Search results for: Control Approach.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 8103

Search results for: Control Approach.

1863 Parallel Priority Region Approach to Detect Background

Authors: Sallama Athab, Hala Bahjat, Zhang Yinghui

Abstract:

Background detection is essential in video analyses; optimization is often needed in order to achieve real time calculation. Information gathered by dual cameras placed in the front and rear part of an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) is integrated for background detection. In this paper, real time calculation is achieved on the proposed technique by using Priority Regions (PR) and Parallel Processing together where each frame is divided into regions then and each region process is processed in parallel. PR division depends upon driver view limitations. A background detection system is built on the Temporal Difference (TD) and Gaussian Filtering (GF). Temporal Difference and Gaussian Filtering with multi threshold and sigma (weight) value are be based on PR characteristics. The experiment result is prepared on real scene. Comparison of the speed and accuracy with traditional background detection techniques, the effectiveness of PR and parallel processing are also discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Autonomous Vehicle, Background Detection, Dual Camera, Gaussian Filtering, Parallel Processing.

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1862 Study on Discontinuity Properties of Phased-Array Ultrasound Transducer Affecting to Sound Pressure Fields Pattern

Authors: Tran Trong Thang, Nguyen Phan Kien, Trinh Quang Duc

Abstract:

The phased-array ultrasound transducer types are utilities for medical ultrasonography as well as optical imaging. However, their discontinuity characteristic limits the applications due to the artifacts contaminated into the reconstructed images. Because of the effects of the ultrasound pressure field pattern to the echo ultrasonic waves as well as the optical modulated signal, the side lobes of the focused ultrasound beam induced by discontinuity of the phased-array ultrasound transducer might the reason of the artifacts. In this paper, a simple method in approach of numerical simulation was used to investigate the limitation of discontinuity of the elements in phased-array ultrasound transducer and their effects to the ultrasound pressure field. Take into account the change of ultrasound pressure field patterns in the conditions of variation of the pitches between elements of the phased-array ultrasound transducer, the appropriated parameters for phased-array ultrasound transducer design were asserted quantitatively.

Keywords: Phased-array ultrasound transducer, sound pressure pattern, discontinuous sound field, numerical visualization.

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1861 Unit Selection Algorithm Using Bi-grams Model For Corpus-Based Speech Synthesis

Authors: Mohamed Ali KAMMOUN, Ahmed Ben HAMIDA

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a novel statistical approach to corpus-based speech synthesis. Classically, phonetic information is defined and considered as acoustic reference to be respected. In this way, many studies were elaborated for acoustical unit classification. This type of classification allows separating units according to their symbolic characteristics. Indeed, target cost and concatenation cost were classically defined for unit selection. In Corpus-Based Speech Synthesis System, when using large text corpora, cost functions were limited to a juxtaposition of symbolic criteria and the acoustic information of units is not exploited in the definition of the target cost. In this manuscript, we token in our consideration the unit phonetic information corresponding to acoustic information. This would be realized by defining a probabilistic linguistic Bi-grams model basically used for unit selection. The selected units would be extracted from the English TIMIT corpora.

Keywords: Unit selection, Corpus-based Speech Synthesis, Bigram model

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1860 Imposing Speed Constraints on Arrival Flights: Case Study for Changi Airport

Authors: S. Aneeka, S.M. Phyoe, R. Guo, Z.W. Zhong

Abstract:

Arrival flights tend to spend long waiting times at holding stacks if the arrival airport is congested. However, the waiting time spent in the air in the vicinity of the arrival airport may be reduced if the delays are distributed to the cruising phase of the arrival flights by means of speed control. Here, a case study was conducted for the flights arriving at Changi Airport. The flights that were assigned holdings were simulated to fly at a reduced speed during the cruising phase. As the study involves a single airport and is limited to imposing speed constraints to arrivals within 200 NM from its location, the simulation setup in this study could be considered as an application of the Extended Arrival Management (E-AMAN) technique, which is proven to result in considerable fuel savings and more efficient management of delays. The objective of this experiment was to quantify the benefits of imposing cruise speed constraints to arrivals at Changi Airport and to assess the effects on controllers’ workload. The simulation results indicated considerable fuel savings, reduced aircraft emissions and reduced controller workload.

