Search results for: formal concept analysis
11918 Family Satisfaction with Neuro-Linguistic Care for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Sara Sahraoui
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This research studied the effect of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on language information processing in subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who were bilingual (French and dialectical Arabic). The results show a disorder of certain semantic aspects of their mother tongue (L1). On the other hand, grammatical levels appeared to be relatively unaffected in oral speech in L1 but were disturbed in the second language (L2). In consequence, we constructed a cognitive-language stimulation protocol for bilingual patients (PSCLAB) to respond to this disorder. The efficacy of this protocol in terms of rehabilitation was assessed in 30 such patients through discourse analysis carried out before and after initiating the protocol. The results show that cognitive/language training using the PSCLAB appears to improve the language behaviour of bilingual patients with AD. However, this survey study aims to verify the satisfaction of patients’ relatives with the results of cognitive language training by PSCLAB. We developed a brief instrument to measure the satisfaction of family members. The results report that the patient's relatives are satisfied with the results of cognitive training by PSCLAB.Keywords: satisfaction, Alzheimer's disease, rehabilitation, levels language
Procedia PDF Downloads 6111917 Microfluidization for Processing of Carbonized Chicken Feather Fiber (CCFF) Modified Epoxy Suspensions and the Thermal Properties of the Resulting Composites
Authors: A. Tuna, Y. Okumuş, A. T. Seyhan, H. Çelebi
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In this study, microfluidization was considered a promising approach to breaking up of carbonized chicken feather fibers (CCFFs) flocs to synthesizing epoxy suspensions containing (1 wt. %) CCFFs. For comparison, CCFF was also treated using sonication. The energy consumed to break up CCFFs in the ethanol was the same for both processes. CCFFs were found to be dispersed in ethanol in a significantly shorter time with the high shear processor. The CCFFs treated by both sonication and microfluidization were dispersed in epoxy by sonication. SEM examination revealed that CCFFs were broken up into smaller pieces using the high shear processor while being not agglomerated. Further, DSC, TMA, and DMA were systematically used to measure thermal properties of the resulting composites. A significant improvement was observed in the composites including CCFFs treated with microfluidization.Keywords: carbonized chicken feather fiber (CCFF), modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC), modulated thermomechanical analysis (MTMA), thermal properties
Procedia PDF Downloads 30811916 Measurement and Analysis of Building Penetration Loss for Mobile Networks in Tripoli Area
Authors: Tammam A. Benmusa, Mohamed A. Shlibek, Rawad M. Swesi
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The investigation of Buildings Penetration Loss (BPL) of radio signal is getting more and more important. It plays an important role in calculating the indoor coverage for wireless communication networks. In this paper, the theory behind BPL and its mechanisms have been reviewed. The operating frequency, coverage area type, climate condition, time of measurement, and other factors affecting the values of BPL have been discussed. The practical part of this work was conducting 4000 measurements of BPL in different areas in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to get empirical model for this loss. The measurements were taken for 2 different types of wireless communication networks; mobile telephone network (for Almadar company), which operates at 900 MHz and WiMAX network (LTT company) which operates at 2500 MHz. The results for each network were summarized and presented in several graphs. The graphs are showing how the BPL affected by: time of measurement, morphology (type of area), and climatic environment.Keywords: building penetration loss, wireless network, mobile network, link budget, indoor network performance
Procedia PDF Downloads 36311915 Climate Indices: A Key Element for Climate Change Adaptation and Ecosystem Forecasting - A Case Study for Alberta, Canada
Authors: Stefan W. Kienzle
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The increasing number of occurrences of extreme weather and climate events have significant impacts on society and are the cause of continued and increasing loss of human and animal lives, loss or damage to property (houses, cars), and associated stresses to the public in coping with a changing climate. A climate index breaks down daily climate time series into meaningful derivatives, such as the annual number of frost days. Climate indices allow for the spatially consistent analysis of a wide range of climate-dependent variables, which enables the quantification and mapping of historical and future climate change across regions. As trends of phenomena such as the length of the growing season change differently in different hydro-climatological regions, mapping needs to be carried out at a high spatial resolution, such as the 10km by 10km Canadian Climate Grid, which has interpolated daily values from 1950 to 2017 for minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation. Climate indices form the basis for the analysis and comparison of means, extremes, trends, the quantification of changes, and their respective confidence levels. A total of 39 temperature indices and 16 precipitation indices were computed for the period 1951 to 2017 for the Province of Alberta. Temperature indices include the annual number of days with temperatures above or below certain