Search results for: traffic noise level

Authors: Nazife Duygu Bagci

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Collocations are an important part of vocabulary knowledge, and it is a subject that has recently attracted attention, while still in need of more research. The aim of this study is to answer three research questions related to the collocational knowledge of Turkish university level EFL learners at different proficiency levels of English. The first research question aims to compare the pre-intermediate (PIN) and the advanced (ADV) level learners’ collocational knowledge at receptive and productive levels. The second one is to analyze the performance of the PIN and the ADV students in two main collocation categories; lexical and grammatical. Lastly, the performance of both groups are focused on to find the collocation type (among verb-noun, adjective- noun, adjective-preposition, noun-preposition collocation types) they show the best performance in. Two offline tests were used to answer these questions. The results show that there is a significant difference between the PIN and the ADV groups at both receptive and productive levels. It can be concluded that proficiency is an important criterion in collocational knowledge, and learners do not necessarily know the collocates of the vocabulary items that they know. Although there is no significant difference between the PIN group’s performance in lexical and grammatical collocations, the ADV group showed a better performance in lexical collocations. Lastly, the PIN group at receptive and the ADV group at both receptive and productive levels showed the best performance in verb-noun collocations, which is in line with the previous research focusing on different collocation types.

Keywords: collocational knowledge, EFL, language proficiency, testing

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Authors: Biji Jacob

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Vector quantization algorithm which uses minimum distance calculation for codebook generation, a time consuming calculation performed on each pixel values leads to computation complexity. The codebook is updated by comparing the distance of each vector to their centroid vector and measure for their closeness. In this paper vector quantization is modified based on vector difference algorithm for image enhancement purpose. In the proposed scheme, vector differences between the vectors are considered as the new generation vectors or new codebook vectors. The codebook is updated by comparing the new generation vector with a threshold value having minimum error with the parent vector. The minimum error decides the fitness of each newly generated vector. Thus the codebook is generated in an adaptive manner and the fitness value is determined for the suppression of the degraded portion of the image and thereby leads to the enhancement of the image through the adaptive searching capability of the vector quantization through vector difference algorithm. Experimental results shows that the vector difference scheme efficiently modifies the vector quantization algorithm for enhancing the image with peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE), Euclidean distance (E_dist) as the performance parameters.

Keywords: codebook, image enhancement, vector difference, vector quantization

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Authors: Alaa A. Shamaun Al-Abboodi, Yunis A. A. Bapeer

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400 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross-308) randomly divided to 2 main groups, 1st main group (GA) was feeding basal diet with medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) at rate of 0.15% and divided to four subgroups, 3 subgroups vaccinated with different routes with Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and non-vaccinated group. The 2nd main group (GB) feeding basal diet without MCFA and divided the same as 1st main group. The parameters used in this study included: ND antibody titers at 1, 10, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age and values of CD4 and CD8 at 1, 20, 30 and 42 days of age. This experiment detected increase in ND antibodies titers in (G1, G2, G3) groups were fed on basal diet MCFA comparing to groups were fed without adding MCFA (G5, G6, G7) and control groups (G4, G8). The results of cellular immune response (CD4 and CD8) T-cells in broiler chicks indicated that there was obviously significant relationship between dietary Fatty Acid (FA) versus the diet without FA on the level of CD4 parameter, for the entire experimental period. The effect of different ages was statistically significant in creating different values of CD4 level, whereas the CD4 level decreases markedly with age. However, analyzing the data of different vaccination methods, oculonasal method of vaccination led to the highest value of CD4 compared with the oral, S/C and control groups. There were statistical differences in CD8 values due to supplementation of FA versus the basal diet and due to the effect of different age periods. As for the age effect, the CD8 value at 20 days of age was significantly higher than at 42 and 30 days.

Keywords: broiler, CD4 and CD8, fatty acids, Newcastle Disease

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Authors: B. Vishnupriya, R. Josphineleela

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Road sign recognition is a key element in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and self-driving technologies, as it is fundamental to maintaining safe and effective navigation. Conventional supervised learning approaches rely heavily on extensive labeled datasets for training, which can be resource-intensive and challenging to obtain. This study examines the effectiveness of three unsupervised image segmentation approaches—K- means clustering, GrabCut, and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)—in detecting road signs within complex settings. Using a publicly available Road Sign dataset from Kaggle, we assess the effectiveness of these methods based on clustering performance metrics. Our results indicate that GMM achieves the highest performance across these metrics, demonstrating superior segmentation accuracy under diverse lighting and weather conditions, followed by GrabCut and K-means clustering. This research highlights the potential of unsupervised techniques in reducing the dependency on labeled data, offering insights for future advancements in road sign detection systems for ADAS and autonomous vehicles.

