (HGO) for induction motor (IM) based Electric Vehicles (EV) drives. This control technique is obtained by the combination between the field oriented and the sliding mode control strategy and present remarkable dynamic performances just as a good robustness with respect to EV drives load torque. A high gain flux observer is also presented and associated in order to design sensorless control by estimating the rotor flux only using measurements of the stator voltages and currents. Simulations results are provided to evaluate the consistency and to show the effectiveness of the proposed SMC strategy also the performance of the HGO for Electric Vehicles system.

Keywords: electric vehicles, sliding mode control, induction motor drive, high gain observer

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Authors: Madhur Verma, Meena Rajput, Kamal Kishore

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Background: The general view that obesity is a problem of prosperous Western countries has been repealed with substantial evidence showing that middle-income countries like India are now at the heart of a fat explosion. Neck circumference has evolved as a promising index to measure obesity, because of the convenience of its use, even in culture sensitive population. Objectives: To determine whether neck circumference (NC) was associated with overweight and obesity and contributed to the prediction like other classical anthropometric indices. Methodology: Cross-sectional study consisting of 1080 adults (> 19 years) selected through Multi-stage random sampling between August 2013 and September 2014 using the pretested semi-structured questionnaire. After recruitment, the demographic and anthropometric parameters [BMI, Waist & Hip Circumference (WC, HC), Waist to hip ratio (WHR), waist to height ratio (WHtR), body fat percentage (BF %), neck circumference (NC)] were recorded & calculated as per standard procedures. Analysis was done using appropriate statistical tests. (SPSS, version 21.) Results: Mean age of study participants was 44.55+15.65 years. Overall prevalence of overweight & obesity as per modified criteria for Asian Indians (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) was 49.62% (Females-51.48%; Males-47.77%). Also, number of participants having high WHR, WHtR, BF%, WC & NC was 827(76.57%), 530(49.07%), 513(47.5%), 537(49.72%) & 376(34.81%) respectively. Variation of NC, BMI & BF% with age was non- significant. In both the genders, as per the Pearson’s correlational analysis, neck circumference was positively correlated with BMI (men, r=0.670 {p < 0.05}; women, r=0.564 {p < 0.05}), BF% (men, r=0.407 {p < 0.05}; women, r= 0.283 {p < 0.05}), WC (men, r=0.598{p < 0.05}; women, r=0.615 {p < 0.05}), HC (men, r=0.512{p < 0.05}; women, r=0.523{p < 0.05}), WHR (men, r= 0.380{p > 0.05}; women, r=0.022{p > 0.05}) & WHtR (men, r=0.318 {p < 0.05}; women, r=0.396{p < 0.05}). On ROC analysis, NC showed good discriminatory power to identify obesity with AUC (AUC for males: 0.822 & females: 0.873; p- value < 0.001) with maximum sensitivity and specificity at a cut-off value of 36.55 cms for males & 34.05cms for females. Conclusion: NC has fair validity as a community-based screener for overweight and obese individuals in the study context and has also correlated well with other classical indices.

Keywords: neck circumference, obesity, anthropometric indices, body fat percentage

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Authors: Taha Zakaraia Abdel Wahid

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In the present study, a development of the papers is introduced. The behavior of the unsteady non-equilibrium distribution functions for a rarefied gas mixture under the effect of non-linear thermal radiation field is presented. For the best of our knowledge this is done for the first time at all. The distinction and comparisons between the unsteady perturbed and the unsteady equilibrium velocity distribution functions are illustrated. The equilibrium time for the rarefied gas mixture is determined for the first time. The non-equilibrium thermodynamic properties of the system is investigated. The results are applied to the Argon-Neon binary gas mixture, for various values of both of molar fraction parameters and radiation field intensity. 3D-Graphics illustrating the calculated variables are drawn to predict their behavior and the results are discussed.