threshold temperatures (0, +-10, +-20, +25, +30ºC), frost days, and timing of frost days, freeze-thaw days, growing or degree days, and energy demands for air conditioning and heating. Precipitation indices include daily and accumulated 3- and 5-day extremes, days with precipitation, period of days without precipitation, and snow and potential evapotranspiration. The rank-based nonparametric Mann-Kendall statistical test was used to determine the existence and significant levels of all associated trends. The slope of the trends was determined using the non-parametric Sen’s slope test. The Google mapping interface was developed to create the website albertaclimaterecords.com, from which beach of the 55 climate indices can be queried for any of the 6833 grid cells that make up Alberta. In addition to the climate indices, climate normals were calculated and mapped for four historical 30-year periods and one future period (1951-1980, 1961-1990, 1971-2000, 1981-2017, 2041-2070). While winters have warmed since the 1950s by between 4 - 5°C in the South and 6 - 7°C in the North, summers are showing the weakest warming during the same period, ranging from about 0.5 - 1.5°C. New agricultural opportunities exist in central regions where the number of heat units and growing degree days are increasing, and the number of frost days is decreasing. While the number of days below -20ºC has about halved across Alberta, the growing season has expanded by between two and five weeks since the 1950s. Interestingly, both the number of days with heat waves and cold spells have doubled to four-folded during the same period. This research demonstrates the enormous potential of using climate indices at the best regional spatial resolution possible to enable society to understand historical and future climate changes of their region.Keywords: climate change, climate indices, habitat risk, regional, mapping, extremes
Procedia PDF Downloads 8411914 A Statistical Analysis on Relationship between Temperature Variations with Latitude and Altitude regarding Total Amount of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide in Iran
Authors: Masoumeh Moghbel
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Nowadays, carbon dioxide which is produced by human activities is considered as the main effective factor in the global warming occurrence. Regarding to the role of CO2 and its ability in trapping the heat, the main objective of this research is study the effect of atmospheric CO2 (which is recorded in Manaloa) on variations of temperature parameters (daily mean temperature, minimum temperature and maximum temperature) in 5 meteorological stations in Iran which were selected according to the latitude and altitude in 40 years statistical period. Firstly, the trend of temperature parameters was studied by Regression and none-graphical Man-Kendal methods. Then, relation between temperature variations and CO2 were studied by Correlation technique. Also, the impact of CO2 amount on temperature in different atmospheric levels (850 and 500 hpa) was analyzed. The results illustrated that correlation coefficient between temperature variations and CO2 in low latitudes and high altitudes is more significant rather than other regions. it is important to note that altitude as the one of the main geographic factor has limitation in affecting the temperature variations, so that correlation coefficient between these two parameters in 850 hpa (r=0.86) is more significant than 500 hpa (r = 0.62).Keywords: altitude, atmospheric carbon dioxide, latitude, temperature variations
Procedia PDF Downloads 39411913 The Barriers in the Adoption of E-readiness and Affective E-Business of Developing Countries: From the Prospective of Pakistani Organizations
Authors: Asma Moomal, Maslin Masrom
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The literature has identified that the competition among the business firms has been intensified due to the change in operating environment such as; knowledge diffusion, amount of R&D investments, and the adoption of technological innovation. Correspondingly, the E-business has potential to add a higher value to business and consumers in developed countries than in developing countries. However, the technological innovation (such as e-readiness) also considered as the major influential element on the firms competitiveness and development, Yet most of the developing countries including Pakistan failed to reap the benefits offered by modern information and communication technologies adoption (e-readiness), e-business and other innovative technologies. Thus, this paper reviewed the relevant literature in order to examine the barriers to the adoption of e-readiness and e-business in the organizations of Pakistan. The data collection technique used in this study was done through the secondary data resources (i.e. the existing literature analysis). The result of the study reveals that the most of the organizations of Pakistan like other developing countries are lagging behind in terms of adoption of e-readiness and e-business as compared to the developed countries of the world.Keywords: e-readiness, e-business, potential, technological innovation
Procedia PDF Downloads 51211912 Assessment of Chemical and Physical Properties of Surface Water Resources in Flood Affected Area
Authors: Siti Hajar Ya’acob, Nor Sayzwani Sukri, Farah Khaliz Kedri, Rozidaini Mohd Ghazi, Nik Raihan Nik Yusoff, Aweng A/L Eh Rak
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Flood event that occurred in mid-December 2014 in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia has driven attention from the public nationwide. Apart from loss and damage of properties and belongings, the massive flood event has introduced environmental disturbances on surface water resources in such flood affected area. A study has been conducted to measure the physical and chemical composition of Galas River and Pergau River prior to identification the flood impact towards environmental deterioration in surrounding area. Samples that have been collected were analyzed in-situ using YSI portable instrument and also in the laboratory for acid digestion and heavy metals analysis using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Results showed that range of temperature (0C), DO (mg/L), Ec (µs/cm), TDS (mg/L), turbidity (NTU), pH, and salinity were 25.05-26.65, 1.51-5.85, 0.032-0.054, 0.022-0.035, 23.2-76.4, 3.46-7.31, and 0.01-0.02 respectively. The results from this study could be used as a primary database to evaluate the status of water quality of the respective river after the massive flood.Keywords: flood, river, heavy metals, AAS
Procedia PDF Downloads 37111911 The Channels through Which Energy Tax Can Affect Economic Growth: Panel Data Analysis
Authors: Mahmoud Hassan, Walid Oueslati, Damien Rousseliere
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This paper explores the channels through which energy taxes may affect economic growth, using a simultaneous equations model for a balanced panel data of 31 OECD countries over the 1994–2013 period. The empirical results reveal a negative impact of energy taxes on physical investment in the short and long term. This impact is negatively sensitive to the existence and level of public debt. Additionally, the results show that energy taxes have an indirect effect on human capital through their impact on polluting emissions. The taxes on energy products are able to reduce both the flux and the stock of polluting emissions that have a negative impact on human capital skills in the short and long term. Finally, we found that energy taxes could encourage eco-innovation in the short and long term.Keywords: energy taxes, economic growth, public debt, simultaneous equations model, multiple imputation
Procedia PDF Downloads 22611910 A Comparative Study on Sampling Techniques of Polynomial Regression Model Based Stochastic Free Vibration of Composite Plates
Authors: S. Dey, T. Mukhopadhyay, S. Adhikari
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This paper presents an exhaustive comparative investigation on sampling techniques of polynomial regression model based stochastic natural frequency of composite plates. Both individual and combined variations of input parameters are considered to map the computational time and accuracy of each modelling techniques. The finite element formulation of composites is capable to deal with both correlated and uncorrelated random input variables such as fibre parameters and material properties. The results obtained by Polynomial regression (PR) using different sampling techniques are compared. Depending on the suitability of sampling techniques such as 2k Factorial designs, Central composite design, A-Optimal design, I-Optimal, D-Optimal, Taguchi’s orthogonal array design, Box-Behnken design, Latin hypercube sampling, sobol sequence are illustrated. Statistical analysis of the first three natural frequencies is presented to compare the results and its performance.Keywords: composite plate, natural frequency, polynomial regression model, sampling technique, uncertainty quantification
Procedia PDF Downloads 50311909 In-Situ Redevelopment in Urban India: Two Case Studies from Delhi and Mumbai
Authors: Ashok Kumar, Anjali Sharma
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As cities grow and expand spatially, redevelopment in urban India is beginning to emerge as a new mode of urban expansion sweeping low-income informal settlements. This paper examines the extent and nature of expanding urban frontier before examining implications for the families living in these settlements. Displacement of these families may appear to be an obvious consequence. However, we have conducted ethnographic studies over the past several months in a Delhi slum named Kathputli Colony, Delhi. In depth analysis of the study for this slum appears to present a variegated set of consequences for the residents of informal settlements including loss of livelihoods, dismantling of family ties, and general anxiety arising out of uncertainty about resettlement. Apart from Delhi case study, we also compare and contrast another redevelopment case from Mumbai located at Bhendi Bazar. These examples from the two mega cities of Mumbai and Delhi are analysed to understand and explore expanding urban frontiers and their consequences for informing future public policy.Keywords: informal settlements, policy, redevelopment, urban
Procedia PDF Downloads 31611908 Analysis and Prediction of Fine Particulate Matter in the Air Environment for 2007-2020 in Bangkok Thailand
Authors: Phawichsak Prapassornpitaya, Wanida Jinsart
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Daily monitoring PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ data from 2007 to 2017 were analyzed to provide baseline data for prediction of the air pollution in Bangkok in the period of 2018 -2020. Two statistical models, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model (ARIMA) were used to evaluate the trends of pollutions. The prediction concentrations were tested by root means square error (RMSE) and index of agreement (IOA). This evaluation of the traffic PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ were studied in association with the regulatory control and emission standard changes. The emission factors of particulate matter from diesel vehicles were decreased when applied higher number of euro standard. The trends of ambient air pollutions were expected to decrease. However, the Bangkok smog episode in February 2018 with temperature inversion caused high concentration of PM₂.₅ in the air environment of Bangkok. The impact of traffic pollutants was depended upon the emission sources, temperature variations, and metrological conditions.Keywords: fine particulate matter, ARIMA, RMSE, Bangkok