Keywords: K-means clustering, unsupervised, Gaussian Mixture Model, segmentation accuracy

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Authors: J. Karthik, G. Vinayagamurthy

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Aerodynamic flow control is achieved by interaction of flowing medium with corresponding structure so that its natural flow state is disturbed to delay the transition point. This paper explains the aerodynamic effect and optimized design of Vortex Generators on the turbine blade to achieve maximum flow control. The airfoil is chosen from NREL [National Renewable Energy Laboratory] S-series airfoil as they are characterized with good lift characteristics and lower noise. Vortex generators typically chosen are Ogival, Rectangular, Triangular and Tapered Fin shapes attached near leading edge. Vortex generators are typically distributed from the primary to tip of the blade section. The design wind speed is taken as 6m/s and the computational analysis is executed. The blade surface is simulated using k- ɛ SST model and results are compared with X-FOIL results. The computational results are validated using Wind Tunnel Testing of the blade corresponding to the design speed. The effect of Vortex generators on the flow characteristics is studied from the results of analysis. By comparing the computational and test results of all shapes of Vortex generators; the optimized design is achieved for effective flow control corresponding to the blade.

Keywords: flow control, vortex generators, design optimisation, CFD

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Authors: Yan Ding, Fei Yan, Ji Liang, Hong Jiang, Xiaoguang Yang, Xu Qian

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The health status of GonjiKolela District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia is below its national average, and a sub-project of China UK Global Health Support Programme (GHSP) is expected to increase the uptake of a suite of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) interventions there. To explore what is on the ground and what could be helpful for the uptake of RMNCH services in GonjiKolela, a qualitative study was performed as part of the baseline assessment before the implementation of the project. Nine key informants from GonjiKolela were interviewed with self-designed interview guides and they were from the district Health Office, health centers, health posts, women health development army (community volunteer groups), mothers of newborns, and also a gynecologist from the maternal and child health center which is the referral center for pregnant women for this project. The interview were transcribed into words and sorted with qualitative analysis software MAXqda. Content analysis was mainly used to analyze the data. The district health office, the health centers and the health posts all had focal persons taking care of the management and provision of RMNCH services, and RMNCH related indicators were recorded and reported at each level routinely. In addition, district government and administration at community/administrative village level kept a close eye on the reduction of maternal, neonatal and child mortality. Women Health Development Amy at household level supported health workers at community/administrative village level (called health extension workers) in tracing, recording and reporting pregnant women, newborn and under-five children,organizing events for health education, demonstrating and leading health promotion activities, and stimulating the utilization of RMNCH.

Keywords: Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health, Health Care Utilization, Qualitative Study, Ethiopia

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Authors: Wanyi Zhu, Xia Ming, Huafeng Wang, Junda Chen, Lu Liu, Jiangwei Jiang, Guohua Liu

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Anomaly detection is a first and imperative step needed to respond to unexpected problems and to assure high performance and security in large data center management. This paper presents an online anomaly detection system through an innovative approach of ensemble machine learning and adaptive differentiation algorithms, and applies them to performance data collected from a continuous monitoring system for multi-tier web applications running in Alibaba data centers. We evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of this algorithm with production traffic data and compare with the traditional anomaly detection approaches such as a static threshold and other deviation-based detection techniques. The experiment results show that our algorithm correctly identifies the unexpected performance variances of any running application, with an acceptable false positive rate. This proposed approach has already been deployed in real-time production environments to enhance the efficiency and stability in daily data center operations.

Keywords: Alibaba data centers, anomaly detection, big data computation, dynamic ensemble learning

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Authors: Aticha Kwaengsopha, Kevin Wongleedee

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Destination image can cause an increase and decrease in the growth rate of international tourists visiting Thailand. This paper drew upon data collected from an international tourist survey conducted in Bangkok, Thailand during January to March of 2014. The survey was structured primarily to obtain international tourists’ opinions towards the importance of destination image factors that they encountered during their trip in Thailand. A total of 200 respondents were elicited as data input for mean, SD, and t-test. The findings revealed that the overall level of importance of these factors was not very high. The findings also revealed the three most important factors as tourist experience, interesting place, and pleasing destination. In addition, the result for t-test revealed that there was not much effect from gender differences in opinions of the level concerning importance for destination image factors.

Keywords: destination image, international tourists, Thailand, revisit

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: N. M. Aborehab, M. Helmy, N. E. Waly

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Resistin was identified as an adipocyte hormone that participates in regulation of glucose metabolism. Elevated levels of Resistin are postulated to cause insulin resistance. This may link obesity, and increased fat mass to type II diabetes and insulin resistance. We hypothesized that tomato and broccoli extract treatment regulates glucose homeostasis via modulation of resistin levels in high fat diet induced obesity rats (HFD). 63 male albino rats were divided into 8 groups as follows: control, HFD, stop fat diet (SD), Tomato 200 mg/kg (T200), Tomato 400mg/kg (T400), Broccoli 200 mg/kg (B200), Broccoli 400 mg/kg (B400), Chromax (CX). Treatment continued for 1 month. Serum levels of resistin, leptin, adiponectin, glucose and insulin were measured using ELISA, and spectrophotometry. Serum level of resistin was significantly reduced in T 200, T 400, B 200, B 400 and CX groups to: 4.13 ± 0.22 ng/ml, 1.51 ± 0.04 ng/ml, 4.13 ± 0.22 ng/ml, 2.32 ± 0.15 ng/ml and 1.37 ± 0.03 ng/ml respectively compared to HFD group and SD group (P value < 0.0001). Non-significant difference was found between T 400, B 400 and CX groups. Mean serum level of leptin was significantly reduced in T 400 (22.7 ± 0.84 Pg/ml) group compared to B 400 (41 ± 2.45 Pg/ml) and CX groups (45.7 ± 2.91 Pg/ml), P value < 0.001.The mean serum level of adiponectin was significantly increased in T 400 group (131 ± 3.84 Pg/ml) compared to CX group (112 ± 4.77 Pg/ml), P value was < 0.01. Our results demonstrate that tomato and broccoli extract treatment regulates glucose homeostasis via reduction of serum resistin and may be a useful non-pharmacological therapy for obesity. Further studies are required to assess the potential use of these extract as a treatment for type II diabetes and obesity.

