Search results for: peak experience

Authors: Hongliang Ding, Ziqu Ouyang

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Under the basic national conditions that the energy structure is dominated by coal, it is of great significance to realize deep and flexible peak shaving of boilers in pulverized coal power plants, and maximize the consumption of renewable energy in the power grid, to ensure China's energy security and scientifically achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. With the promising self-preheating combustion technology, which had the potential of broad-load regulation and rapid response to load changes, this study mainly investigated the different load operation and rapid load-change characteristics of pulverized coal combustion. Four effective load-stabilization bases were proposed according to preheating temperature, coal gas composition (calorific value), combustion temperature (spatial mean temperature and mean square temperature fluctuation coefficient), and flue gas emissions (CO and NOx concentrations), on the basis of which the load-change rates were calculated to assess the load response characteristics. Due to the improvement of the physicochemical properties of pulverized coal after preheating, stable ignition and combustion conditions could be obtained even at a low load of 25%, with a combustion efficiency of over 97.5%, and NOx emission reached the lowest at 50% load, with the concentration of 50.97 mg/Nm3 (@6%O2). Additionally, the load ramp-up stage displayed higher load-change rates than the load ramp-down stage, with maximum rates of 3.30 %/min and 3.01 %/min, respectively. Furthermore, the driving force formed by high step load was conducive to the increase of load-change rate. The rates based on the preheating indicator attained the highest value of 3.30 %/min, while the rates based on the combustion indicator peaked at 2.71 %/min. In comparison, the combustion indicator accurately described the system’s combustion state and load changes, whereas the preheating indicator was easier to acquire, with a higher load-change rate, hence the appropriate evaluation strategy should depend on the actual situation. This study verified a feasible method for deep and flexible peak shaving of coal-fired power units, further providing basic data and technical supports for future engineering applications.

Keywords: clean coal combustion, load-change rate, peak shaving, self-preheating

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Authors: Long Xumeng

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Place attachment focuses on the emotions and practices between people and their environment, and the influencing factors of place attachment vary depending on the nature of the place. As an important carrier of public slow-moving activities and urban culture, the feelings, cognition, and behaviors of the subjects involved in the use of mountain city trails have become the focus of research in this field. This paper will take Daijiaxiang Cliff Walkway in Yuzhong District, Chongqing City, as an example and analyze the evaluation results and correlation of each factor through questionnaire survey and field observation, using the three scales of Recreational Experience Scale, Satisfaction Scale, and Place Attachment Scale, as well as the intensity of activity, by using SPSS software. The study shows that there is a significant difference between the demographic variables of users' identity and age and the formation of place attachment; the degree of place attachment is significantly positively correlated with the emotion, industry, and service quality of recreational experience; and the recreational experience of the Mountain City Trail is significantly positively correlated with the overall satisfaction. By analyzing the influencing factors of recreational experience, satisfaction and place attachment, the corresponding conclusions and enhancement strategies were drawn to provide references for the renewal and construction of mountain city trails.

Keywords: mountain city trail, place attachment, recreational experience, satisfaction, urban renewal

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Authors: Kai Pai Huang

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Background: There are several types of plasma cell neoplasms including multiple myeloma, plasmacytoma, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) are found in our lab. Today, we want to compare with two cases using the method of capillary electrophoresis. Method: Serum is prepared and electrophoresis is performed at alkaline PH in a capillary using the Sebia® Capillary 2. Albumin and globulins are detected by the detector which is located in the cathode of the capillary and the signals are transformed to peaks. Serum was treated with beta-mercaptoethanol which reducing the polymerized immunoglobulin to monomer immunoglobulin to clarify two M-protein are secreted from the same plasma cell clone in bone marrow. Result: Case 1: A 78-year-old female presenting dysuria, oliguria and leg edema for several months. Laboratory data showed proteinuria, leukocytosis, results of high serum IgA and lambda light chain. A renal biopsy found amyloid fibrils in the glomerular mesangial area. Serum protein electrophoresis shows a major monoclonal peak in the β region and minor small peak in gamma region, and the immunotyping studies for serum showed two IgA/λ type. Case 2: A 55-year-old male presenting abdominal distension and low back pain for more than one month. Laboratory data showed T12 T8 compression fracture, results of high serum IgM and kappa light chain. Bone marrow aspiration showed the cells from the bone marrow are B cells with monotypic kappa chain expression. Bone marrow biopsy found this is lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (Waldenstrom macroglobulin). Serum protein electrophoresis shows a monoclonal peak in the β region and the immunotyping studies for serum showed IgM/κ type. Conclusion: Plasma cell neoplasm can be diagnosed by many examinations. Among them, using capillary electrophoresis by a lab can separate several types of gammopathy and the quantification of a monoclonal peak can be used to evaluate the patients’ prognosis or treatment.