Procedia PDF Downloads 26411907 Investigating the Interaction of Individuals' Knowledge Sharing Constructs
Authors: Eugene Okyere-Kwakye
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Knowledge sharing is a practice where individuals commonly exchange both tacit and explicit knowledge to jointly create a new knowledge. Knowledge management literature vividly express that knowledge sharing is the keystone and perhaps it is the most important aspect of knowledge management. To enhance the understanding of knowledge sharing domain, this study is aimed to investigate some factors that could influence employee’s attitude and behaviour to share their knowledge. The researchers employed the social exchange theory as a theoretical foundation for this study. Three essential factors namely: Trust, mutual reciprocity and perceived enjoyment that could influence knowledge sharing behaviour has been incorporated into a research model. To empirically validate this model, data was collected from one hundred and twenty respondents. The multiple regression analysis was employed to analyse the data. The results indicate that perceived enjoyment and trust have a significant influence on knowledge sharing. Surprisingly, mutual reciprocity did not influence knowledge sharing. The paper concludes by highlight the practical implications of the findings and areas for future research to consider.Keywords: perceived enjoyment, trust, knowledge sharing, knowledge management
Procedia PDF Downloads 42911906 Comparative Analysis of Turbulent Plane Jets from a Sharp-Edged Orifice, a Beveled-Edge Orifice and a Radially Contoured Nozzle
Authors: Ravinesh C. Deo
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This article investigates through experiments the flow characteristics of plane jets from sharp-edged orifice-plate, beveled-edge and radially contoured nozzle. The first two configurations exhibit saddle-backed velocity profiles while the third shows a top-hat. A vena contracta is found for the jet emanating from orifice at x/h = 3 while the contoured case displays a potential core extending to the range x/h = 5. A spurt in jet pressure on the centerline supports vena contracta for the orifice-jet. Momentum thicknesses and integral length scales elongate linearly with x although the growth of the shear-layer and large-scale eddies for the orifice are greater than the contoured case. The near-field spectrum exhibits higher frequency of the primary eddies that concur with enhanced turbulence intensity. Importantly, highly “turbulent” state of the orifice-jet prevails in the far-field where the spectra confirm more energetic secondary eddies associated with greater flapping amplitude of the orifice-jet.Keywords: orifice, beveled-edge-orifice, radially contoured nozzle, plane jets
Procedia PDF Downloads 14611905 Gamification Using Stochastic Processes: Engage Children to Have Healthy Habits
Authors: Andre M. Carvalho, Pedro Sebastiao
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This article is based on a dissertation that intends to analyze and make a model, intelligently, algorithms based on stochastic processes of a gamification application applied to marketing. Gamification is used in our daily lives to engage us to perform certain actions in order to achieve goals and gain rewards. This strategy is an increasingly adopted way to encourage and retain customers through game elements. The application of gamification aims to encourage children between 6 and 10 years of age to have healthy habits and the purpose of serving as a model for use in marketing. This application was developed in unity; we implemented intelligent algorithms based on stochastic processes, web services to respond to all requests of the application, a back-office website to manage the application and the database. The behavioral analysis of the use of game elements and stochastic processes in children’s motivation was done. The application of algorithms based on stochastic processes in-game elements is very important to promote cooperation and to ensure fair and friendly competition between users which consequently stimulates the user’s interest and their involvement in the application and organization.Keywords: engage, games, gamification, randomness, stochastic processes
Procedia PDF Downloads 32111904 Improving Software Technology to Support Release Process in Global Software Development Environment: An Experience Report
Authors: Hualter Barbosa, Bruno Bonifacio
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The process of globalization and new business has transformed the dynamics of software development. To meet the new demands, the software industry has adapted new methodologies that can shorten development cycles to ensure greater competitiveness. Given this scenario, Global Software Development (GSD) has become a strategic element for new products' success. However, the reliability, opportunity, and perceived value can be influenced substantially with the automation of steps in the development process activities. In this sense, the development of new technologies can help developers and managers to improve the quality of development. This paper presents a report on improving one of the release process activities of Sidia's mobile product area using software technology. The objective is to present the improvement of the CLCATCH tool developed based on experimental studies and qualitative analysis on the points of improvement for the release process in Android update projects for Samsung mobile devices. The results show improvement for the new version and approach of the tool, with points that can facilitate new features of the proposed technology.Keywords: Android updated, empirical studies, GSD, process improvement
