Search results for: flood features
2386 A Network-Theorical Perspective on Music Analysis
Authors: Alberto Alcalá-Alvarez, Pablo Padilla-Longoria
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The present paper describes a framework for constructing mathematical networks encoding relevant musical information from a music score for structural analysis. These graphs englobe statistical information about music elements such as notes, chords, rhythms, intervals, etc., and the relations among them, and so become helpful in visualizing and understanding important stylistic features of a music fragment. In order to build such networks, musical data is parsed out of a digital symbolic music file. This data undergoes different analytical procedures from Graph Theory, such as measuring the centrality of nodes, community detection, and entropy calculation. The resulting networks reflect important structural characteristics of the fragment in question: predominant elements, connectivity between them, and complexity of the information contained in it. Music pieces in different styles are analyzed, and the results are contrasted with the traditional analysis outcome in order to show the consistency and potential utility of this method for music analysis.Keywords: computational musicology, mathematical music modelling, music analysis, style classification
Procedia PDF Downloads 1022385 A Passive Digital Video Authentication Technique Using Wavelet Based Optical Flow Variation Thresholding
Authors: R. S. Remya, U. S. Sethulekshmi
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Detecting the authenticity of a video is an important issue in digital forensics as Video is used as a silent evidence in court such as in child pornography, movie piracy cases, insurance claims, cases involving scientific fraud, traffic monitoring etc. The biggest threat to video data is the availability of modern open video editing tools which enable easy editing of videos without leaving any trace of tampering. In this paper, we propose an efficient passive method for inter-frame video tampering detection, its type and location by estimating the optical flow of wavelet features of adjacent frames and thresholding the variation in the estimated feature. The performance of the algorithm is compared with the z-score thresholding and achieved an efficiency above 95% on all the tested databases. The proposed method works well for videos with dynamic (forensics) as well as static (surveillance) background.Keywords: discrete wavelet transform, optical flow, optical flow variation, video tampering
Procedia PDF Downloads 3592384 Oblique Radiative Solar Nano-Polymer Gel Coating Heat Transfer and Slip Flow: Manufacturing Simulation
Authors: Anwar Beg, Sireetorn Kuharat, Rashid Mehmood, Rabil Tabassum, Meisam Babaie
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Nano-polymeric solar paints and sol-gels have emerged as a major new development in solar cell/collector coatings offering significant improvements in durability, anti-corrosion and thermal efficiency. They also exhibit substantial viscosity variation with temperature which can be exploited in solar collector designs. Modern manufacturing processes for such nano-rheological materials frequently employ stagnation flow dynamics under high temperature which invokes radiative heat transfer. Motivated by elaborating in further detail the nanoscale heat, mass and momentum characteristics of such sol gels, the present article presents a mathematical and computational study of the steady, two-dimensional, non-aligned thermo-fluid boundary layer transport of copper metal-doped water-based nano-polymeric sol gels under radiative heat flux. To simulate real nano-polymer boundary interface dynamics, thermal slip is analysed at the wall. A temperature-dependent viscosity is also considered. The Tiwari-Das nanofluid model is deployed which features a volume fraction for the nanoparticle concentration. This approach also features a Maxwell-Garnet model for the nanofluid thermal conductivity. The conservation equations for mass, normal and tangential momentum and energy (heat) are normalized via appropriate transformations to generate a multi-degree, ordinary differential, non-linear, coupled boundary value problem. Numerical solutions are obtained via the stable, efficient Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg scheme with shooting quadrature in MATLAB symbolic software. Validation of solutions is achieved with a Variational Iterative Method (VIM) utilizing Langrangian multipliers. The impact of key emerging dimensionless parameters i.e. obliqueness parameter, radiation-conduction Rosseland number (Rd), thermal slip parameter (α), viscosity parameter (m), nanoparticles volume fraction (ϕ) on non-dimensional normal and tangential velocity components, temperature, wall shear stress, local heat flux and streamline distributions is visualized graphically. Shear stress and temperature are boosted with increasing radiative effect whereas local heat flux is reduced. Increasing wall thermal slip parameter depletes temperatures. With greater volume fraction of copper nanoparticles temperature and thermal boundary layer thickness is elevated. Streamlines are found to be skewed markedly towards the left with positive obliqueness parameter.Keywords: non-orthogonal stagnation-point heat transfer, solar nano-polymer coating, MATLAB numerical quadrature, Variational Iterative Method (VIM)
Procedia PDF Downloads 1352383 Technical Specifications of Bombardier Challenger 605 SN 5769 Aircraft
Authors: Rohan Sarker, Jon P. Conlon
