Search results for: PSP Design Framework (Public Social Private)
2639 Characterization of the Dispersion Phenomenon in an Optical Biosensor
Authors: An-Shik Yang, Chin-Ting Kuo, Yung-Chun Yang, Wen-Hsin Hsieh, Chiang-Ho Cheng
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Optical biosensors have become a powerful detection and analysis tool for wide-ranging applications in biomedical research, pharmaceuticals and environmental monitoring. This study carried out the computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulations to explore the dispersion phenomenon in the micro channel of an optical biosensor. The predicted time sequences of concentration contours were utilized to better understand the dispersion development occurred in different geometric shapes of micro channels. The simulation results showed the surface concentrations at the sensing probe (with the best performance of a grating coupler) in respect of time to appraise the dispersion effect and therefore identify the design configurations resulting in minimum dispersion.Keywords: CFD simulations, dispersion, microfluidic, optical waveguide sensors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20352638 Chinese Tourists’s Behaviors towards Travel and Shopping in Bangkok
Authors: Sasitorn Chetanont
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The objectives of this study are to study Chinese tourist’s Behaviors towards travel and shopping in Bangkok. The research methodology was a quantitative research. The sample of this research was 400 Chinese tourists in Bangkok chosen by the accidental sampling and the purposive sampling. Inferential Statistics Analysis by using the Chi-square statistics. As for the results of this study the researcher found that differences between personal, social and cultural information, i.e., gender, age, place of residence, educational level, occupation, income, family, and main objectives of tourism with behaviors of Chinese tourists in Bangkok towards travel and shopping in Bangkok.Keywords: Tourists’ behavior, Chinese tourists, travelling, expenses in travels.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 46932637 Experimental Study of Steel Slag Used as Aggregate in Asphalt Mixture
Authors: Magdi M. E. Zumrawi, Faiza O. A. Khalill
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Steel slag is a by-product of the steel industry and can be used potentially as aggregate in the asphalt mixture. This study evaluates the use of Steel Slag Aggregates (SSA) as a substitute for natural aggregates in the production of hot mix asphalt (HMA) for road construction. Based on intensive laboratory testing program, the characteristic properties of SSA were assessed to determine its suitability to be used in HMA. Four different percentages (0, 50, 75, and 100%) of SSA were used, and the proposed mix designs for HMA were conducted in accordance with Marshall mix design. The experiment results revealed that the addition of SSA has a significant improvement on the properties of HMA. An increase in density and stability and a reduction in flow and air voids values were clearly observed in specimens prepared with 100% SSA. It is concluded that the steel slag can be considered reasonable alternative source of aggregate for concrete asphalt mixture production.Keywords: Aggregate, asphalt mixture, stability, steel slag.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32532636 A Dual Band Microstrip Patch Antenna for WLAN and WiMAX Applications
Authors: P. Krachodnok
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In this paper, the design of a multiple U-slotted microstrip patch antenna with frequency selective surface (FSS) as a superstrate for WLAN and WiMAX applications is presented. The proposed antenna is designed by using substrate FR4 having permittivity of 4.4 and air substrate. The characteristics of the antenna are designed and evaluated the performance of modelled antenna using CST Microwave studio. The proposed antenna dual resonant frequency has been achieved in the band of 2.37-2.55 GHz and 3.4-3.6 GHz. Because of the impact of FSS superstrate, it is found that the bandwidths have been improved from 6.12% to 7.35 % and 3.7% to 5.7% at resonant frequencies 2.45 GHz and 3.5 GHz, respectively. The maximum gain at the resonant frequency of 2.45 and 3.5 GHz are 9.3 and 11.33 dBi, respectively.
Keywords: Multi-Slotted Antenna, Microstrip Patch Antenna, Frequency Selective Surface, Artificial Magnetic Conduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35882635 Analysis of Rubber Waste Utilization at Pandora Production Company Limited
Authors: S. Pechpoothong, M. Kopystecki
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The eco-efficient use of “waste" makes sense from economic, social, and environmental perspectives. By efficiency diverting “waste" products back into useful and/or profitable inputs, industries and entire societies can reap the benefits of improved financial profit, decreased environmental degradation, and overall well-being of humanity. In this project, several material flows at Company Limited were investigated. Principles of "industrial ecology" were applied to improve the management of waste rubbers that are used in the jewelry manufacturing process. complete this project, a brief engineering analysis stream, and investigated eco-efficient principles for more efficient handling of the materials and wastes were conducted, and the result were used to propose implementation strategies.Keywords: Rubber, ecology, waste.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 38242634 An Efficiency Measurement of E-Government Performance for United Nation Ranking Index
Authors: Yassine Jadi, Lin Jie
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In order to serve the society in an electronic manner, many developing countries have launched tremendous e-government projects. The strategies of development and implementation e-government system have reached different levels, and to ensure consistency of development, the governments need to evaluate e-government performance. The United nation has design e-government development ranking index (EGDI) that rely on three indexes, Online service index (OSI), Telecommunication Infrastructure index (TII), and human capital index( HCI) which are not reflecting the interaction between a government and their citizens. Based on data envelopment analyses (DEA) technique, we are using E-participating index (EPI) as an output of government effort to evaluate the performance of e-government system. Therefore, the ranking index can be achieved in efficiency manner.
Keywords: E-government, DEA, efficiency measurement, EGDI.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12172633 Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization Optimized LDI Controller with Lyapunov Stability Criterion for Nonlinear Structural Systems
Authors: P.-W. Tsai, W.-L. Hong, C.-W. Chen, C.-Y. Chen
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In this paper, we present a neural-network (NN) based approach to represent a nonlinear Tagagi-Sugeno (T-S) system. A linear differential inclusion (LDI) state-space representation is utilized to deal with the NN models. Taking advantage of the LDI representation, the stability conditions and controller design are derived for a class of nonlinear structural systems. Moreover, the concept of utilizing the Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization (PPSO) algorithm to solve the common P matrix under the stability criteria is given in this paper.
Keywords: Lyapunov Stability, Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization, Linear Differential Inclusion, Artificial Intelligence.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18652632 Understanding Cultural Influences: Principles for Personalized E-learning Systems
Authors: R. Boondao, A. J. Hurst, J. I. Sheard
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In the globalized e-learning environment, students coming from different cultures and countries have different characteristics and require different support designed for their approaches to study and learning styles. This paper explores the ways in which cultural background influences students- approaches to study and learning styles. Participants in the study consisted of 131 eastern students and 54 western students from an Australian university. The students were tested using the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) for assessing their approaches to study and the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (ILS) for assessing their learning styles. The results of the study led to a set of principles being proposed to guide personalization of e-learning system design on the basis of cultural differences.
Keywords: Approaches to study, Cultural influences, Learningstyles, Personalization, e-learning system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17832631 Feedback-Controlled Server for Scheduling Aperiodic Tasks
Authors: Shinpei Kato, Nobuyuki Yamasaki
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This paper proposes a scheduling scheme using feedback control to reduce the response time of aperiodic tasks with soft real-time constraints. We design an algorithm based on the proposed scheduling scheme and Total Bandwidth Server (TBS) that is a conventional server technique for scheduling aperiodic tasks. We then describe the feedback controller of the algorithm and give the control parameter tuning methods. The simulation study demonstrates that the algorithm can reduce the mean response time up to 26% compared to TBS in exchange for slight deadline misses.Keywords: Real-Time Systems, Aperiodic Task Scheduling, Feedback-Control Scheduling, Total Bandwidth Server.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17242630 Design of Stainless Steel Implant for Fractured Distal Femur
Authors: Abhishek Soni, Bhagat Singh
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Perfect restoration of fractured distal femur has been a challenging task for the medical practitioners. In the present study, model of a fractured bone has been created using the scan data of the damaged bone. Thereafter, customized implant of Stainless Steel (SS-316L) for this fractured femur bone is modeled using the reverse engineering approach. Clinical set-up is prepared by assembling all the models together. Stress and deformation analysis of this clinical set-up has been performed in order to check the load bearing capacity and intactness of the joint. From this analysis, it has been inferred that the stresses and deformation developed due to the static load of the person is within the permissible limits.
