Search results for: joint source channel coding

Authors: Punwath Prum

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Superfund site is recognized publicly to be a severe environmental problem to surrounding communities and biodiversity due to its hazardous chemical waste from industrial activities. It contaminates the soil and water but also is a leading potential point-source pollution affecting ecosystem in watershed areas from chemical substances. The risks of Superfund site on watershed can be effectively measured by utilizing publicly available data and geospatial analysis by free and open source application. This study analyzed the vegetation change within high risked contaminated watersheds in Wisconsin. The high risk watersheds were measured by which watershed contained high number Superfund sites. The study identified two potential risk watersheds in Lafayette and analyzed the temporal changes of vegetation within the areas based on Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis. The raster statistic was used to compare the change of NDVI value over the period. The analysis results showed that the NDVI value within the Superfund sites’ boundary has a significant lower value than nearby surrounding and provides an analogy for environmental hazard affect by the chemical contamination in Superfund site.

Keywords: soil contamination, spatial analysis, watershed

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Authors: Chao He, Shunhua Zhou, Peijun Guo

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The vast majority of existing underground railway lines consist of twin tunnels. In this paper, the dynamic interaction between two neighboring tunnels in a layered half-space is investigated by an analytical model. The two tunnels are modelled as cylindrical thin shells, while the soil in the form of a layered half-space with two cylindrical cavities is simulated by the elastic continuum theory. The transfer matrix method is first used to derive the relationship between the plane wave vectors in arbitrary layers and the source layer. Thereafter, the wave translation and transformation are introduced to determine the plane and cylindrical wave vectors in the source layer. The solution for the dynamic interaction between twin tunnels in a layered half-space is obtained by means of the compatibility of displacements and equilibrium of stresses on the two tunnel–soil interfaces. By coupling the proposed model with a fully track model, the train-induced vibrations from twin tunnels in a multi-layered half-space are investigated. The numerical results demonstrate that the existence of a neighboring tunnel has a significant effect on ground vibrations.

Keywords: underground railway, twin tunnels, wave translation and transformation, transfer matrix method

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Authors: Ying Li, Rui Hu, Shizhen Chen, Xin Zhou, Yunhuang Yang

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Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among men. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a specific product of prostatic epithelial cells, is an important indicator of prostate cancer. Though PSA is not a specific serum biomarker for the screening of prostate cancer, it is recognized as an indicator for prostate cancer recurrence and response to therapy for patient’s post-prostatectomy. Since radical prostatectomy eliminates the source of PSA production, serum PSA levels fall below 50 pg/mL, and may be below the detection limit of clinical immunoassays (current clinical immunoassay lower limit of detection is around 10 pg/mL). Many clinical studies have shown that intervention at low PSA levels was able to improve patient outcomes significantly. Therefore, ultra-sensitive and precise assays that can accurately quantify extremely low levels of PSA (below 1-10 pg/mL) will facilitate the assessment of patients for the possibility of early adjuvant or salvage treatment. Currently, the commercially available ultra-sensitive ELISA kit (not used clinically) can only reach a detection limit of 3-10 pg/mL. Other platforms developed by different research groups could achieve a detection limit as low as 0.33 pg/mL, but they relied on sophisticated instruments to get the final readout. Herein we report a microfluidic platform for point-of-care (POC) detection of PSA with a detection limit of 0.5 pg/mL and without the assistance of any equipment. This platform is based on a previously reported volumetric-bar-chart chip (V-Chip), which applies platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) as the ELISA probe to convert the biomarker concentration to the volume of oxygen gas that further pushes the red ink to form a visualized bar-chart. The length of each bar is used to quantify the biomarker concentration of each sample. We devised a long reading channel V-Chip (LV-Chip) in this work to achieve a wide detection window. In addition, LV-Chip employed a unique enzyme-free ELISA probe that enriched PtNPs significantly and owned 500-fold enhanced catalytic ability over that of previous V-Chip, resulting in a significantly improved detection limit. LV-Chip is able to complete a PSA assay for five samples in 20 min. The device was applied to detect PSA in 50 patient serum samples, and the on-chip results demonstrated good correlation with conventional immunoassay. In addition, the PSA levels in finger-prick whole blood samples from healthy volunteers were successfully measured on the device. This completely stand-alone LV-Chip platform enables convenient POC testing for patient follow-up in the physician’s office and is also useful in resource-constrained settings.