Keywords: plasma cell neoplasm, capillary electrophoresis, serum protein electrophoresis, immunotyping

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Rafat Alwazna

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Translation teaching is a particular activity that includes translators and interpreters training either inside or outside institutionalised settings, such as universities. It can also serve as a means of teaching other fields, such as foreign languages. Translation teaching began in the twentieth century. Teachers of translation hold the responsibilities of educating students, developing their translation competence and training them to be professional translators. The activity of translation teaching involves various tasks, including curriculum design, course delivery, material writing as well as application and implementation. The present paper addresses translation teaching during COVID-19 outbreak, seeking to find out the challenges encountered by translation teachers in online translation teaching and the discoveries/solutions arrived at to resolve them. The paper makes use of a comprehensive questionnaire, containing closed-ended and open-ended questions to elicit both quantitative as well as qualitative data from about sixty translation teachers who have been teaching translation at BA and MA levels during COVID-19 outbreak. The data shows that about 40% of the participants evaluate their online translation teaching experience during COVID-19 outbreak as enjoyable and exhilarating. On the contrary, no participant has evaluated his/her online translation teaching experience as being not good, nor has any participant evaluated his/her online translation teaching experience as being terrible. The data also presents that about 23.33% of the participants evaluate their online translation teaching experience as very good, and the same percentage applies to those who evaluate their online translation teaching experience as good to some extent. Moreover, the data indicates that around 13.33% of the participants evaluate their online translation teaching experience as good. The data also demonstrates that the majority of the participants have encountered obstacles in online translation teaching and have concurrently proposed solutions to resolve them.

Keywords: online translation teaching, electronic learning platform, COVID-19 outbreak, challenges, solutions

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Authors: Shagil Akhtar, Syed Muneeb Iqbal, Mohammed R. Rahim

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Common steel tubes with similar confines were used in simulation of tubes with distinctive type of corrugated sections. These corrugated cross-sections were arc-tangent, triangular, trapezoidal and square corrugated sections. The outcome of fluctuating structures of tube cross-section shape on the deformation feedback, collapse form and energy absorption characteristics of tubes under quasi-static axial compression have been prepared numerically. The finite element package of ANSYS Workbench was applied in the current analysis. The axial load-displacement products accompanied by the fold formation of disparate tubes were inspected and compared. Deviation of the initial peak load and the mean crushing force of the tubes with distinctive cross-sections were conscientiously examined.

Keywords: absorbed energy, axial loading, corrugated tubes, finite element, initial peak load, mean crushing force

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Authors: Vivian Li

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With the rapid development of technology, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are becoming increasingly prominent in our lives. Museums have led the way in digitization, offering their collections to the wider public through the open internet, which is dramatically changing our experience of art. Technology is also being implemented into our physical art-viewing experience, enabling museums to capture historical sites while creating a more immersive experience for patrons. This study takes a qualitative approach, examining secondary sources and synthesizing information from interviews with field professionals to answer the question: to what extent is the contemporary perception of art transformed by the digitization of art museums? The findings establish that museums are becoming increasingly open with their collections, utilizing digitization to spread their intellectual content to people worldwide and to diversify their audiences. The use of VR and AR is also enabling museums to preserve and showcase historical artifacts and sites in a more interactive and user-focused way. Technology is also crafting new forms of art and art museums. Ultimately, the intersection of technology and museums is not changing the definition of art but rather offering new modes for the public to experience and learn about arts and history.

Keywords: art, augmented reality, digitization, museums, technology, virtual reality

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Authors: Ju May Wen, Chun Hung Lin, Eric Zhi Feng Liu

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Flow theory implies that people are persuaded by happiness. By focusing on an activity, people turn a blind eye to external factors. This study explores the influence of educational board games and fundamental Chinese language teaching on students’ learning motivation and flow experience. Fifty-three students studying Chinese language fundamental courses were used in the study. These students were divided into three groups: (1) flash card teaching group; (2) educational original board game teaching group; and (3) educational Chinese board game teaching group. Chinese language teaching was integrated with the educational board game titled ‘Transportation GO.’ The students were observed playing this game as the teacher collected quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected from the learning motivation scale and flow experience scale. Qualitative data was collected through observing, recording, and visiting. The first result found that the three groups integrated with Chinese language teaching could maintain students’ high learning motivation and high flow experience. Second, there was no significant difference between the flow experience of the flash card group and the educational original board game group. Third, there was a significant difference in the flow experience and learning motivation of the educational Chinese board game group vs. the other groups. This study suggests that the experimental model can be applied to advanced Chinese language teaching. Apart from oral and literacy skills, the study of educational board games integrated with Chinese language teaching to enforce student writing skills will be continued.

