Search results for: agricultural innovation systems

Authors: Yevheniia Varyvoda, Douglas Taren

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At the aggregate level, climate variability, the rising number of active violent conflicts, globalization and industrialization of agriculture, the loss in diversity of crop species, the increase in demand for agricultural production, and the adoption of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns are exacerbating factors of food system destabilization. The importance of pseudocereals to fuel and sustain resilient food systems is recognized by leading organizations working to end hunger, particularly for their critical capability to diversify livelihood portfolios and provide plant-sourced healthy nutrition in the face of systemic shocks and stresses. Amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa are the most promising and used pseudocereals for ensuring food system resilience in the reality of climate change due to their high nutritional profile, good digestibility, palatability, medicinal value, abiotic stress tolerance, pest and disease resistance, rapid growth rate, adaptability to marginal and degraded lands, high genetic variability, low input requirements, and income generation capacity. The study provides the rationale and examples of advancing local and regional food systems' resilience by scaling up the utilization of amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa along all components of food systems to architect indirect nutrition interventions and climate-smart approaches. Thus, this study aims to explore the drivers for ancient pseudocereal utilization, the potential resilience benefits that can be derived from using them, and the challenges and opportunities for pseudocereal utilization within the food system components. The PSALSAR framework regarding the method for conducting systematic review and meta-analysis for environmental science research was used to answer these research questions. Nevertheless, the utilization of pseudocereals has been slow for a number of reasons, namely the increased production of commercial and major staples such as maize, rice, wheat, soybean, and potato, the displacement due to pressure from imported crops, lack of knowledge about value-adding practices in food supply chain, limited technical knowledge and awareness about nutritional and health benefits, absence of marketing channels and limited access to extension services and information about resilient crops. The success of climate-resilient pathways based on pseudocereal utilization underlines the importance of co-designed activities that use modern technologies, high-value traditional knowledge of underutilized crops, and a strong acknowledgment of cultural norms to increase community-level economic and food system resilience.

Keywords: resilience, pseudocereals, food system, climate change

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Authors: Adam Jenkins

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The Maritime RobotX Challenge provides a platform for postgraduate students conducting research in autonomous robotic systems to participate in an international competition. Although targeted to postgraduate students, the problem domain lends itself to a wide range of different levels of student expertise. In 2022, undergraduate Information Technology students from the University of South Australia undertook the challenge, utilizing a System of the Systems approach to the project's architecture. Each student group produced an independent solution to an identified task, which was then implemented on a Single Board Computer (SBC). A Central Control System then engaged each solution when appropriate, allowing the encapsulated SBC systems to manage each task as it was encountered. This approach facilitated collaboration among the multiple independent student teams over an 18-month period, and the fundamental system-agnostic architecture allowed for both the variance in student solutions and the limitations caused by the global electronics shortage. By adopting this approach, Information Technology teams were able to work independently yet produce an effective solution, leveraging their expertise to develop and construct an autonomous catamaran capable of meeting the competition's demanding requirements while producing a high level of engagement. The System of Systems approach is recommended to other universities interested in competing at this level and engaging students in a real-world problem.

Keywords: case study, robotics, education, programming, system of systems, multi-disciplinary collaboration

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Authors: Dragana Gnjatovic

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Assessment is a burning topic in education policy and practice due to measurement-driven neoliberal agendas of quality and standardisation of assessment practice through high stakes standardised testing systems that are now influencing early childhood education. This paper presents a collaborative, arts-informed action research project which places children at the centre of their learning, with assessment as an integral part of play-based learning processes. It aims to challenge traditional approaches to assessment that are often teacher-led and decontextualised from the processes of learning through exploring approaches where children's voices are central, and their creative arts expressions are used to assess learning and development. The theoretical framework draws on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Freire's critical pedagogy, which indicate the importance of socially constructed reality where knowledge is the result of collaboration between children and adults. This reality perceives children as competent agents of their own learning processes. An interpretive-constructivist and critical-transformative paradigm underpin collaborative action research in a three to five-year-old setting, where creative methods like storytelling, play, drama, drawing are used to assess children's learning. As data collection and analysis are still in process, this paper will present the methodology and some data vignettes, with the aim of stimulating discussion about innovation in assessment and contribution of the collaborative enquiry in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care.

Keywords: assessment for learning, creative methodologies, collaborative action research, early childhood education and care

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Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim Girei

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Adamawa state is one the major producers of both crop and animals in Nigeria. Agricultural production serves as the major means livelihood of the people in the state. However, the agricultural activities of the farmers in the state are at subsistence level. However integration of these small scale farmers in local, national and international market is paramount importance. The paper was designed to categorize farmers based on market participation among the cattle farmers in Adamawa state, Nigeria. The multistage sampling procedure was employed. To achieve this procedure, structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 respondents. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the majority of market participants were net sellers (78.51 %) (Sales greater than purchase), net buyers were (purchase greater than sales) 12.95 % and only 9% were autarkic (sales equal purchase). The study recommends that Government should provide more effective security services in cattle farming communities, which is very important as the market participants in the study area were net sellers (producers), it will help in addressing the problem of cattle rustling and promote more investment in cattle industry. There is a need to establish a standard cattle market, veterinary services and grazing reserves in the area so that to facilitate the cattle production and marketing system in the area and to meet up with the challenging of livestock development as a result of rapid human population growth in developing countries like Nigeria.

Keywords: categories, cattle, farmers, market, participation

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Authors: Kuan-Chou Chen

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This paper will demonstrate a simulation model of an information security system by using the systems dynamic approach. The relationships in the system model are designed to be simple and functional and do not necessarily represent any particular information security environments. The purpose of the paper aims to develop a generic system dynamic information security system model with implications on information security research. The interrelated and interdependent relationships of five primary sectors in the system dynamic model will be presented in this paper. The integrated information security systems model will include (1) information security characteristics, (2) users, (3) technology, (4) business functions, and (5) policy and management. Environments, attacks, government and social culture will be defined as the external sector. The interactions within each of these sectors will be depicted by system loop map as well. The proposed system dynamic model will not only provide a conceptual framework for information security analysts and designers but also allow information security managers to remove the incongruity between the management of risk incidents and the management of knowledge and further support information security managers and decision makers the foundation for managerial actions and policy decisions.

Keywords: system thinking, information security systems, security management, simulation

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Authors: Rachel Barker

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The exponential velocity in the truly knowledge-intensive world today has increasingly bombarded organizations with unfathomable challenges. Hence organizations are introduced to strange lexicons of descriptors belonging to a new paradigm of who, what and how knowledge at individual and organizational levels should be managed. Although organizational knowledge has been recognized as a valuable intangible resource that holds the key to competitive advantage, little progress has been made in understanding how knowledge sharing at individual level could benefit knowledge use at collective level to ensure added value. The research problem is that a lack of research exists to measure knowledge sharing through a multi-layered structure of ideas with at its foundation, philosophical assumptions to support presuppositions and commitment which requires actual findings from measured variables to confirm observed and expected events. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem by presenting a theoretical approach to measure knowledge sharing in emerging knowledge organizations. The research question is that despite the competitive necessity of becoming a knowledge-based organization, leaders have found it difficult to transform their organizations due to a lack of knowledge on who, what and how it should be done. The main premise of this research is based on the challenge for knowledge leaders to develop an organizational culture conducive to the sharing of knowledge and where learning becomes the norm. The theoretical constructs were derived and based on the three components of the knowledge management theory, namely technical, communication and human components where it is suggested that this knowledge infrastructure could ensure effective management. While it is realised that it might be a little problematic to implement and measure all relevant concepts, this paper presents effect of eight critical success factors (CSFs) namely: organizational strategy, organizational culture, systems and infrastructure, intellectual capital, knowledge integration, organizational learning, motivation/performance measures and innovation. These CSFs have been identified based on a comprehensive literature review of existing research and tested in a new framework adapted from four perspectives of the balanced score card (BSC). Based on these CSFs and their items, an instrument was designed and tested among managers and employees of a purposefully selected engineering company in South Africa who relies on knowledge sharing to ensure their competitive advantage. Rigorous pretesting through personal interviews with executives and a number of academics took place to validate the instrument and to improve the quality of items and correct wording of issues. Through analysis of surveys collected, this research empirically models and uncovers key aspects of these dimensions based on the CSFs. Reliability of the instrument was calculated by Cronbach’s a for the two sections of the instrument on organizational and individual levels.The construct validity was confirmed by using factor analysis. The impact of the results was tested using structural equation modelling and proved to be a basis for implementing and understanding the competitive predisposition of the organization as it enters the process of knowledge management. In addition, they realised the importance to consolidate their knowledge assets to create value that is sustainable over time.

Keywords: innovation, intellectual capital, knowledge sharing, performance measures

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Authors: Ali Reza Vaezi, Ouldouz Bakhshi Rad

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Gully erosion is a widespread and often dramatic form of soil erosion caused by water during and immediately after heavy rainfall. It occurs when flowing surface water is channelled across unprotected land and washes away the soil along the drainage lines. The formation of gully is influenced by various factors, including climate, drainage surface area, slope gradient, vegetation cover, land use, and soil properties. It is a very important problem in semi-arid regions, where soils have lower organic matter and are weakly aggregated. Intensive agriculture and tillage along the slope can accelerate soil erosion by water in the region. There is little information on the development of gully erosion in agricultural rainfed areas. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the relationship between gully erosion and morphometric characteristics of the drainage area and the effects of soil properties and soil management factors (land use and tillage method) on gully development. A field study was done in a 900 km2 agricultural area in Hshtroud township located in the south of East Azarbijan province, NW Iran. Toward this, two hundred twenty-two gullies created in rainfed lands were found in the area. Some properties of gullies, consisting of length, width, depth, height difference, cross section area, and volume, were determined. Drainage areas for each or some gullies were determined, and their boundaries were drawn. Additionally, the surface area of each drainage, land use, tillage direction, and soil properties that may affect gully formation were determined. The soil erodibility factor (K) defined in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was estimated based on five soil properties (silt and very fine sand, coarse sand, organic matter, soil structure code, and soil permeability). Gully development in each drainage area was quantified using its volume and soil loss. The dependency of gully development on drainage area characteristics (surface area, land use, tillage direction, and soil properties) was determined using correlation matrix analysis. Based on the results, gully length was the most important morphometric characteristic indicating the development of gully erosion in the lands. Gully development in the area was related to slope gradient (r= -0.26), surface area (r= 0.71), the area of rainfed lands (r= 0.23), and the area of rainfed tilled along the slope (r= 0.24). Nevertheless, its correlation with the area of pasture and soil erodibility factor (K) was not significant. Among the characteristics of drainage area, surface area is the major factor controlling gully volume in the agricultural land. No significant correlation was found between gully erosion and soil erodibility factor (K) estimated by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). It seems the estimated soil erodibility can’t describe the susceptibility of the study soils to the gully erosion process. In these soils, aggregate stability and soil permeability are the two soil physical properties that affect the actual soil erodibility and in consequence, these soil properties can control gully erosion in the rainfed lands.

