Search results for: delays caused by the owner or the owner’s representative

Authors: M. Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti, S. H. Yoosefian, A. Mohammad-Razdari

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This study investigated the effects of Ag nanoparticle polyethylene film and active modified atmosphere on the postharvest quality of tomatoes stored at 6 ºC. The atmosphere composition used in the packaging was 7% O₂ + 7% CO₂ + 86% N₂, and synthetic air (control). The variables measured were weight loss, firmness, color and respiration rate over 21 days. The results showed that the combination of Ag nanoparticle polyethylene film and modified atmosphere could extend the shelf life of tomatoes to 21 days and could influence the postharvest quality of tomatoes. Also, existence of Ag nanoparticles caused preventing from increasing weight loss, a*, b*, Chroma, Hue angle and reducing firmness and L*. As well as, tomatoes at Ag nanoparticle polyethylene films had lower respiration rate than Polyethylene and paper bags to 13.27% and 23.50%, respectively. The combination of Ag nanoparticle polyethylene film and active modified atmosphere was effective with regard to delaying maturity during the storage period, and preserving the quality of tomatoes.

Keywords: ag nanoparticles, modified atmosphere, polyethylene film, tomato

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Hashim Bashir

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The Vortex generated at the edges of the wing of an Aircraft are called the Wing Tip Vortex. The Wing Tip Vortices are associated with induced drag. The induced drag is responsible for nearly 50% of aircraft total drag and can be reduced through modifications to the wing tip. Some models displace wingtips vortices outwards diminishing the induced drag. Concerning agricultural aircrafts, wing tip vortex position is really important, while spreading products over a plantation. In this work, theoretical calculations were made in order to study the influence in aerodynamic characteristics and vortex position, over Sudanese agricultural aircraft, by the following types of wing tips: delta tip, winglet and down curved. The down curved tip was better for total drag reduction, but not good referring to vortex position. The delta tip gave moderate improvement on aerodynamic characteristic and on vortex position. The winglet had a better vortex position and lift increment, but caused an undesirable result referring to the wing root bending moment. However, winglet showed better development potential for agricultural aircraft.

Keywords: wing tip device, wing tip vortice, agricultural aircaft, winglet

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: A. Biran, P. Sobhe Bidari, A. Almazroe, V. Lakshminarayanan, K. Raahemifar

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Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a severe retinal disease which is caused by diabetes mellitus. It leads to blindness when it progress to proliferative level. Early indications of DR are the appearance of microaneurysms, hemorrhages and hard exudates. In this paper, an automatic algorithm for detection of DR has been proposed. The algorithm is based on combination of several image processing techniques including Circular Hough Transform (CHT), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), Gabor filter and thresholding. Also, Support Vector Machine (SVM) Classifier is used to classify retinal images to normal or abnormal cases including non-proliferative or proliferative DR. The proposed method has been tested on images selected from Structured Analysis of the Retinal (STARE) database using MATLAB code. The method is perfectly able to detect DR. The sensitivity specificity and accuracy of this approach are 90%, 87.5%, and 91.4% respectively.

Keywords: diabetic retinopathy, fundus images, STARE, Gabor filter, support vector machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: M. Dagim Yoseph, M. K. Savage, A. D. Jolly, C. J. Ebinger

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Whakaari/White Island has been the most active New Zealand volcano in the 21st century, producing small phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions, which are hard to predict. The most recent eruption occurred in 2019, tragically claiming the lives of 22 individuals and causing numerous injuries. We employed shear-wave splitting analyses to investigate variations in anisotropy between 2018 and 2020, during quiescence, unrest, and the eruption. We examined spatial and temporal variations in 3499 shear-wave splitting and 2656 V_p/V_s ratio measurements. Comparing shear-wave splitting parameters from similar earthquake paths across different times indicates that the observed temporal changes are unlikely to result from variations in earthquake paths through media with spatial variability. Instead, these changes may stem from variations in anisotropy over time, likely caused by changes in crack alignment due to stress or varying fluid content.

Keywords: background seismic waves, fast orientations, seismic anisotropy, V_p/V_s ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Brigita Mieziene, Arunas Emeljanovas, Vida Cesnaitiene, Ingunn Fjortoft, Lise Kjonniksen

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Background. Health-related physical fitness refers to the favorable health status, i.e. ability to perform daily activities with vigor, as well as capacities that are associated with a low risk for development of chronic diseases and premature death. However, in school-aged children it is constantly declining, while some aspects of fitness declined as much as 50 percent during the last two decades, which prognosticates increasingly earlier onset of health problems, decreasing the quality of life of the population and financial burden for the society. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to indicate nationally representative age- and gender-specific reference values of anthropometric measures, musculoskeletal, motor and cardiorespiratory fitness in Lithuanian primary school children from 6 to 10 years. Methods. The study included 3556 students in total, from 73 randomly selected schools. Ethics approval for research by the Kaunas Regional Ethics Committee (No. BE-2-42) was obtained. Physical fitness was measured by the 9-item test battery, developed by Fjørtoft and colleagues. Height and weight were measured and body mass index calculated. Smoothed centile charts were derived using the LMS method. Results. The numerical age- and gender-specific percentile values (3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentile) for anthropometric measures, musculoskeletal, motor and cardiorespiratory fitness were provided. The equivalent smoothed LMS curves were performed. The study indicated 12.5 percent of overweight and 5 percent of obese children in accordance with international gender and age specific norms of body mass index. This data could be used in clinical and educational settings in order to identify the level of individual physical fitness within its different components.

Keywords: fitness, overweight, primary school children, reference values, smoothed percentile curves

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Zhaoyang Liu

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Oil pollution is typically caused by oil and gas-related operations such as vessel accidents, which can pollute waterways as well as the environment and damage the ecosystem. Tanker ship cleaning contributes to oil spills, which have a negative impact on coastal countries due to protracted service disruption. It is critical for coastal countries to develop efficient oil taint cleanup technology. There are various oil/water separation technologies, such as gravity separation, hydrocyclone, air flotation, and membrane filtration, among others. Among these, membrane filtration has been shown to produce high-quality effluent. Commercial membranes, on the other hand, nevertheless face significant practical challenges, such as a high susceptibility for membrane fouling when dealing with greasy effluent. We developed a unique anti-fouling filtering membrane for oil/water separation in this work. The membrane was made of inorganic nanofibers, which possesses the advantages of low membrane fouling, high permeation flux and long-term durability. This results from this study could facilitate to pave a new way for membranes filtration’s practical applications in oil/gas industry.

Keywords: oil, contaminate, wastewater, removal

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Amir Lotfi, Seyed Hamid Hosseini

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During the recent past, due to the increase of electrical energy demand and governmental resources constraints in creating additional capacity in the generation, transmission, and distribution, privatization, and restructuring in electrical industry have been considered. So, in most of the countries, different parts of electrical industry like generation, transmission, and distribution have been separated in order to create competition. Considering these changes, environmental issues, energy growth, investment of private equity in energy generation units and difficulties of transmission lines expansion, distributed generation (DG) units have been used in power systems. Moreover, reduction in the need for transmission and distribution, the increase of reliability, improvement of power quality, and reduction of power loss have caused DG to be placed in power systems. On the other hand, considering low liquidity need, private investors tend to spend their money for DGs. In this project, the main goal is to offer an algorithm for planning and placing DGs in order to reduce the need for transmission and distribution network.

Keywords: planning, transmission, distributed generation, power security, power systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 487

Authors: Akbar Salimi, Mehdi Moghimi

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Goal: Today, the cooperative and systemic work is of importance and guarantees higher efficiency. This research was done with the aim of understanding the guidelines for co-op between police and the national media in order to reduce the juvenile delinquency. Method: This research is applied in terms of goal and of a compound type, which was done through a descriptive-analytical methodology. The data were collected through field surveys and documents. The statistical population included the professors of a higher education center in the area of education affairs, where as many as 36 people were randomly selected. The data collection procedure was by way of interview and researcher made questionnaire. Findings and results: Problems caused by the national media in the area of adolescents are categorized in three levels of production, broadcasting and consumption and elimination and reduction of the problems entail a set of estimations and predictions and also some education which the police forces has the capability to operationalize them. Thus, three hypotheses were defined and by conducting t and Friedman tests, all three hypotheses were confirmed and their rating was identified.

Keywords: management, media, TV, adolscents, delinquency

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Isa Muhammad Zumo

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Malaria is one of the worst illnesses that may affect humans. It is typically transmitted by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito and is caused by parasitic protozoans from the Plasmodium parasite. Government and non-governmental organizations made numerous initiatives to combat the threat of malaria in communities. Nevertheless, the necessary attention was not paid to accurate and current information regarding the size and location of these favourable locations for mosquito development. Because mosquitoes can only reproduce in specific habitats with surface water, this study will locate and map those favourable sites that act as mosquito breeding grounds. Spatial and attribute data relating to favourable mosquito breeding places will be collected and analysed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The major findings will be in five classes, showing the vulnerable and risky areas for malaria cases. These risk categories are very high, high, moderate, low, and extremely low vulnerable areas. The maps produced by this study will be of great use to the health department in combating the malaria pandemic.

