Search results for: transmission expansion planning

Authors: Yassine Meraihi, Dalila Acheli, Rabah Meraihi

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MANET for Mobile Ad hoc NETwork is a collection of wireless mobile nodes that communicates with each other without using any existing infrastructure, access point or centralized administration, due to the higher mobility and limited radio transmission range, routing is an important issue in ad hoc network, so in order to ensure reliable and efficient route between to communicating nodes quickly, an appropriate routing protocol is needed. In this paper, we present the performance analysis of two mobile ad hoc network routing protocols namely DSR and OLSR using NS2.34, the performance is determined on the basis of packet delivery ratio, throughput, average jitter and end to end delay with varying pause time.

Keywords: DSR, OLSR, quality of service, routing protocols, MANET

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Authors: M. I. Abdelhamid, A. O. Ghallab, R. S. Ettouney, M. A. El-Rifai

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An optimization scheme based on COM server is suggested for communication between Genetic Algorithm (GA) toolbox of MATLAB and Aspen HYSYS. The structure and details of the proposed framework are discussed. The power of the developed scheme is illustrated by its application to the optimization of a recently developed natural gas liquefaction process in which Aspen HYSYS was used for minimization of the power consumption by optimizing the values of five operating variables. In this work, optimization by coupling between the GA in MATLAB and Aspen HYSYS model of the same process using the same five decision variables enabled improvements in power consumption by 3.3%, when 77% of the natural gas feed is liquefied. Also on inclusion of the flow rates of both nitrogen and carbon dioxide refrigerants as two additional decision variables, the power consumption decreased by 6.5% for a 78% liquefaction of the natural gas feed.

Keywords: stranded gas liquefaction, genetic algorithm, COM server, single nitrogen expansion, carbon dioxide pre-cooling

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Authors: Taonga Temwani Chibaka

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This qualitative research study was conducted to identify the common risk factors that affect the construction industry in Malawi in the building and infrastructure (civil works) projects. The study then evaluates the possible risk responses that are done to mitigate the various risk factors that were identified. I addition the research also established the barriers to risk management implementation with lastly mapping out as where the identified risk factors fall on which stage of the project and then also map out the knowledge areas that need to be worked on the cases on Malawian construction industry in order to mitigate most of the identified risk factors. The study involved the interviewing the professionals from the construction industry in Malawi where insights and ideas were collected, analysed and interpreted. The key study findings show that risks related to clients group are perceived as most critical followed by the contractor related, consultant related and then external group related factors respectively where preventive measures are the most applied risk response technique where the aim to avoid most of the risk factors from happening. Most of the risk factors identified were internal risks and in managerial category which suggested that risk planning was to be emphasized at pre-contract stage to minimize these risks since a bigger percentage of the risk factors were mapped out at implementation stage. Furthermore, barriers to risk management were identified and the key barriers were lack of awareness; lack of knowledge; lack of formal policies in place; regarded as costly and limited time which resulted in proposing that regulating authorities to purposefully introduce intense training on risk management to make known of this new knowledge area. The study then recommends that organisation should formally implement risk management where policies should be introduced to enforce all parties to undertake this. Risk planning was regarded as paramount and this to be done from pre-contract phase so as to mitigate 80% of the risk factors. Finally, training should be done on all project management knowledge areas.

Keywords: risk management, risk factors, risks, malawi

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Authors: S. Ait Ali Yahia

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One of the main features of the Maghreb is its linguistic richness. The multilingualism is a fact which always marked the Maghreb since the beginning of the history up to know. Since the arrival of the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians, Romans, and Arabs, etc, there was a social group in the Maghreb which controlled two kinds of idioms. The libyc one remained, despite everything, the local language used by the major part of the population. This language had a support of written transmission attested by many inscriptions. Among all the forms of the Maghreb writing, this alphabet, however, continues to cause a certain number of questions about the origin and the date of its appearance. The archaeological, linguistic and historical data remain insufficient to answer these questions. This did not prevent the researchers from giving an opinion. In order to answer these questions we will expose here the various assumptions adopted by various authors who are founded on more or less explicit arguments. We will also speak about the various forms taken by the libyc writing during antiquity.

Keywords: the alphabet libyc, Eastern libyc, Western libyc, multilingualism

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Authors: F. Hadjaj, A. Belghachi, A. Halmaoui, M. Belhadj, H. Mazouz

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A laser is essentially an optical oscillator consisting of a resonant cavity, an amplifying medium and a pumping source. In semiconductor diode lasers, the cavity is created by the boundary between the cleaved face of the semiconductor crystal and air and also has reflective properties as a result of the differing refractive indices of the two media. For a GaAs-air interface a reflectance of 0.3 is typical and therefore the length of the semiconductor junction forms the resonant cavity. To prevent light, being emitted in unwanted directions from the junction and Sides perpendicular to the required direction are roughened. The objective of this work is to simulate the optical resonator Fabry-Perot and explore its main characteristics, such as FSR, Finesse, Linewidth, Transmission and so on that describe the performance of resonator.

Keywords: Fabry-Perot Resonator, laser diod, reflectance, semiconductor

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Authors: David A. Wallace, Salakjit J. Nilboworn

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Secure and reliable transmission and distribution of electrical power is crucial in today’s ever-increasing demand for electricity. Traditional methods of protecting the electrical grid have relied on relaying systems receiving voltage and current inputs from inductive instruments transformers (IT). This method has provided robust and stable performance throughout the years. Today with the advent of new non-conventional transformers (NCIT) and sensors, the electrical landscape is changing. These new systems have to ability to provide the same electrical performance as traditional instrument transformers with the added features of data acquisition, communication, smaller footprint, lower cost and resistance to GMD/GIC events.

Keywords: non-conventional instrument transformers, digital substations, smart grids, micro-grids

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Authors: Zi-Yan Chao

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With the rapid development of urbanization and increasing demand for efficient transportation systems, the interaction between land use diversity and transportation resource allocation has become a critical issue in urban planning. Achieving a balance of land use types, such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas, is crucial role in ensuring social equity and sustainable urban development. Simultaneously, optimizing multimodal transportation networks, including bus, subway, and car routes, is essential for minimizing total travel time and costs, while ensuring fairness for all social groups, particularly in meeting the transportation needs of low-income populations. This study develops a bilevel programming model to address these challenges, with land use diversity as the foundation for measuring equity. The upper-level model maximizes land use diversity for balanced land distribution across regions. The lower-level model optimizes multimodal transportation networks to minimize travel time and costs while maintaining user equilibrium. The model also incorporates constraints to ensure fair resource allocation, such as balancing transportation accessibility and cost differences across various social groups. A solution approach is developed to solve the bilevel optimization problem, ensuring efficient exploration of the solution space for land use and transportation resource allocation. This study maximizes social equity by maximizing land use diversity and achieving user equilibrium with optimal transportation resource distribution. The proposed method provides a robust framework for addressing urban planning challenges, contributing to sustainable and equitable urban development.

Keywords: bilevel programming model, genetic algorithms, land use diversity, multimodal transportation optimization, social equity

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Authors: Lise P. Labéjof, Ivna Mororó, Raquel G. Bastos, Maria Isabel G. Severo, Arno H. de Oliveira

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This work presents an alternative mode of intestine mucosa renewal that may allow to better understand the total loss of villi after irradiation. It was tested a morphological method of 3d reconstruction using micrographs of serial sections of rat duodenum. We used hundreds of sections of each specimen of duodenum placed on glass slides and examined under a light microscope. Those containing the detachment, approximately a dozen, were chosen for observation under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Each of these sections was glued on a block of epon resin and recut into a hundred of 60 nm-thick sections. Ribbons of these ultrathin sections were distributed on a series of copper grids in the same order of appearance than during the process of microstomia. They were then stained by solutions of uranyl and lead salts and observed under a TEM. The sections were pictured and the electron micrographs showing signs of cells detachment were transferred into two softwares, ImageJ to align the cellular structures and Reconstruct to realize the 3d reconstruction. It has been detected epithelial cells that exhibited all signs of programmed cell death and localized at the villus-crypt junction. Their nucleus was irregular in shape with a condensed chromatin in clumps. Their cytoplasm was darker than that of neighboring cells, containing many swollen mitochondria. In some places of the sections, we could see intercellular spaces enlarged by the presence of shrunk cells which displayed a plasma membrane with an irregular shape in thermowell as if the cell interdigitations would distant from each other. The three-dimensional reconstruction of the crypts has allowed observe gradual loss of intercellular contacts of crypt cells in the longitudinal plan of the duodenal mucosa. In the transverse direction, there was a gradual increase of the intercellular space as if these cells moved away from one another. This observation allows assume that the gradual remoteness of the cells at the villus-crypt junction is the beginning of the mucosa detachment. Thus, the shrinking of cells due to apoptosis is the way that they detach from the mucosa and progressively the villi also. These results are in agreement with our initial hypothesis and thus have demonstrated that the villi become detached from the mucosa at the villus-crypt junction by the programmed cell death process. This type of loss of entire villus helps explain the rapid denudation of the intestinal mucosa in case of irradiation.

Keywords: 3dr, transmission electron microscopy, ionizing radiations, rat small intestine, apoptosis

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Authors: M. Shaban, A. Alibeigloo

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This paper studies free vibration behavior of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) embedded on elastic medium based on three-dimensional theory of elasticity. To accounting the size effect of carbon nanotubes, nonlocal theory is adopted to shell model. The nonlocal parameter is incorporated into all constitutive equations in three dimensions. The surrounding medium is modeled as two-parameter elastic foundation. By using Fourier series expansion in axial and circumferential direction, the set of coupled governing equations are reduced to the ordinary differential equations in thickness direction. Then, the state-space method as an efficient and accurate method is used to solve the resulting equations analytically. Comprehensive parametric studies are carried out to show the influences of the nonlocal parameter, radial and shear elastic stiffness, thickness-to-radius ratio and radius-to-length ratio.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, embedded, nonlocal, free vibration