Keywords: broccoli, obesity, resistin, tomato

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Authors: O. O. Olawusi-Peters, O. E. Aguda, F. O. Okoye

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Investigations on the accumulation of heavy metals in water and sediments of River Ogbese were carried out between December 2010 and February 2011 using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Etheria elliptica a sessile organism was also used to determine the concentration of heavy metal in the aquatic environmental. In water, Cu had the highest concentration (0.55–0.13 mg/l ±0.1) while in sediments, the highest value obtained was in Fe (1.46-3.89mg/l±0.27). The minimum concentrations recorded were in Pb; which was below detectable level. The result also revealed that the shell accumulated more heavy metals than the flesh of the mussel with Cu in the shell exhibiting a negative correlation with all the metals in the flesh. However, the condition factor (K) value is 6.44, an indication of good health. The length-weight relationship is expressed as W=-0.48xL 1.94 (r2=0.29) showing the growth pattern to be negatively allometric.

Keywords: condition factor, Etheria elliptica, heavy metals, River Ogbese

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Authors: Kaushalendra Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Chandra Moni, Sanjay Kumar, P. K. Singh, Ajeet Kumar

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Present study investigated the dietary inclusion of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on production efficiency, hemato-biochemical profile and economy of Vanaraja birds under tropical condition. Experiment was conducted for a period of 56 days on 300 Vanaraja birds randomly divided in to five different experimental groups including control of 60 birds each group replicated with 20 chicks in each replicate. T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 were offered with 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% Moringa oleifera leaf meal along with basal ration. All the standard managemental practices were followed during experimental period including vaccination schedule. Locally available Moringa oleifera leaves were harvested at mature stage and allowed to dry under shady and aerated conditions. Thereafter, dried leaves were milled to make a leaf meal and stored in the airtight nylon bags to avoid any possible contamination from foreign material and use for experiment. Production parameters were calculated based on the amount of feed consumed and weight gain every weeks. The body weight gain of T2 group was significantly (P < 0.05) higher side whereas T3 group was comparable with control. The feed conversion ratio for T2 group was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) lower than all other treatment groups, while none of the group was comparable with each other. At the end of the experiment blood samples were collected from birds for haematology study while serum biochemistry performed using spectrophotometer following statndard protocols. The haematological attributes were significantly (P > 0.05) not differed among the groups. However, serum biochemistry showed significant reduction (P < 0.05) of blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and creatinine level with higher level of MOLM diet, indicates better utilization of protein supplemented through MOLM. The total cholesterol and triglyceride level was declined significantly (P < 0.05) as compare to control group with increased level of MOLM in basal diet, decreasing trend of serum cholesterol noted. However, value of HDL for T3 group was highest and for T1 group was lowest but no significant difference (P < 0.05) found among the groups. It might be due to presence of β-sitosterol a bioactive compound present in MOLM which causes lowering of plasma concentration of LDL. During experiment total, LDL and VLDL level was found to be decreased significantly (P < 0.05) as compare to control group. It was observed that the production efficiency of birds significantly improved with 5% followed by 10% Moringa oleifera leaf meal among the treatment groups. However, the maximum profit per kg live weight was noted in 10 % level and least profit observed in 20% MOLM fed group. It was concluded that the dietary inclusion of MOLM improved overall performances without affecting metabolic status and effective in reducing cholesterol level reflects healthy chicken production for human consumption.

Keywords: hemato biochemistry, Moringa oleifera leaf meal, performance, Vanaraja birds

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Authors: Aysegul Sarac

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Washer-dryers are the machines which can either wash the laundries or can dry them. In other words, we can define a washer-dryer as a washing machine and a dryer in one machine. Washing machines are characterized by the loading capacity, cabinet depth and spin speed. Dryers are characterized by the drying technology. On the other hand, energy efficiency, water consumption, and noise levels are main characteristics that influence customer decisions to buy washers. Water condensation technology is the most common drying technology existing in the washer-dryer market. Water condensation technology uses water to dry the laundry inside the machine. Thus, in this type of the drying technology water consumption is at high levels comparing other technologies. Water condensation technology sprays cold water in the drum to condense the humidity of hot weather in order to dry the laundry inside. Thus, water consumption influences the drying performance. The scope of this study is to optimize water consumption during drying process under a constraint of energy consumption and drying performance. We are using 6-Sigma methodology to find the optimum water consumption by comparing drying performances of different drying algorithms.