Procedia PDF Downloads 13511903 Assessment of Smart Mechatronics Application in Agriculture
Authors: Sairoel Amertet, Girma Gebresenbet
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Smart mechatronics systems in agriculture can be traced back to the mid-1980s, when research into automated fruit harvesting systems began in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Since then, impressive advances have been made in smart mechatronics systems. Furthermore, smart mechatronics systems are promising areas, and as a result, we were intrigued to learn more about them. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine the smart mechatronic systems that have been applied to agricultural areas so far, with inspiration from the smart mechatronic system in other sectors. To get an overview of the current state of the art, benefits and drawbacks of smart mechatronics systems, various approaches were investigated. Moreover, smart mechatronic modules and various networks applied in agriculture processing were examined. Finally, we explored how the data retrieved using the one-way analysis of variance related to each other. The result showed that there were strongly related keywords for different journals. With the virtually limited use of sophisticated mechatronics in the agricultural industry and, at the same time, the low production rate, the demand for food security has fallen dramatically. Therefore, the application of smart mechatronics systems in agricultural sectors would be taken into consideration in order to overcome these issues.Keywords: mechatronics, robotic, robotic system, automation, agriculture mechanism
Procedia PDF Downloads 7111902 First-Principles Modeling of Nanoparticle Magnetization, Chaining, and Motion
Authors: Pierce Radecki, Pulkit Malik, Bharath Ramaswamy, Ben Shapiro
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The ability to effectively design and test magnetic nanoparticles for controlled movement has been an elusive goal in the design of these particles. Magnetic nanoparticles of various characteristics have been created for use towards therapeutic effects, however the challenge of designing for controlled movement remains unmet. A step towards design in this aspect is a first principles model that captures and predicts the behaviors of particles in a magnetic field. The model is governed by four forces acting on the particles, the magnetic gradient, the dipole-dipole forces, the steric forces, and the viscous drag force. The particles are multi-core or single core, and incorporate a preferred magnetization axis. Particles exhibit behaviors, such as chaining, in simulations that are similar to those witnessed through experimentation. Currently, experimental results are being compared to the modeling results for verification of the model, through the analysis of chaining behaviors. This modeling system will be used in designing magnetic nanoparticles for specific chaining and movement behaviors.Keywords: controlled movement, modeling, magnetic nanoparticles, nanoparticle design
Procedia PDF Downloads 29511901 Mathematical Models for GMAW and FCAW Welding Processes for Structural Steels Used in the Oil Industry
Authors: Carlos Alberto Carvalho Castro, Nancy Del Ducca Barbedo, Edmilsom Otoni Côrrea
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With increase the production oil and lines transmission gases that are in ample expansion, the industries medium and great transport they had to adapt itself to supply the demand manufacture in this fabrication segment. In this context, two welding processes have been more extensively used: the GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) and the FCAW (Flux Cored Arc Welding). In this work, welds using these processes were carried out in flat position on ASTM A-36 carbon steel plates in order to make a comparative evaluation between them concerning to mechanical and metallurgical properties. A statistical tool based on technical analysis and design of experiments, DOE, from the Minitab software was adopted. For these analyses, the voltage, current, and welding speed, in both processes, were varied. As a result, it was observed that the welds in both processes have different characteristics in relation to the metallurgical properties and performance, but they present good weldability, satisfactory mechanical strength e developed mathematical models.Keywords: Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), Design of Experiments (DOE), mathematical models
Procedia PDF Downloads 55211900 Geotechnical Characterization of an Industrial Waste Landfill: Stability and Environmental Study
Authors: Maria Santana, Jose Estaire
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Even though recycling strategies are becoming more important in recent years, there is still a huge amount of industrial by-products that are the disposal of at landfills. Due to the size, possible dangerous composition, and heterogeneity, most of the wastes are located at landfills without a basic geotechnical characterization. This lack of information may have an important influence on the correct stability calculations. This paper presents the results of geotechnical characterization of some industrial wastes disposed at one landfill. The shear strength parameters were calculated based on direct shear test results carried out in a large shear box owned by CEDEX, which has a shear plane of 1 x 1 m. These parameters were also compared with the results obtained in a 30 x 30 cm shear box. The paper includes a sensitive analysis of the global safety factor of the landfill's overall stability as a function of shear strength variation. The stability calculations were assessed for various hydrological scenarios to simulate the design and performance of the leachate drainage system. The characterization was completed with leachate tests to study the potential impact on the environment.Keywords: industrial wastes, landfill, leachate tests, stability