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Authors: Ashish Sinha, Pushpend Agrawal

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Background: Patients with undiagnosed pulmonary TB predominantly act as reservoirs for its transmission through 10-15 secondary infections in the next 1-5 Yrs. Delays in the diagnosis and treatment may worsen the disease with increase the risk of death. Factors responsible for such delays by tracking patient pathways to treatment may help in planning better interventions. The provision of ‘free diagnosis and treatment’ forms the cornerstone of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). OOPE is defined as the money spent by the patient during TB care other than public health facilities. Free TB care at all health facilities could reduce out-of-pocket expenses to the minimum possible levels. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 252 TB patients from Nov – Oct 2022 by taking in-depth interviews following informed verbal consent. We documented their journey from initial symptoms until they reached the public health facility, along with their ‘out-of-pocket expenditure’ (OOPE) pertaining to TB care. Results: Total treatment delay was 91±72 days on average (median: 77days, IQR: 45-104 days), while the isolated patient delay was 31±45 days (median: 15 days, IQR: 0 days to 43 days); diagnostic delay; 57±60 days (median: 42days, IQR 14-78 days), treatment delay 19 ± 18 days (median: 15days, IQR: 11-19 days). A patient delay (> 30 days) was significantly associated with ignorance about classic symptoms of pulmonary TB, adoption of self-medication, illiteracy, and middle and lower social class. Diagnostic delay was significantly higher among those who contacted private health facilities, were unaware of signs and symptoms, had >2 consultations, and not getting an appropriate referral for TB care. Most (97%) of the study participants interviewed claimed to have incurred some expenditure.Median total expenses were 6155(IQR: 2625-15175) rupees. More than half 141 (56%) of the study participants had expenses >5000 rupees. Median transport expenses were 525(IQR: 200-1012) rupees; Median consultation expenses were 700(IQR: 200-1600) rupees; Median investigation expenses were 1000(IQR: 0-3025) rupees and the Median medicine expenses were 3350(IQR: 1300-7525).OOPE for consultation, investigation, and medicine was observed to be significantly higher among patients who ignored classical signs& symptoms of TB, repeated visits to private health facilities, and due to self-medication practices. Transport expenses and delays in seeking care at facilities were observed to have an upward trend with OOP Expenses (r =1). Conclusion: Delay in TB care due to low awareness about signs and symptoms of TB and poor seeking care, lack of proper consultation, and appropriate referrals reported by the study subjects indicate the areas which need proper attention by the program managers. Despite a centrally sponsored programme, the financial burden on TB patients is still in the unacceptable range. OOPE could be reduced as low as possible by addressing the responsible factors linked to it.

Keywords: patient pathway, delay, pulmonary tuberculosis, out of pocket expenses

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Authors: Jesus Ruano, Asensi Oliva

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The hydrodynamic field generated by a jet expansion is computed via three dimensional compressible Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Finite Volume Method (FVM) will be the discretization used during this simulation as well as hybrid schemes based on Kinetic Energy Preserving (KEP) schemes and up-winding Godunov based schemes with instabilities detectors. Velocity and pressure fields will be stored at different surfaces near the jet, but far enough to enclose all the fluctuations, in order to use them as input for the acoustic solver. The acoustic field is obtained in the far-field region at several locations by means of a hybrid method based on Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH) equation. This equation will be formulated in the spectral domain, via Fourier Transform of the acoustic sources, which are modeled from the results of the initial simulation. The obtained results will allow the study of the broadband noise generated as well as sound directivities.

Keywords: far-field noise, Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings, finite volume method, large eddy simulation, jet noise

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Authors: Paola Montenegro, Maria de los Angeles Balaguera Villa

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In February 2022 Colombia achieved a historic milestone in ensuring universal access to abortion rights with ruling C-055 of 2022 decriminalising abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation. In the context of this triumph and the expansion of telemedicine services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research studied the acceptability of self-care abortion in young people (13 - 28 years) through a telemedicine service and also explored the primary needs that should be the focus of such care. The results shine light on a more comprehensive understanding of opportunities and challenges of teleabortion practices in a context that combines overall higher access to technology and low access to reliable information of safe abortion, stigma, and scarcity especially felt by transnational migrants, racialised people, trans men and non-binary people. Through a mixed methods approach, this study collected 5.736 responses to a virtual survey disseminated nationwide in Colombia and 47 in-person interviews (24 of them with people who were assigned female at birth and 21 with local key stakeholders in the abortion ecosystem). Quantitative data was analyzed using Stata SE Version 16.0 and qualitative analysis was completed through NVivo using thematic analysis. Key findings of the research suggest that self-care abortion is practice with growing acceptability among young people, but important adjustments must be made to meet quality of care expectations of users. Elements like quick responses from providers, lower costs, and accessible information were defined by users as decisive factors to choose over the abortion service provider. In general, the narratives in participants about quality care were centred on the promotion of autonomy and the provision of accompaniment and care practices, also perceived as transformative and currently absent of most health care services. The most staggering findings from the investigation are related to current barriers faced by young people in abortion contexts even when the legal barriers have: high rates of scepticism and distrust associated with pitfalls of telehealth and structural challenges associated with lacking communications infrastructure, among a few of them. Other important barriers to safe self-care abortion identified by participants surfaced like lack of privacy and confidentiality (especially in rural areas of the country), difficulties accessing reliable information, high costs of procedures and expenses related to travel costs or having to cease economic activities, waiting times, and stigma are among the primary barriers to abortion identified by participants. Especially in a scenario marked by unprecedented social, political and economic disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the commitment to design better care services that can be adapted to the identities, experiences, social contexts and possibilities of the user population is more necessary than ever. In this sense, the possibility of expanding access to services through telemedicine brings us closer to the opportunity to rethink the role of health care models in transforming the role of individuals and communities to make autonomous, safe and informed decisions about their own health and well-being.

