Search results for: supply-driven approach to knowledge management.

Authors: Y. Harold Robinson, M. Rajaram

Abstract:

Wireless mesh networking is rapidly gaining in popularity with a variety of users: from municipalities to enterprises, from telecom service providers to public safety and military organizations. This increasing popularity is based on two basic facts: ease of deployment and increase in network capacity expressed in bandwidth per footage; WMNs do not rely on any fixed infrastructure. Many efforts have been used to maximizing throughput of the network in a multi-channel multi-radio wireless mesh network. Current approaches are purely based on either static or dynamic channel allocation approaches. In this paper, we use a hybrid multichannel multi radio wireless mesh networking architecture, where static and dynamic interfaces are built in the nodes. Dynamic Adaptive Channel Allocation protocol (DACA), it considers optimization for both throughput and delay in the channel allocation. The assignment of the channel has been allocated to be codependent with the routing problem in the wireless mesh network and that should be based on passage flow on every link. Temporal and spatial relationship rises to re compute the channel assignment every time when the pattern changes in mesh network, channel assignment algorithms assign channels in network. In this paper a computing path which captures the available path bandwidth is the proposed information and the proficient routing protocol based on the new path which provides both static and dynamic links. The consistency property guarantees that each node makes an appropriate packet forwarding decision and balancing the control usage of the network, so that a data packet will traverse through the right path.

Keywords: Wireless mesh network, spatial time division multiple access, hybrid topology, timeslot allocation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1814

Authors: A. Montazar

Abstract:

The great challenge of the agricultural sector is to produce more crop from less water, which can be achieved by increasing crop water productivity. The modernization of the irrigation systems offers a number of possibilities to expand the economic productivity of water and improve the virtual water status. The objective of the present study is to assess the global water productivity (GWP) within the major irrigation command areas of I.R. Iran. For this purpose, fourteen irrigation command areas where located in different areas of Iran were selected. In order to calculate the global water productivity of irrigation command areas, all data on the delivered water to cropping pattern, cultivated area, crops water requirement, and yield production rate during 2002-2006 were gathered. In each of the command areas it seems that the cultivated crops have a higher amount of virtual water and thus can be replaced by crops with less virtual water. This is merely suggested due to crop water consumption and at the time of replacing crops, economic value as well as cultural and political factors must be considered. The results indicated that the lowest GWP belongs to Mahyar and Borkhar irrigation areas, 0.24 kg m-3, and the highest is that of the Dez irrigation area, 0.81 kg m-3. The findings demonstrated that water management in the two irrigation areas is just efficient. The difference in the GWP of irrigation areas is due to variations in the cropping pattern, amount of crop productions, in addition to the effective factors in the water use efficiency in the irrigation areas.

Keywords: Iran, Irrigation command area, Water productivity, Virtual water.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1649

Authors: Feng-Sheng Wang, Wu-Hsiung Wu, Kai-Cheng Hsu

Abstract:

The optimization of biological systems, which is a branch of metabolic engineering, has generated a lot of industrial and academic interest for a long time. In the last decade, metabolic engineering approaches based on mathematical optimizations have been used extensively for the analysis and manipulation of metabolic networks. In practical optimization of metabolic reaction networks, designers have to manage the nature of uncertainty resulting from qualitative characters of metabolic reactions, e.g., the possibility of enzyme effects. A deterministic approach does not give an adequate representation for metabolic reaction networks with uncertain characters. Fuzzy optimization formulations can be applied to cope with this problem. A fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem can be introduced for finding the optimal engineering interventions on metabolic network systems considering the resilience phenomenon and cell viability constraints. The accuracy of optimization results depends heavily on the development of essential kinetic models of metabolic networks. Kinetic models can quantitatively capture the experimentally observed regulation data of metabolic systems and are often used to find the optimal manipulation of external inputs. To address the issues of optimizing the regulatory structure of metabolic networks, it is necessary to consider qualitative effects, e.g., the resilience phenomena and cell viability constraints. Combining the qualitative and quantitative descriptions for metabolic networks makes it possible to design a viable strain and accurately predict the maximum possible flux rates of desired products. Considering the resilience phenomena in metabolic networks can improve the predictions of gene intervention and maximum synthesis rates in metabolic engineering. Two case studies will present in the conference to illustrate the phenomena.

Keywords: Fuzzy multi-objective optimization problem, kinetic model, metabolic engineering.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1986

Authors: Sanghoon Kim, Sun-Tae Chung, Souhwan Jung, Dusik Oh, Jaemin Kim, Seongwon Cho

Abstract:

Eye localization is necessary for face recognition and related application areas. Most of eye localization algorithms reported so far still need to be improved about precision and computational time for successful applications. In this paper, we propose an eye location method based on multi-scale Gabor feature vectors, which is more robust with respect to initial points. The eye localization based on Gabor feature vectors first needs to constructs an Eye Model Bunch for each eye (left or right eye) which consists of n Gabor jets and average eye coordinates of each eyes obtained from n model face images, and then tries to localize eyes in an incoming face image by utilizing the fact that the true eye coordinates is most likely to be very close to the position where the Gabor jet will have the best Gabor jet similarity matching with a Gabor jet in the Eye Model Bunch. Similar ideas have been already proposed in such as EBGM (Elastic Bunch Graph Matching). However, the method used in EBGM is known to be not robust with respect to initial values and may need extensive search range for achieving the required performance, but extensive search ranges will cause much more computational burden. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale approach with a little increased computational burden where one first tries to localize eyes based on Gabor feature vectors in a coarse face image obtained from down sampling of the original face image, and then localize eyes based on Gabor feature vectors in the original resolution face image by using the eye coordinates localized in the coarse scaled image as initial points. Several experiments and comparisons with other eye localization methods reported in the other papers show the efficiency of our proposed method.