Procedia PDF Downloads 18911899 Spectroscopic, Molecular Structure and Electrostatic Potential, Polarizability, Hyperpolarizability, and HOMO–LUMO Analysis of Monomeric and Dimeric Structures of N-(2-Methylphenyl)-2-Nitrobenzenesulfonamide
Authors: A. Didaoui, N. Benhalima, M. Elkeurti, A. Chouaih, F. Hamzaoui
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The monomer and dimer structures of the title molecule have been obtained from density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP method with 6-31G (d,p) as basis set calculations. The optimized geometrical parameters obtained by B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) method show good agreement with xperimental X-ray data. The polarizability and first order hyperpolarizabilty of the title molecule were calculated and interpreted. the intermolecular N–H•••O hydrogen bonds are discussed in dimer structure of the molecule. The vibrational wave numbers and their assignments were examined theoretically using the Gaussian 03 set of quantum chemistry codes. The predicted frontier molecular orbital energies at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method set show that charge transfer occurs within the molecule. The frontier molecular orbital calculations clearly show the inverse relationship of HOMO–LUMO gap with the total static hyperpolarizability. The results also show that N-(2-Methylphenyl)-2-nitrobenzenesulfonamide molecule may have nonlinear optical (NLO) comportment with non-zero values.Keywords: DFT, Gaussian 03, NLO, N-(2-Methylphenyl)-2-nitrobenzenesulfonamide
Procedia PDF Downloads 53911898 Building Capacity and Personnel Flow Modeling for Operating amid COVID-19
Authors: Samuel Fernandes, Dylan Kato, Emin Burak Onat, Patrick Keyantuo, Raja Sengupta, Amine Bouzaghrane
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The COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the United States, forcing cities to impose stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders. Building operations had to adjust as non-essential personnel worked from home. But as buildings prepare for personnel to return, they need to plan for safe operations amid new COVID-19 guidelines. In this paper we propose a methodology for capacity and flow modeling of personnel within buildings to safely operate under COVID-19 guidelines. We model personnel flow within buildings by network flows with queuing constraints. We study maximum flow, minimum cost, and minimax objectives. We compare our network flow approach with a simulation model through a case study and present the results. Our results showcase various scenarios of how buildings could be operated under new COVID-19 guidelines and provide a framework for building operators to plan and operate buildings in this new paradigm.Keywords: network analysis, building simulation, COVID-19
Procedia PDF Downloads 15111897 The Modification of the Mixed Flow Pump with Respect to Stability of the Head Curve
Authors: Roman Klas, František Pochylý, Pavel Rudolf
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This paper is focused on the CFD simulation of the radiaxial pump (i.e. mixed flow pump) with the aim to detect the reasons of Y-Q characteristic instability. The main reasons of pressure pulsations were detected by means of the analysis of velocity and pressure fields within the pump combined with the theoretical approach. Consequently, the modifications of spiral case and pump suction area were made based on the knowledge of flow conditions and the shape of dissipation function. The primary design of pump geometry was created as the base model serving for the comparison of individual modification influences. The basic experimental data are available for this geometry. This approach replaced the more complicated and with respect to convergence of all computational tasks more difficult calculation for the compressible liquid flow. The modification of primary pump consisted in inserting the three fins types. Subsequently, the evaluation of pressure pulsations, specific energy curves and visualization of velocity fields were chosen as the criterion for successful design.Keywords: CFD, radiaxial pump, spiral case, stability
Procedia PDF Downloads 39111896 Opto-Electronic Study of the Silicon Nitride Doped Cerium Thin Films Deposed by Evaporation
Authors: Bekhedda Kheira
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Rare earth-doped luminescent materials (Ce, Eu, Yb, Tb, etc.) are now widely used in flat-screen displays, fluorescent lamps, and photovoltaic solar cells. They exhibit several fine emission bands in a spectral range from near UV to infrared when added to inorganic materials. This study chose cerium oxide (CeO2) because of its exceptional intrinsic properties, energy levels, and ease of implementation of doped layer synthesis. In this study, thin films were obtained by the evaporation deposition technique of cerium oxide (CeO2) on silicon Nitride (SiNx) layers and then annealing under nitrogen N2. The characterization of these films was carried out by different techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to visualize morphological properties and (EDS) was used to determine the elemental composition of individual dots, optical analysis characterization of thin films was studied by a spectrophotometer in reflectance mode to determine different energies gap of the nanostructured layers and to adjust these values for the photovoltaic application.Keywords: thin films, photovoltaic, rare earth, evaporation
Procedia PDF Downloads 7011895 Teachers' Beliefs and Practices in Designing Negotiated English Lesson Plans
Authors: Joko Nurkamto
