Search results for: public procurement
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1112

Search results for: public procurement

542 Concealed Objects Detection in Visible, Infrared and Terahertz Ranges

Authors: M. Kowalski, M. Kastek, M. Szustakowski

Abstract:

Multispectral screening systems are becoming more popular because of their very interesting properties and applications. One of the most significant applications of multispectral screening systems is prevention of terrorist attacks. There are many kinds of threats and many methods of detection. Visual detection of objects hidden under clothing of a person is one of the most challenging problems of threats detection. There are various solutions of the problem; however, the most effective utilize multispectral surveillance imagers. The development of imaging devices and exploration of new spectral bands is a chance to introduce new equipment for assuring public safety. We investigate the possibility of long lasting detection of potentially dangerous objects covered with various types of clothing. In the article we present the results of comparative studies of passive imaging in three spectrums – visible, infrared and terahertz.

Keywords: Infrared, image processing, object detection, screening camera, terahertz.

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541 Traces of Birdhouse Tradition in Anatolia

Authors: Çiğdem Tekin, C. Zeynep Oğuz

Abstract:

The birdhouses and dovecotes, which are the indicator of naturalness and human-animal relationship, are one of the traditional cultural values of Turkey. With their structures compatible with nature and respectful to humans the bird houses and dovecotes, which have an important position in local urbanization models as a representative of the civil architecture with their unique form and function are important subjects that should be evaluated in a wide frame comprising from architecture to urbanism, from ecologic agriculture to globalization. The traditional bird houses and dovecotes are disregarded due to the insensitivity affecting the city life and the change in the public sense of art. In this study, the characteristic properties of traditional dovecotes and birdhouses, started in 13th century and ended in 19th century in Anatolia, are tried to be defined for the sustainability of the tradition and for giving a new direction to the designers.

Keywords: Birdhouse, conservation, human-animal relationship, traditional identity.

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540 A Condition Rating System for Wastewater Treatment Plants Infrastructures

Authors: Altayeb Qasem, Tarek Zayed, Zhi Chen

Abstract:

Statistics Canada stated that the wastewater treatment facilities in most provinces are aging and passes 63% of their useful life in 2007 the highest ratio among public infrastructure assets. Currently, there is no standard condition rating system for wastewater treatment plants that give a specific rating index that describe the physical integrity of different infrastructure elements in the treatment plant and its environmental performance. The main objective of this study is to develop a condition-rating index for wastewater treatment plants mainly activated sludge systems. The proposed WWTP CRI, is based on dividing the treatment plant into its three treatment phases; primary phase, secondary phase and the tertiary phase. The condition-rating index will reflect the infrastructures state for each phase, mainly tanks, pipes, blowers and pumps.

Keywords: Condition rating index, Wastewater treatment plants, AHP- MUAT.

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539 A Study of the Assistant Application for Tourists Taking Metros

Authors: Anqi Wang, Linye Zhang

Abstract:

With the proliferation and development of mobile devices, various mobile apps have appeared to satisfy people’s needs. Metro, with the feature of convenient, punctuality and economic, is one of the most popular modes of transportation in cities. Yet, there are still some inconveniences brought by various factors, impacting tourists’ riding experience. The aim of this study is to help tourists to shorten the time of purchasing tickets, to provide them clear metro information and direct navigation, detailed schedule as well as a way to collect metro cards as souvenir. The study collects data through three phases, including observation, survey and test. Data collected from 106 tourists totally in Wuhan metro stations are discussed in the study. The result reflects tourists’ demand when they take the metro. It also indicates the feasibility of using mobile technology to improve passenger’s experience.

Keywords: Mobile App, metro, public transportation, ticket, mobile payment, indoors positioning, tourists.

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538 A Study of Factors Affecting the Elapsed Time of Housing Renewal Project Implementation in Seoul

Authors: In Su Na, Gunwon Lee, Seiyong Kim

Abstract:

This study analyzed the effect of area variables and economic variables on the length of each period of the project in order to analyze the effect of agreement rate on project implementation in housing renewal projects. In conclusion, as can be seen from these results, a low agreement rate may not translate into project promotion, and a higher agreement rate may not translate into project delay. The expectation of the policy is that the lower the agreement rate, the more projects would be promoted, but that is not the actual effect. From a policy consistency viewpoint, changing the agreement rate frequently, depending on the decision of the public, is not reasonable. The policy of using agreement rate as a necessary condition for project implementation should be reconsidered.

