Search results for: “post-date” checks

Authors: Syed Qasim Gilani, Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Noman, Syed Bilawal Shah, Aqib Abbasi, Muhammad Waheed

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Cardiovascular Diseases(CVD's) are the major cause of death in the world. The main reason for these deaths is the unavailability of first aid for heart failure. In many cases, patients die before reaching the hospital. We in this paper are presenting innovative online health service for Cardiac Patients. The proposed online health system has two ends. Users through device developed by us can communicate with their doctor through a mobile application. This interface provides them with first aid.Also by using this service, they have an easy interface with their doctors for attaining medical advice. According to the proposed system, we developed a device called Cardiac Care. Cardiac Care is a portable device which a patient can use at their home for monitoring heart condition. When a patient checks his/her heart condition, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Blood Pressure(BP), Temperature are sent to the central database. The severity of patients condition is checked using Artificial Intelligence Algorithm at the database. If the patient is suffering from the minor problem, our algorithm will suggest a prescription for patients. But if patient's condition is severe, patients record is sent to doctor through the mobile Android application. Doctor after reviewing patients condition suggests next step. If a doctor identifies the patient condition as critical, then the message is sent to the central database for sending an ambulance for the patient. Ambulance starts moving towards patient for bringing him/her to hospital. We have implemented this model at prototype level. This model will be life-saving for millions of people around the globe. According to this proposed model patients will be in contact with their doctors all the time.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, classification, electrocardiogram, blood pressure

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Authors: Adrita Banerjee, Ajeet Kumar Singh

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Antenatal care (ANC) from a skilled provider is important to monitor the pregnancy and reduce the risk of morbidity for mother and baby during pregnancy and delivery. The quality of antenatal care can be monitored through the content of services received and the kind of information mothers are given during their visit. Objective: The paper tries to examine the association between ANC check-ups and size/ birth weight. It also focuses on investigating the relationship between utilization of recommended prenatal care for mothers and its effect on infant survival in Nepal. Data and methods: This paper uses data from Nepal demographic Health Survey 2011. To understand the relationship bi-variate statistical analysis and logistic regressions has been done. Maternal health care utilization include ANC check-ups i.e. the type of ante-natal care providers, the number and timing of the visit. The various components of the check-ups include intake of iron tablets/syrups, intestinal parasitic drugs, etc. Results: The results show that women who had no antenatal care visits about 40% had small sized babies at the time of birth compared to women to had at least 3 ANC check up. Women who had at least 3 check-ups 17% of the babies have a small size. It has also been found that about 50 % of the women prefer ANC check-ups during pregnancies which have resulted in lowering the infant mortality by about 40% during 1996-2011. Conclusion: Ante natal care check is care and monitoring of the pregnant woman and her foetus throughout pregnancy. ANC checks have an effect on the infant health and child survival. A woman who had at least three check-ups the possibilities of adverse effect on infant health and infant survival was significantly lower. The findings argue for a more enhanced focus on ANC check-ups for improving the maternal and child health in Nepal.

Keywords: maternal, health, pregnancy, outcome

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Authors: Wajad Nazeer, Saghir Ahmad, Khalid Mahmood, Altaf Hussain, Abid Mahmood, Baoliang Zhou

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MNH-886(Bt.) is a upland cotton cultivar (Gossypium hirsutum L.) developed through hybridization of three parents [(FH-207×MNH-770)×Bollgard-1] at Cotton Research Station Multan, Pakistan. It is resistant to CLCuVD with 16.25 % disease incidence (60 DAS, March sowing) whereas moderately susceptible to CLCuVD when planted in June with disease incidence 34 % (60 DAS). This disease reaction was lowest among 25 cotton advanced lines/varieties tested at hot spots of CLCuVD. Its performance was tested during 2009 to 2012 in various indigenous, provincial, and national varietal trials in comparison with the commercial variety IR-3701 and AA-802 & CIM-496. In PCCT trial during 2009-10; 2011-12, MNH-886 surpassed all the existing Bt. strains along with commercial varieties across the Punjab province with seed cotton yield production 2658 kg ha-1 and 2848 kg ha-1 which was 81.31 and 13% higher than checks, respectively. In National Coordinated Bt. Trial, MNH-886(Bt.) produced 3347 kg ha-1 seed cotton at CCRI, Multan; the hot spot of CLCuVD, in comparison to IR-3701 which gave 2556 kg ha-1. It possesses higher lint percentage (41.01%), along with the most desirable fibre traits (staple length 28.210mm, micronaire value 4.95 µg inch-1 and fibre strength 99.5 tppsi, and uniformity ratio 82.0%). The quantification of toxicity level of crystal protein was found positive for Cry1Ab/Ac protein with toxicity level 2.76µg g-1 and Mon 531 event was confirmed. Having tremendous yield potential, good fibre traits, and great tolerance to CLCuVD we can recommended this variety for cultivation in CLCuVD hotspots of Pakistan.

Keywords: cotton, cultivar, cotton leaf curl virus, CLCuVD hit districts

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Authors: Arslan Shehroz, Muhammad Amjad Ali, Amjad Abbas, Imran Ramzan, Muhammad Zunair Latif

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Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the 4th most important food crop of the world after wheat, rice and maize. It is the staple food in many European countries. Being rich in starch (one of the main three food ingredients) and having the highest productivity per unit area, has great potential to address the challenge of the food security. Processed potato is also used as chips and crisps etc as ‘fast food’. There are many biotic and abiotic factors which check the production of potato and become hurdle in achievement production potential of potato. 20 new varieties along with two checks were evaluated. Plant to plant and row to row distances were maintained as 20 cm and 75 cm, respectively. The trial was conducted according to the randomized complete block design with three replications. Normal agronomic and plant protection measures were carried out in the crop. It is revealed from the experiment that exotic variety 171 gave the highest yield of 35.5 t/ha followed by Masai with 31.0 t/ha tuber yield. The check variety Simply Red 24.2 t/ha yield, while the lowest tuber yield (1.5 t/ha) was produced by the exotic variety KWS-06-125. The maximum emergence was shown by the Variety Red Sun (89.7 %). The lowest emergence was shown by the variety Camel (71.7%). Regarding tuber grades, it was noted that the maximum Ration size tubers were produced by the exotic variety Compass (3.7%), whereas 11 varieties did not produce ration size tubers at all. The variety Red Sun produced lowest percentage of small size tubers (12.7%) whereas maximum small size tubers (93.0%) were produced by the variety Jitka. Regarding disease infestation, it was noted that the maximum scab incidence (4.0%) was recorded on the variety Masai, maximum rhizoctonia attack (60.0%) was recorded on the variety Camel and maximum tuber cracking (0.7%) was noted on the variety Vendulla.