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The Bombardier Challenger 605 SN 5769 is a versatile business jet known for its superior range, advanced avionics, and spacious cabin. Powered by two General Electric CF34-3B engines, each producing 8,729 pounds of thrust, the aircraft offers a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles, allowing for non-stop transcontinental flights. It operates at a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.82 (541 mph) and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet, ensuring efficient, high-altitude travel. The aircraft’s avionics suite is equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21, offering advanced navigation, communication, and weather systems. The cockpit features dual Flight Management Systems (FMS) and GPS to enhance operational safety and precision. Inside, the Challenger 605 boasts a luxurious and customizable cabin that accommodates up to 12 passengers. The aircraft also provides ample baggage space, excellent short-field performance, and impressive fuel efficiency, making it ideal for business or personal long-range travel.Keywords: aircraft, airframe, Bombardier, engines
Procedia PDF Downloads 282382 Assessment the Manner of Obtaining Hierarchies and Privacy of Traditional Houses Entrance in Providing a Safe Place-Case Study: Traditional Houses in Shiraz
Authors: Zahra A. Barzegar, Maryam B. Golboo
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In this paper, the manner of obtaining hierarchies and privacy entry of traditional houses in providing a safe place in the city of Shiraz will be evaluated by qualitative–descriptive methods and 6 old houses are the case study. The houses of Shiraz, as the houses in other cities in Iran are a response to climate and physical features. The old part of Shiraz has a compressed and dense texture in which the houses are in narrow and tight alleys. In this regard, the principles of traditional house entrance design have been introduced. The results show that every house has a private entrance. Direction of the entry of most houses is toward the south and with a turn to the South-East side. Entrance to yard path in all the cases is not straight, and this had been done by using 90 degrees rotates of the corridor leading to the yard. Vestibule provides a private place for the house and entrance stairway to the rooftop is located inside it.Keywords: entrance, components of entrance, hierarchy, frontage, Shiraz houses
Procedia PDF Downloads 3092381 In-Game Business and the Problem of Gambling: Legal Analysis of Loot Boxes from the Perspective of Iranian Law
Authors: Vesali Naseh Morteza, Najafi Mohammad Hosein
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The possibility of trading in-game items for real money provides a high economic capacity for online games and turns them into a business model. Nowadays, the market for in-game item purchases and microtransactions or micropayments has been growing increasingly. Since the market should be legal, lawyers and lawmakers around the world have expressed concerns over the legality of online gaming and in-game transactions. The issue is highlighted by the recent emergence of an in-game business model in the name of loot boxes. Similarities between loot boxes gaming and gambling features activities have started a legal debate as to whether loot boxes constitute a form of gambling or whether the game’s use of loot boxes should be considered gambling. Hence, based on the relationship between loot boxes purchasing and problem gambling, the paper investigates the legal effect of the newly emergent phenomenon of loot boxes on online games from the perspective of Iranian law.Keywords: serious games, loot boxes, online gambling, in-game purchase, virtual items
Procedia PDF Downloads 1072380 A Density Functional Theory Computational Study on the Inhibiting Action of Some Derivatives of 1,8-Bis(Benzylideneamino)Naphthalene against Aluminum Corrosion
Authors: Taher S. Ababneh, Taghreed M. A. Jazzazi, Tareq M. A. Alshboul
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The inhibiting action against aluminum corrosion by three derivatives of 1,8-bis (benzylideneamino) naphthalene (BN) Schiff base has been investigated by means of DFT quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. The derivatives (CBN, NBN and MBN) were prepared from the condensation reaction of 1,8-diaminonaphthalene with substituted benzaldehyde (4-CN, 3-NO₂ and 3,4-(OMe)₂, respectively). Calculations were conducted to study the adsorption of each Schiff base on aluminum surface to evaluate its potential as a corrosion inhibitor. The computational structural features and electronic properties of each derivative such as relative energies and energies of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) have been reported. Thermodynamic functions and quantum chemical parameters such as the hardness of the inhibitor, the softness and the electrophilicity index were calculated to determine the derivative of the highest inhibition efficiency.Keywords: corrosion, aluminum, DFT calculation, 1, 8-diaminonaphthalene, benzaldehyde
Procedia PDF Downloads 3472379 Effects of Variable Viscosity on Radiative MHD Flow in a Porous Medium Between Twovertical Wavy Walls
Authors: A. B. Disu, M. S. Dada
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This study was conducted to investigate two dimensional heat transfer of a free convective-radiative MHD (Magneto-hydrodynamics) flow with temperature dependent viscosity and heat source of a viscous incompressible fluid in a porous medium between two vertical wavy walls. The fluid viscosity is assumed to vary as an exponential function of temperature. The flow is assumed to consist of a mean part and a perturbed part. The perturbed quantities were expressed in terms of complex exponential series of plane wave equation. The resultant differential equations were solved by Differential Transform Method (DTM). The numerical computations were presented graphically to show the salient features of the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. The skin friction and Nusselt number were also analyzed for various governing parameters.Keywords: differential transform method, MHD free convection, porous medium, two dimensional radiation, two wavy walls
Procedia PDF Downloads 4472378 Identifying the Risks on Philippines’ Pre- and Post-Disaster Media Communication on Natural Hazards
Authors: Neyzielle Ronnicque Cadiz
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The Philippine is a hotbed of disasters and is a locus of natural hazards. With an average of 20 typhoons entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) each year, seven to eight (7-8) of which makes landfall. The country rather inevitably suffers from climate-related calamities. With this vulnerability to natural hazards, the relevant hazard-related issues that come along with the potential threat and occurrence of a disaster oftentimes garners lesser media attention than when a disaster actually occurred. Post-disaster news and events flood the content of news networks primarily focusing on, but not limited to, the efforts of the national government in resolving post-disaster displacement, and all the more on the community leaders’ incompetence in disaster mitigation-- even though the University of the Philippines’ NOAH Center work hand in hand with different stakeholders for disaster mitigation communication efforts. Disaster risk communication is actually a perennial dilemma. There are so many efforts to reach the grassroots level but emergency and disaster preparedness messages inevitably fall short.. The Philippines is very vulnerable to hazards risk and disasters but social media posts and communication efforts mostly go unnoticed, if not argued upon. This study illustrates the outcomes of a research focusing on the print, broadcast, and social media’s role on disaster communication involving the natural catastrophic events that took place in the Philippines from 2009 to present. Considering the country’s state of development, this study looks on the rapid and reliable communication between the government, and the relief/rescue workers in the affected regions; and how the media portrays these efforts effectively. Learning from the disasters that have occurred in the Philippines over the past decade, effective communication can ensure that any efforts to prepare and respond to disasters can make a significant difference. It can potentially either break or save lives. Recognizing the role of communications is not only in improving the coordination of vital services for post disaster; organizations gave priority in reexamining disaster preparedness mechanisms through the Communication with Communities (CwC) programs. This study, however, looks at the CwC efforts of the Philippine media platforms. CwC, if properly utilized by the media, is an essential tool in ensuring accountability and transparency which require effective exchange of information between disasters and survivors and responders. However, in this study, it shows that the perennial dilemma of the Philippine media is that the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) efforts of the country lie in the clouded judgment of political aims. This kind of habit is a multiplier of the country’s risk and insecurity. Sometimes the efforts in urging the public to take action seem useless because the challenge lies on how to achieve social, economic, and political unity using the tri-media platform.Keywords: Philippines at risk, pre/post disaster communication, tri-media platform, UP NOAH
Procedia PDF Downloads 1792377 Design, Construction and Characterization of a 3He Proportional Counter for Detecting Thermal Neutron
Authors: M. Fares, S. Mameri, I. Abdlani, K. Negara
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Neutron detectors in general, proportional counters gas filling based isotope 3He in particular are going to be essential for monitoring and control of certain nuclear facilities, monitoring of experimentation around neutron beams and channels nuclear research reactors, radiation protection instruments and other tools multifaceted exploration and testing of materials, etc. This work consists of a measurement campaign features two Proportional Counters 3He (3He: LND252/USA CP, CP prototype: 3He LND/DDM). This is to make a comparison study of a CP 3He LND252/USA reference one hand, and in the context of routine periodic monitoring of the characteristics of the detectors for controlling the operation especially for laboratory prototypes. In this paper, we have described the different characteristics of the detectors and the experimental protocols used. Tables of measures have been developed and the different curves were plotted. The experimental campaign at stake: 2 PC 3He were thus characterized: Their characteristics (sensitivity, energy pulse height distribution spectra, gas amplification etc.) Were identified: 01 PC 3He 1'' Type: prototype DEDIN/DDM, 01 PC 3He 1'' Type: LND252/USA.Keywords: PC 3He, sensitivity, pulse height distribution spectra, gas amplification
Procedia PDF Downloads 4422376 Utilization of Secure Wireless Networks as Environment for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
Authors: Mohammed A. M. Ibrahim
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This paper investigate the utilization of wire and wireless networks to be platform for distributed educational monitoring system. Universities in developing countries suffer from a lot of shortages(staff, equipment, and finical budget) and optimal utilization of the wire and wireless network, so universities can mitigate some of the mentioned problems and avoid the problems that maybe humble the education processes in many universities by using our implementation of the examinations system as a test-bed to utilize the network as a solution to the shortages for academic staff in Taiz University. This paper selects a two areas first one quizzes activities is only a test bed application for wireless network learning environment system to be distributed among students. Second area is the features and the security of wireless, our tested application implemented in a promising area which is the use of WLAN in higher education for leering environment.Keywords: networking wire and wireless technology, wireless network security, distributed computing, algorithm, encryption and decryption
Procedia PDF Downloads 3372375 The Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Media Production
Authors: Mona Mikhail Shakhloul Gadalla
