Search results for: Railway tractionalternating core losses

Authors: Michelle Micah Augustine

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Soap opera narrative creates a sense of community. Uzalo is a South African local soap opera television series. It is unique because Uzalo tells the story of black people and their everyday struggle centered in KwaMashu township community, which is an excellent example of how moving image culture has contributed in portraying township community that was once marginalized by the apartheid regime in contemporary South Africa. While soap opera importance and promotion of social change and behaviours have been extensively studied throughout history, little research has examined the importance of space and place in its narrative. This study explored the conventional community space and place, the core elements that drive soap opera narrative. By means of qualitative content analysis, the study investigated the construction of public meeting places in Uzalo, using a purposive sampling technique to collect data by choosing episodes. The result indicates that characters convergence in public meeting places in soap opera creates disequilibrium which drives the narrative; reveals that construction of a public meeting place is an important way of creating a minimum of homogeneousness among disparate characters, gives a sense of unified experience drawing on the notion of the particular characteristics or attitude generated from such place. The result shows that the use of camera angles, movements, editing, music and usual tricks (mise-en-scene) applied in the narrative setting function as a guide for viewers comprehension of emotional responses of the story and to connect with the space in which the narrative is set.

Keywords: community, narrative, place, space, soap opera

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Authors: Muhammad Ameer Nawaz Akram

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The 21st century has been revealed that many individuals around the world are living in urban settlements than in rural zones. The evolution of numerous cities in emerging and newly developed countries is accompanied by the rise of slums. The precise definition of a slum varies countries to countries, but the universal harmony is that slums are dilapidated settlements facing severe poverty and have lacked access to sanitation, water, electricity, good living styles, and land tenure. The slum settlements always vary in unique patterns within and among the countries and cities. The core objective of this study is the spatial identification and classification of slums in Gujrat city Pakistan from very high-resolution GeoEye-1 (0.41m) satellite imagery. Slums were first identified using GPS for sample site identification and ground-truthing; through this process, 425 slums were identified. Then Object-Oriented Analysis (OOA) was applied to classify slums on digital image. Spatial analysis softwares, e.g., ArcGIS 10.3, Erdas Imagine 9.3, and Envi 5.1, were used for processing data and performing the analysis. Results show that OOA provides up to 90% accuracy for the identification of slums. Jalal Cheema and Allah Ho colonies are severely affected by slum settlements. The ratio of criminal activities is also higher here than in other areas. Slums are increasing with the passage of time in urban areas, and they will be like a hazardous problem in coming future. So now, the executive bodies need to make effective policies and move towards the amelioration process of the city.

Keywords: slums, GPS, satellite imagery, object oriented analysis, zonal change detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Betül Garda

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Technological developments have diversified marketing activities of the tourism sector and it has increased tourism opportunities to compete on a global scale for tourism businesses. Tourism businesses have been forced to use its core skills and knowledge effectively with the increase in effectiveness of the technology in the global competitive environment. Tourism businesses have been reached beyond the traditional boundaries because of their commercial activities, so, the boundaries of the national market either eliminated or blurred. Therefore, the internet is the alternative promotion tool and distribution channel to providing unlimited facilities for tourism suppliers. For example, the internet provides an opportunity to reach customers on a global scale with direct email marketing, advertising, customer service, promotion, sales, and marketing. Tourism businesses have improved themselves with the continuous information flows and also they have provided the permanence of the changes. Especially in terms of tourism businesses, social media is emerging as an extremely important tool in the use of knowledge effectively. This research paper investigates the impact of social media on the tourism businesses. A social networking site is a type of social media that provides a platform for business and people to connect with each other. Social media is so flexible that it can be used for both leisure and business purposes. In the tourism industry, social networking sites are one of the essential tools that play an important and beneficial role. The topic that will be discussed in this research paper are consumer behavior, connection with consumers, effectiveness in terms of time and cost, creating brand awareness and building the image of the company, promoting company, targeting consumers in a conceptual frame.

Keywords: branding, promoting, social media in tourism, tourism marketing tools

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Pouya Taraghi, Yong Li, Nader Yoosef-Ghodsi, Muntaseer Kainat, Samer Adeeb

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Buried pipelines play a crucial role in the transportation of energy products such as oil, gas, and various chemical fluids, ensuring their efficient and safe distribution. However, these pipelines are often susceptible to ground movements caused by geohazards like landslides, fault movements, lateral spreading, and more. Such ground movements can lead to strain-induced failures in pipes, resulting in leaks or explosions, leading to fires, financial losses, environmental contamination, and even loss of human life. Therefore, it is essential to study how buried pipelines respond when traversing geohazard-prone areas to assess the potential impact of ground movement on pipeline design. As such, this study introduces an approach called the Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) to predict the strain demand in inelastic pipes subjected to permanent ground displacement (PGD). This method uses a deep learning framework that does not require training data and makes it feasible to consider more realistic assumptions regarding existing nonlinearities. It leverages the underlying physics described by differential equations to approximate the solution. The study analyzes various scenarios involving different geohazard types, PGD values, and crossing angles, comparing the predictions with results obtained from finite element methods. The findings demonstrate a good agreement between the results of the proposed method and the finite element method, highlighting its potential as a simulation-free, data-free, and meshless alternative. This study paves the way for further advancements, such as the simulation-free reliability assessment of pipes subjected to PGD, as part of ongoing research that leverages the proposed method.

Keywords: strain demand, inelastic pipe, permanent ground displacement, machine learning, physics-informed neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Rajendra N. Ghosh, Paramjeet Singh, Niranjan Khandelwal, Sameer Vyas, Pratibha Singhi, Naveen Sankhyan

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Background: Tuberculoma and neurocysticercosis (NCC) are two most common intracranial infections in developing country. They often simulate on neuroimaging and in absence of typical imaging features cause significant diagnostic dilemmas. Differentiation is extremely important to avoid empirical exposure to antitubercular medications or nonspecific treatment causing disease progression. Purpose: Better characterization and differentiation of CNS tuberculoma and NCC by using morphological and multiple advanced functional MRI. Material and Methods: Total fifty untreated patients (20 tuberculoma and 30 NCC) were evaluated by using conventional and advanced sequences like CISS, SWI, DWI, DTI, Magnetization transfer (MT), T2Relaxometry (T2R), Perfusion and Spectroscopy. rCBV,ADC,FA,T2R,MTR values and metabolite ratios were calculated from lesion and normal parenchyma. Diagnosis was confirmed by typical biochemical, histopathological and imaging features. Results: CISS was most useful sequence for scolex detection (90% on CISS vs 73% on routine sequences). SWI showed higher scolex detection ability. Mean values of ADC, FA,T2R from core and rCBV from wall of lesion were significantly different in tuberculoma and NCC (P < 0.05). Mean values of rCBV, ADC, T2R and FA for tuberculoma and NCC were (3.36 vs1.3), (1.09x10⁻³vs 1.4x10⁻³), (0.13 x10⁻³ vs 0.09 x10⁻³) and (88.65 ms vs 272.3 ms) respectively. Tuberculomas showed high lipid peak, more choline and lower creatinine with Ch/Cr ratio > 1. T2R value was most significant parameter for differentiation. Cut off values for each significant parameters have proposed. Conclusion: Quantitative MRI in combination with conventional sequences can better characterize and differentiate similar appearing tuberculoma and NCC and may be incorporated in routine protocol which may avoid brain biopsy and empirical therapy.

Keywords: advanced functional MRI, differentiation, neurcysticercosis, tuberculoma

Procedia PDF Downloads 556

Authors: Omar Alzeley, Sergey Utev

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Minimizing a constrained multivariate function is the fundamental of Machine learning, and these algorithms are at the core of data mining and data visualization techniques. The decision function that maps input points to output points is based on the result of optimization. This optimization is the central of learning theory. One approach to complex systems where the dynamics of the system is inferred by a statistical analysis of the fluctuations in time of some associated observable is time series analysis. The purpose of this paper is a mathematical transition from the autoregressive model of classical time series to the matrix formalization of quantum theory. Firstly, we have proposed a quantum time series model (QTS). Although Hamiltonian technique becomes an established tool to detect a deterministic chaos, other approaches emerge. The quantum probabilistic technique is used to motivate the construction of our QTS model. The QTS model resembles the quantum dynamic model which was applied to financial data. Secondly, various statistical methods, including machine learning algorithms such as the Kalman filter algorithm, are applied to estimate and analyses the unknown parameters of the model. Finally, simulation techniques such as Markov chain Monte Carlo have been used to support our investigations. The proposed model has been examined by using real and simulated data. We establish the relation between quantum statistical machine and quantum time series via random matrix theory. It is interesting to note that the primary focus of the application of QTS in the field of quantum chaos was to find a model that explain chaotic behaviour. Maybe this model will reveal another insight into quantum chaos.

Keywords: machine learning, simulation techniques, quantum probability, tensor product, time series

Procedia PDF Downloads 465

Authors: Zhilin Wang, Zhihao Zheng, Linxin Liu

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This study proposes a low-code model-building approach that aims to simplify the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) models. With an intuitive way to drag and drop and connect components, users can easily build complex models and integrate multiple algorithms for training. After the training is completed, the system automatically generates a callable model service API. This method not only lowers the technical threshold of AI development and improves development efficiency but also enhances the flexibility of algorithm integration and simplifies the deployment process of models. The core strength of this method lies in its ease of use and efficiency. Users do not need to have a deep programming background and can complete the design and implementation of complex models with a simple drag-and-drop operation. This feature greatly expands the scope of AI technology, allowing more non-technical people to participate in the development of AI models. At the same time, the method performs well in algorithm integration, supporting many different types of algorithms to work together, which further improves the performance and applicability of the model. In the experimental part, we performed several performance tests on the method. The results show that compared with traditional model construction methods, this method can make more efficient use, save computing resources, and greatly shorten the model training time. In addition, the system-generated model service interface has been optimized for high availability and scalability, which can adapt to the needs of different application scenarios.

Keywords: low-code, model building, artificial intelligence, algorithm integration, model deployment

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Authors: Imane Naboulsi, Mansour Sobeh, Rachid Lamzira, Karim El Fakhouri, Widad Ben Bakrim, Chaimae Ramdani, Rachid Boulamtat, Mustapha El Bouhssini, Jane ward, Abdelaziz Yasri, Aziz Aboulmouhajir

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The wild cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) is the major insect pest of the prickly pear Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) in Morocco, which has causedenormous socio-economic and environmental losses to this crop in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the insecticidal potential of six aqueous (100% water), and methanolic (20/80 (v/v) MeOH/H2O) extracts obtained from aromatic and medicinal plants growing in arid and semi-arid regions of Morocco to control nymphs and adult females of D. opuntiae, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Under laboratory conditions, the aqueous extracts of Atriplex halimus at 5% caused significant mortality in nymphs with 71% four days after application and 88%on adult females of D. opuntiae8 days post-treatment. Under greenhouse conditions, the aqueous extract of A. halimus combined with black soap at 10 g/L showed the highest mortality rate of nymphs with 100%, 4 days after application. The adult females' mortality increased significantly to reach 83.75%,14 days after the second application of A. halimus aqueous extract at 5%. Phytochemical analysis of the water extract of A. halimus revealed a high content of saponins (24.09 ± 0.71 mg SSE/g DW) compared to other plant extracts, which was confirmed by LC-MS characterization that showed the presence of 36 triterpenoid saponin compounds (derived from oleic-12-en-28-oic acid), in addition to phytoecdysones, simple carboxylic acids, and flavonoids. These findings showed that using the aqueous extract of A. halimus as a biological pesticide could be incorporated into the management package to control the wild cochineal as a safe alternative to chemical insecticides.

Keywords: dactylopius opuntiae, opuntia ficus-indica L., plant extracts, toxicity, atriplex halimus, saponins

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Muhammad Fanseem E. M., Rama Satya Satish Kumar, Indrajeet Bhausaheb Bhavar, Deepak M.

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Keeping the right balance of electricity between the supply and demand sides of the grid is one of the most important objectives of electrical grid operation. Power generation and demand forecasting are the core of power management and generation scheduling. Large, centralized producing units were used in the construction of conventional power systems in the past. A certain level of balance was possible since the generation kept up with the power demand. However, integrating renewable energy sources into power networks has proven to be a difficult challenge due to its intermittent nature. The power imbalance caused by rising demands and peak loads is negatively affecting power quality and dependability. Demand side management and demand response were one of the solutions, keeping generation the same but altering or rescheduling or shedding completely the load or demand. However, shedding the load or rescheduling is not an efficient way. There comes the significance of virtual power plants. The virtual power plant integrates distributed generation, dispatchable load, and distributed energy storage organically by using complementing control approaches and communication technologies. This would eventually increase the utilization rate and financial advantages of distributed energy resources. Most of the writing on virtual power plant models ignored technical limitations, and modeling was done in favor of a financial or commercial viewpoint. Therefore, this paper aims to address the modeling intricacies of VPPs and their technical limitations, shedding light on a holistic understanding of this innovative power management approach.

Keywords: cost optimization, distributed energy resources, dynamic modeling, model quality tests, power system modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Evgeny V. Blagin, Aleksandr I. Dovgjallo, Dmitry A. Uglanov

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This article deals with research of the working process in the thermocompressor which operates on cryogenic working fluid. Thermocompressor is device suited for the conversation of heat energy directly to the potential energy of pressure. Suggested thermocompressor is suited for operation during liquid natural gas (LNG) re-gasification and is placed after evaporator. Such application of thermocompressor allows using of the LNG cold energy for rising of working fluid pressure, which then can be used for electricity generation or another purpose. Thermocompressor consists of two chambers divided by the regenerative heat exchanger. Calculation algorithm for unsteady calculation of thermocompressor working process was suggested. The results of this investigation are to change of thermocompressor’s chambers temperature and pressure during the working cycle. These distributions help to find out the parameters, which significantly influence thermocompressor efficiency. These parameters include regenerative heat exchanger coefficient of the performance (COP) dead volume of the chambers, working frequency of the thermocompressor etc. Exergy analysis was performed to estimate thermocompressor efficiency. Cryogenic thermocompressor operated on nitrogen working fluid was chosen as a prototype. Calculation of the temperature and pressure change was performed with taking into account heat fluxes through regenerator and thermocompressor walls. Temperature of the cold chamber significantly differs from the results of steady calculation, which is caused by friction of the working fluid in regenerator and heat fluxes from the hot chamber. The rise of the cold chamber temperature leads to decreasing of thermocompressor delivery volume. Temperature of hot chamber differs negligibly because losses due to heat fluxes to a cold chamber are compensated by the friction of the working fluid in the regenerator. Optimal working frequency was selected. Main results of the investigation: -theoretical confirmation of thermocompressor operation capability on the cryogenic working fluid; -optimal working frequency was found; -value of the cold chamber temperature differs from the starting value much more than the temperature of the hot chamber; -main parameters which influence thermocompressor performance are regenerative heat exchanger COP and heat fluxes through regenerator and thermocompressor walls.

Keywords: cold energy, liquid natural gas, thermocompressor, regenerative heat exchanger

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Authors: Manish Subedi, Bijay Bartaula, Ashok R. Pant, Purbesh Adhikari, Sanjib K. Sharma

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Background: The pattern of glomerular disease varies worldwide. In absence of kidney disease/Kidney biopsy registry in Nepal, the exact etiology of different forms of glomerular disease is primarily unknown in our country. Method: We retrospectively analyzed 175 cases of renal biopsies performed from dated September 2014 to August 2016 at B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. Results: The commonest indication for renal biopsy was nephrotic syndrome (34.9%), followed by Systemic lupus erythematosus with suspected renal involvement (22.3%). Majority of patients were in the 30-60 year bracket (57.2%), with the mean age of the patients being 35.37 years. The average number of glomeruli per core was 13, with inadequate sampling in 5.1%. IgA nephropathy (17%) was found to be the most common primary glomerular disease, followed by membranous nephropathy (14.6%) and FSGS (14.6%). The commonest secondary glomerular disease was lupus nephritis. Complications associated with renal biopsy were pain at biopsy site in 18% of cases, hematuria in 6% and perinephric hematoma in 4% cases. Conclusion: The commonest primary and secondary glomerular disease was IgA nephropathy and lupus nephritis respectively. The high prevalence of Systemic lupus erythematosus with lupus nephritis among Nepalese in comparison with other developing countries warrants further evaluation. As an initial attempt towards documentation of glomerular diseases in the national context, this study should serve as a stepping stone towards the eventual establishment of a full-fledged national registry of glomerular diseases in Nepal.

Keywords: glomerular, Nepal, renal biopsy, systemic lupus erythematoses

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: James Boag

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The needs of people with a diagnosis of dementia and their carers and families are physical, psychosocial, and psychological and begin at the time of diagnosis. There is frequently a lack of emotional support and counselling. Care- giving support is required from the presentation of the first symptoms of dementia until death. Alzheimer's disease begins decades before the clinical symptoms begin to appear, and in many cases, it remains undiagnosed, or diagnosed too late for any possible interventions to have any effect. However, if an incorrect diagnosis is given, it may result in a person being treated, without effect, for a type of dementia they do not have and delaying the interventions they should have received. Being diagnosed with dementia can cause emotional distress to the person, and physical and emotional support is needed, which will become more important as the disease progresses. The severity of the patient's dementia and their symptoms has a bearing of the impact on the carer and the support needed. A lack of insight and /or a denial of the diagnosis, grief, reacting to anticipated future losses, and coping methods to maximise the disease outcome, are things that should be addressed. Because of the stigma, it is important for carers not to lose contact with family and others because social isolation leads to depression and burnout. The impact on a carer's well- being and quality of life can be influenced by the severity of the illness, its type of dementia, its symptoms, healthcare support, financial and social status, career, age, health, residential setting, and relationship to the patient. Carer burnout due to lack of support leads to people diagnosed with dementia being put into residential care prematurely. Often dementia is not recognised as a terminal illness, limiting the ability of the person diagnosed with dementia and their carers to work on advance care planning and getting access to palliative and other support. Many carers have been satisfied with the physical support they were given in their everyday life, however, it was agreed that there was an immense unmet need for psychosocial support, especially after diagnosis and approaching end of life. Providing continuity and coordination of care is important. Training is necessary for providers to understand that every case is different, and they should understand the complexities. Grief, the emotional response to loss, is suffered during the progression of the disease and long afterwards, and carers should continue to be supported after the death of the person they were caring for.

Keywords: dementia, caring, challenges, needs

Procedia PDF Downloads 91

Authors: Monika Sobolewska, Aleksandra Majchrzak, Bartlomiej Chojnacki, Katarzyna Baruch, Adam Pilch

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The main purpose of the study is to perform the measurement and analysis of noise harmfulness in public utility facilities. The World Health Organization reports that the number of people suffering from hearing impairment is constantly increasing. The most alarming is the number of young people occurring in the statistics. The majority of scientific research in the field of hearing protection and noise prevention concern industrial and road traffic noise as the source of health problems. As the result, corresponding standards and regulations defining noise level limits are enforced. However, there is another field uncovered by profound research – leisure time. Public utility facilities such as clubs, shopping malls, sport facilities or concert halls – they all generate high-level noise, being out of proper juridical control. Among European Union Member States, the highest legislative act concerning noise prevention is the Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC. However, it omits the problem discussed above and even for traffic, railway and aircraft noise it does not set limits or target values, leaving these issues to the discretion of the Member State authorities. Without explicit and uniform regulations, noise level control at places designed for relaxation and entertainment is often in the responsibility of people having little knowledge of hearing protection, unaware of the risk the noise pollution poses. Exposure to high sound levels in clubs, cinemas, at concerts and sports events may result in a progressive hearing loss, especially among young people, being the main target group of such facilities and events. The first step to change this situation and to raise the general awareness is to perform reliable measurements the results of which will emphasize the significance of the problem. This project presents the results of more than hundred measurements, performed in most types of public utility facilities in Poland. As the most suitable measuring instrument for such a research, personal noise dosimeters were used to collect the data. Each measurement is presented in the form of numerical results including equivalent and peak sound pressure levels and a detailed description considering the type of the sound source, size and furnishing of the room and the subjective sound level evaluation. In the absence of a straight reference point for the interpretation of the data, the limits specified in EU Directive 2003/10/EC were used for comparison. They set the maximum sound level values for workers in relation to their working time length. The analysis of the examined problem leads to the conclusion that during leisure time, people are exposed to noise levels significantly exceeding safe values. As the hearing problems are gradually progressing, most people underplay the problem, ignoring the first symptoms. Therefore, an effort has to be made to specify the noise regulations for public utility facilities. Without any action, in the foreseeable future the majority of Europeans will be dealing with serious hearing damage, which will have a negative impact on the whole societies.

Keywords: hearing protection, noise level limits, noise prevention, noise regulations, public utility facilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 217

Authors: Vera Wilden, Benno Hoffmeister, Georgios Balaskas, Lukas Rauber, Burkhard Walter

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Light-weight timber frame elements represent an efficient structural solution for wooden multistory buildings. The wall elements of such buildings – which act as shear diaphragms- provide lateral stiffness and resistance to wind and seismic loads. The tendency towards multi-story structures leads to challenges regarding the prediction of stiffness, strength and ductility of the buildings. Lightweight timber frame elements are built up of several structural parts (sheeting, fasteners, frame, support and anchorages); each of them contributing to the dynamic response of the structure. This contribution describes the experimental and numerical investigation and development of enhanced lightweight timber frame buildings. These developments comprise high-performance timber frame walls with the variable arrangements of sheathing planes and dissipative anchors at the base of the timber buildings, which reduce damages to the timber structure and can be exchanged after significant earthquakes. In order to prove the performance of the developed elements in the context of a real building a full-scale two-story building core was designed and erected in the laboratory and tested experimentally for its seismic performance. The results of the tests and a comparison of the test results to the predicted behavior are presented. Observation during the test also reveals some aspects of the design and details which need to consider in the application of the timber walls in the context of the complete building.

Keywords: dissipative anchoring, full scale test, push-over-test, wood shear walls

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Shamas Ul Hassan, Nasir Mukhtar, Sajjad Ur Rehman, Asghar Ali Mian, Iftikhar Hussain, Muhammad Safdar Anjum

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The Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is the major cause of economic looses in birds which is transmitted by free flying birds in the environment. These demands for improving the biosecurity measures at farm level including proper disposal of farm mortality and other wastes along with the inclusion of zoos and wild life parks in the MG surveillance programme. For the purpose of doing surveillance of MG in different pet, game and free flying birds a total of 12 samples each of peacocks, pheasants, ducks, pigeons, parrots, and house crows were included in the first ever study of its nature in Pakistan. During the study, the relevant samples along with recording clinical and postmortem findings were subjected to sero-prevalence, culture isolation and PCR system. Further PCR being more sensitive proves to be a better epidemiological tool. Seropositive findings revealed in peacocks, pheasants, ducks, pigeons, parrots, and crows were 66.7%, 58.3%, 41.7%, 41.7%, 16.7% and 16.7% respectively with some free flying birds giving ambiguous reactions. Whereas in the same order the culture/isolation positive results were recorded as 25%, 16.7%, 8.3%, 16.7%, 16.7%, and 25%. The samples were further confirmed on the basis of 732 bp product in PCR system. High rate of prevalence of MG in the pet, game and free flying birds regardless to their clinical findings demands to improve the biosecurity measures at the farm level with the minimum interaction of these birds with commercial poultry. Further the proper and timely disposal of all sorts of carcasses contaminated litter and wasted feed in such ways that the free flying birds are denied of picking up at those wastages. Moreover, MG surveillance system including the advances diagnostic techniques in wildlife parks and zoos be devised with proper timely preventive and therapeutic measures. The study proves that a variety of birds other then chicken either with or without clinical exhibitions carry MG organism which could be the potential source of infection for commercial poultry. The routine surveillance will be done to reduce the economic losses in poultry production.

