Search results for: critical decision method

Authors: Seyed Abolhasan Naeini, Saeideh Mohammadi

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Time dependent settlement due to loading on soft saturated soils produces many problems such as high consolidation settlements and low consolidation rates. Also, long term consolidation settlement of soft soil underlying the embankment leads to unpredicted settlements and cracks on soil surface. Preloading method is an effective improvement method to solve this problem. Using vertical drains in preloading method is an effective method for improving soft soils. Applying deep soil mixing method on soft soils is another effective method for improving soft soils. There are little studies on using two methods of preloading and deep soil mixing simultaneously. In this paper, the concurrent effect of preloading with deep soil mixing by vertical drains is investigated through a finite element code, Plaxis2D. The influence of parameters such as deep soil mixing columns spacing, existence of vertical drains and distance between them, on settlement and stability factor of safety of embankment embedded on soft soil is investigated in this research.

Keywords: preloading, soft soil, vertical drains, deep soil mixing, consolidation settlement

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Authors: Hartomo Soewardi, Bachtiar Jouhari

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Ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the building permit process in Indonesia still becomes a major problems for people to apply. Long time of service, the complicated administration process, and an expensive fees are a process that causing a dissatisfaction and discomfort for applicant. Therefore, it is critical to improve the quality of service of building permit system. Objectives of this research is to develop a better process of the system to improve productivity and quality service. Lean six sigma concept by using DMAIC procedures was used to analyze the existing system. Moreover, improvement of the system was conducted by using the Axiomatic Design method. Verification test was done to test the hypothesis of the proposed system design. Result of this research shows that proposed system can produce increasing 61.8% of efficiency on service time, and more effective and easier.

Keywords: axiomatic design, bbuilding permit system, DMAIC, Lean Six Sigma

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Authors: Silvia Benvenuti, Alessandra Cardinali

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In recent years, for instance, in relation to the Covid 19 pandemic and the evidence of climate change, it is becoming quite clear that the development of a young kid into an adult citizen requires a solid scientific background. Citizens are required to exert logical thinking and know the methods of science in order to adapt, understand, and develop as persons. Mathematics sits at the core of these required skills: learning the axiomatic method is fundamental to understand how hard sciences work and helps in consolidating logical thinking, which will be useful for the entire life of a student. At the same time, research shows that the axiomatic study of geometry is a problematic topic for students, even for those with interest in mathematics. With this in mind, the main goals of the research work we will describe are: (1) to show whether non-Euclidean geometries can be a tool to allow students to consolidate the knowledge of Euclidean geometries by developing it in a critical way; (2) to promote the understanding of the modern axiomatic method in geometry; (3) to give students a new perspective on mathematics so that they can see it as a creative activity and a widely discussed topic with a historical background. One of the main issues related to the state-of-the-art in this topic is the shortage of experimental studies with students. For this reason, our aim is to show further experimental evidence of the potential benefits of teaching non-Euclidean geometries at high school, based on data collected from a study started in 2005 in the frame of the Italian National Piano Lauree Scientifiche, continued by a teacher training organized in September 2018, perfected in a pilot study that involved 77 high school students during the school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. and finally implemented through an experimental study conducted in 2020-21 with 87 high school students. Our study shows that there is potential for further research to challenge current conceptions of the school mathematics curriculum and of the capabilities of high school mathematics students.

Keywords: Non-Euclidean geometries, beliefs about mathematics, questionnaires, modern axiomatic method

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Authors: Abdolreza Memari

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In this article in order to estimate the viscosity of crude oil,a numerical method has been used. We use this method to measure the crude oil's viscosity for 3 states: Saturated oil's viscosity, viscosity above the bubble point and viscosity under the saturation pressure. Then the crude oil's viscosity is estimated by using KHAN model and roller ball method. After that using these data that include efficient conditions in measuring viscosity, the estimated viscosity by the presented method, a radial based neural method, is taught. This network is a kind of two layered artificial neural network that its stimulation function of hidden layer is Gaussian function and teaching algorithms are used to teach them. After teaching radial based neural network, results of experimental method and artificial intelligence are compared all together. Teaching this network, we are able to estimate crude oil's viscosity without using KHAN model and experimental conditions and under any other condition with acceptable accuracy. Results show that radial neural network has high capability of estimating crude oil saving in time and cost is another advantage of this investigation.