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A lesson plan is a part of the planning phase in a learning and teaching system framing the scenario of pedagogical activities in the classroom. It informs a decision on what to teach and how to landscape classroom interaction. Regardless of these benefits, the writer has witnessed the fact that lesson plans are viewed merely as a teaching document. Therefore, this paper will explore teachers’ beliefs and practices in designing lesson plans. It focuses primarily on how both teachers and students negotiate lesson plans in which the students are deemed to be the agents of instructional innovations. Additionally, the paper will talk about how such lesson plans are enacted. To investigate these issues, document analysis, in-depth interviews, participant classroom observation, and focus group discussion will be deployed as data collection methods in this explorative case study. The benefits of the paper are to show different roles of lesson plans and to discover different ways to design and enact such plans from a socio-interactional perspective.Keywords: instructional innovation, learning and teaching system, lesson plan, pedagogical activities, teachers' beliefs and practices
Procedia PDF Downloads 14911894 Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
Authors: Abdelhacine Gouasmia, Abdelhamid Belkhiri, Allaeddine Athmani
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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the modal characteristics and on the dynamic response of current structures. The objective is on the overall behaviour of a real structure of five storeys reinforced concrete (R/C) building typically encountered in Algeria. Sensitivity studies are undertaken in order to study the effects of frequency content of the input motion, frequency of the soil-structure system, rigidity and depth of the soil layer on the dynamic response of such structures. This investigation indicated that the rigidity of the soil layer is the predominant factor in soil-structure interaction and its increases would definitely reduce the deformation in the R/C structure. On the other hand, increasing the period of the underlying soil will cause an increase in the lateral displacements at story levels and create irregularity in the distribution of story shears. Possible resonance between the frequency content of the input motion and soil could also play an important role in increasing the structural response.Keywords: direct method, finite element method, foundation, R/C Frame, soil-structure interaction
Procedia PDF Downloads 63111893 Student Performance and Confidence Analysis on Education Virtual Environments through Different Assessment Strategies
Authors: Rubén Manrique, Delio Balcázar, José Parrado, Sebastián Rodríguez
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Hand in hand with the evolution of technology, education systems have moved to virtual environments to provide increased coverage and facilitate the access to education. However, measuring student performance in virtual environments presents significant challenges to ensure students are acquiring the expected skills. In this study, the confidence and performance of engineering students in virtual environments is analyzed through different evaluation strategies. The effect of the assessment strategy in student confidence is identified using educational data mining techniques. Four assessment strategies were used. First, a conventional multiple choice test; second, a multiple choice test with feedback; third, a multiple choice test with a second chance; and fourth; a multiple choice test with feedback and second chance. Our results show that applying testing with online feedback strategies can influence positively student confidence.Keywords: assessment strategies, educational data mining, student performance, student confidence
Procedia PDF Downloads 34811892 (Anti)Depressant Effects of Non-Steroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs in Mice
Authors: Horia Păunescu
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Purpose: The study aimed to assess the depressant or antidepressant effects of several Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in mice: the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor meloxicam, and the non-selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors lornoxicam, sodium metamizole, and ketorolac. The current literature data regarding such effects of these agents are scarce. Materials and methods: The study was carried out on NMRI mice weighing 20-35 g, kept in a standard laboratory environment. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Carol Davila”, Bucharest. The study agents were injected intraperitoneally, 10 mL/kg body weight (bw) 1 hour before the assessment of the locomotor activity by cage testing (n=10 mice/ group) and 2 hours before the forced swimming tests (n=15). The study agents were dissolved in normal saline (meloxicam, sodium metamizole), ethanol 11.8% v/v in normal saline (ketorolac), or water (lornoxicam), respectively. Negative and positive control agents were also given (amitryptilline in the forced swimming test). The cage floor used in the locomotor activity assessment was divided into 20 equal 10 cm squares. The forced swimming test involved partial immersion of the mice in cylinders (15/9cm height/diameter) filled with water (10 cm depth at 28C), where they were left for 6 minutes. The cage endpoint used in the locomotor activity assessment was the number of treaded squares. Four endpoints were used in the forced swimming test (immobility latency for the entire 6 minutes, and immobility, swimming, and climbing scores for the final 4 minutes of the swimming session), recorded by an observer that was "blinded" to the experimental design. The statistical analysis used the Levene test for variance homogeneity, ANOVA and post-hoc analysis as appropriate, Tukey or Tamhane tests.Results: No statistically significant increase or decrease in the number of treaded squares was seen in the locomotor activity assessment of any mice group. In the forced swimming test, amitryptilline showed an antidepressant effect in each experiment, at the 10 mg/kg bw dosage. Sodium metamizole was depressant at 100 mg/kg bw (increased the immobility score, p=0.049, Tamhane test), but not in lower dosages as well (25 and 50 mg/kg bw). Ketorolac showed an antidepressant effect at the intermediate dosage of 5 mg/kg bw, but not so in the dosages of 2.5 and 10 mg/kg bw, respectively (increased the swimming score, p=0.012, Tamhane test). Meloxicam and lornoxicam did not alter the forced swimming endpoints at any dosage level. Discussion: 1) Certain NSAIDs caused changes in the forced swimming patterns without interfering with locomotion. 