Keywords: contraception, family planning, premarital fertility, unplanned pregnancy

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Authors: Rebeca Ramirez Acosta, Sebastian Lenhoff

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Decision makers worldwide need to determine if the implementation of a new market mechanism will contribute to the sustainability and resilience of the power system. Due to smart grid technologies, new products in the distribution and transmission system can be traded; however, the impact of changing a market rule will differ between several regions. To test systematically those impacts, a market categorization has been compiled and organized in a smart grid market testing toolbox. This toolbox maps all actual energy products and sets the basis for running a co-simulation test with the new rule to be implemented. It will help to measure the impact of the new rule, based on the sustainable and resilience indicators.

Keywords: co-simulation, electricity market, smart grid market, market testing

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Authors: Vanessa Casadella, Mourad Chouki, Agnès Ceccarelli, Sofiane Tahi

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Mentoring is positioned in an interpersonal and intergenerational perspective, serving the transmission of interpersonal skills and organizational culture. It echoes orientation, project, self-actualization, guidance, transmission, and filiation. It is available using a formal or informal approach. The formal dimension refers to a privileged relationship between a senior and a junior. Informal mentoring is unplanned and emerges naturally between two people who choose each other. However, it remains more difficult to understand. To study the link between formal and informal mentoring and to define the notion of “social” mentoring, we conducted a qualitative study of an exploratory nature with around ten SSE organizations located in the southeast region of Tunisia. The wealth of this territory has pushed residents to found SSE organizations with a view to creating jobs but also to preserving traditions and preserving nature. These organizations developed spontaneously to solve various local problems, such as the revitalization of deserted rural areas, environmental degradation, and the reskilling and professional reintegration of people marginalized in the labor market. This research, based on semi-structured interviews in order to obtain exhaustive and sensitive data, involves an interview guide with few questions mobilized to let the respondents, leaders of the different structures, express themselves freely. The guide includes questions on activities, methods of sharing knowledge, and difficulties in understanding between stakeholders. The interviews, lasting 30 to 60 minutes, were recorded using a dictaphone and then transcribed in full. The results are as follows: 1. We see two iterative mentoring loops. A first loop can be considered a type of formal mentoring. It highlights the support organized (in the form of training) by social enterprises with the aim of developing the autonomy, know-how, and interpersonal skills of members. A second loop concerns informal mentoring. This is non-formalized support provided by members or with other members of the entourage. This informal mentoring is mainly based on the observation of good practices and learning by doing. 2. We notice an intersection between the two loops. If the first loop is not done, the second will not take place. The knowledge acquired in the first loop is used to feed the second. 3. We note a form of reluctance on the part of some members to share their knowledge for reasons of competition. Ultimately, we retain the notion of “social” mentoring as a hybridization of formal and informal mentoring while dimensioning the “social” perspective by emphasizing the reciprocal character, solidarity, confidence, and trust between the mentor and the mentee.

Keywords: social innovation, social mentoring, social and solidarity economy, informal mentoring

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Authors: Ali Akbar

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The main purpose of this essay is to examine whether or not the earthly punishments in regards to apostates that are often found in classical Islamic sources are applicable in the present context. The paper indeed addresses how Muslims should understand the question of apostasy in the contemporary context. To do so, the paper first argues that an accurate understanding of the way the Quranic verses and prophetic hadiths deal with the concept of apostasy could help us rethink and re-examine the classical Islamic laws on apostasy in the present context. In addition, building on Abdolkarim Soroush’s theory of contraction and expansion of religious knowledge, this article argues that approaches to apostasy in the present context can move away from what prescribed by classical Islamic laws. Finally, it argues that instances of persecution of apostates in the early days of Islam during the Medinan period of Muhammad’s prophetic mission should be interpreted in their own socio-historical context. Rereading these reports within our modern context supports the mutability of the traditional corporal punishments of apostasy.

Keywords: apostasy, Islam, Quran, hadith, Abdolkarim Soroush, contextualization

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Authors: Nadhia Maharany Siara, Muammal, Ilham Nurhakim, Rofifah Yusadi, M. Adie Putra Tanggara, I. Nyoman Suluh Wijaya

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Urbanization in urban areas has impact to the demand of land use for housing, and it began to occur development in the high-density area called Kampung Kota. Kampung Kota grows and develops without planning or organically. The existence of Kampung Kota, becoming identity of the city development in Indonesia, gives self-identity to the city planning in Indonesia, but the existence of Kampung Kota in the development of the city in Indonesia is often considered as a source of environment, health, and social problems. This cause negative perception about the sustainability of Kampung Kota. This research aims to identify morphology and sustainability level of Kampung Kota in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City. So far, there have not been many studies that define sustainability of Kampung Kota especially from the perspective of Kampung Kota morphology as a part of urban housing areas. This research took place in in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City which is one of the oldest Kampung Kota in Malang City. Identification of the sustainability level in this research is done by defining the morphology of Kampung Kota in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City with a descriptive approach to the observation case (Kampung Kota Polehan Sub-District). After that, definition of sustainability level is defined by quantifying the spatial structure by using the criteria from the new urbanism model which consist of buildings and populations density, compactness, diversity and mix land uses and sustainable transportation. In this case, the use of new urbanism model approach is very appropriate. New Urbanism is a design-driven strategy that is based on traditional forms to minimize urban sprawl in the suburbs. The result obtained from this study is the hometown of the level of sustainability in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City of 3.2 and can be considered to have a good sustainability.

Keywords: Kampung Kota, new urbanism model, sustainability, urban morphology

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Authors: K. Vrinda

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Coastal ecosystems across the world are facing a lot of challenges due to natural phenomena as well as from uncontrolled human interventions. Here, Alappad, a coastal island situated in Kerala, India is undergoing significant damage and is gradually losing its environmental and social sustainability. The area is blessed with very rare and precious black mineral sand deposits. Sand mining for these minerals started in 1911 and is still continuing. But, unfortunately all the problems that Alappad faces now, have its root on mining of this mineral sand. The land area is continuously diminishing due to sea erosion. The mining has also caused displacement of people and environmental degradation. Marine life also is getting affected by mining on beach and pollution. The inhabitants are fishermen who are largely dependent on the eco-system for a living. So loss of environmental sustainability subsequently affects social sustainability too. Now the damage has reached a point beyond which our actions may not be able to make any impact. This was one of the most affected areas of the 2004 tsunami and the environmental degradation has further increased the vulnerability. So this study focuses on understanding the concerns related to the resource utilization, environment and the indigenous community staying there, and on formulating suitable strategies to restore the sustainability of the area. An extensive study was conducted on site, to find out the physical, social, and economical characteristics of the area. A focus group discussion with the inhabitants shed light on different issues they face in their day-to-day life. The analysis of all these data, led to the formation of a new development vision for the area which focuses on environmental restoration and socio-economic development while allowing controlled exploitation of resources. A participatory approach is formulated which enables these three aspects through community based programs.

Keywords: Community development, Disaster resilience, Ecological restoration, Environmental sustainability, Social-environmental planning, Social Sustainability

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Authors: Herath M. P. C. Jayaweera, Samer Hanoun

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Path planning for on-time obstacle avoidance is an essential and challenging task that enables drones to achieve safe operation in any application domain. The level of challenge increases significantly on the obstacle avoidance technique when the drone is following a ground mobile entity (GME). This is mainly due to the change in direction and magnitude of the GME′s velocity in dynamic and unstructured environments. Force field techniques are the most widely used obstacle avoidance methods due to their simplicity, ease of use, and potential to be adopted for three-dimensional dynamic environments. However, the existing force field obstacle avoidance techniques suffer many drawbacks, including their tendency to generate longer routes when the obstacles are sideways of the drone′s route, poor ability to find the shortest flyable path, propensity to fall into local minima, producing a non-smooth path, and high failure rate in the presence of symmetrical obstacles. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper proposes an on-time three-dimensional obstacle avoidance method for drones to effectively and efficiently avoid dynamic and static obstacles in unknown environments while pursuing a GME. This on-time obstacle avoidance technique generates velocity waypoints for its obstacle-free and efficient path based on the shape of the encountered obstacles. This method can be utilized on most types of drones that have basic distance measurement sensors and autopilot-supported flight controllers. The proposed obstacle avoidance technique is validated and evaluated against existing force field methods for different simulation scenarios in Gazebo and ROS-supported PX4-SITL. The simulation results show that the proposed obstacle avoidance technique outperforms the existing force field techniques and is better suited for real-world applications.

Keywords: drones, force field methods, obstacle avoidance, path planning

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Authors: Sumayya S.

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Making cities adaptive and inclusive is one among the inherent goal and challenge for contemporary cities. This is a serious concern when the urban transformations occur in varying magnitude due to visible and invisible factors. One type of visibly invisible factor is ecommerce and its expanding operation that is understood to cause changes to the conventional spatial structure positively and negatively. With the continued growth in e-commerce activities and its future potential, market analysts, media, and even retailers have questioned the importance of a future presence of traditional Brick-and-mortar stores in cities as a critical element, with some even referring to the repeated announcement of the closure of some store chains as the end of the online shopping era. Essentially this raises the question of how adaptive and inclusive the cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes that are often unseen. People have become more comfortable with seating inside and door delivery systems, and this increased change in usage of public spaces, especially the commercial corridors. Through this research helped in presetting a new approach for planning and designing commercial activities centers and also presents the impact of ecommerce on the urban fabric, such as division and fragmentation of space, showroom syndrome, reconceptualization of space, etc., in a critical way. The changes are understood by analyzing the e-commerce logistic process. Based on the inferences reach at the conclusion for the need of an integrated approach in the field of planning and designing of public spaces for the sustainable omnichannel retailing. This study was carried out with the following objectives Monitoring the impact of e commerce on the traditional shopping space. Explore the new challenges and opportunities faced by the urban form. Explore how adaptive and inclusive our cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes caused by ecommerce.

Keywords: E-commerce, shopping streets, online environment, offline environment, shopping factors

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Authors: Rashi Bhalla, Russel Pears, M. Asif Naeem

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In this 'Information Explosion Era' analyzing data 'a critical commodity' and mining knowledge from vertically distributed data stream incurs huge communication cost. However, an effort to decrease the communication in the distributed environment has an adverse influence on the classification accuracy; therefore, a research challenge lies in maintaining a balance between transmission cost and accuracy. This paper proposes a method based on Bayesian inference to reduce the communication volume in a heterogeneous distributed environment while retaining prediction accuracy. Our experimental evaluation reveals that a significant reduction in communication can be achieved across a diverse range of dataset types.

Keywords: big data, bayesian inference, distributed data stream mining, heterogeneous-distributed data

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Authors: Farhood Rismanchian, Seong Hyeon Park, Young Hoon Lee

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This paper proposes a method to optimize the layout of an emergency department (ED) based on real executions of care processes by considering several planning objectives simultaneously. Recently, demand for healthcare services has been dramatically increased. As the demand for healthcare services increases, so do the need for new healthcare buildings as well as the need for redesign and renovating existing ones. The importance of implementation of a standard set of engineering facilities planning and design techniques has been already proved in both manufacturing and service industry with many significant functional efficiencies. However, high complexity of care processes remains a major challenge to apply these methods in healthcare environments. Process mining techniques applied in this study to tackle the problem of complexity and to enhance care process analysis. Process related information such as clinical pathways extracted from the information system of an ED. A 0-1 goal programming approach is then proposed to find a single layout that simultaneously satisfies several goals. The proposed model solved by optimization software CPLEX 12. The solution reached using the proposed method has 42.2% improvement in terms of walking distance of normal patients and 47.6% improvement in walking distance of critical patients at minimum cost of relocation. It has been observed that lots of patients must unnecessarily walk long distances during their visit to the emergency department because of an inefficient design. A carefully designed layout can significantly decrease patient walking distance and related complications.

Keywords: healthcare operation management, goal programming, facility layout problem, process mining, clinical processes

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Authors: Som Pal Baliyan

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze farm management skills in broiler poultryproducers in Botswana. The study adopted a descriptive and correlation research design. The population of the study was the poultry farm operators who had been in broiler poultry farming at least for two years. Based on the information from literature, a questionnaire was constructed for data collection on seven areas of farm management skills namely; planning skills, accounting and financial management skills, production management skills, product procurement and marketing skills, decision making skills, risk management skills, and specific technical skills. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were accomplished by a panel of experts and by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, respectively. Data were collected through a survey of 60 randomly sampled poultry farm operators in Botswana. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical tools whereby the level of farm management skills were determined by calculating means and standard deviations of the management skills among the broiler producers. The level of farm management skills in broilers producers was discussed. All the seven farm management skills were ranked based on their calculated means. The specific technical skills and risk management skills were the highest and the lowest ranked farm management skills, respectively.Findings revealed that the broiler producers had skills above the average level only in specific technical skills whereas the skill levels in the remaining six farm management skills under study were found below the average level. This prevailing low level of farm management skills can be justified asthe cause of failure or poor performance of the broiler poultry farms in Botswana. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency and productivityin broiler production in the country, it was recommended that the broiler poultry producers should be adequately trained in areas of planning skills, financial management skills, production management skills, product procurement and marketing skills, decision making skills and risk management skills.

Keywords: poultry production, broiler production, management skills, levels of skills

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Authors: Alireza Abdikian

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By assuming a quantum relativistic degenerate electron-positron (e-p) plasma media, the nonlinear acoustic solitary propagation in the presence of the stationary ions for neutralizing the plasma background of bounded cylindrical geometry was investigated. By using the standard reductive perturbation technique with cooperation the quantum hydrodynamics model for the e-p fluid, the spherical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation was derived for small but finite amplitude waves and was given the solitary wave solution for the parameters relevant for dense astrophysical objects such as white dwarf stars. By using a suitable coordinate transformation and using improved F-expansion technique, the SKP equation can be solved analytically. The numerical results reveal that the relativistic effects lead to propagate the electrostatic bell shape structures and by increasing the relativistic effects, the amplitude and the width of the e-p acoustic solitary wave will decrease.