Keywords: Malaria, vulnerability, mapping, space, Damaturu

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Fatemeh Yazdanmehr, Iulian Nistor

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The scope of the current study is the prediction of water separation in a two-stage industrial crude oil desalting plant. This research study was focused on developing a desalting operation in an existing production unit of one Iranian heavy oil field with 75 MBPD capacity. Because of some operational issues, such as oil dehydration at high temperatures, the optimization of the desalter operational parameters was essential. The mathematical desalting is modeled based on the population balance method. The existing operational data is used for tuning and validation of the accuracy of the modeling. The inlet oil temperature to desalter used was decreased from 110°C to 80°C, and the desalted electrical field was increased from 0.75 kv to 2.5 kv. The proposed condition for the desalter also meets the water oil specification. Based on these conditions of desalter, the oil recovery is increased by 574 BBL/D, and the gas flaring decrease by 2.8 MMSCF/D. Depending on the oil price, the additional production of oil can increase the annual income by about $15 MM and reduces greenhouse gas production caused by gas flaring.

Keywords: desalter, demulsification, modelling, water-oil separation, crude oil emulsion

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Wolfram Karg

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The Occupy-Movement came into in 2011 existence in the US as a reaction to one of the worst economic crisis since World War II. With cuts in benefits and social services, with people being evicted from their homes on the one hand and high bonuses granted to their managers of the very same companies, a strong feeling of injustice besieged people in the US and caused them to voice their anger peacefully in social media and on the streets. Due to the world-wide-web, users all around the world read about this movement and recognized the same injustice in their own countries, making Occupy a global movement. The vast array of topics covered by Occupy offers a unique chance to carry out a corpus-based discourse analysis based on the DIMEAN-Model. The focus on this paper is limited to two aspects of DIMEAN: intertextual references and the use of connectors in texts. Because the discourse is to a large extent carried out via posts in blogs, online-articles and comments, the paper also analyses, in how far modern (i.e. computer-based media) there is a correlation between the use of connectors in different communicative types used by the Occupy-Movement.

Keywords: discourse, new media, occupy, corpus analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 500

Authors: T. K. Hung

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Terrorism acts have occurred across both developed and developing states, with well-identified motivation and causes. For many years, terrorism eradication has become a major topic yet only passive actions were taken in response to acts. The linkage between the location of terrorism occurrence and breeding ground is not well-documented, resulting in the passive approach used in counter-terrorism nowadays. The evaluation investigates all post-9/11 terrorism affairs considering their state capacity, safety, ease of border access control, religion diversity, and technology access, to measure the level of breeding ground of the states. Those "weak" states with poor border access control, resources capacity and domestic safety are the best breeding ground for terrorists. Although many attacks were caused by religious motivation, religion diversity does not predict the breeding ground. States with censored technology access, particular computer-mediated communication, predict on the terrorism breeding ground, moderated by the level of breeding ground of neighboring states.

Keywords: counter-terrorism, lethality, security, terrorism

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Fitih Ademe, Kibebew Kibret, Sheleme Beyene, Mezgebu Getnet, Gashaw Meteke

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Changes in precipitation, temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration are expected to alter agricultural productivity patterns worldwide. The interactive effects of soil moisture and nutrient availability are the two key edaphic factors that determine crop yield and are sensitive to climatic changes. The study assessed the potential impacts of climate change on maize yield and corresponding water productivity and nutrient use efficiency under climate change scenarios for the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia by mid (2041-2070) and end century (2071-2100). Projected impacts were evaluated using climate scenarios generated from four General Circulation Models (GCMs) dynamically downscaled by the Swedish RCA4 Regional Climate Model (RCM) in combination with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP8.5). Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer cropping system model (DSSAT-CSM) was used to simulate yield, water and nutrient use for the study periods. Results indicate that rainfed maize yield might decrease on average by 16.5 and 23% by the 2050s and 2080s, respectively, due to climate change. Water productivity is expected to decline on average by 2.2 and 12% in the CRV by mid and end centuries with respect to the baseline. Nutrient uptake and corresponding nutrient use efficiency (NUE) might also be negatively affected by climate change. Phosphorus uptake probably will decrease in the CRV on average by 14.5 to 18% by 2050s, while N uptake may not change significantly at Melkassa. Nitrogen and P use efficiency indicators showed decreases in the range between 8.5 to 10.5% and between 9.3 to 10.5%, respectively, by 2050s relative to the baseline average. The simulation results further indicated that a combination of increased water availability and optimum nutrient application might increase both water productivity and nutrient use efficiency in the changed climate, which can ensure modest production in the future. Potential options that can improve water availability and nutrient uptake should be identified for the study locations using a crop modeling approach.

