Search results for: control performance

Authors: M. Al Huwayz, A. Salhi, S. Alhassan, S. Alotaibi, A. Almalki, M.Almunyif, A. Alhassni, M. Henini

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Recently, there has been much research carried out to investigate quantum dots (QDs) lasers with the aim to increase the gain of quantum well lasers. However, one of the difficulties with these structures is that electrically active defects can lead to serious issues in the performance of these devices. It is therefore essential to fully understand the types of defects introduced during the growth and/or the fabrication process. In this study, the effects of Gamma radiation on the electrically active defects in p-i-n InAs/InGaAsQDs laser structures grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) technique on GaAs substrates were investigated. Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS), current-voltage (I-V), and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements were performed to explore these effects on the electrical properties of these QDs lasers. I-V measurements showed that as-grown sample had better electrical properties than the irradiated sample. However, DLTS and Laplace DLTS measurements at different reverse biases revealed that the defects in the-region of the p-i-n structures were decreased in the irradiated sample. In both samples, a trap with an activation energy of ~ 0.21 eV was assigned to the well-known defect M1 in GaAs layers

Keywords: quantum dots laser structures, gamma radiation, DLTS, defects, nAs/IngaAs

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Authors: D. Kaczorek

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Internal insulation of external walls is often problematic due to increased moisture content in the wall and interstitial or surface condensation risk. In this paper, the hygrothermal performance of prefabricated, concrete, large panel, external wall typical for WK70 system, commonly used in Poland in the 70’s, with inside, additional insulation was investigated. Thermal insulation board made out of hygroscopic, natural materials with moisture buffer capacity and extruded polystyrene (EPS) board was used as interior insulation. Experience with this natural insulation is rare in Poland. The analysis was performed using WUFI software. First of all, the impact of various standard boundary conditions on the behavior of the different wall assemblies was tested. The comparison of results showed that the moisture class according to the EN ISO 13788 leads to too high values of total moisture content in the wall since the boundary condition according to the EN 15026 should be usually applied. Then, hygrothermal 1D-simulations were conducted by WUFI Pro for analysis of internally added insulation, and the weak point like the joint of the wall with the concrete ceiling was verified using 2D simulations. Results showed that, in the Warsaw climate and the indoor conditions adopted in accordance with EN 15026, in the tested wall assemblies, regardless of the type of interior insulation, there would not be any problems with moisture - inside the structure and on the interior surface.

Keywords: concrete large panel wall, hygrothermal simulation, internal insulation, moisture related issues

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Authors: Claus Bier, Dennis Binder, Alexander Gruenberger, Dagmar Drobietz, Dietrich Kohlheyer, Anita Loeschcke, Karl Erich Jaeger, Thomas Drepper, Joerg Pietruszka

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Light absorbing chromophoric systems are important optogenetic tools for biotechnical and biophysical investigations. Processes such as fluorescence or photolysis can be triggered by light-absorption of chromophores. These play a central role in life science. Photocaged compounds belong to such chromophoric systems. The photo-labile protecting groups enable them to release biologically active substances with high temporal and spatial resolution. The properties of photocaged compounds are specified by the characteristics of the caging group as well as the characteristics of the linked effector molecule. In our research, we work with different types of photo-labile protecting groups and various effector molecules giving us possible access to a large library of caged compounds. As a function of the caged effector molecule, a nearly limitless number of biological systems can be directed. Our main interest focusses on photocaging carbohydrates (e.g. arabinose) and their derivatives as effector molecules. Based on these resulting photocaged compounds a precisely controlled photoinduced gene expression will give us access to studies of numerous biotechnological and synthetic biological applications. It could be shown, that the regulation of gene expression via light is possible with photocaged carbohydrates achieving a higher-order control over this processes. With the one-step cleavable photocaged carbohydrate, a homogeneous expression was achieved in comparison to free carbohydrates.

Keywords: bacterial gene expression, biotechnology, caged compounds, carbohydrates, optogenetics, photo-removable protecting group

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Authors: Atefeh Heydari, Mohammadali Tavakoli, Naomie Salim

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In recent years, we have witnessed that online reviews are the most important source of customers’ opinion. They are progressively more used by individuals and organisations to make purchase and business decisions. Unfortunately, for the reason of profit or fame, frauds produce deceptive reviews to hoodwink potential customers. Their activities mislead not only potential customers to make appropriate purchasing decisions and organisations to reshape their business, but also opinion mining techniques by preventing them from reaching accurate results. Spam reviews could be divided into two main groups, i.e. multiple and singleton spam reviews. Detecting a singleton spam review that is the only review written by a user ID is extremely challenging due to lack of clue for detection purposes. Singleton spam reviews are very harmful and various features and proofs used in multiple spam reviews detection are not applicable in this case. Current research aims to propose a novel supervised technique to detect singleton spam reviews. To achieve this, various features are proposed in this study and are to be combined with the most appropriate features extracted from literature and employed in a classifier. In order to compare the performance of different classifiers, SVM and naive Bayes classification algorithms were used for model building. The results revealed that SVM was more accurate than naive Bayes and our proposed technique is capable to detect singleton spam reviews effectively.