Keywords: point-of-care detection, microfluidics, PSA, ultra-sensitive

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Authors: Abouchouaib Belahmira, Joerg W. Schneider, Hafid Saber, Sara Akboub

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The lithofacies analyzed herein were reported from the interbedded fluvial and lacustrine deposits of the Oued Issene and El Menizla formations. These formations are part of the sedimentary fill of the Carboniferous (Stephanian) submontaneous Souss basin. The latter is situated in the western High Atlas Mountains, south-central Morocco, about 50km east of Agadir. The Souss basin started as a single basin but was separated into sub-basins called Ida Ou Zal and Ida Ou Ziki by sinistral displacement along the west branch of the Tizi N'Test Fault during the end of the Mauritanid phase of the Variscan orogeny in Morocco, after the early Stephanian (Kasimovian) and before the late middle Permian (Capitanian). The studied succession is a monotonous finning-upward sequence of 1800 m thick. It consists of fine-grained sandstone, finely bedded siltstone and thinly laminated claystone, and black shale. Herein we provide a detailed characterization of lithofacies of the upper El Menizla and Oued Issène formations, with a focus on the prevailing overbank to flood plain fine-grained lithofacies. The studied facies are capping the Stephanian alluvial fan basal clast-supported conglomerates that are intercalated bedded coarse-grained sandstones of Ikhourba Formation in the Ou Zal subbasin and Tajgaline Formation in the Ida Ou Ziki subbasin, respectively. Within the fluvial elements, only two main facies have been observed. It comprises channel-fill and channel-bar deposits, mostly occur as lenticular –shape sand bodies or sheet-like sand greenish to gray fine-to medium (Fm), massive internally structureless, or very locally exhibits a medium to large scale trough-cross bedding medium to coarse sandstone (St), observable in relatively thicker bed. These facies are laterally extensive, with a thickness varying from a few to several meters. Finer-grained sediments such as mud can be present as drapes over bedforms. Whilst the fluvial association FA1, the overbank elements are represented by a relatively wide range of 5 facies. This exhibit mostly a cm scale horizontally bedded greenish fine- to medium sand and silt, and mm scale fossiliferous thinly laminated dark gray- black Corganic-rich clays to siltstone associated with black shale. Thus, FA2 includes flood plain fines (Fh, R) associated with the paleosols and back swamp coaly clay facies (C). The floodplain lake element comprises only laminated organic-rich dark gray facies of claystone, black shale, and graded siltstone. Bedsets are dm to several meters thick (typically < 1 m thick). They are intercalated between several m-thick fluvial sandstone, extend over a few meters, and are poorly bioturbated. The lacustrine facies described in this study have been divided into two sub-facies (Fl, B) based on field observations that indicate differing environmental conditions of formation. Thus, the thorough analysis of the lithofacies of the Souss basin units allows us to reconstruct the original environment that was interpreted as a typical fluvial-dominated braided to anastomosing wide distributary channel system and surrounding deep to shallow freshwater floodplain lakes and back swamps.

Keywords: Souss, carboniferous, facies, depositional setting

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Authors: Eunji Choi, Borang Park, Youngjae Choi, Jinwoo Moon

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In this study, a predictive model for estimating the metabolism (MET) of human body was developed for the optimal control of indoor thermal environment. Human body images for indoor activities and human body joint coordinated values were collected as data sets, which are used in predictive model. A deep learning algorithm was used in an initial model, and its number of hidden layers and hidden neurons were optimized. Lastly, the model prediction performance was analyzed after the model being trained through collected data. In conclusion, the possibility of MET prediction was confirmed, and the direction of the future study was proposed as developing various data and the predictive model.

Keywords: deep learning, indoor quality, metabolism, predictive model

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Authors: Christopher Spiewak, M. R. Islam, Mohammad Arifur Rahaman, Mohammad H. Rahman, Roger Smith, Maarouf Saad

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For those who have lost the ability to move their hand, going through repetitious motions with the assistance of a therapist is the main method of recovery. We have been developed a robotic assistive device to rehabilitate the hand motions in place of the traditional therapy. The developed assistive device (RAD-HR) is comprised of four degrees of freedom enabling basic movements, hand function, and assists in supporting the hand during rehabilitation. We used a nonlinear computed torque control technique to control the RAD-HR. The accuracy of the controller was evaluated in simulations (MATLAB/Simulink environment). To see the robustness of the controller external disturbance as modelling uncertainty (±10% of joint torques) were added in each joints.