Keywords: Eye Localization, Gabor features, Multi-scale, Gabor wavelets.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1795

Authors: D. R. Delgado Sobrino, R. Holubek, R. Ružarovský

Abstract:

In the past years, the world has witnessed significant work in the field of Manufacturing. Special efforts have been made in the implementation of new technologies, management and control systems, among many others which have all evolved the field. Closely following all this, due to the scope of new projects and the need of turning the existing flexible ideas into more autonomous and intelligent ones, i.e.: moving toward a more intelligent manufacturing, the present paper emerges with the main aim of contributing to the analysis and a few customization issues of a new iCIM 3000 system at the IPSAM. In this process, special emphasis in made on the material flow problem. For this, besides offering a description and analysis of the system and its main parts, also some tips on how to define other possible alternative material flow scenarios and a partial analysis of the combinatorial nature of the problem are offered as well. All this is done with the intentions of relating it with the use of simulation tools, for which these have been briefly addressed with a special focus on the Witness simulation package. For a better comprehension, the previous elements are supported by a few figures and expressions which would help obtaining necessary data. Such data and others will be used in the future, when simulating the scenarios in the search of the best material flow configurations.

Keywords: Flexible/Intelligent assembly/disassembly cell (F/IA/DC), Flexible/Intelligent Manufacturing Systems/Cell (F/IMS/C), Material Flow Optimization/Combinations/Design (MFO/C/D).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2047

Authors: Saimir Heta, Kers Kapaj, Rialda Xhizdari, Ilma Robo

Abstract:

Dealing with emerging cases of dental malpractice with justifications that stem from the clear rules of dental ethics is a phenomenon with an increasing trend in today's dental practice. Dentists should clearly understand how far the limit of malpractice goes, with or without minimal or major consequences, for the affected patient, which can be justified as a complication of dental treatment, in support of the rules of dental ethics in the dental office. Indeed, malpractice can occur in cases of lack of professionalism, but it can also come as a consequence of anatomical and physiological limitations in the implementation of the dental protocols, predetermined and indicated by the patient in the paragraph of the treatment plan in his personal card. Let this article serve as a short communication between readers and interested parties about the problems that dental malpractice can bring to the community. Malpractice should not be seen only as a professional wrong approach, but also as a phenomenon that can occur during dental practice. The aim of this article is presentation of the latest data published in the literature about malpractice. The combination of keywords is done in such a way with the aim to give the necessary space for collecting the right information in the networks of publications about this field, always first from the point of view of the dentist and not from that of the lawyer or jurist. From the findings included in this article, it was noticed that the diversity of approaches towards the phenomenon depends on the different countries based on the legal basis that these countries have. There is a lack of or a small number of articles that touch on this topic, and these articles are presented with a limited amount of data on the same topic. Dental malpractice should not be hidden under the guise of various dental complications that we justify with the strict rules of ethics for patients treated in the dental chair. The individual experience of dental malpractice must be published with the aim of serving as a source of experience for future generations of dentists.

Keywords: Dental ethics, malpractice, professional protocol, random deviation, dental tourism.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Paula Pascoal-Faria, Rúben Pereira, Elodie Pinto, Miguel Belbut, Ana Rosa, Inês Sousa, Nuno Alves

Abstract:

Apple bruise damage from harvesting, handling, transporting and sorting is considered to be the major source of reduced fruit quality, resulting in loss of profits for the entire fruit industry. The three factors which can physically cause fruit bruising are vibration, compression load and impact, the latter being the most common source of bruise damage. Therefore, prediction of the level of damage, stress distribution and deformation of the fruits under external force has become a very important challenge. In this study, experimental and numerical methods were used to better understand the impact caused when an apple is dropped from different heights onto a plastic surface and a conveyor belt. Results showed that the extent of fruit damage is significantly higher for plastic surface, being dependent on the height. In order to support the development of a biomimetic electronic device for the determination of fruit damage, the mechanical properties of the apple fruit were determined using mechanical tests. Preliminary results showed different values for the Young’s modulus according to the zone of the apple tested. Along with the mechanical characterization of the apple fruit, the development of the first two prototypes is discussed and the integration of the results obtained to construct the final element model of the apple is presented. This work will help to reduce significantly the bruise damage of fruits or vegetables during the entire processing which will allow the introduction of exportation destines and consequently an increase in the economic profits in this sector.

Keywords: Apple, fruit damage, impact during crop and post-crop, mechanical characterization of the apple, numerical evaluation of fruit bruise damage, electronic device.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1520

Authors: Surender Singh Jadav, Venkatesan Jayaprakash, Arijit Basu, