Search results for: bioinformatics tools

Authors: Bita Mohajernia, R. J. Urbanic

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Mold making techniques have focused on meeting the customers’ functional and process requirements; however, today, molds are increasing in size and sophistication, and are difficult to manufacture, transport, and set up due to their size and mass. Presently, mold weight saving techniques focus on pockets to reduce the mass of the mold, but the overall size is still large, which introduces costs related to the stock material purchase, processing time for process planning, machining and validation, and excess waste materials. Reducing the overall size of the mold is desirable for many reasons, but the functional requirements, tool life, and durability cannot be compromised in the process. It is proposed to use Finite Element Analysis simulation tools to model the forces, and pressures to determine where the material can be removed. The potential results of this project will reduce manufacturing costs. In this study, a light weight structure is defined by an optimal distribution of material to carry external loads. The optimization objective of this research is to determine methods to provide the optimum layout for the mold structure. The topology optimization method is utilized to improve structural stiffness while decreasing the weight using the OptiStruct software. The optimized CAD model is compared with the primary geometry of the mold from the NX software. Results of optimization show an 8% weight reduction while the actual performance of the optimized structure, validated by physical testing, is similar to the original structure.

Keywords: finite element analysis, plastic injection molding, topology optimization, weight reduction

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Authors: Febri Ramadhan, Sigid Hariyadi, Niken Tunjung Murti Pratiwi, Budiman Djoko Said

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The scope about maritime security copes all of the problems emanating from maritime domain. Those problems can give such threats to national security of the state. One of threats taking place nowadays in maritime domain is about pollution. Pollution coming from many sources may increase water-borne disease risk that can cause the instability of national security. Pollution coming from many sources may increase water-borne disease risk. Hence the pollution makes an improper condition of environments for humans and others biota dwelling in the waters. One of the tools that can determine about pollution is by measuring about the water quality of its waters. In this case, what brings the waste and pollutants is there an activity of tidal waves introducing substances or energy into the natural environment. Cengkareng Drain is one of the water channels which is affected by tidal waves. Cengkareng Drain was become an observation area to examine the relation between water quality and tide waves. This research was conducted monthly from July to November 2015. Sampling of water was conducted every ebb and tide in every observation. Pollution index showed that the level of pollution on Cengkareng drain was moderately polluted, with the score about 7.7-8.6. Based on the results of t-test and analysis of similarity, the characteristic of water quality on rising tide does not significantly differ from the characteristic of water quality on ebbing tide. Therefore, we need a proper management as a means to control the pollutants in order to make good maritime security strategy.

Keywords: maritime security, Cengkareng drain, water quality, tidal waves

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Authors: Aishwarya Talapuru, Sri Silpa Padmanabhuni, B. Jyoshna

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Cryptography helps in preventing threats to information security by providing various algorithms. This study introduces a new symmetric key encryption algorithm for information security which is linked with the "raagas" which means Indian traditional scale and pattern of music notes. This algorithm takes the plain text as input and starts its encryption process. The algorithm then randomly selects a raaga from the list of raagas that is assumed to be present with both sender and the receiver. The plain text is associated with the thus selected raaga and an intermediate cipher-text is formed as the algorithm converts the plain text characters into other characters, depending upon the rules of the algorithm. This intermediate code or cipher text is arranged in various patterns in three different rounds of encryption performed. The total number of rounds in the algorithm is equal to the multiples of 3. To be more specific, the outcome or output of the sequence of first three rounds is again passed as the input to this sequence of rounds recursively, till the total number of rounds of encryption is performed. The raaga selected by the algorithm and the number of rounds performed will be specified at an arbitrary location in the key, in addition to important information regarding the rounds of encryption, embedded in the key which is known by the sender and interpreted only by the receiver, thereby making the algorithm hack proof. The key can be constructed of any number of bits without any restriction to the size. A software application is also developed to demonstrate this process of encryption, which dynamically takes the plain text as input and readily generates the cipher text as output. Therefore, this algorithm stands as one of the strongest tools for information security.

Keywords: cipher text, cryptography, plaintext, raaga

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Authors: Raana Babadi Fathipour

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Hydrogels are three-dimensional structures formed by the interweaving of polymeric materials, possessing the remarkable ability to imbibe copious amounts of water. Numerous methodologies have been devised for examining and understanding the properties of these synthesized gels. Amongst them, spectroscopic techniques such as ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy offer a glimpse into molecular and atomic aspects. Additionally, diffraction methods like X-ray diffraction (XRD) enable one to measure crystallinity within the gel's structure, while microscopy tools encompassing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provide insights into surface texture and morphology. Furthermore, rheology serves as an invaluable tool for unraveling the viscoelastic behavior inherent in hydrogels—a parameter crucial not only to numerous industries, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing, agriculture and water treatment, but also pivotal to related fields of research. Likewise, the ultimate configuration of the product is contingent upon its characterization at a microscopic scale in order to comprehend the intricacies of the hydrogel network's structure and interaction dynamics in response to external forces. Within this present scrutiny, our attention has been devoted to unraveling the intricate rheological tendencies exhibited by materials founded on synthetic, natural, and semi-synthetic hydrogels. We also explore their practical utilization within various facets of everyday life from an industrial perspective.

Keywords: rheology, hydrogels characterization, viscoelastic behavior, application

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Authors: A. Jéglot, F. Plauborg, M. K. Schnorr, R. S. Sørensen, L. Elsgaard

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Artificial wetlands such as woodchip bioreactors are efficient tools to remove nitrate from agricultural wastewater with a minimized environmental impact. However, the temperature dependence of the microbiological nitrate removal prevents the woodchip bioreactors from being an efficient system when the water temperature drops below 8℃. To quantify and describe the temperature effects on nitrate removal efficiency, we studied nitrate-reducing enrichments from a woodchip bioreactor in Denmark based on samples collected in Spring and Fall. Growth was quantified as optical density, and nitrate and nitrous oxide concentrations were measured in time-course experiments to compare the growth of the microbial population and the nitrate conversion efficiencies at different temperatures. Ammonia was measured to indicate the importance of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA) in nitrate conversion for the given denitrifying community. The temperature responses observed followed the increasing trend proposed by the Arrhenius equation, indicating higher nitrate removal efficiencies at higher temperatures. However, the growth and the nitrous oxide production observed at low temperature provided evidence of the psychrotolerance of the microbial community under study. The assays conducted showed higher nitrate removal from the microbial community extracted from the woodchip bioreactor at the cold season compared to the ones extracted during the warmer season. This indicated the ability of the bacterial populations in the bioreactor to evolve and adapt to different seasonal temperatures.

Keywords: agricultural waste water treatment, artificial wetland, denitrification, psychrophilic conditions

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Authors: Suprit Pradhan, Tshering Yangzom

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Even with availability of the modern day online insulation diagnostic technologies like partial discharge monitoring, the measurements like Dissipation Factor (tanδ), DC High Voltage Insulation Currents, Polarization Index (PI) and Insulation Resistance Measurements are still widely used as a diagnostic tools to assess the condition of stator insulation in hydro power plants. To evaluate the condition of stator winding insulation in one of the generators that have been operated since 1999, diagnostic tests were performed on the stator bars of 15 MVA generators of Basochhu Hydropower Plant. This paper presents diagnostic study done on the data gathered from the measurements which were performed in 2015 and 2016 as part of regular maintenance as since its commissioning no proper aging data were maintained. Measurement results of Dissipation Factor, DC High Potential tests and Polarization Index are discussed with regard to their effectiveness in assessing the ageing condition of the stator insulation. After a brief review of the theoretical background, the strengths of each diagnostic method in detecting symptoms of insulation deterioration are identified. The interesting results observed from Basochhu Hydropower Plant is taken into consideration to conclude that Polarization Index and DC High Voltage Insulation current measurements are best suited for the detection of humidity and contamination problems and Dissipation Factor measurement is a robust indicator of long-term ageing caused by oxidative degradation.

Keywords: dissipation Factor (tanδ), polarization Index (PI), DC High Voltage Insulation Current, insulation resistance (IR), Tan Delta Tip-Up, dielectric absorption ratio

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Authors: Eric Mxolisi Mkhondo

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Geometrical deviations and interaction of mechanical parts influences the performance of miniature systems.These deviations tend to cause costly problems during assembly due to imperfections of components, which are invisible to a naked eye.They also tend to cause unsatisfactory performance during operation due to deformation cause by environmental conditions.One of the effective tools to manage the deviations and interaction of parts in the system is tolerance analysis.This is a quantitative tool for predicting the tolerance variations which are defined during the design process.Traditional tolerance analysis assumes that the assembly is static and the deviations come from the manufacturing discrepancies, overlooking the functionality of the whole system and deformation of parts due to effect of environmental conditions. This paper presents an integrated tolerance analysis approach for miniature system in operation.In this approach, a computer-aided design (CAD) model is developed from system’s specification.The CAD model is then used to specify the geometrical and dimensional tolerance limits (upper and lower limits) that vary component’s geometries and sizes while conforming to functional requirements.Worst-case tolerances are analyzed to determine the influenced of dimensional changes due to effects of operating temperatures.The method is used to evaluate the nominal conditions, and worse case conditions in maximum and minimum dimensions of assembled components.These three conditions will be evaluated under specific operating temperatures (-40°C,-18°C, 4°C, 26°C, 48°C, and 70°C). A case study on the mechanism of a zoom lens system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology.

Keywords: geometric dimensioning, tolerance analysis, worst-case analysis, zoom lens mechanism

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Authors: Habtamu Tkubet Ebuy

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Purpose Conventional dynamic energy simulation tools go beyond the static dimension of simplified methods by providing better and more accurate prediction of building performance. However, their ability to forecast actual performance is undermined by a low representation of human interactions. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential benefits of incorporating information on occupant diversity into occupant behavior models used to simulate building performance. The co-simulation of the stochastic behavior of the occupants substantially increases the accuracy of the simulation. Design/methodology/approach In this article, probabilistic models of the "opening and closing" behavior of the window of inhabitants have been developed in a separate multi-agent platform, SimOcc, and implemented in the building simulation, TRNSYS, in such a way that the behavior of the window with the interconnectivity can be reflected in the simulation analysis of the building. Findings The results of the study prove that the application of complex behaviors is important to research in predicting actual building performance. The results aid in the identification of the gap between reality and existing simulation methods. We hope this study and its results will serve as a guide for researchers interested in investigating occupant behavior in the future. Research limitations/implications Further case studies involving multi-user behavior for complex commercial buildings need to more understand the impact of the occupant behavior on building performance. Originality/value This study is considered as a good opportunity to achieve the national strategy by showing a suitable tool to help stakeholders in the design phase of new or retrofitted buildings to improve the performance of office buildings.

