Search results for: cost control

Authors: A. M. Almujalli, G. M. Al-Ghamdi

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Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis causes paratuberculosis, a chronic debilitating granulomatous enteritis, in camels as well as domestic and wild ruminants. The clinical manifestation of the disease in camel is not well characterized, therefore this study was aimed to investigate the clinical and pathological pictures of camels that are suffering from partuberculosis. Twelve young camels that were presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, King Faisal University were investigated. Clinical and pathological examination were performed. The results revealed highly significant increase in creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, magnesium, AST and ALT in diseased camels, while glucose, total protein and albumin were highly significantly decreased in diseased camels when compared to healthy ones. Post-mortem testing indicated thickening, corrugation of the intestinal wall, folded mucosa, enlarged and oedemated ileocaecal and mesenteric lymph nodes. The microscopic findings detected short, blunt and distorted intestinal villi with hyperactive goblet cells of the villi and the crypts of lieberkuhn contained mucin droplets. The lamina propria was heavily infiltrated with mononuclear cells mostly macrophages. This clinical picture of paratuberculosis may be used to initiate control strategy to limit the spread of the disease in camel herds.

Keywords: camel, partuberclosis, control, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

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Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG

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Authors: Martha E. Ndeley

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Operation management is the key element within the manufacturing process. However, during this process, there are a number of unforeseen disruptions that causes the process to a standstill which are, machine breakdown, employees absenteeism, improper scheduling. When this happens, it forces the shop flow to a rescheduling process and these strategy reschedules only a limited part of the initial schedule to match up with the pre-schedule at some point with the objective to create a new schedule that is reliable which in the long run gets disrupted. In this work, we have developed feedback control system that minimizes any form of disruption before the impact becomes severe, the model was tested in a paper manufacturing industries and the results revealed that, if the disruption is minimized at the initial state, the impact becomes unnoticeable.

Keywords: disruption, machine, absenteeism, scheduling

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Authors: Menglu Yang, Ani Beybutyan, Rocio Pina, Miguel Angel Soria

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Domestic violence against women is one of the most serious social problems in the world. Attitudes toward domestic violence against women play an important role in the perpetration of violence against women, the way that victims respond to the violence, and how the community responds to violence against women. China and Spain are countries which have been influenced by the culture which males hold power and dominance over the female for a long time. However, as more connected with other European countries, the legal enforcement related to domestic violence against women developed earlier in Spain, and consequently, social awareness of violence against women evolved differently in two countries. The present study aimed to explore and compare the attitudes toward domestic violence against women across China and Spain, and their influence factors, such as gender equality attitudes and coercive control. Totally 506 participants, 255 from China and 251 from Spain completed questionnaires, including attitudes toward domestic violence against women, definition of violence behavior, justification for violence, gender equity attitudes, and coercive control. Results demonstrated that Chinese participants were less aware of domestic violence against women issue but more agreed that such issue was a crime than Spanish participants. In addition to cultural difference, gender equality attitudes, coercive control, gender, and age also affected attitudes toward domestic violence against women. Our findings imply attitudes toward domestic violence against women differ from countries along with the difference in gender equity attitudes and coercive control; such a difference may arise from cultural, traditional belief and current justice system influence. Despite the developed justice system, male dominance culture may lead to maintain the belief that domestic violence is domestic and private issue which police and justice force may not get involved.

Keywords: cross-cultural differences, domestic violence, public attitudes, violence against women

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Authors: Samuel Mwangi, Josephine K. Mule

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Access control as a security technique regulates who or what can access resources. It is a fundamental concept in security that minimizes risks to the institutions that use access control. Regulating access to institutions of higher learning is key to ensure only authorized personnel and students are allowed into the institutions. The use of biometrics has been criticized due to the setup and maintenance costs, hygiene concerns, and trepidations regarding data privacy, among other apprehensions. Facial recognition is arguably a fast and accurate way of validating identity in order to guard protected areas. It guarantees that only authorized individuals gain access to secure locations while requiring far less personal information whilst providing an additional layer of security beyond keys, fobs, or identity cards. This exploratory study sought to investigate the use of facial recognition in controlling access in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. The sample population was drawn from both private and public higher learning institutions. The data is based on responses from staff and students. Questionnaires were used for data collection and follow up interviews conducted to understand responses from the questionnaires. 80% of the sampled population indicated that there were many security breaches by unauthorized people, with some resulting in terror attacks. These security breaches were attributed to stolen identity cases, where staff or student identity cards were stolen and used by criminals to access the institutions. These unauthorized accesses have resulted in losses to the institutions, including reputational damages. The findings indicate that security breaches are a major problem in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Consequently, access control would be beneficial if employed to curb security breaches. We suggest the use of facial recognition technology, given its uniqueness in identifying users and its non-repudiation capabilities.

Keywords: facial recognition, access control, technology, learning

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Authors: Chris Miskelly, Eoin Cunningham, Beatrice Smyth, John. D. Holbrey, Gosia Swadzba-Kwasny, Emily L. Byrne, Yoan Delavoux, Mantian Li.