Keywords: optimization, 6-Sigma methodology, washer-dryers, water condensation technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Serag El Hegazi

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The development of an assessment methodological framework for local and institutional sustainability is a key factor for future development plans and visions. This paper develops an approach to local and institutional sustainability assessment (ALISA). The ALISA methodology is a methodological framework that assists in the clarification, formulation, preparation, selection, and ranking of key indicators to facilitate the assessment of the level of sustainability at the local and institutional levels in North African and Middle Eastern cities. According to the literature review, this paper formulates a methodological framework, ALISA, which is a combination of the UNCSD (2001) Theme Indicators Framework and the issue-based Framework illustrated by McLaren (1996). The methodological framework has been implemented to formulate, select, and prioritise key indicators that most directly reflect the issues of a case study at the local community and institutional level. Yet, in the meantime, there is a lack of clear indicators and frameworks that can be developed to apply successfully at the local and institutional levels in the MENA Region, particularly in the cities of Benghazi and Amman. This is an essential issue for sustainability development estimation. Therefore, a conceptual framework was developed to be tested as a methodology to collect and classify data. The Approach to Local and Institutional Sustainability Assessment (ALISA) is a methodological framework that was developed to apply to certain cities in the MENA region. The main goal is to develop the ALISA framework to formulate, choose, and prioritize sustainability key indicators, which then can assist in guiding an assessment progress to improve decisions and policymakers towards the development of sustainable cities at the local and institutional level in the city of Benghazi. The conceptual, methodological framework, which supports this research with joint documentary and analysed data in two case studies, including focus-group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires, reflects the approach required to develop a combined framework that assists the development of sustainability indicators. To achieve this progress and reach the aim of this paper, which is developing a practical approach for sustainability indicators framework that could be used as a tool to develop local and institutional sustainability indicators, appropriate stages must be applied to propose a set of local and institutional sustainability indicators as follows: Step one: issues clarifications, Step two: objectives formation/analysing of issues and boundaries, Step three: indicators preparation, First list of proposed indictors, Step four: indicator selection, Step five: indicator rating/ranking.

Keywords: sustainability indicators, approach to local and institutional level, ALISA, policymakers

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Authors: Mohammad Rawashdeh, Mark McEntee, Maha Zaitoun, Mostafa Abdelrahman, Patrick Brennan, Haytham Alewaidat, Sarah Lewis, Charbel Saade

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Despite the tremendous advancements that have been generated by Computed Tomography (CT) in the field of diagnosis, concerns have been raised about the potential cancer induction risk from CT because of the exponentially increased use of it in medicine. This study aims at investigating the application and knowledge of practicing radiographers in Jordan about CT radiation. In order to collect the primary data of this study, a questionnaire was designed and distributed by social media using a snow-balling sampling method. The respondents (n=54) have answered 36 questions including the questions about their demographic information, knowledge about Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs), CT exposure and adaptation of pediatric patients exposure. The educational level of the respondents was either at a diploma degree (35.2%) or bachelor (64.8%). The results of this study have indicated a good level of general knowledge between radiographers about the relationship between image quality, exposure parameters, and patient dose. The level of knowledge related to DRL was poor where less than 7.4 percent of the sample members were able to give specific values for a number of common anatomical fields, including abdomen, brain, and chest. Overall, Jordanian radiographers need to gain more knowledge about the expected levels of the dose when applying good practice. Additional education on DRL or DRL inclusion in educational programs is highlighted.

Keywords: computed tomography, CT scan, DRLs, exposure parameters, image quality, radiation dose

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Authors: Siti Zabedah Saidin, Aidi Ahmi, Azharudin Ali, Wan Norhayati Wan Ahmad

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In today's increasingly complex and interconnected world, the concept of sustainability has transcended mere corporate social responsibility, evolving into a fundamental driver of organizational behaviour and disclosure. This content analysis study delves into the Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies’ annual report for the year 2021, aiming to elucidate the extent of sustainability disclosures within the non-financial sections of these reports. The escalating global emphasis on sustainability has prompted organizations to embrace transparency as a means to demonstrate their commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations. Voluntary sustainability disclosure has emerged as a crucial channel through which organizations communicate their efforts, initiatives, and impacts in these areas, thereby fostering trust and accountability with stakeholders. The study aims to identify and examine the types of sustainability information disclosed voluntarily by the federal-level statutory bodies, concentrating on the non-financial sections of the annual reports. To achieve this, the study adopts a simplified disclosure index, a pragmatic tool that quantifies the extent of sustainability reporting in a standardized manner. Using convenience sampling, the study selects a sample of annual reports from the federal-level statutory bodies in Malaysia, as provided on their respective websites. The content analysis is centred on the non-financial sections of these reports, allowing for an in-depth exploration of sustainability disclosures. The findings of the study present the extent to which Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies embrace sustainability reporting. Through thorough content analysis, the study uncovered diverse dimensions of sustainability information, encompassing environmental impact assessments, social engagement endeavours, and governance frameworks. This reveals a deliberate effort by these bodies to encapsulate their holistic organizational contributions and challenges, transcending traditional financial metrics. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the evolving landscape of sustainability disclosure practices among Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies. The findings underline the proactive nature of these bodies in voluntarily sharing sustainability-related information, reflecting their recognition of the interconnectedness between organizational success and societal well-being. Furthermore, the study underscores the potential influence of regulatory guidelines and societal expectations in shaping the extent and nature of voluntary sustainability disclosures. Organizations are not merely responding to regulatory mandates but are actively aligning with global sustainability goals and stakeholder expectations. As organizations continue to navigate the intricate web of stakeholder expectations and sustainability imperatives, this study enriches the discourse surrounding transparency and sustainability reporting. The analysis emphasizes the important role of non-financial disclosures in portraying a holistic organizational narrative. In an era where stakeholders demand accountability, and the interconnectedness of global challenges necessitates collaborative action, the voluntary disclosure of sustainability information stands as a testament to the commitment of Malaysian federal-level statutory bodies in shaping a more sustainable future.

Keywords: voluntary disclosure, sustainability information, annual report, federal-level statutory body

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Authors: Amlakie Nigussie Assefa, Jemal Mohammed Haile, Amanuel Gebru Woldearegay

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Childhood vaccination communication is an important strategy to promote child immunization. This study was conducted with the objective of examining mothers’/caregivers’ perceptions of the child vaccine communication practice in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The researchers employed a quantitative research design to achieve the objective. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The quantitative method was used to analyze the data. To this end, the result of the one-sample t-test revealed that mothers/caregivers perceive that child vaccine communication is irrelevant, indicated by the average mean of 13.11<15 of the expected mean. The finding also indicated that interpersonal health communication principles were not applied, which is indicated by the average mean of 16.82<18 of the ideal mean. The independent sample t-test underscored that knowledge about vaccines has an impact on the perceived relevance of child vaccine communication (Yes: M=16.55 SD=6.323; No: M=9.24, SD=4.087) (F=97.150 p=0.000, p<0.05), and the implementation of interpersonal health communication principals (M=18.65, SD=5.517; No: (M=9.81, SD=4.491) (F=11.015, p=0.000, p<0.05). The analysis of variance showed that mothers /caregivers’ education level has an impact on the perceived relevance of child vaccine communication (F=3.844 p=0.004, p<0.05) and to the implementation of interpersonal health communication principles (F=6.334 p=0.000, p<0.05). Besides, the post-hoc test showed that the respondents’ in the “Other” education level category have a positive perception to the relevance of child vaccine communication ((M=4.2 p= 0.006, p<0.05) and to the implementation of interpersonal health communication principles (M=3.5 p=0.000, p<0.05). The correlation analysis shows that education level has a positive correlation with the perceived relevance of child vaccine communication (r =0.198, p=0.00, P<0.01) and with the perceived implementation of interpersonal health communication principles (r = 0.250, p = 0.000 p< 0.01). Furthermore, one-to-one, one-to-group, and door-to-door communication were the most preferred strategies used to communicate about child vaccines. What is more, health workers were the most trusted sources of child vaccine information. In conclusion, the study highlighted that mothers/caregivers did not have a positive view of the child vaccine communication. Hence, efforts have to be made to improve mothers’/caregivers' knowledge about child vaccines. Besides, the education level of mothers/caregivers should be taken into consideration during the implementation of child vaccine communication interventions.

Keywords: mothers’/caregivers' perception, child vaccine communication, preferred communication strategies, trusted sources

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Authors: Weinian Wang, Joseph C. Chen

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The objective of this research is to optimize the process of cutting cylindrical workpieces utilizing live tooling on a HAAS ST-20 lathe. Surface roughness (Ra) has been investigated as the indicator of quality characteristics for machining process. Aluminum alloy was used to conduct experiments due to its wide range usages in engineering structures and components where light weight or corrosion resistance is required. In this study, Taguchi methodology is utilized to determine the effects that each of the parameters has on surface roughness (Ra). A total of 18 experiments of each process were designed according to Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA) with four control factors at three levels of each and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) were computed with Smaller the better equation for minimizing the system. The optimal parameters identified for the surface roughness of the turning operation utilizing live tooling were a feed rate of 3 inches/min(A3); a spindle speed of 1300 rpm(B3); a 2-flute titanium nitrite coated 3/8” endmill (C1); and a depth of cut of 0.025 inches (D2). The mean surface roughness of the confirmation runs in turning operation was 8.22 micro inches. The final results demonstrate that Taguchi methodology is a sufficient way of process improvement in turning process on surface roughness.

Keywords: CNC milling operation, CNC turning operation, surface roughness, Taguchi parameter design

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Authors: Ahmed I. Alutabi, Naghmeh Dezhabad, Sudhakar Ganti

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Data centers have been growing in size and dema nd continuously in the last two decades. Planning for the deployment of resources has been shallow and always resorted to over-provisioning. Data center operators try to maximize the availability of their services by allocating multiple of the needed resources. One resource that has been wasted, with little thought, has been energy. In recent years, programmable resource allocation has paved the way to allow for more efficient and robust data centers. In this work, we examine the predictability of resource usage in a data center environment. We use a number of models that cover a wide spectrum of machine learning categories. Then we establish a framework to guarantee the client service level agreement (SLA). Our results show that using prediction can cut energy loss by up to 55%.

Keywords: machine learning, artificial intelligence, prediction, data center, resource allocation, green computing

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Authors: Wern-Yarng Shieh, Chao Qian, Bingnan Pei

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A design of communication area for infrared electronic-toll-collection systems to provide an extended communication interval in the vehicle traveling direction and regular boundary between contiguous traffic lanes is proposed. By utilizing two typical low-cost commercial infrared LEDs with different half-intensity angles Φ1/2 = 22° and 10°, the radiation pattern of the emitter is designed to properly adjust the spatial distribution of the signal power. The aforementioned purpose can be achieved with an LED array in a three-piece structure with appropriate mounting angles. With this emitter, the influence of the mounting parameters, including the mounting height and mounting angles of the on-board unit and road-side unit, on the system performance in terms of the received signal strength and communication area are investigated. The results reveal that, for our emitter proposed in this paper, the ideal "long-and-narrow" characteristic of the communication area is very little affected by these mounting parameters. An optimum mounting configuration is also suggested.

Keywords: dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), electronic toll collection (ETC), infrared communication, intelligent transportation system (ITS), multilane free flow

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Authors: Mohamed Raouf Benmakrelouf, Joseph Rynkiewicz

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Targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) is well-established method for causal effect estimation with desirable statistical properties. TMLE is a doubly robust maximum likelihood based approach that includes a secondary targeting step that optimizes the target statistical parameter. A causal interpretation of the statistical parameter requires assumptions of the Rubin causal framework. The causal effect of binary variable, E, on outcomes, Y, is defined in terms of comparisons between two potential outcomes as E[YE=1 − YE=0]. Our aim in this paper is to present an adaptation of TMLE methodology to estimate the causal effect of a non-binary categorical variable, providing a large application. We propose coding on the initial data in order to operate a binarization of the interest variable. For each category, we get a transformation of the non-binary interest variable into a binary variable, taking value 1 to indicate the presence of category (or group of categories) for an individual, 0 otherwise. Such a dummy variable makes it possible to have a pair of potential outcomes and oppose a category (or a group of categories) to another category (or a group of categories). Let E be a non-binary interest variable. We propose a complete disjunctive coding of our variable E. We transform the initial variable to obtain a set of binary vectors (dummy variables), E = (Ee : e ∈ {1, ..., |E|}), where each vector (variable), Ee, takes the value of 0 when its category is not present, and the value of 1 when its category is present, which allows to compute a pairwise-TMLE comparing difference in the outcome between one category and all remaining categories. In order to illustrate the application of our strategy, first, we present the implementation of TMLE to estimate the causal effect of non-binary variable on outcome using simulated data. Secondly, we apply our TMLE adaptation to survey data from the French Political Barometer (CEVIPOF), to estimate the causal effect of education level (A five-level variable) on a potential vote in favor of the French extreme right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen. Counterfactual reasoning requires us to consider some causal questions (additional causal assumptions). Leading to different coding of E, as a set of binary vectors, E = (Ee : e ∈ {2, ..., |E|}), where each vector (variable), Ee, takes the value of 0 when the first category (reference category) is present, and the value of 1 when its category is present, which allows to apply a pairwise-TMLE comparing difference in the outcome between the first level (fixed) and each remaining level. We confirmed that the increase in the level of education decreases the voting rate for the extreme right party.

Keywords: statistical inference, causal inference, super learning, targeted maximum likelihood estimation

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Authors: Ruiyi Zhang, Wanglin Yan

Abstract:

Strict land-use plan is issued based on city planning act for controlling urbanization and conserving semi-natural landscape. And the agrarian land resource in the suburbs has indispensable socio-economic value and contributes to the sustainability of the regional environment. However, the agrarian hinterland of metropolitan is witnessing severe farmland conversion and abandonment, while the contribution of land-use planning to farmland conservation remains unclear in those areas. Hypothetically, current land-use plan contributes to farmland loss. So, this research investigated the relationship between farmland loss and land-use planning at municipality level to provide base data for zoning in the metropolitan suburbs, and help to develop a sustainable land-use plan that will conserve the agrarian hinterland. As data and methods, 1) Farmland data of Census of Agriculture and Forestry for 2005 to 2015 and population data of 2015 and 2018 were used to investigate spatial distribution feathers of farmland loss in Tokyo Metropolitan District (TMD) for two periods: 2005-2010;2010-2015. 2) And the samples were divided by four urbanization facts. 3) DID data and zoning data for 2006 to 2018 were used to specify urbanization level of zones for describing land-use plan. 4) Then we conducted multiple regression between farmland loss, both abandonment and conversion amounts, and the described land-use plan in each of the urbanization scenario and in each period. As the results, the study reveals land-use plan has unignorable relation with farmland loss in the metropolitan suburbs at ward-city-town-village level. 1) The urban promotion areas planned larger than necessity and unregulated urbanization promote both farmland conversion and abandonment, and the effect weakens from inner suburbs to outer suburbs. 2) And the effect of land-use plan on farmland abandonment is more obvious than that on farmland conversion. The study advocates that, optimizing land-use plan will hopefully help the farmland conservation in metropolitan suburbs, which contributes to sustainable regional policy making.

