Search results for: and golden section search

Authors: Diane Prorak, Perri Moreno

Abstract:

University students may have been born in the digital age, but they need to be taught the critical thinking skills to detect misinformation and social media manipulation online. In recent years, librarians have been active in designing instructional methods to help students learn information evaluation skills. At the University of Idaho Library (USA), librarians have developed new teaching methods for these skills. Last academic year, when classes were taught via Zoom, librarians taught these skills to an online session of each first-year rhetoric and composition course. In the Zoom sessions, students were placed in breakout groups where they practiced using an evaluation method known as lateral reading. Online collaborative software was used to give each group an evaluative task and break the task into steps. Groups reported back to the full class. Students learned to look at an information source, then search outside the source to find information about the organization, publisher or author, before evaluating the source itself. Class level pre-and post-test comparison results showed students learned better techniques for evaluation than they knew before instruction.

Keywords: critical thinking, information evaluation, information literacy instruction, lateral reading.

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to evaporator section.In HVAC systems the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also observed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances it’s heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, heat pipe limits

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is a simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of the heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force, the liquid phase flows to evaporator section. In HVAC systems, the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally, heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region, and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In the present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of the heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances its heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, CFD simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: M. Heydari, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to evaporator section.In HVAC systems the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances it’s heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, heat pipe limits

Procedia PDF Downloads 431

Authors: J. P. Chollom, G. M. Kumleng, S. Longwap

Abstract:

The search for higher order A-stable linear multi-step methods has been the interest of many numerical analysts and has been realized through either higher derivatives of the solution or by inserting additional off step points, supper future points and the likes. These methods are suitable for the solution of stiff differential equations which exhibit characteristics that place a severe restriction on the choice of step size. It becomes necessary that only methods with large regions of absolute stability remain suitable for such equations. In this paper, high order block implicit multi-step methods of the hybrid form up to order twelve have been constructed using the multi-step collocation approach by inserting one or more off step points in the multi-step method. The accuracy and stability properties of the new methods are investigated and are shown to yield A-stable methods, a property desirable of methods suitable for the solution of stiff ODE’s. The new High Order Block Implicit Multistep methods used as block integrators are tested on stiff differential systems and the results reveal that the new methods are efficient and compete favourably with the state of the art Matlab ode23 code.

Keywords: block linear multistep methods, high order, implicit, stiff differential equations

Procedia PDF Downloads 342

Authors: T. Garba, T. O. Quddus, Y. Y. Babanyara, M. A. Modibbo

Abstract:

Desertification is define as the changing of productive land into a desert as the result of ruination of land by man-induced soil erosion, which forces famers in the affected areas to move migrate or encourage into reserved areas in search of a fertile land for their farming activities. This study therefore used remote sensing imageries to determine the level of changes in the vegetative areas. To achieve that Normalized Difference of the Vegetative Index (NDVI), classified imageries and image slicing derived from landsat TM 1986, land sat ETM 1999 and Nigeria sat 1 2007 were used to determine changes in vegetations. From the Classified imageries it was discovered that there a more natural vegetation in classified images of 1986 than that of 1999 and 2007. This finding is also future in the three NDVI imageries, it was discovered that there is increased in high positive pixel value from 0.04 in 1986 to 0.22 in 1999 and to 0.32 in 2007. The figures in the three histogram also indicted that there is increased in vegetative areas from 29.15 Km2 in 1986, to 60.58 Km2 in 1999 and then to 109 Km2 in 2007. The study recommends among other things that there is need to restore natural vegetation through discouraging of farming activities in and around the natural vegetation in the study area.

Keywords: vegetative index, classified imageries, change detection, landsat, vegetation

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: H. Ozbasaran

Abstract:

Lateral torsional buckling is a global stability loss which should be considered in the design of slender structural members under flexure about their strong axis. It is possible to compute the load which causes lateral torsional buckling of a beam by finite element analysis, however, closed form equations are needed in engineering practice. Such equations can be obtained by using energy method. Unfortunately, this method has a vital drawback. In lateral torsional buckling applications of energy method, a proper function for the critical lateral torsional buckling mode should be chosen which can be thought as the variation of twisting angle along the buckled beam. The accuracy of the results depends on how close is the chosen function to the exact mode. Since critical lateral torsional buckling mode of the cantilever I-beams varies due to material properties, section properties, and loading case, the hardest step is to determine a proper mode function. This paper presents an approximate function for critical lateral torsional buckling mode of doubly symmetric cantilever I-beams. Coefficient matrices are calculated for the concentrated load at the free end, uniformly distributed load and constant moment along the beam cases. Critical lateral torsional buckling modes obtained by presented function and exact solutions are compared. It is found that the modes obtained by presented function coincide with differential equation solutions for considered loading cases.

Keywords: buckling mode, cantilever, lateral-torsional buckling, I-beam

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Edward Shizha, Edward Makwarimba

Abstract:

Newcomer and refugee youth feel excluded in the education system in Canada, and the formal education environment does not fully cater for their learning needs. The objective of this study was to build knowledge and understanding of the educational needs and experiences of these youth in Canada and how available afterschool programs can most effectively support their learning needs and academic outcomes. The Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which funded this research, enables and empowers students to advance their educational experience through targeted investments in services that are delivered by youth-serving organizations outside the formal education system through afterschool initiatives. A literature review and a provincial/territorial internet scan were conducted to determine the availability of services and programs that serve the educational needs and academic outcomes of newcomer youth in 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada. The goal was to identify intersectional factors (e.g., gender, sexuality, culture, social class, race, etc.) that influence educational outcomes of newcomer/refugee students and to recommend ways the ESDC could complement settlement services to enhance students’ educational success. First, data was collected through a literature search of various databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google docs, ACADEMIA, and grey literature, including government documents, to inform our analysis. Second, a provincial/territorial internet scan was conducted using a template that was created by ESDC staff with the input of the researchers. The objective of the web-search scan was to identify afterschool programs, projects, and initiatives offered to newcomer/refugee youth by service provider organizations. The method for the scan included both qualitative and quantitative data gathering. Both the literature review and the provincial/territorial scan revealed that there are gender disparities in educational outcomes of newcomer and refugee youth. High school completion rates by gender show that boys are at higher risk of not graduating than girls and that girls are more likely than boys to have at least a high school diploma and more likely to proceed to postsecondary education. Findings from literature reveal that afterschool programs are required for refugee youth who experience mental health challenges and miss out on significant periods of schooling, which affect attendance, participation, and graduation from high school. However, some refugee youth use their resilience and ambition to succeed in their educational outcomes. Another finding showed that some immigrant/refugee students, through ethnic organizations and familial affiliation, maintain aspects of their cultural values, parental expectations and ambitious expectations for their own careers to succeed in both high school and postsecondary education. The study found a significant combination of afterschool programs that include academic support, scholarships, bursaries, homework support, career readiness, internships, mentorship, tutoring, non-clinical counselling, mental health and social well-being support, language skills, volunteering opportunities, community connections, peer networking, culturally relevant services etc. These programs assist newcomer youth to develop self-confidence and prepare for academic success and future career development. The study concluded that advantages of afterschool programs are greatest for youth at risk for poor educational outcomes, such as Latino and Black youth, including 2SLGBTQI+ immigrant youth.

Keywords: afterschool programs, educational outcomes, newcomer youth, refugee youth, youth-serving organizations

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

A heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At a hot surface of the heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to the vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to the liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to the evaporator section. In HVAC systems, the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses the heater, humidifier, or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally, heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region, and evaporator. Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In the present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of the heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances its heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, heat pipe limits

Procedia PDF Downloads 422

Authors: Raahil Sheikh, Prathamesh Minde, Priya Gujjar, Himanshu Dwivedi, Abhishek Maurya

Abstract:

UAVs have been an initial member of our environment since it's the first used by Austrian warfare in Venice. At that stage, they were just pilotless balloons equipped with bombs to be dropped on enemy territory. Over time, technological advancements allowed UAVs to be controlled remotely or autonomously. This study shall mainly focus on the intensification of pre-existing manual drones equipping them with a variety of sensors and making them autonomous, and capable, and purposing them for a variety of roles, including thermal sensing, data collection, tracking creatures, forest fires, volcano detection, hydrothermal studies, urban heat, Island measurement, and other environmental research. The system can also be used for reconnaissance, research, 3D mapping, and search and rescue missions. This study mainly focuses on automating tedious tasks and reducing human errors as much as possible, reducing deployment time, and increasing the overall efficiency, efficacy, and reliability of the UAVs. Creation of a comprehensive Ground Control System UI (GCS) enabling less trained professionals to be able to use the UAV with maximum potency. With the inclusion of such an autonomous system, artificially intelligent paths and environmental gusts and concerns can be avoided

Keywords: UAV, autonomous systems, drones, geo thermal imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: E. M. AbdelRazek, G. S. ElBahy, M. A. Allam, A. M. Abdelghany, A. M. Hezma

Abstract:

Polymeric biocomposite of hydroxyapatite/polyacrylic acid were prepared and their thermal and mechanical properties were improved by addition of cellulose acetate. FTIR spectroscopy technique and X-ray diffraction analysis were employed to examine the physical and chemical characteristics of the biocomposites. Scanning electron microscopy shows a uniform distribution of HAp nano-particles through the polymeric matrix of two organic/inorganic composites weight ratios (60/40 and 70/30), at which the material crystallinity reaches a considerable value appropriate for the needed applications were studied and revealed that the HAp nano-particles are uniformly distributed in the polymeric matrix. Kinetic parameters were determined from the weight loss data using non isothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Also, the main degradation steps were described and discussed. The mechanical properties of composites were evaluated by measuring tensile strength and elastic modulus. The data indicate that the addition of cellulose acetate can make homogeneous composites scaffold significantly resistant to higher stress. Elastic modulus of the composites was also improved by the addition of cellulose acetate, making them more appropriate for bioapplications.

Keywords: biocomposite, chemical synthesis, infrared spectroscopy, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: S. Hamid Mirmohammadi, Shahrazad Tamjidzad

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with the single-item continuous review inventory system in which demand is stochastic and discrete. The budget consumed for purchasing the ordered items is not restricted but it incurs extra cost when exceeding specific value. The unit purchasing price depends on the quantity ordered under the all-units discounts cost structure. In many actual systems, the budget as a resource which is occupied by the purchased items is limited and the system is able to confront the resource shortage by charging more costs. Thus, considering the resource shortage costs as a part of system costs, especially when the amount of resource occupied by the purchased item is influenced by quantity discounts, is well motivated by practical concerns. In this paper, an optimization problem is formulated for finding the optimal (R, Q) policy, when the system is influenced by the budget limitation and a discount pricing simultaneously. Properties of the cost function are investigated and then an algorithm based on a one-dimensional search procedure is proposed for finding an optimal (R, Q) policy which minimizes the expected system costs .

Keywords: (R, Q) policy, stochastic demand, backorders, limited resource, quantity discounts

Procedia PDF Downloads 626

Authors: Chaitanya R. Mali, V. Vinod, Ashwin W. Patwardhan

Abstract:

Design of long vertical steam generator (SG) tubes in nuclear power plant involves an understanding of different aspects of flow boiling phenomenon such as flow instabilities, flow regimes, dry out, critical heat flux, pressure drop, etc. The knowledge of the prediction of local thermal hydraulic characteristics is necessary to understand these aspects. For this purpose, the methodology has been developed which covers all the flow boiling regimes to model full range flow boiling phenomenon. In this methodology, the vertical tube is divided into four sections based on vapor fraction value at the end of each section. Different modeling strategies have been applied to the different sections of the vertical tube. Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been performed on a vertical SG tube of 0.0126 m inner diameter and 23 m length. The thermal hydraulic parameters such as vapor fraction, liquid temperature, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, heat flux distribution have been analyzed for different designed heat duties (1.1 MW (20%) to 3.3 MW (60%)) and flow conditions (10 % to 80 %). The sensitivity of different boiling parameters such as bubble departure diameter, nucleation site density, bubble departure frequency on the thermal hydraulic parameters was also studied. Flow instability has been observed at 20 % designed heat duty and 20 % flow conditions.