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Recently, the use of ionic liquids (ILs) for the preparation of lignocellulose derived cellulosic materials as alternatives to petrochemical feedstocks has been the focus of considerable research interest. While the technical viability of IL-based lignocellulose treatment methodologies has been well established, the high cost of reagents inhibits commercial feasibility. This work aimed to assess the technoeconomic viability of the preparation of cellulose rich materials (CRMs) using protic ionic liquids (PILs) synthesized from low cost alkylamines and sulphuric acid. For this purpose, the tertiary alkylamines, triethylamine, and dimethylbutylamine were selected. Bulk scale production cost of the synthesized PILs, triethylammonium hydrogen sulphate and dimetheylbutylammonium hydrogen sulphate, was reported as $0.78 kg-1 to $1.24 kg-1. CRMs were prepared through the treatment of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) straw with these PILs. By controlling treatment parameters, CRMs with a cellulose content of ≥ 80 wt% were prepared. This was achieved using a T. aestivum straw to PIL loading ratio of 1:15 w/w, a treatment duration of 180 minutes, and ethanol as a cellulose antisolvent. Infrared spectra data and decreased onset degradation temperature of CRMs (ΔTONSET ~ 70 °C) suggested the formation of cellulose sulphate esters during treatment. Chemical derivatisation can aid the dispersion of prepared CRMs in non-polar polymer/ composite matrices, but act as a barrier to thermal processing at temperatures above 150 °C. It was also shown that treatment increased the crystallinity of CRMs (ΔCrI ~ 40 %) without altering the native crystalline structure or crystallite size (~ 2.6 nm) of cellulose; peaks associated with the cellulose I crystalline planes (110), (200), and (004) were observed at Bragg angles 16.0 °, 22.5 ° and 35.0 ° respectively. This highlighted the inability of assessed PILs to dissolve crystalline cellulose and was attributed to the high acidity (pKa ~ - 1.92 to - 6.42) of sulphuric acid derived anions. Electron micrographs revealed that the stratified multilayer tissue structure of untreated T. aestivum straw was significantly modified during treatment. T. aestivum straw particles were disassembled during treatment, with prepared CRMs adopting a golden-brown film-like appearance. This work demonstrated the degradation of non-cellulosic fractions of lignocellulose without dissolution of cellulose. It is the first to report on the derivatisation of cellulose during treatment with protic hydrogen sulphate ionic liquids, and the potential implications of this with reference to biopolymer feedstock preparation.

Keywords: cellulose, extraction, protic ionic liquids, esterification, thermal stability, waste valorisation, biopolymer feedstock

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Authors: Atabak Rashidian

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In duplex backhaul wireless communication systems, two separate transmit and receive high-gain antennas are required if an antenna switch is not implemented. Although the switch loss, which is considerable and in the order of 1.5 dB at 60 GHz, is avoided, the large separate antenna systems make the design bulky and not cost-effective. To avoid two large reflectors for such a system, transmit and receive antenna feeds with a common phase center are required. The phase center should coincide with the focal point of the reflector to maximize the efficiency and gain. In this work, we present an ultra-compact design in which stacked patch antennas are used as the feeds for a 12-inch reflector. The transmit antenna is a 1 × 2 array and the receive antenna is a single element located in the middle of the transmit antenna elements. Antenna elements are designed as stacked patches to provide the required impedance bandwidth for four standard channels of WiGigTM applications. The design includes three metallic layers and three dielectric layers, in which the top dielectric layer is a 100 µm-thick protective layer. The top two metallic layers are specified to the main and parasitic patches. The bottom layer is basically ground plane with two circular openings (0.7 mm in diameter) having a center through via which connects the antennas to a single input/output Si-Ge Bi-CMOS transceiver chip. The reflection coefficient of the stacked patch antenna is fully investigated. The -10 dB impedance bandwidth is about 11%. Although the gap between transmit and receive antenna is very small (g = 0.525 mm), the mutual coupling is less than -12 dB over the desired frequency band. The three dimensional radiation patterns of the transmit and receive reflector antennas at 60 GHz is investigated over the impedance bandwidth. About 39 dBi realized gain is achieved. Considering over 15 dBm of output power of the silicon chip in the transmit side, the EIRP should be over 54 dBm, which is good enough for over one kilometer multi Gbps data communications. The performance of the reflector antenna over the bandwidth shows the peak gain is 39 dBi and 40 dBi for the reflector antenna with 2-element and single element feed, respectively. This type of the system design is cost-effective and efficient.

Keywords: Antenna, integrated circuit, millimeter-wave, phase center

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Authors: Olajumoke Elizabeth Olawale-Olakunle

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This research examined effective event development on the sustainability of tourism in Lagos State. The objectives were to ascertain the implication of effective event development on cost, environmental innovations, opportunity for participants, job creation and working conditions. Also, there was a focus on employee participation and the sustainability of the tourism industry. However, the primary data were obtained via the use of structured questionnaire administered to the selected respondents. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents, using the Yaro Yame formula. The formulated hypothesis was tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Non-parametric chi-square. From the tests conducted, the results showed that effective event development has helped to reduce costs, bring about environmental innovations, offer unique opportunity among event participants, create jobs and promote better working conditions, and the influence it has on employee participation affects the sustainability of the tourism industry. Based on these results, it was concluded that effective event development helps to achieve sustainability in the tourism industry by reducing costs, ensuring efficient use of tourism resources and offers a unique opportunity among event participants. It was, therefore, recommended that events should be developed in such a way that it can help to reduce cost and help leverage the financial burdens of participants and stakeholders, thereby, achieving sustainability in the tourism industry.

Keywords: tourism, hospitality, industry, development

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Authors: Nonlapun Meenil, Pisitpong Intarapong, Thitima Wongsheree, Pranchalee Samanpiboon

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In Thailand, once pineapples are harvested, they must be classified into two classes based on their sweetness: sweet and unsweet. This paper has studied and developed the assessment of internal quality of pineapples using a low-cost compact spectroscopy sensor according to the Spectroscopy approach and Neural Network (NN). During the experiments, Batavia pineapples were utilized, generating 100 samples. The extracted pineapple juice of each sample was used to determine the Soluble Solid Content (SSC) labeling into sweet and unsweet classes. In terms of experimental equipment, the sensor cover was specifically designed to install the sensor and light source to read the reflectance at a five mm depth from pineapple flesh. By using a spectroscopy sensor, data on visible and near-infrared reflectance (Vis-NIR) were collected. The NN was used to classify the pineapple classes. Before the classification step, the preprocessing methods, which are Class balancing, Data shuffling, and Standardization were applied. The 510 nm and 900 nm reflectance values of the middle parts of pineapples were used as features of the NN. With the Sequential model and Relu activation function, 100% accuracy of the training set and 76.67% accuracy of the test set were achieved. According to the abovementioned information, using a low-cost compact spectroscopy sensor has achieved favorable results in classifying the sweetness of the two classes of pineapples.

Keywords: neural network, pineapple, soluble solid content, spectroscopy

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Authors: Shakir H. Mohammed Al-Alwany, Saad Hasan M. Ali, Ibrahim Mohammed S. Shnawa

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The study was aimed to define the percentage of detection of high-oncogenic risk types of HPV and their genotyping in archival tissue specimens that ranged from apparently healthy tissue to invasive breast cancer by using one of the recent versions of In Situ Hybridization(ISH) 0.2. To find out rational significance of such genotypes as well as over expressed products of mutants P53 and RB genes on the severity of underlying breast cancers. The DNA of HPV was detected in 46.5 % of tissues from breast cancers while HPV DNA in the tissues from benign breast tumours was detected in 12.5%. No HPV positive–ISH reaction was detected in healthy breast tissues of the control group. HPV DNA of genotypes (16, 18, 31 and 33) was detected in malignant group in frequency of 25.6%, 27.1%, 30.2% and 12.4%, respectively. Over expression of p53 was detected by IHC in 51.2% breast cancer cases and in 50% benign breast tumour group, while none of control group showed P53- over expression. Retinoblastoma protein was detected by IHC test in 49.7% of malignant breast tumours, 54.2% of benign breast tumours but no signal was reported in the tissues of control group. The significance prevalence of expression of mutated p53 & Rb genes as well as detection of high-oncogenic HPV genotypes in patients with breast cancer supports the hypothesis of an etiologic role for the virus in breast cancer development.

Keywords: human papilloma virus, P53, RB, breast cancer

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Authors: Y. A. Shettima, M. A. Tijjani, S. Modu, F. I. Abdulrahman, B. M. Abubakar

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The toxicity profile of the methanolic extract of Punica granatum L. fruit rind was studied in normal rats. The rats were administered orally by intubating graded doses of 150, 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg body weight of the extract for 28 days and the effects on biochemical parameters and histology of the liver and kidney were evaluated. There was a significant increase (P<0.05) in the levels of liver enzymes of the rats that received the highest dose of 750 mg/kg body weight. The AST and ALT levels were 41.59±0.18 ALP and 9.25±0.29 IU/L, respectively, while the ALP level was 15.68±10 IU/L.There was a significant difference in the albumin and globulin levels; 3.72±0.05 and 4.05±0.13 g/dl, respectively. Serum urea and creatinine levels remained normal, as well as the electrolyte levels. The increase in sodium concentration observed was not statistically significant (P≥0.05) when the control group (131.50±3.11) was compared with the experimental groups (132.25±3.86, 132.75±3.86, 133.50±3.11 and 134.00±1.83). The increase in potassium concentration was not statistically significant (P≥0.05) when the control group with a value of 95.50±3.51 mmol/L was compared with the experimental groups 98.00±3.16, 99.25±2.22, 99.79±0.36 and 99.99±0.02 mmol/L. The increase observed in bicarbonate concentration was not statistically significant (P≥0.05) when the control group with a value of 20.75±1.71 mmol/L was compared with the experimental groups 21.68±0.62, 24.25±2.99, 24.50±3.42, 25.50±2.65 mmol/L.

Keywords: punical granatum, methanolic, ALT, AST, electrolytes, histology

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Authors: Dipankar Deka

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Exploration and production of Oil & Gas is a very challenging business on which a nation’s energy security depends on. The exploration and Production of hydrocarbon is a very precise and time-bound process. The striking rate of hydrocarbon in a drilled well is so uncertain that the success rate is only 31% in 2021 as per Rigzone. Huge cost is involved in drilling as well as the production of hydrocarbon from a well. Due to this very reason, no one can effort to lose a well because of faulty machines, which increases the non-productive time (NPT). Numerous activities that include manpower and machines synchronized together works in a precise way to complete the full cycle of exploration, rig movement, drilling and production of crude oil. There are several machines, both fixed and mobile, are used in the complete cycle. Most of these machines have a tight schedule of work operating in various drilling sites that are simultaneously being drilled, providing a very narrow window for maintenance. The shutdown of any of these machines for even a small period of time delays the whole project and increases the cost of production of hydrocarbon by manifolds. Moreover, these machines are custom designed exclusively for oil field operations to be only used in Mining Exploration Licensed area (MEL) earmarked by the government and are imported and very costly in nature. The cost of some of these mobile units like Well Logging Units, Coil Tubing units, Nitrogen pumping units etc. that are used for Well stimulation and activation process exceeds more than 1 million USD per unit. So the increase of self-life of these units also generates huge revenues during the extended duration of their services. In this paper we are considering the very critical mobile oil field equipment like Well Logging Unit, Coil Tubing unit, well-killing unit, Nitrogen pumping unit, MOL Oil Field Truck, Hot Oil Circulation Unit etc., and their extensive preventive maintenance in our auto workshop. This paper is the outcome of 10 years of structured automobile maintenance and minute documentation of each associated event that allowed us to perform the comparative study between the new practices of preventive maintenance over the age-old practice of system-based corrective maintenance and its impact on the self-life of the equipment.

Keywords: automobile maintenance, preventive maintenance, symptom based maintenance, workshop technologies

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Authors: Mahdokht Sadeghvishkaei, Azizah Abdul-Hamid, Amin Ismail, Nazamid Saari

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Hypertension is a common and serious chronic health problem and known as the most important risk factor for development of many diseases such as stroke. Since angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) is the key enzyme involved in blood pressure, one of the well accepted mechanisms to control hypertension is through ACE inhibition. The ACE inhibitory effect of Actinopyga lecanora (stone fish) proteolysate in vitro had been reported. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the ACE inhibitory potential of Actinopyga lecanora proteolysate in vivo in normotensive rats. Therefore the ACE inhibitory capability of the proteolysate to prevent increasing systolic blood pressure, after inducing hypertension by angiotensin I was examined. The pre-fed rats with the proteolysates at various doses (200, 400, 800 mg/kg body weight) revealed the significant (p ≤ 0.05) suppression effect compared with control groups. Furthermore, different doses of the proteolysate (200, 400, 800 mg/kg body weight) were examined to find its optimum effective dose. Results depicted that 800 mg proteolysate/kg body weight significantly reduced systolic blood pressure without negative effect on normal blood pressure (p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, Sub-acute toxicity study based on OECD guideline demonstrated the safety of the proteolysate in vivo. The present study indicated that the proteolysate at a dose of 1000 mg/kg daily for 14 days did not cause toxicity signs such as death, changes in activity, or piloerection. Since there are no significant differences between treated groups and control groups, hematological and biochemical analysis confirmed safety of the proteolysate (p > 0.05). In addition, there were no significant differences between organs weights of the treated groups and the control groups. Morphologically, neither histopathological changes, nor gross abnormalities were observed. However, the proteolysate caused significant decrease in body weight in relation to the control groups (p ≤ 0.05) probably due to appetite stimulation by the proteolysate, leading to decreased food consumption in sub-acute group. It is concluded that the proteolysate generated from Actinopyga lecanora possess a significant anti-hypertensive effect and would be potentially used as natural alternative of ACE inhibitors.

Keywords: ACE inhibition, Actinopyga lecanora, anti-hypertensive activity, bioactive peptides, normotensive rats

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Authors: Mohamed Rashad, Mohamed Hafez, Mohamed Emran, Emad Aboukila, Ibrahim Nassar

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Environment-friendly organic wastes of Brewers' spent grain, a byproduct of the brewing process, have recently used as soil amendment to improve soil fertility and plant production. In this work, treatments of 1% (T1) and 2% (T2) of spent grains, 1% (C1) and 2% (C2) of compost and mix of both sources (C1T1) were used and compared to the control for growing Zea mays L. on sandy soil under arid Mediterranean climate. Soils were previously incubated at 65% saturation capacity for a month. The most relevant soil physical and chemical parameters were analysed. Water holding capacity and soil organic matter (OM) increased significantly along the treatments with the highest values in T2. Soil pH decreased along the treatments and the lowest pH was in C1T1. Bicarbonate decreased by 69% in C1T1 comparing to control. Total nitrogen (TN) and available P varied significantly among all treatments and T2, C1T1 and C2 treatments increased 25, 17 and 11 folds in TN and 1.2, 0.6 and 0.3 folds in P, respectively related to control. Available K showed the highest values in C1T1. Soil micronutrients increased significantly along all treatments with the highest values in T2. After corn germination, significant variation was observed in the velocity of germination coefficients (VGC) among all treatments in the order of C1T1>T2>T1>C2>C1>control. The highest records of final germination and germination index were in C1T1 and T2. The spent grains may compensate deficiencies of macro and micronutrients in newly reclaimed sandy soils without adverse effects to sustain crop production with a rider that excessive or continuous use need to be circumvented.

Keywords: corn and squash germination, environmentally friendly organic wastes, soil carbon sequestration, spent grains as soil amendment, water holding capacity

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Authors: Ching-Feng Chen

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The floating photovoltaic (FPV) system highlights economic benefits and energy performance to carbon dioxide (CO₂) discharges. Due to land resource scarcity and many negligent water territories, such as reservoirs, dams, and lakes in Japan and Taiwan, both countries are actively developing FPV and responding to the pricing of the emissions trading systems (ETS). This paper performs a case study through a synthesis approach to compare the economic indicators between the FPVs of Taiwan’s Agongdian Reservoir and Japan’s Yamakura Dam. The research results show that the metrics of the system capacity, installation costs, bank interest rates, and ETS and Electricity Bills affect FPV operating gains. In the post-Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) phase, investing in FPV in Japan is more profitable than in Taiwan. The former’s positive net present value (NPV), eminent internal rate of return (IRR) (11.6%), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) above 1 (2.0) at the discount rate of 10% indicate that investing the FPV in Japan is more favorable than in Taiwan. In addition, the breakeven point is modest (about 61.3%.). The presented methodology in the study helps investors evaluate schemes’ pros and cons and determine whether a decision is beneficial while funding PV or FPV projects.

Keywords: carbon border adjustment mechanism, floating photovoltaic, emissions trading systems, net present value, internal rate of return, benefit-cost ratio

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Baradaran, Farhad Hamzezarghani, Mehdi Rastegari Ghiri, Zahra Mirsanjari

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Passive control methods can be utilized to build earthquake resistant structures, and also to strengthen the vulnerable ones. One of the most effective, yet simple passive control methods is the use of vertical shear-links (VSL) in systems with eccentric bracing. In fact, vertical shear-links dissipate the earthquake energy and act like a ductile fuse. In this paper, we studied the effect of this system in increasing the ductility and energy dissipation and also modeled the behavior of this type of eccentric bracing, and compared the hysteresis diagram of the modeled samples with the laboratory samples. We studied several samples of frames with vertical shear-links in order to assess the behavior of this type of eccentric bracing. Each of these samples was modeled in finite element software ANSYS 9.0, and was analyzed under the static cyclic loading. It was found that vertical shear-links have a more stable hysteresis loops. Another analysis showed that using honeycomb beams as the horizontal beam along with steel reinforcement has no negative effect on the hysteresis behavior of the sample.

Keywords: vertical shear-link, passive control, cyclic analysis, energy dissipation, honeycomb beam

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Authors: Jane N. O'Sullivan

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Although it is widely believed that fertility decline has benefitted economic advancement, particularly in East and South-East Asian countries, the causal mechanisms for this stimulus are contested. Since the turn of this century, demographic dividend theory has been increasingly recognised, hypothesising that higher proportions of working-age people can contribute to economic expansion if conditions are met to employ them productively. Population growth rate, as a systemic condition distinct from age composition, has not been similar attention since the 1970s and has lacked methodology for quantitative assessment. This paper explores conceptual and empirical quantification of the burden of expanding physical capital to accommodate a growing population. In proof-of-concept analyses of Australia and the United Kingdom, actual expenditure on gross fixed capital formation was compiled over four decades and apportioned to maintenance/turnover or expansion to accommodate population growth, based on lifespan of capital assets and population growth rate. In both countries, capital expansion was estimated to cost 6.5-7.0% of GDP per 1% population growth rate. This opportunity cost impedes the improvement of per capita capacity needed to realise the potential of the working-age population. Economic modelling of demographic scenarios have to date omitted this channel of influence; the implications of its inclusion are discussed.

Keywords: age dependency, demographic dividend, infrastructure, population growth rate

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Authors: Pablo J. Valverde, Jaime E. Fernandez

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This paper shows under which conditions public corruption can emerge. The theoretical model includes variables such as the public employee wage (w), a control corruption parameter (c), and the group size of interactions (GS) between clusters of public officers and contractors. The system behavior is analyzed using phase diagrams based on combinations of such parameters (c, w, GS). Numerical simulations are implemented in order to contrast analytic results based on Nash equilibria of the theoretical model. Major findings include the functional relationship between wages and network topology, which attempts to reduce the emergence of corrupt behavior.

Keywords: public corruption, game theory, complex systems, Nash equilibrium.

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Authors: K. Raghuwaiya, B. Sharma, J. Vanualailai

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This paper presents a set of artificial potential field functions that improves upon; in general, the motion planning and posture control, with theoretically guaranteed point and posture stabilities, convergence and collision avoidance properties of the general 3-trailer system in a priori known environment. We basically design and inject two new concepts; ghost walls and the distance optimization technique (DOT) to strengthen point and posture stabilities, in the sense of Lyapunov, of our dynamical model. This new combination of techniques emerges as a convenient mechanism for obtaining feasible orientations at the target positions with an overall reduction in the complexity of the navigation laws. Simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controls laws.

Keywords: artificial potential fields, 3-trailer systems, motion planning, posture

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Authors: Pasan Dunuwila, V. H. L. Rodrigo, Naohiro Goto