Keywords: Biomechanical evaluations, customized implant, reverse engineering, stainless steel alloy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8112629 Image Sensor Matrix High Speed Simulation
Authors: Z. Feng, V. Viswanathan, D. Navarro, I. O'Connor
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This paper presents a new high speed simulation methodology to solve the long simulation time problem of CMOS image sensor matrix. Generally, for integrating the pixel matrix in SOC and simulating the system performance, designers try to model the pixel in various modeling languages such as VHDL-AMS, SystemC or Matlab. We introduce a new alternative method based on spice model in cadence design platform to achieve accuracy and reduce simulation time. The simulation results indicate that the pixel output voltage maximum error is at 0.7812% and time consumption reduces from 2.2 days to 13 minutes achieving about 240X speed-up for the 256x256 pixel matrix.
Keywords: CMOS image sensor, high speed simulation, image sensor matrix simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20152628 Impact Analysis Based on Change Requirement Traceability in Object Oriented Software Systems
Authors: Sunil Tumkur Dakshinamurthy, Mamootil Zachariah Kurian
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Change requirement traceability in object oriented software systems is one of the challenging areas in research. We know that the traces between links of different artifacts are to be automated or semi-automated in the software development life cycle (SDLC). The aim of this paper is discussing and implementing aspects of dynamically linking the artifacts such as requirements, high level design, code and test cases through the Extensible Markup Language (XML) or by dynamically generating Object Oriented (OO) metrics. Also, non-functional requirements (NFR) aspects such as stability, completeness, clarity, validity, feasibility and precision are discussed. We discuss this as a Fifth Taxonomy, which is a system vulnerability concern.
Keywords: Artifacts, NFRs, OO metrics, SDLC, XML.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11582627 The Place and Effects of Information Management in Corporate Identity
Authors: H. Buluthan Cetintas
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Corporate identity, which has several advantages such that the employees become integrated with their corporations, corporation is distinguished from its competitors and it is recognized by the masses, is the total of the distinctive corporate features that and corporation has. That the information takes part in production as a more important component than labor and capital has required that the corporations are reorganized as information-based. Therefore, information and its management have reached a basic and prevalent position in having sustainable competitive advantage. Thanks to the information management which regulates the information and makes it reachable and available, information will be produced in line with a specific purpose in the corporations and be used in all the corporate processes. As an auxiliary power for increase in the economic potential, efficiency and productivity of the corporation, corporate identity consists of four components. These are corporate philosophy, corporate design, corporate behavior and corporate communication. In this study, the effects of the information management on corporate identity are discussed from the point of these four elements.
Keywords: Corporate identity, information management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14862626 Toward Community-Based Personal Cloud Computing
Authors: Weichang Du
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This paper proposes a new of cloud computing for individual computer users to share applications in distributed communities, called community-based personal cloud computing (CPCC). The paper also presents a prototype design and implementation of CPCC. The users of CPCC are able to share their computing applications with other users of the community. Any member of the community is able to execute remote applications shared by other members. The remote applications behave in the same way as their local counterparts, allowing the user to enter input, receive output as well as providing the access to the local data of the user. CPCC provides a peer-to-peer (P2P) environment where each peer provides applications which can be used by the other peers that are connected CPCC.
Keywords: applications, cloud computing, services, software.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20532625 A 3.125Gb/s Clock and Data Recovery Circuit Using 1/4-Rate Technique
Authors: Il-Do Jeong, Hang-Geun Jeong
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This paper describes the design and fabrication of a clock and data recovery circuit (CDR). We propose a new clock and data recovery which is based on a 1/4-rate frequency detector (QRFD). The proposed frequency detector helps reduce the VCO frequency and is thus advantageous for high speed application. The proposed frequency detector can achieve low jitter operation and extend the pull-in range without using the reference clock. The proposed CDR was implemented using a 1/4-rate bang-bang type phase detector (PD) and a ring voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The CDR circuit has been fabricated in a standard 0.18 CMOS technology. It occupies an active area of 1 x 1 and consumes 90 mW from a single 1.8V supply.