Keywords: check variety, potato, potential and yield, trial

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Authors: Bello, A., Muhammed Ibrahim Abba., Abdullahi, M., Dauda, Sabo, & Shittu, A. T.

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This study investigated the Predictors of Lecturers Knowledge Sharing Acceptance on Open Educational Resources (OER) in North-East Nigerian in Universities. The study population comprised of 632 lecturers of Federal Universities in North-east Nigeria. The study sample covered 338 lecturers who were selected purposively from Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno State Federal Universities in Nigeria. The study adopted a prediction correlational research design. The instruments used for data collection was the questionnaire. Experts in the field of educational technology validated the instrument and tested it for reliability checks using Cronbach’s alpha. The constructs on lecturers’ acceptance to share OER yielded a reliability coefficient of; α = .956 for Performance Expectancy, α = .925; for Effort Expectancy, α = .955; for Social Influence, α = .879; for Facilitating Conditions and α = .948 for acceptance to share OER. the researchers contacted the Deanery of faculties of education and enlisted local coordinators to facilitate the data collection process at each university. The data was analysed using multiple sequential regression statistic at a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS version 23.0. The findings of the study revealed that performance expectancy (β = 0.658; t = 16.001; p = 0.000), effort expectancy (β = 0.194; t = 3.802; p = 0.000), social influence (β = 0.306; t = 5.246; p = 0.000), collectively indicated that the variables have a predictive capacity to stimulate lecturer’s acceptance to share their resources on OER repository. However, the finding revealed that facilitating conditions (β = .053; t = .899; p = 0.369), does not have a predictive capacity to stimulate lecturer’s acceptance to share their resources on OER repository. Based on these findings, the study recommends among others that the university management should consider adjusting OER policy to be centered around actualizing lecturers career progression.

Keywords: acceptance, lecturers, open educational resources, knowledge sharing

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Authors: Monica Dantas

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At what socio-economic costs can the food industry offer products at low prices? This research seeks to understand and to explore how we attribute competence and meaning, what enables the outcomes of agriculture and what institutions provides validation regarding food production. This study objective is to explain and interpret conditions of the present state of agriculture in Brazil centring on two distinct segments, agribusiness and family farming, as the Brazilian, rapidly changing political environment unfolds. The approach is grounded in multidisciplinary literature drawing from the politics of development, the sociology of food, the sustainability framework and the conceptual differences between agribusiness and family farming regarding the innate purpose of the two segments. In addition, a quantitative portion of the research includes secondary data analysis from statistical measurements, economic indicators, federal budget information, and census data to compare the two segments, conveying a general snapshot of the conditions investigated. The results raised questions about the perceived image of the success of agribusiness, against some contradicting economic checks and balances. Analyzing how public funds are invested in agriculture shed light on what can enable or undermine the development of food systems in Brazil. It also revealed how politics, ideology, and corporations might influence the Brazilian Federal. In the 2000-2018 observed timeline of annual federal spending on agriculture in Brazil, there is variation in the amount invested in family farming that seems to 'coincide' with the ideological direction of the federal government in power. It was also observed that significant changes in the institutional framework and financial support either promoted or purposely undermined family farming importance using public institutions to validate support for agribusiness.

Keywords: food politics, sustainability, family farming, food system, public budget

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Authors: Francesca Radice

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Domestic and sexual violence provokes, on average in Australia, one female death per week due to intimate violence behaviours. 83% of couples meet online, and intercepting domestic and sexual violence at this level would be beneficial. It has been observed that violent or coercive behaviour has been apparent from initial conversations on dating apps like Tinder. Child pornography, stalking, and coercive control are some criminal offences from dating apps, including women murdered after finding partners through Tinder. Police databases and predictive policing are novel approaches taken to prevent crime before harm is done. This research will investigate how police databases can be used in a privacy-preserving way to characterise users in terms of their potential for violent crime. Using the COPS database of NSW Police, we will explore how the past criminal record can be interpreted to yield a category of potential danger for each dating app user. It is up to the judgement of each subscriber on what degree of the potential danger they are prepared to enter into. Sentiment analysis is an area where research into natural language processing has made great progress over the last decade. This research will investigate how sentiment analysis can be used to interpret interchanges between dating app users to detect manipulative or coercive sentiments. These can be used to alert law enforcement if continued for a defined number of communications. One of the potential problems of this approach is the potential prejudice a categorisation can cause. Another drawback is the possibility of misinterpreting communications and involving law enforcement without reason. The approach will be thoroughly tested with cross-checks by human readers who verify both the level of danger predicted by the interpretation of the criminal record and the sentiment detected from personal messages. Even if only a few violent crimes can be prevented, the approach will have a tangible value for real people.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, data mining, predictive policing, virtual manipulation

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Authors: Anita Singh, Richa Naula, Manoj Raghav

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India is a leading producer and consumer of fenugreek for its culinary uses and medicinal application. In India, most of the people are of vegetarian class. In such a situation, a leafy vegetable, such as fenugreek is of chief concern due to its high nutritional property, medicinal values and industrial uses. One of the most important factors restricting their large scale production and development of superior varieties is that very scanty knowledge about their genetic diversity, inter and intraspecific variability and genetic relationship among the species. Improvement of the crop depends upon the magnitude of genetic variability for economic characters. Therefore, the present research work was carried out to analyse the variability parameters for growth and yield character in twenty-eight fenugreek genotypes along with two standard checks Pant Ragini and Pusa Early Bunching. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replication during rabi season 2015-2016 at Pantnagar Centre for Plant Genetic Resources, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among all the genotypes for all traits. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient variation were observed for characters, namely the number of primary branches per plant, number of leaves at 30, 45 and 60 DAS, green leaf yield per plant, green leaf yield q/ha . The genetic advance recorded highest in green leaf yield q/ha (33.93) followed by green leaf yield per plant (21.20g). Highest percent of heritability were shown by 1000 seed weight (99.12%) followed by the number of primary branches per plant (97.18%). Green leaf yield q/ha showed high heritability and high genetic advance. These superior genotypes can be further used in crop improvement programs of fenugreek.

Keywords: genetic advance, genotypic coefficient variation, heritability, phenotypic coefficient variation

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Authors: Seyi Olalekan Olawuyi, Abbyssiania Mushunje

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The potential benefits of agricultural production to improve the welfare condition of smallholder farmers in developing countries is no more a news because it has been widely documented. Yet majority of these farming households suffer from shortfall in production output to meet both the consumption needs and market demand which adversely affects output market participation and by extension welfare condition. Therefore, this study investigated the impacts of output market participation on households’ welfare of cassava-based farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 324 sample size used for this study. The findings from the data obtained and analyzed through composite score and crosstab analysis revealed that there is varying degree of output market participation among the farmers which also translate to the observed welfare profile differentials in the study area. The probit model analysis with respect to the selection equation identified gender of household head, household size, access to remittance, off-farm income and ownership of farmland as significant drivers of output market participation in the study area. Furthermore, the treatment effect model of the welfare equation and propensity score matching (PSM) technique were used as robust checks; and the findings attest to the fact that, complimentarily with other significant variables highlighted in this study, output market participation indeed has a significant impact on farming households’ welfare. As policy implication inferences, the study recommends female active inclusiveness and empowerment in farming activities, birth control strategies, secondary income smoothing activities and discouragement of land fragmentation habits, to boost productivity and output market participation, which by extension can significantly improve farming households’ welfare.

Keywords: Cassava market participation, households' welfare, propensity score matching, treatment effect model

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Authors: Camila Plaza, Stefan Felder

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In October 2014, the TARMED reform was implemented in Switzerland. In an effort to even out the financial standing of general practitioners (including pediatricians) relative to that of specialists in the outpatient sector, the reform tackled two aspects: on the one hand, GPs would be able to bill an additional 9 CHF per patient, once per consult per day. This is referred to as the surcharge position. As a second measure, it reduced the fees for certain technical services targeted to specialists (e.g., imaging, surgical technical procedures, etc.). Given the fee-for-service reimbursement system in Switzerland, we predict that physicians reacted to the economic incentives of the reform by increasing the consults per patient and decreasing the average amount of time per consult. Within this framework, our treatment group is formed by GPs and our control group by those specialists who were not affected by the reform. Using monthly insurance claims panel data aggregated at the physician praxis level (provided by SASIS AG), for the period of January 2013-December 2015, we run difference in difference panel data models with physician and time fixed effects in order to test for the causal effects of the reform. We account for seasonality, and control for physician characteristics such as age, gender, specialty, and physician experience. Furthermore, we run the models on subgroups of physicians within our sample so as to account for heterogeneity and treatment intensities. Preliminary results support our hypothesis. We find evidence of an increase in consults per patients and a decrease in time per consult. Robustness checks do not significantly alter the results for our outcome variable of consults per patient. However, we do find a smaller effect of the reform for time per consult. Thus, the results of this paper could provide policymakers a better understanding of physician behavior and their sensitivity to financial incentives of reforms (both past and future) under the current reimbursement system.

Keywords: difference in differences, financial incentives, health reform, physician behavior

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Authors: T. Jayanthi, K. Velusamy, H. Seetha, S. A. V. Satya Murty

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Verification and Validation of Simulated Process Model is the most important phase of the simulator life cycle. Evaluation of simulated process models based on Verification and Validation techniques checks the closeness of each component model (in a simulated network) with the real system/process with respect to dynamic behaviour under steady state and transient conditions. The process of Verification and validation helps in qualifying the process simulator for the intended purpose whether it is for providing comprehensive training or design verification. In general, model verification is carried out by comparison of simulated component characteristics with the original requirement to ensure that each step in the model development process completely incorporates all the design requirements. Validation testing is performed by comparing the simulated process parameters to the actual plant process parameters either in standalone mode or integrated mode. A Full Scope Replica Operator Training Simulator for PFBR - Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor has been developed at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, INDIA named KALBR-SIM (Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator) wherein the main participants are engineers/experts belonging to Modeling Team, Process Design and Instrumentation and Control design team. This paper discusses the Verification and Validation process in general, the evaluation procedure adopted for PFBR operator training Simulator, the methodology followed for verifying the models, the reference documents and standards used etc. It details out the importance of internal validation by design experts, subsequent validation by external agency consisting of experts from various fields, model improvement by tuning based on expert’s comments, final qualification of the simulator for the intended purpose and the difficulties faced while co-coordinating various activities.

Keywords: Verification and Validation (V&V), Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator (KALBR-SIM), steady state, transient state

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Authors: Jakub Gren

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The recent transfer of banking supervision to the ECB has expanded its influence as of a non-majoritarian and technocratic policy-shaper in EU supervisory policies. To fulfil the main policy objectives of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the ECB has been tasked with building a single supervisory approach to supervised banks across the euro area and is now exclusively responsible for direct supervision of the largest ‘significant’ euro area banks and the oversight of the remaining ‘less significant’ banks. This enhanced supranational position of the ECB significantly alters the EU institutional order and creates powerful incentives to actively pursue integrationist agenda by the ECB. However, this drastic shift has a little impact upon adapting the ECB’s new supervisory mandate to the requirements of democratic legitimacy. Whereas the ECB’s strong pre-crisis independence and limited accountability could be reconciled with democratic principles through a clearly articulated price stability mandate, independence and limited accountability in the context of a more complex supervisory mandate is problematic. Hence, in order to ensure the democratic legitimacy of the ECB/SSM’s supervisory policies, the ECB’s supervisory mandate requires both a lower scope of independence and higher accountability requirements. To address this situation, organizational separation (“Chinese Wall”) between the ECB monetary and supervisory arms was introduced. This separation includes different reporting lines and the relocation of the ECB’s monetary function to a new building complex while leaving its supervisory function at the Euro-tower (“Two Towers”). This paper argues that these measures are not sufficient to establish proper checks and balances on the ECB’s powers to pursue euro zone’s wide supervisory policies. As a remedy, this contribution suggests that the ECB’s Treaties-embedded independence, as set out by art. 130 TFEU, designed to carry out its monetary function shall not be fully applicable to its supervisory function. Indeed functional and conditional reading of this provision to ECB supervisory function could enhance the legitimacy of future ECB’s supervisory action.

Keywords: accountability and transparency, democratic governance, financial management, rule of law

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Authors: Akram Abi, Clarissa Müller, Hans-Joachim Jördening

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Laminaribiose is a beta-1,3-glycoside which is used in the medical field for the treatment of dermatitis and also can be used as a building block for new pharmaceutics. The conventional process of laminaribiose production is the uneconomical process of hydrolysis of laminarin extracted from natural polysaccharides of plant origin. A more economical approach however is attainable by enzymatically synthesis of laminaribiose via a reverse phosphorylase reaction catalyzed by laminaribiose phosphorylase (LP) from Euglena gracilis. Different cultivation methods of Euglena gracilis and the effect on LP production have been investigated. Buffered/unbuffered heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultivations of Euglena gracilis has been carried out. Changes of biomass and LP production, glucose level and pH, cell count and shape has been monitored in the course of time. The results obtained from experiments each in three repetitions, show that in the heterotrophic cultivation of Euglena gracilis not only more biomass is produced compared to mixotrophic cultivation, but also higher specific protein concentration is achieved. Furthermore, the LP activity test showed that the protein extracted from heterotrophically cultured cells has a higher LP activity. It was also observed that the cells develop in a distinctive different shape between these two cultures and have different length to width ratios. Taking the heterotrophic culture as the more efficient cultivation method in LP production, another comparative experiment between buffered and unbuffered heterothrophic culture was carried out that showed the unbuffered culture has advantages over the other one in respect of both LP production and resulting activity. A hetrotrophic cultivation of Euglena gracilis in a 5L bioreactor with controlled operating conditions showed a distinctive improvement of all the aspects of culture compared to the shaking flask cultivations. Biomass production was improved from 5 to more than 8 g/l (dry weight) which resulted in a specific protein concentration of 45 g/l in the heterotrophic cultivation in the bioreactor. In further attempts to improve LP production, different purification methods were tested and each method was checks through an activity assay. A laminaribiose yield of 35% was achieved which was by far the highest amount amongst different methods tested.

Keywords: euglena gracilis, heterotrophic culture, laminaribiose production, mixotrophic culture

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Authors: Emily Injete Amondo, Alisher Mirzabaev, Emmanuel Rukundo

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Children in rural farming households are often vulnerable to a multitude of risks, including health risks associated with climate change and variability. Cognizant of this, this study empirically traced the relationship between climate variability and nutritional health outcomes in rural children while identifying the cause-and-effect transmission mechanisms. We combined four waves of the rich Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS), part of the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Studies (LSMS) for the period 2009-2014, with long-term and high-frequency rainfall and temperature datasets. Self-reported drought and flood shock variables were further used in separate regressions for triangulation purposes and robustness checks. Panel fixed effects regressions were applied in the empirical analysis, accounting for a variety of causal identification issues. The results showed significant negative outcomes for children’s anthropometric measurements due to the impacts of moderate and extreme droughts, extreme wet spells, and heatwaves. On the contrary, moderate wet spells were positively linked with nutritional measures. Agricultural production and child diarrhea were the main transmission channels, with heatwaves, droughts, and high rainfall variability negatively affecting crop output. The probability of diarrhea was positively related to increases in temperature and dry spells. Results further revealed that children in households who engaged in ex-ante or anticipatory risk-reducing strategies such as savings had better health outcomes as opposed to those engaged in ex-post coping such as involuntary change of diet. These results highlight the importance of adaptation in smoothing the harmful effects of climate variability on the health of rural households and children in Uganda.

Keywords: extreme weather events, undernutrition, diarrhea, agricultural production, gridded weather data

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Authors: Fiston Masudi Tambwe, Lwanga Charles, Arfang Badji, Unzimai Innocent

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The development of maize varieties combining Provitamin A (PVA), high yield, and Striga resistance is an effective and affordable strategy to contribute to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, where maize is a staple food crop. There has been limited research on introgressing PVA genes into Striga-resistant maize genotypes. The objectives of this study were to: i) determine the mode of gene action controlling PVA carotenoid accumulation in Striga-resistant maize, ii) identify Striga-resistant maize hybrids with high PVA content and stable yield, and iii) validate the presence of PVA functional markers in offspring. Six elite, Striga-resistant inbred females were crossed with six high-PVA inbred males in a North Carolina Design II and their offspring were evaluated in four environments, following a 5x8 alpha lattice design with four hybrid checks. Results revealed that both additive and non-additive gene action control carotenoid accumulation in the present study, with a predominance of non-additive gene effects for PVA. Hybrids STR1004xCLHP0352 and STR1004xCLHP0046 - identified as Striga-resistant because they supported fewer Striga plants – were the highest-yielding genotypes with a moderate PVA concentration of 5.48 and 5.77 µg/g, respectively. However, those two hybrids were not stable in terms of yield across all environments. Hybrid STR1007xCLHP0046, however, supported fewer Striga plants, had a yield of 4.52 T/ha, a PVA concentration of 4.52 µg/g, and was also stable. Gel-based marker systems of CrtRB1 and LCYE were used to screen the hybrids and favorable alleles of CrtRB1 primers were detected in 20 hybrids, confirming good levels of PVA carotenoids. Hybrids with favorable alleles of LCYE had the highest concentration of non-PVA carotenoids. These findings will contribute to the development of high-yielding PVA-rich maize varieties in Uganda.

Keywords: gene action, stability, striga resistance, provitamin A markers, beta-carotene hydroxylase 1, CrtRB1, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene epsilon cyclase, LCYE

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Authors: Biback Das

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New Public Management, a phenomenal tool, which is used to enforcing in public administration in different country’s to enhance the capacities. Since the 1980s, New Public Management (NPM) is primarily focusing to modernize the public sector. From the initial period, many developed countries such as UK, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA are applied in their administration to modernize. Almost 1990s, it has been applied in many developing countries. This study can describe the real situations of NPM based administration. Bangladesh Government has taken many projects to reform the public sector under NPM. Even many Development Agencies like UN, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and so on, along with many developed countries also invested and prescribed to take NPM based reform that can to restructure the public sector so that it can maximize the efforts to provide the better service. This study examines using many factors that effects work on Public Administration in Bangladesh and also assessing its endeavor to adopt in it. Although Government has taken such initiatives to implement NPM originated reform, it’s not effectively been implemented to bring positive change about as per NPM objectives. This study mainly examines some initiatives in Bangladesh that have the influence of NPM as well as some drawbacks that can’t help the satisfaction of these initiatives. This article help to identify the efforts of many development agencies providing a fund to enhance the NPM based projects with their specific conditions that are prescribed by them helping to get fund. Therefore, to establish effective public management or to follow NPM model, Bangladesh need having an institutional framework, sound rule of law, proper structure, effective civil service system, appropriate checks, and balances to restructure the public sector help along with donor agencies ad implement in it. Bangladesh Government has applied its recent days to enhance the capabilities in its Public Administration. Moreover, this study mainly identifies how the designing strategies, program formulating, its implementation in various sector such as education, health sector etc. and how to reduce the backdrop the during problem by smooth functioning. This paper is also assessing the influence of many projects like PPP (Public-Private and Partnership) to work along with private organizations for smooth service delivery. Accordingly, this paper briefly reviews how it applies in a global context following the taken many initiatives and the consequences of Bangladesh context.