Keywords: epidemiology, Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), free flying birds, surveillance, PCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 414

Authors: Melina, Jumardi Jumardi, Erwin Erwin, Sri Nuraminah, Andi Nasruddin

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The rice field rat (Rattus argentiventer Robinson and Kloss) is a pest causing the greatest yield loss of rice plants, especially in lowland agroecosystems with intensive cropping patterns (2-3 plantings per year). Field mice damage rice plants at all stages of growth, from seedling to harvest, even in storage warehouses. Severe damage with yield loss of up to 100% occurs if rats attack rice at the generative stage because the plants are no longer able to recover by forming new tillers. Farmers mainly use rodenticides in the form of poisoned baits or as fumigants, which are applied to rat burrow holes. This practice is generally less effective because mice are able to avoid the poison or become resistant after several exposures to it. In addition, excessive use of rodenticides can have negative impacts on the environment and non-target organisms. For this reason, this research was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of fences as an environmentally friendly mechanical control method in reducing rice yield losses due to rat attacks. This study used a factorial randomized block design. The first factor was the fence material, namely galvanized zinc plate and plastic. The second factor was the height of the fence, namely 25, 50, 75, and 100 cm from the ground level. Each treatment combination was repeated five times. Data shows that zinc fences with a height of 75 and 100 cm are able to provide full protection to plants from rat infestations throughout the planting season. However, zinc fences with a height of 25 and 50 cm failed to prevent rat attacks. Plastic fences with a height of 25 and 50 cm failed to prevent rat attacks during the planting season, whereas 75 and 100 cm were able to prevent rat attacks until all the crops outside of the fence had been eaten by rats. The rat managed to get into the fence by biting the plastic fence close to the ground. Thus, the research results show that fences made of zinc plate with a height of at least 75 cm from the ground surface are effective in preventing plant damage caused by rats. To our knowledge, this research is the first to quantify the effectiveness of fences as a control of field rodents.

Keywords: rice field rat, Rattus argentiventer, fence, rice

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Authors: Janika Vien K. Valsorable, Filma C. Calalo

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Climate change is one of the most damaging and serious environmental threats worldwide being faced today. While almost everyone highly depends and puts their trust on what technology, innovations, and initiatives from hard-core science can do to cope with the changing climate, there are still people who find hope on indigenous knowledge systems. The study aimed to analyze the traditional farming practices of the Dumagats in Tanay, Rizal and how these relate to their adaptation and mitigation of climate change. The analysis is based on interviews with 17 members of the Dumagat tribe specifically residing in Barangay Cuyambay, San Andres, and Mamuyao, and supported by Key Informant Interview and Focus Group Discussion as well as document reviews. Results of the study showed that the Dumagats adopt indigenous knowledge systems and their high sensitivity and resilience to climate change aid them in their farming system and activities. These traditional farming practices are exemplified from land preparation to planting, fertilizer application, weed and pest management, harvesting and post-harvest activities. Owing to their dependence upon, and close relationship with the environment and its resources, the Dumagats have learned to interpret and react to the impacts of climate change in creative ways, drawing on their traditional knowledge to cope with the impending changes. With the increasing trend at all levels of government to service the needs of rural communities, there is the need for the extension to contextualize advisory service delivery for indigenous communities.

Keywords: climate change, Dumagat tribe, indigenous knowledge systems, traditional farming practices

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: Salah Aguib, Noureddine Chikh, Abdelmalek Khabli, Abdelkader Nour, Toufik Djedid, Lallia Kobzili

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This study presents the behavior of a hybrid smart sandwich plate with a magnetorheological elastomer core. In order to improve the vibrational behavior of the plate, the pseudo‐fibers formed by the effect of the magnetic field on the elastomer charged by the ferromagnetic particles are oriented at 45° with respect to the direction of the magnetic field at 0°. Ritz's approach is taken to solve the physical problem. In order to verify and compare the results obtained by the Ritz approach, an analysis using the finite element method was carried out. The rheological property of the MRE material at 0° and at 45° are determined experimentally, The studied elastomer is prepared by a mixture of silicone oil, RTV141A polymer, and 30% of iron particles of total mixture, the mixture obtained is mixed for about 15 minutes to obtain an elastomer paste with good homogenization. In order to develop a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), this paste is injected into an aluminum mold and subjected to a magnetic field. In our work, we have chosen an ideal percentage of filling of 30%, to obtain the best characteristics of the MRE. The mechanical characteristics obtained by dynamic mechanical viscoanalyzer (DMA) are used in the two numerical approaches. The natural frequencies and the modal damping of the sandwich plate are calculated and discussed for various magnetic field intensities. The results obtained by the two methods are compared. These off‐axis anisotropic MRE structures could open up new opportunities in various fields of aeronautics, aerospace, mechanical engineering and civil engineering.

Keywords: hybrid smart sandwich plate, vibratory behavior, FEM, Ritz approach, MRE

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Sabir Hussain, Muhammad Naeem, Yousif Aldryhim, Susan E. Halbert, Qingjun Wu

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Plant viruses annually cause severe economic losses in crop production and globally, different aphid species are responsible for the transmission of such viruses. Additionally, aphids are also serious pests of trees, and agricultural crops. Al Bahah Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has a high native and introduced plant species with a temperate climate that provides ample habitats for aphids. In this study, we surveyed virus-transmitting aphids from the Province to highlight their spatial distributions and hot spot areas for their target control strategies. During our fifteen month's survey in Al Bahah Province, three hundred and seventy samples of aphids were collected using both beating sheets and yellow water pan traps. Consequently, fifty-four aphid species representing 30 genera belonging to four families were recorded from Al Bahah Province. Alarmingly, 35 aphid species from our records are virus transmitting species. The most common virus transmitting aphid species based on number of collecting samples, were Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas, 1878), Brachycaudus rumexicolens (Patch, 1917), Uroleucon sonchi (Linnaeus, 1767), Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach, 1843), and Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776). The numbers of samples for the forementioned species were 66, 24, 23, 22, and 20, respectively. The widest range of plant hosts were found for M. euphorbiae (39 plant species), B. helichrysi (12 plant species), M. persicae (12 plant species), B. rumexicolens (10 plant species), and U. sonchi (9 plant species). The hottest spot areas were found in Al-Baha, Al Mekhwah and Biljarashi cities of the province on the basis of their abundance. This study indicated that Al Bahah Province has relatively rich aphid diversity due to the relatively high plant diversity in a favorable climatic condition. ArcGIS tools can be helpful for biologists to implement the target control strategies against these pests in the integrated pest management, and ultimately to save money and time.

Keywords: Al Bahah province, aphid-virus interaction, biodiversity, global information system

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Hyacinth Dawam Dakwang

Abstract:

Outsourcing is growing at a rapid rate throughout the world because organizations view it as a way to achieve strategic goals, improve customer satisfaction and provide other efficiency and effectiveness improvements. With the increasing globalization, outsourcing has become an important business approach, and a competitive advantage may be gained as products or services are produced more effectively and efficiently by outside suppliers. Several organizations have embarked on outsourcing strategies over the years but many still suffer in terms of their goal achievement; some have experienced low productivity both in terms of quality and quantity, their profitability has not been stable, and their capacities are grossly underutilized. This research work determined the effect of outsourcing strategies on the performance of manufacturing firms in Kaduna State. The study adopted descriptive research design. The questionnaire for the study was subjected to test- re-test reliability assessment. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20). Results were presented on frequency distribution tables and graphs. The findings reveal that firms that outsourcing strategy reduce average cost, increased productivity and profitability improved quality, improves customer satisfaction and save time for core activities. This study therefore recommended that firms should embark more on outsourcing strategies to attain the benefits of cost savings/restructuring which results in better customer service at profit; also, outsourcing strategy should come from the workers themselves. Also, organisations should ensure that, the costs of managing the outsourcing process is not greater than the benefits generated by the outsourcing program.

Keywords: Manufacturing Firms, Outsourcing , Performance, Strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Ram Mohan, Richard Haney, Ajit Kelkar

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Current developments in computing have shown the advantage of using one or more Graphic Processing Units (GPU) to boost the performance of many computationally intensive applications but there are still limits to these GPU-enhanced systems. The major factors that contribute to the limitations of GPU(s) for High Performance Computing (HPC) can be categorized as hardware and software oriented in nature. Understanding how these factors affect performance is essential to develop efficient and robust applications codes that employ one or more GPU devices as powerful co-processors for HPC computational modeling. This research and technical presentation will focus on the analysis and understanding of the intrinsic interrelationship of both hardware and software categories on computational performance for single and multiple GPU-enhanced systems using a computationally intensive application that is representative of a large portion of challenges confronting modern HPC. The representative application uses unstructured finite element computations for transient composite resin infusion process flow modeling as the computational core, characteristics and results of which reflect many other HPC applications via the sparse matrix system used for the solution of linear system of equations. This work describes these various software and hardware factors and how they interact to affect performance of computationally intensive applications enabling more efficient development and porting of High Performance Computing applications that includes current, legacy, and future large scale computational modeling applications in various engineering and scientific disciplines.

Keywords: graphical processing unit, software development and engineering, performance analysis, system architecture and software performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Recep Gundogan, Turgay Dindaroglu, Hikmet Gunal, Mustafa Ulukavak, Ron Bingner

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A majority of total soil losses in agricultural areas could be attributed to ephemeral gullies caused by heavy rains in conventionally tilled fields; however, ephemeral gully erosion is often ignored in conventional soil erosion assessments. Ephemeral gullies are often easily filled from normal soil tillage operations, which makes capturing the existing ephemeral gullies in croplands difficult. This study was carried out to determine topographic features, including slope and aspect composite topographic index (CTI) and initiation points of gully channels, using images obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. The study area was located in Topcu stream watershed in the eastern Mediterranean Region, where intense rainfall events occur over very short time periods. The slope varied between 0.7 and 99.5%, and the average slope was 24.7%. The UAV (multi-propeller hexacopter) was used as the carrier platform, and images were obtained with the RGB camera mounted on the UAV. The digital terrain models (DTM) of Topçu stream micro catchment produced using UAV images and manual field Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements were compared to assess the accuracy of UAV based measurements. Eighty-one gully channels were detected in the study area. The mean slope and CTI values in the micro-catchment obtained from DTMs generated using UAV images were 19.2% and 3.64, respectively, and both slope and CTI values were lower than those obtained using GPS measurements. The total length and volume of the gully channels were 868.2 m and 5.52 m³, respectively. Topographic characteristics and information on ephemeral gully channels (location of initial point, volume, and length) were estimated with high accuracy using the UAV images. The results reveal that UAV-based measuring techniques can be used in lieu of existing GPS and total station techniques by using images obtained with high-resolution UAVs.

Keywords: aspect, compound topographic index, digital terrain model, initial gully point, slope, unmanned aerial vehicle

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Jinlai Bian, Zailin Yang, Guanxixi Jiang, Xinzhu Li

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The problem of elastic wave propagation in inhomogeneous medium has always been a classic problem. Due to the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, many economic losses and casualties have been caused, therefore, to prevent earthquake damage to people and reduce damage, this paper studies the dynamic response around the circular inclusion in the whole space with inhomogeneous modulus, the inhomogeneity of the medium is reflected in the shear modulus of the medium with the spatial position, and the density is constant, this method can be used to solve the problem of the underground buried pipeline. Stress concentration phenomena are common in aerospace and earthquake engineering, and the dynamic stress concentration factor (DSCF) is one of the main factors leading to material damage, one of the important applications of the theory of elastic dynamics is to determine the stress concentration in the body with discontinuities such as cracks, holes, and inclusions. At present, the methods include wave function expansion method, integral transformation method, integral equation method and so on. Based on the complex function method, the Helmholtz equation with variable coefficients is standardized by using conformal transformation method and wave function expansion method, the displacement and stress fields in the whole space with circular inclusions are solved in the complex coordinate system, the unknown coefficients are solved by using boundary conditions, by comparing with the existing results, the correctness of this method is verified, based on the superiority of the complex variable function theory to the conformal transformation, this method can be extended to study the inclusion problem of arbitrary shapes. By solving the dynamic stress concentration factor around the inclusions, the influence of the inhomogeneous parameters of the medium and the wavenumber ratio of the inclusions to the matrix on the dynamic stress concentration factor is analyzed. The research results can provide some reference value for the evaluation of nondestructive testing (NDT), oil exploration, seismic monitoring, and soil-structure interaction.

Keywords: circular inclusions, complex variable function, dynamic stress concentration factor (DSCF), inhomogeneous medium

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: K. Hinde, R. Bookun, P. Tran

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Percutaneous CT guided biopsies provide a fast, minimally invasive, cost effective and safe method for obtaining tissue for histopathology and culture. Standards for diagnostic yield vary depending on whether the tissue is being obtained for histopathology or culture. We present a retrospective audit from Western Health in Melbourne Australia over a 12-month period which aimed to determine the diagnostic yield, technical success and complication rate for CT guided bone biopsies and identify factors affecting these results. The digital imaging storage program (Synapse Picture Archiving and Communication System – Fujifilm Australia) was analysed with key word searches from October 2015 to October 2016. Nineteen CT guided bone biopsies were performed during this time. The most common referring unit was oncology, work up imaging included CT, MRI, bone scan and PET scan. The complication rate was 0%, overall diagnostic yield was 74% with a technical success of 95%. When performing biopsies for histologic analysis diagnostic yield was 85% and when performing biopsies for bacterial culture diagnostic yield was 60%. There was no significant relationship identified between size of lesion, distance of lesion to skin, lesion appearance on CT, the number of samples taken or gauge of needle to diagnostic yield or technical success. CT guided bone biopsy at Western Health meets the standard reported at other major clinical centres for technical success and safety. It is a useful investigation in identification of primary malignancy in distal bone metastases.

Keywords: bone biopsy, computed tomography, core biopsy, histopathology

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Chandan Deep Singh

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In present days, companies are facing the rapid competition in terms of customer requirements to be satisfied, new technologies to be integrated into future products, new safety regulations to be followed, new computer-based tools to be introduced into design activities that becomes more scientific. In today’s highly competitive market, survival focuses on various factors such as quality, innovation, adherence to standards, and rapid response as the basis for competitive advantage. For competitive advantage, companies have to produce various competencies: for improving the capability of suppliers and for strengthening the process of integrating technology. For more competitiveness, organizations should operate in a strategy driven way and have a strategic architecture for developing core competencies. Traditional ways to take such experience and develop competencies tend to take a lot of time and they are expensive. A new learning environment, which is built around a gaming engine, supports the development of competences in specific subject areas. Technology competencies have a significant role in firm innovation and competitiveness; they interact with the competitive environment. Technological competencies vary according to the type of competitive environment, thus enhancing firm innovativeness. Technological competency is gained through extensive experimentation and learning in its research, development and employment in manufacturing. This is a review paper based on competency and strategic success of automobile industry. The aim here is to study strategy formulation and competency tools in the industry. This work is a review of literature related to competency and strategy in automobile industry. This study involves review of 34 papers related to competency and strategy.

Keywords: manufacturing competency, strategic success, competitiveness, strategy formulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Morteza Ghourchi, Meraj Jafari, Atena Soheilazizi

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Today, with the globalization of communications and the connection of countries within the framework of the global economy, free zones play the most important role as the engine of global economic development and globalization of countries. In this regard, corridors have a fundamental role in linking countries and free zones physically with each other. One of these corridors is the New Silk Road corridor (One Belt, One Road initiative), which is being built by China to connect with European countries. In connecting this corridor to European countries, Iran and Turkey are among the countries that play an important role in linking China to European countries through this corridor. The New Silk Road corridor, by connecting Iran’s free zones (Sarakhs and Maku) and Turkey’s free zones (Anatolia and Europe), can provide the best opportunity for expanding economic cooperation and regional development between Iran and Turkey. It can also provide economic links between Iran and Turkey with Central Asian countries and especially the port of Khorgos. On the other hand, it can expand Iran-Turkey economic relations more than ever before with Europe in a vast economic network. The research method was descriptive-analytical, using library resources, documents of Iranian free zones, and the Internet. In an interview with Fars News Agency, Mohammad Reza Kalaei, CEO of Sarakhs Free Zone, said that the main goal of Sarakhs Special Economic Zone is to connect Iran with the Middle East and create a transit corridor towards East Asian countries, including Turkey. Also, according to an interview with Hussein Gharousi, CEO of Maku Free Zone, the importance of this region is due to the fact that Maku Free Zone, due to its geographical location and its position on the China-Europe trade route, the East-West corridor, which is the closest point to the European Union through railway and transit routes, and also due to its proximity to Eurasian countries, is an ideal opportunity for industrial and technological companies. Creating a transit corridor towards East Asian countries, including Turkey, is one of the goals of this project Free zones between Iran and Turkey can sign an agreement within the framework of the New Silk Road to expand joint investments and economic cooperation towards regional convergence. The purpose of this research is to develop economic links between Iranian and Turkish free zones along the New Silk Road, which will lead to the expansion and development of regional cooperation between the two countries within the framework of neighboring policies. The findings of this research include the development of economic diplomacy between the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free Zones of Iran and the General Directorate of Free Zones of Turkey, the agreement to expand cooperation between the free zones of Sarakhs, Maku, Anatolia, and Europe, holding biennial conferences between Iranian free zones along the New Silk Road with Turkish free zones, creating a joint investment fund between Iran and Turkey in the field of developing free zones along the Silk Road, helping to attract tourism between Iranian and Turkish free zones located along the New Silk Road, improving transit infrastructure and transportation to better connect Iranian free zones to Turkish free zones, communicating with China, and creating joint collaborations between China’s dry ports and its free zones with Iranian and Turkish free zones.