2) Sodium metamizole showed a depressant effect, whereas ketorolac proved antidepressant. Conclusion: NSAID-induced mood changes are not class effects of these agents and apparently are independent of the type of inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX-1 or COX-2). Disclosure: This paper was co-financed from the European Social Fund, through the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU /159 /1.5 /S /138907 "Excellence in scientific interdisciplinary research, doctoral and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and medical fields -EXCELIS", coordinator The Bucharest University of Economic Studies.Keywords: antidepressant, depressant, forced swim, NSAIDs
Procedia PDF Downloads 22611891 Analysis of Environmental Activism in High Schools in District Peshawar
Authors: Hafiz M. Inamullah, Altaf Ullah
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Environmental degradation is a serious issue that has adverse impacts on the human population locally, regionally, and globally. There is a dire need to adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle to minimize further environmental degradation. One of the mediums through which environmentally friendly attitudes and behavior may be inculcated is through school education. The purpose of this study was to investigate environmental activities organized in High Schools of District Peshawar. The population for this study was comprised of 77 Headmasters of the High Schools in District Peshawar. A sample of 65 Headmasters was selected randomly from the above-mentioned population. One questionnaire was developed from the relevant literature for the Headmasters and was self-administered by the researcher. The collected data was entered into Excel and was analyzed and interpreted through SPSS 20 using the frequencies and percentages, and the Chi-square test was applied. The results indicated that most high schools had never organized environmental activities for secondary-level students. It was suggested that the high schools might organize various environmental activities such as plantations, park visits, debate competitions, environmental clubs, and drawing competitions.Keywords: proinvirmenlaism, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, secondary level, Peshawar
Procedia PDF Downloads 7611890 Effects of Daily Temperature Changes on Transient Heat and Moisture Transport in Unsaturated Soils
Authors: Davood Yazdani Cherati, Ali Pak, Mehrdad Jafarzadeh
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This research contains the formulation of a two-dimensional analytical solution to transient heat, and moisture flow in a semi-infinite unsaturated soil environment under the influence of daily temperature changes. For this purpose, coupled energy conservation and mass fluid continuity equations governing hydrothermal behavior of unsaturated soil media are presented in terms of temperature and volumetric moisture content. In consideration of the soil environment as an infinite half-space and by linearization of the governing equations, Laplace–Fourier transformation is conducted to convert differential equations with partial derivatives (PDEs) to ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The obtained ODEs are solved, and the inverse transformations are calculated to determine the solution to the system of equations. Results indicate that heat variation induces moisture transport in both horizontal and vertical directions.Keywords: analytical solution, heat conduction, hydrothermal analysis, laplace–fourier transformation, two-dimensional
Procedia PDF Downloads 20511889 New Types of Fitness Equipment for Seniors-Based on Beginning Movement Load Training
Authors: Chia-Chi Chen, Tai-Sheng Huang
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Ageing society has been spread around the world. The global population is not only ageing but also declining. The structure of population has changed, which has a significant impact on both the economies and industries. Thus, how to be a healthy senior citizen to relieve the burden to the family and society will be a popular issue. Although fitness equipment manufacturing industry has been mature, the ageing population is still increasing. Therefore, this study aims to design an innovative style of fitness equipment for senior citizens, based on BMLT presented by Dr. Koyama Hirofumi. The analysis of current fitness equipment on the market and the future trend will be applied in the study. With the coming of information age, senior citizens in the future are the users of information product for sure, and the new style of fitness equipment will be combined with information technology as well. Through this study, it is believed to design an innovative style of fitness equipment for seniors and help them live heartier and happier lives.Keywords: aging society, BMLT (Beginning Movement Load Training), seniors, new style of fitness equipment
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