Keywords: Area and Economic Variables, Elapsed time, Housing Renewal Project.

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537 China’s Health Silk Road in the Southeast Asia and Europe during COVID-19

Authors: Wanda Luen-Wun Siu, Xiaowen Zhang

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportune time for China to deploy its health diplomacy around the world. This paper focused on China’s health diplomacy along the path of its Health Silk Road, with particular emphasis on the Southeast Asia and Europe amid COVID-19. This paper employed a retrospective literature review, analyzed China’s health diplomacy in such regions to cultivate bilateral and multilateral relationships. Findings argued that such health diplomacy is a success and China has taken the helm of international public health patronage. This research contributes to the literature in health diplomacy and suggests that amid the ever changing international order, China has exerted great effort in its health diplomacy and established itself as a responsible world power.

Keywords: China’s health silk road, COVID-19, Europe, Middle East.

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536 Secure Proxy Signature Based on Factoring and Discrete Logarithm

Authors: H. El-Kamchouchi, Heba Gaber, Fatma Ahmed, Dalia H. El-Kamchouchi

Abstract:

A digital signature is an electronic signature form used by an original signer to sign a specific document. When the original signer is not in his office or when he/she travels outside, he/she delegates his signing capability to a proxy signer and then the proxy signer generates a signing message on behalf of the original signer. The two parties must be able to authenticate one another and agree on a secret encryption key, in order to communicate securely over an unreliable public network. Authenticated key agreement protocols have an important role in building a secure communications network between the two parties. In this paper, we present a secure proxy signature scheme over an efficient and secure authenticated key agreement protocol based on factoring and discrete logarithm problem.

Keywords: Discrete logarithm, factoring, proxy signature, key agreement.

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535 Airport Investment Risk Assessment under Uncertainty

Authors: Elena M. Capitanul, Carlos A. Nunes Cosenza, Walid El Moudani, Felix Mora Camino

Abstract:

The construction of a new airport or the extension of an existing one requires massive investments and many times public private partnerships were considered in order to make feasible such projects. One characteristic of these projects is uncertainty with respect to financial and environmental impacts on the medium to long term. Another one is the multistage nature of these types of projects. While many airport development projects have been a success, some others have turned into a nightmare for their promoters. This communication puts forward a new approach for airport investment risk assessment. The approach takes explicitly into account the degree of uncertainty in activity levels prediction and proposes milestones for the different stages of the project for minimizing risk. Uncertainty is represented through fuzzy dual theory and risk management is performed using dynamic programming. An illustration of the proposed approach is provided.

Keywords: Airports, fuzzy logic, risk, uncertainty.

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534 The Efficacy of Neurological Impress Method and Repeated Reading on Reading Fluency of Children with Learning Disabilities in Oyo State, Nigeria

Authors: A. O. Oladele

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness of neurological impress method and repeated reading technique on reading fluency of children with learning disabilities. Thirty primary four pupils in three public primary schools participated in the study. There were two experimental groups and a control. This research employed a 3 by 2 factorial matrix and the participants were taught for one session. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the research. T-test was used to analyse the data gathered, and data analysis revealed that pupils exposed to the two treatment strategies had improvement in their reading fluency. It was recommended that the two strategies used in the study can be used to intervene in reading fluency problems in children with learning disabilities.

Keywords: Learning disabilities, neurological impress method, repeated reading, reading fluency.

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533 Private Law, Public Justice: Another Look at Imprisonment for Debt under the Jordanian Law

Authors: Haitham A. Haloush

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Debtors' imprisonment in Jordan is a problematic issue since it impinges upon required financial guarantees that are presumably offered by debtors on the one hand, and infringes flagrantly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the other hand. Jordan lacks regulatory provisions in this respect and debtors' imprisonment is indirectly exercised in Jordan without giving a special legal attention to this concern. From this perspective, this research reviews the available regulations, standard laws and codes of conduct that might guide the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Jordanian context. Furthermore, this article will examine the suitability of the Jordanian legal system in providing sufficient protection for debtors. The author argues that there are serious obstacles in this aspect.

