Search results for: maximum likelihood estimators

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: Moudar Zgoul, Hashem Alkhaldi

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A large number of transportable LPG cylinders are manufactured annually for domestic use. These LPG cylinders are manufactured from mild steel and filled maximally with 12.5 kg liquefied gas under internal pressure of 0.6 N/mm² at a temperature of 50°C. Many millions of such LPG cylinders are in daily use mainly, for purposes of space heating, water heating, and cooking. Thereby, they are imposed to severe conditions leading to their failure. Each year not less than 5000 of these LPG cylinders fail, some of those failures cause damage and loss in lives and properties. In this work, LPG cylinders were investigated; Stress calculations and deformations under dynamic (impact) loadings were carried out to simulate the effects of such loads on the cylinders while in service. Analysis of the LPG cylinders was carried out using the finite element method; shell and cylindrical elements were used at the top, bottom, and in middle (weld region), permitting elastic-plastic analysis for a thin-walled LPG cylinder. Variables such as maximum stresses and maximum deflections under the effect of impact loading were investigated in this work. Results showed that the maximum stresses reach 680 MPa when dropped from 3m-height. The maximum radial deformation occurs at the cylinder’s top in case of the top-position impact. This information should be useful for enhancing the strength of such cylinders and to for prolonging their service life.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, finite element method, impact load, LPG cylinders

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Authors: Abeer Ahmed Abdelhamed

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Introduction: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) are the most common complications observed and managed after abdominal or cardiothoracic surgery. Hypoxemia, atelectasis, pleural effusion, or diaphragmatic dysfunction, are often a source of morbidity in cardiac surgery patients, and are more common in patients receiving unilateral or bilateral internal mammary artery (IMT) grafts than patients receiving saphenous vein (SV) grafts alone. Purpose: The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of Threshold load inspiratory muscle training on pulmonary gas exchange and maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) in patient undergoing coronary revascularization. Subject: Thirty three male patients eligible for coronary revascularization were selected to participate in the study. Method: They were divided into two groups(17 patients in the intervention group and 16 patients in the control group), the interventional group received inspiratory muscle training at 30% of their maximum inspiratory pressure throughout the hospitalization period in addition to routine post operative care. Result: The results of this study showed a significant improvement on maximum inspiratory pressure(MIP), Arterial-alveolar pressure gradient (A-a gradient) and oxygen saturation in the intervention group. Conclusion: Inspiratory muscle training using threshold mode significantly improves maximum inspiratory pressure, pulmonary gas exchange tested by alveolar-arterial gradient and oxygen saturation in Patients undergoing coronary revascularization.

Keywords: coronary revascularization, inspiratory muscle training, maximum inspiratory pressure, pulmonary gas exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: B. A. Parate, K. D. Deodhar, V. K. Dixit, V. V. Rao

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This article outlines the ballistics of main seat ejection cartridges for aircraft application. The ballistics of main seat ejection cartridges plays a vital role during the ejection of the pilot in an emergency. The ballistic parameters such as maximum pressure, time is taken to reach the maximum pressure, and time required to reach half the maximum pressure contributes to the spinal injury of the pilot. Therefore, the evaluations of these parameters are very critical during various stages of development. Elaborate testing was carried out for main seat ejection cartridges on seat ejection tower (SET) at different operating temperatures considering physiological limits. As these trials are cumbersome in nature, a vented vessel (VV) testing facility was devised to lay down the performance parameters at hot and cold temperature conditions. Single base (SB) propellant having hepta-tubular configuration is selected as the main filling. Gun powder plays the role of a booster based on ballistic requirements. The evaluation methodology of various performance parameters of main seat ejection cartridges is explained in this paper. Physiological parameters such as maximum seat ejection velocity, acceleration, and rate of rising of acceleration are also experimentally determined on seat ejection tower. All the parameters are observed well within physiological limits. This paper addresses the internal ballistic of main seat ejection cartridges, propellant selection, its calculation, and evaluation of various performance parameters for an aircraft application.

Keywords: ballistics of seat ejection, ejection seat, gas generator, gun propulsion, main seat ejection cartridges, maximum pressure, performance parameters, propellant, progressive burning and vented vessel

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Tamou Nasser, Ahmed Essadki, Ali Boukhriss

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This paper presents the control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) used in the wind energy conversion systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy is used to extract the maximum of power during the conversion and taking care that the system does not exceed the operating limits. This is done by acting on the pitch angle to control the orientation of the turbine's blades. Having regard to its robustness and performance, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) based on the extended state observer (ESO) is employed to achieve the control of both rotor and grid side converters. Simulations are carried out using matlab simulink.

Keywords: active disturbance rejection control, extended state observer, doubly fed induction generator, maximum power point tracking

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Authors: Tamou Nasser, Ahmed Essadki, Ali Boukhriss

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This paper presents the control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) used in the wind energy conversion systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy is used to extract the maximum of power during the conversion and taking care that the system does not exceed the operating limits. This is done by acting on the pitch angle to control the orientation of the turbine's blades. Having regard to its robustness and performance, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) based on the extended state observer (ESO) is employed to achieve the control of both rotor and grid side converters. Simulations are carried out using matlab simulink.

Keywords: active disturbance rejection control, extended state observer, doubly fed induction generator, maximum power point tracking

Procedia PDF Downloads 474

Authors: Chao Sima, Shanaz Ghandhi, Sally A. Amundson, Michael L. Bittner, David J. Brenner

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In a large-scale radiologic emergency, potentially affected population need to be triaged efficiently using various biomarkers where personal dosimeters are not likely worn by the individuals. It has long been established that radiation injury can be estimated effectively using panels of genetic biomarkers. Furthermore, the rate of radiation, in addition to dose of radiation, plays a major role in determining biological responses. Therefore, a better and more accurate triage involves estimating both the dose level of the exposure and the length of time of that exposure. To that end, a large in vivo study was carried out on mice with internal emitter caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). Four different injection doses of ¹³⁷Cs were used: 157.5 μCi, 191 μCi, 214.5μCi, and 259 μCi. Cohorts of 6~7 mice from the control arm and each of the dose levels were sacrificed, and blood was collected 2, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after injection for microarray RNA gene expression analysis. Using a generalized linear model with penalized maximum likelihood, a panel of 244 genes was established and both the doses of injection and the number of days after injection were accurately predicted for all 155 subjects using this panel. This has proven that microarray gene expression can be used effectively in radiation biodosimetry in predicting both the dose levels and the length of exposure time, which provides a more holistic view on radiation exposure and helps improving radiation damage assessment and treatment.

Keywords: caesium-137, gene expression microarray, multivariate responses prediction, radiation biodosimetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Tamou Nasser, Ahmed Essadki, Ali Boukhriss

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This paper presents the control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) used in the wind energy conversion systems. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy is used to extract the maximum of power during the conversion and taking care that the system does not exceed the operating limits. This is done by acting on the pitch angle to control the orientation of the turbine's blades. Having regard to its robustness and performance, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) based on the extended state observer (ESO) is employed to achieve the control of both rotor and grid side converters. Simulations are carried out using MATLAB simulink.

Keywords: active disturbance rejection control, extended state observer, doubly fed induction generator, maximum power point tracking

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Authors: Olusegun Solomon

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This paper describes the concept for the design and maximum power point tracking control for an interior permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine system. Two design concepts are compared to outline the effect of magnet design on the performance of the interior permanent magnet synchronous generator. An approximate model that includes the effect of core losses has been developed for the machine to simulate the dynamic performance of the wind energy system. An algorithm for Maximum Power Point Tracking control is included to describe the process for maximum power extraction.

Keywords: permanent magnet synchronous generator, wind power system, wind turbine

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Authors: Burcu Inal, Irfan Kandemir

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Sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene of twenty-five Turkish and one Greek Myzus cerasi (Fabricus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in populations were collected from Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus. The partial coding region of COI studied is 605 bp for all the populations, from which 565 nucleotides were conserved, 40 were variable, 37 were singleton, and 3 sites were parsimony-informative. Four haplotypes were identified based on nucleotide substitutions, and the mean of intraspecific divergence was calculated to be 0.3%. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using Maximum Likelihood, Minimum Evolution, Neighbor-joining, and Unweighed Pair Group Method of Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) and Myzus borealis Ossiannilson were included as outgroups. The population of M. cerasi from Isparta diverged from the rest of the groups and formed a clade (Haplotype B) with Myzus borealis. The rest of the haplotype diversity includes Haplotype A and Haplotype C with individuals characterized as Myzus cerasi pruniavium and Haplotype D with Myzus cerasi cerasi. M. cerasi diverge into two subspecies and it must be reevaluated whether this pest is monophagous or oligophagous in terms of plant type dependence. The obligated endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola was also found during this research, but no facultative symbionts could be found. It is expected further studies will be required for a complete barcoding and diversity of bacterial endosymbionts present.

Keywords: bacterial endosymbionts, barcoding, black cherry aphid, nucleotide diversity

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Authors: Jalila Jbilou, Salaheddine El Adlouni, Pierre Gosselin

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Background: West Nile virus is increasingly an important public health issue in North America. In Canada, WVN was officially reported in Toronto and Montréal for the first time in 2001. During the last decade, several WNV events have been reported in several Canadian provinces. The main objective of the present study is to update the frequency of the climate conditions favorable to WNV outbreaks in Canada. Method: Statistical frequency analysis has been used to estimate the return period for climate conditions associated with WNV outbreaks for the 1961–2050 period. The best fit is selected through the Akaike Information Criterion, and the parameters are estimated using the maximum likelihood approach. Results: Results show that the climate conditions related to the 2002 event, for Montreal and Toronto, are becoming more frequent. For Saskatoon, the highest DD20 events recorded for the last few decades were observed in 2003 and 2007. The estimated return periods are 30 years and 70 years, respectively. Conclusion: The emergence of WNV was related to extremely high DD values in the summer. However, some exceptions may be related to several factors such as virus persistence, vector migration, and also improved diagnosis and reporting levels. It is clear that such climate conditions have become much more common in the last decade and will likely continue to do so over future decades.

Keywords: West Nile virus, climate, North America, statistical frequency analysis, risk estimation, public health, modeling, scenario, temperature, precipitation

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Authors: William Sidharta, Chin-Tu Lu

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Fluorescent ultraviolet lamp generates ultraviolet light which is commonly used in industrial field with certain purposes especially for curing process. Due to the value of inefficiency, there are changes in energy from electrical energy to the heat energy and this would make a defect on the industrial product caused by high temperature of lamp tube during ultraviolet light emission. The condition of industrial scale is further worsening, since commonly using dozens of fluorescent ultraviolet lamps to support huge production process and then it will generates much more heat energy. The maximum temperature of fluorescent ultraviolet lamp will get affected by arranging the lamp tube reflector and this study presents CFX simulation results of the maximum lamp tube temperature with some different reflector arrangements on purely natural convection phenomena. There exists certain spaces value of the reflector and the lamp tube to obtaining lower maximum temperature of the fluorescent ultraviolet lamp.

Keywords: CFX simulation, fluorescent UV lamp, lamp tube reflector, UV light

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi

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In new restructured power systems, swift fault detection is very important. The parallel transmission-lines are vastly used in this kind of power systems because of high amount of energy transferring. In this paper, a method based on the comparison of two schemes, i.e., i) maximum magnitude of travelling-wave (TW) energy ii) the instants of maximum energy occurrence at the circuits of parallel transmission-line is proposed. Using the travelling-wave of fault in order to faulted line identification this method has noticeable operation time. Moreover, the algorithm can cover for identification of faults as external or internal faults. For an internal fault, the exact location of the fault can be estimated confidently. A lot of simulations have been done with PSCAD/EMTDC to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: travelling-wave, maximum energy, parallel transmission-line, fault location

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Authors: Oyegunle Oke, James Daramola, Oluwaseun Iyasere, Babatunde Modinat

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Wood shavings are the most common materials used as litter in commercial broiler production in many areas in Nigeria. A study was conducted to determine the effects of litter materials on organ weights, meat quality, footpad, and breast dermatitis of broiler chickens under hot humid climate. One hundred and eighty broiler chicks of marshal strains were randomly assigned to three treatments of wood shavings, maize cobs and chopped Panicum maximum as litter materials replicated four (4) times with 15 birds each in a completely randomized design. Data were collected on the relative body weights, meat quality, breast and foot pad dermatitis. The result showed that birds reared on chopped Panicum maximum had higher relative weight on the liver than those reared on wood shavings and maize cobs. Spleen and bursa of Fabricius were not significantly affected by litter materials. There was no significant effect of litter materials on meat quality. The relative weight of thigh of birds reared on chopped Panicum maximum, and Maize cobs were similar but higher than those reared on Wood shavings. Fresh breast weight of birds reared on wood shavings was higher than those reared on chopped Panicum maximum and maize cobs. It was concluded that chopped Panicum maximum could serve as a replacement for wood shavings as a litter material for broiler chickens.