Keywords: Aircraft emissions, air traffic flow management, controller workload, fuel consumption.

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1859 Multidimensional and Data Mining Analysis for Property Investment Risk Analysis

Authors: Nur Atiqah Rochin Demong, Jie Lu, Farookh Khadeer Hussain

Abstract:

Property investment in the real estate industry has a high risk due to the uncertainty factors that will affect the decisions made and high cost. Analytic hierarchy process has existed for some time in which referred to an expert-s opinion to measure the uncertainty of the risk factors for the risk analysis. Therefore, different level of experts- experiences will create different opinion and lead to the conflict among the experts in the field. The objective of this paper is to propose a new technique to measure the uncertainty of the risk factors based on multidimensional data model and data mining techniques as deterministic approach. The propose technique consist of a basic framework which includes four modules: user, technology, end-user access tools and applications. The property investment risk analysis defines as a micro level analysis as the features of the property will be considered in the analysis in this paper.

Keywords: Uncertainty factors, data mining, multidimensional data model, risk analysis.

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1858 A Cognitive Robot Collaborative Reinforcement Learning Algorithm

Authors: Amit Gil, Helman Stern, Yael Edan

Abstract:

A cognitive collaborative reinforcement learning algorithm (CCRL) that incorporates an advisor into the learning process is developed to improve supervised learning. An autonomous learner is enabled with a self awareness cognitive skill to decide when to solicit instructions from the advisor. The learner can also assess the value of advice, and accept or reject it. The method is evaluated for robotic motion planning using simulation. Tests are conducted for advisors with skill levels from expert to novice. The CCRL algorithm and a combined method integrating its logic with Clouse-s Introspection Approach, outperformed a base-line fully autonomous learner, and demonstrated robust performance when dealing with various advisor skill levels, learning to accept advice received from an expert, while rejecting that of less skilled collaborators. Although the CCRL algorithm is based on RL, it fits other machine learning methods, since advisor-s actions are only added to the outer layer.

Keywords: Robot learning, human-robot collaboration, motion planning, reinforcement learning.

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1857 Estimation of the Upper Tail Dependence Coefficient for Insurance Loss Data Using an Empirical Copula-Based Approach

Authors: Adrian O’Hagan, Robert McLoughlin

Abstract:

Considerable focus in the world of insurance risk quantification is placed on modeling loss values from lines of business (LOBs) that possess upper tail dependence. Copulas such as the Joe, Gumbel and Student-t copula may be used for this purpose. The copula structure imparts a desired level of tail dependence on the joint distribution of claims from the different LOBs. Alternatively, practitioners may possess historical or simulated data that already exhibit upper tail dependence, through the impact of catastrophe events such as hurricanes or earthquakes. In these circumstances, it is not desirable to induce additional upper tail dependence when modeling the joint distribution of the loss values from the individual LOBs. Instead, it is of interest to accurately assess the degree of tail dependence already present in the data. The empirical copula and its associated upper tail dependence coefficient are presented in this paper as robust, efficient means of achieving this goal.

Keywords: Empirical copula, extreme events, insurance loss reserving, upper tail dependence coefficient.