Keywords: Chinese language instruction, educational board game, learning motivation, flow experience

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Fadzel Wong Chee Ping, Chee Keong Chen, Foong Kiew Ooi, Mahaneem Mohamed

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Introduction: To date, information on the effects of bee bread supplementation on isokinetic muscular performance are lacking. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effects of 8-week bee bread supplementation on isokinetic muscular strength and power in young athletes. Methodology: Twelve male athletes (age: 24.0±1.8 years; BMI: 22.3 ± 1.3 kg.m-2; VO2max: 52.0 ± 2.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) were recruited in this randomised double blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Participants consumed either bee bread at a dosage of 20 g.d-1 or placebo for 8 weeks. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to measure participants’ lower limb muscular strength and power prior (pre-test) and post (post-test) 8 weeks of experimental period. Testing angular velocities were set at 180o.s-1 and 300o.s-1 to determine knee flexion and extension muscular peak torque (an indicator of muscular strength) and average power of the participants. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA with repeated measures. Results: Isokinetic knee extension peak torque and average power at 180o.s-1, and isokinetic knee flexion peak torque and average power at 180o.s-1 were significantly (p<0.05) higher at post-test compared to pre-test with bee bread supplementation. However, significant differences were not observed in the measured parameters between pre- and post-test with placebo supplementation. Conclusion: Supplementation of bee bread for 8 weeks at a dosage of 20 g daily increased some of the measured isokinetic muscular strength and power parameters in young athletes.

Keywords: bee bread, isokinetic, power, strength

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Authors: Igor Medved, Anton Trnik, Libor Vozar

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Phase-change materials (PCMs) are of great interest in the applications where a temperature level needs to be maintained and/or where there is demand for thermal energy storage. Examples are storage of solar energy, cold, and space heating/cooling of buildings. During a phase change, the enthalpy vs. temperature plot of PCMs shows a jump and there is a distinct peak in the heat capacity plot. We present a theoretical description from which these jumps and peaks can be obtained. We apply our theoretical results to fit experimental data with very good accuracy for selected materials and changes between two phases. The development is based on the observation that PCMs are polycrystalline; i.e., composed of many single-crystalline grains. The enthalpy and heat capacity are thus interpreted as averages of the contributions from the individual grains. We also show how to determine the baseline and excess part of the heat capacity and thus the latent heat corresponding to the phase change.

Keywords: averaging, enthalpy jump, heat capacity peak, phase change

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Authors: Noor F. Ilias, Mazlifah Omar, Hashbullah Ismail

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Exercise training has been shown to improve functional capacity and is recommended as a therapy for management of blood pressure. Our purpose was to establish whether different exercise capacity produces different effect size for Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF), systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure in patients with hypertension. Exercise characteristic is required in order to have optimal benefit from the training, but optimal exercise capacity is still unwarranted. A MEDLINE search (1985 to 2015) was conducted for exercise based rehabilitation trials in hypertensive patients. Thirty-seven studies met the selection criteria. Of these, 31 (83.7%) were aerobic exercise and 6 (16.3%) aerobic with additional resistance exercise, providing a total of 1318 exercise subjects and 819 control, the total of subjects was 2137. We calculated exercise volume and energy expenditure through the description of exercise characteristics. 4 studies (18.2%) were 451kcal - 900 kcal, 12 (54.5%) were 900 kcal – 1350 kcal and 6 (27.3%) >1351kcal per week. Peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2) increased by mean difference of 1.44 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08 to 1.79 ml/kg/min; p = 0.00001) with weighted mean 21.2% for aerobic exercise compare to aerobic with additional resistance exercise 4.50 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.57 to 5.42 ml/kg/min; p = 0.00001) with weighted mean 14.5%. SBP was clinically reduce for both aerobic and aerobic with resistance training by mean difference of -4.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.68 to -3.63 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 6% reduction and -5.06 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -7.32 to -2.8 mmHg; p = 0.0001) weighted mean 5% reduction respectively. Result for DBP was clinically reduce for aerobic by mean difference of -1.62 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.09 to -1.15 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 4% reduction and aerobic with resistance training reduce by mean difference of -3.26 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.87 to -1.65 mmHg; p = 0.0001) weighted mean 6% reduction. Optimum exercise capacity for 451 kcal – 900 kcal showed greater improvement in peak VO2 and SBP by 2.76 ml/kg/min (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47 to 4.05 ml/kg/min; p = 0.0001) with weighted mean 40.6% and -16.66 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -21.72 to -11.60 mmHg; p = 0.00001) weighted mean 9.8% respectively. Our data demonstrated that aerobic exercise with total volume of 451 kcal – 900 kcal/ week energy expenditure may elicit greater changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Higher exercise capacity weekly does not seem better result in management hypertensive patients.

Keywords: blood Pressure, exercise, hypertension, peak VO2

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Authors: Milad Zoghi, M. Zahangir Kabir

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Performance of armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) resonant tunneling diodes (RTD) alter if they go under strain. This may happen due to either using stretchable substrates or real working conditions such as heat generation. Therefore, it is informative to understand how mechanical deformations such as uniaxial strain can impact the performance of AGNR RTDs. In this paper, two platforms of AGNR RTD consist of width-modified AGNR RTD and electric-field modified AGNR RTD are subjected to both compressive and tensile uniaxial strain ranging from -2% to +2%. It is found that characteristics of AGNR RTD markedly change under both compressive and tensile strain. In particular, peak to valley ratio (PVR) can be totally disappeared upon strong enough strain deformation. Numerical tight binding (TB) coupled with Non-Equilibrium Green's Function (NEGF) is derived for this study to calculate corresponding Hamiltonian matrices and transport properties.

Keywords: armchair graphene nanoribbon, resonant tunneling diode, uniaxial strain, peak to valley ratio

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Authors: Wang Qian, Bian Cheng Xiang

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In recent years, with the improvement of China's urbanization level, the number of urban motor vehicles has grown rapidly. As residents' daily commuting necessities, cars cause a lot of exhaust emissions and urban traffic congestion. In the "Fourteenth Five Year Plan" of China, it is proposed to strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Urban transport accounts for a high proportion of carbon emission sources. It is an important driving force for the realization of China's carbon peak strategy. Some cities have introduced and implemented the policy of "car restriction" to solve related urban problems by reducing the use of cars. This paper analyzes the implementation of the "automobile restriction" policy, evaluates the relevant effects of the automobile restriction policy, and discusses how to better optimize the "automobile restriction" policy in the process of urban governance.

Keywords: carbon emission, traffic jams, vehicle restrictions, evaluate

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Dharam Bhugun

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The growth of immigration and social diversity and advances in global technology, have contributed to an increase in intercultural marriages and relationships in Australia. Consequently, intercultural parenting experience is shaping as an important issue within society. Parenting experiences can be both challenging and rewarding for the intercultural couple and their children. Much of the Australian literature has focussed on parenting styles among different cultural groups and the experiences of children, with more research needed on the parenting experience of intercultural couples, with emphasis on those who have not sought professional help. This study employed a qualitative research design consistent with humanistic approaches in social sciences. A social constructionism theoretical framework was used to explore the experience of intercultural parents. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and semi-structured interviews in English were employed to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to examine participant’s experiences. It is anticipated that the research will generate insights and findings that may assist current and future intercultural parents, add to the family systems theory to inform practice, and suggest possible professional strategies for clinicians and other government and community agencies.

Keywords: culture, intercultural couples, parenting styles and practices, conflicts resolution

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Authors: S. Jonsson, D. Millard, C. Bokhove

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Smartphones are ubiquitous and frequently used as learning tools, which makes the design of educational apps an important area of research. A key issue is designing apps to encourage engagement while maintaining a focus on the educational aspects of the app. Flow experience is a promising method for addressing this issue, which refers to a mental state of cognitive absorption and positive emotion. Flow experience has been shown to be associated with positive emotion and increased learning performance. Studies have shown that immediate feedback is an antecedent to Flow. This experiment investigates the effect of immediate feedback on Flow experience. An app teaching Spanish phrases was developed, and 30 participants completed both a 10min session with immediate feedback and a 10min session with delayed feedback. The app contained a task where the user assembles Spanish phrases by pressing bricks with Spanish words. Immediate feedback was implemented by incorrect bricks recoiling, while correct brick moved to form part of the finished phrase. In the delayed feedback condition, the user did not know if the bricks they pressed were correct until the phrase was complete. The level of Flow experienced by the participants was measured after each session using the Flow Short Scale. The results showed that higher levels of Flow were experienced in the immediate feedback session. It was also found that 14 of the participants indicated that the demands of the task were ‘just right’ in the immediate feedback session, while only one did in the delayed feedback session. These results have implications for how to design educational technology and opens up questions for how Flow experience can be used to increase performance and engagement.