Keywords: chickens, dermatitis, organs, litter materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: P. Byrnes, F. A. DiazDelaO

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The Support Vector Machine (SVM) has become widely recognised as one of the leading algorithms in machine learning for both regression and binary classification. It expresses predictions in terms of a linear combination of kernel functions, referred to as support vectors. Despite its popularity amongst practitioners, SVM has some limitations, with the most significant being the generation of point prediction as opposed to predictive distributions. Stemming from this issue, a probabilistic model namely, Probabilistic Classification Vector Machines (PCVM), has been proposed which respects the original functional form of SVM whilst also providing a predictive distribution. As physical system designs become more complex, an increasing number of classification tasks involving industrial applications consist of more than two classes. Consequently, this research proposes a framework which allows for the extension of PCVM to a multi class setting. Additionally, the original PCVM framework relies on the use of type II maximum likelihood to provide estimates for both the kernel hyperparameters and model evidence. In a high dimensional multi class setting, however, this approach has been shown to be ineffective due to bad scaling as the number of classes increases. Accordingly, we propose the application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based methods to provide a posterior distribution over both parameters and hyperparameters. The proposed framework will be validated against current multi class classifiers through synthetic and real life implementations.

Keywords: probabilistic classification vector machines, multi class classification, MCMC, support vector machines

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Authors: Marzie Shahini, Rasoul Mirghaderi

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This paper describes collapse assessments of a steel moment-frame high-rise tower with setback irregularity, designed per the 2010 ASCE7 code, under spectral-matched ground motion records. To estimate a safety margin against life-threatening collapse, an analytical model of the tower is subjected to a suite of ground motions with incremental intensities from maximum considered earthquake hazard level to the incipient collapse level. Capability of the structural system to collapse prevention is evaluated based on the similar methodology reported in FEMA P695. Structural performance parameters in terms of maximum/mean inter-story drift ratios, residual drift ratios, and maximum plastic hinge rotations are also compared to the acceptance criteria recommended by the TBI Guidelines. The results demonstrate that the structural system satisfactorily safeguards the building against collapse. Moreover, for this tower, the code-specified requirements in ASCE7-10 are reasonably adequate to satisfy seismic performance criteria developed in the TBI Guidelines for the maximum considered earthquake hazard level.

Keywords: high-rise buildings, set back, residual drift, seismic performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Carla Palencia-Aguilar

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In order to attain the 2050’s zero emissions goal, it is necessary to know the carbon dioxide changes over time either from pollution to attenuations in the mining industry versus at green zones to establish real goals and redirect efforts to reduce greenhouse effects. Two methods were used to compute the amount of CO2 tons in specific mining zones in Colombia. The former by means of NPP with MODIS MOD17A3HGF from years 2000 to 2021. The latter by using MODIS MYD021KM bands 33 to 36 with maximum values of 644 data points distributed in 7 sites corresponding to surface mineral mining of: coal, nickel, iron and limestone. The green zones selected were located at the proximities of the studied sites, but further than 1 km to avoid information overlapping. Year 2012 was selected for method 2 to compare the results with data provided by the Colombian government to determine range of values. Some data was compared with 2022 MODIS energy values and converted to kton of CO2 by using the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator by EPA. The results showed that Nickel mining was the least pollutant with 81 kton of CO2 e.q on average and maximum of 102 kton of CO2 e.q. per year, with green zones attenuating carbon dioxide in 103 kton of CO2 on average and 125 kton maximum per year in the last 22 years. Following Nickel, there was Coal with average kton of CO2 per year of 152 and maximum of 188, values very similar to the subjacent green zones with average and maximum kton of CO2 of 157 and 190 respectively. Iron had similar results with respect to 3 Limestone sites with average values of 287 kton of CO2 for mining and 310 kton for green zones, and maximum values of 310 kton for iron mining and 356 kton for green zones. One of the limestone sites exceeded the other sites with an average value of 441 kton per year and maximum of 490 kton per year, eventhough it had higher attenuation by green zones than a close Limestore site (3.5 Km apart): 371 kton versus 281 kton on average and maximum 416 kton versus 323 kton, such vegetation contribution is not enough, meaning that manufacturing process should be improved for the most pollutant site. By comparing bands 33 to 36 for years 2012 and 2022 from January to August, it can be seen that on average the kton of CO2 were similar for mining sites and green zones; showing an average yearly balance of carbon dioxide emissions and attenuation. However, efforts on improving manufacturing process are needed to overcome the carbon dioxide effects specially during emissions’ peaks because surrounding vegetation cannot fully attenuate it.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, MODIS, surface mining, vegetation

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Authors: Kenichiro Hida, Shin-Ichi Kuribayashi

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NFV-based network implements a variety of network functions with software on general-purpose servers, and this allows the network operator to select any capabilities and locations of network functions without any physical constraints. In this paper, we evaluate the influence of the maximum tolerable network delay on the virtual routing function deployment guidelines which the authors proposed previously. Our evaluation results have revealed the following: (1) the more the maximum tolerable network delay condition becomes severe, the more the number of areas where the route selection function is installed increases and the total network cost increases, (2) the higher the routing function cost relative to the circuit bandwidth cost, the increase ratio of total network cost becomes larger according to the maximum tolerable network delay condition.