Keywords: agricultural area, gully properties, soil structure, USLE

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Authors: Gurjeet Singh, Rabindra K. Panda

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Soil moisture is a key hydrologic state variable and is intrinsically linked to the Earth's water, climate and carbon cycles. On ecological point of view, the soil moisture is a fundamental natural resource providing the transpirable water for plants. Soil moisture varies both temporally and spatially due to spatiotemporal variation in rainfall, vegetation cover, soil properties and topography. Satellite derived soil moisture provides spatio-temporal extensive data. However, the spatial resolution of a typical satellite (L-band radiometry) is of the order of tens of kilometers, which is not good enough for developing efficient agricultural water management schemes at the field scale. In the present study, the soil moisture from radiometer data has been disaggregated using blending approach to achieve higher resolution soil moisture data. The radiometer estimates of soil moisture at a 40 km resolution have been disaggregated to 10 km, 5 km and 1 km resolutions. The disaggregated soil moisture was compared with the observed data, consisting of continuous sensor based soil moisture profile measurements, at three monitoring sites and extensive spatial near-surface soil moisture measurements, concurrent with satellite monitoring in the 500 km2 study watershed in the Eastern India. The estimated soil moisture status at different spatial scales can help in developing efficient agricultural water management schemes to increase the crop production and water use efficiency.

Keywords: disaggregation, eastern India, radiometers, soil moisture, water use efficiency

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Authors: Malinwo Estone Ayikpa

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Electric power systems are likely to operate with minimum losses and voltage meeting international standards. This is made possible generally by control actions provide by automatic voltage regulators, capacitors and transformers with on-load tap changer (OLTC). With the development of photovoltaic (PV) systems technology, their integration on distribution networks has increased over the last years to the extent of replacing the above mentioned techniques. The conventional analysis and simulation tools used for electrical networks are no longer able to take into account control actions necessary for studying distributed PV generation impact. This paper presents an unbalanced optimal power flow (OPF) model that minimizes losses with association of active power generation and reactive power control of single-phase and three-phase PV systems. Reactive power can be generated or absorbed using the available capacity and the adjustable power factor of the inverter. The unbalance OPF is formulated by current balance equations and solved by primal-dual interior point method. Several simulation cases have been carried out varying the size and location of PV systems and the results show a detailed view of the impact of PV distributed generation on distribution systems.

Keywords: distribution system, loss, photovoltaic generation, primal-dual interior point method

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Authors: Lopita Pal, Suresh V. Madha

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Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres. The rapidly expanding human population, large scale changes in land use/land cover, burgeoning development projects and improper use of watersheds all has caused a substantial decline of wetland resources in the world. Major degradations have been impacted from agricultural, industrial and urban developments leading to various types of pollutions and hydrological perturbations. Regular fishing activities and unsustainable grazing of animals are degrading the wetlands in a slow pace. The paper focuses on the spatio-temporal change detection of the area of the water body and the main cause of this depletion. The total area under study (22°19’87’’ N, 88°20’23’’ E) is a wetland region in West Bengal of 213 sq.km. The procedure used is the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) from multi-spectral imagery and Landsat to detect the presence of surface water, and the datasets have been compared of the years 2016, 2006 and 1996. The result shows a sharp decline in the area of water body due to a rapid increase in the agricultural practices and the growing urbanization.

Keywords: spatio-temporal change, NDWI, urbanization, wetland

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Authors: Hossam El-Sayed Emam

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As an essential issue for life, water while it’s important for all living organisms. However, the world is dangerously facing the serious problem for the deficiency of the sources of drinking water. Within the aquatic systems, there are various gases, microbes, and other toxic ingredients (chemical compounds and heavy metals) occurred owing to the draining of agricultural and industrial wastewater, resulting in water pollution. On the other hand, fuel (gaseous, liquid, or in solid phase) is one of the extensively consumable energy sources, and owing to its origin from fossil, it contains some sulfur-, nitrogen- and oxygen-based compounds that cause serious problems (toxicity, catalyst poisoning, corrosion, and gum formation andcarcinogenic effects), to be ascribed as undesirable pollutants.MOFs as porous coordinating polymers are superiorly exploited in the adsorption and separationof contaminants for wastewater treatment and fuel purification. The inclusion of highly adsorbent materials like MOFs to be immobilized within cellulosic materialscould be investigated as a new challenge for the separation of contaminants with high efficiency and opportunity for recyclability. Therefore, the current approach ascribes the exploitation of different MOFsimmobilized within cellulose (powder, films, and fabrics)for applications in environmental. Herein, using cellulose containing MOFs in dye removal (degradation and adsorption), pharmaceutical intermediates removal, and fuel purification were summarized.

