Search results for: component analysis

Authors: A. Boudiaf

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and apprehend, through four case studies, the interest of the project of the implementation of the quality management system (QMS) at four Moroccan small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This project could generate significant organizational change to improve the functioning of the organization. In fact, quality is becoming a necessity in the current business world. It is considered to be a major component in companies’ competitive strategies. It should be noted that quality management is characterized by a set of methods and techniques that can be used to solve malfunctions and reorganize companies. It is useful to point out that the choice of the adoption of the quality approach could be influenced by the circumstances of the business context, it could also be derived from its strategic vision; this means that this choice can be characterized as either a strategic aspect or a reactive aspect. This would probably have a major impact on the functioning of the QMS and also on the perception of the quality issue by company managers and their employees.

Keywords: business context, organizational change, quality, reorganization

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Muhammad Bahrul Ilmi

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of Islamic financing and work relation founding simultaneously and partially towards non-performing financing in Islamic banks. This research was regression quantitative field research, and had been done in Muammalat Indonesia Bank and Islamic Danamon Bank in 3 months. The populations of this research were 15 account officers of Muammalat Indonesia Bank and Islamic Danamon Bank in Surakarta, Indonesia. The techniques of collecting data used in this research were documentation, questionnaire, literary study and interview. Regression analysis result shows that Islamic financing and work relation founding simultaneously has positive and significant effect towards non performing financing of two Islamic Banks. It is obtained with probability value 0.003 which is less than 0.05 and F value 9.584. The analysis result of Islamic financing regression towards non performing financing shows the significant effect. It is supported by double linear regression analysis with probability value 0.001 which is less than 0.05. The regression analysis of work relation founding effect towards non-performing financing shows insignificant effect. This is shown in the double linear regression analysis with probability value 0.161 which is bigger than 0.05.

Keywords: Syariah financing, work relation founding, non-performing financing (NPF), Islamic Bank

Procedia PDF Downloads 424

Authors: Ismail Muratoglu, Ahmet Meyveci, Abdurrahman Tuncer, Erkan Demirci

Abstract:

This study is dedicated to the analysis of the problems of occupational safety in Turkey, Italy and Poland. The need analysis was applied to three different countries which are Turkey; 4, Poland; 1, Italy; 1 state. The number of the subjects is 891 in Turkey. The number of the subjects is 26 in Italy and the number of the subjects is 19 in Poland. The total number of samples of study is 936. Four different forms (Job Security Experts Form, Student Form, Teacher Form and Company Form) were applied. Results of experts of job security forms are rate of 7.1%. Then, the students’ forms are rate of 34.3%, teacher or instructor forms are rate of 9.9%. The last corporation forms are rate of 48.7%.

Keywords: Europe, need analysis, occupational safety, Turkey, vocational education

Procedia PDF Downloads 422

Authors: Pooree Sakot, Marndarath Suksanga

Abstract:

Organizations are under increasing pressure to improve performance and maximize the contribution of every employee. Employee engagement has become an attractive business proposition. The triple bottom line consists of three Ps: profit, people and planet. It aims to measure the financial, social and environmental performance of the corporation over a period of time. People are the most important asset of every organization. Most of the studies suggest that employee engagement improves the bottom line in almost every instance and it is well worth all organizational efforts to actively engage employees. Engaged employees have an impact on productivity and financial performance. Efficient leadership and effective management can take place if emerging paradigm like employee engagement is appropriately understood and put into practice. Employee engagement starts at the first step i.e. recruitment of an employee to the last step i.e. retirement .The HR Practices of an organization play the most major role in helping the employees walk the extra mile. Effective employee engagement is the key component for improved organizational performance.

Keywords: employee engagement, higher education, tool, success

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: M. Movahedi Rad

Abstract:

In this study, a general approach to the reliability based limit analysis of laterally loaded piles is presented. In engineering practice, the uncertainties play a very important role. The aim of this study is to evaluate the lateral load capacity of free head and fixed-head long pile when the plastic limit analysis is considered. In addition to the plastic limit analysis to control the plastic behaviour of the structure, uncertain bound on the complementary strain energy of the residual forces is also applied. This bound has a significant effect for the load parameter. The solution to reliability-based problems is obtained by a computer program which is governed by the reliability index calculation.