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The brand-new media revolution, which features a huge range of new media technologies like blogs, social networking, visual worlds, and wikis, has had a tremendous impact on communications, traditional media and across different disciplines. This paper gives an evaluation of the impact of recent media technology on the news, social interactions and conventional media in developing and advanced nations. The look points to the reality that there is a widespread impact of recent media technologies on the news, social interactions and the conventional media in developing and developed nations, albeit undoubtedly and negatively. Social interactions have been considerably affected, in addition to news manufacturing and reporting. It's miles reiterated that regardless of the pervasiveness of recent media technologies, it might now not carry a complete decline of conventional media. This paper contributes to the theoretical framework of the new media and will assist in assessing the extent of the effect of the new media in special places.Keywords: court reporting, offenders in media, quantitative content analysis, victims in mediamedia literacy, ICT, internet, education communication, media, news, new media technologies, social interactions, traditional media
Procedia PDF Downloads 342374 Fully Printed Strain Gauges: A Comparison of Aerosoljet-Printing and Micropipette-Dispensing
Authors: Benjamin Panreck, Manfred Hild
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Strain sensors based on a change in resistance are well established for the measurement of forces, stresses, or material fatigue. Within the scope of this paper, fully additive manufactured strain sensors were produced using an ink of silver nanoparticles. Their behavior was evaluated by periodic tensile tests. Printed strain sensors exhibit two advantages: Their measuring grid is adaptable to the use case and they do not need a carrier-foil, as the measuring structure can be printed directly onto a thin sprayed varnish layer on the aluminum specimen. In order to compare quality characteristics, the sensors have been manufactured using two different technologies, namely aerosoljet-printing and micropipette-dispensing. Both processes produce structures which exhibit continuous features (in contrast to what can be achieved with droplets during inkjet printing). Briefly summarized the results show that aerosoljet-printing is the preferable technology for specimen with non-planar surfaces whereas both technologies are suitable for flat specimen.Keywords: aerosoljet-printing, micropipette-dispensing, printed electronics, printed sensors, strain gauge
Procedia PDF Downloads 2032373 Spin-Polarized Investigation of Ferromagnetism on Magnetic Semiconductors MnxCa1-xS in the Rock-salt Phase
Authors: B. Ghebouli, M. A. Ghebouli, H. Choutri, M. Fatmi, L. Louail
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The structural, elastic, electronic and magnetic properties of the diluted magnetic semiconductors MnxCa1-xS in the rock-salt phase have been investigated using first-principles calculations. Features such as lattice constant, bulk modulus, elastic constants, spin-polarized band structure, total and local densities of states have been computed. We predict the values of the exchange constants and the band edge spin splitting of the valence and conduction bands. The hybridization between S-3p and Mn-3d produces small local magnetic moment on the nonmagnetic Ca and S sites. The ferromagnetism is induced due to the exchange splitting of S-3p and Mn-3d hybridized bands. The total magnetic moment per Mn of MnxCa1-xS is 4.4µB and is independent of the Mn concentration. The unfilled Mn -3d levels reduce the local magnetic moment of Mn from its free space charge value of 5µB to 4.4µB due to 3p–3d hybridization.Keywords: semiconductors, Ab initio calculations, band-structure, magnetic properties
Procedia PDF Downloads 3552372 Using Data Mining Technique for Scholarship Disbursement
Authors: J. K. Alhassan, S. A. Lawal
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This work is on decision tree-based classification for the disbursement of scholarship. Tree-based data mining classification technique is used in other to determine the generic rule to be used to disburse the scholarship. The system based on the defined rules from the tree is able to determine the class (status) to which an applicant shall belong whether Granted or Not Granted. The applicants that fall to the class of granted denote a successful acquirement of scholarship while those in not granted class are unsuccessful in the scheme. An algorithm that can be used to classify the applicants based on the rules from tree-based classification was also developed. The tree-based classification is adopted because of its efficiency, effectiveness, and easy to comprehend features. The system was tested with the data of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Abuja, a Parastatal of Federal Ministry of Communication Technology that is mandated to develop and regulate information technology in Nigeria. The system was found working according to the specification. It is therefore recommended for all scholarship disbursement organizations.Keywords: classification, data mining, decision tree, scholarship
Procedia PDF Downloads 3762371 NEOM Coast from Intertidal to Sabkha Systems: A Geological Overview
Authors: Mohamed Abouelresh, Subhajit Kumar, Lamidi Babalola, Septriandi Chan, Ali Al Musabeh A., Thadickal V. Joydas, Bruno Pulido
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Neom has a relatively long coastline on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, which is about 300 kilometres long, in addition to many naturally formed bays along the Red Sea coast. Undoubtedly, these coasts provide an excellent opportunity for tourism and other activities; however, these coastal areas host a wide range of salinity-dependent ecosystems that need to be protected. The main objective of the study was to identify the coastal features, including tidal flats and salt flats, along the NEOM coast. A base map of the study area generated from the satellite images contained the main landform features and, in particular, the boundaries of the inland and coastal sabkhas. A field survey was conducted to map and characterize the intertidal and sabkha landforms. The coastal and inner coastal areas of NEOM are mainly covered by the quaternary sediments, which