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Sri Lanka is one the largest natural rubber (NR) producers of the world, where the NR industry is a major foreign exchange earner. Among the locally manufactured NR products, concentrated latex (CL) and ribbed smoked sheets (RSS) hold a significant position. Furthermore, these products become the foundation for many products utilized by the people all over the world (e.g. gloves, condoms, tires, etc.). Processing of CL and RSS costs a significant amount of material, energy, and workforce. With this background, both manufacturing lines have immensely challenged by waste, low productivity, lack of cost efficiency, rising cost of production, and many environmental issues. To face the above challenges, the adaptation of sustainable manufacturing measures that use less energy, water, materials, and produce less waste is imperative. However, these sectors lack comprehensive studies that shed light on such measures and thoroughly discuss their improvement potentials from both environmental and economic points of view. Therefore, based on a study of three CL and three RSS mills in Sri Lanka, this study deploys sustainable manufacturing techniques and tools to uncover the underlying potentials to improve performances in CL and RSS processing sectors. This study is comprised of three steps: 1. quantification of average material waste, economic losses, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions via material flow analysis (MFA), material flow cost accounting (MFCA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) in each manufacturing process, 2. identification of improvement options with the help of Pareto and What-if analyses, field interviews, and the existing literature; and 3. validation of the identified improvement options via the re-execution of MFA, MFCA, and LCA. With the help of this methodology, the economic and environmental hotspots, and the degrees of improvement in both systems could be identified. Results highlighted that each process could be improved to have less waste, monetary losses, manufacturing costs, and GHG emissions. Conclusively, study`s methodology and findings are believed to be beneficial for assuring the sustainable growth not only in Sri Lankan NR processing sector itself but also in NR or any other industry rooted in other developing countries.

Keywords: concentrated latex, natural rubber, ribbed smoked sheets, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Abiodun Musbau Lawal, Benjamin Oladapo Olley

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Long Distance Truck Drivers (LDTDs) have been found to be a high-risk group in the spread of HIV/AIDS globally; perhaps, due to their high Sexual Risk Behaviours (SRBs). Interventions for reducing SRBs in trucking population have not been fully exploited. A quasi-experimental control group pretest-posttest design was used to assess the efficacy of psycho-education and behavioural skills training in reducing SRBs among LDTDs. Sixteen drivers rivers were randomly assigned into either experimental or control groups using balloting technique. A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Repeated measures t-test and independent t-test were used to test hypotheses. The intervention had a significant effect on the SRBs among LDTDs at post-test(t{7}=6.01, p<.01) and at followup (t{7}=6.42, p<.01). No significant difference in sexual risk behaviour of LDTDs at post-test and at follow-up stage. Similarly, intervention had significant effects on sexual risk behaviour at post-test (t {14}=- 4.69, p<.05) and at follow-up (t {14}= -9.56, p < .05) respectively. At post-test and follow-up stages, drivers in experimental group reported reduced SRBs than those in the control group. Drivers in an experimental group reported lower sexual risk behaviour a week after intervention as well as at three months follow-up than those in the control group. It is concluded that HIV/AIDS preventive intervention that provides the necessary informational and behavioural skills content can significantly impact long distance truck drivers sexual risk behaviours.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS interventions, long distance truck drivers, Nigeria, sexual risk behaviours

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Authors: Almutazballlah Bassam Qablan, Jihan M. Muhaidat, bana Abu Rajab

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Background: Acne vulgaris is considered one of the most common skin conditions encountered by dermatologists. It is a chronic inflammation affecting the pilosebaceous unit. Although acne vulgaris is not fatal, it leads to permanent scarring and disfigurement, and even without scarring, it has a huge effect on patients, causing negative health outcomes. Acne vulgaris patients experience psychological, and emotional ramifications as those with chronic health problems; they feel depressed, angry, anxious, and confused. Although acne is a popular disease, many thoughts and myths are still discussed about its origins and triggering factors. These myths can make you feel guilt as if you were somehow responsible for your acne. In this case control study, we want to define the relationship between two modifiable risk factors ;BMI and smoking, with acne vulgaris. Methods: A case-control study was conducted at King Abdullah University Hospital in Ramtha, Jordan in 2019/2020. A total number of 325 participants between 14 and 33 years of age were interviewed by the authors; including 163 acne vulgaris cases and 162 controls without acne vulgaris. Anthropometric measures and smoking for Acne patients and control participants were the independent variables used to assess acne. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to compare the characteristics of people who reported acne with those with no acne. The collected data analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: Cigarette smoking was highly associated with controls; odds ratio 0.4 (95% CI: 0.2–0.9) , P-value = 0.018. BMI and waterpipe smoking were statistically insignificant with acne in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: We found that cigarette smoking was protective against Acne. There was a statistically insignificant relation between BMI, waterpipe smoking and the development of Acne Vulgaris.

Keywords: acne, adolescents, BMI, smoking, case-control, risk factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Duc V. Nguyen

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Induction motors are widely used in different industry areas and can experience various kinds of faults in stators and rotors. In general, fault detection and diagnosis techniques for induction motors can be supervised by measuring quantities such as noise, vibration, and temperature. The installation of mechanical sensors in order to assess the health conditions of a machine is typically only done for expensive or load-critical machines, where the high cost of a continuous monitoring system can be Justified. Nevertheless, induced current monitoring can be implemented inexpensively on machines with arbitrary sizes by using current transformers. In this regard, effective and low-cost fault detection techniques can be implemented, hence reducing the maintenance and downtime costs of motors. This work proposes a method for fault detection and diagnosis of induction motors, which combines classical fast Fourier transform and modern/advanced machine learning techniques. The proposed method is validated on real-world data and achieves a precision of 99.7% for fault detection and 100% for fault classification with minimal expert knowledge requirement. In addition, this approach allows users to be able to optimize/balance risks and maintenance costs to achieve the highest benet based on their requirements. These are the key requirements of a robust prognostics and health management system.