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1856 A Hybrid Scheme for on-Line Diagnostic Decision Making Using Optimal Data Representation and Filtering Technique

Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

Abstract:

The early diagnostic decision making in industrial processes is absolutely necessary to produce high quality final products. It helps to provide early warning for a special event in a process, and finding its assignable cause can be obtained. This work presents a hybrid diagnostic schmes for batch processes. Nonlinear representation of raw process data is combined with classification tree techniques. The nonlinear kernel-based dimension reduction is executed for nonlinear classification decision boundaries for fault classes. In order to enhance diagnosis performance for batch processes, filtering of the data is performed to get rid of the irrelevant information of the process data. For the diagnosis performance of several representation, filtering, and future observation estimation methods, four diagnostic schemes are evaluated. In this work, the performance of the presented diagnosis schemes is demonstrated using batch process data.

Keywords: Diagnostics, batch process, nonlinear representation, data filtering, multivariate statistical approach

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1855 A Comprehensive Study on Phytoextractive Potential of Sri Lankan Mustard (Brassica Juncea (L.) Czern. and Coss) Genotypes

Authors: S. Somaratne, S. R. Weerakoon

Abstract:

Heavy metal pollution is an environmental concern. Phytoremediation is a low-cost, environmental-friendly approach to solve this problem. Mustard has the potential in reducing heavy metal contents in soils. Among mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss) genotypes in Sri Lanka, accessions 7788, 8831 and 5088 give significantly a high yield. Therefore, present study was conducted to quantify the phytoextractive potential among these local mustard accessions and to assess the interaction of heavy metals, Pb, Co, Mn on phytoextraction. A pot experiment was designed with acid washed sand (quartz) and a series of heavy metal solutions of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/g. Experiment was carried out with factorial experimental design. Mustard accessions were tolerant to heavy metals and could be successfully used in removal of Pb, Co and Mn and they are capable of accumulating significant quantities of heavy metals in vegetative and reproductive organs. The order of the accumulative potential of Pb, Co and Mn in mustard accessions is, root > shoot >seed.

Keywords: Brassica juncea, heavy metal hyper-accumulation, phytoremediation

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1854 Knowledge Management Challenges within Traditional Procurement System

Authors: M. Takhtravanchi, C. Pathirage

Abstract:

In the construction industry, project members are conveyor of project knowledge which is, often, not managed properly to be used in future projects. As construction projects are temporary and unique, project members are willing to be recruited once a project is completed. Therefore, poor management of knowledge across construction projects will lead to a considerable amount of knowledge loss; the ignoring of which would be detrimental to project performance. This issue is more prominent in projects undertaken through the traditional procurement system, as this system does not incentives project members for integration. Thus, disputes exist between the design and construction phases based on the poor management of knowledge between those two phases. This paper aims to highlight the challenges of the knowledge management that exists within the traditional procurement system. Expert interviews were conducted and challenges were identified and analysed by the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach in order to summarise the relationships among them. Two identified key challenges are the Culture of an Organisation and Knowledge Management Policies. A knowledge of the challenges and their relationships will help project manager and stakeholders to have a better understanding of the importance of knowledge management.

Keywords: Challenges, construction industry, knowledge management, traditional procurement system.

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1853 What Do Young People Seeking Professional Help Want and Expect From Therapy?

Authors: Clare Watsford, Debra Rickwood

Abstract:

Client expectations and preferences about therapy represent an important area of investigation as research shows they are linked to engagement in therapy and therapy outcomes. Studies examining young people-s expectations and preferences of therapy remain a neglected area of research. The present study explored what expectations and preferences young people seeking professional help held regarding: their role as a client, their therapist-s role, their therapeutic outcomes, and the processes of therapy. Gender and age differences were also examined. Participants included 188 young people aged 12-25 who completed a survey while attending their initial session at a youth mental health service. Data were analysed using quantitative methods. Results found the young people held significantly more pessimistic expectations around therapy when compared to what they had wanted therapy to be like. Few age and gender differences were found. Results highlight the importance of a collaborative therapy approach when working with young people.