Keywords: new public management, capacity building, conditionalities, service delivery, public-private-partnership

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Authors: Ashok Tejankar, Rohan K. Pathrikar

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Maharashtra is covered by heterogeneous flows of Deccan basaltic terrains of upper cretaceous to lower Eocene age. It consist mainly different types of basalt flow, having heterogeneous Geohydrological characters. The study area Aurangabad dist. lies in the central part of Maharashtra. The study area is typically covered by Deccan traps formation mainly basalt type of igneous volcanic rock. The area is located in the survey of India toposheet No. 47M and laying between 19° to 20° north latitudes and 74° to 76° east longitudes. Groundwater is the primary source for fresh water in the study area. There has been a growing demand for fresh water in domestic & agriculture sectors. Due to over exploitation and rainfall failure has been created an irrecoverable stress on groundwater in study area. In an effort to maintain the water table condition in balance, artificial recharge is being implemented. The selection of site for artificial recharge is a very important task in recharge basalt. The present study aims at sitting artificial recharge structure at village Pachod in basaltic terrain of the Godavari-Purna river basin in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. where the average annual rainfall is 650mm. In this investigation, integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques were used and various parameters like lithology, structure, etc. aspect of drainage basins, landforms and other parameters were extracted from visual interpretation of IRS P6 Satellite data and Survey of India (SIO) topographical sheets, aided by field checks by carrying well inventory survey. The depth of weathered material, water table conditions, and rainfall data were been considered. All the thematic information layers were digitized and analyzed in Arc-GIS environment and the composite maps produced show suitable site, depth of bed rock flows for successful artificial recharge in village Pachod to increase groundwater potential of low laying area.

Keywords: hard rock, artificial recharge, remote sensing, GIS

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Authors: F. DelGaudio, H. Gill

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Resuscitation during cardiopulmonary (CPA) arrest is dynamic, high stress, high acuity situation, which can easily lead to communication breakdown, and errors. The care of these high acuity patients has also been shown to increase physiologic stress and task saturation of providers, which can negatively impact the care being provided. These difficulties are further complicated during a global pandemic and pose a significant safety risk to bedside providers. Nurse-led codes are a relatively new concept that may be a potential solution for alleviating some of these difficulties. An experienced nurse who has completed advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and additional training, assumed the responsibility of directing the mechanics of the appropriate ACLS algorithm. This was done in conjunction with a physician who also acted as a physician leader. The additional nurse-led code training included a multi-disciplinary in situ simulation of a CPA on a suspected COVID-19 patient. During the CPA, the nurse leader’s responsibilities include: ensuring adequate compression depth and rate, minimizing interruptions in chest compressions, the timing of rhythm/pulse checks, and appropriate medication administration. In addition, the nurse leader also functions as a last line safety check for appropriate personal protective equipment and limiting exposure of staff. The use of nurse-led codes for CPA has shown to decrease the cognitive overload and task saturation for the physician, as well as limiting the number of staff being exposed to a potentially infectious patient. The real-world application has allowed physicians to perform and oversee high-risk procedures such as intubation, line placement, and point of care ultrasound, without sacrificing the integrity of the resuscitation. Nurse-led codes have also given the physician the bandwidth to review pertinent medical history, advanced directives, determine reversible causes, and have the end of life conversations with family. While there is a paucity of research on the effectiveness of nurse-led codes, there are many potentially significant benefits. In addition to its value during a pandemic, it may also be beneficial during complex circumstances such as extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Keywords: cardiopulmonary arrest, COVID-19, nurse-led code, task saturation

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Authors: Chen Wang, Jared Evans, Yan Asmann

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With the quick evolvement of next-generation sequencing techniques, whole-exome or exome-panel data have become a cost-effective way for detection of small exonic mutations, but there has been a growing desire to accurately detect copy number variations (CNVs) as well. In order to address this research and clinical needs, we developed a sequencing coverage pattern-based method not only for copy number detections, data integrity checks, CNV calling, and visualization reports. The developed methodologies include complete automation to increase usability, genome content-coverage bias correction, CNV segmentation, data quality reports, and publication quality images. Automatic identification and removal of poor quality outlier samples were made automatically. Multiple experimental batches were routinely detected and further reduced for a clean subset of samples before analysis. Algorithm improvements were also made to improve somatic CNV detection as well as germline CNV detection in trio family. Additionally, a set of utilities was included to facilitate users for producing CNV plots in focused genes of interest. We demonstrate the somatic CNV enhancements by accurately detecting CNVs in whole exome-wide data from the cancer genome atlas cancer samples and a lymphoma case study with paired tumor and normal samples. We also showed our efficient reuses of existing exome sequencing data, for improved germline CNV calling in a family of the trio from the phase-III study of 1000 Genome to detect CNVs with various modes of inheritance. The performance of the developed method is evaluated by comparing CNV calling results with results from other orthogonal copy number platforms. Through our case studies, reuses of exome sequencing data for calling CNVs have several noticeable functionalities, including a better quality control for exome sequencing data, improved joint analysis with single nucleotide variant calls, and novel genomic discovery of under-utilized existing whole exome and custom exome panel data.

Keywords: bioinformatics, computational genetics, copy number variations, data reuse, exome sequencing, next generation sequencing

Procedia PDF Downloads 234

Authors: Maciej Zasuwa, Grzegorz Ptasinski, Antoni Kopyt

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Nowadays flight simulators offer tremendous possibilities for safe and cost-effective pilot training, by utilization of powerful, computational tools. Due to technology outpacing methodology, vast majority of training related work is done by human instructors. It makes assessment not efficient, and vulnerable to instructors’ subjectivity. The research presents an Objective Assessment Tool (gOAT) developed at the Warsaw University of Technology, and tested on SW-4 helicopter flight simulator. The tool uses database of the predefined manoeuvres, defined and integrated to the virtual environment. These were implemented, basing on Aeronautical Design Standard Performance Specification Handling Qualities Requirements for Military Rotorcraft (ADS-33), with predefined Mission-Task-Elements (MTEs). The core element of the gOAT enhanced algorithm that provides instructor a new set of information. In details, a set of objective flight parameters fused with report about psychophysical state of the pilot. While the pilot performs the task, the gOAT system automatically calculates performance using the embedded algorithms, data registered by the simulator software (position, orientation, velocity, etc.), as well as measurements of physiological changes of pilot’s psychophysiological state (temperature, sweating, heart rate). Complete set of measurements is presented on-line to instructor’s station and shown in dedicated graphical interface. The presented tool is based on open source solutions, and flexible for editing. Additional manoeuvres can be easily added using guide developed by authors, and MTEs can be changed by instructor even during an exercise. Algorithm and measurements used allow not only to implement basic stress level measurements, but also to reduce instructor’s workload significantly. Tool developed can be used for training purpose, as well as periodical checks of the aircrew. Flexibility and ease of modifications allow the further development to be wide ranged, and the tool to be customized. Depending on simulation purpose, gOAT can be adjusted to support simulator of aircraft, helicopter, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Keywords: automated assessment, flight simulator, human factors, pilot training

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Martin Kittel, Alexander Roth