Keywords: fault detection, FFT, induction motor, predictive maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Marziehossadat Moezzi

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In this paper, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is investigated in a cylindrical quantum dot (QD) with a parabolic confinement potential. We study the effect of control lasers polarization on absorption coefficient, refractive index and also on the generation of the double transparency windows in this system. Considering an effective mass method, the time-independent Schrödinger equation is solved to obtain the energy structure of the QD. Also, we study the effect of structural characteristics of the QD on refraction and absorption of the QD in the presence of EIT.

Keywords: electromagnetically induced transparency, cylindrical quantum dot, absorption coefficient, refractive index

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: T. Lydon, A. McNabola, P. Coughlan

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Energy consumption in the water distribution network (WDN) is a well established problem equating to the industry contributing heavily to carbon emissions, with 0.9 kg CO2 emitted per m3 of water supplied. It is indicated that 85% of energy wasted in the WDN can be recovered by installing turbines. Existing potential in networks is present at small capacity sites (5-10 kW), numerous and dispersed across networks. However, traditional turbine technology cannot be scaled down to this size in an economically viable fashion, thus alternative approaches are needed. This research aims to enable energy recovery potential within the WDN by exploring the potential of pumps-as-turbines (PATs), to realise this potential. PATs are estimated to be ten times cheaper than traditional micro-hydro turbines, presenting potential to contribute to an economically viable solution. However, a number of technical constraints currently prohibit their widespread use, including the inability of a PAT to control pressure, difficulty in the selection of PATs due to lack of performance data and a lack of understanding on how PATs can cater for fluctuations as extreme as +/- 50% of the average daily flow, characteristic of the WDN. A PAT prototype is undergoing testing in order to identify the capabilities of the technology. Results of preliminary testing, which involved testing the efficiency and power potential of the PAT for varying flow and pressure conditions, in order to develop characteristic and efficiency curves for the PAT and a baseline understanding of the technologies capabilities, are presented here: •The limitations of existing selection methods which convert BEP from pump operation to BEP in turbine operation was highlighted by the failure of such methods to reflect the conditions of maximum efficiency of the PAT. A generalised selection method for the WDN may need to be informed by an understanding of impact of flow variations and pressure control on system power potential capital cost, maintenance costs, payback period. •A clear relationship between flow and efficiency rate of the PAT has been established. The rate of efficiency reductions for flows +/- 50% BEP is significant and more extreme for deviations in flow above the BEP than below, but not dissimilar to the reaction of efficiency of other turbines. •PAT alone is not sufficient to regulate pressure, yet the relationship of pressure across the PAT is foundational in exploring ways which PAT energy recovery systems can maintain required pressure level within the WDN. Efficiencies of systems of PAT energy recovery systems operating conditions of pressure regulation, which have been conceptualise in current literature, need to be established. Initial results guide the focus of forthcoming testing and exploration of PAT technology towards how PATs can form part of an efficiency energy recovery system.

Keywords: energy recovery, pump-as-turbine, water distribution network, water distribution network

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Behnam Zahednejad, Saeed Kosari

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Widespread deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) has raised security and privacy issues in this environment. Designing a secure two-factor authentication scheme between the user and server is still a challenging task. In this paper, we focus on Cancelable Biometric (CB) as an authentication factor in IoT. We show that previous CB-based scheme fail to provide real two-factor security, Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) and suffer database attacks and traceability of the user. Then we propose our improved scheme based on CB and Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF), which can provide real two-factor security, PFS, user’s unlinkability, and resistance to database attack. In addition, Key Compromise Impersonation (KCI) resilience is achieved in our scheme. We also prove the security of our proposed scheme formally using both Real-Or-Random (RoR) model and the ProVerif analysis tool. For the usability of our scheme, we conducted a performance analysis and showed that our scheme has the least communication cost compared to the previous CB-based scheme. The computational cost of our scheme is also acceptable for the IoT environment.

Keywords: IoT, two-factor security, cancelable biometric, key compromise impersonation resilience, perfect forward secrecy, database attack, real-or-random model, ProVerif

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Naser Alajmi, Ali Alobaidly, Mubarak Alhajri, Salem Salamah, Muhammad Alsubaie

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Iterative Learning Control (ILC) known to be a controlling tool to overcome periodic disturbances for repetitive systems. This technique is required to let the error signal tends to zero as the number of operation increases. The learning process that lies within this context is strongly dependent on the initial input which if selected properly tends to let the learning process be more effective compared to the case where a system starts from blind. ILC uses previous recorded execution data to update the following execution/trial input such that a reference trajectory is followed to a high accuracy. Error convergence in ILC is generally highly dependent on the input applied to a plant for trial $1$, thus a good choice of initial starting input signal would make learning faster and as a consequence the error tends to zero faster as well. In the work presented within, an upper limit based on the Singular Values Principle (SV) is derived for the initial input signal applied at trial $1$ such that the system follow the reference in less number of trials without responding aggressively or exceeding the working envelope where a system is required to move within in a robot arm, for example. Simulation results presented illustrate the theory introduced within this paper.