Keywords: crop model, climate change scenario, nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency, water productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Zatovska T. V., Nesterova N. V., Baranova G. V., Zagorodnya S. D.

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In recent years, biosensor technologies based on the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are becoming increasingly used in biology and medicine. Their application facilitates exploration in real time progress of binding of biomolecules and identification of agents that specifically interact with biologically active substances immobilized on the biosensor surface (biochips). Special attention is paid to the use of Biosensor analysis in determining the antibody-antigen interaction in the diagnostics of diseases caused by viruses and bacteria. According to WHO, the diseases that are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV), take second place (15.8%) after influenza as a cause of death from viral infections. Current diagnostics of HSV infection include PCR and ELISA assays. The latter allows determination the degree of immune response to viral infection and respective stages of its progress. In this regard, the searches for new and available diagnostic methods are very important. This work was aimed to develop Biosensor chip for detection of specific antibodies to HSV-1 in the human blood serum. The proteins of HSV1 (strain US) were used as antigens. The viral particles were accumulated in cell culture MDBK and purified by differential centrifugation in cesium chloride density gradient. Analysis of the HSV1 proteins was performed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ELISA. The protein concentration was measured using De Novix DS-11 spectrophotometer. The device for detection of antigen-antibody interactions was an optoelectronic two-channel spectrometer ‘Plasmon-6’, using the SPR phenomenon in the Krechman optical configuration. It was developed at the Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of NASU. The used carrier was a glass plate covered with 45 nm gold film. Screening of human blood serums was performed using the test system ‘HSV-1 IgG ELISA’ (GenWay, USA). Development of Biosensor chip included optimization of conditions of viral antigen sorption and analysis steps. For immobilization of viral proteins 0.2% solution of Dextran 17, 200 (Sigma, USA) was used. Sorption of antigen took place at 4-8°C within 18-24 hours. After washing of chip, three times with citrate buffer (pH 5,0) 1% solution of BSA was applied to block the sites not occupied by viral antigen. It was found direct dependence between the amount of immobilized HSV1 antigen and SPR response. Using obtained biochips, panels of 25 positive and 10 negative for the content of antibodies to HSV-1 human sera were analyzed. The average value of SPR response was 185 a.s. for negative sera and from 312 to. 1264 a.s. for positive sera. It was shown that SPR data were agreed with ELISA results in 96% of samples proving the great potential of SPR in such researches. It was investigated the possibility of biochip regeneration and it was shown that application of 10 mM NaOH solution leads to rupture of intermolecular bonds. This allows reuse the chip several times. Thus, in this study biosensor chip for detection of specific antibodies to HSV1 was successfully developed expanding a range of diagnostic methods for this pathogen.

Keywords: biochip, herpes virus, SPR

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Syed Hammad Ali, Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, Danial Hashmi, Richard Armstrong, Ahuti Shrestha, Iram Bano, Javed Hassan

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This paper presents the results of a semi-distributed modified positive degree-day model (MPDDM) for estimating snow and ice melt contributions to discharge from the glacierized Hunza River basin, Pakistan. The model uses daily temperature data, daily precipitation data, and positive degree day factors for snow and ice melt. The model is calibrated for the period 1995-2001 and validated for 2002-2013, and demonstrates close agreements between observed and simulated discharge with Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiencies of 0.90 and 0.88, respectively. Furthermore, the Weather Research and Forecasting model projected temperature, and precipitation data from 2016-2050 are used for representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, and bias correction was done using a statistical approach for future discharge estimation. No drastic changes in future discharge are predicted for the emissions scenarios. The aggregate snow-ice melt contribution is 39% of total discharge in the period 1993-2013. Snow-ice melt contribution ranges from 35% to 63% during the high flow period (May to October), which constitutes 89% of annual discharge; in the low flow period (November to April) it ranges from 0.02% to 17%, which constitutes 11 % of the annual discharge. The snow-ice melt contribution to total discharge will increase gradually in the future and reach up to 45% in 2041-2050. From a sensitivity analysis, it is found that the combination of a 2°C temperature rise and 20% increase in precipitation shows a 10% increase in discharge. The study allows us to evaluate the impact of climate change in such basins and is also useful for the future prediction of discharge to define hydropower potential, inform other water resource management in the area, to understand future changes in snow-ice melt contribution to discharge, and offer a possible evaluation of future water quantity and availability.