Keywords: classification algorithms, Naïve Bayes, opinion review spam detection, singleton review spam detection, support vector machine

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Authors: Hadjer Didouh, Mohamed Hadj Meliani, Izzeddine Sameut Bouhaik

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As global demand for natural gas intensifies, Algeria is increasing its production to meet this rising need, placing significant strain on the nation's extensive pipeline infrastructure. Sonatrach, Algeria's national oil and gas company, faces persistent challenges from metal corrosion, particularly microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), leading to substantial economic losses. This study investigates the corrosion-inhibiting properties of Calotropis procera extracts, known as karanka, as a sustainable alternative to conventional inhibitors, which often pose environmental risks. The Calotropis procera extracts were evaluated for their efficacy on carbon steel API 5L X52 through electrochemical techniques, including potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), under simulated operational conditions at varying concentrations, particularly at 10%, and elevated temperatures up to 60°C. The results demonstrated remarkable inhibition efficiency, achieving 96.73% at 60°C, attributed to the formation of a stable protective film on the metal surface that suppressed anodic and cathodic corrosion reactions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the stability and adherence of these protective films, while EIS analysis indicated a significant increase in charge transfer resistance, highlighting the extract's effectiveness in enhancing corrosion resistance. The abundant availability of Calotropis procera in Algeria and its low-cost extraction processes present a promising opportunity for sustainable biocorrosion management strategies in the oil and gas industry, reinforcing the potential of plant-based extracts as viable alternatives to synthetic inhibitors for environmentally friendly corrosion control.

Keywords: corrosion inhibition, calotropis procera, microbiologically influenced corrosion, eco-friendly inhibitor

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Authors: A. Vinod Kumar, G. Sunny Deol, Rakesh Kumar, B. Chandra

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Application of fiber reinforcement in road construction is gaining some interest in enhancing soil strength. In this paper, the natural geotextile material obtained from gunny bags was used due to its vast local availability. Construction of flexible pavement on weaker soil such as clay soils is a significant problem in construction as well as in design due to its expansive characteristics. Jute geotextile (JGT) was used on a foundation layer of flexible pavement on rural roads. This problem will be conquered by increasing the subgrade strength by decreasing sub-base layer thickness by improving their overall pavement strength characteristics which ultimately reduces the cost of construction and leads to an economical design. California Bearing Ratio (CBR), unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and triaxial laboratory tests were conducted on two different soil samples, CI and MI. Weaker soil is reinforced with JGT, JGT+Bitumen. JGT+polythene sheet was varied with heights while performing the laboratory tests. Subgrade strength evaluation was investigated by conducting soak CBR test in the laboratory for clayey and silt soils. Laboratory results reveal that reinforced soak CBR value of clayey soil (CI) observed was 10.35%, and silty soil (MI) was 15.6%. This study intends to develop new technique for reinforcing weaker soil with JGT varying parameters for the need of low volume flexible pavements. It was observed that the performance of JGT is inferior when used with bitumen and polyethylene sheets.

Keywords: CBR, jute geotextile, low volume road, weaker soil

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Authors: Stephanie Giordano, Eric Lam, Rosa Plasencia

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An important piece of active aging is ensuring people have the right support to meet individual needs. Using NCI-AD data, we will look at measures of satisfaction with community access and needed services among people with physical disabilities receiving LTSS in the US. National Core Indicators—Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) is a voluntary effort by State Medicaid, aging, and disability agencies across the US to measure and track their own performance. NCI-AD uses a standardized survey – the Adult Consumer Survey (ACS), to hear directly from people receiving services about the quality of services and supports they receive. Data from the 2018-19 ACS found that compared to people without a physical disability, those with a physical disability were more likely to make choices about the services they receive, including when and how often they receive those services. Yet people with a physical disability were less likely to report they get enough assistance with everyday activities (e.g., shopping, housework, and taking medications) and self-care (e.g., dressing or bathing) and more likely to report that services and supports do not fully meet their needs and goals. A further breakdown by age shows that people 40-65 years old with a physical disability experienced even greater barriers to being as active in the community as they would like to be, indicating a need to better support people as they age with or into a disability. We will explore how these and other outcomes were affected by COVID-19, take a closer look at outcomes by demographics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, and mental health diagnoses) and discuss implications on the future needs of service systems.

Keywords: quality-of-life, long-term services and supports, person-centered, community

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Authors: Timothy Fwa Yerima

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This paper evaluates the development of human rights jurisprudence in Africa by the ECOWAS Court of Justice. It traces that though ECOWAS was not established with the aim of promoting and protecting human rights as the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, no doubt, the 1991 ECOWAS Court Protocol and the 1993 ECOWAS Revised Treaty give the ECOWAS Court its human rights mandate. The paper, however, points out that despite the availability of these two Laws, the ECOWAS Court had difficulty in its human rights mandate, in view of the twin problems of lack of access to the Court by private parties and personal jurisdiction of the Court to entertain cases filed by private parties. The paper considers the 2005 Supplementary Protocol, not only as an effective legal framework in West African Sub-Region that tackles these problems in human rights cases but also a strong foundation upon which the Court has been developing human rights jurisprudence in Africa through the interpretation and application of this Law and other sources of Law of the Court. After a thorough analysis of some principles laid down by the ECOWAS Court so far, the paper observes that human rights jurisprudence in Africa is growing rapidly; depicting that though the ECOWAS Court initially had difficulty in its human rights mandate, today it has a bright and visionary landing. The paper concludes that West African Sub-Region will witness a more effective performance of the ECOWAS Court if some of its challenges are tackled.