Keywords: cellulose, MOFs, dye removal, pharmaceutical intermediates, fuel purification

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Authors: Ali Ravangard, S. Mohammadi

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Shunt Capacitors have several uses in the electric power systems. They are utilized as sources of reactive power by connecting them in line-to-neutral. Electric utilities have also connected capacitors in series with long lines in order to reduce its impedance. This is particularly common in the transmission level, where the lines have length in several hundreds of kilometers. However, this post will generally discuss shunt capacitors. In distribution systems, shunt capacitors are used to reduce power losses, to improve voltage profile, and to increase the maximum flow through cables and transformers. This paper presents a new method to determine the optimal locations and economical sizing of fixed and/or switched shunt capacitors with a view to power losses reduction and voltage stability enhancement. For solving the problem, a new enhanced cuckoo optimization algorithm is presented.The proposed method is tested on distribution test system and the results show that the algorithm suitable for practical implementation on real systems with any size.

Keywords: capacitor placement, power losses, voltage stability, radial distribution systems

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Authors: Carine Enow-Ayor Tarkang, Victorine Neh Akenji, Dmitri Rouwet, Jodephine Njdma, Andrew Ako Ako, Franco Tassi, Jules Remy Ngoupayou Ndam

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Groundwater is the major water resource in the whole of Bafia used for drinking, domestic, poultry and agricultural purposes, and being an area of intense agriculture, there is a great necessity to do a quality assessment. Bafia is one of the main food suppliers in the Centre region of Cameroon, and so to meet their demands, the farmers make use of fertilizers and other agrochemicals to increase their yield. Less than 20% of the population in Bafia has access to piped-borne water due to the national shortage, according to the authors best knowledge very limited studies have been carried out in the area to increase awareness of the groundwater resources. The aim of this study was to assess heavy metal contamination levels in ground and surface waters and to evaluate the effects of agricultural inputs on water quality in the Bafia area. 57 water samples (including 31 wells, 20 boreholes, 4 rivers and 2 springs) were analyzed for their physicochemical parameters, while collected samples were filtered, acidified with HNO3 and analyzed by ICP-MS for their heavy metal content (Fe, Ti, Sr, Al, Mn). Results showed that most of the water samples are acidic to slightly neutral and moderately mineralized. Ti concentration was significantly high in the area (mean value 130µg/L), suggesting another Ti source besides the natural input from Titanium oxides. The high amounts of Mn and Al in some cases also pointed to additional input, probably from fertilizers that are used in the farmlands. Most of the water samples were found to be significantly contaminated with heavy metals exceeding the WHO allowable limits (Ti-94.7%, Al-19.3%, Mn-14%, Fe-5.2% and Sr-3.5% above limits), especially around farmlands and topographic low areas. The heavy metal concentration was evaluated using the heavy metal pollution index (HPI), heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) and degree of contamination (Cd), while the Ficklin diagram was used for the water based on changes in metal content and pH. The high mean values of HPI and Cd (741 and 5, respectively), which exceeded the critical limit, indicate that the water samples are highly contaminated, with intense pollution from Ti, Al and Mn. Based on the HPI and Cd, 93% and 35% of the samples, respectively, are unacceptable for drinking purposes. The lowest HPI value point also had the lowest EC (50 µS/cm), indicating lower mineralization and less anthropogenic influence. According to the Ficklin diagram, 89% of the samples fell within the near-neutral low-metal domain, while 9% fell in the near-neutral extreme-metal domain. Two significant factors were extracted from the PCA, explaining 70.6% of the total variance. The first factor revealed intense anthropogenic activity (especially from fertilizers), while the second factor revealed water-rock interactions. Agricultural activities thus have an impact on the heavy metal content of groundwater in the area; hence, much attention should be given to the affected areas in order to protect human health/life and thus sustainably manage this precious resource.

Keywords: Bafia, contamination, degree of contamination, groundwater, heavy metal pollution index

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Authors: Izabel Cristina Zattar, Gilberto Passos Lima, Guilherme Schünemann de Oliveira

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In Brazil, there are several institutions committed to the development of new businesses based on product innovation. Among them are business incubators, universities and science institutes. Business incubators can be defined as nurseries for new companies, which may be in the technology segment, discussed in this article. Business incubators provide services related to infrastructure, such as physical space and meeting rooms. Besides these services, incubators also offer assistance in the form of information and communication, access to finance, relationship networks and business monitoring and mentoring processes. Business incubators support not all technology companies. One of the business incubators tasks is to assess the nature and feasibility of new business proposals. To assist in this goal, this paper proposes a methodology for evaluating new business using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper presents the concepts used in the assessing methodology application for new business, concepts that have been tested with positive results in practice. This study counts on three main steps: first, a hierarchy was built, based on new business manuals used by the business incubators. These books and manuals relate business selection requirements, such as the innovation status and other technological aspects. Then, a questionnaire was generated, in order to guide incubator experts in the parity comparisons at all hierarchy levels. The weights of each requirement are calculated from information obtained from the questionnaire responses. Finally, the proposed method was applied to evaluate five new business proposals, which were applying to be part of a company incubator. The main result is the classification of these new businesses, which helped the incubator experts to decide what companies were more eligible to work with. This classification may also be helpful to the decision-making process of business incubators in future selection processes.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Brazilian companies incubators, technology companies, incubator