Keywords: biorobotics, rehabilitation, robotic assistive device, exoskeleton, nonlinear control

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Authors: A. Rattanapittayapron, O. Vanijajiva

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Canna indica is a prominent species complex in tropical and subtropical areas. They become indigenous in Southeast Asia where they have been introduced. At present, C. indica complex comprises over hundred hybrids, are cultivated as commercial horticulture. The species complex contains starchy rhizome having economic value in terms of food and herbal medicine. In addition, bright color of the flowers makes it a valuable ornamental plant and potential source for natural colorant. This study aims to assess genetic diversity of four varieties of C. indica complex based on SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) and iPBS (inter primer binding site) markers. We also examined phytochemical characteristics and antioxidant properties of the flower extracts from four different color varieties. Results showed that despite of the genetic variation, there were no significant differences in phytochemical characteristics and antioxidant properties of flowers. The SRAP and iPBS results agree with the more primitive traits showed by morphological information and phytochemical and antioxidant characteristics from the flowers. Since Canna flowers has long been used as natural colorants together with the antioxidant activities from the ethanol extracts in this study, there are likely to be good source for cosmetics additives.

Keywords: Canna indica, antioxidant activity, genetic diversity, SRAP, iPBS

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Authors: A. M. Isakhanyan, F. N. Tkhruni, N. N. Yakimovich, Z. I. Kuvaeva, T. V. Khachatryan

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Introduction: At present, the simbiotics based on different genera and species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts are used. One of the basic properties of probiotics is presence of antimicrobial activity and therefore selection of LAB and yeast strains for their co-cultivation with the aim of increasing of the activity is topical. Since probiotic yeast and bacteria have different mechanisms of action, natural synergies between species, higher viability and increasing of antimicrobial activity might be expected from mixing both types of probiotics. Endemic strains of LAB Enterococcus faecium БТK-64, Lactobaccilus plantarum БТK-66, Pediococcus pentosus БТK-28, Lactobacillus rhamnosus БТK-109 and Kluyveromyces lactis БТX-412, Saccharomycopsis sp. БТX- 151 strains of yeast, with probiotic properties and hight antimicrobial activity, were selected. Strains are deposited in "Microbial Depository Center" (MDC) SPC "Armbiotechnology". Methods: LAB and yeast strains were isolated from different dairy products from rural households of Armenia. The genotyping by 16S rRNA sequencing for LAB and 26S RNA sequencing for yeast were used. Combined cultivation of LAB and yeast strains was carried out in the nutrient media on the basis of milk whey, in anaerobic conditions (without shaker, in a thermostat at 37oC, 48 hours). The complex preparations were obtained by purification of cell free culture broth (CFC) broth by the combination of ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration methods. The spot-on-lawn method was applied for determination of antimicrobial activity and expressed in arbitrary units (AU/ml). Results. The obtained data showed that at the combined growth of bacteria and yeasts, the cultivation conditions (medium composition, time of growth, genera of LAB and yeasts) affected the display of antimicrobial activity. Purification of CFC broth allowed obtaining partially purified antimicrobial complex preparation which contains metabiotics from both bacteria and yeast. The complex preparation inhibited the growth of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic bacteria, isolated from various internal organs from diseased animals and poultry with greater efficiency than the preparations derived individually alone from yeast and LAB strains. Discussion. Thus, our data shown perspectives of creation of a new class of antimicrobial preparations on the basis of combined cultivation of endemic strains of LAB and yeast. Obtained results suggest the prospect of use of the partially purified complex preparations instead antibiotics in the agriculture and for food safety. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the RA MES State Committee of Science and Belarus National Foundation for Basic Research in the frames of the joint Armenian - Belarusian joint research project 13РБ-064.

Keywords: co-cultivation, antimicrobial activity, biosafety, metabiotics, lactic acid bacteria, yeast

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Authors: M. Safiqul Islam, Md Arafat Hossain Sarkar

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Brachytherapy is one of the most important cancer treatment management systems in radiotherapy department. Brachytherapy treatment is moved into High Dose Rate (HDR) after loader from Low Dose Rate (LDR) after loader due to radiation protection advantage. HDR Brachytherapy is a highly multipurpose system for enhancing cure and achieving palliation in many common cancers disease of developing countries. High-dose rate (HDR) Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy that delivers radiation from implants placed close to or inside, the tumor(s) in the body. This procedure is very effective at providing localized radiation to the tumor site while minimizing the patient’s whole body dose. Brachytherapy has proven to be a highly successful treatment for cancers of the prostate, cervix, endometrium, breast, skin, bronchus, esophagus, and head and neck, as well as soft tissue sarcomas and several other types of cancer. For the time being in our country we have 10 new HDR Remote after loading Brachytherapy. Right now 4 HDR Brachytherapy is already installed and running for patient’s treatment out of 10 HDR Brachytherapy. Ir-192 source is more comfortable than Co-60. In that case people or expert personnel prefer Ir-192 source for different kind of cancer patients. Ir-192 are economically, more flexible and familiar in our country.