Keywords: The Jordanian Civil Code, the Jordanian Execution Law, imprisonment for debt, good faith, the Jordanian Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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532 Egyptian Electronic Government: The University Enrolment Case Study

Authors: Hend S.H. Hassan, Essam M. Shehab, Joe Peppard

Abstract:

E-government projects have potential for greater efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. For this reason, many developing countries governments have invested heavily in this agenda and an increasing number of e-government projects are being implemented. However, there is a lack of clear case material, which describes the potentialities and consequence experienced by organizations trying to manage with this change. The Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) is the organization responsible for the e-Government program in Egypt since early 2004. This paper presents a case study of the process of admission to public universities and institutions in Egypt which is led by MSAD. Underlining the key benefits resulting from the initiative, explaining the strategies and the development steps used to implement it, and highlighting the main obstacles encountered and how they were overcome will help repeat the experience in other useful e-government projects.

Keywords: Case studies, Egypt, Electronic government, Electronic services, University enrolment.

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531 Neural Network Imputation in Complex Survey Design

Authors: Safaa R. Amer

Abstract:

Missing data yields many analysis challenges. In case of complex survey design, in addition to dealing with missing data, researchers need to account for the sampling design to achieve useful inferences. Methods for incorporating sampling weights in neural network imputation were investigated to account for complex survey designs. An estimate of variance to account for the imputation uncertainty as well as the sampling design using neural networks will be provided. A simulation study was conducted to compare estimation results based on complete case analysis, multiple imputation using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and neural network imputation. Furthermore, a public-use dataset was used as an example to illustrate neural networks imputation under a complex survey design

Keywords: Complex survey, estimate, imputation, neural networks, variance.

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530 Safety Assessment of Traditional Ready-to-Eat Meat Products Vended at Retail Outlets in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria

Authors: M. I. Ribah, M. Jibir, Y. A. Bashar, S. S. Manga

Abstract:

Food safety is a significant and growing public health problem in the world and Nigeria as a developing country, since food-borne diseases are important contributors to the huge burden of sickness and death of humans. In Nigeria, traditional ready-to-eat meat products (RTE-MPs) like balangu, tsire, guru and dried meat products like kilishi, dambun nama, banda, were reported to be highly appreciated because of their eating qualities. The consumption of these products was considered as safe due to the treatments that are usually involved during their production process. However, during processing and handling, the products could be contaminated by pathogens that could cause food poisoning. Therefore, a hazard identification for pathogenic bacteria on some traditional RTE-MPs was conducted in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria. A total of 116 RTE-MPs (balangu-38, kilishi-39 and tsire-39) samples were obtained from retail outlets and analyzed using standard cultural microbiological procedures in general and selective enrichment media to isolate the target pathogens. A six-fold serial dilution was prepared and using the pour plating method, colonies were counted. Serial dilutions were selected based on the prepared pre-labeled Petri dishes for each sample. A volume of 10-12 ml of molten Nutrient agar cooled to 42-45°C was poured into each Petri dish and 1 ml each from dilutions of 102, 104 and 106 for every sample was respectively poured on a pre-labeled Petri plate after which colonies were counted. The isolated pathogens were identified and confirmed after series of biochemical tests. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the presence of pathogens. The General Linear Model was used to analyze data on pathogen presence according to RTE-MPs and means were separated using the Tukey test at 0.05 confidence level. Of the 116 RTE-MPs samples collected, 35 (30.17%) samples were found to be contaminated with some tested pathogens. Prevalence results showed that Escherichia coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the samples. Mean total bacterial count was 23.82×106 cfu/g. The frequency of individual pathogens isolated was; Staphylococcus aureus 18 (15.51%), Escherichia coli 12 (10.34%) and Salmonella 5 (4.31%). Also, among the RTE-MPs tested, the total bacterial counts were found to differ significantly (P < 0.05), with 1.81, 2.41 and 2.9×104 cfu/g for tsire, kilishi, and balangu, respectively. The study concluded that the presence of pathogenic bacteria in balangu could pose grave health risks to consumers, and hence, recommended good manufacturing practices in the production of balangu to improve the products’ safety.

Keywords: Ready-to-eat meat products, retail outlets, safety assessment, public health.