Keywords: thermal hydraulics, boiling, vapor fraction, sensitivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Natalia Khvorostianov, Nelly Elias

Abstract:

The present study seeks to analyze representation of social work in immigrant media, focusing on the case of online newspapers established by immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel. This immigrant population is particularly interesting because social work did not exist as a profession practiced in the USSR and hence most FSU immigrants arrive in Israel without a basic knowledge of the essence of social work, the services it provides and the logic behind its treatment methods. The sample of 37 items was built through a Google search of the Russian online newspapers and portals originated in Israel by using keywords such as “social worker,” “social work services” and the like. All items were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. Principal analytical categories used for the analysis were: Assessment of social work services (negative, positive, neutral); social workers’ professionalism and effectiveness; goals and motives underlying their activity; cross-cultural contact with immigrants and methods used in working with immigrants. On this basis, four dominant images used to portray Israeli social work services and social workers were identified: Lack of professionalism, cultural gaps between FSU immigrants and Israeli social workers, repressive character of social work services and social workers’ involvement in corruption and crime.

Keywords: FSU immigrants, immigrant media, media images, social workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Stefano Scippo, Damiana Luzzi, Stefano Cuomo, Maria Ranieri

Abstract:

Background: In response to the rise in natural disasters linked to climate change, numerous studies on Disaster Risk Reduction Education (DRRE) have emerged since the '90s, mainly using a didactic transmission-based approach. Effective DRRE should align with an interactive, experiential, and participatory educational model, which can be costly and risky. A potential solution is using simulations facilitated by eXtended Reality (XR). Research Question: This study aims to conduct a scoping review to explore educational methodologies that use XR to enhance knowledge among teachers, students, and citizens about environmental risks, natural disasters (including climate-related ones), and their management. Method: A search string of 66 keywords was formulated, spanning three domains: 1) education and target audience, 2) environment and natural hazards, and 3) technologies. On June 21st, 2023, the search string was used across five databases: EBSCOhost, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. After deduplication and removing papers without abstracts, 2,152 abstracts (published between 2013 and 2023) were analyzed and 2,062 papers were excluded, followed by the exclusion of 56 papers after full-text scrutiny. Excluded studies focused on unrelated technologies, non-environmental risks, and lacked educational outcomes or accessible texts. Main Results: The 34 reviewed papers were analyzed for context, risk type, research methodology, learning objectives, XR technology use, outcomes, and educational affordances of XR. Notably, since 2016, there has been a rise in scientific publications, focusing mainly on seismic events (12 studies) and floods (9), with a significant contribution from Asia (18 publications), particularly Japan (7 studies). Methodologically, the studies were categorized into empirical (26) and non-empirical (8). Empirical studies involved user or expert validation of XR tools, while non-empirical studies included systematic reviews and theoretical proposals without experimental validation. Empirical studies were further classified into quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches. Six qualitative studies involved small groups of users or experts, while 20 quantitative or mixed-method studies used seven different research designs, with most (17) employing a quasi-experimental, one-group post-test design, focusing on XR technology usability over educational effectiveness. Non-experimental studies had methodological limitations, making their results hypothetical and in need of further empirical validation. Educationally, the learning objectives centered on knowledge and skills for surviving natural disaster emergencies. All studies recommended XR technologies for simulations or serious games but did not develop comprehensive educational frameworks around these tools. XR-based tools showed potential superiority over traditional methods in teaching risk and emergency management skills. However, conclusions were more valid in studies with experimental designs; otherwise, they remained hypothetical without empirical evidence. The educational affordances of XR, mainly user engagement, were confirmed by the studies. Authors’ Conclusions: The analyzed literature lacks specific educational frameworks for XR in DRRE, focusing mainly on survival knowledge and skills. There is a need to expand educational approaches to include uncertainty education, developing competencies that encompass knowledge, skills, and attitudes like risk perception.