Keywords: network economy, new silk road (one belt, one road initiative), free zones (Sarakhs, Maku, Anatolia, Europe), regional development, neighborhood policies

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Mária Hudáková, Vladimír Míka, Katarína Hollá

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Making decisions is the core of management and a result of conscious activities which is under way in a particular environment and concrete conditions. The managers decide about the goals, procedures and about the methods how to respond to the changes and to the problems which developed. Their decisions affect the effectiveness, quality, economy and the overall successfulness in every organisation. In spite of this fact, they do not pay sufficient attention to the individual steps of the decision-making process. They emphasise more how to cope with the individual methods and techniques of making decisions and forget about the way how to cope with analysing the problem or assessing the individual solution variants. In many cases, the underestimating of the analytical phase can lead to an incorrect assessment of the problem and this can then negatively influence its further solution. Based on our analysis of the theoretical solutions by individual authors who are dealing with this area and the realised research in Slovakia and also abroad we can recognise an insufficient interest of the managers to assess the risks in the decision-making process. The goal of this paper is to assess the risks in the managers´ decision-making process relating to the conditions of the environment, to the subject’s activity (the manager’s personality), to the insufficient assessment of individual variants for solving the problems but also to situations when the arisen problem is not solved. The benefit of this paper is the effort to increase the need of the managers to deal with the risks during the decision-making process. It is important for every manager to assess the risks in his/her decision-making process and to make efforts to take such decisions which reflect the basic conditions, states and development of the environment in the best way and especially for the managers´ decisions to contribute to achieving the determined goals of the organisation as effectively as possible.

Keywords: risk, decision-making, manager, process, analysis, source of risk

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Xuhui Lin, Qiuchen Lu, Yi An, Tao Yang

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As global climate change intensifies, extreme weather events such as floods increasingly threaten urban infrastructure, making the vulnerability of urban road networks a pressing issue. Existing static repair strategies fail to adapt to the rapid changes in road network conditions during flood events, leading to inefficient resource allocation and suboptimal recovery. The main research gap lies in the lack of repair strategies that consider both the dynamic characteristics of networks and the progression of flood propagation. This paper proposes a topology-based dynamic repair strategy that adjusts repair priorities based on real-time changes in flood propagation and traffic demand. Specifically, a novel method is developed to assess and enhance the resilience of urban road networks during flood events. The method combines road network topological analysis, flood propagation modelling, and traffic flow simulation, introducing a local importance metric to dynamically evaluate the significance of road segments across different spatial and temporal scales. Using London's road network and rainfall data as a case study, the effectiveness of this dynamic strategy is compared to traditional and Transport for London (TFL) strategies. The most significant highlight of the research is that the dynamic strategy substantially reduced the number of stranded vehicles across different traffic demand periods, improving efficiency by up to 35.2%. The advantage of this method lies in its ability to adapt in real-time to changes in network conditions, enabling more precise resource allocation and more efficient repair processes. This dynamic strategy offers significant value to urban planners, traffic management departments, and emergency response teams, helping them better respond to extreme weather events like floods, enhance overall urban resilience, and reduce economic losses and social impacts.

Keywords: Urban resilience, road networks, flood response, dynamic repair strategy, topological analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 26

Authors: María Graciela Aguayo, Laura Reyes, Claudia Oviedo, José Navarrete, Liset Gómez, Hugo Torres

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Most wood species used in construction deteriorate when exposed to environmental conditions that favor wood-degrading organisms’ growth. Therefore, chemical protection by impregnation allows more efficient use of forest resources extending the wood useful life. A wood protection treatment which has attracted considerable interest in the scientific community during the last decade is wood impregnation with nano compounds. Radiata pine is the main wood species used in the Chilean construction industry, with total availability of 8 million m³ sawn timber. According to the requirements of the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) and the Chilean Standards (NCh) radiata pine timber used in construction must be protected due to its low natural durability. In this work, the impregnation with copper nanoparticles (CuNP) was studied in terms of penetration and its protective effect against wood rot fungi. Two concentrations: 1 and 3 g/L of NPCu were applied by impregnation on radiata pine sapwood. Test penetration under AWPA A3-91 standard was carried out, and wood decay tests were performed according to EN 113, with slight modifications. The results of penetration for 1 g/L CuNP showed an irregular total penetration, and the samples impregnated with 3 g/L showed a total penetration with uniform concentration (blue color in all cross sections). The impregnation wood mass losses due to fungal exposure were significantly reduced, regardless of the concentration of the solution or the fungus. In impregnated wood samples, exposure to G. trabeum resulted ML values of 2.70% and 1.19% for 1 g/L and 3 g/L CuNP, respectively, and exposure to P. placenta resulted in 4.02% and 0.70%-ML values for 1 g/L and 3 g/L CuNP, respectively. In this study, the penetration analysis confirmed a uniform distribution inside the wood, and both concentrations were effective against the tested fungi, giving mass loss values lower than 5%. Therefore, future research in wood preservatives should focus on new nanomaterials that are more efficient and environmentally friendly. Acknowledgments: CONICYT FONDEF IDeA I+D 2019, grant number ID19I10122.

Keywords: copper nanoparticles, fungal degradation, radiata pine wood, wood preservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

Abstract:

From a psychological perspective, psychopathology is the area of clinical psychology that has at its core psychological assessment and psychotherapy. In day-to-day clinical practice, psychodiagnosis and psychotherapy are used independently, according to their intended purpose and their specific methods of application. The paper explores how the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Mini Mental State Examination-2 (MMSE-2) psychological tools contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT). This combined approach, psychotherapy in conjunction with assessment of personality and cognitive functions, is illustrated by two cases, a severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms and a mixed anxiety-depressive disorder. The order in which CBT, MMPI-2, and MMSE-2 were used in the diagnostic and therapeutic process was determined by the particularities of each case. In the first case, the sequence started with psychotherapy, followed by the administration of blue form MMSE-2, MMPI-2, and red form MMSE-2. In the second case, the cognitive screening with blue form MMSE-2 led to a personality assessment using MMPI-2, followed by red form MMSE-2; reapplication of the MMPI-2 due to the invalidation of the first profile, and finally, psychotherapy. The MMPI-2 protocols gathered useful information that directed the steps of therapeutic intervention: a detailed symptom picture of potentially self-destructive thoughts and behaviors otherwise undetected during the interview. The memory loss and poor concentration were confirmed by MMSE-2 cognitive screening. This combined approach, psychotherapy with psychological assessment, aligns with the trend of adaptation of the psychological services to the everyday life of contemporary man and paves the way for deepening and developing the field.

Keywords: assessment, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, MMPI-2, MMSE-2, psychopathology

Procedia PDF Downloads 322