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529 Novel Glycopolymers Containing Carbohydrate Moiety: Copolymerization and Thermal Properties

Authors: Liliana M. Ştefan, Ana M. Pană, Geza Bandur, Marcel Popa, Lucian M. Rusnac

Abstract:

Polymers are one of the most widely used materials in our every day life. The subject of renewable resources has attracted great attention in the last period of time. New polymeric materials derived from renewable resources, like carbohydrates draw attention to public eye especially because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability. The aim of our paper was to obtain environmentally compatible polymers from monosaccharides. Novel glycopolymers based on D-glucose have been obtained from copolymerization of a new monomer carrying carbohydrate moiety with methyl methacrylate (MMA) via free radical bulk polymerization. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed in order to study the copolymerization process of the monomer into the chosen co-monomer; the activation energy of this process was evaluated using Ozawa method. The copolymers obtained were characterized using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the obtained products was studied by thermogravimetry (TG).

Keywords: DSC, glycopolymer, monosaccarides, TG.

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528 Stakeholder Analysis of Agricultural Drone Policy: A Case Study of the Agricultural Drone Ecosystem of Thailand

Authors: Thanomsin Chakreeves, Atichat Preittigun, Ajchara Phu-ang

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This paper presents a stakeholder analysis of agricultural drone policies that meet the government's goal of building an agricultural drone ecosystem in Thailand. Firstly, case studies from other countries are reviewed. The stakeholder analysis method and qualitative data from the interviews are then presented including data from the Institute of Innovation and Management, the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council, agricultural entrepreneurs and farmers. Study and interview data are then employed to describe the current ecosystem and to guide the implementation of agricultural drone policies that are suitable for the ecosystem of Thailand. Finally, policy recommendations are then made that the Thai government should adopt in the future.

Keywords: Drone public policy, drone ecosystem, policy development, agricultural drone.

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527 Investigating Sustainable Neighborhood Development in Jahanshahr

Authors: Khashayar Kashani Jou, Ilnaz Fathololoomi

Abstract:

Nowadays, access to sustainable development in cities is assumed as one of the most important goals of urban managers. In the meanwhile, neighborhood as the smallest unit of urban spatial organization has a substantial effect on urban sustainability. Hence, attention to and focus on this subject is highly important in urban development plans. The objective of this study is evaluation of the status of Jahanshahr Neighborhood in Karaj city based on sustainable neighborhood development indicators. This research has been applied based on documentary method and field surveys. Also, evaluating of Jahanshahr Neighborhood of Karaj shows that it has a high level in sustainability in physical and economical dimension while a low level in cultural and social dimension. For this purpose, this neighborhood as a semi-sustainable neighborhood must take measures for development of collective spaces and efficiency of utilizing the public neighborhood spaces via collaboration of citizens and officials.

Keywords: Neighborhood, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Neighborhood Development, Jahanshahr Neighborhood.

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526 Analysis of Socio-Cultural Obstacles for Dissemination of Nanotechnology from Iran's Agricultural Experts Perspective

Authors: S. M. Mirdamadi, S. Esmaeili, S. A. Tohidloo

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The main purpose of this research was to analyze Socio-Cultural obstacles of disseminating of nanotechnology in Iran's agricultural section. One hundred twenty eight out of a total of 190 researchers with different levels of expertise in and familiarity with nanotechnology were randomly selected and questionnaires completed by them. Face validity have been done by expert's suggestion and correction, reliability by using Cronbakh-Alpha formula. The results of a factor analysis showed variation for different factors. For cultural factors 19/475 percent, for management 13/139 percent, information factor 11/277 percent, production factor 9/703 percent, social factor 9/267 percent, and for attitude factor it became 8/947 percent. Also results indicated that socio-cultural factors were the most important obstacle for nanotechnology dissemination in agricultural section in Iran.

Keywords: Agriculture, Iran, nanotechnology, public perception, social-cultural obstacles.

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525 The National Security Assurance of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Authors: Sholpan Zhandossova, Erden Ordabek, Yelbolsyn Nazarov

Abstract:

the article analyzes the national security as a scientific and practical problem, characterized by the state's political institutions to ensure effective action to maintain optimal conditions for the existence and development of the individual and society. National security, as a category of political science reflects the relationship between the security to the nation, including public relations and social consciousness, social institutions and their activities, ensuring the realization of national interests in a particular historical situation. In national security are three security levels: individual, society and state. Their role and place determined by the nature of social relations, political systems, the presence of internal and external threats. In terms of content in the concept of national security is taken to provide political, economic, military, environmental, information security and safety of the cultural development of the nation.