include gravel sheets, terraces, raised reef limestone, evaporite successions, eolian dunes, and undifferentiated sand/gravel deposits (alluvium, alluvial outwash, wind-blown sand beach). There are different landforms that characterizes the NEOM coast, including rocky coast, tidal zone, and sabkha. Sabkha area ranges between a few to tens of square kilometers. Coastal sabkha extended across the shoreline of NEOM, specifically at Gayal and Sharma areas, while the continental sabkha only existed at Gayal Town. The inland Sabkha at Gayal is mainly composed of a thin (15-25 cm) evaporite crust composed of a dark brown, cavernous, rugged, pitted, colloidal salty sand layer with salt-tolerant vegetation. The inland Sabkha is considered a groundwater-driven sedimentary system as indicated by syndepositional intra-sediment capillary evaporites, which precipitate in both marine and continental salt flats. Gayal coastal Sabkha is made up of tidal inlets, tidal creeks, and lagoons followed in a landward direction with well-developed sabkha layers. The surface sediments of the coastal Sabkha are composed of unlithified calcareous, gypsiferous, coarse to medium sands, and silt with bioclastic fragments underlain by several organic-rich layers. The coastal flat is graded landward into widespread, flat vegetated Sabkhas dissected by tributaries of the fluvial system, which debouches to the Red Sea. The coast from Gayal to Magna through Ras El-Sheikh Humaid is continuously subjected to tidal flows, which create an intertidal depositional system. The intertidal flats at NEOM are extensive, nearly horizontal land forming a very dynamic system in which several physical, chemical, geomorphological, and biological processes are acting simultaneously. The current work provides a field-based identification of the coastal sabkha and intertidal sites at NEOM. However, the mutual interaction between tidal flows and sabkha development, particularly at Gayal, needs to be well understood through comprehensive field and lab analysis.Keywords: coast, intertidal, deposition, sabkha
Procedia PDF Downloads 822370 Health Portals for Specific Populations: A Design for Pregnant Women
Authors: Janine Sommer, Mariana Daus, Mariana Simon, Maria Smith, Daniel Luna
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The technologies and communication advances contributed to new tools development which allows patients to have an active role in their own health. In the light of information needs and paradigms changes about health, the patient self-manages their care. This line of care focuses on patients; specific portals come up to people with particular requirements like pregnant women. Thinking of a portal design to this sector of the population, in September 2016 a survey was made to users with the objective to knowing and understanding information’s needs at the moment to use an application for pregnant. Also, prototypes of the portal´s features were designed to try and validate with users, using the methodology of human-centered design. Investigations have made possible the identification of needs of this population and develop a tool who try to satisfy, providing timely information for each part of pregnancy and allowing the patients to make a physical check and the follow up of pregnancy seeking advice from our obstetricians.Keywords: electronic health record, health personal record, mobile applications, pregnant women
Procedia PDF Downloads 3512369 Parkinson’s Disease Hand-Eye Coordination and Dexterity Evaluation System
Authors: Wann-Yun Shieh, Chin-Man Wang, Ya-Cheng Shieh
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This study aims to develop an objective scoring system to evaluate hand-eye coordination and hand dexterity for Parkinson’s disease. This system contains three boards, and each of them is implemented with the sensors to sense a user’s finger operations. The operations include the peg test, the block test, and the blind block test. A user has to use the vision, hearing, and tactile abilities to finish these operations, and the board will record the results automatically. These results can help the physicians to evaluate a user’s reaction, coordination, dexterity function. The results will be collected to a cloud database for further analysis and statistics. A researcher can use this system to obtain systematic, graphic reports for an individual or a group of users. Particularly, a deep learning model is developed to learn the features of the data from different users. This model will help the physicians to assess the Parkinson’s disease symptoms by a more intellective algorithm.Keywords: deep learning, hand-eye coordination, reaction, hand dexterity
Procedia PDF Downloads 662368 Automatic API Regression Analyzer and Executor
Authors: Praveena Sridhar, Nihar Devathi, Parikshit Chakraborty
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As the software product changes versions across releases, there are changes to the API’s and features and the upgrades become necessary. Hence, it becomes imperative to get the impact of upgrading the dependent components. This tool finds out API changes across two versions and their impact on other API’s followed by execution of the automated regression suites relevant to updates and their impacted areas. This tool has 4 layer architecture, each layer with its own unique pre-assigned capability which it does and sends the required information to next layer. This are the 4 layers. 1) Comparator: Compares the two versions of API. 2) Analyzer: Analyses the API doc and gives the modified class and its dependencies along with implemented interface details. 3) Impact Filter: Find the impact of the modified class on the other API methods. 4) Auto Executer: Based on the output given by Impact Filter, Executor will run the API regression Suite. Tool reads the java doc and extracts the required information of classes, interfaces and enumerations. The extracted information is saved into a data structure which shows the class details and its dependencies along with interfaces and enumerations that are listed in the java doc.Keywords: automation impact regression, java doc, executor, analyzer, layers