Keywords: access, African human rights, ECOWAS court of justice, jurisprudence, personal jurisdiction

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Authors: I. Sonia d’Apolito, Bianca Sisinni, Mirko Grimaldi, Barbara Gili Fivela

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The American English contrast /ɑ-ʌ/ (cop-cup) is difficult to be produced by Italian learners since they realize L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ as L1-/ɔ-a/ respectively, due to differences in phonetic-phonological systems and also in grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules. In this paper, we try to answer the following research questions: Can a short training improve the production of English /ɑ-ʌ/ by Italian learners? Is a perceptual training better than an articulatory (ultrasound - US) training? Thus, we compare a perceptual training with an US articulatory one to observe: 1) the effects of short trainings on L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ productions; 2) if the US articulatory training improves the pronunciation better than the perceptual training. In this pilot study, 9 Salento-Italian monolingual adults participated: 3 subjects performed a 1-hour perceptual training (ES-P); 3 subjects performed a 1-hour US training (ES-US); and 3 control subjects did not receive any training (CS). Verbal instructions about the phonetic properties of L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ and L1-/ɔ-a/ and their differences (representation on F1-F2 plane) were provided during both trainings. After these instructions, the ES-P group performed an identification training based on the High Variability Phonetic Training procedure, while the ES-US group performed the articulatory training, by means of US video of tongue gestures in L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ production and dynamic view of their own tongue movements and position using a probe under their chin. The acoustic data were analyzed and the first three formants were calculated. Independent t-tests were run to compare: 1) /ɑ-ʌ/ in pre- vs. post-test respectively; /ɑ-ʌ/ in pre- and post-test vs. L1-/a-ɔ/ respectively. Results show that in the pre-test all speakers realize L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ as L1-/ɔ-a/ respectively. Contrary to CS and ES-P groups, the ES-US group in the post-test differentiates the L2 vowels from those produced in the pre-test as well as from the L1 vowels, although only one ES-US subject produces both L2 vowels accurately. The articulatory training seems more effective than the perceptual one since it favors the production of vowels in the correct direction of L2 vowels and differently from the similar L1 vowels.

Keywords: L2 vowel production, perceptual training, articulatory training, ultrasound

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Authors: C. A. Roberts, S. L. Mascaro, J. R. Gerrish, J. L. Horner

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Management-intensive Grazing (MiG) is a practice that rotates livestock through paddocks in a way that best matches the nutrient requirements of the animal to the yield and quality of the pasture. In the USA, MiG has been taught to livestock producers throughout the state of Missouri in 2- and 3-day workshops called “Missouri Grazing Schools.” The economic impact of these schools was quantified using IMPLAN software. The model included hectares of adoption, animal performance, carrying capacity, and input costs. To date, MiG, as taught in the Missouri Grazing Schools, has been implemented on more than 70,000 hectares in Missouri. The economic impact of these schools is presently $125 million USD per year added to the state economy. This magnitude of impact is the result not only of widespread adoption but also because of increased livestock carrying capacity; in Missouri, a capacity increase of 25 to 30% has been well documented. Additional impacts have been MiG improving forage quality and reducing the cost of feed and fertilizer. The environmental impact of MiG in the state of Missouri is currently being estimated. Environmental impact takes into account the reduction in the application of commercial fertilizers; in MiG systems, nitrogen is supplied by N fixation from legumes, and much of the P and K is recycled naturally by well-distributed manure. The environmental impact also estimates carbon sequestration and methane production; MiG can increase carbon sequestration and reduce methane production in comparison to default grazing practices and feedlot operations in the USA.

Keywords: agricultural education, forage quality, management-intensive grazing, nutrient cycling, stock density, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Ahmed Raza Khan

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Local-strain engineering is an exciting approach to tune the optoelectronic properties of materials and enhance the performance of devices. Two dimensional (2D) materials such as 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are particularly well-suited for this purpose because they have high flexibility and can withstand high deformations before rupture. Wrinkles on thick TMDC layers have been reported to show the interesting photoluminescence enhancement due to bandgap modulation and funneling effect. However, the wrinkles in ultrathin TMDCs have not been investigated, because the wrinkles can easily fall down to form folds in these ultrathin layers of TMDCs. Here, we have achieved both wrinkle and fold nano-structures simultaneously on 1-3L WS₂ using a new fabrication technique. The comparable layer dependent reduction in surface potential is observed for both folded layers and corresponding perfect pack layers due to the dominant interlayer screening effect. The strains produced from the wrinkle nanostructures considerably vary semi conductive junction properties. Thermo-ionic modelling suggests that the strained (1.6%) wrinkles can lower the Schottky barrier height (SBH) by 20%. The photo-generated carriers would further significantly lower the SBH. These results present an important advance towards controlling the optoelectronic properties of atomically thin WS₂ using strain engineering, with important implications for practical device applications.

Keywords: strain engineering, folding, WS₂, Kelvin probe force microscopy, KPFM, surface potential, photo current, layer dependence

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Authors: Henrique Fernandes, Sofia Catalucci, Richard Leach, Kapil Sugand

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Background: Holograms are 3D images formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source. Pepper’s ghost is a form of hologram conceptualised in the 18th century. This Holographic visualisation with metrology measuring techniques by displaying measurements taken in real-time in holographic form can assist in research and education. New structural designs such as the Plexiglass Stand and the Hologram Box can optimise the holographic experience. Method: The equipment used included: (i) Zeiss’s ATOS Core 300 optical coordinate measuring instrument that scanned real-world objects; (ii) Cloud Compare, open-source software used for point cloud processing; and (iii) Hologram Box, designed and manufactured during this research to provide the blackout environment needed to display 3D point clouds in real-time measurements in holographic format, in addition to a portability aspect to holograms. The equipment was tailored to realise the goal of displaying measurements in an innovative technique and to improve on conventional methods. Three test scans were completed before doing a holographic conversion. Results: The outcome was a precise recreation of the original object in the holographic form presented with dense point clouds and surface density features in a colour map. Conclusion: This work establishes a way to visualise data in a point cloud system. To our understanding, this is a work that has never been attempted. This achievement provides an advancement in holographic visualisation. The Hologram Box could be used as a feedback tool for measurement quality control and verification in future smart factories.