Keywords: Agrarian land resource, land-use planning, urbanization level, multiple regression

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Authors: Mouheb Mehdoui, Amel Fraisse, Mounir Zrigui

Abstract:

This paper explores the potential of short texts through semantic enrichment and disambiguation techniques. By employing context fusion, we aim to enhance the comprehension and utility of concise textual information. The methodologies utilized are grounded in recent advancements in natural language processing, which allow for a deeper understanding of semantics within limited text formats. Specifically, topic classification is employed to understand the context of the sentence and assess the relevance of added expressions. Additionally, word sense disambiguation is used to clarify unclear words, replacing them with more precise terms. The implications of this research extend to various applications, including information retrieval and knowledge representation. Ultimately, this work highlights the importance of refining short text processing techniques to unlock their full potential in real-world applications.

Keywords: information traffic, text summarization, word-sense disambiguation, semantic enrichment, ambiguity resolution, short text enhancement, information retrieval, contextual understanding, natural language processing, ambiguity

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Authors: Ms Yaowaluck Ruampol

Abstract:

The research on the development of using folk tales based on performance activities aimed to (1) study the development of speaking skill for early-childhood students, (2) evaluate the development of speaking skill before and after speaking activities. Ten students of Kindergarten level 2, who have enrolled in the subject of the research for speaking development of semester 2 in 2013, were purposively selected as the research cohort. The research tools were lesson plans for speaking activities and pre-posttest for speaking development that were approved for content validity and reliability (IOC=.66-1.00,0.967). The research found that the development of speaking skill of the research samples before using performance activities on folk tales in developing speaking skill was in the normal high level. Additionally, the results revealed that the preschoolers after applying speaking skill on performance activities also imaginatively created their speaking skill.

Keywords: speaking development, folk tales, performance activities, communication engineering

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Authors: K. Shiba, T. Kaburagi, Y. Kurihara

Abstract:

With global aging, people who require care, such as people with dementia (PwD), are increasing within many developed countries. And PwDs may wander and unconsciously set foot outdoors, it may lead serious accidents, such as, traffic accidents. Here, round-the-clock monitoring by caregivers is necessary, which can be a burden for the caregivers. Therefore, an automatic wandering detection system is required when an elderly person wanders outdoors, in which case the detection system transmits a ‘moving’ followed by an ‘absence’ state. In this paper, we focus on the transition from the ‘resting’ to the ‘absence’ state, via the ‘moving’ state as one of the wandering transitions. To capture the transition of the three states, our method based on the hidden Markov model (HMM) is built. Using our method, the restraint where the ‘resting’ state and ‘absence’ state cannot be transmitted to each other is applied. To validate our method, we conducted the experiment with 10 subjects. Our results show that the method can classify three states with 0.92 accuracy.

Keywords: wander, microwave Doppler sensor, respiratory frequency band, the state transition, hidden Markov model (HMM).

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Authors: Mitra Bahri, Jean Leopold Kabambi, Jacqueline Yakobi-Hancock, William Render, Stephanie So

Abstract:

Reducing formaldehyde concentration in residential buildings is an important challenge, especially during the summer. In this study, a ceiling tile was used as a sorptive passive panel for formaldehyde removal. The performance of this passive panel was evaluated under different environmental conditions. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiency is comprised between 40% and 71%. Change in the level of relative humidity (30%, 50%, and 75%) had a slight positive effect on the sorption capacity. However, increase in temperature from 21 °C to 26 °C led to approximately 7% decrease in the average formaldehyde removal performance. GC/MS and HPLC analysis revealed the formation of different by-products at low concentrations under extreme environmental conditions. These findings suggest that the passive panel selected for this study holds the potential to be used for formaldehyde removal under various conditions.

Keywords: formaldehyde, indoor air quality, passive panel, removal efficiency, sorption

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Authors: Kalsoom Sumra

Abstract:

The increasing concern of public sector reforms brings new challenges to public service ethics in developing countries not only at central level but also at local level. This paper aims to identify perceptions on public service ethics of public officials and examines more generally the understanding of public servants in Pakistan towards public service ethics in local public organizations. The study uses an independently administered structured questionnaire to collect data to know the extent of the recognition of public service ethics in local organizations. A total of 150 completed questionnaires are analyzed received from public servants working at the local level in Pakistan. The analysis explores how traditional, social patterns and cultural ethics can provide us with a rounded picture of the main antecedents, moderators of public service ethics in Pakistan. Moreover, the findings of this study contribute in association of public service ethics which are crucial in ongoing political and administrative culture of Pakistan, the most crucial core for public organizational ethical climate. This study also has numerous implications for local public administration and it highlights the importance of expanding research agenda on public service ethics in developing settings with challenging institutional contexts with imperfect training and operating environments. This study may well be particularly important for practice of public service ethics in developing countries in public administration. To the best of author’s knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to provide an initial step in practical implications to emphasize relevant public service ethics in public administration in developing transparent and accountable organization.