Keywords: occupant behavior, co-simulation, energy consumption, thermal comfort

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Authors: Pedro A. Medina-Rios, Marly Yolie Quintana-Daza

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Having the opportunity to communicate in a social, academic and work context is very relevant for any individual and more for a deaf person when oral language is not their natural language, and written language is their second language. Currently, in Colombia, there is not a specialized dictionary for our best knowledge in sign language archiving. Archival is one of the areas that the deaf community has a greater chance of performing. Nourishing new signs in dictionaries for deaf people extends the possibility that they have the appropriate signs to communicate and improve their performance. The aim of this work was to illustrate the importance of designing pedagogical and technological strategies of knowledge management, for the academic inclusion of deaf people through proposals of lexicon in Colombian sign language (LSC) in the area of archival. As a method, the analytical study was used to identify relevant words in the technical area of the archival and its counterpart with the LSC, 30 deaf people, apprentices - students of the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA) in Documentary or Archival Management programs, were evaluated through direct interviews in LSC. For the analysis tools were maintained to evaluate correlation patterns and linguistic methods of visual, gestural analysis and corpus; besides, methods of linear regression were used. Among the results, significant data were found among the variables socioeconomic stratum, academic level, labor location. The need to generate new signals on the subject of the file to improve communication between the deaf person, listener and the sign language interpreter. It is concluded that the generation of new signs to nourish the LSC dictionary in archival subjects is necessary to improve the labor inclusion of deaf people in Colombia.

Keywords: archival, inclusion, deaf, thesaurus

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Authors: Aakash Chhunchha, Assma Begum

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The qualitative aspects of hypersonic flow over a range of blunt bodies have been extensively analyzed in the past. It is well known that the curvature of a body’s geometry in the sonic region predominantly dictates the bow shock shape and its standoff distance from the body, while the surface pressure distribution depends on both the sonic region and on the local body shape. The present study is an extension to analyze the hypersonic flow characteristics over several blunt-nosed bodies using modern Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools to determine the shock shape and its effect on the heat flux around the body. 4 blunt-nosed models with cylindrical afterbodies were analyzed for a flow at a Mach number of 10 corresponding to the standard atmospheric conditions at an altitude of 50 km. The nose radii of curvature of the models range from a hemispherical nose to a flat nose. Appropriate numerical models and the supplementary convergence techniques that were implemented for the CFD analysis are thoroughly described. The flow contours are presented highlighting the key characteristics of shock wave shape, shock standoff distance and the sonic point shift on the shock. The variation of heat flux, due to different shock detachments for various models is comprehensively discussed. It is observed that the more the bluntness of the nose radii, the farther the shock stands from the body; and consequently, the less the surface heating at the nose. The results obtained from the CFD analyses are compared with approximated theoretical engineering correlations. Overall, a satisfactory agreement is observed between the two.

Keywords: aero-thermodynamics, blunt-nosed bodies, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), hypersonic flow

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Authors: Cristina Maria Ribeiro Martins Pereira Caridade, Ana Rita Ferreira Morais

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The use of computational tools has become essential in the context of interactive learning, especially in engineering education. In the medical industry, teaching medical image processing techniques is a crucial part of training biomedical engineers, as it has integrated applications with healthcare facilities and hospitals. The aim of this article is to present a teaching-learning simulation tool developed in MATLAB using a graphical user interface for medical image fusion that explores different image fusion methodologies and processes in combination with image pre-processing techniques. The application uses different algorithms and medical fusion techniques in real time, allowing you to view original images and fusion images, compare processed and original images, adjust parameters, and save images. The tool proposed in an innovative teaching and learning environment consists of a dynamic and motivating teaching simulation for biomedical engineering students to acquire knowledge about medical image fusion techniques and necessary skills for the training of biomedical engineers. In conclusion, the developed simulation tool provides real-time visualization of the original and fusion images and the possibility to test, evaluate and progress the student’s knowledge about the fusion of medical images. It also facilitates the exploration of medical imaging applications, specifically image fusion, which is critical in the medical industry. Teachers and students can make adjustments and/or create new functions, making the simulation environment adaptable to new techniques and methodologies.

Keywords: image fusion, image processing, teaching-learning simulation tool, biomedical engineering education

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Authors: Muge Unal, Ahmet Cilek

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Urban identity, having a dynamic characteristic spatial and semantic aspects, is a phenomenon in an ever-changing. Urban identity formation includes not only a process of physical nature but also development and change processes that take place in the political, economic, social and cultural values, whether national and international level. Although the concept of urban transformation is basically regarded as the spatial transformation; in fact, it reveals a holistic perspective and transformation based on dialectical relationship existing between the spatial and social relationship. For this reason, urban renewal needs to address as not only spatial but also the impact of spatial transformation on social, cultural and economic. Implementation tools used in the perception of urban transformation are varied concepts such as urban renewal, urban resettlement, urban rehabilitation, urban redevelopment, and urban revitalization. The phenomenon of urban transformation begins with the Industrial Revolution. Until the 1980s, it was interpreted as reconsidering physical fossil on urban environment factor like occurring in rapid urbanization, changing in the spatial structure of the city, concentrating of the population in urban areas. However, after the 1980s, it has resided in a conceptual structure which requires to be addressed physical, economic, social, technological and integrity of information. In conclusion, urban transformation, when it enter the literature as a practice of planning, has been up to date in terms of the conceptual structure and content and also hasn’t remained behind converting itself. Urban transformation still maintains its simplest expression, while it transforms so fast converts the contents. In this study, the relationship between urban design and components of urban transformation were discussed with strategies used as a place in the historical process of urban transformation besides a general evaluation of the concept of urban renewal.

Keywords: conceptual approach, urban identity, urban regeneration, urban renewal

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Authors: Mukul Sharma, Madhusmita Das, Sundeep Chaitanya Vedithi

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Leprosy is a chronic human disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, that cannot be cultured in vitro. Though treatable with multidrug therapy (MDT), recently, bacteria reported resistance to multiple antibiotics. Targeting DNA replication and repair pathways can serve as the foundation of developing new anti-leprosy drugs. Due to the absence of an axenic culture medium for the propagation of M. leprae, studying cellular processes, especially those belonging to DNA repair pathways, is challenging. Genomic understanding of M. Leprae harbors several protein-coding genes with no previously assigned function known as 'hypothetical proteins'. Here, we report identification and expression of known and hypothetical DNA repair genes from a human skin biopsy and mouse footpads that are involved in base excision repair, direct reversal repair, and SOS response. Initially, a bioinformatics approach was employed based on sequence similarity, identification of known protein domains to screen the hypothetical proteins in the genome of M. leprae, that are potentially related to DNA repair mechanisms. Before testing on clinical samples, pure stocks of bacterial reference DNA of M. leprae (NHDP63 strain) was used to construct standard graphs to validate and identify lower detection limit in the qPCR experiments. Primers were designed to amplify the respective transcripts, and PCR products of the predicted size were obtained. Later, excisional skin biopsies of newly diagnosed untreated, treated, and drug resistance leprosy cases from SIHR & LC hospital, Vellore, India were taken for the extraction of RNA. To determine the presence of the predicted transcripts, cDNA was generated from M. leprae mRNA isolated from clinically confirmed leprosy skin biopsy specimen across all the study groups. Melting curve analysis was performed to determine the integrity of the amplification and to rule out primer‑dimer formation. The Ct values obtained from qPCR were fitted to standard curve to determine transcript copy number. Same procedure was applied for M. leprae extracted after processing a footpad of nude mice of drug sensitive and drug resistant strains. 16S rRNA was used as positive control. Of all the 16 genes involved in BER, DR, and SOS, differential expression pattern of the genes was observed in terms of Ct values when compared to human samples; this was because of the different host and its immune response. However, no drastic variation in gene expression levels was observed in human samples except the nth gene. The higher expression of nth gene could be because of the mutations that may be associated with sequence diversity and drug resistance which suggests an important role in the repair mechanism and remains to be explored. In both human and mouse samples, SOS system – lexA and RecA, and BER genes AlkB and Ogt were expressing efficiently to deal with possible DNA damage. Together, the results of the present study suggest that DNA repair genes are constitutively expressed and may provide a reference for molecular diagnosis, therapeutic target selection, determination of treatment and prognostic judgment in M. leprae pathogenesis.

Keywords: DNA repair, human biopsy, hypothetical proteins, mouse footpads, Mycobacterium leprae, qPCR

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Authors: Barbara Papp

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Purpose: This article aims to rethink the relationship between the trauma and the choice of professions. By studying a homogenous sample of respondents, it seeks answers to the following question: how did personal losses that were caused by historical upheavals motivate people to enter the helping professions. By becoming helping professionals, the respondents of the survey sought to handle both historical representation and self-representation. How did psychotherapists working in the second half of the 20th century (Kádár-era in Hungary) shape their course of life? How did their family members respond to their choice of career? What forces supported or hindered them? How did they become professional helpers? Methodology: When interviewing 40 psychotherapists, the interviewer used the oral history technique. In-depth interviews were made with a focus on motivation. First, the collected material was examined using traditional content analysis tools: searching for content patterns, applying a word frequency analysis, and identifying the connections between key events and key persons. Second, a narrative psychological content analysis (NarrCat) was made. Findings: Interconnections were established between attachment, family and historical traumas and career choices. The history of the mid-20th-century period was traumatic and full of losses for the families of most of the psychotherapists concerned. Those experiences may have considerably influenced their choice of career. Working as helping therapists, they could get the opportunity to revise their losses. Conclusion: The results revealed core components that play a role in the psychotherapists’ choice of career, and also emphasized the importance of post-traumatic growth.

Keywords: biography, identity, narrative psychological content analysis, psychotherapists, trauma

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Authors: Malinwo Estone Ayikpa

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With the rapid increase of grid-connected PV systems over the last decades, genuine challenges have arisen for engineers and professionals of energy field in the planning and operation of existing distribution networks with the integration of new generation sources. However, the conventional distribution network, in its design was not expected to receive other generation outside the main power supply. The tools generally used to analyze the networks become inefficient and cannot take into account all the constraints related to the operation of grid-connected PV systems. Some of these constraints are voltage control difficulty, reverse power flow, and especially voltage unbalance which could be due to the poor distribution of single-phase PV systems in the network. In order to analyze the impact of the connection of small and large number of PV systems to the distribution networks, this paper presents an efficient optimization tool that minimizes voltage unbalance in three-phase distribution networks with active and reactive power injections from the allocation of single-phase and three-phase PV plants. Reactive power can be generated or absorbed using the available capacity and the adjustable power factor of the inverter. Good reduction of voltage unbalance can be achieved by reactive power control of the PV systems. The presented tool is based on the three-phase current injection method and the PV systems are modeled via an equivalent circuit. The primal-dual interior point method is used to obtain the optimal operating points for the systems.