Keywords: Clock and data recovery, 1/4-rate frequency detector, 1/4-rate phase detector.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29272624 Development of Energy Benchmarks Using Mandatory Energy and Emissions Reporting Data: Ontario Post-Secondary Residences
Authors: C. Xavier Mendieta, J. J McArthur
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Governments are playing an increasingly active role in reducing carbon emissions, and a key strategy has been the introduction of mandatory energy disclosure policies. These policies have resulted in a significant amount of publicly available data, providing researchers with a unique opportunity to develop location-specific energy and carbon emission benchmarks from this data set, which can then be used to develop building archetypes and used to inform urban energy models. This study presents the development of such a benchmark using the public reporting data. The data from Ontario’s Ministry of Energy for Post-Secondary Educational Institutions are being used to develop a series of building archetype dynamic building loads and energy benchmarks to fill a gap in the currently available building database. This paper presents the development of a benchmark for college and university residences within ASHRAE climate zone 6 areas in Ontario using the mandatory disclosure energy and greenhouse gas emissions data. The methodology presented includes data cleaning, statistical analysis, and benchmark development, and lessons learned from this investigation are presented and discussed to inform the development of future energy benchmarks from this larger data set. The key findings from this initial benchmarking study are: (1) the importance of careful data screening and outlier identification to develop a valid dataset; (2) the key features used to develop a model of the data are building age, size, and occupancy schedules and these can be used to estimate energy consumption; and (3) policy changes affecting the primary energy generation significantly affected greenhouse gas emissions, and consideration of these factors was critical to evaluate the validity of the reported data.Keywords: Building archetypes, data analysis, energy benchmarks, GHG emissions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10242623 A Study on Applying 3D Reconstruction to 3D Last Morphing
Authors: Shih-Wen Hsiao, Rong-Qi Chen, Chien-Yu Lin
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When it comes to last, it is regarded as the critical foundation of shoe design and development. A computer aided methodology for various last form designs is proposed in this study. The reverse engineering is mainly applied to the process of scanning for the last form. Then with the minimum energy for revision of surface continuity, the surface reconstruction of last is rebuilt by the feature curves of the scanned last. When the surface reconstruction of last is completed, the weighted arithmetic mean method is applied to the computation on the shape morphing for the control mesh of last, thus 3D last form of different sizes is generated from its original form feature with functions remained. In the end, the result of this study is applied to an application for 3D last reconstruction system. The practicability of the proposed methodology is verified through later case studies.