Keywords: radiation field, binary gas mixture, exact solutions, travelling wave method, unsteady BGK model, irreversible thermodynamics

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Authors: Hazel S. Cometa-Lamberte

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This paper presents the residential care workers reflections in working with children who were under protective custody and placed in a residential care facility for children. Key informant interviews and focus group discussion were employed in this study to analyze the views of residential care workers on the programs and services and case management system in residential care for children. Results suggest that working in a residential care facility for children needs the interplay of both the worker’s personal and professional values, knowledge and skills in working with children. Analyzing the residential care workers experiences in handling children in residential care facilities is vital for the improvement of the policies, programs and services, the repertoire of techniques and facilitate the creation of a new social work practice framework/model in child protection specifically in residential care facilities.

Keywords: child protection, residential care, residential care workers, social workers

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Authors: Zhiqing Zhang, Xiangong Zhou, Zihan Zhou

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Ground fissures can be seen in some cities all over the world. As a special urban geological disaster, ground fissures in Xi'an have caused great harm to infrastructure. Chang'an Road Interchange in Xi'an City is a bridge across ground fissures. The damage to Chang'an Road interchange is the most serious and typical. To study the influence of ground fissures on the bridge, we established a bridge monitoring system. The main monitoring items include elevation monitoring, structural displacement monitoring, etc. The monitoring results show that the typical failure is mainly reflected in the bridge deck damage caused by horizontal tension and vertical dislocation. For the construction of urban interchange spanning ground fissures, the interchange should be divided reasonably, a simple support structure with less restriction should be adopted, and the monitoring of supports should be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of beam falling.

Keywords: bridge monitoring, ground fissures, typical disease, structural displacement

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Authors: Anthony D. Rhodes, Manan Goel

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We provide a high fidelity deep learning algorithm (HyperSeg) for interactive video segmentation tasks using a dense convolutional network with context-aware skip connections and compressed, 'hypercolumn' image features combined with a convolutional tessellation procedure. In order to maintain high output fidelity, our model crucially processes and renders all image features in high resolution, without utilizing downsampling or pooling procedures. We maintain this consistent, high grade fidelity efficiently in our model chiefly through two means: (1) we use a statistically-principled, tensor decomposition procedure to modulate the number of hypercolumn features and (2) we render these features in their native resolution using a convolutional tessellation technique. For improved pixel-level segmentation results, we introduce a boundary loss function; for improved temporal coherence in video data, we include temporal image information in our model. Through experiments, we demonstrate the improved accuracy of our model against baseline models for interactive segmentation tasks using high resolution video data. We also introduce a benchmark video segmentation dataset, the VFX Segmentation Dataset, which contains over 27,046 high resolution video frames, including green screen and various composited scenes with corresponding, hand-crafted, pixel-level segmentations. Our work presents a improves state of the art segmentation fidelity with high resolution data and can be used across a broad range of application domains, including VFX pipelines and medical imaging disciplines.

Keywords: computer vision, object segmentation, interactive segmentation, model compression

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Authors: Kuo-Wei Hsu, Jen-Chih, Chao, Pei-Chen, Wu

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With the rapid development of global economy, the increasing population, the highly industrialization, greenhouse gas emission and the ozone layer damage, the Global Warming happens. Facing the impact of global warming, the issue of “green transportation” began to be valued and promoted in each city. Taichung has been elected as the model of low-carbon city in Taiwan. To comply with international trends and the government policy, we tried to promote the energy saving and carbon reduction to create a “low-carbon Taichung with green life and eco-friendly economy”. To cooperate with the “green transportation” project, Taichung has promoted a number of public transports constructions and traffic policy in recent years like BRT, MRT, etc. The elevated railway is one of those important constructions. Cooperating with the green transport policy, elevated railway could help to achieve the carbon reduction for this low-carbon city. The current studies of the carbon emissions associated with railways and roads are focusing on the assessment on paving material, institutional policy and economic benefit. Except for changing the mode of transportation, elevated railways/roads also create space under the bridge. However, there is no research about the carbon emissions of the space underneath the elevated section up until now. This study investigated the effect of railway track elevation project in Taichung based on the carbon emissions and the factors that affect carbon emissions by research related theory and literature analysis. This study concluded that : railway track elevation increased the public transit, the bike lanes, the green areas and walking spaces. In the other hand it reduced the traffic congestions, the use of motorcycles as well as automobiles for carbon emissions.