Keywords: Photovoltaic system, Primal-dual interior point method, Three-phase optimal power flow, Voltage unbalance

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Authors: Edgar Mauricio Ruiz Osuna, Claudia Yaneth Herrera Bolivar, Sandra Liliana Gomez Vasquez

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The increasing needs of professionals with skills in software development in industry are incremental, therefore, the relevance of an educational process in line with the strengthening of these competencies, are part of the responsibilities of universities with careers related to the area of Informatics and Systems. In this sense, it is important to consider that in the National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan for the development of the Electronics, Information Technologies and Communications (2013) sectors, it is established as a weakness in the SWOT Analysis of the Software sector and Services, Deficiencies in training and professional training. Accordingly, UNIMINUTO's Computer Technology Program has addressed the analysis of students' performance in software development, identifying various problems such as dropout in programming subjects, academic averages, as well as deficiencies in strategies and competencies developed in the area of programming. As a result of this analysis, it was determined to design a collaborative learning platform in basic programming using heat maps as a tool to support didactic feedback. The pilot phase allows to evaluate in a programming course the ALGORINFO platform as a didactic resource, through an interactive and collaborative environment where students can develop basic programming practices and in turn, are fed back through the analysis of time patterns and difficulties frequent in certain segments or program cycles, by means of heat maps. The result allows the teacher to have tools to reinforce and advise critical points generated on the map, so that students and graduates improve their skills as software developers.

Keywords: collaborative platform, learning, feedback, programming, heat maps

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Authors: K. R. Mukuna

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Teachers are faced many challenges in the South African rural schools such as stress, depression, lack of resources, poor working relationships, inflexible curriculum etc. These could affect their wellbeing and effectiveness at the workplace. As a result, the study had a significance in the teacher’s lives, and community due teachers worked under conditions that are unfavourable to perform their jobs effectively. Despite these conditions, they still managed to do their jobs and the community is uplifted. However, this study aimed to explore factors that enable teachers to cope with workplace adversities at a rural school district in the Free State Province. It adopted a qualitative case study as a research design. Semi-structured interviews and colleges had employed as tools to collect data. Ten participants (n=10; 5 males and 5 females) were selected through purposive and convenience sampling. All participants selected from a South African rural school. Sesotho culture was their home language, and most of them had 5 years of teaching experiences. The thematic findings revealed that they developed abilities to cope with and adjust to the social and cultural environment. These included self-efficacy, developing problem-solving skills, awareness of strengths and asserts, self-managing of emotions, and self-confidence. This study concluded that these psychosocial factors contributed to coping with teacher’s diversities, and effectively stabilized their wellbeing in the schools.

Keywords: psychosocial factors, teachers counselling, teacher stress, workplace adversity, rural school, teachers’ wellbeing, teachers’ resilience, teachers’ self-efficacy, social interaction

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Authors: Paschal Arsein Mugabe

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This paper examines sustainable development planning in the context of environmental concerns in rural areas of the Tanzania. It challenges mainstream approaches to development, focusing instead upon transformative action for environmental justice. The goal is to help shape future sustainable development agendas in local government, international agencies and civil society organisations. Research methods: The approach of the study is geographical, but also involves various Trans-disciplinary elements, particularly from development studies, sociology and anthropology, management, geography, agriculture and environmental science. The research methods included thematic and questionnaire interviews, participatory tools such as focus group discussion, participatory research appraisal and expert interviews for primary data. Secondary data were gathered through the analysis of land use/cover data and official documents on climate, agriculture, marketing and health. Also several earlier studies that were made in the area provided an important reference base. Findings: The findings show that, agricultural sustainability in Tanzania appears likely to deteriorate as a consequence of climate change. Noteworthy differences in impacts across households are also present both by district and by income category. Also food security cannot be explained by climate as the only influencing factor. A combination of economic, political and socio-cultural context of the community are crucial. Conclusively, it is worthy knowing that people understand their relationship between climate change and their livelihood.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change, environment, sustainable development

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Authors: Itsaree Padphai, Jiranan Pakpeian, Suksun Niponchai

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This study is a descriptive research which aims to: 1) Compare the difference of knowledge before and after using the e-Learning program entitled “Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Students in an Emergency Medical Technician Diploma Program”, and 2) Assess the students’ satisfaction after using the said program. This research is a kind of teaching and learning management supplemented with the e-Learning system; therefore, the purposively selected samples are 44 first-year and class-16 students of an emergency medical technician diploma program who attend the class in a second semester of academic year 2012 in Sirindhorn College of Public Health, Khon Kaen province. The research tools include 1) the questionnaire for general information of the respondents, 2) the knowledge tests before and after using the e-Learning program, and 3) an assessment of satisfaction in using the e-Learning program. The statistics used in data analysis percentage, include mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics: paired t-test. 1. The general information of the respondents was mostly 37 females representing 84.09 percent. The average age was 19.5 years (standard deviation was 0.81), the maximum age was 21 years, and the minimum age was 19 years respectively. Students (35 subjects) admitted that they preferred the methods of teaching and learning by using the e-Learning systems. This was totally 79.95 percent. 2. A comparison on the difference of knowledge before and after using the e-Learning program showed that the mean before an application was 6.64 (standard deviation was 1.94) and after was 18.84 (standard deviation 1.03), which was higher than the knowledge of students before using the e-Learning program with the statistical significance (P value < 0.001). 3. For the satisfaction after using the e-Learning program, it was found that students’ satisfaction was at a very good level with the mean of 4.93 (standard deviation was 0.11).