Procedia PDF Downloads 4882367 Computer Assisted Learning in a Less Resource Region
Authors: Hamidullah Sokout, Samiullah Paracha, Abdul Rashid Ahmadi
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Passing the entrance exam to a university is a major step in one's life. University entrance exam commonly known as Kankor is the nationwide entrance exam in Afghanistan. This examination is prerequisite for all public and private higher education institutions at undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students who are graduated from high schools. In this paper, we reflect the major educational school graduates issues and propose ICT-based test preparation environment, known as ‘Online Kankor Exam Prep System’ to give students the tools to help them pass the university entrance exam on the first try. The system is based on Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), which introduced an essential package of educational technology for learners that features: (i) exam-focused questions and content; (ii) self-assessment environment; and (iii) test preparation strategies in order to help students to acquire the necessary skills in their carrier and keep them up-to-date with instruction.Keywords: web-based test prep systems, learner-centered design, e-learning, intelligent tutoring system
Procedia PDF Downloads 3712366 Identification of How Pre-Service Physics Teachers Understand Image Formations through Virtual Objects in the Field of Geometric Optics and Development of a New Material to Exploit Virtual Objects
Authors: Ersin Bozkurt
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The aim of the study is to develop materials for understanding image formations through virtual objects in geometric optics. The images in physics course books are formed by using real objects. This results in mistakes in the features of images because of generalizations which leads to conceptual misunderstandings in learning. In this study it was intended to identify pre-service physics teachers misunderstandings arising from false generalizations. Focused group interview was used as a qualitative method. The findings of the study show that students have several misconceptions such as "the image in a plain mirror is always virtual". However a real image can be formed in a plain mirror. To explain a virtual object's image formation in a more understandable way an overhead projector and episcope and their design was illustrated. The illustrations are original and several computer simulations will be suggested.Keywords: computer simulations, geometric optics, physics education, students' misconceptions in physics
Procedia PDF Downloads 4042365 Scientific Theoretical Fundamentals of Comparative Analysis
Authors: Khalliyeva Gulnoz Iskandarovna, Mannonova Feruzabonu Sherali Qizi
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A scientific field called comparative literature or literary comparative studies compares two or more literary phenomena. One of the most important scientific fields nowadays, when global social, cultural, and literary relations are growing daily, is comparative literature. Any comparative investigation reveals shared and unique characteristics of literary phenomena, which provide the cornerstone for the creation of overarching theoretical principles that apply to all literature. Comparative analysis consists of objects, and they are their constituents. For researchers, it is enough to know this. Comparative analysis, in addition to the above-mentioned actions, also focuses on comparing the components of the objects of analysis with each other. The purpose of this article is to investigate comparative analysis in literature and to identify similarities and differences between comparable objects. Students, teachers, and researchers should be able to describe comparative research techniques and their fundamental ideas when studying this topic. They should also have a basic understanding of comparative literature and their summary.Keywords: object, natural, social, spiritual, epistemological, logical, methodological, methodological, axiological tasks, stages of comparison, environment, internal features, and typical situations
Procedia PDF Downloads 592364 Understanding Face-to-Face Household Gardens’ Profitability and Local Economic Opportunity Pathways
Authors: Annika Freudenberger, Sin Sokhong
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In just a few years, the Face-to-Face Victory Gardens Project (F2F) in Cambodia has developed a high-impact project that has provided immediate and tangible benefits to local families. This has been accomplished with a relatively hands-off approach that relies on households’ own motivation and personal investments of time and resources -which is both unique and impressive in the landscape of NGO and government initiatives in the area. Households have been growing food both for their own consumption and to sell or exchange. Not all targeted beneficiaries are equally motivated and maximizing their involvement, but there is a clear subset of households -particularly those who serve as facilitators- whose circumstances have been transformed as a result of F2F. A number of household factors and contextual economic factors affect families’ income generation opportunities. All the households we spoke with became involved with F2F with the goal of selling some proportion of their produce (i.e., not exclusively for their own consumption). For some, this income is marginal and supplemental to their core household income; for others, it is substantial and transformative. Some engage directly with customers/buyers in their immediate community, while others sell in larger nearby markets, and others link up with intermediary vendors. All struggle, to a certain extent, to compete in a local economy flooded with cheap produce imported from large-scale growers in neighboring provinces, Thailand, and Vietnam, although households who grow and sell herbs and greens popular in Khmer cuisine have found a stronger local market. Some are content with the scale of their garden, the income they make, and the current level of effort required to maintain