Keywords: climate variability, future discharge projection, positive degree day, regional climate model, water resource management

Procedia PDF Downloads 292

Authors: Stephanie M. De Oliveira

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For a long time, migrations are characterized as a difficult problem to solve. Various phenomena throughout human history caused personnel migrations, whether by the free will of migrants or not. Nowadays, governments that seek to give these people protection and dignity, either to asylum or to build a new life in a different country, make refugee protection. At present, a large amount of people, have been crossing their country's borders by land, air or sea, becoming refugees and seeking a new life away from fear, threat or violence they suffered in their country of origin. It is known that some countries have already instituted rights and rules for refugees who wish to become citizens in the country to which they immigrated, even though this is not what happens in most cases. The article will be based on research made with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) material as well as will analyze the interaction of the Turkish government with the European Union. Since Turkey is not part of the Union, it will be understood how the interaction was made, as well as the search for consensus, and not only humanitarian but also financial aid. The treatment of refugees and the defense of human rights within the country will also be considered.

Keywords: refugees, Turkey, asylum seekers, United Nations

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Michal Bialy, Marcin Szlachetka, Mateusz Paszko

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This paper discusses the CFD results of heat transfer in water channels in the engine body. The research engine was a newly designed Diesel combustion engine. The engine has three cylinders with three pairs of opposed pistons inside. The engine will be able to generate 100 kW mechanical power at a crankshaft speed of 3,800-4,000 rpm. The water channels are in the engine body along the axis of the three cylinders. These channels are around the three combustion chambers. The water channels transfer combustion heat that occurs the cylinders to the external radiator. This CFD research was based on the ANSYS Fluent software and aimed to optimize the geometry of the water channels. These channels should have a maximum flow of heat from the combustion chamber or the external radiator. Based on the parallel simulation research, the boundary and initial conditions enabled us to specify average values of key parameters for our numerical analysis. Our simulation used the average momentum equations and turbulence model k-epsilon double equation. There was also used a real k-epsilon model with a function of a standard wall. The turbulence intensity factor was 10%. The working fluid mass flow rate was calculated for a single typical value, specified in line with the research into the flow rate of automotive engine cooling pumps used in engines of similar power. The research uses a series of geometric models which differ, for instance, in the shape of the cross-section of the channel along the axis of the cylinder. The results are presented as colourful distribution maps of temperature, speed fields and heat flow through the cylinder walls. Due to limitations of space, our paper presents the results on the most representative geometric model only. Acknowledgement: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK ‘PZL-KALISZ’ S.A. and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: Ansys fluent, combustion engine, computational fluid dynamics CFD, cooling system

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Yu-Shun Elisa Pong

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American composer John Cage (1912-1992) is an influential figure in musical, visual and performing arts after World War II and has also been claimed as a forerunner of the western avant-garde in the artistic field. However, the crucial factors contributed to his highly acclaimed achievements include the Zen enlightenment, which he mainly got from Japanese Zen master D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966). As a kind of reflection and afterthought of the Zen inspiration, John Cage created various forms of arts in which visual arts have recently attracted more and more attention and discussion, especially from the perspectives of Zen. John Cage had started to create visual art works since he was 66 years old and the activity had lasted until his death. The quality and quantity of the works are worthy of in-depth study— the 667 pieces of print, 114 pieces of water color, and about 150 pieces of sketch. Cage’s stylistic changes during the 14 years of creation are quite obvious, and the Zen elements in the later works seem to be omnipresent. Based on comparative artistic study, a historical and conceptual view of Zen art that was formed initially in the traditional Chinese and Japanese visual arts will be discussed. Then, Chinese and Japanese representative Zen works will be mentioned, and the technique aspect, as well as stylistic analysis, will be revealed. Finally, a comprehensive comparison of the original Oriental Zen works with John Cage’s works and focus on the influence, and art transformation will be addressed. The master pieces from Zen tradition by Chinese artists like Liang Kai (d. 1210) and Ma Yuan (1160-1225) from Southern Sung Dynasty, the Japanese artists like Sesshū (1420-1506), Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) and some others would be discussed. In the current study, these art works from different periods of historical development in Zen will serve as the basis of analogy, interpretation, and criticism to Cage's visual art works. Through the perspectives of the Zen authenticity from Asia, we see how John Cage appropriated the eastern culture to his innovation, which changed the art world forever. And it is believed that through a transition from inter-, cross-, toward trans-cultural inspiration, John Cage set up a unique pathway of art innovations.