Keywords: Kazakhstan, national security, religious extremism

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524 The Household Behavior on Solid Waste and Wastewater Management in Municipal Area with Cleanliness Policy Determined by Community

Authors: Paiboon Jeamponk

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The Bangnanglee Sub-district Administrative Office, Thailand had initiated a policy to environmental protection with encouraging household waste management in order to promote civil responsibility for domestic hygienic. This research studied the household behaviors on solid waste and wastewater management. A sample population of 306 families answered a questionnaire. The study showed that, on average, domestic activities had produced 1.93 kilograms of waste per household per day. It has been found that 79% of the households made several attempts to reduce their own amount of waste. 80% of the households stationed their own garbage bins. 71% managed their waste by selling recyclable products. As for the rest of the waste, 51% burned them, while 29% disposed their waste in the nearby public trashcans and other 13% have them buried. As for wastewater, 60% of the households disposed it into the sewage, whereas 30% disposed them right from their elevated house.

Keywords: Environmental integrated management, environmental protection, household waste management.

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523 The Paralinguistic Function of Emojis in Twitter Communication

Authors: Yasmin Tantawi, Mary Beth Rosson

Abstract:

In response to the dearth of information about emoji use for different purposes in different settings, this paper investigates the paralinguistic function of emojis within Twitter communication in the United States. To conduct this investigation, the Twitter feeds from 16 population centers spread throughout the United States were collected from the Twitter public API. One hundred tweets were collected from each population center, totaling to 1,600 tweets. Tweets containing emojis were next extracted using the “emot” Python package; these were then analyzed via the IBM Watson API Natural Language Understanding module to identify the topics discussed. A manual content analysis was then conducted to ascertain the paralinguistic and emotional features of the emojis used in these tweets. We present our characterization of emoji usage in Twitter and discuss implications for the design of Twitter and other text-based communication tools.

Keywords: Computer mediated communication, content analysis, paralinguistics, sociology.

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522 Perceptions of Health Risks amongst Tertiary Education Students in Mauritius

Authors: Smita S. D. Goorah, Dilish Jokhoo

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A personal estimate of a health risk may not correspond to a scientific assessment of the health risk. Hence, there is a need to investigate perceived health risks in the public. In this study, a young, educated and healthy group of people from a tertiary institute were questioned about their health concerns. Ethics clearance was obtained and data was collected by means of a questionnaire. 362 students participated in the study. Tobacco use, heavy alcohol drinking, illicit drugs, unsafe sex and potential carcinogens were perceived to be the five greatest threats to health in this cohort. On the other hand natural health products, unemployment, unmet contraceptive needs, family violence and homelessness were felt to be the least perceived health risks. Nutrition-related health risks as well as health risks due to physical inactivity and obesity were not perceived as major health threats. Such a study of health perceptions may guide health promotion campaigns.

Keywords: Health promotion, perceptions of health risks, university students.

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521 Fastest Growing Crime with Invisible Chains: A Review of Escaping Sex Trafficking Frameworks in Canada

Authors: Alisha Fisher

Abstract:

Survivors of sex trafficking often report extensive harm not just from the violence itself, but multiple levels such as internalized shame, societal misunderstandings, and the process of reporting, exiting, and healing. The aim of this article is to examine the multi-layered approach to supporting survivors who are exiting sex trafficking through immediate, short-term, and long-term care approaches. We present a systematic review of the current barriers structurally, psychosocially, and psychologically through a Canadian perspective, and apply them to the interventions within the service continuum, basic needs, and further needs and supports to consider. This article suggests that ongoing and additional funding to survivor’s support services, specialized police and heath care training, and increased prevention and public education on the realities of sex trafficking in Canada is a necessity for survivor healing, and the prevention of further harm.

Keywords: Canada Sex Trafficking, exiting sex trafficking, sex trafficking survivors, sex trafficking supports.