it; others would like to expand but are faced with land constraints and water management challenges. Households making a substantial income from selling their products have achieved success in different ways, making it difficult to pinpoint a clear “model” for replication. Within our small sample size of interviewees, it seems as though the families with a clear passion for their gardens and high motivation to work hard to bring their products to market have succeeded in doing so. Khmer greens and herbs have been the most successful; they are not high-value crops, but they are fairly easy to grow, and there is a constant demand. These crops are also not imported as much, so prices are more stable than those of crops such as long beans. Although we talked to a limited number of individuals, it also appears as though successful families either restricted their crops to those that would grow well in drought or flood conditions (depending on which they are affected by most); or benefit already from water management infrastructure such as water tanks which helps them diversify their crops and helps them build their resilience.Keywords: food security, Victory Gardens, nutrition, Cambodia
Procedia PDF Downloads 562363 One-Step Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide Porous Microspheres by Picosecond Pulsed Laser Welding
Authors: Huiwu Yu, Xiangyou Li, Xiaoyan Zeng
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Porous spheres have been widely used in many fields due to their attractive features. In this work, an approach for fabricating porous spheres of nanoparticles was presented, in which the nanoparticles were welded together to form micro spheres by simply irradiating the nanoparticles in liquid medium by a picosecond laser. As an example, anatase titanium dioxide was chosen as a typical material on account of its metastability. The structure and morphologies of the products were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. The results showed that, anatase titanium dioxide micro spheres (2-10 μm) with macroporous (10-100 nm) were prepared from nano-anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles (10-100 nm). The formation process of polycrystalline anatase titanium dioxide microspheres was investigated with different liquid mediums and the input laser fluences. Thus, this facile laser irradiation approach might provide a way for the fabrication of porous microspheres without phase-transition.Keywords: titanium dioxide, porous microspheres, picosecond laser, nano-welding
Procedia PDF Downloads 3052362 Analysis of Q-Learning on Artificial Neural Networks for Robot Control Using Live Video Feed
Authors: Nihal Murali, Kunal Gupta, Surekha Bhanot
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Training of artificial neural networks (ANNs) using reinforcement learning (RL) techniques is being widely discussed in the robot learning literature. The high model complexity of ANNs along with the model-free nature of RL algorithms provides a desirable combination for many robotics applications. There is a huge need for algorithms that generalize using raw sensory inputs, such as vision, without any hand-engineered features or domain heuristics. In this paper, the standard control problem of line following robot was used as a test-bed, and an ANN controller for the robot was trained on images from a live video feed using Q-learning. A virtual agent was first trained in simulation environment and then deployed onto a robot’s hardware. The robot successfully learns to traverse a wide range of curves and displays excellent generalization ability. Qualitative analysis of the evolution of policies, performance and weights of the network provide insights into the nature and convergence of the learning algorithm.Keywords: artificial neural networks, q-learning, reinforcement learning, robot learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 3722361 Concept Drifts Detection and Localisation in Process Mining
Authors: M. V. Manoj Kumar, Likewin Thomas, Annappa
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Process mining provides methods and techniques for analyzing event logs recorded in modern information systems that support real-world operations. While analyzing an event-log, state-of-the-art techniques available in process mining believe that the operational process as a static entity (stationary). This is not often the case due to the possibility of occurrence of a phenomenon called concept drift. During the period of execution, the process can experience concept drift and can evolve with respect to any of its associated perspectives exhibiting various patterns-of-change with a different pace. Work presented in this paper discusses the main aspects to consider while addressing concept drift phenomenon and proposes a method for detecting and localizing the sudden concept drifts in control-flow perspective of the process by using features extracted by processing the traces in the process log. Our experimental results are promising in the direction of efficiently detecting and localizing concept drift in the context of process mining research discipline.Keywords: abrupt drift, concept drift, sudden drift, control-flow perspective, detection and localization, process mining
Procedia PDF Downloads 3452360 Causes of Financial Instability and Banking Crises: A Comparative Study of Analytical Approaches
Authors: Laura Josabeth Oros-Avilés, Josefina León-León
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In recent decades, the concern of the monetary authorities has increased because of the instability of the financial sector caused by the crash of speculative bubbles. In fact, the crash of "housing bubble" in U.S. (2007-2008) led the latest global crisis. The aim of paper is to analyze the features and causes of the financial and banking crisis from an historical view. In particular, in this research, a comparative study of some analytical approaches about economic and financial history is discussed. In addition, the role of monetary policy of central banks in managing financial crises, from its origins to today, is analyzed. According to the studied approaches, two types of factors that cause the financial instability were identified: subjective and objectives. In the research, these factors are deeply discussed, in order to noting the agreements and disagreement between the authors. Specially, it is worth noting that all of them recognized that the credit boom and the financial deregulation are the main causes of financial crises.Keywords: asset prices, banking crises, financial bubble, financial instability, monetary policy