Keywords: NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), resource allocation, virtual routing function, minimum total network cost

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Authors: Noor Rizkiyah, Djoko Koestiono, Budi Setiawan, Nuhfil Hanani

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This research aims to identify the factors that affect the production of sugar cane, the level of technical efficiency of farming sugar cane ratooning and factors that affect technical inefficiency. Research carried out in Malang of East Java with sampling in a non random sampling stratified proportioned and obtained 172 household sugar cane farmers who are classified based on the level of ratooning i.e. ratooning I 3-4 times ratoning, ratooning II 5-10 times ratoning as well as ratooning III > 10 times ratoning. The method used is the Stochastic Production Frontier approach MLE (maximum likelihood estimation). From the results obtained by analysis of the factors affecting the production of sugar cane farming land, namely ratooning fertilizer use ZA petroganic, use of fertilizer and seeds of embroidery and labor. While the average level of sugar cane farmers ratooning efficiency of 0.78 and categorized yet efficient technically. For the factors that influence the technical inefficiency i.e. age, number of dependents and the frequency of family ratooning. Though not yet technically efficient but sugar cane farmers cultivate cultivation remains ratooning. But if it is done repeatedly ratooning will result in a decrease in the production of sugar cane. Whereas the results of the analysis of farming level of feasibility or RC ratooning sugar cane ratio of 1.15 so worth trying to accomplish. Thus with increased technology and combining the use of inputs is an attempt to let the technical efficiency can be achieved so that the more worthy to be organised.

Keywords: technical efficiency, production, sugarcane, frontier

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Davood Barari Tari

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In order to investigate the correlation of rice traits in different nitrogen management methods by modeling programming, an experiment was laid out in rice paddy field in an experimental field at Caspian Coastal Sea region from 2013 to 2014. Variety used was Shiroudi as a high yielding variety. Nitrogen management was in two methods. Amount of nitrogen at four levels (30, 60, 90, and 120 Kg N ha-1 and control) and nitrogen-splitting at four levels (T1: 50% in base + 50% in maximum tillering stage, T2= 33.33% basal +33.33% in maximum tillering stage +33.33% in panicle initiation stage, T3=25% basal+37.5% in maximum tillering stage +37.5% in panicle initiation stage, T4: 25% in basal + 25% in maximum tillering stage + 50% in panicle initiation stage). Results showed that nitrogen traits, total grain number, filled spikelets, panicle number per m2 had a significant correlation with grain yield. Results related to calibrated and validation of rice model methods indicated that correlation between rice yield and yield components was accurate. The correlation between panicle length and grain yield was minimum. Physiological indices was simulated with low accuracy. According to results, investigation of the correlation between rice traits in physiological, morphological and phenological characters and yield by modeling and simulation methods are very useful.

Keywords: rice, physiology, modelling, simulation, yield traits

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Authors: Pukhtoon Yar

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Peshawar City is experiencing a rapid spatial urban growth primarily as a result of high rate of urbanization along with economic development. This paper was designed to understand the impacts of urbanization on agriculture land use change by particularly focusing on land use change trajectories from the past (1991-2014). We used Landsat imageries (30 meters) for1991along with Spot images (2.5 meters) for year 2014. . The ground truthing of the satellite data was performed by collecting information from Peshawar Development Authority, revenue department, real estate agents and interviews with the officials of city administration. The temporal satellite images were processed by applying supervised maximum likelihood classification technique in ArcGIS 9.3. The procedure resulted into five main classes of land use i.e. built-up area, farmland, barren land, cultivable-wasteland and water bodies. The analysis revealed that, in Peshawar City the built-up environment has been doubled from 8.1 percent in 1991 to over 18.2 percent in 2014 by predominantly encroaching land producing food. Furthermore, the CA-Markov Model predicted that the area under impervious surfaces would continue to flourish during the next three decades. This rapid increase in built-up area is accredited to the lack of proper land use planning and management, which has caused chaotic urban sprawl with detrimental social and environmental consequences.

