Search results for: mentoring enhanced strategy

Authors: Aussara Panya, Nunghathai Sawasdee, Mutita Junking, Chatchawan Srisawat, Kiattawee Choowongkomon, Pa-Thai Yenchitsomanus

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Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a global public health problem with approximately 100 million infected cases a year. Presently, there is no approved vaccine or effective drug available; therefore, the development of anti-DENV drug is urgently needed. The clinical reports revealing the positive association between the disease severity and viral titer has been reported previously suggesting that the anti-DENV drug therapy can possibly ameliorate the disease severity. Although several anti-DENV agents showed inhibitory activities against DENV infection, to date none of them accomplishes clinical use in the patients. The surface envelope (E) protein of DENV is critical for the viral entry step, which includes attachment and membrane fusion; thus, the blocking of envelope protein is an attractive strategy for anti-DENV drug development. To search the safe anti-DENV agent, this study aimed to search for novel peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the targeting of E protein using a structure-based in silico design. Two selected strategies has been used including to identify the peptide inhibitor which interfere the membrane fusion process whereby the hydrophobic pocket on the E protein was the target, the destabilization of virion structure organization through the disruption of the interaction between the envelope and membrane proteins, respectively. The molecular docking technique has been used in the first strategy to search for the peptide inhibitors that specifically bind to the hydrophobic pocket. The second strategy, the peptide inhibitor has been designed to mimic the ectodomain portion of membrane protein to disrupt the protein-protein interaction. The designed peptides were tested for the effects on cell viability to measure the toxic to peptide to the cells and their inhibitory assay to inhibit the DENV infection in Vero cells. Furthermore, their antiviral effects on viral replication, intracellular protein level and viral production have been observed by using the qPCR, cell-based flavivirus immunodetection and immunofluorescence assay. None of tested peptides showed the significant effect on cell viability. The small peptide inhibitors achieved from molecular docking, Glu-Phe (EF), effectively inhibited DENV infection in cell culture system. Its most potential effect was observed for DENV2 with a half maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) of 96 μM, but it partially inhibited other serotypes. Treatment of EF at 200 µM on infected cells also significantly reduced the viral genome and protein to 83.47% and 84.15%, respectively, corresponding to the reduction of infected cell numbers. An additional approach was carried out by using peptide mimicking membrane (M) protein, namely MLH40. Treatment of MLH40 caused the reduction of foci formation in four individual DENV serotype (DENV1-4) with IC50 of 24-31 μM. Further characterization suggested that the MLH40 specifically blocked viral attachment to host membrane, and treatment with 100 μM could diminish 80% of viral attachment. In summary, targeting the hydrophobic pocket and M-binding site on the E protein by using the peptide inhibitors could inhibit DENV infection. The results provide proof of-concept for the development of antiviral therapeutic peptide inhibitors to counter DENV infection through the use of a structure-based design targeting conserved viral protein.

Keywords: dengue virus, dengue virus infection, drug design, peptide inhibitor

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Authors: Anjanna Matta, P. A. L. Narayana

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An investigation has been presented to analyze the effect of internal heat source on the onset of Hadley-Prats flow in a horizontal fluid saturated porous medium. We examine a better understanding of the combined influence of the heat source and mass flow effect by using linear stability analysis. The resultant eigenvalue problem is solved by using shooting and Runga-Kutta methods for evaluate critical thermal Rayleight number with respect to various flow governing parameters. It is identified that the flow is switch from stabilizing to destabilizing as the horizontal thermal Rayleigh number is enhanced. The heat source and mass flow increases resulting a stronger destabilizing effect.

Keywords: linear stability analysis, heat source, porous medium, mass flow

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Authors: Y. Wang

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The Traveling salesman problem (TSP) is NP-hard in combinatorial optimization. The research shows the algorithms for TSP on the sparse graphs have the shorter computation time than those for TSP according to the complete graphs. We present an improved iterative algorithm to compute the sparse graphs for TSP by frequency graphs computed with frequency quadrilaterals. The iterative algorithm is enhanced by adjusting two parameters of the algorithm. The computation time of the algorithm is O(CN_maxn²) where C is the iterations, N_max is the maximum number of frequency quadrilaterals containing each edge and n is the scale of TSP. The experimental results showed the computed sparse graphs generally have less than 5n edges for most of these Euclidean instances. Moreover, the maximum degree and minimum degree of the vertices in the sparse graphs do not have much difference. Thus, the computation time of the methods to resolve the TSP on these sparse graphs will be greatly reduced.