Keywords: low-carbon city, green transportation, carbon emissions, Taichung, Taiwan

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Authors: Nurgul A. Abenova, Gaukhar S. Dilmagambetova, Lazzat M. Zhamaliyeva

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Professionalism is a core competency that all medical students must achieve throughout their studies. Clinical knowledge, good communication skills and an understanding of ethics form the basis of professionalism. Patients, medical societies and accrediting organizations expect future specialists to be professionals in their field, which in turn leads to the best clinical results. Currently, there are no studies devoted to the study of medical professionalism in the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a result, medical education in the Kazakhstani system has a limited perception of the concept of professionalism compared to many Western medical schools. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of medical professionalism among residents and teachers of family medicine at the West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University. А qualitative research method was used based on the content analysis methodology. A focus group discussion was held with 60 residents and 12 family medicine teachers to gather participants' views and experiences in the field of medical professionalism. The received information was processed using the MAXQDA-2020 software package. Respondents were selected for the study based on their age, gender, and educational level. The results of the conducted survey confirmed the respondents’ acknowledgment of the basic attributes of professionalism, such as medical knowledge and skills (more than 40% of the answers), personal and moral qualities of the doctor (more than 25% of the answers), respect for the interests of the patient (15% of the answers), the relationship between the doctor and the patient and among professionals themselves (15% of responses). Another important discovery of the survey was that residents are five times more likely to define the relationship between a doctor and a patient in a model “respect for the interests of the patient” in comparison with teachers of family medicine, who primarily reported responsibility and collegiality to be the basis for the development of professionalism and traditionally view doctor-patient relationship to be formed on the basis of paternalism defined by a high degree of control over patients. This significant difference demonstrates a rift among specialists in the field of family medicine, which causes a lot of problems. For example, nowadays, professional family doctors regularly face burnout problem due to many reasons and factors that force them to abandon their jobs. In addition to that, elements of professionalism such as reflective skills, time management and feedback collection were presented to the least extent (less than 1%) by both groups, which differs from the perception of the Western medical school and is a significant issue that needs to be solved. The qualitative nature of our study provides a detailed understanding of medical professionalism in the context of the Central Asian healthcare system, revealing many aspects that are inferior to the Western medical school counterparts and provides a solution, which is to teach the attributes and skills required for medical professionalism at all stages of medical education of family doctors.

Keywords: family medicine, family doctors, medical professionalism, medical education

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Authors: Adewusi Adeoluwawale, Oronti Iyabosola Busola, Akinola Iretiayo, Komolafe Olusola Aderibigbe

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The complex and radial structure of the low voltage distribution network (415V) makes it vulnerable to faults which are due to system and the environmental related factors. Besides these, the protective scheme employed on the low voltage network which is the fuse cannot be monitored remotely such that in the event of sustained fault, the utility will have to rely solely on the complaint brought by customers for loss of supply and this tends to increase the length of outages. A microcontroller based fault detection scheme is hereby developed to detect low voltage and high voltage fault conditions which are common faults on this network. Voltages below 198V and above 242V on the distribution feeders are classified and detected as low voltage and high voltages respectively. Results shows that the developed scheme produced a good response time in the detection of these faults.

Keywords: fault detection, low voltage distribution feeders, outage times, sustained faults

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Authors: Abdou Khafor Ndiaye

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The article examines clean water and sanitation in Saint-Louis region schools. It finds that 59% have clean water, with disparities between departments, urban/rural areas, and school types. Podor and Dagana lack water due to distance and costs. 70% have sanitation, but rural schools lack it due to low investment. Podor and Dagana suffer the most. Many sanitation facilities need renovation. Wastewater treatment is effective, reducing pollutants and nitrogen, but adjustments are needed for nitrates. Treated water meets Senegalese standards and can be used for irrigation but needs monitoring for strict standards. In conclusion, the wastewater system is good for regions with limited water. Meeting stricter European standards and monitoring for health and environmental standards are needed.

Keywords: water, constructed wetland, sanitation, hygiene

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Authors: Josep Domenech Mingot, Francisco Javier Esclapes Jover

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The arrival of the age of information and new technologies allowed humanity to see what the future has in store, but occasionally it also brings the opportunity to look through a window to the past, an opportunity to relive history. This paper introduces a prototype of a digital system that lets us peek into our past making use of augmented reality technologies. A 3D scene will be modeled and animated based on an old image, depicting an event of historical significance. From this scene, a video will be rendered, recreating the events that were taking place at the time. Also, a smartphone app will be created. This app will detect the original image with the smartphone’s camera, overlay the rendered video so that it fully covers it and track the detected image, so that the overlaying video can keep covering the image. The recreation of Alicante’s Central Market bombing during the Spanish Civil War is presented as a case study.

Keywords: augmented reality, digital heritage, history, multimedia, smartphone

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Authors: Aliyu Bello Mohammed

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Vital registration or registration of vital events is one of the three major sources of demographic data in Nigeria. The other two are the population census and sample survey. The former is judged to be an indispensable source of demographic data because, it provide information on vital statistics and population trends between two census periods. Various literacy works however depict the vital registration in Nigeria as incapable of providing accurate data for the country. The study has both theoretical and practical significances. The trends and pattern of vital registration has not received adequate research interest in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. This has created a gap in understanding the extent and consequence of the scourge in Africa sub-region. Practically, the study also captures the policy interventions of government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that would help enlighten the public on the importance of vital registration in Nigeria. Furthermore, feasible policy strategies that will enhance trends and pattern vital registration in the society would emanate from the study. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design and applied multi stage sampling techniques to sample 230 respondents from the general public in the study area. The first stage involved the splitting of the local government into wards. The second stage involves selecting streets, while the third stage was the households. In all, 6 wards were sampled for the study. The study utilized both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of data used were the questionnaire, focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview (IDI) guides while the secondary sources of data were journals and books, newspapers and magazines. Twelve FGD sessions with 96 study participants and five IDI sessions with the heads of vital registration facilities were conducted. The quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics like tables, frequencies and percentages were employed in presenting and interpreting the data. Information from the qualitative data was transcribed and ordered in themes to ensure that outstanding points of the responses are noted. The following conclusions were drawn from the study: the available vital registration facilities are not adequate and were not evenly distributed in the study area; lack of awareness and knowledge of the existence and the importance of vital registration by majority of the people in the local government; distance to vital registration centres from their residents; most births in the area were not registered, and even among the few births that were registered, majority of them were registered after the limited period for registration. And the study reveals that socio-economic index, educational level and distance of facilities to residents are determinants of access to vital registration facility. The study concludes by discussing the need for a reliable and accurate vital registration system if Nigeria’s vision of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world in 2020 would be realized.

Keywords: trends, patterns, vital, registration and assessment

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Authors: Hazel Ann Gianelli Cu, Stephanie Co, Radcliff Cobankiat