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Authors: Ibrahim Shaker, Amr El Hossany, Moustafa Osman, Mohamed El Raey

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This paper will explore integration model between GIS–SCADA system and enclosure quantification model to approach the impact of failure-safe event. There are real demands to identify spatial objects and improve control system performance. Nevertheless, the employed methodology is predicting electro-mechanic operations and corresponding time to environmental incident variations. Open processing, as object systems technology, is presented for integration enclosure database with minimal memory size and computation time via connectivity drivers such as ODBC:JDBC during main stages of GIS–SCADA connection. The function of Geographic Information System is manipulating power distribution in contrast to developing issues. In other ward, GIS-SCADA systems integration will require numerical objects of process to enable system model calibration and estimation demands, determine of past events for analysis and prediction of emergency situations for response training.

Keywords: air dispersion model, environmental management, SCADA systems, GIS system, integration power system

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Authors: Chenyu Huang, Minrong Cui, Hua Fang, Luqing Zhang, Yunlong Yu

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The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a pressing issue in global agricultural production. However, understanding how these ARGs spread across different spatial scales, especially when exposed to both pesticides and antibiotics, has remained a challenge. Here, metagenomic assembly and binning methodologies were used to determine the mechanism of ARG propagation within soil-lettuce systems exposed to both fungicides and antibiotics. The results of our study showed that the presence of fungicide and antibiotic stresses had a significant impact on certain bacterial communities. Notably, we observed that ARGs were primarily transferred from the soil to the plant through plasmids. The selective pressure exerted by fungicides and antibiotics contributed to an increase in unique ARGs present on lettuce leaves. Moreover, ARGs located on chromosomes and plasmids followed different transmission patterns. The presence of diverse selective pressures, a result of compound treatments involving antibiotics and fungicides, amplifies this phenomenon. Consequently, there is a higher probability of bacteria developing multi-antibiotic resistance under the combined pressure of fungicides and antibiotics. In summary, our findings highlight that combined fungicide and antibiotic treatments are more likely to drive the acquisition of ARGs within the soil-plant system and may increase the risk of human ingestion.

Keywords: soil-lettuce system, fungicide, antibiotic, ARG, transmission

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Authors: Marek Gancarz, Agnieszka Nawrocka, Robert Rusinek, Marcin Tadla

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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the fungi metabolites in the gaseous form produced during improper storage of agricultural commodities (e.g. grain, food). The spoilt commodities produce a wide range of VOCs including alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones, alkanes, alkenes, furans, phenols etc. The characteristic VOCs and odours can be determined by using electronic nose (e-Nose) which contains a matrix of different kinds of sensors e.g. resistive sensors. The aim of the present studies was to determine relationship between response of the resistive sensors on the chosen volatiles and their concentration. According to the literature, it was chosen volatiles characteristic for the cereals: ethanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol and hexanal. Analysis of the sensor signals shows that a signal shape is different for the different substances. Moreover, each VOC signal gives information about a maximum of the normalized sensor response (R/Rmax), an impregnation time (tIM) and a cleaning time at half maximum of R/Rmax (tCL). These three parameters can be regarded as a ‘VOC fingerprint’. Seven resistive sensors (TGS2600-B00, TGS2602-B00, TGS2610-C00, TGS2611-C00, TGS2611-E00, TGS2612-D00, TGS2620-C00) produced by Figaro USA Inc., and one (AS-MLV-P2) produced by AMS AG, Austria were used. Two out of seven sensors (TGS2611-E00, TGS2612-D00) did not react to the chosen VOCs. The most responsive sensor was AS-MLV-P2. The research was supported by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), Grant No. PBS2/A8/22/2013.

Keywords: agricultural commodities, organic compounds, resistive sensors, volatile

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Authors: Luca Martignoni

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The increasing usage of clinical decision support systems in healthcare and the demand for software that enables doctors to take informed decisions is changing everyday clinical practice. However, as technology advances not only are the benefits of technology growing, but so are the potential risks. A growing danger is the doctors’ over-reliance on the proposed decision of the clinical decision support system, leading towards deskilling and rash decisions by doctors. In that regard, identifying doctors' requirements for software and developing approaches to prevent technological over-reliance is of utmost importance. In this paper, we report the results of a design science research study, focusing on the requirements and design principles of ultrasound software. We conducted a total of 15 interviews with experts about poten-tial ultrasound software functions. Subsequently, we developed meta-requirements and design principles to design future clinical decision support systems efficiently and as free from the occur-rence of technological over-reliance as possible.

Keywords: clinical decision support systems, technological over-reliance, design principles, design science research

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Authors: Jarbas Lopes Cardoso Jr., Frederic Andres, Alexandre Guitton, Asanee Kawtrakul, Silvio E. Barbin

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The important objective of the CyberBrain Mass Agriculture Alarm Acquisition and Analysis (CBMa4) project is to minimize the impacts of diseases and disasters on rice cultivation. For example, early detection of insects will reduce the volume of insecticides that is applied to the rice fields through the use of CBMa4 platform. In order to reach this goal, two major factors need to be considered: (1) the social network of smart farmers; and (2) the warning data alarm acquisition and analysis component. This paper outlines the process for collecting the warning and improving the decision-making result to the warning. It involves two sub-processes: the warning collection and the understanding enrichment. Human sensors combine basic suitable data processing techniques in order to extract warning related semantic according to collective intelligence. We identify each warning by a semantic content called 'warncons' with multimedia metaphors and metadata related to these metaphors. It is important to describe the metric to measuring the relation among warncons. With this knowledge, a collective intelligence-based decision-making approach determines the action(s) to be launched regarding one or a set of warncons.

Keywords: agricultural engineering, warning systems, social network services, context awareness

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Authors: Baker Ssekitto, Ambrose Mbogo

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The study reveals that indeed agriculture employs over 70% of Uganda’s population, of which majority are youth and women. The study further reveals that over 70% of the farmers are smallholder farmers based in rural areas, whose operations are greatly affected by; climate change, weak digital skills, limited access to productivity knowledge along value chains, limited access to quality farm inputs, weak logistics systems, limited access to quality extension services, weak business intelligence, limited access to quality markets among others. It finds that the emerging 4th industrial revolution powered by artificial intelligence, 5G and data science will provide possibilities of addressing some of these challenges. Furthermore, the study finds that despite rapid development of ICT4Agric Innovation, their uptake is constrained by a number of factors including; limited awareness of these innovations, low internet and smart phone penetration especially in rural areas, lack of appropriate digital skills, inappropriate programmes implementation models which are project and donor driven, limited articulation of value addition to various stakeholders among others. Majority of farmers and other value chain actors lacked knowledge and skills to harness the power of ICTs, especially their application of ICTs in monitoring and evaluation on quality of service in the extension system and farm level processes.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, productivity, ICT4agriculture, value chain, logistics

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Authors: Hina Iqbal, Mustansar Ali Ghazanfar, Sandor Szedmak

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Recommender systems uses artificial intelligence practices for filtering obscure information and can predict if a user likes a specified item. Kernel mapping Recommender systems have been proposed which are accurate and state-of-the-art algorithms and resolve recommender system’s design objectives such as; long tail, cold-start, and sparsity. The aim of research is to propose hybrid framework that can efficiently integrate different versions— namely item-based and user-based KMR— of KMR algorithm. We have proposed various heuristic algorithms that integrate different versions of KMR (into a unified framework) resulting in improved accuracy and elimination of problems associated with conventional recommender system. We have tested our system on publically available movies dataset and benchmark with KMR. The results (in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, F1 measure and ROC metrics) reveal that the proposed algorithm is quite accurate especially under cold-start and sparse scenarios.

Keywords: Kernel Mapping Recommender Systems, hybrid recommender systems, cold start, sparsity, long tail

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Authors: Miroslaw Wendeker, Piotr Kacejko, Mariusz Duk, Pawel Karpinski

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The research in the field of aircraft internal combustion engines is currently driven by the needs of decreasing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, while fulfilling the level of safety. Currently, reciprocating aircraft engines are found in sports, emergency, agricultural and recreation aviation. Technically, they are most at a pre-war knowledge of the theory of operation, design and manufacturing technology, especially if compared to that high level of development of automotive engines. Typically, these engines are driven by carburetors of a quite primitive construction. At present, due to environmental requirements and dealing with a climate change, it is beneficial to develop aircraft piston engines and adopt the achievements of automotive engineering such as computer-controlled low-pressure injection, electronic ignition control and biofuels. The paper describes simulation research of the innovative power and control systems for the aircraft radial engine of high power. Installing an electronic ignition system in the radial aircraft engine is a fundamental innovative idea of this solution. Consequently, the required level of safety and better functionality as compared to the today’s plug system can be guaranteed. In this framework, this research work focuses on describing a methodology for optimizing the electronically controlled ignition system. This attempt can reduce emissions of toxic compounds as a result of lowered fuel consumption, optimized combustion and engine capability of efficient combustion of ecological fuels. New, redundant elements of the control system can improve the safety of aircraft. Consequently, the required level of safety and better functionality as compared to the today’s plug system can be guaranteed. The simulation research aimed to determine the vulnerability of the values measured (they were planned as the quantities measured by the measurement systems) to determining the optimal ignition angle (the angle of maximum torque at a given operating point). The described results covered: a) research in steady states; b) velocity ranging from 1500 to 2200 rpm (every 100 rpm); c) loading ranging from propeller power to maximum power; d) altitude ranging according to the International Standard Atmosphere from 0 to 8000 m (every 1000 m); e) fuel: automotive gasoline ES95. The three models of different types of ignition coil (different energy discharge) were studied. The analysis aimed at the optimization of the design of the innovative ignition system for an aircraft engine. The optimization involved: a) the optimization of the measurement systems; b) the optimization of actuator systems. The studies enabled the research on the vulnerability of the signals to the control of the ignition timing. Accordingly, the number and type of sensors were determined for the ignition system to achieve its optimal performance. The results confirmed the limited benefits, in terms of fuel consumption. Thus, including spark management in the optimization is mandatory to significantly decrease the fuel consumption. This work has been financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development, INNOLOT, under Grant Agreement No. INNOLOT/I/1/NCBR/2013.