Keywords: reliability, laterally loaded pile, residual strain energy, probability, limit analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Tan Yong Sheng Edgar, Yeong Wai Yee

Abstract:

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading cause of blindness. It can cause severe visual loss due to damaged retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). RPE is an important component of the retinal tissue. It functions as a transducing boundary for visual perception making it an essential factor for sight. The RPE also functions as a metabolically complex and functional cell layer that is responsible for the local homeostasis and maintenance of the extra photoreceptor environment. Thus one of the suggested method of treating such diseases would be regenerating these RPE cells. As such, we intend to grow these cells using a synthetic scaffold to provide a stable environment that reduces the batch effects found in natural scaffolds. Stiffness of the scaffold will also be investigated to determine the optimal Young’s modulus for cultivating these cells. The cells will be generated into a monolayer cell sheet and their functions such as formation of tight junctions and gene expression patterns will be assessed to evaluate the cell sheet quality compared to a native RPE tissue.

Keywords: RPE, scaffold, characterization, biomaterials, colloids and nanomedicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 422

Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Sedegeh Fabriki Ourang

Abstract:

GRF, Growth regulating factor, genes encode a novel class of plant-specific transcription factors. The GRF proteins play a role in the regulation of cell numbers in young and growing tissues and may act as transcription activations in growth and development of plants. Identification of GRF genes and their expression are important in plants to performance of the growth and development of various organs. In this study, to better understanding the structural and functional differences of GRFs family, 45 GRF proteins sequences in A. thaliana, Z. mays, O. sativa, B. napus, B. rapa, H. vulgare, and S. bicolor, have been collected and analyzed through bioinformatics data mining. As a result, in secondary structure of GRFs, the number of alpha helices was more than beta sheets and in all of them QLQ domains were completely in the biggest alpha helix. In all GRFs, QLQ, and WRC domains were completely protected except in AtGRF9. These proteins have no trans-membrane domain and due to have nuclear localization signals act in nuclear and they are component of unstable proteins in the test tube.

Keywords: domain, gene family, GRF, motif

Procedia PDF Downloads 446

Authors: Kyle De Freitas, Margaret Bernard

Abstract:

Enabling data mining analysis among a wider audience of educators is an active area of research within the educational data mining (EDM) community. The paper proposes a framework for developing an environment that caters for educators who have little technical data mining skills as well as for more advanced users with some data mining expertise. This framework architecture was developed through the review of the strengths and weaknesses of existing models in the literature. The proposed framework provides a modular architecture for future researchers to focus on the development of specific areas within the EDM process. Finally, the paper also highlights a strategy of enabling analysis through either the use of predefined questions or a guided data mining process and highlights how the developed questions and analysis conducted can be reused and extended over time.

Keywords: educational data mining, learning management system, learning analytics, EDM framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Bok Yae Chung, Eun Hee Oh

Abstract:

Breast cancer patients require more nutritional interventions than others. However, a few studies have attempted to assess the overall nutritional status, to reduce body weight and BMI by improving diet, and to improve the prognosis of cancer for breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet intervention in the breast cancer patients through meta-analysis. For the study purpose, 16 studies were selected by using PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest and CINAHL. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model, and the effect size on outcome variables in breast cancer was calculated. The effect size for outcome variables of diet intervention was a large effect size. For heterogeneity, moderator analysis was performed using intervention type and intervention duration. All moderators did not significant difference. Diet intervention has significant positive effects on outcome variables in breast cancer. As a result, it is suggested that the timing of the intervention should be no more than six months, but a strategy for sustaining long-term intervention effects should be added if nutritional intervention is to be administered for breast cancer patients in the future.

Keywords: breast cancer, diet, mete-analysis, intervention

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: Hani Malik

Abstract:

Background: Clinician burnout is a growing phenomenon in current health systems worldwide. Increasing emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment threaten the effective delivery of healthcare. This can potentially be mitigated by mindfulness practice, which has shown promising results in reducing burnout, restoring compassion, and preventing moral injury in clinicians. Objectives: To conduct a scoping review and identify high-quality studies on mindfulness practice in clinician burnout, synthesize themes that emerge from these studies, and discuss the implications of the results to healthcare leadership and innovation. Methodology: A focused scoping review was carried out to investigate the effects of mindfulness practice on clinician burnout. High-ranking journals were targeted to analyse high-quality studies and synthesize common themes in the literature. Studies conducted on current, practicing physicians were included. Mindfulness practice of varying forms was the main intervention studied. Grey literature and studies conducted only on allied health personnel were excluded from this review. Analysis:31 studies were included in this scoping review. Mindfulness practice was found to decrease emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation while improving mood, responses to stress, and vigour. Self-awareness, compassion, and empathy were also increased in study participants. From this review, four themes emerged which include: innovations in mindfulness practice, mindfulness and positive psychology, the impact of mindfulness on work and patient care, and barriers and facilitators to clinician mindfulness practice. Conclusion: Mindfulness had widely been reported to benefit mental health and well-being, but the studies reviewed seemed to adopt a mono focus and omitted key considerations to healthcare leadership, systems-level culture, and practices. Mindfulness practice is a quintessential component of positive psychology and is inherently linked to effective leadership. A mindful and compassionate clinician leader will play a crucial role in addressing gaps in current practice, prioritise staff mental health, and provide a supportive platform for innovation.

Keywords: mindfulness practice, clinician burnout, healthcare leadership, COVID-19

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: David Aveiga, Carlos Gonzalez

Abstract:

Thermoforming of pre-impregnated composites (prepreg) is the most employed process to build high-performance composite structures due to their visible advantage over alternative manufacturing techniques. This method allows easy shape moulding with a simple manufacturing system and a more refined outcome. The achievement of complex geometries can be exposed to undesired defects such as wrinkles. It is known that interply and ply-mould sliding behavior governs this defect generation. This work analyses interply and ply-mould friction coefficients for UD AS4/8552 Carbon/Epoxy prepreg. Friction coefficients are determined by a pull-out test method considering actual velocity, pressure and temperature conditions employed in a thermoforming process of an aeronautical composite component. A Stribeck curve is then constructed to find a mathematical expression that relates all the friction coefficients with the test variables through the Hersey number parameter. Two expressions are proposed to model ply-ply and ply-tool friction behaviors.

Keywords: friction, prepreg composite, stribeck curve, thermoforming.

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Zohreh Moghaddas, Morteza Yazdani, Farhad Hosseinzadeh

Abstract:

Nowadays, data envelopment analysis (DEA) models featuring network structures have gained widespread usage for evaluating the performance of production systems and activities (Decision-Making Units (DMUs)) across diverse fields. By examining the relationships between the internal stages of the network, these models offer valuable insights to managers and decision-makers regarding the performance of each stage and its impact on the overall network. To further empower system decision-makers, the inverse data envelopment analysis (IDEA) model has been introduced. This model allows the estimation of crucial information for estimating parameters while keeping the efficiency score unchanged or improved, enabling analysis of the sensitivity of system inputs or outputs according to managers' preferences. This empowers managers to apply their preferences and policies on resources, such as inputs and outputs, and analyze various aspects like production, resource allocation processes, and resource efficiency enhancement within the system. The results obtained can be instrumental in making informed decisions in the future. The top result of this study is an analysis of infeasibility and incorrect estimation that may arise in the theory and application of the inverse model of data envelopment analysis with network structures. By addressing these pitfalls, novel protocols are proposed to circumvent these shortcomings effectively. Subsequently, several theoretical and applied problems are examined and resolved through insightful case studies.

Keywords: inverse models of data envelopment analysis, series network, estimation of inputs and outputs, efficiency, resource allocation, sensitivity analysis, infeasibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Razan Farah, Siham Ballah

Abstract:

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other social media applications have become an integral component of everyone’s social life, particularly among younger generations and adolescences. These social apps have been changing a lot of conceptions and believes in the population by representing public figures and celebrities as role models. The social comparison theory, which says that people self-evaluate based on comparisons with similar others, is commonly used to explore the impact of social media on body image. There is a need to study the influence of those social platforms on the body image as there have been an increase in body dissatisfaction in the recent years. This cross sectional study used a self administered questionnaire on a simple random sample of 133 female medical students of the first year. Finding shows that the response rate was 75%. There was an association between social media usage and noticing how the person look(p value = .022), but no significant association between social media use and body image influence or dissatisfaction was found. This study implies more research under this topic in Sudan as the literature are scarce.

Keywords: body image, body dissatisfaction, social media, adolescences

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Hanife Akar, Basak Calik, Gulcin Gulmez-Dag, Elanur Yilmaz

Abstract:

Internationalization in higher education (IHE) has been a longstanding issue in the Western World but its impact has travelled beyond its borders. As a developing country, universities in Turkey also have put into their agendas strategic plans for IHE to compete with global trends and benchmarked universities. The purpose of this study was to explore how faculty in a private university in Mid Anatolia would like see modes of internationalization in their institution through a survey design and understand their quest for internationalization. Findings indicate that participants (N=49) are internationalized in different ways, from holding international Ph.D. degrees to postdoctoral degrees, or being international faculty themselves. Participants’ visions seem to be affected by the type of programs they are in, and many consider being a part of an international joint program or having international students and faculty are an essential component in IHE. In addition to holding joints degrees, and exchange or international human sources, participants quest for more collaboration for R&D, more comparative research opportunities, and examine or develop curricula from a global perspective.