Keywords: feedback timing, flow experience, L2 language learning, mobile learning

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Authors: Josef Sepitka, Petr Vlcak, Tomas Horazdovsky, Vratislav Perina

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An ion implantation technique was used for designing the surface area of a titanium alloy and for irradiation-enhanced hardening of the surface. The Ti6Al4V alloy was treated by nitrogen ion implantation at fluences of 2·10¹⁷ and 4·10¹⁷ cm^-2 and at ion energy 90 keV. The depth distribution of the nitrogen was investigated by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy. The gradient of mechanical properties was investigated by nanoindentation. The continuous measurement mode was used to obtain depth profiles of the indentation hardness and the reduced storage modulus of the modified surface area. The reduced storage modulus and the hardness increase with increasing fluence. Increased fluence shifts the peak of the mechanical properties as well as the peak of nitrogen concentration towards to the surface. This effect suggests a direct relationship between mechanical properties and nitrogen distribution.

Keywords: nitrogen ion implantation, titanium-based nanolayer, storage modulus, hardness, microstructure

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Authors: Ali Kezmane, Said Boukais, Mohand Hamizi

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This paper presents an analytical study on the behavior of reinforced concrete walls with rectangular cross section. Several experiments on such walls have been selected to be studied. Database from various experiments were collected and nominal shear wall strengths have been calculated using formulas, such as those of the ACI (American), NZS (New Zealand), Mexican (NTCC), and Wood and Barda equations. Subsequently, nominal shear wall strengths from the formulas were compared with the ultimate shear wall strengths from the database. These formulas vary substantially in functional form and do not account for all variables that affect the response of walls. There is substantial scatter in the predicted values of ultimate shear strength. Two new semi empirical equations are developed using data from tests of 57 walls for transitions walls and 27 for slender walls with the objective of improving the prediction of peak strength of walls with the most possible accurate.

Keywords: shear strength, reinforced concrete walls, rectangular walls, shear walls, models

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Authors: Walaa M.Abd-Elhafiez, Wajeb Gharibi

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In this paper a novel color image compression technique for efficient storage and delivery of data is proposed. The proposed compression technique started by RGB to YCbCr color transformation process. Secondly, the canny edge detection method is used to classify the blocks into edge and non-edge blocks. Each color component Y, Cb, and Cr compressed by discrete cosine transform (DCT) process, quantizing and coding step by step using adaptive arithmetic coding. Our technique is concerned with the compression ratio, bits per pixel and peak signal to noise ratio, and produce better results than JPEG and more recent published schemes (like, CBDCT-CABS and MHC). The provided experimental results illustrate the proposed technique which is efficient and feasible in terms of compression ratio, bits per pixel and peak signal to noise ratio.

Keywords: image compression, color image, q-coder, quantization, edge-detection

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Authors: Subhadeep Mandal, Sujoy Bhattacharya, Pabitra Mitra, Diya Guha Roy, Seema Bhattacharya

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E-commerce firms allow customers to evaluate and review the things they buy as a positive or bad experience. The e-commerce transaction processes are made up of a variety of diverse organizations and activities that operate independently but are connected together to complete the transaction (from placing an order to the goods reaching the client). After a negative shopping experience, clients frequently disregard the critical assessment of these businesses and submit their feedback on an all-over basis, which benefits certain enterprises but is tedious for others. In this article, we solely dealt with negative reviews and attempted to distinguish between negative reviews where the e-commerce firm is explicitly blamed by customers for a bad purchasing experience and other negative reviews.

Keywords: e-commerce, online shopping, customer reviews, customer behaviour, text analytics, n-grams classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Christian Böning, Henrik Prinzhorn, Eric C. Hund, Malte Stonis

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In this article, the flexible job-shop scheduling problem is extended by consideration of energy costs which arise owing to the power peak, and further decision variables such as work in process and throughput time are incorporated into the objective function. This enables a production plan to be simultaneously optimized in respect of the real arising energy and logistics costs. The energy-costs-aware flexible job-shop scheduling problem (EFJSP) which arises is described mathematically, and a memetic algorithm (MA) is presented as a solution. In the MA, the evolutionary process is supplemented with a local search. Furthermore, repair procedures are used in order to rectify any infeasible solutions that have arisen in the evolutionary process. The potential for lowering the real arising costs of a production plan through consideration of energy consumption levels is highlighted.

Keywords: energy costs, flexible job-shop scheduling, memetic algorithm, power peak

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Authors: Samuel Olugbenga King

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Using a reflective analysis tool to provide both local and global perspectives, this study focuses on the longitudinal evaluation of the Graduate Student Development (GSD) initiative, the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program. The reflection process involves examining the past and present to identify challenges, and culminates in the creation of an action plan to address barriers to further growth and teaching development of graduate students, thus positively impacting student experience. The outcomes of the reflective critique of the PFF program indicate that lack of mentoring as well as inadequate feedback and funding are barriers that need to be addressed to positively impact the graduate student experience. Consequently, interventions, such as peer and student evaluations, and alumni surveys are highlighted as pragmatic modes of addressing the inadequate feedback and mentoring barriers. However, funding remains an ongoing challenge. This article is a contribution to the literature on the use of critical reflection approaches to investigate and evaluate specific programming that focuses on enhancing the graduate student experience and development.