Keywords: Client expectations, mental health services, preferences, young people

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1852 Determination of Water Pollution and Water Quality with Decision Trees

Authors: Çiğdem Bakır, Mecit Yüzkat

Abstract:

With the increasing emphasis on water quality worldwide, the search for and expanding the market for new and intelligent monitoring systems has increased. The current method is the laboratory process, where samples are taken from bodies of water, and tests are carried out in laboratories. This method is time-consuming, a waste of manpower and uneconomical. To solve this problem, we used machine learning methods to detect water pollution in our study. We created decision trees with the Orange3 software used in the study and tried to determine all the factors that cause water pollution. An automatic prediction model based on water quality was developed by taking many model inputs such as water temperature, pH, transparency, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and ammonia nitrogen with machine learning methods. The proposed approach consists of three stages: Preprocessing of the data used, feature detection and classification. We tried to determine the success of our study with different accuracy metrics and the results were presented comparatively. In addition, we achieved approximately 98% success with the decision tree.

Keywords: Decision tree, water quality, water pollution, machine learning.

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1851 Exploratory Data Analysis of Passenger Movement on Delhi Urban Bus Route

Authors: Sourabh Jain, Sukhvir Singh Jain, Gaurav V. Jain

Abstract:

Intelligent Transportation System is an integrated application of communication, control and monitoring and display process technologies for developing a user–friendly transportation system for urban areas in developing countries. In fact, the development of a country and the progress of its transportation system are complementary to each other. Urban traffic has been growing vigorously due to population growth as well as escalation of vehicle ownership causing congestion, delays, pollution, accidents, high-energy consumption and low productivity of resources. The development and management of urban transport in developing countries like India however, is at tryout stage with very few accumulations. Under the umbrella of ITS, urban corridor management strategy have proven to be one of the most successful system in accomplishing these objectives. The present study interprets and figures out the performance of the 27.4 km long Urban Bus route having six intersections, five flyovers and 29 bus stops that covers significant area of the city by causality analysis. Performance interpretations incorporate Passenger Boarding and Alighting, Dwell time, Distance between Bus Stops and Total trip time taken by bus on selected urban route.

Keywords: Congestion, Dwell time, delay, passengers boarding alighting, travel time.

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1850 Students’ Willingness to Accept Virtual Lecturing Systems: An Empirical Study by Extending the UTAUT Model

Authors: Ahmed Shuhaiber

Abstract:

The explosion of the World Wide Web and the electronic trend of university teaching have transformed the learning style to become more learner-centered, which has popularized the digital delivery of mediated lectures as an alternative or an adjunct to traditional lectures. Despite its potential and popularity, virtual lectures have not been adopted yet in Jordanian universities. This research aimed to fill this gap by studying the factors that influence students’ willingness to accept virtual lectures in one Jordanian University. A quantitative approach was followed, by obtaining 216 survey responses and statistically applying the UTAUT model with some modifications. Results revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influences, and self-efficacy could significantly influence students’ attitudes towards virtual lectures. Additionally, Facilitating conditions and attitudes towards virtual lectures were found with significant influence on students’ intention to take virtual lectures. Research implications and future work were specified afterwards.

Keywords: E-Learning, Student willingness, UTAUT, Virtual Lectures, Web-based learning systems.

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1849 The SAFRS System : A Case-Based Reasoning Training Tool for Capturing and Re-Using Knowledge

Authors: Souad Demigha

Abstract:

The paper aims to specify and build a system, a learning support in radiology-senology (breast radiology) dedicated to help assist junior radiologists-senologists in their radiologysenology- related activity based on experience of expert radiologistssenologists. This system is named SAFRS (i.e. system supporting the training of radiologists-senologists). It is based on the exploitation of radiologic-senologic images (primarily mammograms but also echographic images or MRI) and their related clinical files. The aim of such a system is to help breast cancer screening in education. In order to acquire this expert radiologist-senologist knowledge, we have used the CBR (case-based reasoning) approach. The SAFRS system will promote the evolution of teaching in radiology-senology by offering the “junior radiologist" trainees an advanced pedagogical product. It will permit a strengthening of knowledge together with a very elaborate presentation of results. At last, the know-how will derive from all these factors.

Keywords: Learning support, radiology-senology, training, education, CBR, accumulated experience.

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1848 Pension Plan Member’s Investment Strategies with Transaction Cost and Couple Risky Assets Modelled by the O-U Process

Authors: Udeme O. Ini, Edikan E. Akpanibah

Abstract:

This paper studies the optimal investment strategies for a plan member (PM) in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme with transaction cost, taxes on invested funds and couple risky assets (stocks) under the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U) process. The PM’s portfolio is assumed to consist of a risk-free asset and two risky assets where the two risky assets are driven by the O-U process. The Legendre transformation and dual theory is use to transform the resultant optimal control problem which is a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) into linear PDE and the resultant linear PDE is then solved for the explicit solutions of the optimal investment strategies for PM exhibiting constant absolute risk aversion (CARA) using change of variable technique. Furthermore, theoretical analysis is used to study the influences of some sensitive parameters on the optimal investment strategies with observations that the optimal investment strategies for the two risky assets increase with increase in the dividend and decreases with increase in tax on the invested funds, risk averse coefficient, initial fund size and the transaction cost.

Keywords: Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, portfolio management, Legendre transforms, CARA utility.

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1847 Video-Based Face Recognition Based On State-Space Model

Authors: Cheng-Chieh Chiang, Yi-Chia Chan, Greg C. Lee

Abstract:

This paper proposes a video-based framework for face recognition to identify which faces appear in a video sequence. Our basic idea is like a tracking task - to track a selection of person candidates over time according to the observing visual features of face images in video frames. Hence, we employ the state-space model to formulate video-based face recognition by dividing this problem into two parts: the likelihood and the transition measures. The likelihood measure is to recognize whose face is currently being observed in video frames, for which two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis is employed. The transition measure estimates the probability of changing from an incorrect recognition at the previous stage to the correct person at the current stage. Moreover, extra nodes associated with head nodes are incorporated into our proposed state-space model. The experimental results are also provided to demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our proposed approach.

Keywords: 2DLDA, face recognition, state-space model, likelihood measure, transition measure.

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1846 Enhanced Imperialist Competitive Algorithm for the Cell Formation Problem Using Sequence Data

Authors: S. H. Borghei, E. Teymourian, M. Mobin, G. M. Komaki, S. Sheikh

Abstract:

Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) is a recent meta-heuristic method that is inspired by the social evolutions for solving NP-Hard problems. The ICA is a population-based algorithm which has achieved a great performance in comparison to other metaheuristics. This study is about developing enhanced ICA approach to solve the Cell Formation Problem (CFP) using sequence data. In addition to the conventional ICA, an enhanced version of ICA, namely EICA, applies local search techniques to add more intensification aptitude and embed the features of exploration and intensification more successfully. Suitable performance measures are used to compare the proposed algorithms with some other powerful solution approaches in the literature. In the same way, for checking the proficiency of algorithms, forty test problems are presented. Five benchmark problems have sequence data, and other ones are based on 0-1 matrices modified to sequence based problems. Computational results elucidate the efficiency of the EICA in solving CFP problems.

Keywords: Cell formation problem, Group technology, Imperialist competitive algorithm, Sequence data.

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1845 Fuzzy Approach for Ranking of Motor Vehicles Involved in Road Accidents

Authors: Lazim Abdullah, N orhanadiah Zam

Abstract:

Increasing number of vehicles and lack of awareness among road users may lead to road accidents. However no specific literature was found to rank vehicles involved in accidents based on fuzzy variables of road users. This paper proposes a ranking of four selected motor vehicles involved in road accidents. Human and non-human factors that normally linked with road accidents are considered for ranking. The imprecision or vagueness inherent in the subjective assessment of the experts has led the application of fuzzy sets theory to deal with ranking problems. Data in form of linguistic variables were collected from three authorised personnel of three Malaysian Government agencies. The Multi Criteria Decision Making, fuzzy TOPSIS was applied in computational procedures. From the analysis, it shows that motorcycles vehicles yielded the highest closeness coefficient at 0.6225. A ranking can be drawn using the magnitude of closeness coefficient. It was indicated that the motorcycles recorded the first rank.

