Search results for: real life contexts

Authors: Adesoji Tunbosun Jaiyeola, Josiah Adeyemo

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Sediment yield can be considered to be the total sediment load that leaves a drainage basin. The knowledge of the quantity of sediments present in a river at a particular time can lead to better flood capacity in reservoirs and consequently help to control over-bane flooding. Furthermore, as sediment accumulates in the reservoir, it gradually loses its ability to store water for the purposes for which it was built. The development of hydrological models to forecast the quantity of sediment present in a reservoir helps planners and managers of water resources systems, to understand the system better in terms of its problems and alternative ways to address them. The application of artificial intelligence models and technique to such real-life situations have proven to be an effective approach of solving complex problems. This paper makes an extensive review of literature relevant to the theories and applications of evolutionary algorithms, and most especially genetic programming. The successful applications of genetic programming as a soft computing technique were reviewed in sediment modelling and other branches of knowledge. Some fundamental issues such as benchmark, generalization ability, bloat and over-fitting and other open issues relating to the working principles of GP, which needs to be addressed by the GP community were also highlighted. This review aim to give GP theoreticians, researchers and the general community of GP enough research direction, valuable guide and also keep all stakeholders abreast of the issues which need attention during the next decade for the advancement of GP.

Keywords: benchmark, bloat, generalization, genetic programming, over-fitting, sediment yield

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Authors: Saad Bin Nasir

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This study imperially evaluated of five human resource (HR) practices (Wellness program extents are Employee’s assistance program, Health care screenings, and Recreation trips, Seminars for life style, Indoor and Outdoor activities) and there likely impact on the organization productivity in Pakistani organizations. The data were gathering by administrating questionnaires. The result indicated that all five variables are positively and significantly correlated with organization productivity. Results of regressing the all variables on organization productivity show that seminars for life style and employee’s assistance program strong predictors of organization productivity.

Keywords: wellness program, organization’s productivity, employee’s assistance program, health care screening

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Authors: Valentina Talu, Giulia Tola

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Current researches and applications aimed at exploring the role of spatial configuration as a means for improving the autonomy of people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), almost exclusively focus on the definition of criteria for the design of closed, separated, private spaces devoted only to people - mainly children - with ASD. In fact, very few researches specifically investigate the relation between the city and people with autism, focusing on their sensory experiences related to the interaction with the urban environment. The growing incidence of ASD and the need to guarantee during adulthood the actual opportunity to exercise the achieved level of autonomy and independency, emphasizes the necessity to ‘broaden’ the research perspective by investigating also the specific contribution of urban mobility policies and urban design to the enhancement of the quality of life of people with ASD. Starting from these considerations, the paper describes an ongoing research focused on the relation between the city and people with autism spectrum disorder, with the specific aim of promoting their possibility of walking across the city at the neighborhood scale, thus making the access to relevant urban spaces and services possible. In the first part, the paper proposes a framework for illustrating the commonly recurring problems that people with ASD face in their daily life when they interact with the urban environment (with reference to the capability approach). Subsequently, with the support of an in depth analysis of existing contributions (researches and projects) and an exchange with different experts (neuropsychiatrists, teachers, parents), are identified two urban requirements, then 'translated' into an integrated system of urban mobility policies and extra-small tactical project aimed at enhancing the actual possibility for people with ASD of walking through the city autonomously and safely. According to this vision, the promotion of the autonomy of people with ASD through the adoption of mobility policies and micro tactical urban projects can represent an opportunity for promoting and improving the overall quality of urban life.

Keywords: city and people with ASD, quality of urban life of disadvantaged people, urban capabilities, urban design

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Authors: Minsung Kim, Hyunkoo Kang, Jinkoo Kim

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In this study, a hybrid energy dissipation device is developed by combining a steel slit plate and friction pads to be used for seismic retrofit of structures, and its effectiveness is investigated by comparing the life cycle costs of the structure before and after the retrofit. The seismic energy dissipation capability of the dampers is confirmed by cyclic loading tests. The probabilities of reaching various damage states are obtained by fragility analysis, and the life cycle costs of the model structures are computed using the PACT (Performance Assessment Calculation Tool) program based on FEMA P-58 methodology. The fragility analysis shows that the probabilities of reaching limit states are minimized by the seismic retrofit with hybrid dampers and increasing column size. The seismic retrofit with increasing column size and hybrid dampers results in the lowest repair cost and shortest repair time. This research was supported by a grant (13AUDP-B066083-01) from Architecture & Urban Development Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

Keywords: FEMA P-58, friction dampers, life cycle cost, seismic retrofit

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Authors: Noelia L. Alchapar, Cláudia C. Pezzuto, Erica N. Correa