Keywords: graduate student experience, longitudinal reflection, quality enhancement, teaching

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Authors: Alanod Alqasim, Yasmine Iskandarani, Sita Algethami, Jawaher alzughaiby

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This study focuses on the usage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) systems and features on the Instagram application and how it influences user experience and satisfaction. The aim is to evaluate the techniques and current capabilities, restrictions, and potential future directions of AI in an Instagram application. Following a concise explanation of the core concepts underlying AI usage on Instagram. To answer this question, 19 randomly selected users were asked to complete a 9-question survey on their experience and satisfaction with the app's features (Filters, user preferences, translation tool) and authenticity. The results revealed that there were three prevalent allegations. These declarations include that Instagram has an extremely attractive user interface; secondly, Instagram creates a strong sense of community; and lastly, Instagram has an important influence on mental health.

Keywords: AI (Artificial Intelligence), instagram, features, satisfaction, experience

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Authors: Angelo Gabriel Buenaventura, Allan Christopher Yago

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A carbon paste electrode (CPE) composed of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT) conducting particle and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) binder was used for simultaneous detection of Dopamine (DA) and Uric Acid (UA) in the presence of Ascorbic Acid (AA) at physiological level. The MWCNT-PDMS CPE was initially activated via potentiodynamic cycling in a basic (NaOH) solution, which resulted in enhanced electrochemical properties. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy measurements revealed a significantly lower charge transfer resistance (Rct) for the OH--activated MWCNT-PDMS CPE (Rct = 5.08kΩ) as compared to buffer (pH 7)-activated MWCNT-PDMS CPE (Rct = 25.9kΩ). Reversibility analysis of Fe(CN)63-/4- redox couple of both Buffer-Activated CPE and OH--Activated CPE showed that the OH—Activated CPE have peak current ratio (Ia/Ic) of 1.11 at 100mV/s while 2.12 for the Buffer-Activated CPE; this showed an electrochemically reversible behavior for Fe(CN)63-/4- redox couple even at relatively fast scan rate using the OH--activated CPE. Enhanced voltammetric signal for DA and significant peak separation between DA and UA was obtained using the OH--activated MWCNT-PDMS CPE in the presence of 50 μM AA via Differential Pulse Voltammetry technique. The anodic peak currents which appeared at 0.263V and 0.414 V were linearly increasing with increasing concentrations of DA and UA, respectively. The linear ranges were obtained at 25 μM – 100 μM for both DA and UA. The detection limit was determined to be 3.86 μM for DA and 5.61 μM for UA. These results indicate a practical approach in the simultaneous detection of important bio-organic molecules using a simple CPE composed of MWCNT and PDMS with base anodization as activation technique.

Keywords: anodization, ascorbic acid, carbon paste electrodes, dopamine, uric acid

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Authors: Yajun Qiao, Yaner Yan, Ning Li, Shuqing An

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In order to relieve the pressure on a land resource from a huge population, reclamation has occurred in many coastal wetlands. Plants can maintain their elemental composition within normal limits despite the variations of external conditions. Reclamation may affect carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry in the plant to some extent by altering physical and chemical properties of soil in a coastal wetland. We reported the seasonal dynamic of C, N and P stoichiometry in root, stem and leaf of Suaeda salsa (L.) Pall. and in soil between reclamation plots and natural plots. Our results of three-way ANOVA indicated that sampling season always had significant effect on C, N, P concentrations and their ratios; organ had no significant effect on N, P concentration and N:P; plot type had no significant effect on N concentration and C:N. Sampling season explained the most variability of tissue N and P contents, C:N, C:P and N:P, while it’s organ for C using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. By independent sample T-test, we found that reclamation affect more on C, N and P stoichiometry of stem than that of root or leaf on the whole. While there was no difference between reclamation plots and natural plots for soil in four seasons. For three organs, C concentration had peak values in autumn and minimum values in spring while N concentration had peak values in spring and minimum values in autumn. For P concentration, three organs all had peak values in spring; however, the root had minimum value in winter, the stem had that in autumn, and leaf had that in summer. The seasonal dynamic of C, N and P stoichiometry in a leaf of Suaeda salsa were much steadier than that in root or stem under the drive of reclamation.