Keywords: viscosity, Iranian crude oil, radial based, neural network, roller ball method, KHAN model

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Authors: L. I. Izhar, T. Stathaki, K. Howell

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Analyzing and interpreting of thermograms have been increasingly employed in the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases thanks to its non-invasive, non-harmful nature and low cost. In this paper, a novel system is proposed to improve diagnosis and monitoring of morphoea skin disorder based on integration with the published lines of Blaschko. In the proposed system, image registration based on global and local registration methods are found inevitable. This paper presents a modified normalized gradient cross-correlation (NGC) method to reduce large geometrical differences between two multimodal images that are represented by smooth gray edge maps is proposed for the global registration approach. This method is improved further by incorporating an iterative-based normalized cross-correlation coefficient (NCC) method. It is found that by replacing the final registration part of the NGC method where translational differences are solved in the spatial Fourier domain with the NCC method performed in the spatial domain, the performance and robustness of the NGC method can be greatly improved. It is shown in this paper that the hybrid NGC method not only outperforms phase correlation (PC) method but also improved misregistration due to translation, suffered by the modified NGC method alone for thermograms with ill-defined jawline. This also demonstrates that by using the gradients of the gray edge maps and a hybrid technique, the performance of the PC based image registration method can be greatly improved.

Keywords: Blaschko’s lines, image registration, morphoea, thermal imaging

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Authors: Sayuri Inoue, Naohiro Nakamura, Tsubasa Hamada

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The seismic design method of buildings is classified into two types: static design and dynamic design. The static design is a design method that exerts static force as seismic force and is a relatively simple design method created based on the experience of seismic motion in the past 100 years. At present, static design is used for most of the Japanese buildings. Dynamic design mainly refers to the time history response analysis. It is a comparatively difficult design method that input the earthquake motion assumed in the building model and examine the response. Currently, it is only used for skyscrapers and specific buildings. In the present design standard in Japan, it is good to use either the design method of the static design and the dynamic design in the medium and high-rise buildings. However, when actually designing middle and high-rise buildings by two kinds of design methods, the relatively simple static design method satisfies the criteria, but in the case of a little difficult dynamic design method, the criterion isn't often satisfied. This is because the dynamic design method was built with the intention of designing super high-rise buildings. In short, higher safety is required as compared with general buildings, and criteria become stricter. The authors consider applying the dynamic design method to general buildings designed by the static design method so far. The reason is that application of the dynamic design method is reasonable for buildings that are out of the conventional standard structural form such as emphasizing design. For the purpose, it is important to compare the design results when the criteria of both design methods are arranged side by side. In this study, we performed time history response analysis to medium-rise buildings that were actually designed with allowable stress method. Quantitative comparison between static design and dynamic design was conducted, and characteristics of both design methods were examined.

Keywords: buildings, seismic design, allowable stress design, time history response analysis, Japanese seismic code

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Authors: Seyed Amin Vakili, Sahar Sadat Vakili, Seyed Ehsan Vakili, Nader Abdoli Yazdi

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The main purpose of this paper is to present the Modified Newmark Method as a method of non-linear frame analysis by considering the effect of the axial load (second order analysis). The discussion will be restricted to plane frameworks containing a constant cross-section for each element. In addition, it is assumed that the frames are prevented from out-of-plane deflection. This part of the investigation is performed to generalize the established method for the assemblage structures such as frameworks. As explained, the governing differential equations are non-linear and cannot be formulated easily due to unknown axial load of the struts in the frame. By the assumption of constant axial load, the governing equations are changed to linear ones in most methods. Since the modeling and the solutions of the non-linear form of the governing equations are cumbersome, the linear form of the equations would be used in the established method. However, according to the ability of the method to reconsider the minor omitted parameters in modeling during the solution procedure, the axial load in the elements at each stage of the iteration can be computed and applied in the next stage. Therefore, the ability of the method to present an accurate approach to the solutions of non-linear equations will be demonstrated again in this paper.

Keywords: nonlinear, stability, buckling, modified newmark method

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Authors: Kanwar Varinder Pal Singh

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Art is one of the five secondary sciences next to the social sciences. As per the single essential concept in garment design, it is the coexistence and co-creation of two aspects of reality: Ultimate reality and apparent or conventional reality. All phenomena possess two natures: That which is revealed by correct perception and that which is induced by deceptive perception. The object of correct perception is the ultimate reality, the object of deceptive perception is conventional reality. The same phenomenon, therefore, may be perceived according to its ultimate nature or its apparent nature. Ultimate reality is also called ‘emptiness’. Emptiness does not mean that all phenomena are nothing but do not exist in themselves. Although phenomena, the universe, thoughts, beings, time, and so on, seem very real in themselves, ultimately, they are not. Each one of us can perceive the changing and unpredictable nature of existence. This transitory nature of phenomena, impermanence, is the first sign of emptiness. Sometimes, the interdependence of phenomena leads to ultimate reality, which is nothing but emptiness, e.g., a rainbow, which is an effect due to the function of ‘sun rays,’ ‘rain,’ and ‘time.’ In light of the above, to achieve decision-making for the global desirability of garment design, the coexistence of artistic and technical creativity must achieve an object of correct perception, i.e., ultimate reality. This paper mentions the decision-making technique as semiotic engineering, both subjective and objective.

Keywords: global desirability, social desirability, comfort desirability, handle desirability, overall desirability

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Authors: Mehran Naghizaderokni, Asscar Janalizadechobbasty

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This paper explores probabilistic method for assessing the liquefaction potential of sandy soils. The current simplified methods for assessing soil liquefaction potential use a deterministic safety factor in order to determine whether liquefaction will occur or not. However, these methods are unable to determine the liquefaction probability related to a safety factor. A solution to this problem can be found by reliability analysis.This paper presents a reliability analysis method based on the popular certain liquefaction analysis method. The proposed probabilistic method is formulated based on the results of reliability analyses of 190 field records and observations of soil performance against liquefaction. The results of the present study show that confidence coefficient greater and smaller than 1 does not mean safety and/or liquefaction in cadence for liquefaction, and for assuring liquefaction probability, reliability based method analysis should be used. This reliability method uses the empirical acceleration attenuation law in the Chalos area to derive the probability density distribution function and the statistics for the earthquake-induced cyclic shear stress ratio (CSR). The CSR and CRR statistics are used in continuity with the first order and second moment method to calculate the relation between the liquefaction probability, the safety factor and the reliability index. Based on the proposed method, the liquefaction probability related to a safety factor can be easily calculated. The influence of some of the soil parameters on the liquefaction probability can be quantitatively evaluated.

Keywords: liquefaction, reliability analysis, chalos area, civil and structural engineering

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Authors: Karam Al-Assaf, Israa Al Khaffaf, Ryan Al Tayeb, Ayman Alzaatreh

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A significant, manageable hazard to public health, happiness, and the achievement of sustainable development is air pollution. Outdoor air pollution has increased globally over the previous years, exposing billions of people worldwide to hazardous air. With UAE being no different, there are a variety of pollution-related problems that need to be addressed. Therefore, to gain insights from the government and decision makers, this study aims to analyze the annual trends of the five major air pollutants (NO2, SO2, O3, CO, and PM10) across five emirates in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and Ras AL Khaimah) from 2013 to 2020. The results of the analysis revealed that air pollutants NO2, SO2, and PM10 were significantly different across the years and states. Moreover, it was found that the levels of NO2 are significantly different in Dubai across the years. Moreover, the levels of SO2 are significantly different in Sharjah across the years. Furthermore, it was found that PM10 was significantly different in Ajman across the years. Moreover, the analysis of the significant difference in the pollutants in the three areas (Downtown, Residential, Industrial) revealed that there is no significant difference in the pollutant levels across the years in the three different areas. This tool has shown its effectiveness in monitoring pollutant trends, providing valuable data for government investigations and control measures across the UAE. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for decision-makers to develop and implement policies aimed at improving pollutant levels.

Keywords: air pollution, air pollutant, repeated measures, MANOVA, UAE

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Authors: Donggun Lee, Q-Han Park

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Due to its coarse grid, the Pseudo-Spectral Time Domain (PSTD) method has advantages against the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method in terms of memory requirement and operation time. However, since the efficiency of parallelization is much lower than that of FDTD, PSTD is not a useful method for a large-scale electromagnetic simulation in a parallel platform. In this paper, we propose the parallelization technique of the hybrid PSTD-FDTD (HPF) method which simultaneously possesses the efficient parallelizability of FDTD and the quick speed and low memory requirement of PSTD. Parallelization cost of the HPF method is exactly the same as the parallel FDTD, but still, it occupies much less memory space and has faster operation speed than the parallel FDTD. Experiments in distributed memory systems have shown that the parallel HPF method saves up to 96% of the operation time and reduces 84% of the memory requirement. Also, by combining the OpenMP library to the MPI library, we further reduced the operation time of the parallel HPF method by 50%.

Keywords: FDTD, hybrid, MPI, OpenMP, PSTD, parallelization

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Authors: Tesfaye Mengistu

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This thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of Reinforcement Learning (RL) for Autonomous Energy Management solutions. The study explores the potential of Model Free RL approaches, such as Monte Carlo RL and Q-learning, to improve energy management by autonomously adjusting energy management strategies to maximize efficiency. The research investigates the implementation of RL algorithms for optimizing energy consumption in a single-agent environment. The focus is on developing a framework for the implementation of RL algorithms, highlighting the importance of RL for enabling autonomous systems to adapt quickly to changing conditions and make decisions based on previous experiences. Moreover, the paper proposes RL as a novel energy management solution to address nations' CO2 emission goals. Reinforcement learning algorithms are well-suited to solving problems with sequential decision-making patterns and can provide accurate and immediate outputs to ease the planning and decision-making process. This research provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of using RL for energy management solutions and recommends further studies to explore its full potential. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into how RL can be used to improve the efficiency of energy management systems and supports the use of RL as a promising approach for developing autonomous energy management solutions in residential buildings.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, reinforcement learning, monte carlo, energy management, CO2 emission

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Authors: Elysia Barker, Jian Guo Zhou, Ling Qian, Steve Decent

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A method of modelling topography used in the simulation of riverbeds is proposed in this paper, which removes the need for datapoints and measurements of physical terrain. While complex scans of the contours of a surface can be achieved with other methods, this requires specialised tools, which the proposed method overcomes by using fractional Brownian motion (FBM) as a basis to estimate the real surface within a 15% margin of error while attempting to optimise algorithmic efficiency. This removes the need for complex, expensive equipment and reduces resources spent modelling bed topography. This method also accounts for the change in topography over time due to erosion, sediment transport, and other external factors which could affect the topography of the ground by updating its parameters and generating a new bed. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to simulate both stationary and steady flow cases in a side-by-side comparison over the generated bed topography using the proposed method and a test case taken from an external source. The method, if successful, will be incorporated into the current LBM program used in the testing phase, which will allow an automatic generation of topography for the given situation in future research, removing the need for bed data to be specified.

Keywords: bed topography, FBM, LBM, shallow water, simulations

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Authors: Apu Kumar Saha, Mrinmoy Majumder

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The increase in the concentration of Green House gases all over the World has induced global warming phenomena whereby the average temperature of the world has aggravated to impact the pattern of climate in different regions. The frequency of extreme event has increased, early onset of season and change in an average amount of rainfall all are engrossing the conclusion that normal pattern of climate is changing. Sophisticated and complex models are prepared to estimate the future situation of the climate in different zones of the Earth. As hydro-energy is directly related to climatic parameters like rainfall and evaporation such energy resources will have to sustain the onset of the climatic abnormalities. The present investigation has tried to assess the impact of climatic abnormalities upon hydropower potential of different regions of the World. In this regard multi-criteria, decision making, and the neural network is used to predict the impact of the change cognitively by an index. The results from the study show that hydro-energy potential of Asian region is mostly vulnerable with respect to other regions of the world. The model results also encourage further application of the index to analyze the impact of climate change on the potential of hydro-energy.

Keywords: hydro-energy potential, neural networks, multi criteria decision analysis, environmental and ecological engineering

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Authors: Seyed Sadegh Naseralavi

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This paper presents a Kernel parallelization equation for damage identification in structures under unknown periodic excitations. Herein, the dynamic differential equation of the motion of structure is viewed as a mapping from displacements to external forces. Utilizing this viewpoint, a new method for damage detection in structures under periodic loads is presented. The developed method requires only two periods of load. The method detects the damages without finding the input loads. The method is based on the fact that structural displacements under free and forced vibrations are associated with two parallel subspaces in the displacement space. Considering the concept, kernel parallelization equation (KPE) is derived for damage detection under unknown periodic loads. The method is verified for a case study under periodic loads.

Keywords: Kernel, unknown periodic load, damage detection, Kernel parallelization equation

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Authors: Andrew Kipp

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Student absenteeism is harmful to both the school and the absentee student. One approach to improving student absenteeism is targeting contextual factors within the students’ learning environment. However, contemporary literature has not taken an ecological agency approach to understanding student absenteeism. Ecological agency is a theoretical framework that magnifies the interplay between the environment and the actions of people within the environment. To elaborate, the person’s personal history and aspirations and the environmental conditions provide potential outlets or restrictions to their intended action. The framework provides the unique perspective of understanding absentee students’ decision-making through the affordances and constraints found in their learning environment. To that effect, the study was guided by the question, “Why do absentee students decide to engage in absenteeism in a suburban Kansas school?” A case study methodology was used to answer the research question. Four suburban, Kansas high school absentee students in the 2020-2021 school year were selected for the study. The fall 2020 semester was in a remote learning setting, and the spring 2021 semester was in an in-person learning setting. The study captured their decision-making with respect to school attendance throughsemi-structured interviews, prolonged observations, drawings, and concept maps. The data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed that peer socialization opportunities, methods of instruction, shifts in cultural beliefs due to COVID-19, manifestations of anxiety and lack of space to escape their anxiety, social media bullying, and the inability to receive academic tutoring motivated the participants’ daily decision to either attend or miss school. The findings provided a basis to improve several institutional and classroom practices. These practices included more student-led instruction and less teacher-led instruction in both in-person and remote learning environments, promoting socialization through classroom collaboration and clubs based on emerging student interests, reducing instances of bullying through prosocial education, safe spaces for students to escape the classroom to manage their anxiety, and more opportunities for one-on-one tutoring to improve grades. The study provides an example of using the ecological agency approach to better understand the personal and environmental factors that lead to absenteeism. The study also informs educational policies and classroom practices to better promote student attendance. Further research should investigate other school contexts using the ecological agency theoretical framework to better understand the influence of the school environment on student absenteeism.