Keywords: holography, 3D scans, hologram box, metrology, point cloud

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Authors: Ali Shirazi, Robert A. Taylor, Stephen D. White, Graham L. Morrison

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In this paper, a detailed simulation model of a solar-powered triple-effect LiBr–H₂O absorption chiller is developed to supply both cooling and heating demand of a large-scale building, aiming to reduce the fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in building sector. TRNSYS 17 is used to simulate the performance of the system over a typical year. A combined energetic-economic-environmental analysis is conducted to determine the system annual primary energy consumption and the total cost, which are considered as two conflicting objectives. A multi-objective optimization of the system is performed using a genetic algorithm to minimize these objectives simultaneously. The optimization results show that the final optimal design of the proposed plant has a solar fraction of 72% and leads to an annual primary energy saving of 0.69 GWh and annual CO₂ emissions reduction of ~166 tonnes, as compared to a conventional HVAC system. The economics of this design, however, is not appealing without public funding, which is often the case for many renewable energy systems. The results show that a good funding policy is required in order for these technologies to achieve satisfactory payback periods within the lifetime of the plant.

Keywords: economic, environmental, multi-objective optimization, solar air-conditioning, triple-effect absorption chiller

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Authors: Ahmed M. Kabel, Maaly A. Abd Elmaaboud

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Scleroderma is one of the connective tissue disorders characterized by skin and systemic fibrosis. Its pathogenesis involves multiple interrelated processes of autoimmunity, vasculopathy, inflammation, and oxidative stress. This study was a trial to explore the possible ameliorative effects of sodium valproate on an experimental model of skin fibrosis induced by bleomycin. Forty male BALB/c mice were divided into four equal groups as follows: control group; bleomycin group; bleomycin + sodium valproate group, and sodium valproate group. Mice were assessed for their body weight every four days throughout the whole study. Skin tissues were used to evaluate the oxidative stress parameters, transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 15, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Skin fibrosis was evaluated by measuring dermal thickness and staining the skin tissues with Masson trichrome stain. Also, the skin tissues were immunostained with alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Administration of sodium valproate to bleomycin-treated mice resulted in the restoration of the body weight with a significant decrease in the dermal thickness, amelioration of oxidative stress, suppression of TGF-β1 and mTOR expression, and significant reduction of the percentage of α-SMA immunostaining and the proinflammatory cytokine levels compared to mice treated with bleomycin alone. In conclusion, sodium valproate has an antifibrotic effect on skin fibrosis which may represent a beneficial therapeutic modality for the management of scleroderma.

Keywords: scleroderma, bleomycin, sodium valproate, skin fibrosis

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Authors: Ibrahim Sani, J. T. Amodu, M. R. Hassan, R. J. Tanko, N. Adamu

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This study investigated the digestibility of Brachiaria ruziziensis and Centrosema pascuorum hay mixtures at varying proportions in Yankasa rams. Twelve Yankasa rams with average initial weight 10.25 ± 0.1 kg were assigned to three dietary treatments of B. ruziziensis and C. pascuorum hay at different mixtures (75BR:25CP, 50BR:50CP and 25BR:75CP, respectively) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) for a period of 14 days. Concentrate diet was given to the experimental animals as supplement at fixed proportion, while the forage mixture (basal diet) was fed at 3% body weight. Animals on 50BR:50CP had better nutrient digestibility (crude protein, acid and neutral detergent fibre, ether extract and nitrogen free extract) than other treatment diets, except in dry matter digestibility (87.35%) which compared with 87.54% obtained in 25BR:75CP treatment diet and also organic matter digestibility. All parameters taken on nitrogen balance with the exception of nitrogen retained were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in animals fed 25BR:75CP diet, but were statistically similar with values obtained for animals on 50BR:50CP diet. From results obtained in this study, it is concluded that mixture of 25%BR75%CP gave the best nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance in Yankasa rams. It is therefore recommended that B. ruziziensis and C. pascuorum should be fed at 50:50 mixture ratio for enhanced animal growth and performance in Nigeria.

Keywords: B. ruziziensis, C. pascuorum, digestibilty, rams, Yankasa

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Authors: Dongju Kim, Youngjoo Suh, Hyojin Kim, Gyeongyeong Kim

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Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) is widely used to test the structural integrity of an operational hydrogen storage container, and clustering algorithms are frequently used in pattern recognition methods to interpret AET results. However, the interpretation of AET results can vary from user to user as the tuning of the relevant parameters relies on the user's experience and knowledge of AET. Therefore, it is necessary to use a deep learning model to identify patterns in acoustic emission (AE) signal data that can be used to classify defects instead. In this paper, a deep learning-based model for classifying the types of defects in hydrogen storage tanks, using AE sensor waveforms, is proposed. As hydrogen storage tanks are commonly constructed using carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite (CFRP), a defect classification dataset is collected through a tensile test on a specimen of CFRP with an AE sensor attached. The performance of the classification model, using one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1-D CNN) and synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) data augmentation, achieved 91.09% accuracy for each defect. It is expected that the deep learning classification model in this paper, used with AET, will help in evaluating the operational safety of hydrogen storage containers.