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Objectives: TRC101/Veverimer is an orally administered, non absorbed, sodium- and counterion-free hydrochloric acid binder for the treatment of metabolic acidosis associated with chronic kidney disease. The main objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of TRC 101/ Veverimer 6g/day in increasing serum bicarbonate levels of chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis. In this meta analysis, we also aim to look at safety outcomes, adverse effects and if the level of serum bicarbonate reached metabolic alkalosis when given TRC101/Veverimer. Methodology: Pubmed, Cochrane, Google Scholar and Science direct were used to search for randomized controlled trials about TRC101/Veverimer use in Chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis. Search strategy according to the Prisma checklist was done with evaluation of biases and synthesis of results using the Cochrane Review Manager software 5.4. Results: Two randomized controlled trials involving 371 chronic kidney disease patients were included in this study. Results show there was a significant increase in the serum bicarbonate level when given TRC101/Veverimer compared to the placebo. Both studies had a significant number of participants who completed the studies until the end. P value of <0.00001 was used in both studies with a confidence interval of 95%. Conclusion: TRC101/Veverimer 6g/day was shown to effectively and safely increase serum bicarbonate or achieve normalization in chronic kidney disease patients with metabolic acidosis as compared with a placebo. This was associated with delayed progression of kidney disease with improvement of physical functioning, however longer duration of future studies is ideal in order to assess further the long advantages and consequences of TRC 101/Veverimer.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, metabolic acidosis, Veverimer, TRC101

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Authors: Rosemary Hiscock, Clive Sabel, David Manley, Sam Wren-Lewis

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As part of the Happy City Index Project, Happy City have developed a survey instrument to measure experienced wellbeing: how people are feeling and functioning in their everyday lives. The survey instrument, called the Happiness Pulse, was developed in partnership with the New Economics Foundation (NEF) with the dual aim of collecting citywide wellbeing data and engaging individuals and communities in the measurement and promotion of their own wellbeing. The survey domains and items were selected through a review of the academic literature and a stakeholder engagement process, including local policymakers, community organisations and individuals. The Happiness Pulse was included in the Bristol pilot of the Happy City Index (n=722). The experienced wellbeing items were subjected to factor analysis. A reduced number of items to be included in a revised scale for future data collection were again entered into a factor analysis. These revised factors were tested for reliability and validity. Among items to be included in a revised scale for future data collection three factors emerged: Be, Do and Connect. The Be factor had good reliability, convergent and criterion validity. The Do factor had good discriminant validity. The Connect factor had adequate reliability and good discriminant and criterion validity. Some age, gender and socioeconomic differentiation was found. The properties of a new scale to measure experienced wellbeing, intended for use by municipal authorities, are described. Happiness Pulse data can be combined with local data on wellbeing conditions to determine what matters for peoples wellbeing across a city and why.

Keywords: city wellbeing , community wellbeing, engaging individuals and communities, measuring wellbeing and happiness

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Paula Salazar, Rodrigo Henríquez, Pablo Zerega

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The textile, food and pharmaceutical industries are expanding daily worldwide, and they are located within the most polluting industries due to the fact that wastewater is discharged into watercourses with high concentrations of dyes and traces of drugs. Many of these compounds are stable to light and biodegradation, being considered as emerging organic contaminants. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) emerge as an effective alternative for the removal and elimination of this type of contaminants. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been extensively studied as it is an efficient, low-cost and durable method. As the main photocatalyst, TiO₂ has been used for the degradation of a large number of dyes and drugs. The disadvantage of TiO₂ is its absorption in the UV region of the solar spectrum. On the other hand, quaternary chalcogenides based on Cu₂SnZnX₄ (X = S, Se) are a possible alternative due to their narrow bandgap (ca. between 0.8 to 1.5 eV depending on the phase considered), low cost, an abundance of its constituent elements in the earth's crust and its low toxicity. The objective of this research was to synthesize Cu₂SnZnS₄ (CZTS) through of a low-cost hydrothermal method and evaluate it as a potential photo-catalyst in the photo-degradation process of Congo Red. The synthesis of the nanoparticle in suspension and film onto fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass (FTO) was carried out using a mixture of: 2 mmol CuCl₂, 1 mmol ZnCl₂, 1 mmol SnCl₂ and 4 mmol CH4N₂S in a Teflon reactor at 180⁰C for 72 h. Characterization was performed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV VIS spectroscopy. Photo-degradation monitoring was carried out employing a UV VIS spectrophotometer. The results show that photodegradation of 55% of the dye can be obtained after 4h of exposure to polychromatic light, it should be noted that the Congo Red dye is being studied for the first time.