Keywords: disaster risk reduction education, educational technologies, scoping review, XR technologies

Procedia PDF Downloads 11

Authors: R. Babi Saraswathi, K. Divya, A. Habeebur Rahman, D. B. Hari Prakash, S. Jayanth, T. Kumar, N. Vijayarangan

Abstract:

Document automation is the design of systems and workflows, assembling repetitive documents to meet the specific business needs. In any organization or institution, documenting employee’s information is very important for both employees as well as management. It shows an individual’s progress to the management. Many documents of the employee are in the form of papers, so it is very difficult to arrange and for future reference we need to spend more time in getting the exact document. Also, it is very tedious to generate reports according to our needs. The process gets even more difficult on getting approvals and hence lacks its security aspects. This project overcomes the above-stated issues. By storing the details in the database and maintaining the e-documents, the automation system reduces the manual work to a large extent. Then the approval process of some important documents can be done in a much-secured manner by using Digital Signature and encryption techniques. Details are maintained in the database and e-documents are stored in specific folders and generation of various kinds of reports is possible. Moreover, an efficient search method is implemented is used in the database. Automation supporting document maintenance in many aspects is useful for minimize data entry, reduce the time spent on proof-reading, avoids duplication, and reduce the risks associated with the manual error, etc.

Keywords: e-documents, automation, digital signature, encryption

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to evaporator section. In HVAC systems the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances it’s heat transfer capacity used in the abstract.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, CFD simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 412

Authors: Ouafa Benaida, Abdelhamid Loukil, Adda Ali Pacha

Abstract:

In recent years, the growing interest of scientists in the field of image processing and analysis of underwater images and videos has been strengthened following the emergence of new underwater exploration techniques, such as the emergence of autonomous underwater vehicles and the use of underwater image sensors facilitating the exploration of underwater mineral resources as well as the search for new species of aquatic life by biologists. Indeed, underwater images and videos have several defects and must be preprocessed before their analysis. Underwater landscapes are usually darkened due to the interaction of light with the marine environment: light is absorbed as it travels through deep waters depending on its wavelength. Additionally, light does not follow a linear direction but is scattered due to its interaction with microparticles in water, resulting in low contrast, low brightness, color distortion, and restricted visibility. The improvement of the underwater image is, therefore, more than necessary in order to facilitate its analysis. The research presented in this paper aims to implement and evaluate a set of classical techniques used in the field of improving the quality of underwater images in several color representation spaces. These methods have the particularity of being simple to implement and do not require prior knowledge of the physical model at the origin of the degradation.

Keywords: underwater image enhancement, histogram normalization, histogram equalization, contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization, single-scale retinex

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Jiawen Wang, Qijun Chen

Abstract:

The performance of most machine-learning methods for image inpainting depends on the quantity and quality of the training samples. However, it is very expensive or even impossible to obtain a great number of training samples in many scenarios. In this paper, an image inpainting model based on a generative adversary network (GAN) is constructed for the cases when the number of training samples is small. Firstly, a feature extraction network (F-net) is incorporated into the GAN network to utilize the available information of the inpainting image. The weighted sum of the extracted feature and the random noise acts as the input to the generative network (G-net). The proposed network can be trained well even when the sample size is very small. Secondly, in the phase of the completion for each damaged image, a genetic algorithm is designed to search an optimized noise input for G-net; based on this optimized input, the parameters of the G-net and F-net are further learned (Once the completion for a certain damaged image ends, the parameters restore to its original values obtained in the training phase) to generate an image patch that not only can fill the missing part of the damaged image smoothly but also has visual semantics.

Keywords: image inpainting, generative adversary nets, genetic algorithm, small-sample size

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to evaporator section.In HVAC systems the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances it’s heat transfer capacity used in the abstract.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved heat pipe, heat pipe limits

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Mohammad Vahed, Ana Sadeghitohidi, Majid Vahed, Hiroki Takahashi

Abstract:

In the genomics field, the huge amounts of data have produced by the next-generation sequencers (NGS). Data volumes are very rapidly growing, as it is postulated that more than one billion bases will be produced per year in 2020. The growth rate of produced data is much faster than Moore's law in computer technology. This makes it more difficult to deal with genomics data, such as storing data, searching information, and finding the hidden information. It is required to develop the analysis platform for genomics big data. Cloud computing newly developed enables us to deal with big data more efficiently. Hadoop is one of the frameworks distributed computing and relies upon the core of a Big Data as a Service (BDaaS). Although many services have adopted this technology, e.g. amazon, there are a few applications in the biology field. Here, we propose a new algorithm to more efficiently deal with the genomics big data, e.g. sequencing data. Our algorithm consists of two parts: First is that BDaaS is applied for handling the data more efficiently. Second is that the hybrid method of MapReduce and Fuzzy logic is applied for data processing. This step can be parallelized in implementation. Our algorithm has great potential in computational analysis of genomics big data, e.g. de novo genome assembly and sequence similarity search. We will discuss our algorithm and its feasibility.

Keywords: big data, fuzzy logic, MapReduce, Hadoop, cloud computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Muhammad Alif Bin Razali, Cheng-Gang Xie, Wai Lam Loh

Abstract:

A venturi device is commonly used as an integral part of a multiphase flowmeter (MPFM) in real-time oil-gas production monitoring. For an accurate determination of individual phase fraction and flowrate, a gas-liquid flow ideally needs to be well mixed in the venturi measurement section. Partial flow mixing is achieved by installing a venturi vertically downstream of the blind-tee pipework that ‘homogenizes’ the incoming horizontal gas-liquid flow. In order to study in-depth the flow-mixing effect of the blind-tee, gas-liquid flows are captured at blind-tee and venturi sections by using a high-speed video camera and a purpose-built transparent test rig, over a wide range of superficial liquid velocities (0.3 to 2.4m/s) and gas volume fractions (10 to 95%). Electrical capacitance sensors are built to measure the instantaneous holdup (of oil-gas flows) at the venturi inlet and throat. Flow regimes and flow (a)symmetry are investigated based on analyzing the statistical features of capacitance sensors’ holdup time-series data and of the high-speed video time-stacked images. The perceived homogenization effect of the blind-tee on the incoming intermittent horizontal flow regimes is found to be relatively small across the tested flow conditions. A horizontal (blind-tee) to vertical (venturi) flow-pattern transition map is proposed based on gas and liquid mass fluxes (weighted by the Baker parameters).

Keywords: blind-tee, flow visualization, gas-liquid two-phase flow, MPFM

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Sahila Chopra, Hemdeep, Arshdeep Kaur, Raj K. Gupta

Abstract:

In recent times, we noticed an interesting and important role of non-coplanar degree-of-freedom (Φ = 00) in heavy ion reactions. Using the dynamical cluster-decay model (DCM) with Φ degree-of-freedom included, we have studied three compound systems 246Bk∗, 164Yb∗ and 105Ag∗. Here, within the DCM with pocket formula for nuclear proximity potential, we look for the effects of including compact, non-coplanar configurations (Φc = 00) on the non-compound nucleus (nCN) contribution in total fusion cross section σfus. For 246Bk∗, formed in 11B+235U and 14N+232Th reaction channels, the DCM with coplanar nuclei (Φc = 00) shows an nCN contribution for 11B+235U channel, but none for 14N+232Th channel, which on including Φ gives both reaction channels as pure compound nucleus decays. In the case of 164Yb∗, formed in 64Ni+100Mo, the small nCN effects for Φ=00 are reduced to almost zero for Φ = 00. Interestingly, however, 105Ag∗ for Φ = 00 shows a small nCN contribution, which gets strongly enhanced for Φ = 00, such that the characteristic property of PCN presents a change of behaviour, like that of a strongly fissioning superheavy element to a weakly fissioning nucleus; note that 105Ag∗ is a weakly fissioning nucleus and Psurv behaves like one for a weakly fissioning nucleus for both Φ = 00 and Φ = 00. Apparently, Φ is presenting itself like a good degree-of-freedom in the DCM.