Keywords: acoustic emission testing, carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite, one-dimensional convolutional neural network, smote data augmentation

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Authors: Stephanie Ann Houghton

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SDG-driven intercultural citizenship education through performing arts and history research, combined with dance-fitness development inspired by performing arts, can provide a third space in which performing arts, local history, and contemporary society drive educational and social development, supporting the performing arts in student-generated ways, reflecting their sense, priorities, and goals. Within a string of rugged volcanic peninsulas along the north-western coastline of the Ariake Sea, Kyushu, southern Japan, are found a range of traditional performing arts endangered in Japan’s ageing society, including Menburyu mask dance. From 2017, Menburyu culture and history were explored with Menburyu veterans and students within Houghton’s FURYU Educational Program (FEP) at Saga University. Through collaboration with professional fitness instructor Kazuki Miyata, basic Menburyu movements and concepts were blended into aerobics routines to generate Menburyu-Inspired Dance-Fitness (MIDF). Drawing on history, legends, and myths, three important storylines for understanding Menburyu, captured in students’ bilingual (English/Japanese) exhibition panels, emerged: harvest, demons and gods, and the Battle of Tadenawate 1530. Houghton and Miyata performed the first MIDF routine at the 22nd Traditional Performing Arts Festival at Yutoku Inari Shrine, Kashima, in September 2019. FEP exhibitions, dance-fitness events, and MIDF performance have been reported in the media locally and nationally. In an action research case study, a classroom research project was conducted with four female Japanese students over fifteen three-hour online lessons (April-July 2020). Part 1 of each lesson focused on Menburyu history. This included a guest lecture by Kensuke Ryuzoji. The three Menburyu storylines served as keys for exploring Menburyu history from international standpoints.Part 2 focused on the development of MIDF basic steps and an online MIDF event with outside guests. Through post-lesson reflective diaries and reports/videos documenting their experience, students engaged in heritage management, intercultural dialogue, health/fitness, technology and art generation activities within the FEP, centring on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including health and wellness (SDG3), and quality education (SDG4), taking a glocal approach. In this presentation, qualitative analysis of student-generated reflective diary and reports will be presented to reveal educational processes, learning outcomes,and apparent areas of (potential) social impact of this classroom research project. Data will be presented in two main parts: (1) The mutually beneficial relationship between local traditional performing arts research and local history researchwill be addressed. One has the power both inform and illuminate the other given their deep connections. This can drive the development of students’ intercultural history competence related to and through the performing arts. (2) The development of dance-fitness inspired by traditional performing arts provides a third space in which performing arts, local history and contemporary society can be connected through SDG-driven education inside the classroom in ways that can also drive social innovation outside the classroom, potentially supporting the performing arts itself in student-generated ways, reflecting their own sense, priorities and social goals. Links will be drawn with intercultural citizenship, strengths and weaknesses of this teaching approach will be highlighted, and avenues for future research in this exciting new area will be suggested.

Keywords: cultural traditions, dance-fitness performance and participation, intercultural communication approach, mask dance origins

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Authors: John Rosswell Cummings III

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This research examines the discourse ancient Maya ritual practice manifest and maintained through language in a contemporary society as led by a daykeeper— a Maya spiritual leader— with the objective of discovering if the Maya Calendar has an influence on worldview. Through an ethnography of communication and discursive analysis framework, this research examines the discourse of and around the Maya calendar through original research. Data collected includes the ceremonial performance of the Tzolkin ritual, a ritual that takes place every 13 days to ceremonially welcome one of the 20 Universal Forces. During the ceremony, participants supplicate, sacrifice, and venerate. This ritual, based off the Tzolkin cycle in the Mayan Calendar, contains strong, culture-binding ideologies. This research performs a close analysis of the 20 energies of the Tzolkin and their glyphs so as to gain a better understanding of current ideologies in Maya communities. Through a linguistic relativity frame of reference, including both the strong and weak versions, the 20 Universal Forces are shown to influence ways of life. This research argues that it is not just the native language, but the discourses native to the community as held through the calendar, influence thought and have the potential to offer an alternate worldview, thus shaping the cultural narrative which in return influences identity of the community. Research of this kind, on calendric systems and linguistic relativity, has the power to make great discoveries about the societies of the world and their worldviews.

Keywords: anthropological linguistics, discourse analysis, cultural studies, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Bassant M. M. Ibrahim, Doha H. Abou Baker, Ahmed Abd Elghafour

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Excessive exposure to heavy metals contributes to the occurrence of deleterious health problems that affect vital organs like the brain, liver, kidneys, and heart. The use of natural products that have antioxidant capabilities may contribute to the protection of these organs. In the present study, the essential oil of summer savory (Satureja hortensis) was used to evaluate its protective effects against lead acetate induced damaging effect on rats’ vital organs, due to its high contents of carvacrol, y-terpinene, and p-cymene. Forty female Wister Albino rats were classified into five equal groups, the 1st served as normal group, the 2nd served as positive control group was given lead acetate (60 mg/kg) intra-peritoneal (IP), the third to fifth groups were treated with calcium disodium (EDTA) as chelating agent and summer savory essential oil in doses of (50 and 100mg/kg) respectively. All treatments were given IP concomitant with lead acetate for ten successive days. At the end of the experiment duration electrocardiogram (ECG), an open field test for the evaluation of psychological state, rotarod test as for the evaluation of locomotor coordination ability as well as anti-inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in serum and histopathology of vital organs were performed. The investigations in this study show that the protective effect of high dose of summer savory essential oil is more than the low dose and that the essential oil of summer savory is a promising agent that can contribute to the protection of vital organs against the hazardous damaging effects of lead acetate.