Keywords: Ir-192, brachytherapy, cancer treatment, prostate, cervix, endometrium, breast, skin, bronchus, esophagus, soft tissue sarcomas

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Authors: Lukas Vierus, Thomas Schuster

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A general framework is examined for dynamic tensor field tomography within an inhomogeneous medium characterized by refraction and absorption, treated as an inverse source problem concerning the associated transport equation. Guided by Fermat’s principle, the Riemannian metric within the specified domain is determined by the medium's refractive index. While considerable literature exists on the inverse problem of reconstructing a tensor field from its longitudinal ray transform within a static Euclidean environment, limited inversion formulas and algorithms are available for general Riemannian metrics and time-varying tensor fields. It is established that tensor field tomography, akin to an inverse source problem for a transport equation, persists in dynamic scenarios. Framing dynamic tensor tomography as an inverse source problem embodies a comprehensive perspective within this domain. Ensuring well-defined forward mappings necessitates establishing existence and uniqueness for the underlying transport equations. However, the bilinear forms of the associated weak formulations fail to meet the coercivity condition. Consequently, recourse to viscosity solutions is taken, demonstrating their unique existence within suitable Sobolev spaces (in the static case) and Sobolev-Bochner spaces (in the dynamic case), under a specific assumption restricting variations in the refractive index. Notably, the adjoint problem can also be reformulated as a transport equation, with analogous results regarding uniqueness. Analytical solutions are expressed as integrals over geodesics, facilitating more efficient evaluation of forward and adjoint operators compared to solving partial differential equations. Certainly, here's the revised sentence in English: Numerical experiments are conducted using a Nesterov-accelerated Landweber method, encompassing various fields, absorption coefficients, and refractive indices, thereby illustrating the enhanced reconstruction achieved through this holistic modeling approach.

Keywords: attenuated refractive dynamic ray transform of tensor fields, geodesics, transport equation, viscosity solutions

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Authors: Thuraya Ahmed Hamood Al Shidhani

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Sports Medicine injuries are very common in primary health care. It is not necessary related to direct trauma, but it could be because of repetitive stress and overuse injuries. Knowledge of Primary Health care providers about the common sports medicine injuries and when to refer to a specialist is essential. Common sports injuries are muscle strain, joint sprain, bone bruise, Patellofemoral pain syndrome, Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, meniscal injuries, ankle ligaments injuries, concussion, Rotator cuff tendinosis/impingement syndrome, lateral and medial epicondylitis and fractures. Systematic approach is very useful in evaluation of sports injuries. RICE is important in initial management. Physiotherapy is essential for rehabilitation. Definitive Management is dependent on patient’s condition and function.

Keywords: common, sports medicine injuries, primary health care, injuries

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Authors: Masood Monjezi

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The English teachers’ pedagogical identity construction is the way teachers go through the process of becoming teachers and how they maintain their teaching selves. The pedagogical identity of teachers is influenced by several factors within the individual and the society. The purpose of this study was to compare the imagined social world of the pre-service teachers with the real experiences the in-service teachers had in the context of Iran to see how prepared the pre-service teachers are with a view to their identity being. This study used a qualitative approach to collection and analysis of the data. Structured and semi-structured interviews, focus groups and process logs were used to collect the data. Then, using open coding, the data were analyzed. The findings showed that the imagined world of the pre-service teachers partly corresponded with the real world experiences of the in-service teachers leaving the pre-service teachers unprepared for their real world teaching profession. The findings suggest that the current approaches to English teacher training are in need of modification to better prepare the pre-service teachers for the future that expects them.

Keywords: imagined professional world, in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, real experiences, community of practice, identity

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Authors: Louis Okon Akpan

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National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is an open and distance learning institution whose aim is to provide education for all and also promote lifelong learning in Nigeria. Before now, student-centred learning was adopted. In recent times, online facilitation has been introduced. Therefore, the study explores ways in which students are satisfied with online facilitation provided by NOUN lecturers. A qualitative approach was adopted. The interpretive paradigm was employed as a lens to interpret narratives from the participants. In order to gather information for the study, a semi-structured interview was developed for sixteen participants who were purposively selected from eight facilities of the university. After data gathering from the field, it was subjected to transcription and coding. The emergence of themes from the coded data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that students found online learning, recently introduced by the university management, extremely fulfilling and rewarding.