Keywords: Urban Expansion, Land use, GIS, Remote Sensing, Markov Model, Peshawar City

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: L. P. Nascimento, M. Soares, N. Valério, A. Ribeiro, J. R. M. Oliveira, J. Araújo, C. Vilarinho, J. Carvalho

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With the growing need to save natural resources and value waste that was previously worthless, waste recycling becomes imperative. Thus, with the techno-scientific growth and in the perspective of sustainability, it is observed that waste has the potential to replace significant percentages of materials considered “virgin”. An example is the replacement of crushed aggregates with foundry sand. In this work, a mix design study of two asphalt mixes, a base mix (AC 20) and a surface mix (AC14) was carried out to evaluate the maximum amount of foundry sand residue that could be used. Water sensitivity tests were performed to evaluate the mechanical behavior of these mixtures. For the superficial mixture with foundry sand (AC14FS), the maximum of sand used was 5%, with satisfactory results of sensitivity to water. In the base mixture with sand (AC20FS), the maximum of sand used was 12%, which had less satisfactory results. However, from an environmental point of view, the re-incorporation of this residue in the pavement is beneficial because it prevents it from being deposited in landfills.

Keywords: foundry sand, hot mix asphalt, industrial waste, waste valorization, sustainability

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Authors: Andreas Aceranti, Guido Bighiani, Francesca Crotto, Marco Colorato, Stefania Zaghi, Marino Zanetti, Simonetta Vernocchi

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The management of eye parameters such as convergence, accommodation, and miosis is very complex; in fact, both the neurovegetative system and the complex Oculocephalgiria system come into play. We have found the effectiveness of the "highvelocity low amplitude" technique directed on C7-T1 (where the cilio-spinal nucleus of the budge is located) in improving the convergence parameter through the measurement of the point of maximum convergence. With this research, we set out to investigate whether the improvement obtained through the High Velocity Low Amplitude maneuver lasts over time, carrying out a pre-manipulation measurement, one immediately after manipulation and one month after manipulation. We took a population of 30 subjects with both refractive and non-refractive problems. Of the 30 patients tested, 27 gave a positive result after the High Velocity Low Amplitude maneuver, giving an improvement in the point of maximum convergence. After a month, we retested all 27 subjects: some further improved the result, others kept, and three subjects slightly lost the gain obtained. None of the re-tested patients returned to the point of maximum convergence starting pre-manipulation. This result opens the door to a multidisciplinary approach between ophthalmologists and osteopaths with the aim of addressing oculomotricity and convergence deficits that increasingly afflict our society due to the massive use of devices and for the conduct of life in closed and restricted environments.

Keywords: point of maximum convergence, HVLA, improvement in PPC, convergence

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Authors: Saif Al-Qaisi, Alif Saba

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Normalization of electromyography (EMG) data in ergonomics research is a prerequisite for interpreting the data. Normalizing accounts for variability in the data due to differences in participants’ physical characteristics, electrode placement protocols, time of day, and other nuisance factors. Typically, normalized data is reported as a percentage of the muscle’s isometric maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC). Various MVC techniques have been recommended in the literature for normalizing EMG activity of back muscles. This research tests and compares the recommended MVC techniques in the literature for three back muscles commonly used in ergonomics research, which are the lumbar erector spinae (LES), latissimus dorsi (LD), and thoracic erector spinae (TES). Six healthy males from a university population participated in this research. Five different MVC exercises were compared for each muscle using the Tringo wireless EMG system (Delsys Inc.). Since the LES and TES share similar functions in controlling trunk movements, their MVC exercises were the same, which included trunk extension at -60°, trunk extension at 0°, trunk extension while standing, hip extension, and the arch test. The MVC exercises identified in the literature for the LD were chest-supported shoulder extension, prone shoulder extension, lat-pull down, internal shoulder rotation, and abducted shoulder flexion. The maximum EMG signal was recorded during each MVC trial, and then the averages were computed across participants. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to determine the effect of MVC technique on muscle activity. Post-hoc analyses were performed using the Tukey test. The MVC technique effect was statistically significant for each of the muscles (p < 0.05); however, a larger sample of participants was needed to detect significant differences in the Tukey tests. The arch test was associated with the highest EMG average at the LES, and also it resulted in the maximum EMG activity more often than the other techniques (three out of six participants). For the TES, trunk extension at 0° was associated with the largest EMG average, and it resulted in the maximum EMG activity the most often (three out of six participants). For the LD, participants obtained their maximum EMG either from chest-supported shoulder extension (three out of six participants) or prone shoulder extension (three out of six participants). Chest-supported shoulder extension, however, had a larger average than prone shoulder extension (0.263 and 0.240, respectively). Although all the aforementioned techniques were superior in their averages, they did not always result in the maximum EMG activity. If an accurate estimate of the true MVC is desired, more than one technique may have to be performed. This research provides additional MVC techniques for each muscle that may elicit the maximum EMG activity.

Keywords: electromyography, maximum voluntary contraction, normalization, physical ergonomics

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Authors: Sibusiso Mkwananzi

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The health of mother and child remain at risk among pregnant adolescents. Nevertheless, these are placed in even greater jeopardy when an expectant adolescent experiences violence. This paper sought to explore the levels and determinants of expecting adolescents in five Southern African countries. The study used the most recent (2010/2015) nationally representative demographic health survey (DHS) data from Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The highest levels of violence during pregnancy occurred amongst adolescent females living in Zimbabwe at 11.4%, followed by Zambia (8.3%) and Namibia (7.7%). Lowest levels were seen in Mozambique at 3.6%. Additionally, the determinants of experiencing violence during pregnancy included educational attainment, marital status, wealth and place of residence. Expectant adolescents that had a higher likelihood of experiencing violence were married and lived predominantly in rural settings. Higher risk was also associated with lower acquisition of education and poverty. These results show a very similar pattern to the risk factors associated with early pregnancy in the region. The predictors point to issues of possible lowered empowerment amongst younger women in their relationships and the structural challenges faced by this fledgling group. Nevertheless, addressing these dynamics could go a long way in not only decreasing the likelihood of unwanted motherhood at this early stage of the life course, but indeed even ensuring the prevention of violence during wanted early pregnancy. This would lead to improved levels of maternal and child health despite younger maternal age and aid in achieving a number of sustainable development goals.

Keywords: adolescents, determinants, Southern Africa, violence during pregnancy

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Authors: Anja Kurz, Marc Flynn, Tobias Good, Marco Caversaccio, Martin Kompis

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Bone Anchored Hearing Implants (BAHI) are routinely used in patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss, e.g. if conventional air conduction hearing aids cannot be used. New sound processors and new fitting software now allow the adjustment of parameters such as loudness compression ratios or maximum power output separately. Today it is unclear, how the choice of these parameters influences aided speech understanding in BAHI users. In this prospective experimental study, the effect of varying the compression ratio and lowering the maximum power output in a BAHI were investigated. Twelve experienced adult subjects with a mixed hearing loss participated in this study. Four different compression ratios (1.0; 1.3; 1.6; 2.0) were tested along with two different maximum power output settings, resulting in a total of eight different programs. Each participant tested each program during two weeks. A blinded Latin square design was used to minimize bias. For each of the eight programs, speech understanding in quiet and in noise was assessed. For speech in quiet, the Freiburg number test and the Freiburg monosyllabic word test at 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL were used. For speech in noise, the Oldenburg sentence test was administered. Speech understanding in quiet and in noise was improved significantly in the aided condition in any program, when compared to the unaided condition. However, no significant differences were found between any of the eight programs. In contrast, on a subjective level there was a significant preference for medium compression ratios of 1.3 to 1.6 and higher maximum power output.

Keywords: Bone Anchored Hearing Implant, baha, compression, maximum power output, speech understanding

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Authors: Selin Guney, Andres Riquelme

Abstract:

The traditional bio-economic method for fisheries modeling uses some estimate of the growth parameters and the system carrying capacity from a biological model for the population dynamics (usually a logistic population growth model) which is then analyzed as a traditional production function. The stock dynamic is transformed into a revenue function and then compared with the extraction costs to estimate the maximum economic yield. In this paper, the logistic population growth model for the population is combined with a forecast of the abundance and location of the stock by using a generalized additive model approach. The paper focuses on the Chilean hake population. This method allows for the incorporation of climatic variables and the interaction with other marine species, which in turn will increase the reliability of the estimates and generate better extraction paths for different conservation objectives, such as the maximum biological yield or the maximum economic yield.