Keywords: nitrogen, phosphorus, reclamation, seasonal dynamic, Suaeda salsa

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Authors: Madia Safdar, G. Amjad Hussain, Mashhood Ahmad

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One of the major challenges of today’s era is peak demand which causes stress on the transmission lines and also raises the cost of energy generation and ultimately higher electricity bills to the end users, and it was used to be managed by the supply side management. However, nowadays this has been withdrawn because of existence of potential in the demand side management (DSM) having its economic and- environmental advantages. DSM in domestic load can play a vital role in reducing the peak load demand on the network provides a significant cost saving. In this paper the potential of demand response (DR) in reducing the peak load demands and electricity bills to the electric users is elaborated. For this purpose the domestic appliances are modeled in MATLAB Simulink and controlled by a module called energy management controller. The devices are categorized into controllable and uncontrollable loads and are operated according to real-time tariff pricing pattern instead of fixed time pricing or variable pricing. Energy management controller decides the switching instants of the controllable appliances based on the results from optimization algorithms. In GAMS software, the MILP (mixed integer linear programming) algorithm is used for optimization. In different cases, different constraints are used for optimization, considering the comforts, needs and priorities of the end users. Results are compared and the savings in electricity bills are discussed in this paper considering real time pricing and fixed tariff pricing, which exhibits the existence of potential to reduce electricity bills and peak loads in demand side management. It is seen that using real time pricing tariff instead of fixed tariff pricing helps to save in the electricity bills. Moreover the simulation results of the proposed energy management system show that the gained power savings lie in high range. It is anticipated that the result of this research will prove to be highly effective to the utility companies as well as in the improvement of domestic DR.

Keywords: controllable and uncontrollable domestic loads, demand response, demand side management, optimization, MILP (mixed integer linear programming)

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Authors: Ravinesh C. Deo

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This article reviews the role of nozzle-exit conditions on the flow field of a plane jet. The jet issuing from a sharp-edged orifice plate at a Reynolds number (Re=18000) with nozzle aspect ratio (AR=72) exhibits the greatest shear-layer instabilities, highest entrainment and jet-spreading rates compared to the radially contoured nozzle. The growth rate of the shear-layer is the highest for the orifice-jet although this property could be amplified for larger Re or AR. A local peak in turbulent energy is found at x=10h. The peak appears to be elevated for an orifice-jet with lower Re or AR. The far-field energy sustained by the orifice-jet exceeds the contoured case although a higher Re and AR may enhance this value. The spectra displays the largest eddies generated by the contoured nozzle. However, the frequency of coherent eddies is higher for the orifice-jet, with a larger magnitude achievable for lower Re and AR.

Keywords: plane jet, Reynolds number, nozzle-exit conditions, nozzle geometry, aspect ratio

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Authors: Hyung Jun Ahn

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With the growing importance of social media, it is imperative to analyze it to understand the users. Users share useful information and their experience through social media, where much of what is shared is in the form of texts. This study focused on blogs and aimed to test whether the psycho-linguistic characteristics of blog texts vary with the subject or the type of experience of the texts. For this goal, blog texts about four different types of experience, Go, skiing, reading, and musical were collected through the search API of the Tistory blog service. The analysis of the texts showed that various psycholinguistic characteristics of the texts are different across the four categories of the texts. Moreover, the machine learning experiment using the characteristics for automatic text classification showed significant performance. Specifically, the ensemble method, based on functional tree and bagging appeared to be most effective in classification.

Keywords: blog, social media, text analysis, psycholinguistics

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Authors: Geetanjali Sharma

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Guillain Barre’ syndrome (GBS) is an auto-immune mediated demyelination poly-radiculo-neuropathy. Clinical features include progressive symmetrical ascending muscle weakness of more than two limbs, areflexia with or without sensory, autonomic and brainstem abnormalities, the purpose of this study was to determine subclinical neurological changes of CNS with GBS and to establish the presence of central demyelination in GBS. The study was prospective and conducted in the Department of Physiology, Pt. B. D. Sharma Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, India to find out early central demyelination in clinically diagnosed patients of GBS. These patients were referred from the department of Medicine of our Institute to our department for electro-diagnostic evaluation. The study group comprised of 40 subjects (20 clinically diagnosed GBS patients and 20 healthy individuals as controls) aged between 6-65 years. Brain Stem evoked Potential (BAEP) were done in both groups using RMS EMG EP mark II machine. BAEP parameters included the latencies of waves I to IV, inter peak latencies I-III, III-IV & I-V. Statistically significant increase in absolute peak and inter peak latencies in the GBS group as compared with control group was noted. Results of evoked potential reflect impairment of auditory pathways probably due to focal demyelination in Schwann cell derived myelin sheaths that cover the extramedullary portion of auditory nerves. Early detection of the sub-clinical abnormalities is important as timely intervention reduces morbidity.