Keywords: e-Learning, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, diploma program, Khon Kaen Province

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Authors: Santosh Thapa, Sankar Gurung

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Chaupadi is a tradition widely practiced in the far and mid-western region of Nepal. It is a practice where girls and women are not allowed to inter the house and touch the food, water and milk during their menstruation period of 4-7 days. They have to spend all the nights during the period in a specific hut (Chhaupadi Goth) which is a bit far from their residence where they faces various kinds of risk and violence like bullying, snakes and insect bite, wild animal attack etc. Sometimes the girls even do not go to school during their menstruation periods. After childbirth, the woman must stay in a cow shed for 11 days in such Chhaupadi practiced areas. This study limits the Achham district of the far western region which is the most vulnerable Chhaupadi practicing district. Several governmental and non-governmental organizations have been involving and spending huge amount of money for capacity building and awareness raising campaign for last 2 decades but still 9 out of 75 Village Development Committees (VDCs) have been partially practicing Chaupadi in the district. This study shows that the school attendance rate of the girls during the period have visibly increased which helps to increase the number of the girl graduation as well. Similarly, the practice of Chhaupadi is one of the reasons for increasing the number of cases of uterus prolapsus and poor reproductive health of women and girls. Triggering tools are the one of the best ways to accelerate the awareness campaign in the VDCs. This study recommends that the local bodies should coordinate and lead the overall awareness campaign program to sustain the Chaupadi free VDCs.

Keywords: awareness campaign, chaupadi practice, gender discrimination, violence

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Authors: Carmen Aguilera-Carnerero

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Islamophobia, the unfounded hostility towards Muslims and Islam, has been deeply studied in the last decades from different perspectives ranging from anthropology, sociology, media studies, and linguistics. In the past few years, we have witnessed how the birth of social media has transformed formerly passive audiences into an active group that not only receives and digests information but also creates and comments publicly on any event of their interest. In this way, average citizens now have been entitled with the power of becoming potential opinion leaders. This rise of social media in the last years gave way to a different way of Islamophobia, the so called ‘cyberIslamophobia’. Considerably less attention, however, has been given to the study of islamophobic images that accompany the texts in social media. This paper attempts to analyse a corpus of 300 images of islamophobic nature taken from social media (from Twitter and Facebook) from the years 2014-2017 to see: a) how hate speech is visually constructed, b) how cyberislamophobia is articulated through images and whether there are differences/similarities between the textual and the visual elements, c) the impact of those images in the audience and their reaction to it and d) whether visual cyberislamophobia has undergone any process of permeating popular culture (for example, through memes) and its real impact. To carry out this task, we have used Critical Discourse Analysis as the most suitable theoretical framework that analyses and criticizes the dominant discourses that affect inequality, injustice, and oppression. The analysis of images was studied according to the theoretical framework provided by the visual framing theory and the visual design grammar to conclude that memes are subtle but very powerful tools to spread Islamophobia and foster hate speech under the guise of humour within popular culture.

Keywords: cyberIslamophobia, visual grammar, social media, popular culture

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Authors: Lucian Capitanu, Virgil Florescu

Abstract:

Often for the laboratory studies, modeling of specific tribological processes raises special problems. One such problem is the modeling of some temperatures and extremely high contact pressures, allowing modeling of temperatures and pressures at which the injection or extrusion processing of thermoplastic materials takes place. Tribological problems occur mainly in thermoplastics materials reinforced with glass fibers. They produce an advanced wear to the barrels and screws of processing machines, in short time. Obtaining temperatures around 210 °C and higher, as well as pressures around 100 MPa is very difficult in the laboratory. This paper reports a simple and convenient solution to get these conditions, using friction sliding couples with linear contact, cylindrical liner plastic filled with glass fibers on plate steel samples, polished and super-finished. C120 steel, which is a steel for moulds and Rp3 steel, high speed steel for tools, were used. Obtaining the pressure was achieved by continuous request of the liner in rotational movement up to its elasticity limits, when the dry friction coefficient reaches or exceeds the hardness value of 0.5 HB. By dissipation of the power lost by friction on flat steel sample, are reached contact temperatures at the metal surface that reach and exceed 230 °C, being placed in the range temperature values of the injection. Contact pressures (in load and materials conditions used) ranging from 16.3-36.4 MPa were obtained depending on the plastic material used and the glass fibers content.

Keywords: plastics with glass fibers, dry friction, linear contact, contact temperature, contact pressure, experimental simulation

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Authors: Areej Salaymeh, Loren Schwiebert, Stephen Remias, Jonathan Waddell

Abstract:

Extracting information from new data sources has emerged as a crucial task in many traffic planning processes, such as identifying traffic patterns, route planning, traffic forecasting, and locating infrastructure improvements. Given the advanced technologies used to collect Global Positioning System (GPS) data from dedicated GPS devices, GPS equipped phones, and navigation tools, intelligent data analysis methodologies are necessary to mine this raw data. In this research, an automatic detection framework is proposed to help identify and classify the locations of stopped GPS waypoints into two main categories: signalized intersections or highway congestion. The Delaunay triangulation is used to perform this assessment in the clustering phase. While most of the existing clustering algorithms need assumptions about the data distribution, the effectiveness of the Delaunay triangulation relies on triangulating geographical data points without such assumptions. Our proposed method starts by cleaning noise from the data and normalizing it. Next, the framework will identify stoppage points by calculating the traveled distance. The last step is to use clustering to form groups of waypoints for signalized traffic and highway congestion. Next, a binary classifier was applied to find distinguish highway congestion from signalized stop points. The binary classifier uses the length of the cluster to find congestion. The proposed framework shows high accuracy for identifying the stop positions and congestion points in around 99.2% of trials. We show that it is possible, using limited GPS data, to distinguish with high accuracy.