Keywords: faculty, higher education, internationalization, visions

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Noura Al Akkari, Aurélie Foucquier, Sylvain Lespinats

Abstract:

Load monitoring is a management process for energy consumption towards energy savings and energy efficiency. Non Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) is one method of load monitoring used for disaggregation purposes. NILM is a technique for identifying individual appliances based on the analysis of the whole residence data retrieved from the main power meter of the house. Our NILM framework starts with data acquisition, followed by data preprocessing, then event detection, feature extraction, then general appliance modeling and identification at the final stage. The event detection stage is a core component of NILM process since event detection techniques lead to the extraction of appliance features. Appliance features are required for the accurate identification of the household devices. In this research work, we aim at developing a new event detection methodology with accurate load disaggregation to extract appliance features. Time-domain features extracted are used for tuning general appliance models for appliance identification and classification steps. We use unsupervised algorithms such as Dynamic Time Warping (DTW). The proposed method relies on detecting areas of operation of each residential appliance based on the power demand. Then, detecting the time at which each selected appliance changes its states. In order to fit with practical existing smart meters capabilities, we work on low sampling data with a frequency of (1/60) Hz. The data is simulated on Load Profile Generator software (LPG), which was not previously taken into consideration for NILM purposes in the literature. LPG is a numerical software that uses behaviour simulation of people inside the house to generate residential energy consumption data. The proposed event detection method targets low consumption loads that are difficult to detect. Also, it facilitates the extraction of specific features used for general appliance modeling. In addition to this, the identification process includes unsupervised techniques such as DTW. To our best knowledge, there exist few unsupervised techniques employed with low sampling data in comparison to the many supervised techniques used for such cases. We extract a power interval at which falls the operation of the selected appliance along with a time vector for the values delimiting the state transitions of the appliance. After this, appliance signatures are formed from extracted power, geometrical and statistical features. Afterwards, those formed signatures are used to tune general model types for appliances identification using unsupervised algorithms. This method is evaluated using both simulated data on LPG and real-time Reference Energy Disaggregation Dataset (REDD). For that, we compute performance metrics using confusion matrix based metrics, considering accuracy, precision, recall and error-rate. The performance analysis of our methodology is then compared with other detection techniques previously used in the literature review, such as detection techniques based on statistical variations and abrupt changes (Variance Sliding Window and Cumulative Sum).

Keywords: general appliance model, non intrusive load monitoring, events detection, unsupervised techniques;

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Radyah Ivan, Khanferyan Roman

Abstract:

Milk and dairy products are an important component of a balanced diet. Dairy products represent a heterogeneous food group of solid, semi-solid and liquid, fermented or non-fermented foods, each differing in nutrients such as fat and micronutrient content. Deficiency of milk and dairy products contributes a impact on the main health parameters of the various age groups of the population. The goal of this study was to analyze of the frequency of the consumption of milk and various groups of dairy products by students and its association with their body mass index (BMI), body composition and other physiological parameters. 388 full-time students of the Medical Institute of RUDN University (185 male and 203 female, average age was 20.4+2.2 and 21.9+1.7 y.o., respectively) took part in the cross-sectional study. Anthropometric measurements, estimation of BMI and body composition were analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analysis. The frequency of consumption of the milk and various groups of dairy products was studied using a modified questionnaire on the frequency of consumption of products. Due to the questionnaire data on the frequency of consumption of the diary products, it have been demonstrated that only 11% of respondents consume milk daily, 5% - cottage cheese, 4% and 1% - fermented natural and with fillers milk products, respectively, hard cheese -4%. The study demonstrated that about 16% of the respondents did not consume milk at all over the past month, about one third - cottage cheese, 22% - natural sour-milk products and 18% - sour-milk products with various fillers. hard cheeses and pickled cheeses didn’t consume 9% and 26% of respondents, respectively. We demonstrated the gender differences in the characteristics of consumer preferences were revealed. Thus female students are less likely to use cream, sour cream, soft cheese, milk comparing to male students. Among female students the prevalence of persons with overweight was higher (25%) than among male students (19%). A modest inverse relationship was demonstrated between daily milk intake, BMI, body composition parameters and diary products consumption (r=-0.61 and r=-0.65). The study showed daily insufficient milk and dairy products consumption by students and due to this it have been demonstrated the relationship between the low and rare consumption of diary products and main parameters of indicators of physical activity and health indicators.