Keywords: brain, heart, kidneys, lead acetate, liver, protective, summer savory

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Authors: Gholamzadeh Sakineh, Jedi Maryam, Fereshteh Dehghanrad

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Background: Mental and psychological issues are common among older adults. Positive psychology theorists and researchers recommend focusing on constructs such as happiness, life satisfaction and hope rather than dwelling on negative experiences and perceptions. Objective: The research aim was to evaluate the impact of hope therapy interventions on the life satisfaction, happiness, and hopefulness of older adults in Iran. Methodology: This study used a quasi-experimental design. A convenience sample of 32 older adults was recruited from a retirement center in Shiraz, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 16) or an experimental group (n = 16). The experimental group received eight sessions of hope therapy, each lasting 1.5 hours. The data for this study were collected using Snyder's Adult Hope Scale (AHS), Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and Life Satisfaction Index-Z. The questionnaires were administered before, immediately after the intervention, and two months later. Descriptive and analytical statistical tests were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 19. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample characteristics and the distribution of the data. Analytical statistics were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that the hope therapy intervention significantly increased the life satisfaction and hopefulness of older adults (p < 0.05). In addition, the influence of time was also significant (p < 0.05). However, the intervention did not affect happiness in statistically significant ways. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the theoretical importance of hope therapy in improving the life satisfaction and hopefulness of older adults. Hope therapy interventions can be considered as an effective way to improve the emotional well-being and quality of life of older adults.

Keywords: older adults, life satisfaction, happiness, hopefulness, hope therapy

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Authors: Iman Adnan Annon, Kadhim F. Alsultan

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This study investigate the internal corrosion of low carbon steel pipelines in the crude oil, as well as prepare and use natural and locally available plant as a natural corrosion inhibiter, the nature extraction achieved by two types of solvents in order to show the solvent effect on inhibition process, the first being distilled water and the second is diethyl ether. FT-IR spectra and using a chemical reagents achieved to detection the presence of many active groups and the presence of tannins, phenols, and alkaloids in the natural extraction. Some experiments were achieved to estimate the performance of a new inhibitor, one of these tests include corrosion measurement by simple immersion in crude oil within and without inhibitors which added in different amounts 30,40,50and 60 ppm at tow temperature 300 and 323k, where the best inhibition efficiencies which get when added the inhibitors in a critical amounts or closest to it, since for the aqueous extract (EB-A) the inhibition efficiency reached (94.4) and (86.71)% at 300 and 323k respectively, and for diethyl ether extract (EB-D) reached (82.87) and (84.6)% at 300 and 323k respectively. Optical microscopy examination have been conducted to evaluate the corrosion nature where it show a clear difference in the topography of the immersed samples surface after add the inhibitors at two temperatures. The results show that the new corrosion inhibitor is not only equivalent to a chemical inhibitor but has greatly improvement properties such as: high efficiency, low cost, non-toxic, easily to produce, and nonpolluting as compared with chemical inhibitor.

Keywords: corrosion in pipeline, inhibitors, crude oil, carbon steel, types of solvent

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Authors: Asha Manoharan, Sooraj A. O, Anju K. G

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Enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) refers to the presence of congenital sensorineural hearing loss with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct. The Audiological symptoms of EVA are fluctuating and progressive in nature and the diagnosis of EVAS can be confirmed only with radiological evaluation. Hence it is difficult to differentiate EVA from conditions like Meniere’s disease, semi-circular dehiscence, etc based on audiological findings alone. EVA in adults is easy to identify due to distinct vestibular symptoms. In children, EVA can remain either unidentified or misdiagnosed until the vestibular symptoms are evident. Motor developmental delay, especially the ones involving a change of body alignment, has been reported in the pediatric population with EVA. So, it should be made mandatory to recommend radiological evaluation in young children with fluctuating hearing loss reporting with motor developmental delay. This single case study of a baby with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct (EVA) primarily aimed to address the following: a) Challenges while diagnosing young patients with EVA and fluctuating hearing loss, b) Importance of radiological evaluation in audiological diagnosis in the pediatric population, c) Need for regular monitoring of hearing, hearing aid performance, and cochlear implant mapping closely for potential fluctuations in such populations, d) Importance of reviewing developmental, language milestones in very young children with fluctuating hearing loss.

Keywords: enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA), motor delay, radiological evaluation, fluctuating hearing loss, cochlear implant

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Authors: Lakshmana Ravi Raj Gali, K. Sridhar Reddy, M. Amaranatha Reddy

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Load transfer between adjacent slabs of the jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) system is inevitable for long-lasting performance. Dowel bars are generally used to ensure sufficient degree of load transfer, in addition to the load transferred by aggregate interlock mechanism at the joints. Joint efficiency is the measure of joint quality, a major concern and therefore the dowel bar system should be designed and constructed well. The interaction between dowel bars and concrete that includes various parameters of dowel bar and concrete will explain the degree of joint efficiency. The present study focuses on the methodology of selecting contact stiffness, which quantifies dowel-concrete interaction. In addition, a parametric study which focuses on the effect of dowel diameter, dowel shape, the spacing between dowel bars, joint opening, the thickness of the slab, the elastic modulus of concrete, and concrete cover on contact stiffness was also performed. The results indicated that the thickness of the slab is most critical among various parameters to explain the joint efficiency. Further displacement equivalency method was proposed to find out the contact stiffness. The proposed methodology was validated with the available field surface deflection data collected by falling weight deflectometer (FWD).