Keywords: brainstem, demyelination, evoked potential, Guillain Barre’

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Authors: Rojan Afrouz

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The main aim of this study is understanding Afghan women’s perception of domestic violence and their experience of abuse by their family members. The voice of Afghan women has not been heard much particularly in Australia. Their families and communities have silenced some of them in the name of family honour and reputation, and others have not had the opportunity to talk about the issue. Although domestic violence is an issue in every country, research suggests that this is more likely to be considered acceptable behaviour in Afghanistan than elsewhere. Given the high public visibility of initiatives which aim to tackle domestic violence in Australia, it is entirely possible that Afghan women’s perceptions and beliefs about domestic violence will have changed since their arrival in this country. Thus, their understandings, perceptions and their experience of domestic violence have been investigated to improve the Afghan women’s situation in Australia. Methods: This qualitative study has been conducted among Afghan women who have lived in Australia less than ten years. Semi-structured interviews either face to face or by phone have been used to collect data for this study. The interviews have been audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Nvivo software has been used for data analysis. Findings: Participants’ definitions of domestic violence vary. They defined domestic violence in relation to their educational levels, their personal life and experience of domestic violence. Some women tended to change the definitions to be more relevant to their own life and experience. Many women had the knowledge of different domestic violence acts that have been distinguished as violent acts in Australia or other western countries. Some of the participants stated that they had the experience of domestic violence from their partner or one of the family members. Those who have been abused, their experiences were diverse and had been perpetrated by different family members. Majority of participants revealed the story of other women in their family and community that have been abused. Conclusion: Moving to Australia helped women to be aware of the issues and recognising that they are in the abusive relationships. However, intersecting multiple identities in a complex system of oppression, domination or discrimination makes the experience of domestic violence more complicated among Afghan community in Australia that cannot be addressed easily.

Keywords: domestic violence, intersectionality, immigration, afghan women

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Authors: Amanda Aliende da Matta, Maria del Pilar Fogueiras Bertomeu, Valeria de Ormaechea Otalora, Maria Paz Sandin Esteban, Miriam Comet Donoso

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This communication presents the preliminary emerging themes in a research on political participation of young women. The study follows a qualitative methodology; in particular, the applied hermeneutic phenomenological method, and the general objective of the research is to give an account of the experience of political participation as young women. The study participants are women aged 18 to 35 who have experience in political participation. The techniques of data collection are the descriptive story and the phenomenological interview. With respect to the first methodological steps, these have been: 1) collect and select stories of lived experience in political participation, 2) select descriptions of lived experience (DLEs) in political participation of the chosen stories, 3) to prepare phenomenological interviews from the selected DLEs, 4) to conduct phenomenological thematic analysis (PTA) of the DLEs. We have so far initiated the PTA on 5 vignettes. Hermeneutic phenomenology as a research approach is based on phenomenological philosophy and applied hermeneutics. Phenomenology is a descriptive philosophy of pure experience and essences, through which we seek to capture an experience at its origins without categorizing, interpreting or theorizing it. Hermeneutics, on the other hand, may be defined as a philosophical current that can be applied to data analysis. Max Van Manen wrote that hermeneutic phenomenology is a method of abstemious reflection on the basic structures of the lived experience of human existence. In hermeneutic phenomenology we focus, then, on the way we experience “things” in the first person, seeking to capture the world exactly as we experience it, not as we categorize or conceptualize it. In this study, the empirical methods used were: Lived experience description (written) and conversational interview. For these short stories, participants were asked: “What was your lived experience of participation in politics as a young woman? Can you tell me any stories or anecdotes that you think exemplify or typify your experience?”. The questions were accompanied by a list of guidelines for writing descriptive vignettes. And the analytical method was PTA. Among the provisional results, we found preliminary emerging themes, which could in the advance of the investigation result in meaning structures of political participation of young women. They are the following: - Complicity may be inherent/essential in political participation as a young woman; - Feelings may be essential/inherent in political participation as a young woman; - Hope may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - Frustration may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - Satisfaction may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - There may be tension between individual/collective inherent/essential in political participation as a young woman; - Political participation as a young woman may include moments of public demonstration.

Keywords: applied hermeneutic phenomenology, hermeneutics, phenomenology, political participation

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Authors: Marcos Devaner, Marcela Alves, Cledson Braga, Fabiano Alves, Wilton Bezerra

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This article discusses the inclusion of people with disabilities in the process of testing an accessible system solution for distance education. The accessible system, team profile, methodologies and techniques covered in the testing process are presented. The testing process shown in this paper was designed from the experience with user. The testing process emerged from lessons learned from past experiences and the end user is present at all stages of the tests. Also, lessons learned are reported and how it was possible the maturing of the team and the methods resulting in a simple, productive and effective process.

Keywords: experience report, accessible systems, software testing, testing process, systems, e-learning

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