Keywords: frequency of consumption, milk, dairy products, physical development, nutrition, body mass index.

Procedia PDF Downloads 20

Authors: Simran Kaur, Paul J. Van Geel

Abstract:

A coupled Thermal-Mechanical-Biological (TMB) model was developed for the analysis of impacts of temperatures on waste stabilization at a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill in Quebec, Canada using COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element-based software. For waste placed in landfills in Northern climates during winter months, it can take months or even years before the waste approaches ideal temperatures for biodegradation to occur. Therefore, the proposed model links biodegradation induced strain in MSW to waste temperatures and corresponding heat generation rates as a result of anaerobic degradation. This provides a link between the thermal-biological and mechanical behavior of MSW. The thermal properties of MSW are further linked to density which is tracked and updated in the mechanical component of the model, providing a mechanical-thermal link. The settlement of MSW is modelled based on the concept of viscoelasticity. The specific viscoelastic model used is a single Kelvin – Voight viscoelastic body in which the finite element response is controlled by the elastic material parameters – Young’s Modulus and Poisson’s ratio. The numerical model was validated with 10 years of temperature and settlement data collected from a landfill in Ste. Sophie, Quebec. The coupled TMB modelling framework, which simulates placement of waste lifts as they are placed progressively in the landfill, allows for optimization of several thermal and mechanical parameters throughout the depth of the waste profile and helps in better understanding of temperature dependence of MSW stabilization. The model is able to illustrate how waste placed in the winter months can delay biodegradation-induced settlement and generation of landfill gas. A delay in waste stabilization will impact the utilization of the approved airspace prior to the placement of a final cover and impact post-closure maintenance. The model provides a valuable tool to assess different waste placement strategies in order to increase airspace utilization within landfills operating under different climates, in addition to understanding conditions for increased gas generation for recovery as a green and renewable energy source.

Keywords: coupled model, finite element modeling, landfill, municipal solid waste, waste stabilization

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Ibrahim Cicek, Melike Nikbay

Abstract:

Electrically propelled vehicles, either road or aerial vehicles are studied on contemporarily for their robust maneuvers and cost-efficient transport operations. The main power generating systems of such vehicles electrified by selecting proper components and assembled as e-powertrain. Generally, e-powertrain components selected considering the target performance requirements. Since the main component of propulsion is the drive unit, e-motor control system is subjected to achieve the performance targets. In this paper, the optimization of e-motor control parameters studied by Integral Squared Method (ISE). The overall aim is to minimize power consumption of such vehicles depending on mission profile and maintaining smooth maneuvers for passenger comfort. The sought-after values of control parameters are computed using the Optimal Control Theory. The system is modeled as a closed-loop linear control system with calibratable parameters.

Keywords: optimization, e-powertrain, optimal control, electric vehicles

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Sanaz Kavianpour, Zuraini Ismail, Bharanidharan Shanmugam

Abstract:

Social Network Sites (SNSs) can be served as an invaluable platform to transfer the information across a large number of individuals. A substantial component of communicating and managing information is to identify which individual will influence others in propagating information and also whether dissemination of information in the absence of social signals about that information will be occurred or not. Classifying the final audience of social data is difficult as controlling the social contexts which transfers among individuals are not completely possible. Hence, undesirable information diffusion to an unauthorized individual on SNSs can threaten individuals’ privacy. This paper highlights the information diffusion in SNSs and moreover it emphasizes the most significant privacy issues to individuals of SNSs. The goal of this paper is to propose a privacy-preserving model that has urgent regards with individuals’ data in order to control availability of data and improve privacy by providing access to the data for an appropriate third parties without compromising the advantages of information sharing through SNSs.

Keywords: anonymization algorithm, classification algorithm, information diffusion, privacy, social network sites

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Tamara Grujic, Mirjana Bonkovic

Abstract:

Measurements and quantitative analysis of kinematic parameters of human hand movements have an important role in different areas such as hand function rehabilitation, modeling of multi-digits robotic hands, and the development of machine-man interfaces. In this paper the assessment and evaluation of the reach-to-grasp movement by using computerized and robot-assisted method is described. Experiment involved the measurements of hand positions of seven healthy subjects during grasping three objects of different shapes and sizes. Results showed that three dominant phases of reach-to-grasp movements could be clearly identified.