Keywords: Reverse engineering, Surface reconstruction, Surface continuity, Shape morphing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17492622 The Effect of Glucogenic and Lipogenic Diets on Blood Metabolites of Baloochi Sheep
Authors: Alireza Vakili, Ali Mortezaee, Mohsen Danesh Mesgaran
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The aim of present study was to assess the effect of glucogenic (G) and lipogenic (L) diets on blood metabolites in Baloochi lambs. Three rumen cannulated Baloochi sheep were used as a 3×3 Latin square design with 3 periods (28 days). Experimental diets were a glucogenic, a lipogenic and a mixture of G and L diets (50:50). The animals were fed diets consisted of 50% chopped alfalfa hay and 50% concentrate. Diets were fed once daily ad libitum. Blood samples were taken from jugular vein before the feeding, 2, 4 and 6 hour post feeding at day 27. Results indicated that β- hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), glucose, insulin and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were not affected by treatments (P > 0.05). However, lipogenic diet increased significantly activity of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and concentration of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) in blood plasma (P < 0.05)Keywords: glucogenic, lipogenic, blood metabolites
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22512621 Identifying Areas on the Pavement Where Rain Water Runoff Affects Motorcycle Behavior
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 APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5362620 Net Regularity and Its Ethical Implications on Internet Stake Holders
Authors: Nourhan Elshenawi
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Net Neutrality (NN) is the principle of treating all online data the same without any prioritization of some over others. A research gap in current scholarship about “violations of NN” and the subsequent ethical concerns paves the way for the following research question: To what extent violations of NN entail ethical concerns and implications for Internet stakeholders? To answer this question, NR is examined using the two major action-based ethical theories, Kantian and Utilitarian, across the relevant Internet stakeholders. First some necessary IT background is provided that shapes how the Internet works and who the key stakeholders are. Following the IT background, the relationship between the stakeholders, users, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and content providers is discussed and illustrated. Then some violations of NN that are currently occurring is covered, without attracting any attention from the general public from an ethical perspective, as a new term Net Regularity (NR). Afterwards, the current scholarship on NN and its violations are discussed, that are mainly from an economic and sociopolitical perspectives to highlight the lack of ethical discussions on the issue. Before moving on to the ethical analysis however, websites are presented as digital entities that are affected by NR and their happiness is measured using functionalism. The analysis concludes that NR is prone to an unethical treatment of Internet stakeholders in the perspective of both theories. Finally, the current Digital Divide in the world is presented to be able to better illustrate the implications of NR. The implications present the new Internet divide that will take place between individuals within society. Through answering the research question using ethical analysis, it attempts to shed some light on the issue of NR and what kind of society it would lead to. NR would not just lead to a divided society, but divided individuals that are separated by something greater than distance, the Internet.Keywords: Digital divide, digital entities, digital ontology, net neutrality, internet ethics, internet law, internet service providers, websites as beings.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15642619 Effects of Plant Densities on Seed Yield and Some Agricultural Characteristics of Jofs Pea Variety
Authors: Ayhan Aydoğdu, Ercan Ceyhan, Ali Kahraman, Nursel Çöl
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This research was conducted to determine effects of plant densities on seed yield and some agricultural characteristics of pea variety- Jofs in Konya ecological conditions during 2012 vegetation period. The trial was set up according to “Randomized Blocks Design” with three replications. The material “Jofs” pea variety was subjected to 3-row spaces (30, 40 and 50 cm) and 3-row distances (5, 10 and 15 cm). According to the results, difference was shown statistically for the effects of row spaces and row distances on seed yield. The highest seed yield was 2582.1 kg ha-1 on 30 cm of row spaces while 2562.2 kg ha-1 on 15 cm of distances. Consequently, the optimum planting density was determined as 30 x 15 cm for Jofs pea variety growing in Konya.Keywords: Pea, row space, row distance, seed yield.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15062618 Stop Forced Child Marriage: A Comparative Global Law Analysis
Authors: Michelle J. Miller
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Millions of girls are forcibly married during the transitional period between puberty and adulthood. At a stage of vulnerability cultural practices, religious rights and social standards place her in a position where she is catapult into womanhood. An advocate against forced child marriage could argue that child rights, cultural rights, religious rights, right to marry, right to life, right to health, right to education, right to be free from slavery, right to be free from torture, right to consent to marriage are all violated by the practice of child marriage. The author is this advocate and this paper will present how some of these rights are violated and establish the need for change.