Keywords: Road accidents, decision making, closeness coefficient, fuzzy number

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1844 A Detection Method of Faults in Railway Pantographs Based on Dynamic Phase Plots

Authors: G. Santamato, M. Solazzi, A. Frisoli

Abstract:

Systems for detection of damages in railway pantographs effectively reduce the cost of maintenance and improve time scheduling. In this paper, we present an approach to design a monitoring tool fitting strong customer requirements such as portability and ease of use. Pantograph has been modeled to estimate its dynamical properties, since no data are available. With the aim to focus on suspensions health, a two Degrees of Freedom (DOF) scheme has been adopted. Parameters have been calculated by means of analytical dynamics. A Finite Element Method (FEM) modal analysis verified the former model with an acceptable error. The detection strategy seeks phase-plots topology alteration, induced by defects. In order to test the suitability of the method, leakage in the dashpot was simulated on the lumped model. Results are interesting because changes in phase plots are more appreciable than frequency-shift. Further calculations as well as experimental tests will support future developments of this smart strategy.

Keywords: Pantograph models, phase-plots, structural health monitoring, vibration-based condition monitoring.

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1843 A CFD Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement in Pipe Flow with Al2O3 Nanofluid

Authors: P.Kumar

Abstract:

Fluids are used for heat transfer in many engineering equipments. Water, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are some of the common heat transfer fluids. Over the years, in an attempt to reduce the size of the equipment and/or efficiency of the process, various techniques have been employed to improve the heat transfer rate of these fluids. Surface modification, use of inserts and increased fluid velocity are some examples of heat transfer enhancement techniques. Addition of milli or micro sized particles to the heat transfer fluid is another way of improving heat transfer rate. Though this looks simple, this method has practical problems such as high pressure loss, clogging and erosion of the material of construction. These problems can be overcome by using nanofluids, which is a dispersion of nanosized particles in a base fluid. Nanoparticles increase the thermal conductivity of the base fluid manifold which in turn increases the heat transfer rate. In this work, the heat transfer enhancement using aluminium oxide nanofluid has been studied by computational fluid dynamic modeling of the nanofluid flow adopting the single phase approach.

Keywords: Heat transfer intensification, nanofluid, CFD, friction factor

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1842 The Role of the Internal Audit Unit in Detecting and Preventing Fraud at Public Universities in West Java, Indonesia

Authors: Fury Khristianty Fitriyah

Abstract:

This study aims to identify the extent of the role of the Satuan Pengawas Intern (Internal Audit Unit) in detecting and preventing fraud in public universities in West Java under the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education. The research method applied was a qualitative case study approach, while the unit of analysis for this study is the Internal Audit Unit at each public university. Results of this study indicate that the Internal Audit Unit is able to detect and prevent fraud within a public university environment by means of red flags to mark accounting anomalies. These stem from inaccurate budget planning that prompts inappropriate use of funds, exacerbated by late disbursements of funds, which potentially lead to fictitious transactions, and discrepancies in recording state-owned assets into a state property management system (SIMAK BMN), which, if not conducted properly, potentially causes loss to the state.

Keywords: Internal Audit Unit, efficiency, fraud, public university.