Keywords: public service ethics, accountability and transparency, public service reforms, public administration, organizational ethical climate

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Authors: Mazin Alqhazo, Ayat Bani Rashaid

Abstract:

This study examines the levels of dopamine and serotonin in blood samples of children who stutter compared with normal fluent speakers. Blood specimens from 50 children who stutter (6 females, 44 males) and 50 normal children matched age and gender were collected for the purpose of the current study. The concentrations of dopamine and serotonin were measured using the 1100 series high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet detector instrument (HPLC-UV). It was revealed that dopamine level in the blood samples of stuttering group and fluent group was not significant (P = 0.769), whereas the level of serotonin was significantly higher in the blood samples of stuttering group than the blood samples of fluent normal group (P = 0.015). It is concluded that serotonin blockers could be used in future studies to evaluate its role as a medication for the treatment of stuttering.

Keywords: dopamine, serotonin, stuttering, fluent speakers

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Authors: Sezen Gurdag, Ayse Ebru Akin

Abstract:

There is a growing concern all over the world on the health effect of the formaldehyde emission coming from the adhesive used in the MDF production. In this research, we investigated the effect of nanoparticle addition such as nanoclay and halloysite into urea-formadehyde resin on the total emitted formaldehyde from MDF plates produced using the resin modified as such. First, the curing behavior of the resin was studied by monitoring the pH, curing time, solid content, density and viscosity of the modified resin in comparison to the reference resin with no added nanoparticle. The dosing of the nanoparticle in the dry resin was kept at 1wt%, 3wt% or 5wt%. Consecutively, the resin was used in the production of 50X50 cm MDF samples using laboratory scale press line with full automation system. Modulus of elasticity, bending strength, internal bonding strength, water absorption were also measured in addition to the main interested parameter formaldehyde emission levels which is determined via spectrometric technique following an extraction procedure. Threshold values for nanoparticle dosing levels were determined to be 5wt% for both nanoparticles. However, the reinforcing behavior was observed to be occurring at different levels in comparison to the reference plates with each nanoparticle such that the level of reinforcement with nanoclay was shown to be more favorable than the addition of halloysite due to higher surface area available with the former. In relation, formaldehyde emission levels were observed to be following a similar trend where addition of 5wt% nanoclay into the urea-formaldehyde adhesive helped decrease the formaldehyde emission up to 40% whereas addition of halloysite at its threshold level demonstrated as the same level, i.e., 5wt%, produced an improvement of 18% only.

Keywords: halloysite, nanoclay, fiberboard, urea-formaldehyde adhesive

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Authors: Trapond Hiransalee

Abstract:

The technology of mobile devices has changed our daily lives. Since smartphone have become a multi-functional device, many people spend unnecessary time on them, and could be interrupted by inappropriate notifications such as unimportant messages from social media. Notifications from smartphone could draw people’s attention and distract them from their priorities and current tasks. This research investigated that if the users were notified by their surroundings instead of smartphone, would it create less distraction and keep their focus on the present task. The experiment was a simulation of a lamp and door notification. Notifications related to work will be embedded in the lamp such as an email from a colleague. A notification that is useful when going outside such as weather information, traffic information, and schedule reminder will be embedded in the door. The experiment was conducted by sending notifications to the participant while he or she was working on a primary task and the working performance was measured. The results show that the lamp notification had fewer interruption effects than the smartphone. For the door notification, it was simulated in order to gain opinions and insights on ambient notifications from participants. Many participants agreed that the ambient notifications are useful and being informed by them could lessen the usage of their smartphone. The results and insights from this research could be used to guide the design process of ambient notifications.

Keywords: HCI, interaction, interaction design, usability testing

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Authors: Mengjia Zhi, Xingmei Wei, Xiang Gao, Shiyang Liu, Zhiran Huang, Li Yang, Jing Sun

Abstract:

Background: To understand the consumption trend of opioid analgesics and the consumption adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment for moderate to severe pain in China, as well as the pain control level of China with international perspective. Importance: To author’s best knowledge, this is the first study in China to measure the adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment for moderate to severe pain considering disease pattern and with the standardized pain treatment guideline. Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out to show the consumption frequency (daily defined doses, DDDs) of opioid analgesics and its trend in China from 2006 to 2016. Adequacy of consumption measure (ACM) was used to measure the number of needed morphine equivalents and the overall adequacy of opioid analgesic treatment of moderate to severe pain in China, and compared with international data. Results: The consumption frequency of opioid analgesics (DDDs) in China increased from 13,200,000 DDDs in 2006 to 44,200,000 DDDs in 2016, and showed an increasing trend. The growth rate was faster at first, especially in 2013, then slowed down, decreased slightly in 2015. The ACM of China increased from 0.0032 in 2006 to 0.0074 in 2016, with an overall trend of growth. The ACM level of China has been always a very poor level during 2006-2016. Conclusion: The consumption of opioid analgesics for the treatment of moderate to severe pain in China has always been inadequate. There is a huge gap between China and the international level. There are many reasons behind this problem, which lie in different aspects, including medical staff, patients and the public, health systems and social & cultural aspects. It is necessary to strengthen the training and education of medical staff and the patients, to use mass media to disseminate scientific knowledge of pain management, to encourage communications between doctors and patients, to improve regulatory system for the controlled medicines and the overall health systems, and to balance the regulatory goal for avoidance of abuse, and the social goal of meeting the increasing needs of the people for better life.

Keywords: opioid analgesics, adequate consumption measure, pain control, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 212