Keywords: Delaunay triangulation, clustering, intelligent transportation systems, GPS data

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Authors: Thamir K. Ibrahim, M. M. Rahman, Marwah Noori Mohammed

Abstract:

This study deals with modeling and performance enhancements of a gas-turbine combined cycle power plant. A clean and safe energy is the greatest challenges to meet the requirements of the green environment. These requirements have given way the long-time governing authority of steam turbine (ST) in the world power generation, and the gas turbine (GT) will replace it. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the characteristics of the GT system and optimize its operating strategy by developing a simulation system. The integrated model and simulation code for exploiting the performance of gas turbine power plant are developed utilizing MATLAB code. The performance code for heavy-duty GT and CCGT power plants are validated with the real power plant of Baiji GT and MARAFIQ CCGT plants the results have been satisfactory. A new technology of correlation was considered for all types of simulation data; whose coefficient of determination (R2) was calculated as 0.9825. Some of the latest launched correlations were checked on the Baiji GT plant and apply error analysis. The GT performance was judged by particular parameters opted from the simulation model and also utilized Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy System (ANFIS) an advanced new optimization technology. The best thermal efficiency and power output attained were about 56% and 345MW respectively. Thus, the operation conditions and ambient temperature are strongly influenced on the overall performance of the GT. The optimum efficiency and power are found at higher turbine inlet temperatures. It can be comprehended that the developed models are powerful tools for estimating the overall performance of the GT plants.

Keywords: gas turbine, optimization, ANFIS, performance, operating conditions

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Authors: Sagar Jitendra Mahendrakar

Abstract:

Exploratory testing is a dynamic and adaptable method of software quality assurance that is frequently praised for its ability to find hidden flaws and improve the overall quality of the product. Instead of using preset test cases, exploratory testing allows testers to explore the software application dynamically. This is in contrast to scripted testing methodologies, which primarily rely on tester intuition, creativity, and adaptability. There are several tools and techniques that can aid testers in the exploratory testing process which we will be discussing in this talk.Tests of this kind are able to find bugs of this kind that are harder to find during structured testing or that other testing methods may have overlooked.The purpose of this abstract is to examine the nature and importance of exploratory testing in modern software development methods. It explores the fundamental ideas of exploratory testing, highlighting the value of domain knowledge and tester experience in spotting possible problems that may escape the notice of traditional testing methodologies. Throughout the software development lifecycle, exploratory testing promotes quick feedback loops and continuous improvement by giving testers the ability to make decisions in real time based on their observations. This abstract also clarifies the unique features of exploratory testing, like its non-linearity and capacity to replicate user behavior in real-world settings. Testers can find intricate bugs, usability problems, and edge cases in software through impromptu exploration that might go undetected. Exploratory testing's flexible and iterative structure fits in well with agile and DevOps processes, allowing for a quicker time to market without sacrificing the quality of the final product.

Keywords: exploratory, testing, automation, quality

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Authors: Artem Kim, Clara Savary, Christele Dubourg, Wilfrid Carre, Houda Hamdi-Roze, Valerie Dupé, Sylvie Odent, Marie De Tayrac, Veronique David

Abstract:

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a rare congenital brain malformation resulting from the incomplete separation of the two cerebral hemispheres. It is characterized by a wide phenotypic spectrum and a high degree of locus heterogeneity. Genetic defects in 16 genes have already been implicated in HPE, but account for only 30% of cases, suggesting that a large part of genetic factors remains to be discovered. HPE has been recently redefined as a complex multigenic disorder, requiring the joint effect of multiple mutational events in genes belonging to one or several developmental pathways. The onset of HPE may result from accumulation of the effects of multiple rare variants in functionally-related genes, each conferring a moderate increase in the risk of HPE onset. In order to decipher the genetic basis of HPE, unconventional patterns of inheritance involving multiple genetic factors need to be considered. The primary objective of this study was to uncover possible disease causing combinations of multiple rare variants underlying HPE by performing trio-based Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) of familial cases where no molecular diagnosis could be established. 39 families were selected with no fully-penetrant causal mutation in known HPE gene, no chromosomic aberrations/copy number variants and without any implication of environmental factors. As the main challenge was to identify disease-related variants among a large number of nonpathogenic polymorphisms detected by WES classical scheme, a novel variant prioritization approach was established. It combined WES filtering with complementary gene-level approaches: transcriptome-driven (RNA-Seq data) and clinically-driven (public clinical data) strategies. Briefly, a filtering approach was performed to select variants compatible with disease segregation, population frequency and pathogenicity prediction to identify an exhaustive list of rare deleterious variants. The exome search space was then reduced by restricting the analysis to candidate genes identified by either transcriptome-driven strategy (genes sharing highly similar expression patterns with known HPE genes during cerebral development) or clinically-driven strategy (genes associated to phenotypes of interest overlapping with HPE). Deeper analyses of candidate variants were then performed on a family-by-family basis. These included the exploration of clinical information, expression studies, variant characteristics, recurrence of mutated genes and available biological knowledge. A novel bioinformatics pipeline was designed. Applied to the 39 families, this final integrated workflow identified an average of 11 candidate variants per family. Most of candidate variants were inherited from asymptomatic parents suggesting a multigenic inheritance pattern requiring the association of multiple mutational events. The manual analysis highlighted 5 new strong HPE candidate genes showing recurrences in distinct families. Functional validations of these genes are foreseen.

Keywords: complex genetic disorder, holoprosencephaly, multiple rare variants, whole exome sequencing

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Authors: I. L. Yakushev

Abstract:

Economic sanctions are an integral part of the foreign policy repertoire of States. Increasingly, States and international organizations are resorting to sanctions to address a variety of issues -from fighting corruption to preventing the use of nuclear weapons. Over time, the ways in which economic sanctions have been used have changed, especially over the past two decades. In the late 1990s, the recognition of the humanitarian harm of economic sanctions and the "War on Terrorism" after the events of September 11, 2001, led to serious changes in the structure and mechanisms of their application. Questions about how these coercive tools work, when they are applied, what consequences they have, and when they are successful are still being determined by research conducted in the second half of the 20th century. The conclusions drawn from past cases of sanctions may not be fully applicable to the current sanctions policy. In the second half of the 20th century, most cases of sanctions were related to the United States, and it covered restrictions on international trade. However, over the past two decades, the European Union, the United Nations, and China have also been the main initiators of sanctions. Modern sanctions include targeted and financial restrictions and are applied against individuals, organizations, and companies. Changing the senders, targets, stakeholders, and economic instruments used in the sanctions policy has serious implications for effectiveness and results. The regulatory and bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to implement and comply with modern economic sanctions has become more reliable. This evolution of sanctions has provided the scientific community with an opportunity to study new issues of coercion and return to the old ones. The economic sanctions research program should be developed to be relevant for understanding the application of modern sanctions and their consequences.

Keywords: global analysis, economic sanctions, targeted sanctions, foreign policy, domestic policy, United Nations, European Union, USA, economic pressure

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Authors: R. Pravin Kumar, L. Roopa

Abstract:

Enzymes are molecular machines used in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and animal feed, paper and leather processing, biofuel, and etc. Nevertheless, this has been possible only by the breath-taking efforts of the chemists and biologists to evolve/engineer these mysterious biomolecules to work the needful. Main agenda of this enzyme engineering project is to derive screening and selection tools to obtain focused libraries of enzyme variants with desired qualities. The methodologies for this research include the well-established directed evolution, rational redesign and relatively less established yet much faster and accurate insilico methods. This concept was initiated as a Receptor Rependent-4Dimensional Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (RD-4D-QSAR) to predict kinetic properties of enzymes and extended here to study transaminase by a 7D QSAR approach. Induced-fit scenarios were explored using Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) simulations which were then placed in a grid that stores interactions energies derived from QM parameters (QMgrid). In this study, the mutated enzymes were immersed completely inside the QMgrid and this was combined with solvation models to predict descriptors. After statistical screening of descriptors, QSAR models showed > 90% specificity and > 85% sensitivity towards the experimental activity. Mapping descriptors on the enzyme structure revealed hotspots important to enhance the enantioselectivity of the enzyme.

Keywords: QMgrid, QM/MM simulations, RD-4D-QSAR, transaminase

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Authors: Youssef A. Yakoub, Ramy M. Shaaban

Abstract:

Covid-19 has changed and affected the whole world dramatically in a new way that the entire world, even scientists, have not imagined before. The educational institutions around the world have been fighting since Covid-19 hit the world last December to keep the educational process unchanged for all students. E-learning was a must for almost all US universities during the pandemic. It was specifically more challenging to use eLearning instead of regular classes among students who take practical education. The aim of this study is to examine the perception of STEM students towards using eLearning instead of traditional methods during their practical study. Focus groups of STEM students studying at a western Pennsylavian, mid-size university were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were designed to get an insight on students’ perception towards the alternative educational methods they used in the past seven months. Using convenient sampling, four students were chosen from different STEM fields: science of physics, technology, electrical engineering, and mathematics. The interview was primarily about the extent to which these students were satisfied, and their educational needs were met through distance education during the pandemic. The interviewed students were generally able to do a satisfactory performance during their virtual classes, but they were not satisfied enough with the learning methods. The main challenges they faced included the inability to have real practical experience, insufficient materials posted by the faculty, and some technical problems associated with their study. However, they reported they were satisfied with the simulation programs they had. They reported these simulations provided them with a good alternative to their traditional practical education. In conclusion, this study highlighted the challenges students face during the pandemic. It also highlighted the various learning tools students see as good alternatives to their traditional education.

Keywords: eLearning, STEM education, COVID-19 crisis, online practical training

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Authors: Lefteris Tsipis, Demosthenes Vouyioukas, George Loumos, Antonis Kargas, Dimitris Varoutas

Abstract:

The employment of technology and digitization is crucial for cultural organizations to establish and sustain digital repositories for their cultural heritage artefacts. This utilization is also essential in facilitating the presentation of cultural works and exhibits to a broader audience. Consequently, in this work, we propose a digital repository that functions as Software as a Service (SaaS), primarily promoting the safe storage, display, and sharing of cultural materials, enhancing accessibility, and fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage. Moreover, the proposed digital repository service is designed as a multitenant architecture, which enables organizations to expand their reach, enhance accessibility, foster collaboration, and ensure the preservation of their content. Specifically, this project aims to assist each cultural institution in organizing its digital cultural assets into collections and feeding other digital platforms, including educational, museum, pedagogical, and games, through appropriate interfaces. Moreover, the creation of this digital repository offers a cutting-edge and effective open-access laboratory solution. It allows organizations to have a significant influence on their audiences by fostering cultural understanding and appreciation. Additionally, it facilitates the connection between different digital repositories and national/European aggregators, promoting collaboration and information sharing. By embracing this solution, cultural institutions can benefit from shared resources and features, such as system updates, backup and recovery services, and data analytics tools, that are provided by the platform.

Keywords: cultural technologies, gaming technologies, web sharing, digital repository

Procedia PDF Downloads 80