Keywords: online facilitation, lecturer, students’ satisfaction, National Open University of Nigeria

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Authors: Si Chen, Quanhong Jiang

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In the increasingly mature posture recognition technology, human movement information is widely used in sports rehabilitation, human-computer interaction, medical health, human posture assessment, and other fields today; this project uses the most original ideas; it is proposed to use the collection equipment for the collection of myoelectric data, reflect the muscle posture change on a degree of freedom through data processing, carry out data-muscle three-dimensional model joint adjustment, and realize basic pose recognition. Based on this, bionic aids or medical rehabilitation equipment can be further developed with the help of robotic arms and cutting-edge technology, which has a bright future and unlimited development space.

Keywords: pose recognition, 3D animation, electromyography, machine learning, bionics

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Authors: D. Maneetham

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The developed exoskeleton device has to control joints between shoulder and arm. Exoskeleton device can help patients with hemiplegia upper so that the patient can help themselves in their daily life. Exoskeleton device includes a robot arm wear that looks like the movement is similar to the normal arm. Exoskeleton arm is powered by the motor through the cable with a control system that developed to control the movement of the joint of a robot arm. The arm will include the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist. The control system is used Arduino Mega 2560 controller and the operation of the DC motor through the relay module. The control system can be divided into two modes such as the manual control with the joystick mode and automatically control with the movement of the head by Gyro sensor. The controller is also designed to move between the shoulder and the arm movement from their original location. Results have shown that the controller gave the best performance and all movements can be controlled.

Keywords: exoskeleton arm, hemiplegia upper, shoulder and arm, stroke

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Authors: Mehtab Alam, Mudiarasan Kuppusamy

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Image branding is the prominent and well-guided phenomena of managing tourism destinations. It examines the image of cities forming as brand identity. Transformation of cities into tourist destinations is obligatory for the current management practices to be used for foreign policy. The research considers the features of perception, destination accommodation, destination quality, traveler revisit, destination information system, and behavioral image for tourism destination management. Using the quantitative and qualitative research methodology, the objective is to examine and investigate the opportunities for destination branding. It investigates the features and management of tourism destinations in Abbottabad city of Pakistan through SPSS and NVivo 12 software. The prospective outlook of the results and coding reflects the significant contribution of integrated destination management for image branding, where Abbottabad has the potential to become a destination city. The positive impact of branding integrates tourism management as it is fulfilling travelers’ requirements to influence the choice of destination for innovative foreign policy.

Keywords: image branding, destination management, tourism, foreign policy, innovative

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Authors: Khamdan Cahyari, Gumbolo Hadi Susanto, Pratikno Hidayat, Sukirman

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University canteen waste was used as raw material to produce biogas in Faculty of Industrial Technology, Islamic University of Indonesia. This faculty was home to more than 3000 students and lecturers who work and study for 5 days/week (8 hours/day). It produced approximately 85 ton/year organic fraction of canteen waste. Yet, this waste had been dumped for years in landfill area which cause severe environmental problems. It was proposed to utilize the waste as raw material for producing renewable energy source of biogas. This research activities was meant to investigate the effect of organic loading rate (OLR) and retention time (RT) of continuous anaerobic digestion process for 200 days. Organic loading rate was set at value 2, 3, 4 and 5 g VS/l/d whereas the retention time was adjusted at 30, 24, 18 and 14.4 days. Optimum condition was achieved at OLR 4 g VS/l/d and RT 24 days with biogas production rate between 0.75 to 1.25 liter/day (40-60% CH4). This indicated that the utilization of canteen waste to produce biogas was promising method to mitigate environmental problem of university canteen waste. Furthermore, biogas could be used as alternative energy source to supply energy demand at the university. This implementation is simultaneous solution for both waste and energy problems to achieve green campus.

Keywords: canteen waste, biogas, anaerobic digestion, university, green campus

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Authors: Adetunji Olusegun Aderigibigbe

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Shales, especially black shales, are of great geological significance, in the study of heavy/trace metal contamination. This is due to their abundance in occurrence and high concentration of heavy metals embedded which are released during their weathering. Heavy metals constitute one of the most dangerous pollution known to human because they are toxic (i.e., carcinogenic), non-biodegradable and can enter the global eco-biological circle. In the past, heavy metal contamination in aquatic environment and agricultural top soil has been attributed to industrial wastes, mining extractions and pollution from traffic vehicles; only a few studies have focused on weathering of shale as possible source of heavy metal contamination. Based on the above background, this study attempts to establish weathering of shale as possible source of trace/heavy metal contaminations. This was done by carefully selecting fresh and their corresponding weathered shale samples from selected localities in Bida and Anambra Basins. The samples were analysed in Activation Laboratories Ltd; Ontario, Canada for trace/heavy metal. It was observed that some major and trace metals were released during weathering, i.e., some were depleted and some enriched. By this contamination of water zones and agricultural top soils are not only traceable to biogenic processes but geogenic inputs (weathering of shale) as well.