Keywords: initial input, iterative learning control, maximum input, singular values

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Adem Peker, Yüksel Eroğlu, İsmail Ay

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As the information and communication technologies have become embedded in everyday life of adolescents, both their possible benefits and risks to adolescents are being identified. The information and communication technologies provide opportunities for adolescents to connect with peers and to access to information. However, as with other social connections, users of information and communication devices have the potential to meet and interact with in harmful ways. One emerging example of such interaction is cyber bullying. Cyber bullying occurs when someone uses the information and communication technologies to harass or embarrass another person. Cyber bullying can take the form of malicious text messages and e-mails, spreading rumours, and excluding people from online groups. Cyber bullying has been linked to psychological problems for cyber bullies and victims. Therefore, it is important to determine how internet addiction contributes to cyber bullying. Building on this question, this study takes a closer look at the relationship between internet addiction and cyber bullying. For this purpose, in this study, based on descriptive relational model, it was hypothesized that loss of control, excessive desire to stay online, and negativity in social relationships, which are dimensions of internet addiction, would be associated positively with cyber bullying and victimization. Participants were 383 high school students (176 girls and 207 boys; mean age, 15.7 years). Internet addiction was measured by using Internet Addiction Scale. The Cyber Victim and Bullying Scale was utilized to measure cyber bullying and victimization. The scales were administered to the students in groups in the classrooms. In this study, stepwise regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationships between dimensions of internet addiction and cyber bullying and victimization. Before applying stepwise regression analysis, assumptions of regression were verified. According to stepwise regression analysis, cyber bullying was predicted by loss of control (β=.26, p<.001) and negativity in social relationships (β=.13, p<.001). These variables accounted for 9 % of the total variance, with the loss of control explaining the higher percentage (8 %). On the other hand, cyber victimization was predicted by loss of control (β=.19, p<.001) and negativity in social relationships (β=.12, p<.001). These variables altogether accounted for 8 % of the variance in cyber victimization, with the best predictor loss of control (7 % of the total variance). The results of this study demonstrated that, as expected, loss of control and negativity in social relationships predicted cyber bullying and victimization positively. However, excessive desire to stay online did not emerge a significant predictor of both cyberbullying and victimization. Consequently, this study would enhance our understanding of the predictors of cyber bullying and victimization since the results proposed that internet addiction is related with cyber bullying and victimization.

Keywords: cyber bullying, internet addiction, adolescents, regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Chanya Inprasit, Ching-Liang Hsieh, Yi-Wen Lin

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Obesity (OB) is a hazardous global health problem that has been increasing in prevalence, more severely in last decade. It is the mainly resultant from the imbalance between food consumption and energy expenditure, which is concordant with a modern lifestyle, implying an increase in calories with poorer quality of food intake accompanied by a decrease in physical activities. Obesity does not concern the appearance only but is also a major factor contributing to poor physiology, psychology, society and economic issues. Moreover, OB induces low-grade inflammation in the body through the regulatory effect it enacts on the adipocyte function. Various alternative treatments were investigated for body weight control, including Acupoint Catgut Embedding (ACE). ACE is the implantation of absorbable catgut sutures at specific acupoints, displaying durable and potent stimulation and thereby reducing the treatment frequency. Our study utilized a mouse model to exclude any psychological factors of OB and ACE treatment. High-fat diet and body weight were measured once a week before subjects in ACE and Sham group received the ACE treatment or placebo treatment. We hypothesized that ACE can control body weight through the interaction of the TRPV1 pathways, as TRPV1 accordingly responds to inflammatory factors. The results of body weight variation show a significant decrease in body weight in ACE group compared with the baseline of control and Sham group. Meanwhile, converse results were explored in TRPV1 knockout mice, where a significant maintenance of normal body weight throughout the experiment period was observed. There was no significant difference in food consumption of each group. These finding indicated that TRPV1 pathways and its associated pathways may be involved in the maintenance of body weight, which can be controlled by ACE treatment of genetic manipulation.

Keywords: acupoint catgut embedding, obesity, hypothalamus, TRPV1

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Edna Roseline Dede Tetteh

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Reproductive health research and discussions have, over the years, placed a special focus on Africa. This is partly due to the significant relationship between African cultures and reproductive health. Several studies have also acknowledged the economic impact of reproductive health in Africa, because of which reproductive health, particularly family planning, has featured prominently in many economic discussions about Africa. Gender, which is a major element of most African cultures, inspired this study. Given that gender has a significant cultural influence in Africa, the study examined the effect of gender inequality on reproductive health in Africa, with a special focus on Ghana. Specifically, the study examined whether there exists any relationship between gender inequality and reproductive health and, if there is, what the nature and the effect of the relationship are. The study's findings were based on data gathered from 2304 respondents, randomly selected from Ghana's different tribes and ethnic groups. Given that the study was focused on the influence of gender in sexual relationships, the study’s population was people 16 years and above since 16 is the legal age of sexual consent in Ghana. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the beliefs and practices of the traditional Ghanaian society, like most African societies, have direct and significant impacts on reproductive health. Males in these cultures have more control over reproductive health decisions and choices than females. The study found that it was culturally condemnable for a wife to refuse her husband’s request for sex, even when she is not in the mood for sex, or she is unwell. It was further found that, when it comes to the decision of birth control, males have more power. Consequently, females with reproductive health conditions have no control over choices that support their reproductive health conditions; they must always satisfy their husbands’ sexual needs. Most of the female respondents indicated they had less or no control over protecting themselves from reproductive health risks unless they had the understanding and support of their sexual partners.

Keywords: culture, gender, Ghana, inequality, reproductive health

Procedia PDF Downloads 29