Keywords: Child marriage, forced child marriage, child rights, protection, religious rights, cultural rights, right to life, human rights.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32572617 Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography in Rats with Gadobenate Dimeglumine at 3T
Authors: Jo-Chi Jao, Yen-Ku Chen, Twei-Shiun Jaw, Po-Chou Chen
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This study aimed to investigate the magnetic resonance (MR) signal enhancement ratio (ER) of contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) in normal rats with gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) using a clinical 3T scanner and an extremity coil. The relaxivities of Gd-BOPTA with saline only and with 4.5% human serum albumin (HSA) were also measured. Compared with Gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA), Gd-BOPTA had higher relaxivities. The maximum ER of aorta (ERa), kidney, liver and muscle with Gd-BOPTA were higher than those with Gd-DTPA. The maximum ERa appeared at 1.2 min and decayed to half at 10 min after Gd-BOPTA injection. This information is helpful for the design of CE-MRA study of rats.Keywords: Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Gd-BOPTA, Gd-DTPA, Rat.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19052616 Food Security in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Sara D. Garduño-Diaz, Philippe Y. Garduño-Diaz
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To date, one of the few comprehensive indicators for the measurement of food security is the Global Food Security Index (GFSI). This index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model, constructed from 28 unique indicators, that measures drivers of food security across both developing and developed countries. Whereas the GFSI has been calculated across a set of 109 countries, in this paper we aim to present and compare, for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), 1) the Food Security Index scores achieved and 2) the data available on affordability, availability, and quality of food. The data for this work was taken from the latest available report published by the creators of the GFSI, which in turn used information from national and international statistical sources. MENA countries rank from place 17/109 (Israel, although with resent political turmoil this is likely to have changed) to place 91/109 (Yemen) with household expenditure spent in food ranging from 15.5% (Israel) to 60% (Egypt). Lower spending on food as a share of household consumption in most countries and better food safety net programs in the MENA have contributed to a notable increase in food affordability. The region has also, however, experienced a decline in food availability, owing to more limited food supplies and higher volatility of agricultural production. In terms of food quality and safety the MENA has the top ranking country (Israel). The most frequent challenges faced by the countries of the MENA include public expenditure on agricultural research and development as well as volatility of agricultural production. Food security is a complex phenomenon that interacts with many other indicators of a country’s wellbeing; in the MENA it is slowly but markedly improving.
Keywords: Diet, food insecurity, global food security index, nutrition, sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 39962615 Polymer Aerostatic Thrust Bearing under Circular Support for High Static Stiffness
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A new design of aerostatic thrust bearing is proposed for high static stiffness. The bearing body, which is mead of polymer covered with metallic membrane, is held by a circular ring. Such a support helps form a concave air gap to grasp the air pressure. The polymer body, which can be made rapidly by either injection or molding is able to provide extra damping under dynamic loading. The smooth membrane not only serves as the bearing surface but also protects the polymer body. The restrictor is a capillary inside a silicone tube. It can passively compensate the variation of load by expanding the capillary diameter for more air flux. In the present example, the stiffness soars from 15.85 N/μm of typical bearing to 349.85 N/μm at bearing elevation 9.5 μm; meanwhile the load capacity also enhances from 346.86 N to 704.18 N.Keywords: Aerostatic, bearing, polymer, static stiffness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20852614 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Memory Overcommit Techniques on KVM-based Hosting Platform
Authors: Chin-Hung Li
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Determining how many virtual machines a Linux host could run can be a challenge. One of tough missions is to find the balance among performance, density and usability. Now KVM hypervisor has become the most popular open source full virtualization solution. It supports several ways of running guests with more memory than host really has. Due to large differences between minimum and maximum guest memory requirements, this paper presents initial results on same-page merging, ballooning and live migration techniques that aims at optimum memory usage on KVM-based cloud platform. Given the design of initial experiments, the results data is worth reference for system administrators. The results from these experiments concluded that each method offers different reliability tradeoff.Keywords: Kernel-based Virtual Machine, Overcommit, Virtualization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31232613 Prediction of the Rear Fuselage Temperature with Radiation Shield
Authors: Kyung Joo Yi, Seung Wook Baek, Sung Nam Lee, Man Young Kim, Won Cheol Kim, Gun Yung Go
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In order to enhance the aircraft survivability, the infrared signatures emitted by hot engine parts should be determined exactly. For its reduction it is necessary for the rear fuselage temperature to be decreased. In this study, numerical modeling of flow fields and heat transfer characteristics of an aircraft nozzle is performed and its temperature distribution along each component wall is predicted. The radiation shield is expected to reduce the skin temperature of rear fuselage. The effect of material characteristic of radiation shield on the heat transfer is also investigated. Through this numerical analysis, design parameters related to the susceptibility of aircraft are examined.Keywords: Infrared signature, Nozzle flow, Radiation shield, Rear fuselage temperature, Susceptibility
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21252612 Motion Planning and Posture Control of the General 3-Trailer System
Authors: K. Raghuwaiya, B. Sharma, J. Vanualailai
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This paper presents a set of artificial potential field functions that improves upon, in general, the motion planning and posture control, with theoretically guaranteed point and posture stabilities, convergence and collision avoidance properties of the general3-trailer system in a priori known environment. We basically design and inject two new concepts; ghost walls and the distance optimization technique (DOT) to strengthen point and posture stabilities, in the sense of Lyapunov, of our dynamical model. This new combination of techniques emerges as a convenient mechanism for obtaining feasible orientations at the target positions with an overall reduction in the complexity of the navigation laws. Simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controls laws.