Keywords: dynamical cluster-decay model, fusion cross sections, non-compound nucleus effects, non-coplanarity

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Sajjad Baghernezhad

Abstract:

Meta-heuristic and hybrid algorithms have high adeer in modeling medical problems. In this study, a neural network was used to predict covid-19 among high-risk and low-risk patients. This study was conducted to collect the applied method and its target population consisting of 550 high-risk and low-risk patients from the Kerman University of medical sciences medical center to predict the coronavirus. In this study, the memetic algorithm, which is a combination of a genetic algorithm and a local search algorithm, has been used to update the weights of the neural network and develop the accuracy of the neural network. The initial study showed that the accuracy of the neural network was 88%. After updating the weights, the memetic algorithm increased by 93%. For the proposed model, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictivity value, value/accuracy to 97.4, 92.3, 95.8, 96.2, and 0.918, respectively; for the genetic algorithm model, 87.05, 9.20 7, 89.45, 97.30 and 0.967 and for logistic regression model were 87.40, 95.20, 93.79, 0.87 and 0.916. Based on the findings of this study, neural network models have a lower error rate in the diagnosis of patients based on individual variables and vital signs compared to the regression model. The findings of this study can help planners and health care providers in signing programs and early diagnosis of COVID-19 or Corona.

Keywords: COVID-19, decision support technique, neural network, genetic algorithm, memetic algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Dipti Yadav, Latha Rangan, Pinakeswar Mahanta

Abstract:

Recent fuel-development strategies to reduce oil dependency, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and utilize domestic resources have generated interest in the search for alternative sources of fuel supplies. Bioenergy production from lignocellulosic biomass has a great potential. Cellulose, hemicellulose and Lignin are main constituent of woods or agrowaste. In all the industries there are always left over or waste products mainly lignin, due to the heterogeneous nature of wood and pulp fibers and the heterogeneity that exists between individual fibers, no method is currently available for the quantitative isolation of native or residual lignin without the risk of structural changes during the isolation. The potential benefits from finding alternative uses of lignin are extensive, and with a double effect. Lignin can be used to replace fossil-based raw materials in a wide range of products, from plastics to individual chemical products, activated carbon, motor fuels and carbon fibers. Furthermore, if there is a market for lignin for such value-added products, the mills will also have an additional economic incentive to take measures for higher energy efficiency. In this study residual lignin were isolated from areca nut shells by acid hydrolysis and were analyzed and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), LCMS and complexity of its structure investigated by NMR.

Keywords: Areca nut, Lignin, wood, bioenergy

Procedia PDF Downloads 464

Authors: Kristel Dame Bañez Sumagaysay, Marie Victoria Cruz-javier

Abstract:

The current subject is a case of a 21 year-old woman at 29 1/7 weeks of gestation with Pre-B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia who was admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) of the St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) secondary to hospital-acquired pneumonia secondary to pneumocystis jiroveci; central line-associated bloodstream infection (E. aerogenes). She presented with chronic hypoxemia caused by Pulmonary edema, probably secondary to heart failure secondary to cardiomyopathy chemotherapy-induced. Due to worsening feto-maternal status, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for respiratory support was instituted, and an elective cesarean section was done due to multiple maternal factors and deteriorating health status under total intravenous anesthesia assisted by veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. She delivered a live preterm newborn male, APGAR Score: 1, 0, 0, birth weight 985 grams, birth length: 40.5cm, small for gestational age.

Keywords: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, ethical dilemmas

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Estevan B. Costa, Armando M. Toda, Marcell A. A. Mesquita, Jacques D. Brancher

Abstract:

The advances in technology in the last five years allowed an improvement in the educational area, as the increasing in the development of educational software. One of the techniques that emerged in this lapse is called Gamification, which is the utilization of video game mechanics outside its bounds. Recent studies involving this technique provided positive results in the application of these concepts in many areas as marketing, health and education. In the last area there are studies that cover from elementary to higher education, with many variations to adequate to the educators methodologies. Among higher education, focusing on IT courses, data structures are an important subject taught in many of these courses, as they are base for many systems. Based on the exposed this paper exposes the development of an interactive web learning environment, called DSLEP (Data Structure Learning Platform), to aid students in higher education IT courses. The system includes basic concepts seen on this subject such as stacks, queues, lists, arrays, trees and was implemented to ease the insertion of new structures. It was also implemented with gamification concepts, such as points, levels, and leader boards, to engage students in the search for knowledge and stimulate self-learning.

Keywords: gamification, Interactive learning environment, data structures, e-learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 478

Authors: Dimeji Abe, Nonso Okoye, Gideon Ikpimi, Prince Idemudia

Abstract:

Multi-reservoir optimization operation has been a critical issue for river basin management. Water, as a scarce resource, is in high demand and the problems associated with the reservoir as its storage facility are enormous. The complexity in balancing the supply and demand of this prime resource has created the need to examine the best way to solve the problem using optimization techniques. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the multi-objective meta-heuristic algorithm for the operation of Gariep Dam for satisfying ecological flow requirements. This study uses an evolutionary algorithm called backtrack search algorithm (BSA) to determine the best way to optimise the dam operations of hydropower production, flood control, and water supply without affecting the environmental flow requirement for the survival of aquatic bodies and sustain life downstream of the dam. To achieve this objective, the operations of the dam that corresponds to different tradeoffs between the objectives are optimized. The results indicate the best model from the algorithm that satisfies all the objectives without any constraint violation. It is expected that hydropower generation will be improved and more water will be available for ecological flow requirements with the use of the algorithm. This algorithm also provides farmers with more irrigation water as well to improve their business.

Keywords: BSA evolutionary algorithm, metaheuristics, optimization, river basin management

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Chongwain G. Mbzighaa, Christopher M. Agyingi, Josepha-Forba-Tendo

Abstract:

Background and aim: Sedimentological, geochemical and petrographic studies were carried out on carbonate-bearing argillites outcropping at the southeastern flank of Mount Cameroon (Likomba) to determine the lithofacies and their associations, major element geochemistry and mineralogy. Methods: Major elements of the rocks were analyzed using XRF technique. Thermal analysis and thin section studies were carried out accompanied with the determination of insoluble components of the carbonates. Results: The carbonates are classed as biomicrites with siderite being the major carbonate mineral. Clay, quartz and pyrite constitute the major insoluble components of these rocks. Geochemical results depict a broad variation in their concentrations with silica and iron showing the highest concentrations and sodium and manganese with the least concentrations. Two factors were revealed with the following elemental associations, Fe2O3-MgO-Mn2O3 (72.56 %) and TiO2-SiO2-Al2O3-K2O (23.20%) indicating both Fe-enrichment, the subsequent formation of the siderite and the contribution of the sediments to the formation of these rocks. Conclusion: The rocks consist of cyclic iron-rich carbonates alternating with sideritic-shales and might have been formed as a result of variations in the sea conditions as well as variation in sediment influx resulting from transgression and regression sequences occurring in a shallow to slightly deep marine environments.

Keywords: sedimentology, geochemistry, petrography, iron carbonates, Likomba

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: H. Shokouhmand, A. Ghanami

Abstract:

Heat pipe is simple heat transfer device which combines the conduction and phase change phenomena to control the heat transfer without any need for external power source. At hot surface of heat pipe, the liquid phase absorbs heat and changes to vapor phase. The vapor phase flows to condenser region and with the loss of heat changes to liquid phase. Due to gravitational force the liquid phase flows to evaporator section.In HVAC systems the working fluid is chosen based on the operating temperature. The heat pipe has significant capability to reduce the humidity in HVAC systems. Each HVAC system which uses heater, humidifier or dryer is a suitable nominate for the utilization of heat pipes. Generally heat pipes have three main sections: condenser, adiabatic region and evaporator.Performance investigation and optimization of heat pipes operation in order to increase their efficiency is crucial. In present article, a parametric study is performed to improve the heat pipe performance. Therefore, the heat capacity of heat pipe with respect to geometrical and confining parameters is investigated. For the better observation of heat pipe operation in HVAC systems, a CFD simulation in Eulerian- Eulerian multiphase approach is also performed. The results show that heat pipe heat transfer capacity is higher for water as working fluid with the operating temperature of 340 K. It is also showed that the vertical orientation of heat pipe enhances it’s heat transfer capacity.

Keywords: heat pipe, HVAC system, grooved Heat pipe, heat pipe limits

Procedia PDF Downloads 407