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Mitigating urban overheating is key to achieving the environmental and energy sustainability of cities. The management of the optical properties of the materials that make up the urban envelope -roofing, pavement, and facades- constitutes a profitable and effective tool to improve the urban microclimate and rehabilitate urban areas. Each material that makes up the urban envelope has a different capacity to reflect received solar radiation, which alters the fraction of solar radiation absorbed by the city. However, the paradigm of increasing solar reflectance in all areas of the city without distinguishing their relative position within the urban canyon can cause serious problems of overheating and discomfort among its inhabitants. The hypothesis that supports the research postulates that not all reflective technologies that contribute to urban radiative cooling favor the thermal comfort conditions of pedestrians to equal measure. The objective of this work is to determine to what degree the management of the optical properties of the facades modifies outdoor thermal comfort, given that the mitigation potential of materials with high reflectance in facades is strongly conditioned by geographical variables and by the geometric characteristics of the urban profile aspect ratio (H/W). This research was carried out under two climatic contexts, that of the city of Mendoza-Argentina and that of the city of Campinas-Brazil, according to the Köppen climate classification: BWk and Cwa, respectively. Two areas in two different climatic contexts (Mendoza - Argentina and Campinas - Brazil) were selected. Both areas have comparable urban morphology patterns. These areas are located in a region with low horizontal building density and residential zoning. The microclimatic conditions were monitored during the summer period with temperature and humidity fixed sensors inside vial channels. The microclimate model was simulated in ENVI-Met V5. A grid resolution of 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5m was used for both cities, totaling an area of 145x145x30 grids. Based on the validated theoretical model, ten scenarios were simulated, modifying the height of buildings and the solar reflectivity of facades. The solar reflectivity façades ranges were: low (0.3) and high (0.75). The density scenarios range from 1th to the 5th level. The study scenarios' performance was assessed by comparing the air temperature, physiological equivalent temperature (PET), and thermal climate index (UTCI). As a result, it is observed that the behavior of the materials of the urban outdoor space depends on complex interactions. Many urban environmental factors influence including constructive characteristics, urban morphology, geographic locations, local climate, and so forth. The role of the vertical urban envelope is decisive for the reduction of urban overheating. One of the causes of thermal gain is the multiple reflections within the urban canyon, which affects not only the air temperature but also the pedestrian thermal comfort. One of the main findings of this work leads to the remarkable importance of considering both the urban warming and the thermal comfort aspects of pedestrians in urban mitigation strategies.

Keywords: materials facades, solar reflectivity, thermal comfort, urban cooling

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Authors: M.J. Seddighi, Moradchelleh, M. Keyvan

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The ultimate goal in building a city is to provide pleasant, comfortable and nurturing environment as a context of public life. City environment establishes strong connection with people and their surrounding habitant, acting as relevance in social interactions between citizens itself. Urban environment and appropriate municipal facilities are the only way for proper communication between city and citizens and also citizens themselves.There is a need for complement elements between buildings and constructions to settling city life through which the move, comfort, reactions and anxiety will adjust and reflect the spirit to the city. In the surging development of society, urban’ spaces are encountered evolution, sometimes causing the symbols to fade and waste, and as a result, leading to destroy belongs among humans and their physical liquidate. Houses and living spaces exhibit materialistic reflection of life style. In the other words, way of life makes the symbolic essence of living spaces. In addition, it is of sociocultural factor of lifestyle, consisting the concepts and culture, morality, worldview, and national character. Culture is responsible for some crucial meaningful needs which can be wide because they depend on various causes such as perception and interpretation of believes, philosophy of life, interaction with neighbors and protection against climate and enemies. The bi-lateral relationship between human and nature is the main factor that needs to be properly addressed. It is because of the fact that the approach which is taken against landscape and nature has a pertinent influence on creation and shaping the structure of a house. The first response of human in tackling the environment is to build a “shelter” and place as dwelling. This has been a crucial factor in all time periods. In the proposed study, dwelling in Khorasgan’ Stream, as an area located in one of the important historical city of Iran, has been studied. Khorasgan’ Stream is the basic constituent elements of the present architectural form of Isfahan. The influence of Islamic spiritual culture and neighborhood with the historical elements on the dwelling of the selected location, subsequently on other regions of the town are presented.

Keywords: dwelling, neighborhood, historical, Islamic, architectural elements

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Authors: Bolatbek Rysbaiuly, Nazerke Rysbayeva, Aigerim Rysbayeva

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Relevance: Energy saving elevated to public policy in almost all developed countries. One of the areas for energy efficiency is improving and tightening design standards. In the tie with the state standards, make high demands for thermal protection of buildings. Constructive arrangement of layers should ensure normal operation in which the humidity of materials of construction should not exceed a certain level. Elevated levels of moisture in the walls can be attributed to a defective condition, as moisture significantly reduces the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of materials. Absence at the design stage of modeling the processes occurring in the construction and predict the behavior of structures during their work in the real world leads to an increase in heat loss and premature aging structures. Method: To solve this problem, widely used method of mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer in materials. The mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer are taken into the equation interconnected layer [1]. In winter, the thermal and hydraulic conductivity characteristics of the materials are nonlinear and depends on the temperature and moisture in the material. In this case, the experimental method of determining the coefficient of the freezing or thawing of the material becomes much more difficult. Therefore, in this paper we propose an approximate method for calculating the thermal conductivity and moisture permeability characteristics of freezing or thawing material. Questions. Following the development of methods for solving the inverse problem of mathematical modeling allows us to answer questions that are closely related to the rational design of fences: Where the zone of condensation in the body of the multi-layer fencing; How and where to apply insulation rationally his place; Any constructive activities necessary to provide for the removal of moisture from the structure; What should be the temperature and humidity conditions for the normal operation of the premises enclosing structure; What is the longevity of the structure in terms of its components frost materials. Tasks: The proposed mathematical model to solve the following problems: To assess the condition of the thermo-physical designed structures at different operating conditions and select appropriate material layers; Calculate the temperature field in a structurally complex multilayer structures; When measuring temperature and moisture in the characteristic points to determine the thermal characteristics of the materials constituting the surveyed construction; Laboratory testing to significantly reduce test time, and eliminates the climatic chamber and expensive instrumentation experiments and research; Allows you to simulate real-life situations that arise in multilayer enclosing structures associated with freezing, thawing, drying and cooling of any layer of the building material.

Keywords: energy saving, inverse problem, heat transfer, multilayer walling

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Authors: Mohammed Alhamed

Abstract:

This research examines the factors influencing the acceptance and adoption of digital technologies in Saudi Arabia’s government sector by focusing on government employees' attitudes toward digital transformation initiatives. As digital technologies increasingly integrate into public sectors worldwide, there is a requirement to enhance citizen empowerment and government-public interactions as well as understand their impact in unique socio-political contexts like Saudi Arabia. The study aims to explore user attitudes, identify the main challenges, and investigate factors that affect the intention to use digital applications in governmental settings. The study employs a mixed-methods approach by combining quantitative and qualitative data collection to provide a comprehensive view of digital government application adoption. Data was collected through two online surveys administered to 870 government employees and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 24 participants. This dual approach allows for both statistical analysis and thematic exploration, which provides a deeper understanding of user behaviour, perceived benefits, challenges and attitudes toward these digital applications. Quantitative data were analyzed to identify significant variables influencing adoption, while qualitative responses were coded thematically to uncover recurring themes related to user trust, security, usability and socio-political influences. The results indicate that digital government applications are largely valued for their ability to increase efficiency and accessibility and streamline processes like online documentation and inter-departmental coordination. However, the study highlights that security, privacy, and confidentiality concerns constitute substantial barriers to adoption, with participants calling for stronger cybersecurity measures and data protection policies. Moreover, usability emerged as a key theme that intuitively interfaces in encouraging adoption as respondents emphasized the importance of user-friendly. Additionally, the study found that Saudi Arabia’s unique cultural and organizational dynamics impact acceptance levels with factors like hierarchical structures and varying levels of digital literacy shaping user attitudes. A significant limitation of the study is its exclusive focus on government employees, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other stakeholder groups, such as the general public. Despite this, the study offers valuable views for policymakers. This, in turn, suggests best practices and guidelines that could enhance the design and implementation of digital government projects. By addressing the identified barriers and leveraging the factors that drive adoption, the study underscores the potential for digital government initiatives to improve efficiency, transparency and responsiveness in Saudi Arabia's public sector. Furthermore, these findings may provide a roadmap for similar countries aiming to adopt digital government solutions within comparable socio-political and economic contexts.

Keywords: acceptance, adoption, digital technologies, digital government, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Basharat Yousuf, Abhaya K. Srivastava

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Psyllium gum alone and in combination with sunflower oil was investigated as a possible alternative edible coating for improvement of quality and shelf life of fresh-cut papaya. Different concentrations including 0.5, 1 and 1.5 percent of psyllium gum were used for coating of fresh-cut papaya. In some samples, refined sunflower oil was used as a lipid component to increase the effectiveness of coating in terms of water barrier properties. Soya lecithin was used as an emulsifier in coatings containing oil. Pretreatment with 1% calcium chloride was given to maintain the firmness of fresh-cut papaya cubes. 1% psyllium gum coating was found to yield better results. Further, addition of oil helped to maintain the quality and acted as a barrier to water vapour, therefore, minimizing the weight loss.

Keywords: coating, fresh-cut, gum, papaya, psylllium

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Authors: Jaleh Shoshtarian Malak, Niloofar Mohamadzadeh

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Managing pre-hospital emergency patients requires real-time practices and efficient resource utilization. Since we are facing a distributed Network of healthcare providers, services and applications choosing the right resources and treatment protocol considering patient situation is a critical task. Delivering care to emergency patients at right time and with the suitable treatment settings can save ones live and prevent further complication. In recent years Multi Agent Systems (MAS) introduced great solutions to deal with real-time, distributed and complicated problems. In this paper we propose a multi agent based pre-hospital emergency management architecture in order to manage coordination, collaboration, treatment protocol and healthcare provider selection between different parties in pre-hospital emergency in a self-organizing manner. We used AnyLogic Agent Based Modeling (ABM) tool in order to simulate our proposed architecture. We have analyzed and described the functionality of EMS center, Ambulance, Consultation Center, EHR Repository and Quality of Care Monitoring as main collaborating agents. Future work includes implementation of the proposed architecture and evaluation of its impact on patient quality of care improvement.

Keywords: multi agent systems, pre-hospital emergency, simulation, software architecture

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Authors: Akshay Dirisala

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Humans had developed a highly organized and efficient civilization to live in by improving the basic needs of humans like housing, transportation, and utilities. These developments have made a huge impact on major environmental factors. Air pollution is one prominent environmental factor that needs to be addressed to maintain a sustainable and healthier lifestyle. Textiles have always been at the forefront of helping humans shield from environmental conditions. With the growth in the field of electronic textiles, we now have the capability of monitoring the atmosphere in real time to understand and analyze the environment that a particular person is mostly spending their time at. Integrating textiles with the particulate matter sensors that measure air quality and pollutants that have a direct impact on human health will help to understand what type of air we are breathing. This research idea aims to develop a textile product and a process of collecting the pollutants through particulate matter sensors, which are equipped inside a smart textile product and store the data to develop a machine learning model to analyze the health conditions of the person wearing the garment and periodically notifying them not only will help to be cautious of airborne diseases but will help to regulate the diseases and could also help to take care of skin conditions.

Keywords: air pollution, e-textiles, particulate matter sensors, environment, machine learning models

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Authors: Arum Kingsley Chinedu, Ugwuowo Fidelis Ifeanyi, Oranye Henrietta Ebele

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The Poisson regression model (PRM) is a nonlinear model that belongs to the exponential family of distribution. PRM is suitable for studying count variables using appropriate covariates and sometimes experiences the problem of multicollinearity in the explanatory variables and outliers on the response variable. This study aims to address the problem of multicollinearity and outliers jointly in a Poisson regression model. We developed an estimator called the robust modified jackknife PCKL parameter estimator by combining the principal component estimator, modified jackknife KL and transformed M-estimator estimator to address both problems in a PRM. The superiority conditions for this estimator were established, and the properties of the estimator were also derived. The estimator inherits the characteristics of the combined estimators, thereby making it efficient in addressing both problems. And will also be of immediate interest to the research community and advance this study in terms of novelty compared to other studies undertaken in this area. The performance of the estimator (robust modified jackknife PCKL) with other existing estimators was compared using mean squared error (MSE) as a performance evaluation criterion through a Monte Carlo simulation study and the use of real-life data. The results of the analytical study show that the estimator outperformed other existing estimators compared with by having the smallest MSE across all sample sizes, different levels of correlation, percentages of outliers and different numbers of explanatory variables.

Keywords: jackknife modified KL, outliers, multicollinearity, principal component, transformed M-estimator.

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Authors: T. Aldeeb, M. Abduelmula

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This study examines the fatigue life of S275 mild steel at room temperature. Mechanical components can fail under cyclic loading during period of time, known as the fatigue phenomenon. In order to prevent fatigue induced failures, material behavior should be investigated to determine the endurance limit of the material for safe design and infinite life, thus leading to reducing the economic cost and loss in human lives. The fatigue behavior of S275 mild steel was studied and investigated. Specimens were prepared in accordance with ASTM E3-11, and fatigue tests of the specimen were conducted in accordance with ASTM E466-07 on a smooth plate, with a continuous radius between ends (hourglass-shaped plate). The method of fatigue testing was applied with constant load amplitude and constant frequency of 4 Hz with load ratio (Fully Reversal R= -1). Surface fractures of specimens were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The experimental results were compared with the results of a Finite Element Analysis (FEA), using simulation software. The experiment results indicated that the endurance fatigue limit of S275 mild steel was 195.47 MPa.

Keywords: fatigue strength, fatigue life, finite element analysis(FEA), S275 mild steel, scanning electron microscope (SEM)

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Authors: Zhdanova A. O., Volkov R. S., Kuznetsov G. V., Strizhak P. A.

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Fires in different types of facilities are a serious problem worldwide.It is still an unaccomplished science and technology objective to establish the minimum number and type of sensors in automatic systems of compartment fire suppression which would turn the fire-extinguishing agent spraying on and off in real time depending on the state of the fire, minimize the amount of agent applied, delay time in fire suppression and system response, as well as the time of combustion suppression. Based on the results of experimental studies, the conclusion was made that it is reasonable to use a gas analysis system and heat sensors (in the event of their prior activation) to determine the effectiveness of fire suppression (fire-extinguishing composition interacts with the fire). Thus, the concentration of CO in the interaction of the firefighting liquid with the fire increases to 0.7–1.2%, which indicates a slowdown in the flame combustion, and heat sensors stop responding at a gas medium temperature below 80 ºC, which shows a gradual decrease in the heat release from the fire. The evidence from this study suggests that the information received from the video recording equipment (video camera) should be used in real time as an additional parameter confirming fire suppression. Research was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project No 21-19-00009, https://rscf.ru/en/project/21-19-00009/).

Keywords: compartment fires, fire suppression, continuous control of fire behavior, feedback systems

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Authors: Farah Naja, Romy Abi Fadel, Yasmin Aridi, Aya Zarif, Dania Hariri, Mohammad Alameddine, Anas Mugharbel, Maya Khalil, Zeina Nahleh, Arafat Tfayli

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The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and determinants of CAM use among breast cancer patients in Beirut, Lebanon. A secondary objective is to evaluate the association between CAM use and quality of life (QOL). A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 180 breast cancer patients recruited from two major referral centers in Beirut. In a face to face interview, participants completed a questionnaire comprised of three sections: socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics, breast cancer condition, and CAM use. The assessment of QOL was carried using the FACT-B Arabic version. Prevalence of CAM use since diagnosis was 40%. CAM use was negatively associated with age, treatment at a philanthropic hospital and positively associated with having an advanced stage of disease. The most commonly used CAM was ‘Special food’ followed by ‘Herbal teas’. Only 4% of CAM users cited health care professionals as influencing their choice of CAM. One in four patients disclosed CAM use to their treating physician. There was no significant association between CAM use and QOL. The use of CAM therapies among breast cancer patients is prevalent in Lebanon. Efforts should be dedicated at educating physicians to discuss CAM use with their patients and advising patients to disclose of their use with their physicians.

Keywords: breast cancer, complementary and aLternative medicine, Lebanon, quality of life

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Authors: Herlandson C. Moura, Jorge H. Bidinotto, Eduardo M. Belo

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The present work proposes the development of an adaptive control system which enables the suppression of Pilot Induced Oscillations (PIO) in Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) aircrafts. The proposed system consists of a Modified Model Reference Adaptive Control (M-MRAC) integrated with the Gain Scheduling technique. The PIO oscillations are detected using a Real Time Oscillation Verifier (ROVER) algorithm, which then enables the system to switch between two reference models; one in PIO condition, with low proneness to the phenomenon and another one in normal condition, with high (or medium) proneness. The reference models are defined in a closed loop condition using the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control methodology for Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. The implemented algorithms are simulated in software implementations with state space models and commercial flight simulators as the controlled elements and with pilot dynamics models. A sequence of pitch angles is considered as the reference signal, named as Synthetic Task (Syntask), which must be tracked by the pilot models. The initial outcomes show that the proposed system can detect and suppress (or mitigate) the PIO oscillations in real time before it reaches high amplitudes.

Keywords: adaptive control, digital Fly-By-Wire, oscillations suppression, PIO

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Authors: Jeong-Won Lee, Kyeong-Ok Yoon

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The current study aimed to investigate the effects of topic familiarity and language proficiency on linguistic aspects (lexical complexity, syntactic complexity, accuracy, and fluency) in EFL learners’ argumentative essays. For the study 64 college students were asked to write an argumentative essay for the two different topics (Driving and Smoking) chosen by the consideration of topic familiarity. The students were divided into two language proficiency groups (high-level and intermediate) according to their English writing proficiency. The findings of the study are as follows: 1) the participants of this study exhibited lower levels of lexical and syntactic complexity as well as accuracy when performing writing tasks with unfamiliar topics; and 2) they demonstrated the use of a wider range of vocabulary, and longer and more complex structures, and produced accurate and lengthier texts compared to their intermediate peers. Discussion and pedagogical implications for instruction of writing classes in EFL contexts were addressed.

Keywords: topic familiarity, complexity, accuracy, fluency

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Authors: Fawwaz Eniola Fajingbesi, Nur Shahida Midia, Elsheikh M. A. Elsheikh, Siti Hajar Yusoff

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Empirical analysis of lightning related phenomena in real time is extremely dangerous due to the relatively high electric discharge involved. Hence, design and optimization of efficient grounding systems depending on real time empirical methods are impeded. Using numerical methods, the dynamics of complex systems could be modeled hence solved as sets of linear and non-linear systems . In this work, the induced current distribution as lightning strike traverses the soil have been numerically modeled in a 2D axial-symmetry and solved using finite element method (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2 AC/DC module. Stratified and non- stratified electrode system were considered in the solved model and soil conductivity (σ) varied between 10 – 58 mS/m. The result discussed therein were the electric field distribution, current distribution and soil ionization phenomena. It can be concluded that the electric field and current distribution is influenced by the injected electric potential and the non-linearity in soil conductivity. The result from numerical calculation also agrees with previously laboratory scale empirical results.

Keywords: current distribution, grounding systems, lightning discharge, numerical model, soil conductivity, soil ionization

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Authors: Mikko Salminen, Niklas Ravaja

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Previous studies have shown that emotional intelligence (EI) has an important role in leadership and social interaction. On the other hand, physiological synchronization between two interacting participants has been related to, for example, intensity of the interaction, and interestingly also to empathy. It is suggested that the amount of covariation in physiological signals between the two interacting persons would also be related to how the discussion is perceived subjectively. To study the interrelations between physiological synchronization, emotional intelligence, and subjective perception of the interaction, performance review discussions between real manager – subordinate dyads were studied using psychophysiological measurements and self-reports. The participants consisted of 40 managers, of which 24 were female, and 78 of their subordinates, of which 45 were female. The participants worked in various fields, for example banking, education, and engineering. The managers had a normal performance review discussion with two subordinates, except two managers who, due to scheduling issues, had discussion with only one subordinate. The managers were on average 44.5 years old, and the subordinates on average 45.5 years old. Written consent, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, was obtained from all the participants. After the discussion, the participants filled a questionnaire assessing their emotions during the discussion. This included a self-assessment manikin (SAM) scale for the emotional valence during the discussion, with a 9-point graphical scale representing a manikin whose facial expressions ranged from smiling and happy to frowning and unhappy. In addition, the managers filled EI360, a 37-item self-report trait emotional intelligence questionnaire. The psychophysiological activity of the participants was recorded using two Varioport-B portable recording devices. Cardiac activity (ECG, electrocardiogram) was measured with two electrodes placed on the torso. Inter-beat interval (IBI, time between two successive heart beats) was calculated from the ECG signals. The facial muscle activation (EMG, electromyography) was recorded on three sites of the left side of the face: zygomaticus major (cheek muscle), orbicularis oculi (periocular muscle), and corrugator supercilii (frowning muscle). The facial-EMG signals were rectified and smoothed, and cross-coherences were calculated between members of each dyad, for all the three EMG signals, for the baseline and discussion periods. The values were natural-log transformed to normalize the distributions. Higher cross-coherence during the discussion between the manager’s and the subordinate’s zygomatic muscles was related to more positive valence self-reported emotions, F(1; 66,137) = 7,051; p=0,01. Thus, synchronized cheek muscle activation, either due to synchronous smiling or talking, was related to more positive perception of the discussion. In addition, higher IBI synchronization between the manager and the subordinate during the discussion was related to the manager’s higher self-reported emotional intelligence, F(1; 27,981)=4,58; p=0,041. That is, the EI was related to synchronous cardiac activity and possibly to similar physiological arousal levels. The results imply that the psychophysiological synchronization could be a potentially useful index in the study of social interaction and a valuable tool in the coaching of leadership skills in organizational contexts.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, leadership, psychophysiology, social interaction, synchronization

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Authors: Xiao Yao

Abstract:

The escalating tech innovation in new media culture is liberating audiences from passive consumption to more productive and critical engagement with the legacy and streaming television media. However, how fan translation is furthering the reception and interpretation of global screen stories remains the outlier of television studies. This paper will showcase the fan-based cross-cultural engagement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in China. This is to highlight: 1) the ways marginal audiences (Chinese MCU fans) seek to sync with the recent telecinematic expansion of MCU; 2) the forensic and interpretative works done by Chinese MCU fans who persistently seek to amplify the pleasure of MCU content in their media contexts; 3) the crucial but largely unacknowledged cultural value generated by Chinese MCU fandom in the outlier of contemporary Chinese TV culture. Taken together, this study aims to further explore the notion of “translational fandom” and integrate its theorisation into the present research in television culture.

Keywords: Chinese MCU fans, cross-cultural engagement, Loki, television media, translational fandom

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Authors: João P. E. De Souza, Rob Dekkers

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Whereas lean product development aims at maximising customer value whilst optimising product and process design, the question arises whether this approach includes sustainability. A systematic literature review reveals that methods associated with this conceptualisation of product development are suitable for including sustainability, but that the criteria for the triple-bottom line need to be included when using these methods; this is particularly the case for social aspects. Thus, the main finding is that not new methods should be developed, but that existing methods should be more inclusive towards all aspects of sustainability and product life-cycle thinking.

Keywords: lean product development, product life-cycle, sustainability, systematic literature review, triple bottom-line

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Authors: Oriyomi M. Okeyinka, David A. Oloke, Jamal M. Khatib

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Large quantities of solid wastes being generated worldwide from sources such as household, domestic, industrial, commercial and construction demolition activities, leads to environmental concerns. Utilization of these wastes in making building construction materials can reduce the magnitude of the associated problems. When these waste products are used in place of other conventional materials, natural resources and energy are preserved and expensive and/or potentially harmful waste disposal is avoided. Recycling which is regarded as the third most preferred waste disposal option, with its numerous environmental benefits, stand as a viable option to offset the environmental impact associated with the construction industry. This paper reviews the results of laboratory tests and important research findings, and the potential of using these wastes in building construction materials with focus on sustainable development. Research gaps, which includes; the need to develop standard mix design for solid waste based building materials; the need to develop energy efficient method of processing solid waste use in concrete; the need to study the actual behavior or performance of such building materials in practical application and the limited real life application of such building materials have also been identified. Therefore a research is being proposed to develop an environmentally friendly, lightweight building block from recycled waste paper, without the use of cement, and with properties suitable for use as walling unit. This proposed research intends to incorporate, laboratory experimentation and modeling to address the identified research gaps.

Keywords: recycling, solid wastes, construction, building materials

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Authors: Magdalena Barbara Kaziuk, Ilona Hubner, Jacek Hubner, Slawomir Kroczka

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Background: The motor neuron disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease causing malfunction. Irrespective of the form of the disease and its onset always leads to the worsening of the quality of life, with patients usually depending on the family. Materials and methods: The study included 20 persons (5 females, 15 males, aged 65,5 ± 20 years) with clinically certain or probable diagnosis of the motor neuron disease. Patients were examined three times in the period of six months. The diagnosis was established based on the criteria of El Escorial. Manual dexterity was assessed using the test of the card Rene Zazzo and the test of shading in with lines Mira Stambak. Results: All patients achieved unsatisfactory results in Rene Zazzo’s test of the card and most of the patients (60%) in Mira Stambak’s test of shading with lines. Significantly higher test results were achieved for Rene Zazzo’s test and lower test results for Mira Stambak’s test in consecutive measurements. Conclusions: Impairment of manual dexterity is present already at the moment of diagnosing the disease and is growing significantly during its course. The quality of life for MND patients undergoes gradual deterioration as a result of the malfunction.

Keywords: manual dexterity, motor neuron disease, quality of life, malfunction

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Authors: Ana Campina, José Caramelo Gomes, Maria Emília Teixeira, Cristina Costa-Lobo

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In the pursuit of educational equity within Human Rights and European Fundamental Laws, the reality presents serious problems based on the psychologic, social understanding. Take into account the miscellaneous cultures in the global context and the nowadays numbers of Human mobilities, there are serious problems affecting the societies. This justifies the diagnosed need of a renew pedagogical and social education strategy to achieve the integration positive context preventing violence and discrimination, especially in Education systems. Consequently, it is important to have in mind the respect, acceptance, and integration of special needs students in all study degrees, as it is law but a complex reality. Despite the UN and International Human Rights, European Fundamental Chart, and all EU Treats, as the 28th EU State Member’s fundamental laws forecast the right of Education, the respect, the action and promotion of different cultures and the Education for ‘Difference’ integration – cultures; ideologies, Special Needs Students/Citizens – there are different and severe problems. Firstly, there are questions/contexts/problems not denounced by the lack of investments, political, social or ‘powers’ pressures, so, consequently, the authorities don’t have the action as laws demand and the transgressors haven´t any juridical or judicial punishment. Secondly, and our most important point: Governments, authorities and even victims hide these violations/violence/problems what disable the effective protection and law enforcement. Finally, the official and non-official strategies to get around the duties, break away the laws, failing the victims protection and consequently enable the problems increase dramatically. With this research, we observed that there are international Organizations/regions and States acting without respect to the Education right despite their democratic ideology and the generated external ‘image’ of law-abiding and Human Rights defenders. Nevertheless, it is urgent to develop a consistent Human Rights Education program aiming to protect, promote and implement the Right to be different and be respected by the law, the governments, institutions official and non-official, adapted to the needs in each society. The background of this research is the International and European laws, in accordance with the state’s legal systems. The approaches and the differences of the Education for Human and Fundamental Rights execution in the different EU countries, studying the pedagogy and social inclusion programs/strategies, with particular analysis of the Special Needs students. The results aim to construct a European Education profiling, with the governments and EU interventions need, as well as the panorama of the Special Needs Students effective integration achieving a renewed strategy to promote the respect of the Differences and an Inclusive School life.

Keywords: international human rights, culture, differences, European education profiling

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Authors: Juan A. Arzate, Funda C. Ertem, M. Nicolas Cruz-Bournazou, Peter Neubauer, Stefan Junne

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— One of the biggest challenges the world faces today is global warming that is caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) coming from the combustion of fossil fuels for energy generation. In order to mitigate climate change, the European Union has committed to reducing GHG emissions to 80–95% below the level of the 1990s by the year 2050. Renewable technologies are vital to diminish energy-related GHG emissions. Since water and biomass are limited resources, the largest contributions to renewable energy (RE) systems will have to come from wind and solar power. Nevertheless, high proportions of fluctuating RE will present a number of challenges, especially regarding the need to balance the variable energy demand with the weather dependent fluctuation of energy supply. Therefore, biogas plants in this content would play an important role, since they are easily adaptable. Feedstock availability varies locally or seasonally; however there is a lack of knowledge in how biogas plants should be operated in a stable manner by local feedstock. This problem may be prevented through suitable control strategies. Such strategies require the development of convenient mathematical models, which fairly describe the main processes. Modelling allows us to predict the system behavior of biogas plants when different feedstocks are used with different loading rates. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique for analyzing several sides from evolution of a product till its disposal in an environmental point of view. It is highly recommend to use as a decision making tool. In order to achieve suitable strategies, the combination of a flexible energy generation provided by biogas plants, a secure production process and the maximization of the environmental benefits can be obtained by the combination of process modelling and LCA approaches. For this reason, this study focuses on the biogas plant which flexibly generates required energy from the co-digestion of maize, grass and cattle manure, while emitting the lowest amount of GHG´s. To achieve this goal AMOCO model was combined with LCA. The program was structured in Matlab to simulate any biogas process based on the AMOCO model and combined with the equations necessary to obtain climate change, acidification and eutrophication potentials of the whole production system based on ReCiPe midpoint v.1.06 methodology. Developed simulation was optimized based on real data from operating biogas plants and existing literature research. The results prove that AMOCO model can successfully imitate the system behavior of biogas plants and the necessary time required for the process to adapt in order to generate demanded energy from available feedstock. Combination with LCA approach provided opportunity to keep the resulting emissions from operation at the lowest possible level. This would allow for a prediction of the process, when the feedstock utilization supports the establishment of closed material circles within a smart bio-production grid – under the constraint of minimal drawbacks for the environment and maximal sustainability.

Keywords: AMOCO model, GHG emissions, life cycle assessment, modelling

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Authors: Vahid Bayrami Rad

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Ever since humans developed a collective way of life to the development of urbanization, the concern of security has always been considered one of the most important challenges of life. To protect property, locks have always been a practical tool. With the advancement of technology, the form of locks has changed from mechanical to electric. One of the most widely used fields of using artificial intelligence is its application in the technology of surveillance security systems. Currently, the technologies used in smart anti-theft door handles are one of the most potential fields for using artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has the possibility to learn, calculate, interpret and process by analyzing data with the help of algorithms and mathematical models and make smart decisions. We will use Arduino board to process data.

Keywords: arduino board, artificial intelligence, image processing, solenoid lock

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Gayatri Kanwar

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The purpose of this research paper is to explore the power of myth in changing human lives; it establishes patterns in the human psyche, affects the way of thinking, as myths unveil various subjects, ideas, and challenges. Through mythological stories one comes to understand the images behind the emotions and feelings, they influence him as it changes his thought patterns, their therapeutic sets the individual on the path of healing and transforms human lives. Every civilization in the olden times had a vast source of myths which they lived by. They were not ordinary stories of everyday life, but exemplary cases narrated through oral traditions in a sacred manner revealed the 'way to live life'. The mythical stories have a spiritual touch which brought him to the acceptance of suffering or finding a solution to his life problems. In modern times, the significance of the age old myth has lost their touch. Each one of us bears countless stories inside ourselves of our own lives and all its happenings. Therefore, each being is a natural narrator. Everybody tells stories about their lives; hence, one tends to know oneself as well as seeks understanding of others through them. When one remembers their stories they speak in narratives. As stated by Jung, these narratives grow into a personal mythology one lives by. Nonetheless, there are times when one becomes stuck in their own stories or myths. Hence, mythology can change one’s perception and can open pathways to other ways of discovering, feeling and experiencing one’s lives.