Keywords: bio-economic, fisheries, GAM, production

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Authors: Apolinar Picado, Steve Alfaro, Rafael Gamero

Abstract:

Energy and exergy analyses of thin-layer drying of pineapple slices (Ananas comosus L.) were conducted in a laboratory tunnel dryer. Drying experiments were carried out at three temperatures (100, 115 and 130 °C) and an air velocity of 1.45 m/s. The effects of drying variables on energy utilisation, energy utilisation ratio, exergy loss and exergy efficiency were studied. The enthalpy difference of the gas increased as the inlet gas temperature increase. It is observed that at the 75 minutes of the drying process the outlet gas enthalpy achieves a maximum value that is very close to the inlet value and remains constant until the end of the drying process. This behaviour is due to the reduction of the total enthalpy within the system, or in other words, the reduction of the effective heat transfer from the hot gas flow to the vegetable being dried. Further, the outlet entropy exhibits a significant increase that is not only due to the temperature variation, but also to the increase of water vapour phase contained in the hot gas flow. The maximum value of the exergy efficiency curve corresponds to the maximum value observed within the drying rate curves. This maximum value represents the stage when the available energy is efficiently used in the removal of the moisture within the solid. As the drying rate decreases, the available energy is started to be less employed. The exergetic efficiency was directly dependent on the evaporation flux and since the convective drying is less efficient that other types of dryer, it is likely that the exergetic efficiency has relatively low values.

Keywords: efficiency, energy, exergy, thin-layer drying

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Authors: Mustafa Al-Yaseen, Haider Mohammed Mahdi, Haider Ali Al–Zahid, Nazar S. Haddad

Abstract:

Background: Early diagnosis of musculoskeletal infections is of vital importance to avoid devastating complications. There is no single laboratory marker which is sensitive and specific in diagnosing these infections accurately. White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein are not specific as they can also be elevated in conditions other than bacterial infections. Materials Culture and sensitivity is not a true gold standard due to its varied positivity rates. Serum Procalcitonin is one of the new laboratory markers for pyogenic infections. The objective of this study is to assess the value of PCT in the diagnosis of soft tissue, bone, and joint infections. Patients and Methods: Patients of all age groups (seventy-four patients) with a diagnosis of musculoskeletal infection are prospectively included in this study. All patients were subjected to White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and serum Procalcitonin measurements. A healthy non infected outpatient group (twenty-two patients) taken as a control group and underwent the same evaluation steps as the study group. Results: The study group showed mean Procalcitonin levels of 1.3 ng/ml. Procalcitonin, at 0.5 ng/ml, was (42.6%) sensitive and (95.5%) specific in diagnosing of musculoskeletal infections with (positive predictive value of 87.5% and negative predictive value of 48.3%) and (positive likelihood ratio of 9.3 and negative likelihood ratio of 0.6). Conclusion: Serum Procalcitonin, at a cut – off of 0.5 ng/ml, is a specific but not sensitive marker in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal infections, and it can be used effectively to rule in the diagnosis of infection but not to rule out it.

Keywords: procalcitonin, infection, labratory markers, musculoskeletal

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Authors: Yusuf Jundi Sado

Abstract:

Changes in land use are mostly credited to human actions that result in negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of land use and land cover changes for sustainable natural resources planning and management. Chilalo-Galama Mountain Range, Ethiopia. This study used Thematic Mapper 05 (TM) for 1986, 2001 and Landsat 8 (OLI) data 2017. Additionally, data from the Central Statistics Agency on human population growth were analyzed. Semi-Automatic classification plugin (SCP) in QGIS 3.2.3 software was used for image classification. Global positioning system, field observations and focus group discussions were used for ground verification. Land Use Land Cover (LU/LC) change analysis was using maximum likelihood supervised classification and changes were calculated for the 1986–2001 and the 2001–2017 and 1986-2017 periods. The results show that agricultural land increased from 27.85% (1986) to 44.43% and 51.32% in 2001 and 2017, respectively with the overall accuracies of 92% (1986), 90.36% (2001), and 88% (2017). On the other hand, forests decreased from 8.51% (1986) to 7.64 (2001) and 4.46% (2017), and grassland decreased from 37.47% (1986) to 15.22%, and 15.01% in 2001 and 2017, respectively. It indicates for the years 1986–2017 the largest area cover gain of agricultural land was obtained from grassland. The matrix also shows that shrubland gained land from agricultural land, afro-alpine, and forest land. Population dynamics is found to be one of the major driving forces for the LU/LU changes in the study area.

Keywords: Landsat, LU/LC change, Semi-Automatic classification plugin, population dynamics, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 52