Keywords: contamination, fresh samples, heavy metals, pollution, shales, trace metals, weathered samples

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Authors: Swati Gupta, Shagun Sodhani, Dhaval Patel, Biplab Banerjee

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It is generic that news sources publish news in different broad categories. These categories can either be generic such as Business, Sports, etc. or time-specific such as World Cup 2015 and Nepal Earthquake or both. It is up to the news agencies to build the categories. Extracting news categories automatically from numerous online news sources is expected to be helpful in many applications including news source recommendations and time specific news category extraction. To address this issue, existing systems like DMOZ directory and Yahoo directory are mostly considered though they are mostly human annotated and do not consider the time dynamism of categories of news websites. As a remedy, we propose an approach to automatically extract news category URLs from news websites in this paper. News category URL is a link which points to a category in news websites. We use the news category URL as a prior knowledge to develop a news source recommendation system which contains news sources listed in various categories in order of ranking. In addition, we also propose an approach to rank numerous news sources in different categories using various parameters like Traffic Based Website Importance, Social media Analysis and Category Wise Article Freshness. Experimental results on category URLs captured from GDELT project during April 2016 to December 2016 show the adequacy of the proposed method.

Keywords: news category, category network, news sources, ranking

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Authors: T. Ould Bellahcen, A. Amiri, I. Touam, F. Hmimid, A. El Amrani, M. Cherki

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The antioxidant activity of three extracts (water, lipidic and ethanolic) prepared from the microalgae Spirulina platensis isolated from Moroccan lake, using 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical assay, was studied and compared. The obtained results revealed that the IC₅₀ found using DPPH were lower than that of ABTS for all extracts from these planktonic blue-green algae. The high levels of phenolic and flavonoid content were found in the ethanolic extract 0,33 ± 0,01 mg GAE/g dw and 0,21 ± 0,01 mg quercetin/g dw respectively. In addition, using DPPH, the highest activity with IC₅₀ = 0,449 ± 0,083 mg/ml, was found for the ethanolic extract, followed by that of lipidic extract (IC₅₀ = 0,491 ± 0,059 mg/ml). The lowest activity was for the aqueous extract (IC₅₀ = 4,148 ± 0,132 mg/ml). For ABTS, the highest activity was observed for the lipidic extract with IC₅₀ = 0,740 ± 0,012 mg/ml, while, the aqueous extract recorded the lowest activity (IC₅₀ = 6,914 ± 0, 0067 mg/ml). A moderate activity was showed for the ethanolic extract (IC₅₀ = 5,852 ± 0, 0171 mg/ml). It can be concluded from this first study that Spirulina platensis extracts show an interesting antioxidant and antiradicals properties suggesting that this alga could be used as a potential source of antioxidants. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of polyphenol and flavonoids in the extracts using HPLC is in progress so as to study the correlation between the antioxidant activity and chemical composition.

Keywords: Spirulina platensis, antioxidant, DPPH, ABTS

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Authors: Shoufeng Cao, Kim Bryceson, Damian Hine

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The existing supply chain risk management (SCRM) research is currently chaotic and somewhat disorganized, and the topic has been addressed conceptually more often than empirically. This paper, using both qualitative and quantitative data, employs a modified Meta-study method to investigate the SCRM empirical research published in quality journals over the period of 12 years (2004-2015). The purpose is to outline the extent research trends and the employed research methodologies (i.e., research method, data collection and data analysis) across the sub-field that will guide future research. The synthesized findings indicate that empirical study on risk ripple effect along an entire supply chain, industry-specific supply chain risk management and global/export supply chain risk management has not yet given much attention than it deserves in the SCRM field. Besides, it is suggested that future empirical research should employ multiple and/or mixed methods and multi-source data collection techniques to reduce common method bias and single-source bias, thus improving research validity and reliability. In conclusion, this paper helps to stimulate more quality empirical research in the SCRM field via identifying promising research directions and providing some methodology guidelines.

Keywords: empirical research, meta-study, methodology guideline, research direction, supply chain risk management

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Authors: Vahid Mehrabi, Iman Sharifi, H. A. Talebi

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The automation of rehabilitation procedure by the implementation of robotic devices can overcome the limitation in conventional physiotherapy methods by increasing training sessions and duration of process. In this paper, the design of a simple rehabilitation robot for forearm-wrist therapy in stroke and spinal cord injuries is presented. Wrist’s biological joint motion is modeled by a gimbal-like mechanism which resembles the human arm anatomy. Presented device is an exoskeleton robot with rotation axes corresponding to human skeleton anatomy. The mechanical structure, actuator and sensor selection, system kinematics and comparison between our device range of motion and required active daily life values is illustrated.