Keywords: piston engine, radial engine, ignition system, CFD model, engine optimization

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Authors: Nathaniel Carpenter

Abstract:

Web-enabled systems for supporting youth mental health management in Australia are pioneering in their field; however, with their success, these systems are experiencing exponential growth in demand which is straining an already stretched service. Supporting youth mental is critical as the lack of support is associated with significant and lasting negative consequences. To meet this growing demand, and provide critical support, investigations are needed on evaluating and improving existing online support services. Improvements should focus on developing frameworks capable of augmenting and scaling service provisions. There are few investigations informing best-practice frameworks when implementing e-mental health support systems for youth mental health; there are fewer which implement machine learning or artificially intelligent systems to facilitate the delivering of services. This investigation will use a case study methodology to highlight the design features which are important for systems to enable young people to self-manage their mental health. The investigation will also highlight the current information system challenges, to include challenges associated with service quality, provisioning, and scaling. This work will propose methods of meeting these challenges through improved design, service augmentation and automation, service quality, and through artificially intelligent inspired solutions. The results of this study will inform a framework for supporting youth mental health with intelligent and scalable web-enabled technologies to support an ever-growing user base.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, information systems, machine learning, youth mental health

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Authors: Jesse Silas Mshelia, Michael Mamman Degri, Akeweta Emmanuel Samaila

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This review was conducted in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria where there are a lot of challenges of poverty and low level of productivity of farmlands as a result of dwindling soil fertility and dependence on crops that are not so much adopted to the soil and climatic condition and the prevailing farming systems of the area which is predominantly mixed cropping. The crops that are neglected are well fitted into this system of production and yield better with the low level of input and management and give a higher profit margin. These crops, the farmers have mastered the production techniques, but do not have the scientific knowledge to improve the quality of the seed and the products hence need the intervention of modern technologies to benefit maximally from the full potentials of these crops.

Keywords: farming systems, neglected crops, potentials, underutilised

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Jonny Beirne

Abstract:

Hydropower developments have come to assume an important role within the Ethiopian government's overall development strategy for the country during the last ten years. The Gilgel Gibe III on the Omo river, due to become operational in September 2014, represents the most ambitious, and controversial, of these projects to date. Further aspects of the government's national development strategy include leasing vast areas of designated 'unused' land for large-scale commercial agricultural projects and 'voluntarily' villagizing scattered, semi-nomadic agro-pastoralist groups to centralized settlements so as to use land and water more efficiently and to better provide essential social services such as education and healthcare. The Lower Omo valley, along the Omo River, is one of the sites of this villagization programme as well as of these large-scale commercial agricultural projects which are made possible owing to the regulation of the river's flow by Gibe III. Though the Ethiopian government cite many positive aspects of these agricultural and hydropower developments there are still expected to be serious regional and transnational effects, including on migration flows, in an area already characterized by increasing climatic vulnerability with attendant population movements and conflicts over scarce resources. The following paper is an attempt to track actual and anticipated migration flows resulting from the construction of Gibe III in the immediate vicinity of the dam, downstream in the Lower Omo Valley and across the border in Kenya around Lake Turkana. In the case of those displaced in the Lower Omo Valley, this will be considered in view of the distinction between voluntary villagization and forced resettlement. The research presented is not primary-source material. Instead, it is drawn from the reports and assessments of the Ethiopian government, rights-based groups, and academic researchers as well as media articles. It is hoped that this will serve to draw greater attention to the issue and encourage further methodological research on the dynamics of dam constructions (and associated large-scale irrigation schemes) on migration flows and on the ultimate experience of displacement and resettlement for environmental migrants in the region.

Keywords: forced displacement, voluntary resettlement, migration, human rights, human security, land grabs, dams, commercial agriculture, pastoralism, ecosystem modification, natural resource conflict, livelihoods, development

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Helena Sit

Abstract:

Developing skills in using ICT in the language classroom has been discussed at all educational levels. Digital tools and learning management systems enable teachers to transform their instructional activities while giving learners the opportunity to engage with virtual communities. In the field of English as a second language (ESL) teaching and learning, the use of technology-enhanced learning and diverse pedagogical practices continues to grow. Whilst technology and multimodal learning is a way of the future for education, second language teachers now face the predicament as to whether implementing these newer ways of learning is, in fact, beneficial or disadvantageous to learners. Research has shown that integrating multimodality and technology can improve students’ engagement and participation in their English language learning. However, students can experience anxiety or misunderstanding when engaging with E-learning or digital-mediated learning. This paper aims to explore how ESL teaching and learning are transformed via the use of educational technology and what impact it has had on student teachers. Case study is employed in this research. The study reviews the growing presence of technology and multimodality in university language classrooms, discusses their impact on teachers’ pedagogical practices, and proposes scaffolding strategies to help design effective English language courses in the Australian education context. The study sheds light on how pedagogical integration today may offer a way forward for language teachers of tomorrow and provides implications to implement an evidence-informed approach that blends knowledge from research, practice and people experiencing the practice in the digital era.