Keywords: contact stiffness, displacement equivalency method, Dowel-concrete interaction, joint behavior, 3D numerical simulation

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Authors: H. Haryati, A. Nor Azura

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Over the turn of the century, the advertising landscape has evolved significantly, from print media to digital media. In line with the shift to the advanced science and technology dramatically shake the framework of societies Fifth Industrial Revolution (IR5.0), technological endeavors have increased exponentially, which influenced user interaction more inspiring through online advertising that intentionally leads to buying behavior. Users are more accustomed to interactive content that responds to their actions. Thus, immersive experience has transformed into a new engagement experience To centennials. The purpose of this paper is to investigate pleasure and arousal as the fundamental elements of consumer emotions and affective responses to marketing stimuli. A quasi-experiment procedure will be adopted in the research involving 40 undergraduate students in Nilai, Malaysia. This study employed a 2 (celebrity endorser vs. Social media influencer) X 2 (high and low visual complexity) factorial between-subjects design. Participants will be exposed to a printed version depicting a fashion product endorsed by a celebrity and social media influencers, presented in high and low levels of visual complexity. While the questionnaire will be Distributing during the lab test session is used to control their honesty, real feedback, and responses through the latest Instagram design and engagement. Therefore, the research aims to define the immersive experience on Instagram and the interaction between pleasure and arousal. An advertisement that evokes pleasure and arousal will be likely getting more attention from the target audience. This is one of the few studies comparing the endorses in Instagram advertising. Also, this research extends the existing knowledge about the immersive visual complexity in the context of social media advertising.

Keywords: immersive visual experience, instagram, pleasure, arousal

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Authors: Sultan Alharby, Nick Harris, Alex Weddell, Jeff Reeve

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The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has received much attention over the last five years. It is predicted that the IoT will influence every aspect of our lifestyles in the near future. Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the key enablers of the operation of IoTs, allowing data to be collected from the surrounding environment. However, due to limited resources, nature of deployment and unattended operation, a WSN is vulnerable to various types of attack. Security is paramount for reliable and safe communication between IoT embedded devices, but it does, however, come at a cost to resources. Nodes are usually equipped with small batteries, which makes energy conservation crucial to IoT devices. Nevertheless, security cost in terms of energy consumption has not been studied sufficiently. Previous research has used a security specification of 802.15.4 for IoT applications, but the energy cost of each security level and the impact on quality of services (QoS) parameters remain unknown. This research focuses on the cost of security at the IoT media access control (MAC) layer. It begins by studying the energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 security levels, which is followed by an evaluation for the impact of security on data latency and throughput, and then presents the impact of transmission power on security overhead, and finally shows the effects of security on memory footprint. The results show that security overhead in terms of energy consumption with a payload of 24 bytes fluctuates between 31.5% at minimum level over non-secure packets and 60.4% at the top security level of 802.15.4 security specification. Also, it shows that security cost has less impact at longer packet lengths, and more with smaller packet size. In addition, the results depicts a significant impact on data latency and throughput. Overall, maximum authentication length decreases throughput by almost 53%, and encryption and authentication together by almost 62%.

Keywords: energy consumption, IEEE 802.15.4, IoT security, security cost evaluation

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Authors: Jackson Simon Lusagalika, Lai Hsin-Chih, Dai Yu-Tung

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Particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 meters or less are referred to as "fine particulate matter" (PM₂.₅) are easily inhaled and can go deeper into the lungs than other particles in the atmosphere, where it may have detrimental health consequences. In this study, we use a hybrid model that combined CMAQ and AERMOD as well as initial meteorological fields from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to study the impact of power plant PM₂.₅ emissions in South Taiwan since it frequently experiences higher PM₂.₅ levels. A specific date of March 3, 2022, was chosen as a result of a power outage that prompted the bulk of power plants to shut down. In some way, it is not conceivable anywhere in the world to turn off the power for the sole purpose of doing research. Therefore, this catastrophe involving a power outage and the shutdown of power plants offers a great occasion to evaluate the impact of air pollution driven by this power sector. As a result, four numerical experiments were conducted in the study using the Continuous Emission Data System (CEMS), assuming that the power plants continued to function normally after the power outage. The hybrid model results revealed that power plants have a minor impact in the study region. However, we examined the accumulation of PM₂.₅ in the study and discovered that once the vortex at 925hPa was established and moved to the north of Taiwan's coast, the study region experienced higher observed PM₂.₅ concentrations influenced by meteorological factors. This study recommends that decision-makers take into account not only control techniques, specifically emission reductions, but also the atmospheric and meteorological implications for future investigations.

Keywords: PM₂.₅ concentration, powerplants, hybrid air quality model, CEMS, Vorticity

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Authors: Y. Sunecher, N. Mamode Khan, V. Jowaheer

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This paper considers the modelling of a non-stationary bivariate integer-valued autoregressive moving average of order one (BINARMA(1,1)) with correlated Poisson innovations. The BINARMA(1,1) model is specified using the binomial thinning operator and by assuming that the cross-correlation between the two series is induced by the innovation terms only. Based on these assumptions, the non-stationary marginal and joint moments of the BINARMA(1,1) are derived iteratively by using some initial stationary moments. As regards to the estimation of parameters of the proposed model, the conditional maximum likelihood (CML) estimation method is derived based on thinning and convolution properties. The forecasting equations of the BINARMA(1,1) model are also derived. A simulation study is also proposed where BINARMA(1,1) count data are generated using a multivariate Poisson R code for the innovation terms. The performance of the BINARMA(1,1) model is then assessed through a simulation experiment and the mean estimates of the model parameters obtained are all efficient, based on their standard errors. The proposed model is then used to analyse a real-life accident data on the motorway in Mauritius, based on some covariates: policemen, daily patrol, speed cameras, traffic lights and roundabouts. The BINARMA(1,1) model is applied on the accident data and the CML estimates clearly indicate a significant impact of the covariates on the number of accidents on the motorway in Mauritius. The forecasting equations also provide reliable one-step ahead forecasts.