Keywords: John Cage, Chinese Zen art, Japanese Zen art, visual art

Procedia PDF Downloads 528

Authors: Shlomit Hon-Snir, Shosh Shahrabai, Sharon Teitler Regev, Anabel Friedlander-Lifszyc

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Today, online travel sites account for a large share of the orders for tourism services, leading to the expectation that many traditional travel agencies will become redundant in the future. Technological changes are offering customers a wider variety and better prices, and the improved competition in the industry has increased customer well-being significantly. Therefore, the question is whether all customers can enjoy this change, specifically whether different groups in the Israeli population enjoy the changes similarly. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the collection of data and the purchase of tourism products online and in particular to identify the barriers and limitations of technology usage among the population. The results of the current research are of great importance both economically and socially. The theory of Reasoned Action assumes that actual behavior is based on intention. Volitional behavior is predicted by individuals' attitudes to that behavior and by the way they think other people will look at them. Two cognitive variables regarding the use of technology are: perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. Moreover, early adopters of innovations have different characteristics than people that adopt an innovation at a later stage. In the study, we analyze four groups of factors: Customer characteristics, internet usage, technology acceptance and product characteristics. Some of the parameters are gender, age, income level, frequency and type of internet use, proficiency in English, traveler type, number of trips abroad, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk, perceived trust and product type. We investigate online purchasing and online information search separately. Data will be collected using an online questionnaire distributed among a representative sample of 600 citizens in Israel. Some of the research questions will be based on previous research studies (that underwent reliability and validity testing). Those questions will be translated into Hebrew and adjusted for the tested population.

Keywords: customer characteristics, online travel sites, technology acceptance, tourism

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Houmame Benbouali, Aboubakr Gribi

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The risks, in general, exist in any project, one can hardly carry out a project without taking risks. The hydraulic works are rather complex projects in their design, realization and exploitation and are often subjected at the multiple risks being able to influence with their good performance and can have a negative impact on their environment. The present study was carried out to quote the impacts caused by purification plant STEP Chlef on the environment, it aims has studied the environmental impacts during construction and when designing this STEP, it is divided into two parts: The first part results from a research task bibliographer which contain three chapters (- cleansing of water-worn- general information on water worn-proceed of purification of waste water). The second part is an experimental part which is divided into four chapters (detailed state initial description of the station of purification-evaluation of the impacts of the project analyzes measurements and recommendations).

Keywords: treatment plant, waste water, waste water treatment, Chlef

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Jonathan Josephs-Spaulding, Hannah Rettig, Simon Graspeunter, Jan Rupp, Christoph Kaleta

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Background: Recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTIs) are a global cause of emergency room visits and represent a significant burden for public health systems. Therefore, metatranscriptomic approaches to investigate metabolic exchange and crosstalk between uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), which is responsible for 90% of UTIs, and collaborating pathogens of the urogenital microbiome is necessary to better understand the pathogenetic processes underlying rUTIs. Objectives: This study aims to determine the level in which uropathogens optimize the host urinary metabolic environment to succeed during invasion. By developing patient-specific metabolic models of infection, these observations can be taken advantage of for the precision treatment of human disease. Methods: To date, we have set up an rUTI patient cohort and observed various urine-associated pathogens. From this cohort, we developed patient-specific metabolic models to predict bladder microbiome metabolism during rUTIs. This was done by creating an in silico metabolomic urine environment, which is representative of human urine. Metabolic models of uptake and cross-feeding of rUTI pathogens were created from genomes in relation to the artificial urine environment. Finally, microbial interactions were constrained by metatranscriptomics to indicate patient-specific metabolic requirements of pathogenic communities. Results: Metabolite uptake and cross-feeding are essential for strain growth; therefore, we plan to design patient-specific treatments by adjusting urinary metabolites through nutritional regimens to counteract uropathogens by depleting essential growth metabolites. These methods will provide mechanistic insights into the metabolic components of rUTI pathogenesis to provide an evidence-based tool for infection treatment.