Keywords: Power of Myths, Significance of myths in modern times, Transforming human lives, Benefits to Society

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Authors: Narin Salehiyan

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The later sequencing of the complete genomes of Mycoplasma genitalium and M. pneumoniae has pulled in significant consideration to the atomic science of mycoplasmas, the littlest self-replicating living beings. It shows up that we are presently much closer to the objective of defining, in atomic terms, the complete apparatus of a self-replicating cell. Comparative genomics based on comparison of the genomic cosmetics of mycoplasmal genomes with those of other microbes, has opened better approaches of looking at the developmental history of the mycoplasmas. There's presently strong hereditary bolster for the speculation that mycoplasmas have advanced as a department of gram-positive microbes by a handle of reductive advancement. Amid this prepare, the mycoplasmas misplaced significant parcels of their ancestors’ chromosomes but held the qualities basic for life. In this way, the mycoplasmal genomes carry a tall rate of preserved qualities, incredibly encouraging quality comment. The critical genome compaction that happened in mycoplasmas was made conceivable by receiving a parasitic mode of life. The supply of supplements from their has clearly empowered mycoplasmas to lose, amid advancement, the qualities for numerous assimilative forms. Amid their advancement and adjustment to a parasitic mode of life, the mycoplasmas have created different hereditary frameworks giving a profoundly plastic set of variable surface proteins to avoid the have safe framework.

Keywords: mycoplasma, plasma, pathogen, genome

Procedia PDF Downloads 60

Authors: Ryan Maclellan

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The nEXO Collaboration is designing a very large detector for neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136. The nEXO detector is rooted in the current EXO-200 program, which has reached a sensitivity for the half-life of the decay of 1.9x10^25 years with an exposure of 99.8 kg-y. The baseline nEXO design assumes 5 tonnes of liquid xenon, enriched in the mass 136 isotope, within a time projection chamber. The detector is being designed to reach a half-life sensitivity of > 5x10^27 years covering the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy, with 5 years of data. We present the nEXO detector design, the current status of R&D efforts, and the physics case for the experiment.

Keywords: double-beta, Majorana, neutrino, neutrinoless

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Zhenyu Zhang, Hsi-Hsien Wei

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Highway network systems play a vital role in disaster response for disaster-damaged areas. Damaged bridges in such network systems can impede disaster response by disrupting transportation of rescue teams or humanitarian supplies. Therefore, emergency inspection and repair of bridges to quickly collect damage information of bridges and recover the functionality of highway networks is of paramount importance to disaster response. A widely used measure of a network’s capability to recover from disasters is resilience. To enhance highway network resilience, plenty of studies have developed various repair scheduling methods for the prioritization of bridge-repair tasks. These methods assume that repair activities are performed after the damage to a highway network is fully understood via inspection, although inspecting all bridges in a regional highway network may take days, leading to the significant delay in repairing bridges. In reality, emergency repair activities can be commenced as soon as the damage data of some bridges that are crucial to emergency response are obtained. Given that emergency bridge inspection and repair (EBIR) activities are executed simultaneously in the response phase, the real-time interactions between these activities can occur – the blockage of highways due to repair activities can affect inspection routes which in turn have an impact on emergency repair scheduling by providing real-time information on bridge damages. However, the impact of such interactions on the optimal emergency inspection routes (EIR) and emergency repair schedules (ERS) has not been discussed in prior studies. To overcome the aforementioned deficiencies, this study develops a routing and scheduling model for EBIR while accounting for real-time inspection-repair interactions to maximize highway network resilience. A stochastic, time-dependent integer program is proposed for the complex and real-time interacting EBIR problem given multiple inspection and repair teams at locations as set post-disaster. A hybrid genetic algorithm that integrates a heuristic approach into a traditional genetic algorithm to accelerate the evolution process is developed. Computational tests are performed using data from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, based on a regional highway network in Sichuan, China, consisting of 168 highway bridges on 36 highways connecting 25 cities/towns. The results show that the simultaneous implementation of bridge inspection and repair activities can significantly improve the highway network resilience. Moreover, the deployment of inspection and repair teams should match each other, and the network resilience will not be improved once the unilateral increase in inspection teams or repair teams exceeds a certain level. This study contributes to both knowledge and practice. First, the developed mathematical model makes it possible for capturing the impact of real-time inspection-repair interactions on inspection routing and repair scheduling and efficiently deriving optimal EIR and ERS on a large and complex highway network. Moreover, this study contributes to the organizational dimension of highway network resilience by providing optimal strategies for highway bridge management. With the decision support tool, disaster managers are able to identify the most critical bridges for disaster management and make decisions on proper inspection and repair strategies to improve highway network resilience.

Keywords: disaster management, emergency bridge inspection and repair, highway network, resilience, uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 109