Keywords: rehabilitation, robotic devices, physiotherapy, forearm-wrist

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Authors: Jessica Lopez Espejel, Mahaman Sanoussi Yahaya Alassan, Walid Dahhane, El Hassane Ettifouri

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Pretrained transformer-based models have shown high performance in natural language generation tasks. However, a new wave of interest has surged: automatic programming language code generation. This task consists of translating natural language instructions to a source code. Despite the fact that well-known pre-trained models on language generation have achieved good performance in learning programming languages, effort is still needed in automatic code generation. In this paper, we introduce JaCoText, a model based on Transformer neural network. It aims to generate java source code from natural language text. JaCoText leverages the advantages of both natural language and code generation models. More specifically, we study some findings from state of the art and use them to (1) initialize our model from powerful pre-trained models, (2) explore additional pretraining on our java dataset, (3) lead experiments combining the unimodal and bimodal data in training, and (4) scale the input and output length during the fine-tuning of the model. Conducted experiments on CONCODE dataset show that JaCoText achieves new state-of-the-art results.

Keywords: java code generation, natural language processing, sequence-to-sequence models, transformer neural networks

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Authors: Inderpreet Kaur, Ravinder Pal Singh, Kamal Kant Sharma

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This paper addresses the different configurations used of optical amplifiers with 16 channels in Wavelength Division Multiplexed system. The systems with 16 channels have been simulated for evaluation of various parameters; Bit Error Rate, Quality Factor, for threshold values for a range of wavelength from 1471 nm to 1611 nm. Comparison of various combination of configurations have been analyzed with EDFA and FRA but EDFA-FRA configuration performance has been found satisfactory in terms of performance indices and stable region. The paper also compared various parameters quantized with different configurations individually. It has been found that Q factor has high value with less value of BER and high resolution for EDFA-FRA configuration.

Keywords: EDFA, FRA, WDM, Q factor, BER

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Authors: Gal Zagron, Nitza Abramson, Deena R. Zimmerman, Chen Stein-Zamir

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Background: Salmonella enteritidis is a common cause of foodborne outbreaks, primarily associated with poultry eggs. S. enteritidis This is the only Salmonella type that is found inside the eggshell. A rise in Salmonella enteritidis notifications was noted in spring 2017. Aims: The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological investigation of the outbreak in the Jerusalem district, along with the containment measures taken. Methods: This study is a population-based epidemiological study with a description of environmental control activities. Results: During the months May - July, 2017 848 salmonellosis cases were reported to the Jerusalem district health office compared to 294 cases May - July 2016. Salmonella enteritidis was isolated in 58% of reported cases. Clusters and outbreaks ( > 2 cases) were reported among nursery schools, nursing homes, persons residing in one kibbutz and several cases in different food service establishments in the Jerusalem district. Epidemiological investigations revealed eggs consumption as a common feature among the cases (uncooked or undercooked eggs in most cases). A national investigation among egg suppliers revealed that most cases consumed eggs provided by a single provider with isolation of Salmonella enteritidis at the source as well. Containment measures were taken to control the epidemic including distributing information via electronic and written media to the public, searching for all egg distribution centers, informing local authorities, the poultry council and food stores. The eggs originating from the provider were recalled and extinguished. Written instructions to all food preparation facilities in the district were distributed regarding the proper storage and preparation of eggs. The number of reported cases declined and the outbreak vanished during correlating months of 2018. Conclusions: The investigation of Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks should include epidemiological and laboratory investigations, tracing the source of the eggs and testing the eggs and the source of eggs. Health education activities are essential as to the proper handling of eggs and egg products aiming to minimize susceptibility to Salmonella infection.

Keywords: epidemiological investigation, food-borne disease, food safety, Salmonella enteritidis

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Authors: Mehrab Masayeed Habib, Tasneem Sanjana, Ahmed Amin Rumel

Abstract:

Automated car anti-collision system is a trending technology of science. A car anti-collision system is an automobile safety system. The aim of this paper was to describe designing a car anti-collision system device to reduce the severity of an accident. The purpose of this device is to prevent collision among cars and objects to reduce the accidental death of human. This project gives an overview of secure & smooth journey of car as well as the certainty of human life. This system is controlled by microcontroller PIC. Sharp distance sensor is used to detect any object within the danger range. A crystal oscillator is used to produce the oscillation and generates the clock pulse of the microcontroller. An LCD is used to give information about the safe distance and a buzzer is used as alarm. An actuator is used as automatic break and inside the actuator; there is a motor driver that runs the actuator. For coding ‘microC PRO for PIC’ was used and ’Proteus Design Suite version 8 Software’ was used for simulation.