Procedia PDF Downloads 3292359 A Single Phase ZVT-ZCT Power Factor Correction Boost Converter
Authors: Yakup Sahin, Naim Suleyman Ting, Ismail Aksoy
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In this paper, a single phase soft switched Zero Voltage Transition and Zero Current Transition (ZVT-ZCT) Power Factor Correction (PFC) boost converter is proposed. In the proposed PFC converter, the main switch turns on with ZVT and turns off with ZCT without any additional voltage or current stresses. Auxiliary switch turns on and off with zero current switching (ZCS). Also, the main diode turns on with zero voltage switching (ZVS) and turns off with ZCS. The proposed converter has features like low cost, simple control and structure. The output current and voltage are controlled by the proposed PFC converter in wide line and load range. The theoretical analysis of converter is clarified and the operating steps are given in detail. The simulation results of converter are obtained for 500 W and 100 kHz. It is observed that the semiconductor devices operate with soft switching (SS) perfectly. So, the switching power losses are minimum. Also, the proposed converter has 0.99 power factor with sinusoidal current shape.Keywords: power factor correction, zero-voltage transition, zero-current transition, soft switching
Procedia PDF Downloads 8032358 Shear Strength Envelope Characteristics of LimeTreated Clays
Authors: Mohammad Moridzadeh, Gholamreza Mesri
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The effectiveness of lime treatment of soils has been commonly evaluated in terms of improved workability and increased undrained unconfined compressive strength in connection to road and airfield construction. The most common method of strength measurement has been the unconfined compression test. However, if the objective of lime treatment is to improve long-term stability of first-time or reactivated landslides in stiff clays and shales, permanent changes in the size and shape of clay particles must be realized to increase drained frictional resistance. Lime-soil interactions that may produce less platy and larger soil particles begin and continue with time under the highly alkaline pH environment. In this research, pH measurements are used to monitor chemical environment and progress of reactions. Atterberg limits are measured to identify changes in particle size and shape indirectly. Also, fully softened and residual strength measurements are used to examine an improvement in frictional resistance due to lime-soil interactions. The main variables are soil plasticity and mineralogy, lime content, water content, and curing period. Lime effect on frictional resistance is examined using samples of clays with different mineralogy and characteristics which may react with lime to various extents. Drained direct shear tests on reconstituted lime-treated clay specimens with various properties have been performed to measure fully softened shear strength. To measure residual shear strength, drained multiple reversal direct shear tests on precut specimens were conducted. This way, soil particles are oriented along the direction of shearing to the maximum possible extent and provide minimum frictional resistance. This is applicable to reactivated and part of first-time landslides. The Brenna clay, which is the highly plastic lacustrine clay of Lake Agassiz causing slope instability along the banks of the Red River, is one of the soil samples used in this study. The Brenna Formation characterized as a uniform, soft to firm, dark grey, glaciolacustrine clay with little or no visible stratification, is full of slickensided surfaces. The major source of sediment for the Brenna Formation was the highly plastic montmorillonitic Pierre Shale bedrock. The other soil used in this study is one of the main sources of slope instability in Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), i.e. the Beaumont clay. The shear strengths of untreated and treated clays were obtained under various normal pressures to evaluate the shear envelope nonlinearity.Keywords: Brenna clay, friction resistance, lime treatment, residual
Procedia PDF Downloads 1592357 Diagnostic Investigation of Aircraft Performance at Different Winglet Cant Angles
Authors: M. Dinesh, V. Kenny Mark, Dharni Vasudhevan Venkatesan, B. Santhosh Kumar, R. Sree Radesh, V. R. Sanal Kumar
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Comprehensive numerical studies have been carried out to examine the best aerodynamic performance of subsonic aircraft at different winglet cant angles using a validated 3D k-ω SST model. In the parametric analytical studies, NACA series of airfoils are selected. Basic design of the winglet is selected from the literature and flow features of the entire wing including the winglet tip effects have been examined with different cant angles varying from 150 to 600 at different angles of attack up to 140. We have observed, among the cases considered in this study that a case with 150 cant angle the aerodynamics performance of the subsonic aircraft during takeoff was found better up to an angle of attack of 2.80 and further its performance got diminished at higher angles of attack. Analyses further revealed that increasing the winglet cant angle from 150 to 600 at higher angles of attack could negate the performance deterioration and additionally it could enhance the peak CL/CD on the order of 3.5%. The investigated concept of variable-cant-angle winglets appears to be a promising alternative for improving the aerodynamic efficiency of aircraft.Keywords: aerodynamic efficiency, cant angle, drag reduction, flexible winglets
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