Keywords: Artificial potential fields, 3-trailer systems, motion planning, posture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21512611 NSBS: Design of a Network Storage Backup System
Authors: Xinyan Zhang, Zhipeng Tan, Shan Fan
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The first layer of defense against data loss is the backup data. This paper implements an agent-based network backup system used the backup, server-storage and server-backup agent these tripartite construction, and the snapshot and hierarchical index are used in the NSBS. It realizes the control command and data flow separation, balances the system load, thereby improving efficiency of the system backup and recovery. The test results show the agent-based network backup system can effectively improve the task-based concurrency, reasonably allocate network bandwidth, the system backup performance loss costs smaller and improves data recovery efficiency by 20%.
Keywords: Agent, network backup system, three architecture model, NSBS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22322610 High-Speed Particle Image Velocimetry of the Flow around a Moving Train Model with Boundary Layer Control Elements
Authors: Alexander Buhr, Klaus Ehrenfried
Abstract:
Trackside induced airflow velocities, also known as slipstream velocities, are an important criterion for the design of high-speed trains. The maximum permitted values are given by the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and have to be checked in the approval process. For train manufactures it is of great interest to know in advance, how new train geometries would perform in TSI tests. The Reynolds number in moving model experiments is lower compared to full-scale. Especially the limited model length leads to a thinner boundary layer at the rear end. The hypothesis is that the boundary layer rolls up to characteristic flow structures in the train wake, in which the maximum flow velocities can be observed. The idea is to enlarge the boundary layer using roughness elements at the train model head so that the ratio between the boundary layer thickness and the car width at the rear end is comparable to a full-scale train. This may lead to similar flow structures in the wake and better prediction accuracy for TSI tests. In this case, the design of the roughness elements is limited by the moving model rig. Small rectangular roughness shapes are used to get a sufficient effect on the boundary layer, while the elements are robust enough to withstand the high accelerating and decelerating forces during the test runs. For this investigation, High-Speed Particle Image Velocimetry (HS-PIV) measurements on an ICE3 train model have been realized in the moving model rig of the DLR in Göttingen, the so called tunnel simulation facility Göttingen (TSG). The flow velocities within the boundary layer are analysed in a plain parallel to the ground. The height of the plane corresponds to a test position in the EN standard (TSI). Three different shapes of roughness elements are tested. The boundary layer thickness and displacement thickness as well as the momentum thickness and the form factor are calculated along the train model. Conditional sampling is used to analyse the size and dynamics of the flow structures at the time of maximum velocity in the train wake behind the train. As expected, larger roughness elements increase the boundary layer thickness and lead to larger flow velocities in the boundary layer and in the wake flow structures. The boundary layer thickness, displacement thickness and momentum thickness are increased by using larger roughness especially when applied in the height close to the measuring plane. The roughness elements also cause high fluctuations in the form factors of the boundary layer. Behind the roughness elements, the form factors rapidly are approaching toward constant values. This indicates that the boundary layer, while growing slowly along the second half of the train model, has reached a state of equilibrium.Keywords: Boundary layer, high-speed PIV, ICE3, moving train model, roughness elements.
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