Keywords: CZTS, hydrothermal, photocatalysis, dye

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Authors: Ayşe Yurdakul, Eckehard Schnieder

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Because of the growing multidisciplinarity and multilinguality, communication problems in different technical fields grows more and more. Therefore, each technical field has its own specific language, terminology which is characterised by the different definition of terms. In addition to definition problems, there are also relation problems between terms. Among these problems of relation, there are the synonymy, antonymy, hypernymy/hyponymy, ambiguity, risk of confusion, and translation problems etc. Thus, the terminology management system iglos of the Institute for Traffic Safety and Automation Engineering of the Technische Universität Braunschweig has the target to solve these problems by a methodological standardisation of term definitions with the aid of the iglos sign model and iglos relation types. The focus of this paper should be on solving definition and relation problems between terms in English navigation terminology.

Keywords: iglos, iglos sign model, methodological resolutions, navigation terminology, common language, technical language, positioning, definition problems, relation problems

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: Kolade Olawande Owoeye, George R. S. Weir

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The widespread of terrorism and extremism activities on the internet has become a major threat to the government and national securities due to their potential dangers which have necessitated the need for intelligence gathering via web and real-time monitoring of potential websites for extremist activities. However, the manual classification for such contents is practically difficult or time-consuming. In response to this challenge, an automated classification system called composite technique was developed. This is a computational framework that explores the combination of both semantics and syntactic features of textual contents of a web. We implemented the framework on a set of extremist webpages dataset that has been subjected to the manual classification process. Therein, we developed a classification model on the data using J48 decision algorithm, this is to generate a measure of how well each page can be classified into their appropriate classes. The classification result obtained from our method when compared with other states of arts, indicated a 96% success rate in classifying overall webpages when matched against the manual classification.

Keywords: extremist, web pages, classification, semantics, posit

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Authors: Andrew Ka Pok Tam

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Kierkegaard has been misinterpreted as an anti-social philosopher for a long time until in recent years when there are more discussions on his concept of community in Journals and Papers inspired by Karl Bayer. Community which is based upon an individual's relations to others is different from the crowd or the public where the numerical or the majority make decisions. As a result, authenticity is only possible in the community. But Kierkegaard did not explain how we can preserve the individual's authenticity by establishing a community instead of a public in the reality. Kierkegaard was against the democratic reform in 1848 Denmark because he thought all elections mean the majority wins and the authenticity of a single individual would be suppressed. However, Kierkegaard himself does not suggest an alternative political system that may preserve the authenticity of individual. This paper aims to evaluate the possibility for us to establish a Kierkegaadian community in practice so as to preserve every individual's authenticity. This paper argues that the practicality of Kierekegaadian community is limited. In order to have effective communications and relations among individuals, a Kierkegaardian community must be small and inefficient as every individual's must remain authentic in all political decision for the whole community.

Keywords: authenticity, community, individual, kierkegaard

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Fahad Suleiman

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Agriculture has been the mainstay of the nation’s economy in Nigeria. It provides food for the ever rapidly increasing population and raw materials for the industries. People especially the rural dwellers are gainfully employed on their crop farms and small-scale livestock farms for income earning. In farming, availability of funds and time management are one of the major factors that influence the system of farming in Nigeria in which mathematical science knowledge was highly required in order for farms to be managed effectively. Farmers often applied mathematics, almost every day for a variety of tasks, ranging from measuring and weighing, to land marking. This paper, therefore, explores some of the ways math is used in farming. For instance, farmers use arithmetic variety of farm activities such as seed planting, harvesting crop, cultivation and mulching. It is also important in helping farmers to know how much their livestock weighs, how much milk their cows produce and crop yield per acres, among others.

Keywords: agriculture, application, economic, farming, mathematics

Procedia PDF Downloads 258