Keywords: human hand, kinematics, measurement and analysis, reach-to-grasp movement

Procedia PDF Downloads 454

Authors: Bright Emeni

Abstract:

The project is a system that allows users to locate their misplaced or lost devices by using Bluetooth technology. It utilizes the DFRobot Bettle BLE Arduino microcontroller as its main component for communication and control. By interfacing it with an LED and a buzzer, the system provides visual and auditory signals to assist in locating the target device. The search process can be initiated through an Android application, by which the system creates a Bluetooth connection between the microcontroller and the target device, permitting the exchange of signals for tracking purposes. When the device is within range, the LED indicator illuminates, and the buzzer produces audible alerts, guiding the user to the device's location. The application also provides an estimated distance of the object using Bluetooth signal strength. The project’s goal is to offer a practical and efficient solution for finding misplaced devices, leveraging the capabilities of Bluetooth technology and microcontroller-based control systems.

Keywords: Bluetooth finder, object finder, Bluetooth tracking, tracker

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Imen Labidi, Said Nouira

Abstract:

Dung beetles Scarabaeides of Tunisia constitute a major component of soil fauna, especially in the Mediterranean region. In the first phase of the present study, an intensive investigation of this group following the gathering of all the bibliographic, museological data and based on a recent collection of 17020 specimens in 106 localities in Tunisia, allowed to confirm with certainty the presence of 94 species distributed in 43 genera, 4 families and 3 sub-families. Only 81 species distributed in 38 genres, 4 families, and 3 sub-families, have been found during our prospections. The population of dung beetles Scarabaeides is composed of 58% of Aphodiidae, 39.51% of Scarabaeidae, and 8.64% of Geotrupidae. Biogeographic affinities of the species were determined and showed that 42% of the identified species have a wide Palaearctic distribution, the endemism is very low, only 3 species are endemic to Tunisia Mecynodes demoflysi, Neobodilus marani, and Thorectes demoflysi, 29 species have a wide distribution, 35 are northern and 17 are southern species. Moreover, others are dependent on very specific Biotopes like Sisyphus schaefferi linked to the northwest of Tunisia and Scarabaeus semipunctatus related to the coastal area north of Tunisia.

Keywords: dung beetles, Tunisia, composition, biogeography

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Veronica Diaz Quezada

Abstract:

In this article, the performance and errors are featured and analysed in the limit problems solving of a real-valued function, in correspondence to competency-based education in engineering careers, in the south of Chile. The methodological component is contextualised in a qualitative research, with a descriptive and explorative design, with elaboration, content validation and application of quantitative instruments, consisting of two parallel forms of open answer tests, based on limit application problems. The mathematical competences and errors made by students from five engineering careers from a public University are identified and characterized. Results show better performance only to solve routine-context problem-solving competence, thus they are oriented towards a rational solution or they use a suitable problem-solving method, achieving the correct solution. Regarding errors, most of them are related to techniques and the incorrect use of theorems and definitions of real-valued function limits of real variable.

Keywords: engineering education, errors, limits, mathematics competences, problem solving

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Reshma Raskar-Phule, Makarand Landge, Saurabh Singh, Vijay Singh, Jash Saparia, Shivam Tripathi

Abstract:

For any construction project, slope calculations are necessary in order to evaluate constructability on the site, such as the slope of parking lots, sidewalks, and ramps, the slope of sanitary sewer lines, slope of roads and highways. When slopes and grades are to be determined, designers are concerned with establishing proper slopes and grades for their projects to assess cut and fill volume calculations and determine inverts of pipes. There are several established instruments commonly used to determine slopes, such as Dumpy level, Abney level or Hand Level, Inclinometer, Tacheometer, Henry method, etc., and surveyors are very familiar with the use of these instruments to calculate slopes. However, they have some other drawbacks which cannot be neglected while major surveying works. Firstly, it requires expert surveyors and skilled staff. The accessibility, visibility, and accommodation to remote hilly terrain with these instruments and surveying teams are difficult. Also, determination of gentle slopes in case of road and sewer drainage constructions in congested urban places with these instruments is not easy. This paper aims to develop a method that requires minimum field work, minimum instruments, no high-end technology or instruments or software, and low cost. It requires basic and handy surveying accessories like a plane table with a fixed weighing machine, standard weights, alidade, tripod, and ranging rods should be able to determine the terrain slope in congested areas as well as in remote hilly terrain. Also, being simple and easy to understand and perform the people of that local rural area can be easily trained for the proposed method. The idea for the proposed method is based on the principle of resolution of weight components. When any object of standard weight ‘W’ is placed on an inclined surface with a weighing machine below it, then its cosine component of weight is presently measured by that weighing machine. The slope can be determined from the relation between the true or actual weight and the apparent weight. A proper procedure is to be followed, which includes site location, centering and sighting work, fixing the whole set at the identified station, and finally taking the readings. A set of experiments for slope determination, mild and moderate slopes, are carried out by the proposed method and by the theodolite instrument in a controlled environment, on the college campus, and uncontrolled environment actual site. The slopes determined by the proposed method were compared with those determined by the established instruments. For example, it was observed that for the same distances for mild slope, the difference in the slope obtained by the proposed method and by the established method ranges from 4’ for a distance of 8m to 2o15’20” for a distance of 16m for an uncontrolled environment. Thus, for mild slopes, the proposed method is suitable for a distance of 8m to 10m. The correlation between the proposed method and the established method shows a good correlation of 0.91 to 0.99 for various combinations, mild and moderate slope, with the controlled and uncontrolled environment.

Keywords: surveying, plane table, weight component, slope determination, hilly terrain, construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Sherrene Bogle, Verlia Bogle, Tyrone Anderson

Abstract:

In recent years, organizations have become increasingly interested in the possibility of analyzing social media as a means of gaining meaningful feedback about their products and services. The aspect based sentiment analysis approach is used to predict the sentiment for Twitter datasets for Digicel and Lime, the main mobile companies in Jamaica, using supervised learning classification techniques. The results indicate an average of 82.2 percent accuracy in classifying tweets when comparing three separate classification algorithms against the purported baseline of 70 percent and an average root mean squared error of 0.31. These results indicate that the analysis of sentiment on social media in order to gain customer feedback can be a viable solution for mobile companies looking to improve business performance.

Keywords: machine learning, sentiment analysis, social media, supervised learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: M. V. Chidananda Murthy, M. Z. Kurian, H. S. Guruprasad

Abstract:

Image restoration in the process of communication is one of the emerging fields in the image processing. The motion analysis processing is the simplest case to detect motion in an image. Applications of motion analysis widely spread in many areas such as surveillance, remote sensing, film industry, navigation of autonomous vehicles, etc. The scene may contain multiple moving objects, by using motion analysis techniques the blur caused by the movement of the objects can be enhanced by filling-in occluded regions and reconstruction of transparent objects, and it also removes the motion blurring. This paper presents the design and comparison of various motion detection and enhancement filters. Median filter, Linear image deconvolution, Inverse filter, Pseudoinverse filter, Wiener filter, Lucy Richardson filter and Blind deconvolution filters are used to remove the blur. In this work, we have considered different types and different amount of blur for the analysis. Mean Square Error (MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ration (PSNR) are used to evaluate the performance of the filters. The designed system has been implemented in Matlab software and tested for synthetic and real-time images.

Keywords: image enhancement, motion analysis, motion detection, motion estimation

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Shuyuan Lin, Zhaohui Huang, Mizi Fan

Abstract:

In the majority of previous research into modelling large scale composite floor subjected to fire, the beam-to-column and beam-to-beam connections were assumed to behave either as pinned or rigid for simplicity, and the vertical shear and axial tension failures of the connection were not taken into account. We have recently developed robust two-noded connection models for modeling endplate and partial endplate steel connections under fire conditions. The main objective of this research is to systematically investigate the impact of the connections of protected beams, on the tensile membrane actions of supported floor slabs in which the failures of the connections, such as, axial tension, vertical shear and bending are accounted for. The models developed have very good numerical stability under a static solver condition, and can be used for large scale modelling of composite buildings in fire.