Keywords: frequency quadrilateral, iterative algorithm, sparse graph, traveling salesman problem

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Authors: J. Gómez, J. Rodriguez, N. Santos, E. Mejía-Ospino

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The wettability of the minerals present in a reservoir is a determining property in the recovery factor. One of the strategies proposed to increase recovery is based on altering the wettability of oil reservoir rocks. Approximately 60% of world crude oil reservoirs have sandstone-type host rocks; for that, it is very important to develop efficient methodologies to alter the wettability of these rocks. In this study, the alteration of the wettability of a sandstone rock due to graphene oxide (GO) adsorption was evaluated. The effect of GO concentration, salinity, Ca2+ ions, and pH on interfacial tension and contact angle was determined. The results show that GO adsorption induces significant changes in rock wettability. For high GO concentrations and low salinity, pH proved to be a determining factor in the alteration of wettability. Under certain conditions, surface wettability changes from highly oleophilic (144,8°) to intermediate oil wettability (91,2°).

Keywords: enhanced oil recovery, graphene oxide, interfacial tension, nanofluid, wettability

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Authors: Salem Ben Said

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In recent times the decimal number system to which we are accustomed has received serious competition from the binary number system. In this note, an approach is suggested to teaching and learning the binary number system using examples from the real world. More precisely, we will demonstrate the utility of the binary system in describing the optimal strategy to win the Chinese Nim game, and in telegraphy by decoding the hidden message on Perseverance’s Mars parachute written in the language of binary system. Finally, we will answer the question, “why do modern computers prefer the ternary number system instead of the binary system?”. All materials are provided in a format that is conductive to classroom presentation and discussion.

Keywords: binary number system, Nim game, telegraphy, computers prefer the ternary system

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Authors: Man Guo

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This paper delves into the intricate interplay between spatial morphology and spatial cognition in Lidukou Village, utilizing a combined approach of spatial syntax and field data. Through a comparative analysis of the gathered data, it emerges that the spatial integration level of Lidukou Village exhibits a direct positive correlation with the spatial cognitive preferences of its inhabitants. Specifically, the areas within the village that exhibit a higher degree of spatial cognition are predominantly distributed along the axis primarily defined by Shuxiang Road. However, the accessibility to historical relics remains limited, lacking a coherent systemic relationship. To address the morphological challenges faced by Lidukou Village, this study proposes optimization strategies that encompass diverse perspectives, including the refinement of spatial mechanisms and the shaping of strategic spatial nodes.

Keywords: traditional villages, spatial syntax, spatial integration degree, morphological problem

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Authors: Chalee Thammarat

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Mobile phones are equipped with increased short-range communication functionality called Near Field Communication (or NFC for short). NFC needs no pairing between devices but suitable for little amounts of data in a very restricted area. A number of researchers presented authentication techniques for NFC communications, however, they still lack necessary authentication, particularly mutual authentication and security qualifications. This paper suggests a new authentication protocol for NFC communication that gives mutual authentication between devices. The mutual authentication is a one of property, of security that protects replay and man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack. The proposed protocols deploy a limited-use offline session key generation and use of distribution technique to increase security and make our protocol lightweight. There are four sub-protocols: NFCAuthv1 is suitable for identification and access control and NFCAuthv2 is suitable for the NFC-enhanced phone by a POS terminal for digital and physical goods and services.

Keywords: cryptographic protocols, NFC, near field communications, security protocols, mutual authentication, network security

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Authors: Kazuko Sakamoto, Keiichiro Kawarabayashi, Yoji Kitani

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Japanese sweets are one of the important elements of the Chur Japan strategy. In this research, we investigated what kind of sweets are liked to the Chinese tourist. What is generally eaten is influenced by culture, a sense of values, and business practice. Therefore, what was adapted there is sold. However, when traveling, what its country does not have is called for. Then, how far should we take in Chinese people's taste in a design?　This time, the design attribute (a color and a form) which leads to sweets "being delicious" was clarified by rough aggregate theory.As a result, the difference in the taste of Chinese people and Japanese people became clear.

Keywords: design attribute, international comparison, taste by appearance, design attribute

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Authors: Dong Liu

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By sending a high-frequency probe wave and a low-frequency pump wave to a specimen, the vibroacoustic method evaluates the defect’s severity according to the modulation index of the received signal. Many studies experimentally proved the significant sensitivity of the modulation index to the tiny contact type defect. However, it has also been found that the modulation index was highly affected by the frequency of probe or pump waves. Therefore, the chirp signal has been introduced to the VAM method since it can assess multiple frequencies in a relatively short time duration, so the robustness of the VAM method could be enhanced. Consequently, the signal processing method needs to be modified accordingly. Various studies utilized different algorithms or combinations of algorithms for processing the VAM signal method by chirp excitation. These signal process methods were compared and used for processing a VAM signal acquired from the steel samples.

Keywords: vibroacoustic modulation, nonlinear acoustic modulation, nonlinear acoustic NDT&E, signal processing, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Noa Nelson, Orit Appel, Rachel Ben-ari

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Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is voluntary employee behavior that contributes to the organization beyond formal job requirements. It can take different forms, such as helping teammates (OCB toward individuals; hence, OCB-I), or staying after hours to attend a task force (OCB toward the organization; hence, OCB-O). Generally, OCB contributes substantially to organizational climate, goals, productivity, and resilience, so organizations need to understand what encourages it. This is particularly challenging in security organizations. Security work is characterized by high levels of stress and burnout, which is detrimental to OCB, and security organizational design emphasizes formal rules and clear hierarchies, leaving employees with less freedom for voluntary behavior. The current research explored the role of Perceived Procedural Justice (PPJ) in enhancing OCB in a security organization. PPJ refers to how fair decision-making processes are perceived to be. It involves the sense that decision makers are objective, attentive to everyone's interests, respectful in their communications and participatory - allowing individuals a voice in decision processes. Justice perceptions affect motivation, and it was specifically suggested that PPJ creates an attachment to one's organization and personal interest in its success. Accordingly, PPJ had been associated with OCB, but hardly any research tested their association with security organizations. The current research was conducted among prison guards in the Israel Prison Service, to test a correlational and a causal association between PPJ and OCB. It differentiated between perceptions of direct commander procedural justice (CPJ), and perceptions of organization procedural justice (OPJ), hypothesizing that CPJ would relate to OCB-I, while OPJ would relate to OCB-O. In the first study, 336 prison guards (305 male) from 10 different prisons responded to questionnaires measuring their own CPJ, OPJ, OCB-I, and OCB-O. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated the significance of commander procedural justice (CPJ): It associated with OCB-I and also associated with OPJ, which, in turn, associated with OCB-O. The second study tested CPJ's causal effects on prison guards' OCB-I and OCB-O; 311 prison guards (275 male) from 14 different prisons read scenarios that described either high or low CPJ, and then evaluated the likelihood of that commander's prison guards performing OCB-I and OCB-O. In this study, CPJ enhanced OCB-O directly. It also contributed to OCB-I, indirectly: CPJ enhanced the motivation for collaboration with the commander, which respondents also evaluated after reading scenarios. Collaboration, in turn, associated with OCB-I. The studies demonstrate that procedural justice, especially commander's PJ, promotes OCB in security work environments. This is important because extraordinary teamwork and motivation are needed to deal with emergency situations and with delicate security challenges. Following the studies, the Israel Prison Service implemented personal procedural justice training for commanders and unit level programs for procedurally just decision processes. From a theoretical perspective, the studies extend the knowledge on PPJ and OCB to security work environments and contribute evidence on PPJ's causal effects. They also call for further research, to understand the mechanisms through which different types of PPJ affect different types of OCB.

Keywords: organizational citizenship behavior, perceived procedural justice, prison guards, security organizations

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Authors: Jekaterina Novikova, Leon Watts

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In the emerging world of human-robot interaction, people and robots will interact socially in real-world situations. This paper presents the results of an experimental study probing the interaction between situational context and emotional body language in robots. 34 people rated video clips of robots performing expressive behaviours in different situational contexts both for emotional expressivity on Valence-Arousal-Dominance dimensions and by selecting a specific emotional term from a list of suggestions. Results showed that a contextual information enhanced a recognition of emotional body language of a robot, although it did not override emotional signals provided by robot expressions. Results are discussed in terms of design guidelines on how an emotional body language of a robot can be used by roboticists developing social robots.

Keywords: social robotics, non-verbal communication, situational context, artificial emotions, body language

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Authors: Olga Shvetsova

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The research paper contains the different issues of competence management in innovation companies. The theoretical bases of human resources management and practical issues of innovative enterprises’ competitiveness are considered. The research is focused on the modern innovative enterprise management problems; it focuses on the effective management of the personnel of innovative enterprises on the basis of competence approach. The concept of core competence approach is discussed. The point of view, that the key competences of the company create the competitive advantages, support strategy development and protect business from external negative factors is considered. The used methodology is background research.

Keywords: competence model, competitiveness, innovation management, implementation

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Authors: Aharouay Soumaya

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Efficiency is a relative concept. It is measured by comparing the productivity obtained in what is intended as standard or objective criteria. The quantity and quality of output achieved and the level of service are also compared to targets or standards, to determine to what extent they could cause changes in efficiency. Efficiency improves when more outputs of a specified quality are produced with the same resource inputs or less, or when the same amount of output is produced with fewer resources. This article proposes a review of the literature on strategies adopted by firms in the age of the financial crisis to overcome these negative effects, and tracks progress chosen by the organization to remain successful despite the plight of firms.

Keywords: effectiveness, efficiency, organizational capacity, strategy, management tool, progress, performance

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Authors: Sinan Yapici, Hayrettin Eroglu

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The discharge of the aqueous radionuclides wastes used for the diagnoses of diseases and treatments of patients in nuclear medicine can cause fatal health problems when the radionuclides and its stable daughter component mix with underground water. Tl-201, which is one of the radionuclides commonly used in the nuclear medicine, is a toxic substance and is converted to its stable daughter component Hg-201, which is also a poisonous heavy metal: Tl201 → Hg201 + Gamma Ray [135-167 Kev (12%)] + X Ray [69-83 Kev (88%)]; t1/2 = 73,1 h. The purpose of the present work was to remove Tl-201 radionuclides from aqueous solution by biosorption on the solid bio wastes of food and cosmetic industry as bio sorbents of prina from an olive oil plant, rose residue from a rose oil plant and tea residue from a tea plant, and to make a comparison of the biosorption efficiencies. The effects of the biosorption temperature, initial pH of the aqueous solution, bio sorbent dose, particle size and stirring speed on the biosorption yield were investigated in a batch process. It was observed that the biosorption is a rapid process with an equilibrium time less than 10 minutes for all the bio sorbents. The efficiencies were found to be close to each other and measured maximum efficiencies were 93,30 percent for rose residue, 94,1 for prina and 98,4 for tea residue. In a temperature range of 283 and 313 K, the adsorption decreased with increasing temperature almost in a similar way. In a pH range of 2-10, increasing pH enhanced biosorption efficiency up to pH=7 and then the efficiency remained constant in a similar path for all the biosorbents. Increasing stirring speed from 360 to 720 rpm enhanced slightly the biosorption efficiency almost at the same ratio for all bio sorbents. Increasing particle size decreased the efficiency for all biosorbent; however the most negatively effected biosorbent was prina with a decrease in biosorption efficiency from about 84 percent to 40 with an increase in the nominal particle size 0,181 mm to 1,05 while the least effected one, tea residue, went down from about 97 percent to 87,5. The biosorption efficiencies of all the bio sorbents increased with increasing biosorbent dose in the range of 1,5 to 15,0 g/L in a similar manner. The fit of the experimental results to the adsorption isotherms proved that the biosorption process for all the bio sorbents can be represented best by Freundlich model. The kinetic analysis showed that all the processes fit very well to pseudo second order rate model. The thermodynamics calculations gave ∆G values between -8636 J mol-1 and -5378 for tea residue, -5313 and -3343 for rose residue, and -5701 and -3642 for prina with a ∆H values of -39516 J mol-1, -23660 and -26190, and ∆S values of -108.8 J mol-1 K-1, -64,0, -72,0 respectively, showing spontaneous and exothermic character of the processes. An empirical biosorption model in the following form was derived for each biosorbent as function of the parameters and time, taking into account the form of kinetic model, with regression coefficients over 0.9990 where At is biosorbtion efficiency at any time and Ae is the equilibrium efficiency, t is adsorption period as s, ko a constant, pH the initial acidity of biosorption medium, w the stirring speed as s-1, S the biosorbent dose as g L-1, D the particle size as m, and a, b, c, and e are the powers of the parameters, respectively, E a constant containing activation energy and T the temperature as K.

Keywords: radiation, diosorption, thallium, empirical modelling

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Authors: Hazleen Anuar, Nur Aimi Mohd Nasir

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Durian skin is a newly explores natural fibre potentially reinforced polyolefin for diverse applications. In this work, investigation on the effect of coupling agent, maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAPP) on the mechanical, morphological and thermal properties of polypropylene (PP) reinforced with durian skin fibre (DSF) was conducted. The presence of 30 wt% DSF significantly reduced the tensile strength of PP-DSF composite. Interestingly, even though the same trend goes to PP-DSF with the presence of MAPP, the reduction is only about 4% relative to unreinforced PP and 18% higher than PP-DSF without MAPP (untreated composite or UTC). The used of MAPP in treated composite (TC) also increased the tensile modulus, flexural properties and degradation temperature. The enhanced mechanical properties are consistent with good interfacial interaction as evidenced under scanning electron microscopy.

Keywords: durian skin fiber, coupling agent, mechanical properties, thermogravimetry analysis

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Authors: U. Farooq, A. Samson, V. Thangadurai, R. Edwards

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In recent years, an impressive research has been conducted to introduce the solid-state electrolytes for the future energy storage devices like Li-ion batteries more specifically. In this work we tried to prepare a ceramic electrolyte (Li6.5 La2.5 Ba0.5 Nb Zr O12(LLBNZO)) and sintered the pallets of as-prepared material at elevated temperature like 1050, 1100, 1150 and 1200 °C. The objective to carry out this research was to observe the effect of temperature on porosity, density and transport properties of materials. Preliminary results suggest that the material sintered at higher temperature could show enhanced performance in terms of fast ionic transport. This enhancement in performance can be attributed to low porosity of materials which is result of high temperature sintering.

Keywords: solid state battery, electrolyte, garnet structures, Li-ion battery

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Authors: Pin-Ju Juan, Peng-Yu Juan, Yi-Shan Chen

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The main purpose of this paper is to present a fuzzy Analytic Network Process (ANP) model for the hostel organizational performance selection. In this article, we created 39 criteria for selecting hostel organizational performance acquired from literature's review and experts method practical investigations, and the methods of fuzzy analytic network process are used to consolidate decision-makers’ assessments about criteria weightings. Finally, we selected organizational performance of a hostel in Taiwan to determine the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation model in this paper.

Keywords: Fuzzy ANP, hostel, organizational performance, strategy management

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Authors: Tianqi Yu, Yingnan Ding, Yina Zhang, Yulan Liu, Yahui Li, Jing Lei, Jiyong Zhou, Suquan Song, Boli Hu

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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play critical roles in various diseases. However, whether and how circular RNA regulates influenza A virus (IAV) infection is unknown. Here, we studied the role of circular RNA GATA Zinc Finger Domain Containing 2A (circ-GATAD2A) in the replication of IAV H1N1 in A549 cells. Circ-GATAD2A was formed upon H1N1 infection. Knockdown of circ-GATAD2A in A549 cells enhanced autophagy and inhibited H1N1 replication. By contrast, overexpression of circ-GATAD2A impaired autophagy and promoted H1N1 replication. Similarly, knockout of vacuolar protein sorting 34 (VPS34) blocked autophagy and increased H1N1 replication. However, the expression of circ-GATAD2A could not further enhance H1N1 replication in VPS34 knockout cells. Collectively, these data indicated that circ-GATAD2A promotes the replication of H1N1 by inhibiting autophagy.

Keywords: autophagy, circ-GATAD2A, H1N1, replication

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Authors: Javad Moghtader Kargaran

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Today, attention to knowledge and management Knowledge as a strategy is very important has taken with economy becoming knowledge-oriented, how and knowing the effective management and integration of different types Knowledge (obvious-implicit) to preserve and create advantage. Competition has become very important. Knowledge is a valuable resource for empowering organizations in the direction of innovation and competition. Due to the importance of human resources in the survival of organizations, extensive efforts are made to empower them. This knowledge can lead to awareness among employees. Employees and the knowledge that is in their minds are very valuable resources for the organization, which must be managed and developed. In fact, the ultimate goal of knowledge management is to increase the intelligence and productivity of employees and the organization.

Keywords: knowledge, management, productivity, human

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Authors: Hammad Khalid

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In this paper, a strategy for computerized arranging of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) get to systems is proposed. We presented an efficient methodology for arranging access organize framework. The GIS information and a lot of calculations were utilized to make the arranging procedure increasingly programmed. The technique clarifies various strides of the arranging process. Considering various situations, various designs can be produced by utilizing the technique. It was likewise conceivable to produce the designs in an extremely brief temporal contrast with the conventional arranging. A contextual investigation is considered to delineate the utilization and abilities of the arranging technique. The technique, be that as it may, doesn't completely robotize the arranging however, make the arranging procedure fundamentally quick. The outcomes and dialog are displayed and end is given at last.

Keywords: FTTH, GIS, robotize, plan

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Paule Olivia Akotto

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The recent literature suggests spending between 50%-85% of oil rents. However, there are not yet clear guidelines for allocating this windfall in the public investment system, while most of the resource-rich countries fail to improve their intergenerational mobility. We study a design of the optimal spending system in Senegal, a low-income developing country featuring newly discovered oil fields and low intergenerational mobility. We build a dynamic general equilibrium model in which rural and urban (Dakar and other urban centers henceforth OUC) households face different health, education, and employment opportunities based on their location, affecting their intergenerational mobility. The model captures the relationship between oil rents, public investment, and multidimensional inequality of opportunity. The government invests oil rents in three broad sectors: health and education, road and industries, and agriculture. Through endogenous productivity externality and human capital accumulation, our model generates the predominant position of Dakar and OUC households in terms of access to health, education, and employment in line with Senegal data. Rural households are worse off in all dimensions. We compute the optimal spending policy under two sets of simulation scenarios. Under the current Senegal public investment strategy, which weighs more health and education investments, we find that the reform maximizing the decline in inequality of opportunity between households, frontloads investment during the first eight years of the oil exploitation and spends the perpetual value of oil wealth thereafter. We will then identify the marginal winners and losers associated with this policy and its redistributive implications. Under our second set of scenarios, we will test whether the Senegalese economy can reach better equality of opportunity outcomes under this frontloading reform, by allowing the sectoral shares of investment to vary. The trade-off will be between cutting human capital investment in favor of agricultural and productive infrastructure or increasing the former. We will characterize the optimal policy by specifying where the higher weight should be. We expect that the optimal policy of the second set strictly dominates in terms of equality of opportunity, the optimal policy computed under the current investment strategy. Finally, we will quantify this optimal policy's aggregate and distributional effects on poverty, well-being, and gender earning gaps.

Keywords: developing countries, general equilibrium, inequality of opportunity, oil rents

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Authors: Djendi Mohmaed

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In this paper, we propose a dual adaptive algorithm, which is based on the combination between the forward blind source separation (FBSS) structure and the affine projection algorithm (APA). This proposed algorithm combines the advantages of the source separation properties of the FBSS structure and the fast convergence characteristics of the APA algorithm. The proposed algorithm needs two noisy observations to provide an enhanced speech signal. This process is done in a blind manner without the need for ant priori information about the source signals. The proposed dual forward blind source separation affine projection algorithm is denoted (DFAPA) and used for the first time in an airplane cockpit context to enhance the communication from- and to- the airplane. Intensive experiments were carried out in this sense to evaluate the performance of the proposed DFAPA algorithm.

Keywords: adaptive algorithm, speech enhancement, system mismatch, SNR

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Authors: Aydin Azizi, Abdurrahman Tanira

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With the onset of climate change and limited fuel resources, improving fuel efficiency has become an important part of the motor industry. To maximize fuel efficiency, development of technologies must come hand-in-hand with awareness of efficient driving strategies. This study aims to explore the various driving habits that can impact fuel efficiency by reviewing available literature. Such habits include sudden and unnecessary acceleration or deceleration, improper hardware maintenance, driving above or below optimum speed and idling. By studying such habits and ultimately applying it to driving techniques, in combination with improved mechanics of the car, will optimize the use of fuel.

Keywords: fuel efficiency, driving techniques, optimum speed, optimizing fuel consumption

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Authors: Ilham ihoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui

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This study examines the manner in which a solar copper coil heating system performs in a North-South-oriented greenhouse environment. In order to retain heat during the day and release it back ‎into the greenhouse environment at night, this system relies on the circulation of water in a closed ‎loop under the roof of the greenhouse. Experimental research ‎was conducted to compare the results in two identical greenhouses. The first one has a heating system, whilst the second one ‎has not and is regarded as a control. We determined the mass of the heat transfer fluid, which ‎makes up the storage system, needed to heat the greenhouse during the night to be equivalent to ‎‎689 Kg using the heat balance of the greenhouse equipped with a heating system. The findings ‎demonstrated that when compared to a controlled greenhouse without a heating system, the climatic ‎conditions within the experimental greenhouse were greatly enhanced by the solar heating system. ‎‎

Keywords: renewable energy, storage, enviromental impact, heating, agricultural greenhouse

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Authors: Birce Boga Bakirli

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In this paper, we investigate ideas on human capital development and management in industries. We structured a model to be able to gather the data from the interviews conducted with worker, specialists and owners of companies. Different aspects of the situation are found in these interviews, and we used the information to model the benefit of the business owners and workers perspectives. These are modelled as a bi-level programming problem. Several instances of the generic cases are solved. The results show the importance of education within and out of the company for workers, and it returns for the company.