Keywords: recurrent urinary tract infections, human microbiome, uropathogenic Escherichia coli, UPEC, microbial ecology

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Yue Hu, Xilu Zhao, Takao Yamaguchi, Manabu Sasajima, Yoshio Koike, Akira Hara

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This study tried optimization of design parameter of a cone loudspeaker unit as an example of the high flexibility of the products design. We developed an acoustic analysis software program that considers the impact of damping caused by air viscosity. In sound reproduction, it is difficult to each design the parameter of the loudspeaker. To overcome the limitation of the design problem in practice, this paper proposes a new an acoustic analysis algorithm to optimize design the parameter of the loudspeaker. The material character of cone paper and the loudspeaker edge was the design parameter, and the vibration displacement of the cone paper was the objective function. The results of the analysis were compared with the predicted value. They had high accuracy to the predicted value. These results suggest that, though the parameter design is difficult by experience and intuition, it can be performed comparatively easily using the optimization design by the developed acoustic analysis software.

Keywords: air viscosity, loudspeaker, cone paper, edge, optimization

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Authors: Abderrahmen Aloulou, Younes Boujelbene

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The current paper displays a new method of extracting information content from options prices by eliminating biases caused by daily variation of contract maturity. Based on Kernel regression tool, this non-parametric technique serves to obtain a spectrum of interpolated options with constant maturity horizons from negotiated optional contracts on the S&P TSX 60 index. This method makes it plausible to compare daily risk neutral densities from which extracting time continuous indicators allows the detection traders attitudes’ evolution, such as, belief homogeneity, asymmetry and extreme Risk Perception. Our findings indicate that the applied method contribute to develop effective trading strategies and to adjust monetary policies through controlling trader’s reactions to economic and monetary news.

Keywords: risk neutral densities, kernel, constant maturity horizons, homogeneity, asymmetry and extreme risk perception

Procedia PDF Downloads 491

Authors: Ilse Kreme

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To the best of this author’s knowledge, no studies have been identified on the connection between a refusal to engage in health-protective behaviors and a basic understanding of viral biology among community college students, faculty, and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of scientific knowledge could prevent understanding of why these behaviors are important to prevent the community spread of COVID-19, even when they are not shown to offer much individual protection. In this study, a possible correlation was examined between a basic knowledge level of viral disease that comes from having taken a college biology course and disease perceptions of COVID-19. In particular, disease risk perception, disease severity percept and mask-wearing behaviors were examined as they correlated with having taken an undergraduate biology course. The effect of covariates of age, gender, and education level were investigated along with the main dependent variables. A representative sample of the population included students, faculty, and staff at Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants were recruited by an email sent to all students, faculty, and staff at PVCC using an all-college email distribution. Disease risk and severity perception were assessed with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire 5 (BIP-Q5), which was modified to include questions measuring participant age, education level, and whether they took or ever took a college biology course. Two additional questions measured compliance of willingness to wear a face mask. The results showed an effect of gender on mask-wearing behavior and a correlation between having taken a biology course and disease severity perception. No differences were seen in mask-wearing behavior and disease risk perception as a result of having taken a biology course. These findings suggest that taking an undergraduate biology course leads to a greater awareness of COVID-19 disease severity through an understanding of the basic biological principles of viral disease transmission. The results can be used to modify existing health education strategies. Further research is needed on how to best reach target audiences in all education brackets.

Keywords: COVID-19, education, gender, mask wearing, disease risk perception, disease severity perception

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Authors: Durata Haciu, Ozgur Birer

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Zinc acetate solution is sonicated at high power in water and in ethanol in the absence and presence of various peroxides. In the absence of peroxides, the products are zinc oxide and layered hydroxy zinc acetate in water and in ethanol, respectively. Layered basic zinc acetate are prepared for the first time using sonochemical methods. The addition of peroxides alters the reaction mechanisms. In water, insoluble peroxides produce zinc oxides while the water soluble peroxide, i.e.hydrogen peroxide, completely destroyed the structure and casted a doubt on the accepted peroxide initiated mechanism of reactions. In ethanol,peroxide addition caused the reaction mechanism to change and some oxide formation is observed. The reaction mechanism is sensitive to water/ethanol amounts as well as the peroxide to zinc ion mole ratio.Thin zinc oxide wafers (ca. 30 nm) with band gaps of 3.24 eV were obtained.