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The continuous integration of variable renewable energy sources (VRE) in the power sector is required for decarbonizing the European economy. Power sectors become increasingly exposed to weather variability, as the availability of VRE, i.e., mainly wind and solar photovoltaic, is not persistent. Extreme events, e.g., long-lasting periods of scarce VRE availability (‘VRE droughts’), challenge the reliability of supply. Properly accounting for the severity of VRE droughts is crucial for designing a resilient renewable European power sector. Energy system modeling is used to identify such a design. Our analysis reveals the sensitivity of the optimal design of the European power sector towards VRE droughts. We analyze how VRE droughts impact optimal power sector investments, especially in generation and flexibility capacity. We draw upon work that systematically identifies VRE drought patterns in Europe in terms of frequency, duration, and seasonality, as well as the cross-regional and cross-technological correlation of most extreme drought periods. Based on their analysis, the authors provide a selection of relevant historical weather years representing different grades of VRE drought severity. These weather years will serve as input for the capacity expansion model for the European power sector used in this analysis (DIETER). We additionally conduct robustness checks varying policy-relevant assumptions on capacity expansion limits, interconnections, and level of sector coupling. Preliminary results illustrate how an imprudent selection of weather years may cause underestimating the severity of VRE droughts, flawing modeling insights concerning the need for flexibility. Sub-optimal European power sector designs vulnerable to extreme weather can result. Using relevant weather years that appropriately represent extreme weather events, our analysis identifies a resilient design of the European power sector. Although the scope of this work is limited to the European power sector, we are confident that our insights apply to other regions of the world with similar weather patterns. Many energy system studies still rely on one or a limited number of sometimes arbitrarily chosen weather years. We argue that the deliberate selection of relevant weather years is imperative for robust modeling results.

Keywords: energy systems, numerical optimization, variable renewable energy sources, energy drought, flexibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: X. Li, Y. Liu, H. Wong, B. Pardoen, A. Fabbri, F. McGregor, E. Liu

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The target of this paper is to investigate how saturated poroelastic soils subject to freezing temperatures behave and how different boundary conditions can intervene and affect the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) responses, based on a particular but classical configuration of a finite homogeneous soil layer studied by Terzaghi. The essential relations on the constitutive behavior of a freezing soil are firstly recalled: ice crystal - liquid water thermodynamic equilibrium, hydromechanical constitutive equations, momentum balance, water mass balance, and the thermal diffusion equation, in general, non-linear case where material parameters are state-dependent. The system of equations is firstly linearized, assuming all material parameters to be constants, particularly the permeability of liquid water, which should depend on the ice content. Two analytical solutions solved by the classic Laplace transform are then developed, accounting for two different sets of boundary conditions. Afterward, the general non-linear equations with state-dependent parameters are solved using a commercial code COMSOL based on finite elements method to obtain numerical results. The validity of this numerical modeling is partially verified using the analytical solution in the limiting case of state-independent parameters. Comparison between the results given by the linearized analytical solutions and the non-linear numerical model reveals that the above-mentioned linear computation will always underestimate the liquid pore pressure and displacement, whatever the hydraulic boundary conditions are. In the nonlinear model, the faster growth of ice crystals, accompanying the subsequent reduction of permeability of freezing soil layer, makes a longer duration for the depressurization of water liquid and slower settlement in the case where the ground surface is swiftly covered by a thin layer of ice, as well as a bigger global liquid pressure and swelling in the case of the impermeable ground surface. Nonetheless, the analytical solutions based on linearized equations give a correct order-of-magnitude estimate, especially at moderate temperature variations, and remain a useful tool for preliminary design checks.

Keywords: chemical potential, cryosuction, Laplace transform, multiphysics coupling, phase transformation, thermodynamic equilibrium

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Titir Bhattacharya, Tanika Chakraborty, Prabal K. De

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Maternal and child health continue to be a significant policy focus in developing countries, including India. An emerging model in health care is the creation of public and private partnerships. Since the construction of physical infrastructure is costly, governments at various levels have tried to implement social health insurance schemes where a trust calculates insurance premiums and medical payments. Typically, qualifying families get full subsidization of the premium and get access to private hospitals, in addition to low cost public hospitals, for their tertiary care needs. We analyze one such pioneering social insurance scheme in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). The Rajiv Aarogyasri program (RA) was introduced by the Government of AP on a pilot basis in 2007 and implemented in 2008. In this paper, we first examine the extent to which access to reproductive health care changed. For example, the RA scheme reimburses hospital deliveries leading us to expect an increase in institutional deliveries, particularly in private hospitals. Second, we expect an increase in institutional deliveries to also improve child health outcomes. Hence, we estimate if the program improved infant and child mortality. We use District Level Health Survey data to create annual birth cohorts from 2000-2015. Since AP was the only state in which such a state insurance program was implemented, the neighboring states constituted a plausible control group. Combined with the policy timing, and the year of birth, we employ a difference-indifference strategy to identify the effects of RA on the residents of AP. We perform several checks against threats to identification, including testing for pre-treatment trends between the treatment and control states. We find that the policy significantly lowered infant and child mortality in AP. We also find that deliveries in private hospitals increased, and government hospitals decreased, showing a substitution effect of the relative price change. Finally, as expected, out-of-pocket costs declined for the treatment group. However, we do not find any significant effects for usual preventive care such as vaccination, showing that benefits of insurance schemes targeted at the tertiary level may not trickle down to the primary care level.

Keywords: public health insurance, maternal and child health, public-private choice

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: M. A. Okezue, K. L. Clase, S. R. Byrn

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The requirement for maintaining data integrity in laboratory operations is critical for regulatory compliance. Automation of procedures reduces incidence of human errors. Quality control laboratories located in low-income economies may face some barriers in attempts to automate their processes. Since data from quality control tests on pharmaceutical products are used in making regulatory decisions, it is important that laboratory reports are accurate and reliable. Zinc Sulphate (ZnSO₄) tablets is used in treatment of diarrhea in pediatric population, and as an adjunct therapy for COVID-19 regimen. Unfortunately, zinc content in these formulations is determined titrimetrically; a manual analytical procedure. The assay for ZnSO4 tablets involves time-consuming steps that contain mathematical formulae prone to calculation errors. To achieve consistency, save costs, and improve data integrity, validated spreadsheets were developed to simplify the two critical steps in the analysis of ZnSO4 tablets: standardization of 0.1M Sodium Edetate (EDTA) solution, and the complexometric titration assay procedure. The assay method in the United States Pharmacopoeia was used to create a process flow for ZnSO₄ tablets. For each step in the process, different formulae were input into two spreadsheets to automate calculations. Further checks were created within the automated system to ensure validity of replicate analysis in titrimetric procedures. Validations were conducted using five data sets of manually computed assay results. The acceptance criteria set for the protocol were met. Significant p-values (p < 0.05, α = 0.05, at 95% Confidence Interval) were obtained from students’ t-test evaluation of the mean values for manual-calculated and spreadsheet results at all levels of the analysis flow. Right-first-time analysis and principles of data integrity were enhanced by use of the validated spreadsheet calculators in titrimetric evaluations of ZnSO₄ tablets. Human errors were minimized in calculations when procedures were automated in quality control laboratories. The assay procedure for the formulation was achieved in a time-efficient manner with greater level of accuracy. This project is expected to promote cost savings for laboratory business models.

Keywords: data integrity, spreadsheets, titrimetry, validation, zinc sulphate tablets

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Panagiotis Lemonakis, Theodoros Αlimonakis, George Kaliabetsos, Nikos Eliou

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It is very well known that certain vertical and longitudinal slopes have to be assured in order to achieve adequate rainwater runoff from the pavement. The selection of longitudinal slopes, between the turning points of the vertical curves that meet the afore-mentioned requirement does not ensure adequate drainage because the same condition must also be applied at the transition curves. In this way none of the pavement edges’ slopes (as well as any other spot that lie on the pavement) will be opposite to the longitudinal slope of the rotation axis. Horizontal and vertical alignment must be properly combined in order to form a road which resultant slope does not take small values and hence, checks must be performed in every cross section and every chainage of the road. The present research investigates the rain water runoff from the road surface in order to identify the conditions under which, areas of inadequate drainage are being created, to analyze the rainwater behavior in such areas, to provide design examples of good and bad drainage zones and to track down certain motorcycle types which might encounter hazardous situations due to the presence of water film between the pavement and both of their tires resulting loss of traction. Moreover, it investigates the combination of longitudinal and cross slope values in critical pavement areas. It should be pointed out that the drainage gradient is analytically calculated for the whole road width and not just for an oblique slope per chainage (combination of longitudinal grade and cross slope). Lastly, various combinations of horizontal and vertical design are presented, indicating the crucial zones of bad pavement drainage. The key conclusion of the study is that any type of motorcycle will travel for some time inside the area of improper runoff for a certain time frame which depends on the speed and the trajectory that the rider chooses along the transition curve. Taking into account that on this section the rider will have to lean his motorcycle and hence reduce the contact area of his tire with the pavement it is apparent that any variations on the friction value due to the presence of a water film may lead to serious problems regarding his safety. The water runoff from the road pavement is improved when between reverse longitudinal slopes, crest instead of sag curve is chosen and particularly when its edges coincide with the edges of the horizontal curve. Lastly, the results of the investigation have shown that the variation of the longitudinal slope involves the vertical shift of the center of the poor water runoff area. The magnitude of this area increases as the length of the transition curve increases.

Keywords: drainage, motorcycle safety, superelevation, transition curves, vertical grade

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Mingming Leng

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Wal-Mart has allocated considerable human resources for its quality assurance program, in which the largest retailer serves its supply chains as a quality gatekeeper. Asda Stores Ltd., the second largest supermarket chain in Britain, is now investing £27m in significantly increasing the frequency of quality control checks in its supply chains and thus enhancing quality across its fresh food business. Moreover, Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain, already constructed a quality assessment center to carry out its gatekeeping responsibility. Motivated by the above practices, we consider a supply chain in which a retailer plays the gatekeeping role in quality assurance by identifying defects among a manufacturer's products prior to selling them to consumers. The impact of a retailer's gatekeeping activity on pricing and quality assurance in a supply chain has not been investigated in the operations management area. We draw a number of managerial insights that are expected to help practitioners judiciously consider the quality gatekeeping effort at the retail level. As in practice, when the retailer identifies a defective product, she immediately returns it to the manufacturer, who then replaces the defect with a good quality product and pays a penalty to the retailer. If the retailer does not recognize a defect but sells it to a consumer, then the consumer will identify the defect and return it to the retailer, who then passes the returned 'unidentified' defect to the manufacturer. The manufacturer also incurs a penalty cost. Accordingly, we analyze a two-stage pricing and quality decision problem, in which the manufacturer and the retailer bargain over the manufacturer's average defective rate and wholesale price at the first stage, and the retailer decides on her optimal retail price and gatekeeping intensity at the second stage. We also compare the results when the retailer performs quality gatekeeping with those when the retailer does not. Our supply chain analysis exposes some important managerial insights. For example, the retailer's quality gatekeeping can effectively reduce the channel-wide defective rate, if her penalty charge for each identified de-fect is larger than or equal to the market penalty for each unidentified defect. When the retailer imple-ments quality gatekeeping, the change in the negotiated wholesale price only depends on the manufac-turer's 'individual' benefit, and the change in the retailer's optimal retail price is only related to the channel-wide benefit. The retailer is willing to take on the quality gatekeeping responsibility, when the impact of quality relative to retail price on demand is high and/or the retailer has a strong bargaining power. We conclude that the retailer's quality gatekeeping can help reduce the defective rate for consumers, which becomes more significant when the retailer's bargaining position in her supply chain is stronger. Retailers with stronger bargaining powers can benefit more from their quality gatekeeping in supply chains.

Keywords: bargaining, game theory, pricing, quality, supply chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Muhammad Zia Ullah Baig, Atiq Uz Zama

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The motivation of the project is to facilitate the governance body, as well as the common man in his/her daily life consuming product rates, to easily monitor the expense, to control the budget with the help of single SMS (message), e-mail facility, and to manage governance body by task management system. The system will also be capable of finding irregularities being done by the concerned department in mitigating the complaints generated by the customer and also provide a solution to overcome problems. We are building a system that easily controls the price control system of any country, we will feeling proud to give this system free of cost to Indian Government also. The system is able to easily manage and control the price control department of government all over the country. Price control department run in different cities under City District Government, so the system easily run in different cities with different SMS Code and decentralize Database ensure the non-functional requirement of system (scalability, reliability, availability, security, safety). The customer request for the government official price list with respect to his/her city SMS code (price list of all city available on website or application), the server will forward the price list through a SMS, if the product is not available according to the price list the customer generate a complaint through an SMS or using website/smartphone application, complaint is registered in complaint database and forward to inspection department when the complaint is entertained, the inspection department will forward a message about the complaint to customer. Inspection department physically checks the seller who does not follow the price list, but the major issue of the system is corruption, may be inspection officer will take a bribe and resolve the complaint (complaint is fake) in that case the customer will not use the system. The major issue of the system is to distinguish the fake and real complain and fight for corruption in the department. To counter the corruption, our strategy is to rank the complain if the same type of complaint is generated the complaint is in high rank and the higher authority will also notify about that complain, now the higher authority of department have reviewed the complaint and its history, the officer who resolve that complaint in past and the action against the complaint, these data will help in decision-making process, if the complaint was resolved because the officer takes bribe, the higher authority will take action against that officer. When the price of any good is decided the market/former representative is also there, with the mutual understanding of both party the price is decided, the system facilitate the decision-making process. The system shows the price history of any goods, inflation rate, available supply, demand, and the gap between supply and demand, these data will help to allot for the decision-making process.

Keywords: price control, goods, government, inspection, department, customer, employees

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: Wenjun Hou, Marek Perkowski

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The Traveling Salesman problem is famous in computing and graph theory. In short, it asks for the Hamiltonian cycle of the least total weight in a given graph with N nodes. All variations on this problem, such as those with K-bounded-degree nodes, are classified as NP-complete in classical computing. Although several papers propose theoretical high-level designs of quantum algorithms for the Traveling Salesman Problem, no quantum circuit implementation of these algorithms has been created up to our best knowledge. In contrast to previous papers, the goal of this paper is not to optimize some abstract complexity measures based on the number of oracle iterations, but to be able to evaluate the real circuit and time costs of the quantum computer. Using the emerging quantum programming language Q# developed by Microsoft, which runs quantum circuits in a quantum computer simulation, an implementation of the bounded-degree problem and its respective quantum circuit were created. To apply Grover’s algorithm to this problem, a quantum oracle was designed, evaluating the cost of a particular set of edges in the graph as well as its validity as a Hamiltonian cycle. Repeating the Grover algorithm with an oracle that finds successively lower cost each time allows to transform the decision problem to an optimization problem, finding the minimum cost of Hamiltonian cycles. N log₂ K qubits are put into an equiprobablistic superposition by applying the Hadamard gate on each qubit. Within these N log₂ K qubits, the method uses an encoding in which every node is mapped to a set of its encoded edges. The oracle consists of several blocks of circuits: a custom-written edge weight adder, node index calculator, uniqueness checker, and comparator, which were all created using only quantum Toffoli gates, including its special forms, which are Feynman and Pauli X. The oracle begins by using the edge encodings specified by the qubits to calculate each node that this path visits and adding up the edge weights along the way. Next, the oracle uses the calculated nodes from the previous step and check that all the nodes are unique. Finally, the oracle checks that the calculated cost is less than the previously-calculated cost. By performing the oracle an optimal number of times, a correct answer can be generated with very high probability. The oracle of the Grover Algorithm is modified using the recalculated minimum cost value, and this procedure is repeated until the cost cannot be further reduced. This algorithm and circuit design have been verified, using several datasets, to generate correct outputs.

Keywords: quantum computing, quantum circuit optimization, quantum algorithms, hybrid quantum algorithms, quantum programming, Grover’s algorithm, traveling salesman problem, bounded-degree TSP, minimal cost, Q# language

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: S. Opadere Olaolu

Abstract:

Religion, as a belief-system, has been with humanity for a long time. It has been recognised to impact the lives of individuals, groups, and communities that hold it dear. Whether the impact is regarded as positive or not depends on the assessor. Thus, for reasons of likely subjectiveness, possible irrationality, and even outright deliberate abuse, most emerging economies seek to follow the pattern of separating the State from religion; yet it is certain that the influence of religion on the State is incontrovertible. Corruption, on the other hand, though difficult to define in precise terms, is clearly perceptible. It could manifest in very diverse ways, including the abuse of a position of trust for the gain of an individual, or of a group with shared ulterior motive. Religion has been perceived, among others, as a means to societal stability, marital stability, infusion of moral rectitude, and conscience with regards to right and wrong. In time past, credible and dependable characters reposed largely and almost exclusively with those bearing deep religious conviction. Even in the political circle, it was thought that the involvement of those committed to religion would bring about positive changes, for the benefit of the society at large. On the contrary, in recent times, religion has failed in these lofty expectations. The level of corruption in most developing economies, and the increase of religion seem to be advancing pari passu. For instance, religion has encroached into political space, and vice versa, without any differentiable posture to the issue of corruption. Worse still, religion appears to be aiding and abetting corruption, overtly and/or covertly. Therefore, this discourse examined from the Nigerian perspective—as a developing economy—, and from a multidisciplinary stand-point of Law and Religion, the issue of religion; secularism; corruption; romance of religion and politics; inability of religion to exemplify moral rectitude; indulgence of corruption by religion; and the need to keep religion in private sphere, with proper checks. The study employed primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources included the Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended; judicial decisions; and the Bible. The secondary sources comprised of information from books, journals, newspapers, magazines and Internet documents. Data obtained from these sources were subjected to content analysis. Findings of this study include the breach of constitutional provisions to keep religion out of State affairs; failure of religion to curb corruption; outright indulgence of corruption by religion; and religion having become a political tool. In conclusion, it is considered apposite still to keep the State out of religion, and to seek enforcement of the constitutional provisions in this respect. The stamp of legality placed on overt and covert corruption by religion should be removed by all means.

Keywords: corruption, complicity, legalizing, religion

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Efrain Rodriguez, Cristhian Riano, Alberto Alvares

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In recent years, robots manipulators with parallel architectures are used in additive manufacturing processes – 3D printing. These robots have advantages such as speed and lightness that make them suitable to help with the efficiency and productivity of these processes. Consequently, the interest for the development of parallel robots for additive manufacturing applications has increased. This article deals with the conceptual design and dimensional synthesis of the linear delta robot for additive manufacturing. Firstly, a methodology based on structured processes for the development of products through the phases of informational design, conceptual design and detailed design is adopted: a) In the informational design phase the Mudge diagram and the QFD matrix are used to aid a set of technical requirements, to define the form, functions and features of the robot. b) In the conceptual design phase, the functional modeling of the system through of an IDEF0 diagram is performed, and the solution principles for the requirements are formulated using a morphological matrix. This phase includes the description of the mechanical, electro-electronic and computational subsystems that constitute the general architecture of the robot. c) In the detailed design phase, a digital model of the robot is drawn on CAD software. A list of commercial and manufactured parts is detailed. Tolerances and adjustments are defined for some parts of the robot structure. The necessary manufacturing processes and tools are also listed, including: milling, turning and 3D printing. Secondly, a dimensional synthesis method applied on design of the linear delta robot is presented. One of the most important key factors in the design of a parallel robot is the useful workspace, which strongly depends on the joint space, the dimensions of the mechanism bodies and the possible interferences between these bodies. The objective function is based on the verification of the kinematic model for a prescribed cylindrical workspace, considering geometric constraints that possibly lead to singularities of the mechanism. The aim is to determine the minimum dimensional parameters of the mechanism bodies for the proposed workspace. A method based on genetic algorithms was used to solve this problem. The method uses a cloud of points with the cylindrical shape of the workspace and checks the kinematic model for each of the points within the cloud. The evolution of the population (point cloud) provides the optimal parameters for the design of the delta robot. The development process of the linear delta robot with optimal dimensions for additive manufacture is presented. The dimensional synthesis enabled to design the mechanism of the delta robot in function of the prescribed workspace. Finally, the implementation of the robotic platform developed based on a linear delta robot in an additive manufacturing application using the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique is presented.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, delta parallel robot, dimensional synthesis, genetic algorithms

Procedia PDF Downloads 164