Keywords: bi-level programming, corporate strategy, cost tradeoffs, human capital, mixed integer programming, Stackelberg game, supplier relations, strategic planning

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Authors: Dedjo Yao Simon, Takahiro Saito, Norikazu Inuzuka, Ikuo Sugiyama

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Abidjan city (Republic of Ivory Coast) is an emerging megacity and an urban coastal area where the number of floods reported is on a rapid increase due to climate change and unplanned urbanization. However, comprehensive disaster mitigation plans, policies, and financial resources are still lacking as the population ignores the extent and location of the flood zones; making them unprepared to mitigate the damages. Considering the existing condition, this paper aims to discuss an approach for flood risk reduction in Cocody Commune through value capture strategy and flood risk communication. Using geospatial techniques and hydrological simulation, we start our study by delineating flood zones and depths under several return periods in the study area. Then, through a questionnaire a field survey is conducted in order to validate the flood maps, to estimate the flood risk and to collect some sample of the opinion of residents on how the flood risk information disclosure could affect the values of property located inside and outside the flood zones. The results indicate that the study area is highly vulnerable to 5-year floods and more, which can cause serious harm to human lives and to properties as demonstrated by the extent of the 5-year flood of 2014. Also, it is revealed there is a high probability that the values of property located within flood zones could decline, and the values of surrounding property in the safe area could increase when risk information disclosure commences. However in order to raise public awareness of flood disaster and to prevent future housing promotion in high-risk prospective areas, flood risk information should be disseminated through the establishment of an early warning system. In order to reduce the effect of risk information disclosure and to protect the values of property within the high-risk zone, we propose that property tax increments in flood free zones should be captured and be utilized for infrastructure development and to maintain the early warning system that will benefit people living in flood prone areas. Through this case study, it is shown that combination of value capture strategy and risk communication could be an effective tool to educate citizen and to invest in flood risk reduction in emerging countries.

Keywords: Cocody-Abidjan, flood, geospatial techniques, risk communication, value capture

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Authors: Faraj M. Elkhatri, Hana Ellafi

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In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the potential of marine-based functional foods and combination therapies in promoting a healthy lifestyle and exploring their effectiveness in preventing or treating diseases. The combination of marine bioactive compounds or extracts offers synergistic or enhancement effects through various mechanisms, including multi-target actions, improved bioavailability, enhanced bioactivity, and mitigation of potential adverse effects. Both the green-lipped mussel (GLM) and fucoidan derived from brown seaweed are rich in bioactivities. These two, mussel and fucoidan, have not been previously formulated together. This study aims to combine GLM oil from Perna canaliculus with low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) extracted from Undaria pinnatifida to investigate the unique mixture’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The cytotoxicity of individual compounds and combinations was assessed using the MTT assay in (THP-1 and RAW264.7) cell lines. The anti-inflammatory activity of mussel-fucoidan was evaluated by treating LPS-stimulated human monocyte and macrophage (THP1-1) cells. Subsequently, the inflammatory cytokines released into the supernatant of these cell lines were quantified via ELISA. Antioxidant activity was determined by using the free radical scavenging assay (DPPH). DPPH assay demonstrated that the radical scavenging activity of the combinations, particularly at concentrations exceeding 1 mg/ml, showed a significantly higher percentage of inhibition when compared to the individual component. This suggests an enhancement effect when the two compounds are combined, leading to increased antioxidant activity. In terms of immunomodulatory activity, the individual compounds exhibited distinct behaviors. GLM oil displayed a higher ability to suppress the cytokine TNF- compared to LMWF. Interestingly, the LMWF fraction, when used individually, did not demonstrate TNF- suppression. However, when combined with GLM, the TNF- suppression (anti-inflammatory) activity of the combination was better than GLM or LWMF alone. This observation underscores the potential for enhancement interactions between the two components in terms of anti-inflammatory properties. This study revealed that each individual compound, LMWF, and GLM, possesses unique and notable bioactivity. The combination of these two individual compounds results in an enhancement effect, where the bioactivity of each is enhanced, creating a superior combination. This suggests that the combination of LMWF and GLM has the potential to offer a more potent and multifaceted therapeutic effect, particularly in the context of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. These findings hold promise for the development of novel therapeutic interventions or supplements that harness the enhancement effects.

Keywords: formation damage, porosity loses, pore throat, quartz cement

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Authors: Jiahe Liu, Hongyang Yu, Miao Luo, Feng Qian

Abstract:

The widespread application of 3D human body reconstruction spans various fields. Smplify-X, an algorithm reliant on single-image input, employs three distinct body parameter templates, necessitating gender classification of individuals within the input image. Researchers employed a ResNet18 network to train a gender classifier within the Smplify-X framework, setting the threshold at 0.9, designating images falling below this threshold as having neutral gender. This model achieved 62.38% accurate predictions and 7.54% incorrect predictions. Our improvement involved refining the MobileNet network, resulting in a raised threshold of 0.97. Consequently, we attained 78.89% accurate predictions and a mere 0.2% incorrect predictions, markedly enhancing prediction precision and enabling more precise 3D human body reconstruction.

Keywords: SMPLX, mobileNet, gender classification, 3D human reconstruction

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Ren-Jy Ben, Jo-Chi Jao, Chiu-Ya Liao, Ya-Ru Tsai, Lain-Chyr Hwang, Po-Chou Chen

Abstract:

Cancer is still one of the serious diseases threatening the lives of human beings. How to have an early diagnosis and effective treatment for tumors is a very important issue. The animal carcinoma model can provide a simulation tool for the study of pathogenesis, biological characteristics and therapeutic effects. Recently, drug delivery systems have been rapidly developed to effectively improve the therapeutic effects. Liposome plays an increasingly important role in clinical diagnosis and therapy for delivering a pharmaceutic or contrast agent to the targeted sites. Liposome can be absorbed and excreted by the human body, and is well known that no harm to the human body. This study aimed to compare the therapeutic effects between encapsulated (doxorubicin liposomal, LipoDox) and un-encapsulated (doxorubicin, Dox) anti-tumor drugs using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Twenty-four New Zealand rabbits implanted with VX2 carcinoma at left thigh were classified into three groups: control group (untreated), Dox-treated group and LipoDox-treated group, 8 rabbits for each group. MRI scans were performed three days after tumor implantation. A 1.5T GE Signa HDxt whole body MRI scanner with a high resolution knee coil was used in this study. After a 3-plane localizer scan was performed, Three-Dimensional (3D) Fast Spin Echo (FSE) T2-Weighted Images (T2WI) was used for tumor volumetric quantification. And Two-Dimensional (2D) spoiled gradient recalled echo (SPGR) dynamic Contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI was used for tumor perfusion evaluation. DCE-MRI was designed to acquire four baseline images, followed by contrast agent Gd-DOTA injection through the ear vein of rabbits. Afterwards, a series of 32 images were acquired to observe the signals change over time in the tumor and muscle. The MRI scanning was scheduled on a weekly basis for a period of four weeks to observe the tumor progression longitudinally. The Dox and LipoDox treatments were prescribed 3 times in the first week immediately after VX2 tumor implantation. ImageJ was used to quantitate tumor volume and time course signal enhancement on DCE images. The changes of tumor size showed that the growth of VX2 tumors was effectively inhibited for both LipoDox-treated and Dox-treated groups. Furthermore, the tumor volume of LipoDox-treated group was significantly lower than that of Dox-treated group, which implies that LipoDox has better therapeutic effect than Dox. The signal intensity of LipoDox-treated group is significantly lower than that of the other two groups, which implies that targeted therapeutic drug remained in the tumor tissue. This study provides a radiation-free and non-invasive MRI method for therapeutic monitoring of targeted liposome on an animal tumor model.

Keywords: doxorubicin, dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, lipodox, magnetic resonance imaging, VX2 tumor model

Procedia PDF Downloads 454

Authors: Lethukuthula Ngobese, Abin Gupthar, Patrick Govender

Abstract:

The ability of yeast cell wall-derived mannoproteins (glycoproteins) to positively contribute to oenological properties has been a key factor that stimulates research initiatives into these industrially important glycoproteins. In addition, and from a fundamental research perspective, yeast cell wall glycoproteins are involved in a wide range of biological interactions. To date, and to the best of our knowledge, our understanding of the fine molecular structure of these mannoproteins is fairly limited. Generally, the amino acid sequences of their protein moieties have been established from structural and functional analysis of the genomic sequence of these yeasts whilst far less information is available on the glycosyl moieties of these mannoproteins. A novel strategy was devised in this study that entails the genetic engineering of yeast strains that over-express and release cell wall-associated glycoproteins into the liquid growth medium. To this end, the Flo1p mannoprotein was overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae laboratory strains bearing a specific deletion in KNR4 and GPI7 genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis that have been previously shown to extracellularly hyper-secrete cell wall-associated glycoproteins. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) -based cloning strategy was employed to generate transgenic yeast strains in which the native cell wall FLO1 glycoprotein-encoding gene is brought under transcriptional control of the constitutive PGK1 promoter. The modified Helm’s flocculation assay was employed to assess flocculation intensities of a Flo1p over-expressing wild type and deletion mutant as an indirect measure of their abilities to release the desired mannoprotein. The flocculation intensities of the transformed strains were assessed and all the strains showed similar intensities (>98% flocculation). To assess if mannoproteins were released into the growth medium, the supernatant of each strain was subjected to the BCA protein assay and the transformed Δknr4 strain showed a considerable increase in protein levels. This study has the potential to produce mannoproteins in sufficient quantities that may be employed in future investigations to understand their molecular structures and mechanisms of interaction to the benefit of both fundamental and industrial applications.

Keywords: glycoproteins, genetic engineering, flocculation, over-expression

Procedia PDF Downloads 411