Keywords: sharp distance sensor, microcontroller, MicroC PRO for PIC, proteus, actuator, automobile anti-collision system

Procedia PDF Downloads 464

Authors: A. Brigitte Coles

Abstract:

In order to be successful in a campaign against terror and maintain a favorable world order, we must recognize the effects of priming, framing, and agenda setting on the public sphere, and address how terrorist organizations are able to manipulate language and symbols to shift public opinion and increase recruitment success. Because of their unprecedented activity in the region and foreign recruitment success, this study specifically addresses how the Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) manipulates the public sphere to amplify support and increase western recruitment. By following a grounded theory methodology and coding triangulated data from IS propaganda, a model for the process of terrorist recruitment has emerged, concerning both environments and personalities susceptible to recruitment, and the steps by which an extremist can be created. This has resulted in the ability to reverse engineer a method by which counter recruitment operations can be facilitated in an effort to lessen the vulnerability of areas and individuals, as well as create dissent among current extremists.

Keywords: countering violent extremism, counter-terrorism, recruitment, overton window

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Krishna Prasad Regmi, Jun-Bo Tu, Cheng-Qun Hou, Li-Feng Li

Abstract:

Maxillofacial trauma in a pediatric group of patients is particularly challenging, as these patients have significant differences from adults as far as the facial skeleton is concerned. Mandibular condylar fractures are common presentations to hospitals across the globe and remain the most important cause of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis. The etiology and epidemiology of pediatric trauma involving the diacapitular condylar fractures (DFs) have been reported in a large series of patients. Nevertheless, little is known about treatment protocols for DFs in children. Accordingly, the treatment modalities for the management of pediatric fractures also differ. We suggest following the PDA and intracapsular ABC classification of condylar fracture to increase the overall postoperative satisfaction level that bypasses the change of subjective feelings of patients’ from preoperative to the postoperative condition. At the same time, use of 3-D technology and surgical navigation may also increase treatment accuracy.

Keywords: maxillofacial trauma, diacapitular fracture, condylar fracture, PDA classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Almudena Konrad, Tomás Galguera

Abstract:

Lack of motivation and interest is a serious obstacle to students’ learning computing skills. A need exists for a knowledge base on effective pedagogy and curricula to teach computer programming. This paper presents results from research evaluating a six-year project designed to teach complex concepts in computer programming collaboratively, while supporting students to continue developing their computer thinking and related coding skills individually. Utilizing a quasi-experimental, mixed methods design, the pedagogical approaches and methods were assessed in two contrasting groups of students with different socioeconomic status, gender, and age composition. Analyses of quantitative data from Likert-scale surveys and an evaluation rubric, combined with qualitative data from reflective writing exercises and semi-structured interviews yielded convincing evidence of the project’s success at both teaching and inspiring students.

Keywords: computational thinking, computing education, computer programming curriculum, logic, teaching methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 303

Authors: D. Shakirah Shukor, A. Aminudin, Hashim U. A., Waziralilah N. Fathiah, T. Vikneshvaran

Abstract:

The interior noise control is essential to be explored due to the interior acoustic analysis is significant in the systems such as automobiles, aircraft, air-handling system and diesel engine exhausts system. In this research, experimental work was undertaken for canceling an active noise in the rectangular enclosure. The rectangular enclosure was fabricated with multiple speakers and microphones inside the enclosure. A software program using digital signal processing is implemented to evaluate the proposed method. Experimental work was conducted to obtain the acoustic behavior and characteristics of the rectangular enclosure and noise cancellation based on active noise control in low-frequency range. Noise is generated by using multispeaker inside the enclosure and microphones are used for noise measurements. The technique for noise cancellation relies on the principle of destructive interference between two sound fields in the rectangular enclosure. One field is generated by the original or primary sound source, the other by a secondary sound source set up to interfere with, and cancel, that unwanted primary sound. At the end of this research, the result of output noise before and after cancellation are presented and discussed. On the basis of the findings presented in this research, an active noise cancellation in the rectangular enclosure is worth exploring in order to improve the noise control technologies.

Keywords: active noise control, digital signal processing, noise cancellation, rectangular enclosure

Procedia PDF Downloads 262