Keywords: student absenteeism, ecological agency, classroom practices, educational policy, student decision-making

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Authors: Eyasu Gemech, Kassa Michael, Mulugeta Atnafu

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A non-equivalent group's quasi-experiment research was conducted at Wolkite University to investigate MATLAB supported learning and students' conceptual understanding in learning Applied Mathematics II using four different comparative instructional approaches: MATLAB supported traditional lecture method, MATLAB supported collaborative method, only collaborative method, and only traditional lecture method. Four intact classes of mechanical engineering groups 1 and 2, garment engineering and textile engineering students were randomly selected out of eight departments. The first three departments were considered as treatment groups and the fourth one 'Textile engineering' was assigned as a comparison group. The departments had 30, 29, 35 and 32 students respectively. The results of the study show that there is a significant mean difference in students' conceptual understanding between groups of students learning through MATLAB supported collaborative method and the other learning approaches. Students who were learned through MATLAB technology-supported learning in combination with collaborative method were found to understand concepts of functions of two variables better than students learning through the other methods of learning. These, hence, are informative of the potential approaches universities would follow for a better students’ understanding of concepts.

Keywords: MATLAB supported collaborative method, MATLAB supported learning, collaborative method, conceptual understanding, functions of two variables

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Authors: Rosemary R. Carlton, Roxane Caron

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Almost three decades ago, bell hooks (1994) identified the classroom as “the most radical space of possibility in the academy”. A feminist scholar, educator, and activist, hooks urged educators to transgress the boundaries of what might be customary or considered acceptable in teaching, thus encouraging the pursuit of new ways of knowing and different strategies for sharing knowledge. This paper reflects upon a particular response to hooks’ still relevant call for transgression in teaching. Specifically, this paper reports on the design, implementation, and preliminary analysis of a social work course integrating active pedagogy and transnational exchange to encourage students’ critical thinking and autonomous learning in their development as social workers in a global context. The bachelor’s level course, Pratiques spécifiques: Projet international, was developed collaboratively across three francophone institutions of higher learning in Belgium, Canada, and France: the Haute École de Namur-Liège-Luxembourg (Hénallux); the Université de Montréal; and, the Institut d’enseignement supérieur et professionnel, l’IRTS Paris Île-de-France. The driving aims of the course are to promote autonomous learning and critical thinking through a lens of transnational understandings of social problems -competencies indispensable to students’ development as social workers. The course is offered to two paired cohorts, one addressing the subject of “migrations” (Canada/France) and the other the subject of “sexual exploitation” (Canada/Belgium). Through the adaptation of a critical pedagogy of problem-based learning, students are called upon to actively engage in acquiring and applying knowledge to respond to “real life” social issues relating to migration or sexual exploitation. At the conclusion of the course, each cohort of students is brought together for a week-long intensive period of transnational exchange either at the Université de Montréal in Canada or at Hénallux in Belgium. Extending the bounds of the classroom across international borders allows students novel opportunities to deepen and expand their understandings of issues relating to predefined social issues and to critically examine associated social work practices. The paper opens with a presentation of the social work course. Specifically, the authors will outline their adaptation of a pedagogy of problem-based learning integrating transnational exchange in the design and implementation of the course. Returning to hooks’ notion of transgression in teaching, the paper offers a preliminary analysis of how and with what effect the course provides opportunities to transgress hierarchical student-teacher relationships; transgress conventional modes of learning to explore diverse sources of knowledge and transgress the walls of the university to engage with and learn from local and global partners. The paper concludes with a consideration of the potential influence of such transgressions in teaching for students’ development of critical thinking in their practice of social work in global context.

Keywords: active learning, critical pedagogy, social work intervention, transnational learning

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Authors: Ahmad Awajan, Sadam Al Wadi

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In this study, a hybrid method based on Empirical Mode Decomposition and Holt-Winter (EMD-HW) is used to forecast Amman stock market data. First, the data are decomposed by EMD method into Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) and residual components. Then, all components are forecasted by HW technique. Finally, forecasting values are aggregated together to get the forecasting value of stock market data. Empirical results showed that the EMD- HW outperform individual forecasting models. The strength of this EMD-HW lies in its ability to forecast non-stationary and non- linear time series without a need to use any transformation method. Moreover, EMD-HW has a relatively high accuracy comparing with eight existing forecasting methods based on the five forecast error measures.

Keywords: Holt-Winter method, empirical mode decomposition, forecasting, time series

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Authors: Amenaghawon Clement Osemwinyen

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The Activity, Student-centred, Experiment, Improvisation - Plan, Do, See, Improve (ASEI-PDSI) method championed by the Strengthening Mathematics And Science Education (SMASE) - Nigeria Project is an attempt to improve the quality of mathematics, which has consistently declined over the years in both public primary and secondary schools across the country. The study thus assessed the ASEI-PDSI method on students’ attitudes and achievement in junior secondary schools (JSS) mathematics in FCT-Abuja. A survey research design was adopted, and 100 mathematics teachers using a stratified random sampling method were used for the study. The data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings showed that the ASEI-PDSI method had significantly improved the attitudes of students toward mathematics. The study also revealed that the ASEI-PDSI method significantly influenced junior secondary school (JSS) students’ mathematics achievement. Amongst the recommendations were that teachers should be encouraged to adopt the ASEI-PDSI method in teaching and learning mathematics in order to create a mathematically stimulating classroom environment which could advertently influence junior secondary school (JSS) students’ attitude and academic performance in mathematics. Also, regular in-service training programs should be organized by stakeholders (government and other interest groups) so as to improve the teaching strategies of teachers, mostly as they affect the ASEI-PDSI method.

Keywords: achievement, ASEI-PDSI method, attitude, mathematics, SMASE

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Authors: Sakul Jariyachamsit

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The objectives of this research were to study the behaviour of inbound tourist who visited Ratanakosin Island and to study their needs concerning support facilities. The independent variables included gender, age, levels of education, occupation, and income while the dependent variables were classified into two groups: tourists’ behaviour variables and tourists’ need of supporting facilities. A simple random sampling method was utilized to get 225 respondents. The majority of respondents were both male and female in the same proportion but most were between 21-30 years old. Most were married with a graduated degree. The average income of the respondents was between $20,000-30,000. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents came to Thailand for the first time and spent about 8 days in Thailand and preferred to travel in small groups. Their decision to come to Thailand was influenced by word of mouth. When they first thought of Thailand, they thought of Thai food. In terms of the needs for tourists around the Ratanakosin Island, and ranked in importance, are as follows: a tourist centre, somebody who can speak English, a trustable agency, police patrol, and the availability of maps and brochures.

Keywords: Rattanakosin Island, tourist, travelling behaviour, media engineering

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Authors: Heng Han, Zhilei Liang, Xiangong Zhou

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In this paper, the finite element method is used to study the temperature field of the main cable of the suspension bridge, and the calculation method of the average temperature of the cross-section of the main cable suitable for the construction control of the cable system is proposed; By comparing and analyzing the temperature field of the main cable with five diameters, a reasonable diameter limit for calculating the average temperature of the cross section of the main cable by finite element method is proposed. The results show that the maximum error of this method is less than 1℃, which meets the requirements of construction control accuracy; For the main cable with a diameter greater than 400mm, the surface temperature measuring points combined with the finite element method shall be used to calculate the average cross-section temperature.

Keywords: suspension bridge, main cable, temperature field, finite element

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Authors: Yuyan Yi, Jingyi Zheng, Nedret Billor

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Independent component analysis (ICA) is one of the most commonly used blind source separation (BSS) techniques for signal pre-processing, such as noise reduction and feature extraction. The main parameter in the ICA method is the number of independent components (IC). Although there have been several methods for the determination of the number of ICs, it has not been given sufficient attentionto this important parameter. In this study, wereview the mostused methods fordetermining the number of ICs and providetheir advantages and disadvantages. Further, wepropose an improved version of column-wise ICAByBlock method for the determination of the number of ICs.To assess the performance of the proposed method, we compare the column-wise ICAbyBlock with several existing methods through different ICA methods by using simulated and real signal data. Results show that the proposed column-wise ICAbyBlock is an effective and stable method for determining the optimal number of components in ICA. This method is simple, and results can be demonstrated intuitively with good visualizations.

Keywords: independent component analysis, optimal number, column-wise, correlation coefficient, cross-validation, ICAByblock

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Authors: B. Shaw, K. Doherty

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The Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute (C3RI) is a diverse multidisciplinary research institute including art, design, media production, communication studies, computing and engineering. Across these disciplines it can seem like there are enormous differences of research practice and convention, including differing positions on objectivity and subjectivity, certainty and evidence, and different political and ethical parameters. These differences sit within, often unacknowledged, histories, codes, and communication styles of specific disciplines, and it is all these aspects that can make understanding of research practice across disciplines difficult. To explore this, a one day event was orchestrated, testing how a PhD community might communicate and share research in progress in a multi-disciplinary context. Instead of presenting results at a conference, research students were tasked to articulate their method of inquiry. A working party of students from across disciplines had to design a conference call, visual identity and an event framework that would work for students across all disciplines. The process of establishing the shape and identity of the conference was revealing. Even finding a linguistic frame that would meet the expectations of different disciplines for the conference call was challenging. The first abstracts submitted either resorted to reporting findings, or only described method briefly. It took several weeks of supported intervention for research students to get ‘inside’ their method and to understand their research practice as a process rich with philosophical and practical decisions and implications. In response to the abstracts the conference committee generated key methodological categories for conference sessions, including sampling, capturing ‘experience’, ‘making models’, researcher identities, and ‘constructing data’. Each session involved presentations by visual artists, communications students and computing researchers with inter-disciplinary dialogue, facilitated by alumni Chairs. The apparently simple focus on method illuminated research process as a site of creativity, innovation and discovery, and also built epistemological awareness, drawing attention to what is being researched and how it can be known. It was surprisingly difficult to limit students to discussing method, and it was apparent that the vocabulary available for method is sometimes limited. However, by focusing on method rather than results, the genuine process of research, rather than one constructed for approval, could be captured. In unlocking the twists and turns of planning and implementing research, and the impact of circumstance and contingency, students had to reflect frankly on successes and failures. This level of self – and public- critique emphasised the degree of critical thinking and rigour required in executing research and demonstrated that honest reportage of research, faults and all, is good valid research. The process also revealed the degree that disciplines can learn from each other- the computing students gained insights from the sensitive social contextualizing generated by communications and art and design students, and art and design students gained understanding from the greater ‘distance’ and emphasis on application that computing students applied to their subjects. Finding the means to develop dialogue across disciplines makes researchers better equipped to devise and tackle research problems across disciplines, potentially laying the ground for more effective collaboration.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, method, research student, training

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Authors: Biruk Wolde Eremacho

Abstract:

The Kombolcha to Desse road, linking Addis Ababa with Northern Ethiopia towns traverses through one of the most difficult mountainous ranges in Ethiopia. The presence of loose unconsolidated materials (colluvium materials), highly weathered and fractured basalt rocks high relief, steep natural slopes, nature of geologic formations exposed along the road section, poor drainage conditions, occurrence of high seasonal rains, and seismically active nature of the region created favorable condition for slope instability in the area. Thus, keeping in mind all above points the present study was conceived to study in detail the slope stability condition of the area. It was realized that detailed slope stability studies along this road section are very necessary to identify critical slopes and to provide the best remedial measures to minimize the slope instability problems which frequently disrupt and endanger the traffic movement on this important road. For the present study based on the field manifestation of instability two most critical slope sections were identified for detailed slope stability analysis. The deterministic slope stability analysis approach was followed to perform the detailed slope stability analysis of the selected slope sections. Factor of safety for the selected slope sections was determined for the different anticipated conditions (i.e., static and dynamic with varied water saturations) using Slope/W and Slide software. Both static and seismic slope stability analysis were carried out and factor of safety was deduced for each anticipated conditions. In general, detailed slope stability analysis of the two critical slope sections reveals that for only static dry condition both the slopes sections would be stable. However, for the rest anticipated conditions defined by static and dynamic situations with varied water saturations both critical slope sections would be unstable. Moreover, the causes of slope instability in the study area are governed by different factors; therefore integrated approaches of remedial measures are more appropriate to mitigate the possible slope instability in the study area. Depending on site condition and slope stability analysis result four types of suitable preventive and remedial measures are recommended namely; proper managements of drainages, retaining structures, gabions, and managing steeply cut slopes.

Keywords: factor of safety, remedial measures, slope stability analysis, static and dynamic condition

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Authors: Milad Mirzaei Aminiyan, Abdolreza Akhgar, Farzad Mirzaei Aminiyan

Abstract:

Water quality is the critical factor that influence on human health and quantity and quality of grain production in semi-humid and semi-arid area. Pistachio is a main crop that accounts for a considerable portion of Iranian agricultural exports. Give that pistachio tree is a tolerant type of tree to saline and alkaline soil and water conditions, but groundwater and irrigation water quality play important roles in main production this crop. For this purpose, 94 well water samples were taken from 25 wells and samples were analyzed. The results showed give that region’s geological, climatic characteristics, statistical analysis, and based on dominant cations and anions in well water samples (piper diagram); four main types of water were found: Na-Cl, K-Cl, Na-SO4, and K-SO4. It seems that most wells in terms of water quality (salinity and alkalinity) and based on Wilcox diagram have critical status. The analysis suggested that more than eighty-seven percentage of the well water samples have high values of EC that these values are higher than into critical limit EC value for irrigation water, which may be due to the sandy soils in this area. Most groundwater were relatively unsuitable for irrigation but it could be used by application of correct management such as removing and reducing the ion concentrations of Cl‾, SO42‾, Na+ and total hardness in groundwater and also the concentrated deep groundwater was required treatment to reduce the salinity and sodium hazard. Given that irrigation water quality in this area was relatively unsuitable for most agriculture production but pistachio tree was adapted to this area conditions. The integrated management of groundwater for irrigation is the way to solve water quality issues not only in Rafsanjan area, but also in other arid and semi-arid areas.

Keywords: groundwater quality, irrigation water quality, salinity, alkalinity, Rafsanjan plain, pistachio

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Shyam Mehraaj, Samanthi E. R. Siriwardana, Shehara A. K. G. H., Wanigasinghe N. T., Wandana R. A. K., Wedage C. V.

Abstract:

A presentation is a critical tool for conveying not just spoken information but also a wide spectrum of human emotions. The single most effective thing to make the presentation successful is to practice it beforehand. Preparing for a presentation has been shown to be essential for improving emotional control, intonation and prosody, pronunciation, and vocabulary, as well as the quality of the presentation slides. As a result, practicing has become one of the most critical parts of giving a good presentation. In this research, the main focus is to analyze the audio, video, and slides of the presentation uploaded by the presenters. This proposed solution is based on the Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision techniques to cater to the requirement for the presenter to do a presentation beforehand using a mobile responsive web application. The proposed system will assist in practicing the presentation beforehand by identifying the presenters’ emotions, body language, tonality, prosody, pronunciations and vocabulary, and presentation slides quality. Overall, the system will give a rating and feedback to the presenter about the performance so that the presenters’ can improve their presentation skills.

Keywords: presentation, self-evaluation, natural learning processing, computer vision

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Authors: Sergey Kholodkevich, Tatiana Kuznetsova

Abstract:

The objective assessment of ecological state of water ecosystems is impossible without the use of biological methods of the environmental monitoring capable in the integrated look to reveal negative for biota changes of quality of water as habitats. Considerable interest for the development of such methods of environmental quality control represents biomarker approach. Measuring systems, by means of which register cardiac activity characteristics, received the name of bioelectronic. Bioelectronic systems are information and measuring systems in which animals (namely, benthic invertebrates) are directly included in structure of primary converters, being an integral part of electronic system of registration of these or those physiological or behavioural biomarkers. As physiological biomarkers various characteristics of cardiac activity of selected invertebrates have been used in bioelectronic system.lChanges in cardiac activity are considered as integrative measures of the physiological condition of organisms, which reflect the state of the environment of their dwelling. Greatest successes in the development of tools of biological methods and technologies of an assessment of surface water quality in real time. Essential advantage of bioindication of water quality by such tool is a possibility of an integrated assessment of biological effects of pollution on biota and also the expressness of such method and used approaches. In the report the practical experience of authors in biomonitoring and bioindication of an ecological condition of sea, brackish- and freshwater areas is discussed. Authors note that the method of non-invasive cardiac activity monitoring of selected invertebrates can be used not only for the advancement of biomonitoring, but also is useful in decision of general problems of comparative physiology of the invertebrates.

Keywords: benthic invertebrates, physiological state, heart rate monitoring, water quality assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 718

Authors: Phanida Phukoetphim, Asaad Y. Shamseldin

Abstract:

In this study, the novel Stochastic Gradient Boosting (SGB) combination method is addressed for producing daily river flows from four different rain-runoff models of Ohinemuri catchment, New Zealand. The selected rainfall-runoff models are two empirical black-box models: linear perturbation model and linear varying gain factor model, two conceptual models: soil moisture accounting and routing model and Nedbør-Afrstrømnings model. In this study, the simple average combination method and the weighted average combination method were used as a benchmark for comparing the results of the novel SGB combination method. The models and combination results are evaluated using statistical and graphical criteria. Overall results of this study show that the use of combination technique can certainly improve the simulated river flows of four selected models for Ohinemuri catchment, New Zealand. The results also indicate that the novel SGB combination method is capable of accurate prediction when used in a combination method of the simulated river flows in New Zealand.

Keywords: multi-model combination, rainfall-runoff modeling, stochastic gradient boosting, bioinformatics

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Tetsya Sok, Seong Jae Hong, Young Kyu Kim, Seung Woo Lee

Abstract:

The temperature distribution for asphalt concrete (AC)-Concrete composite pavement is one of main influencing factor that affects to performance life of pavement. The temperature gradient in concrete slab underneath the AC layer results the critical curling stress and lead to causes de-bonding of AC-Concrete interface. These stresses, when enhanced by repetitive axial loadings, also contribute to the fatigue damage and eventual crack development within the slab. Moreover, the temperature change within concrete slab extremely causes the slab contracts and expands that significantly induces reflective cracking in AC layer. In this paper, the numerical prediction of pavement temperature was investigated using one-dimensional finite different method (FDM) in fully explicit scheme. The numerical predicted model provides a fundamental and clear understanding of heat energy balance including incoming and outgoing thermal energies in addition to dissipated heat in the system. By using the reliable meteorological data for daily air temperature, solar radiation, wind speech and variable pavement surface properties, the predicted pavement temperature profile was validated with the field measured data. Additionally, the effects of AC thickness and daily air temperature on the temperature profile in underlying concrete were also investigated. Based on obtained results, the numerical predicted temperature of AC-Concrete composite pavement using FDM provided a good accuracy compared to field measured data and thicker AC layer significantly insulates the temperature distribution in underlying concrete slab.

Keywords: asphalt concrete, finite different method (FDM), curling effect, heat transfer, solar radiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 269