Keywords: Electron-positron plasma, Acoustic solitary wave, Relativistic plasmas, the spherical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation

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Authors: Fawzia Al-Sakeer, Hassan Aldeeb

Abstract:

Development in the communications field is proceeding at an amazing speed, which has led researchers to improve and develop electronic circuits by increasing their efficiency and reducing their size to reduce the weight of electronic devices. One of the most important of these circuits is the band-pass filter, which is what made us carry out this research, which aims to use an alternate technology to design a dual band-pass filter by using a stepped impedance microstrip transmission line. We designed a filter that works at two center frequency bands by designing with the ADS program, and the results were excellent, as we obtained the two design frequencies, which are 1 and 3GHz, and the values of insertion loss S11, which was more than 21dB with a small area.

Keywords: band pass filter, dual band band-pass filter, ADS, microstrip filter, stepped impedance

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Boukhatem Mohamed Belkaid, Lahdi Mourad

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a new encryption system for security issues medical images. The hybrid encryption scheme is based on AES and RSA algorithms to validate the three security services are authentication, integrity, and confidentiality. Privacy is ensured by AES, authenticity is ensured by the RSA algorithm. Integrity is assured by the basic function of the correlation between adjacent pixels. Our system generates a unique password every new session of encryption, that will be used to encrypt each frame of the medical image basis to strengthen and ensure his safety. Several metrics have been used for various tests of our analysis. For the integrity test, we noticed the efficiencies of our system and how the imprint cryptographic changes at reception if a change affects the image in the transmission channel.

Keywords: AES, RSA, integrity, confidentiality, authentication, medical images, encryption, decryption, key, correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 443

Authors: Federica Verna, Alessandra Pautasso, Maria Caramelli, Cristiana Maurella, Walter Mignone, Cristina Casalone

Abstract:

Mosquito-Borne Diseases (MBDs) are dangerously increasing in prevalence, geographical distribution and severity, representing an emerging threat for both humans and animals. Interaction between multiple disciplines is needed for an effective early warning, surveillance and control of MBDs, according to the One Health concept. This work reports the integrated surveillance system enforced by IZSPLV in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta regions (Northwestern Italy) in order to control MDBs spread. Veterinary services and local human health authority are involved in an information network, to connect the surveillance of human clinical cases with entomological surveillance and veterinary monitoring in order to implement control measures in case of outbreak. A systematic entomological surveillance is carried out during the vector season using mosquitoes traps located in sites selected according to risk factors. Collected mosquitoes are counted, identified to species level by morphological standard classification keys and pooled by collection site, date and species with a maximum of 100 individuals. Pools are analyzed, after RNA extraction, by Real Time RT-PCR distinctive for West Nile Virus (WNV) Lineage 1 and Lineage 2, Real Time RT-PCR USUTU virus (USUV) and a traditional flavivirus End-point RT-PCR. Positive pools are sequenced and the related sequences employed to perform a basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) in the GenBank library. Positive samples are sent to the National Reference Centre for Animal Exotic Diseases (CESME, Teramo) for confirmation. With particular reference to WNV, after the confirmation, as provided by national legislation, control measures involving both local veterinary and human health services are activated: equine sera are randomly sampled within a 4 km radius from the positive collection sites and tested with ELISA kit and WNV NAT screening of blood donors is introduced. This surveillance network allowed to detect since 2011 USUV circulation in this area of Italy. WNV was detected in Piedmont and Liguria for the first time in 2014 in mosquitoes. During the 2015 vector season, we observed the expansion of its activity in Piedmont. The virus was detected in almost all Provinces both in mosquitoes (6 pools) and animals (19 equine sera, 4 birds). No blood bag tested resulted infected. The first neuroinvasive human case occurred too. Competent authorities should be aware of a potentially increased risk of MBDs activity during the 2016 vector season. This work shows that this surveillance network allowed to early detect the presence of MBDs in humans and animals, and provided useful information to public authorities, in order to apply control measures. Finally, an additional value of our diagnostic protocol is the ability to detect all viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae family, considering the emergence caused by other Flaviviruses in humans such as the recent Zika virus infection in South America. Italy has climatic and environmental features conducive to Zika virus transmission, the competent vector and many travellers from Brazil reported every year.

Keywords: integrated surveillance, mosquito borne disease, West Nile virus, Zika virus

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Leila Graini

Abstract:

In this paper, we demonstrate basic all-optical functions for 2R regeneration (Re-amplification and Re-shaping) based on self-similar spectral broadening in low normal dispersion and highly nonlinear fiber (ND-HNLF) to regenerate the signal through optical filtering including the transfer function characteristics, and output extinction ratio. Our approach of all-optical 2R regeneration is based on those of Mamyshev. The numerical study reveals the self-similar spectral broadening very effective for 2R all-optical regeneration; the proposed design presents high stability compared to a conventional regenerator using SPM broadening with reduction of the intensity fluctuations and improvement of the extinction ratio.