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1841 Method of Moments for Analysis of Multiple Crack Interaction in an Isotropic Elastic Solid

Authors: Weifeng Wang, Xianwei Zeng, Jianping Ding

Abstract:

The problem of N cracks interaction in an isotropic elastic solid is decomposed into a subproblem of a homogeneous solid without crack and N subproblems with each having a single crack subjected to unknown tractions on the two crack faces. The unknown tractions, namely pseudo tractions on each crack are expanded into polynomials with unknown coefficients, which have to be determined by the consistency condition, i.e. by the equivalence of the original multiple cracks interaction problem and the superposition of the N+1 subproblems. In this paper, Kachanov-s approach of average tractions is extended into the method of moments to approximately impose the consistence condition. Hence Kachanov-s method can be viewed as the zero-order method of moments. Numerical results of the stress intensity factors are presented for interactions of two collinear cracks, three collinear cracks, two parallel cracks, and three parallel cracks. As the order of moment increases, the accuracy of the method of moments improves.

Keywords: Crack interaction, stress intensity factor, multiplecracks, method of moments.

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1840 Uncertainty Analysis of a Hardware in Loop Setup for Testing Products Related to Building Technology

Authors: Balasundaram Prasaant, Ploix Stephane, Delinchant Benoit, Muresan Cristian

Abstract:

Hardware in Loop (HIL) testing is done to test and validate a particular product especially in building technology. When it comes to building technology, it is more important to test the products for their efficiency. The test rig in the HIL simulator may contribute to some uncertainties on measured efficiency. The uncertainties include physical uncertainties and scenario-based uncertainties. In this paper, a simple uncertainty analysis framework for an HIL setup is shown considering only the physical uncertainties. The entire modeling of the HIL setup is done in Dymola. The uncertain sources are considered based on available knowledge of the components and also on expert knowledge. For the propagation of uncertainty, Monte Carlo Simulation is used since it is the most reliable and easy to use. In this article it is shown how an HIL setup can be modeled and how uncertainty propagation can be performed on it. Such an approach is not common in building energy analysis.

Keywords: Energy in Buildings, Hardware in Loop, Modelica (Dymola), Monte Carlo Simulation, Uncertainty Propagation.

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1839 A Quantitative Study Identifying the Prevalence of Anxiety in Dyslexic Students in Higher Education

Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

Abstract:

Adult students with dyslexia in higher education can receive support for their cognitive needs but may also experience negative emotion such as anxiety due to their dyslexia in connection with their studies. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers. A quantitative approach was used to measure differences in academic and social anxiety between 102 students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia compared to 72 students with no history of learning difficulties. Academic and social anxiety was measured in a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings showed that dyslexic students showed statistically significant higher levels of academic, but not social anxiety in comparison to the non-dyslexic sample. Dyslexic students in higher education show academic anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without dyslexia. The implications of this for the dyslexia practitioner is that delivery of strategies to deal with anxiety should be seen equally as important, if not more so, than interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties.

Keywords: Academic, anxiety, dyslexia, quantitative, students, university.

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1838 Visualization of Latent Sweat Fingerprints Deposit on Paper by Infrared Radiation and Blue Light

Authors: Xiaochun Huang, Xuejun Zhao, Yun Zou, Feiyu Yang, Wenbin Liu, Nan Deng, Ming Zhang, Nengbin Cai

Abstract:

A simple device termed infrared radiation (IR) was developed for rapid visualization of sweat fingerprints deposit on paper with blue light (450 nm, 11 W). In this approach, IR serves as the pretreatment device before the sweat fingerprints was illuminated by blue light. An annular blue light source was adopted for visualizing latent sweat fingerprints. Sample fingerprints were examined under various conditions after deposition, and experimental results indicate that the recovery rate of the latent sweat fingerprints is in the range of 50%-100% without chemical treatments. A mechanism for the observed visibility is proposed based on transportation and re-impregnation of fluorescer in paper at the region of water. And further exploratory experimental results gave the full support to the visible mechanism. Therefore, such a method as IR-pretreated in detecting latent fingerprints may be better for examination in the case where biological information of samples is needed for consequent testing.

Keywords: Forensic science, visualization, infrared radiation, blue light, latent sweat fingerprints, detection.

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1837 Extending the Flipped Classroom Approach: Using Technology in Module Delivery to Students of English Language and Literature at the British University in Egypt

Authors: Azza Taha Zaki

Abstract:

Technology-enhanced teaching has been in the limelight since the 90s when educators started investigating and experimenting with using computers in the classroom as a means of building 21st. century skills and motivating students. The concept of technology-enhanced strategies in education is kaleidoscopic! It has meant different things to different educators. For the purpose of this paper, however, it will be used to refer to the diverse technology-based strategies used to support and enrich the flipped learning process, in the classroom and outside. The paper will investigate how technology is put in the service of teaching and learning to improve the students’ learning experience as manifested in students’ attendance and engagement, achievement rates and finally, students’ projects at the end of the semester. The results will be supported by a student survey about relevant specific aspects of their learning experience in the modules in the study.

Keywords: Attendance, British University, Egypt, flipped, student achievement, student-centred, student engagement, students’ projects.

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1836 Parametric Urban Comfort Envelope an Approach toward a Responsive Sustainable Urban Morphology

Authors: Mohamed M. Saleh, Khalid S. Al-Hagla

Abstract:

By taking advantage of computer-s processing power, an unlimited number of variations and parameters in both spatial and environmental can be provided while following the same set of rules and constraints. This paper focuses on using the tools of parametric urbanism towards a more responsive environmental and sustainable urban morphology. It presents an understanding to Parametric Urban Comfort Envelope (PUCE) as an interactive computational assessment urban model. In addition, it investigates the applicability potentials of this model to generate an optimized urban form to Borg El Arab city (a new Egyptian Community) concerning the human comfort values specially wind and solar envelopes. Finally, this paper utilizes its application outcomes -both visual and numerical- to extend the designer-s limitations by decrease the concern of controlling and manipulation of geometry, and increase the designer-s awareness about the various potentials of using the parametric tools to create relationships that generate multiple geometric alternatives.

Keywords: Assessment model, human comfort, parametric urbanism, sustainable urban morphology.

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1835 Sustainable Engineering: Synergy of BIM and Environmental Assessment Tools in the Hong Kong Construction Industry

Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

Abstract:

The construction industry plays an important role in environmental and carbon emissions as it consumes a huge amount of natural resources and energy. Sustainable engineering involves the process of planning, design, procurement, construction and delivery in which the whole building and construction process resulting from building and construction can be effectively and sustainability managed to achieve the use of natural resources. Implementation of sustainable technology development and innovation, adoption of the advanced construction process and facilitate the facilities management to implement the energy and waste control more accurately and effectively. Study and research in the relationship of BIM and environment assessment tools lack a clear discussion. In this paper, we will focus on the synergy of BIM technology and sustainable engineering in the AEC industry and outline the key factors which enhance the use of advanced innovation, technology and method and define the role of stakeholders to achieve zero-carbon emission toward the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. A case study of the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and environmental assessment tools in Hong Kong will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable engineering, BIM, LEED

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1834 On the Numerical Approach for Simulating Thermal Hydraulics under Seismic Condition

Authors: Tadashi Watanabe

Abstract:

The two-phase flow field and the motion of the free surface in an oscillating channel are simulated numerically to assess the methodology for simulating nuclear reacotr thermal hydraulics under seismic conditions. Two numerical methods are compared: one is to model the oscillating channel directly using the moving grid of the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method, and the other is to simulate the effect of channel motion using the oscillating acceleration acting on the fluid in the stationary channel. The two-phase flow field in the oscillating channel is simulated using the level set method in both cases. The calculated results using the oscillating acceleration are found to coinside with those using the moving grid, and the theoretical back ground and the limitation of oscillating acceleration are discussed. It is shown that the change in the interfacial area between liquid and gas phases under seismic conditions is important for nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics.

Keywords: Two-phase flow, simulation, seismic condition, moving grid, oscillating acceleration, interfacial area

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