Keywords: educational technology, ICT in higher education, curriculum design and innovation, teacher education, multiliteracies pedagogy

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Authors: E. Ghayoula, M. Haj Taieb, A. Bouallegue, J. Y. Chouinard, R. Ghayoula

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This paper evaluates the bit error rate (BER) performance of MIMO systems for wireless communication. MIMO uses multiple transmitting antennas, multiple receiving antennas and the space-time block codes to provide diversity. MIMO transmits signal encoded by space-time block (STBC) encoder through different transmitting antennas. These signals arrive at the receiver at slightly different times. Spatially separated multiple receiving antennas are employed to provide diversity reception to combat the effect of fading in the channel. This paper presents a detailed study of diversity coding for MIMO systems. STBC techniques are implemented and simulation results in terms of the BER performance with varying number of MIMO transmitting and receiving antennas are presented. Our results show how increasing the number of both transmit and receive antenna improves system performance and reduces the bit error rate.

Keywords: MIMO systems, diversity, BER, MRRC, SIMO, MISO, STBC, alamouti, SNR

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Authors: L. Kanoksak, N. Sukanya, L. Napatsorn, T. Siriporn

Abstract:

A growing population and demand for packaging are driving up the usage of natural resources as raw materials in the pulp and paper industry. Long-term effects of environmental is disrupting people's way of life all across the planet. Finding pulp sources to replace wood pulp is therefore necessary. To produce wood pulp, various other potential plants or plant parts can be employed as substitute raw materials. For example, pulp and paper were made from agricultural residue that mainly included pulp can be used in place of wood. In this study, cocoa pod husks were an agricultural residue of the cocoa and chocolate industries. To develop composite materials to replace wood pulp in packaging materials. The paper was coated with polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). By selecting and cleaning fresh cocoa pod husks, the size was reduced. And the cocoa pod husks were dried. The morphology and elemental composition of cocoa pod husks were studied. To evaluate the mechanical and physical properties, dried cocoa husks were extracted using the soda-pulping process. After selecting the best formulations, paper with a PBAT bioplastic coating was produced on a paper-forming machine Physical and mechanical properties were studied. By using the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (FESEM/EDS) technique, the structure of dried cocoa pod husks showed the main components of cocoa pod husks. The appearance of porous has not been found. The fibers were firmly bound for use as a raw material for pulp manufacturing. Dry cocoa pod husks contain the major elements carbon (C) and oxygen (O). Magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca) were minor elements that were found in very small levels. After that cocoa pod husks were removed from the soda-pulping process. It found that the SAQ5 formula produced pulp yield, moisture content, and water drainage. To achieve the basis weight by TAPPI T205 sp-02 standard, cocoa pod husk pulp and modified starch were mixed. The paper was coated with bioplastic PBAT. It was produced using bioplastic resin from the blown film extrusion technique. It showed the contact angle, dispersion component and polar component. It is an effective hydrophobic material for rigid packaging applications.

Keywords: cocoa pod husks, agricultural residue, composite material, rigid packaging

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Authors: Gampel Alexander, Mazzuchi Thomas, Sarkani Shahram

Abstract:

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, and organizations must adapt to the changing threat environment to protect their assets. The implementation of the NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) has become critical in ensuring the security and safety of industrial control and automation systems. However, cybersecurity professionals are facing challenges in implementing RMF, leading to systems operating without authorization and being non-compliant with regulations. The current approach to RMF implementation based on business practices is limited and insufficient, leaving organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks resulting in the loss of personal consumer data and critical infrastructure details. To address these challenges, this research proposes a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach to implementing cybersecurity controls and assessing risk through the RMF process. The study emphasizes the need to shift to a modeling approach, which can streamline the RMF process and eliminate bloated structures that make it difficult to receive an Authorization-To-Operate (ATO). The study focuses on the practical application of MBSE in industrial control and automation systems to improve the security and safety of operations. It is concluded that MBSE can be used to solve the implementation challenges of the NIST RMF process and improve the security of industrial control and automation systems. The research suggests that MBSE provides a more effective and efficient method for implementing cybersecurity controls and assessing risk through the RMF process. The future work for this research involves exploring the broader applicability of MBSE in different industries and domains. The study suggests that the MBSE approach can be applied to other domains beyond industrial control and automation systems.

Keywords: authorization-to-operate (ATO), industrial control systems (ICS), model-based system’s engineering (MBSE), risk management framework (RMF)

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Authors: Rajneekant Bachan, Dhanush Vijay

Abstract:

The visualization of operating systems has refined the Turing machine, and current trends suggest that the emulation of 32 bit architectures will soon emerge. After years of technical research into Web services, we demonstrate the synthesis of gigabit switches, which embodies the robust principles of theory. Loam, our new algorithm for forward-error correction, is the solution to all of these challenges.

Keywords: software engineering, architectures, introspective models, operating systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 526