Keywords: fire, steel structure, component-based model, beam-to-column connections

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Akiode Ayobami, Akiode Akinsewa, Odeku Mojisola, Salako Busola, Odutolu Omobola, Nuhu Khadija

Abstract:

Purpose: Evidence exists that family planning use can contribute to reduction in infant and maternal mortality in any country. Despite these benefits, contraceptive use in Nigeria still remains very low, only 10% among married women. Understanding factors that predict contraceptive use is very important in order to improve the situation. In this paper, we analysed data from the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) to better understand predictors of contraceptive use in Nigeria. The use of logistics regression and other traditional models in this type of situation is not appropriate as they do not account for social structure influence brought about by the hierarchical nature of the data on response variable. We therefore used multilevel modelling to explore the determinants of contraceptive use in order to account for the significant variation in modern contraceptive use by socio-demographic, and other proximate variables across the different Nigerian states. Method: This data has a two-level hierarchical structure. We considered the data of 26, 403 married women of reproductive age at level 1 and nested them within the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja at level 2. We modelled use of modern contraceptive against demographic variables, being told about FP at health facility, heard of FP on TV, Magazine or radio, husband desire for more children nested within the state. Results: Our results showed that the independent variables in the model were significant predictors of modern contraceptive use. The estimated variance component for the null model, random intercept, and random slope models were significant (p=0.00), indicating that the variation in contraceptive use across the Nigerian states is significant, and needs to be accounted for in order to accurately determine the predictors of contraceptive use, hence the data is best fitted by the multilevel model. Only being told about family planning at the health facility and religion have a significant random effect, implying that their predictability of contraceptive use varies across the states. Conclusion and Recommendation: Results showed that providing FP information at the health facility and religion needs to be considered when programming to improve contraceptive use at the state levels.

Keywords: multilevel modelling, family planning, predictors, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: Anit S. Malhotra, Ajay Duseja, Neelam Chadha

Abstract:

Endothelial dysfunction is a precursor to atherosclerosis, and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in the brachial artery is the commonest method to evaluate endothelial function in humans. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver disorders encountered in clinical practice. An earlier meta-analysis had quantitatively assessed the degree of endothelial dysfunction using FMD. However, the largest study investigating the relation of FMD with NAFLD was published after that meta-analysis. In addition, that meta-analysis did not include some studies, including one from our centre. Therefore, an updating the previous meta-analysis was considered important. We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, SCI, Google Scholar, conference proceedings, and references of included studies till June 2017 to identify observational studies evaluating endothelial function using FMD in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Data was analyzed using MedCalc. Fourteen studies were found eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Patients with NAFLD had lower brachial artery FMD as compared to controls, standardized mean difference (random effects model) being –1.279%; 95% confidence interval (CI), –1.478 to –0.914. The effect size became smaller after addition of the recent study with the largest sample size was included compared with the earlier meta-analysis. In conclusion, patients with NAFLD had low FMD values indicating that they are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease although our results suggest the effect size is not as large as reported previously.

Keywords: endothelial dysfunction, flow-mediated dilatation, meta-analysis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Sara Tokhi Arab, Rozo Noguchi, Tofeal Ahamed

Abstract:

Drought is a natural disaster that occurs in a region due to a lack of precipitation and high temperatures over a continuous period or in a single season as a consequence of climate change. Precipitation deficits and prolonged high temperatures mostly affect the agricultural sector, water resources, socioeconomics, and the environment. Consequently, it causes agricultural product loss, food shortage, famines, migration, and natural resources degradation in a region. Agriculture is the first sector affected by drought. Therefore, it is important to develop an agricultural drought risk and loss assessment to mitigate the drought impact in the agriculture sector. In this context, the main purpose of this study was to assess yield loss using composite drought indices in the drought-affected vineyards. In this study, the CDI was developed for the years 2016 to 2020 by comprising five indices: the vegetation condition index (VCI), temperature condition index (TCI), deviation of NDVI from the long-term mean (NDVI DEV), normalized difference moisture index (NDMI) and precipitation condition index (PCI). Moreover, the quantitative principal component analysis (PCA) approach was used to assign a weight for each input parameter, and then the weights of all the indices were combined into one composite drought index. Finally, Bayesian regularized artificial neural networks (BRANNs) were used to evaluate the yield variation in each affected vineyard. The composite drought index result indicated the moderate to severe droughts were observed across the Kabul Province during 2016 and 2018. Moreover, the results showed that there was no vineyard in extreme drought conditions. Therefore, we only considered the severe and moderated condition. According to the BRANNs results R=0.87 and R=0.94 in severe drought conditions for the years of 2016 and 2018 and the R= 0.85 and R=0.91 in moderate drought conditions for the years of 2016 and 2018, respectively. In the Kabul Province within the two years drought periods, there was a significate deficit in the vineyards. According to the findings, 2018 had the highest rate of loss almost -7 ton/ha. However, in 2016 the loss rates were about – 1.2 ton/ha. This research will support stakeholders to identify drought affect vineyards and support farmers during severe drought.

Keywords: grapes, composite drought index, yield loss, satellite remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 141