Keywords: non-stationary, BINARMA(1, 1) model, Poisson innovations, conditional maximum likelihood, CML

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Authors: Hamdi Sana, Emna Bouazizi, Sami Faiz

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In recent years, there is a huge increase in the use of spatio-temporal applications where data and queries are continuously moving. As a result, the need to process real-time spatio-temporal data seems clear and real-time stream data management becomes a hot topic. Sliding window model and frequent itemset mining over dynamic data are the most important problems in the context of data mining. Thus, sliding window model for frequent itemset mining is a widely used model for data stream mining due to its emphasis on recent data and its bounded memory requirement. These methods use the traditional transaction-based sliding window model where the window size is based on a fixed number of transactions. Actually, this model supposes that all transactions have a constant rate which is not suited for real-time applications. And the use of this model in such applications endangers their performance. Based on these observations, this paper relaxes the notion of window size and proposes the use of a timestamp-based sliding window model. In our proposed frequent itemset mining algorithm, support conditions are used to differentiate frequents and infrequent patterns. Thereafter, a tree is developed to incrementally maintain the essential information. We evaluate our contribution. The preliminary results are quite promising.

Keywords: real-time spatial big data, frequent itemset, transaction-based sliding window model, timestamp-based sliding window model, weighted frequent patterns, tree, stream query

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Navneet Singh Deora, Aastha Deswal, H. N. Mishra

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Pasta is one of the most widely consumed food products around the world. Rapid determination of the moisture content in pasta will assist food processors to provide online quality control of pasta during large scale production. Rapid Fourier transform near-infrared method (FT-NIR) was developed for determining moisture content in pasta. A calibration set of 150 samples, a validation set of 30 samples and a prediction set of 25 samples of pasta were used. The diffuse reflection spectra of different types of pastas were measured by FT-NIR analyzer in the 4,000-12,000 cm-1 spectral range. Calibration and validation sets were designed for the conception and evaluation of the method adequacy in the range of moisture content 10 to 15 percent (w.b) of the pasta. The prediction models based on partial least squares (PLS) regression, were developed in the near-infrared. Conventional criteria such as the R2, the root mean square errors of cross validation (RMSECV), root mean square errors of estimation (RMSEE) as well as the number of PLS factors were considered for the selection of three pre-processing (vector normalization, minimum-maximum normalization and multiplicative scatter correction) methods. Spectra of pasta sample were treated with different mathematic pre-treatments before being used to build models between the spectral information and moisture content. The moisture content in pasta predicted by FT-NIR methods had very good correlation with their values determined via traditional methods (R2 = 0.983), which clearly indicated that FT-NIR methods could be used as an effective tool for rapid determination of moisture content in pasta. The best calibration model was developed with min-max normalization (MMN) spectral pre-processing (R2 = 0.9775). The MMN pre-processing method was found most suitable and the maximum coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.9875 was obtained for the calibration model developed.

Keywords: FT-NIR, pasta, moisture determination, food engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Mustafa Kucukoduk, Evren Yildiztugay, A. Hediye Sekmen, Ismail Turkan, Yavuz Bagci

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In this study, physiological and biochemical responses of Centaurea tuzgoluensis, a Turkish endemic halophyte, to salinity were studied. Therefore, the changes in shoot growth, leaf relative water content (RWC), ion concentrations, lipid peroxidation, hydroxyl (OH.) radical scavenging activity, proline (Pro) content, and antioxidant system [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR)] were investigated. The 60 days (d) old C. tuzgoluensis seedlings were subjected to 0, 150 and 300 mM NaCl for 7 d and 14 d. The relative shoot growth was generally did not change in the 150 mM NaCl, but reduced with 300 mM NaCl stress at 7 d and 14 d. RWC was higher in 150 mM NaCl-treated leaves than that of 300 mM NaCl. Salinity decreased K+/Na+ ratio, but increased Na+, Cl, Ca+2 and Na+/Cl ratio in the leaves. On the other hand, it did not change or increase the K+ content at 150 and 300 mM NaCl, respectively. MDA content in the 150 and 300 mM NaCl-treated leaves remained close to control at 7 d. This was related to enhanced activities of SOD, CAT, APX and GR enzymes, and their isoenzymes especially Fe-SOD in the leaves. On the other hand, the higher sensitivity to 300 mM NaCl at 14 d was associated with inadequate increase in antioxidant enzymes and the decreased OH radical scavenging activity. All these results suggest that C. tuzgoluensis has different antioxidant metabolisms between short- (7 d) and long-term (14 d) salt treatments and salinity tolerance of C. tuzgoluensis might be closely related to increased capacity of antioxidative system to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and accumulation of osmoprotectant proline under salinity conditions.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes, endemic halophyte, ion exchange, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant, enzymes, endemic halophyte, ion exchange, lipid peroxidation, proline, Centaurea tuzgoluensis

Procedia PDF Downloads 293