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520 Occurrence of Adult Taenia saginata in Cattle Slaughtered in Major Abattoirs in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

Authors: Lebari B. Gboeloh

Abstract:

The occurrence of adult Taenia saginata in major abattoirs in Port Harcourt metropolis was investigated. Out of 514 cattle investigated, an overall prevalence of 35(6.8%) was recorded. Infected male and female cattle represented 1.2% (6/514) and 5.6% (29/514) of the overall prevalence respectively. There was a statistical significant difference (P< 0.05) in prevalence of adult Taenaia saginata between male and female cattle examined in the study area. Old cattle have a significant (P< 0.05) infestation rate than young ones. Adult Taenia saginata exists in cattle and still remains a public health concern in the study area. Deliberate effort is needed from stake-holders and the Government to design and implement programs that will lead to the prevention and possible eradication of the parasite.

Keywords: Taenia saginata, Adult, Cattle, Occurrence, Port Harcourt.

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519 Power Frequency Magnetic Field Survey in Indoor Power Distribution Substation in Egypt

Authors: Ahmed Hossam_ ElDin, Ahmed Farag, Ibrahim Madi., Hanaa Karawia

Abstract:

In our modern society electricity is vital to our health, safety, comfort and well-being. While our daily use of electricity is often taken for granted, public concern has arisen about potential adverse health effects from electric and magnetic – electromagnetic – fields (EMFs) produced by our use of electricity. This paper aims to compare between the measured magnetic field values and the simulated models for the indoor medium to low voltage (MV/LV) distribution substations. To calculate the magnetic flux density in the substations, interactive software SUBCALC is used which is based on closed form solution of the Biot-Savart law with 3D conductor model. The comparison between the measured values and the simulated models was acceptable. However there were some discrepancies, as expected, may be due to the current variation during measurements.

Keywords: Distribution substation, magnetic field, measurement, simulation.

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518 An Intelligent Fuzzy-Neural Diagnostic System for Osteoporosis Risk Assessment

Authors: Chin-Ming Hong, Chin-Teng Lin, Chao-Yen Huang, Yi-Ming Lin

Abstract:

In this article, we propose an Intelligent Medical Diagnostic System (IMDS) accessible through common web-based interface, to on-line perform initial screening for osteoporosis. The fundamental approaches which construct the proposed system are mainly based on the fuzzy-neural theory, which can exhibit superiority over other conventional technologies in many fields. In diagnosis process, users simply answer a series of directed questions to the system, and then they will immediately receive a list of results which represents the risk degrees of osteoporosis. According to clinical testing results, it is shown that the proposed system can provide the general public or even health care providers with a convenient, reliable, inexpensive approach to osteoporosis risk assessment.

Keywords: BMD, osteoporosis, IMDS, fuzzy-neural theory, web interface.

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517 Pervasive Computing in Healthcare Systems

Authors: Elham Rastegari, Amirmasood Rahmani, Saeed Setayeshi

Abstract:

The hospital and the health-care center of a community, as a place for people-s life-care and health-care settings, must provide more and better services for patients or residents. After Establishing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system -which is a necessity- in the hospital, providing pervasive services is a further step. Our objective in this paper is to use pervasive computing in a case study of healthcare, based on EMR database that coordinates application services over network to form a service environment for medical and health-care. Our method also categorizes the hospital spaces into 3 spaces: Public spaces, Private spaces and Isolated spaces. Although, there are many projects about using pervasive computing in healthcare, but all of them concentrate on the disease recognition, designing smart cloths, or provide services only for patient. The proposed method is implemented in a hospital. The obtained results show that it is suitable for our purpose.

Keywords: Pervasive computing, RFID, Health-care.

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516 Nature of Cities: Ontological Dimension of the Urban