Keywords: all-optical function, 2R optical regeneration, self-similar broadening, Mamyshev regenerator

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: In-Lee Choi, Sung Mi Hong, Min Jae Jeong, Jun Pill Baek, Ho-Min Kang

Abstract:

Gomchwi (Ligularia fischeri) is grown in the wetland of the deep mountains in Korea and East Asia and has properties that are, inflammation control, whitening, antimutagenic and antigenotoxic. Jangajji is a type of pickle in Korean fermented food which is made by pickling or marinating vegetables in a sauce, such as soy sauce, chili pepper paste, soybean paste, or diluted vinegar for a long period of time. Handaeri-gomchwi jangajii is generally packed a film that has very low or no gas permeability in the Korean domestic market, so packages have a risk of swelling or bursting as a result of internal gas generation during storage or sale This study was conducted to improve secure distribution of Handaeri-gomchwi (Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai) Jangajji using laser ablation OTR (oxygen transmission rate) films. Handaeri-gomchwi cultivated in Yangu, Gangwon province, Republic of Korea (Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai) was processed in to Jangajji using soy sauce. They were packed by different OTR films, and were stored for 90 days in 7℃(10,000 cc, 20,000 cc, 40,000 cc and 80,000 cc O2/m²• day • atm), 20 days in 20℃ (10,000 cc, 30,000 cc, 70,000 cc and 100,000 cc) and compared with the control film(PP film, 1,300cc). The fresh weight loss, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ethylene concentrations of Handaeri–gomchwi packages were measured during storage. On the final day of storage, incidence rate of fungi, pH, salinity, firmness, and off-flavor were measured. The fresh weight loss rate of Handaeri–gomchwi was less than 2.0% in 10,000cc OTR films at two different storage periods and temperatures. At 80,000cc(7℃) and 100,000cc(20℃), carbon dioxide contents were 2.0% and 6.4% respectively, whereas the control treatment had the highest concentration. Which was 35%(20℃) and 15%(7℃) , that resulted the packages to swell during storage. The control treatment Showed the lowest oxygen concentration at 2.5% in 7℃ and 0.8% in 20℃. Packages in 7℃ (0.3-1.7μL/L) showed very lower ethylene concentration than in 20℃(10-25μL/L), they also had no significant relation. On the final storage day, fungi were found in every film at both temperatures, except the 10,000cc, as oxygen permeability increased so did the pH, while the salinity decreased. Firmness and off-flavor Showed the best results at 10,000cc in both temperatures best result at 10,000cc in both temperature. Following the results, 10,000cc film is the most reasonable treat in storing Handaeri–gomchwi. For it had a suitable oxygen transmission rate, which prevents billowing, and maintained good qualities in both temperatures.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, Korean pickle, marketable, oxygen

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Jude Inwumoh, Adam P. R. Taylor, Kosala Gunawardane

Abstract:

Modular multilevel converters (MMC) exhibit a highly scalable and modular characteristic with good voltage/power expansion, fault tolerance capability, low output harmonic content, good redundancy, and a flexible front-end configuration. Fault detection, location, and isolation, as well as maintaining fault ride-through (FRT), are major challenges to MMC reliability and power supply sustainability. Different papers have been reviewed to seek the best MMC configuration with fault capability. DC faults are the most common fault, while the probability that AC fault occurs in a modular multilevel converter (MCC) is low; though, AC faults consequence are severe. This paper reviews several MMC topologies and modulation techniques in tackling faults. These fault control strategies are compared based on cost, complexity, controllability, and power loss. A meshed network of half-bridge (HB) MMC topology was optimal in rendering fault ride through than any other MMC topologies but only when combined with DC circuit breakers (CBS), AC CBS, and fault current limiters (FCL).

Keywords: MMC-HVDC, DC faults, fault current limiters, control scheme

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: S. Tayyebi, F. Mirjalili, H. Samadi, A. Nemati

Abstract:

In this study, hydroxyapatite-Alumina nano composite powder, containing 15,20 and 25% weight percent of reinforced alumina were prepared by chemical precipitation from the reaction between calcium nitrate tetrahydrate and di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate with ratio of Ca / p = 1.67 and different percentage of aluminum nitrate nona hydrate in different pH of 9,10 and 11. The microstructure and thermal stability of samples were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the presence of reinforced alumina phase reduced the degree of crystallinity of hydroxyapatite phase and increased its decomposition to tricalcium phosphate phase. Microstructural analysis showed that the hydroxyapatite-alumina nano composite powder was obtained with spherical shape and size of less than 100 nm.

Keywords: biomaterial, hydroxyapatite, alumina, nano composite, precipitation method

Procedia PDF Downloads 534