Keywords: ultrasound, zinc oxide, hydroxy zinc acetate, fenton, peroxide initiation

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Authors: Kyugneun Lee, Ikjin Lee

Abstract:

Parameter estimation with inverse problem often suffers from unfavorable conditions in the real world. Useless data and many input parameters make the problem complicated or insoluble. Data refinement and reformulation of the problem can solve that kind of difficulties. In this research, a method to solve the rank deficient inverse problem is suggested. A multi-physics system which has rank deficiency caused by response correlation is treated. Impeditive information is removed and the problem is reformulated to sequential estimations using Bayesian network (BN) and subset groups. At first, subset grouping of the responses is performed. Feature selection with singular value decomposition (SVD) is used for the grouping. Next, BN inference is used for sequential conditional estimation according to the group hierarchy. Directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure is organized to maximize the estimation ability. Variance ratio of response to noise is used to pairing the estimable parameters by each response.

Keywords: Bayesian network, feature selection, rank deficiency, statistical inverse analysis

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Authors: H. Boulahyaoui, S. Alaoui Amine, C. Loutfi, H. El Annaz, N. Touil, El M. El Fahim, S. Mrani

Abstract:

Three Moroccan children fully vaccinated with Rotarix™ have been hospitalized for Rotavirus Gastroenteritis (RVGE) in the pediatric division of the Farabi Hospital, Oujda. Rotavirus G/P genotypes could not be typed because of their delayed crossing threshold (Ct) resolute with a group A rotavirus (RVA) real time RT-PCR. These strains were adapted to cell culture. All viruses replicated and caused extensive cytopathic effects after four or five passages in MA104 cell lines. Significant improvements have been obtained in the amount of viral particles. Each virus multiplied to a high titer (7.5 TCID50/ml). VP7 and VP4 partial gene sequencing revealed distinct genotypes compared to the Rotarix(®) vaccine strain. Two strains were of G2P[4] genotype whereas the third was G9P[8] genotype. Virus isolation while labor intensive, is recommended as a second test, especially when higher sensitivity for conventional RVA genotyping RT-PCR is needed. VP7 antigenic similarities between these strains and Rotarix were determined.

Keywords: esacpe-vaccine, Morocco, Rotarix, G2P[4], G9P[8]

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Authors: Philip Baillie, Stuart W. Campbell, Alexander M. Galloway, Stephen R. Cater, Norman A. McPherson

Abstract:

This study compared the mechanical and microstructural properties produced during friction stir welding(FSW) of S275 structural steel in air and underwater. Post weld tests assessed the tensile strength, micro-hardness, distortion, Charpy impact toughness and fatigue performance in each case. The study showed that there was no significant difference in the strength, hardness or fatigue life of the air and underwater specimens. However, Charpy impact toughness was shown to decrease for the underwater specimens and was attributed to a lower degree of recrystallization caused by the higher rate of heat loss experienced when welding underwater. Reduced angular and longitudinal distortion was observed in the underwater welded plate compared to the plate welded in air.

Keywords: Charpy impact toughness, distortion, fatigue, friction stir welding(FSW), micro-hardness, underwater

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Authors: Benjawan Tipprachaban

Abstract:

This research aims to investigate mistakes in translation, particularly from Thai to English, which cause translation problems for undergraduate students in Thailand. The researcher had the non-English major students of Suratthani Rajabhat University as samples. The data were collected by having 27 non-English major students translate 50 Thai sentences into English. After the translation, lots of mistakes were found and the researcher categorized them into 3 main types which were the grammatical mistake, the usage mistake, and the spelling mistake. However, this research is currently in the process of analyzing the data and shall be completed in August. The researcher, nevertheless, predicts that, of all the mistakes, the grammatical mistake will principally be made, the usage mistake and the spelling one respectively, which will support the researcher’s hypothesizes, i.e. 1) the grammatical mistake, mainly caused by language transfer, essentially leads to considerable translation problems; 2) the usage mistake is another critical problem that causes translation problems; 3) basic knowledge in Thai to English translation of undergraduate students in Thailand is at low level.

Keywords: English, language, Thai, translation

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Authors: Henriette van Rensburg, Betty Adcock

Abstract:

Concern about the lack of knowledge of quality teaching and teacher retention in rural and remote areas of Australia, has caused academics to improve pre-service teachers’ understanding of this problem. The participants in this study were forty students enrolled in an undergraduate educational course (EDO3341 Teaching in rural and remote communities) at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba in 2012. This study involved an innovative case-based teaching approach in order to broaden their generally under-informed understanding of teaching in a rural and remote area. Three themes have been identified through analysing students’ critical reflections: learning expertise, case-based learning support and authentic learning. The outcomes identified the changes in pre-service teachers’ understanding after they have deepened their knowledge of the realities of teaching in rural and remote areas.

Keywords: rural and remote education, case based teaching, innovative education approach, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 494