Authors: Ana Cristina García-Luna Romero

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This document seeks to reflect on the urban project from its conceptual identity root. In the first instance, a proposal is made on how the city project is sustained from the conceptual root, from the logos: it opens a way to assimilate the imagination; what we imagine becomes a reality. In this way, firstly, the need to use language as a vehicle for transmitting the stories that sustain us as humanity can be deemed as an important social factor that enables us to social behavior. Secondly, the need to attend to the written language as a mechanism of power, as a means to consolidate a dominant ideology or a political position, is raised; as it served to carry out the modernization project, it is therefore addressed differences between the real and the literate city. Thus, the consolidated urban-architectural project is based on logos, the project, and planning. Considering the importance of materiality and its relation to subjective well-being contextualized from a socio-urban approach, we question ourselves into how we can look at something that is doubtful. From a philosophy perspective, the truth is considered to be nothing more than a matter of correspondence between the observer and the observed. To understand beyond the relative of the gaze, it is necessary to expose different perspectives since it depends on the understanding of what is observed and how it is critically analyzed. Therefore, the analysis of materiality, as a political field, takes a proposal based on this research in the principles in transgenesis: principle of communication, representativeness, security, health, malleability, availability of potentiality or development, conservation, sustainability, economy, harmony, stability, accessibility, justice, legibility, significance, consistency, joint responsibility, connectivity, beauty, among others. The (urban) human being acts because he wants to live in a certain way: in a community, in a fair way, with opportunity for development, with the possibility of managing the environment according to their needs, etc. In order to comply with this principle, it is necessary to design strategies from the principles in transgenesis, which must be named, defined, understood, and socialized by the urban being, the companies, and from themselves. In this way, the technical status of the city in the neoliberal present determines extraordinary conditions for reflecting on an almost emergency scenario created by the impact of cities that, far from being limited to resilient proposals, must aim at the reflection of the urban process that the present social model has generated. Therefore, can we rethink the paradigm of the perception of life quality in the current neoliberal model in the production of the character of public space related to the practices of being urban. What we are trying to do within this document is to build a framework to study under what logic the practices of the social system that make sense of the public space are developed, what the implications of the phenomena of the inscription of action and materialization (and its results over political action between the social and the technical system) are and finally, how we can improve the quality of life of individuals from the urban space.

Keywords: Cities, nature, society, urban quality of life.

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515 Adoption and Diffusion of E-Government Services in India: The Impact of User Demographics and Service Quality

Authors: Sayantan Khanra, Rojers P. Joseph

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This study attempts to analyze the impact of demography and service quality on the adoption and diffusion of e-Government services in the context of India. The objective of this paper is to study the users' perception about e-Government services and investigate the key variables that are most salient to the Indian populace. At the completion of this study, a research model that would help to understand the relationship involving the demographic variables and service quality dimensions, and the willingness to adopt e-Government services is expected to be developed. Dedicated authorities, particularly those in developing economies, may use that model or its augmented versions to design and update e-Government services and promote their use among citizens. After all, enhanced public participation is required to improve efficiency, engagement and transparency in the implementation of the aforementioned services.

Keywords: Adoption and diffusion of e-Government services, demographic variables, hierarchical regression analysis, service quality dimensions.

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514 Opportunities and Options for Government to Promote Corporate Social Responsibility in the Czech Republic

Authors: Pavel Adámek

Abstract:

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Czech Republic has evolved notably during the last few years and an issue that started as an interest- and motive-based activity for businesses is becoming more commonplace. Governments have a role to play in ensuring that corporations behave according to the rules and norms of society and can legislate, foster, collaborate with businesses and endorse good practice in order to facilitate the development of CSR. The purpose of this paper is to examine the opportunities and options of CSR in government policy and research its relevance to a business sector. An increasing number of companies is engaging in responsible activities, the public awareness of CSR is rising, and customers are giving higher importance to CSR of companies in their choice. By drawing on existing CSR approach in Czech and understanding of CSR are demonstrated. The paper provides an overview, more detailed government approach of CSR.

Keywords: Approach, corporate social responsibility, government policy, instruments.

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513 An Approach Based on Statistics and Multi-Resolution Representation to Classify Mammograms

Authors: Nebi Gedik

Abstract:

One of the significant and continual public health problems in the world is breast cancer. Early detection is very important to fight the disease, and mammography has been one of the most common and reliable methods to detect the disease in the early stages. However, it is a difficult task, and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are needed to assist radiologists in providing both accurate and uniform evaluation for mass in mammograms. In this study, a multiresolution statistical method to classify mammograms as normal and abnormal in digitized mammograms is used to construct a CAD system. The mammogram images are represented by wave atom transform, and this representation is made by certain groups of coefficients, independently. The CAD system is designed by calculating some statistical features using each group of coefficients. The classification is performed by using support vector machine (SVM).

Keywords: Wave atom transform, statistical features, multi-resolution representation, mammogram.

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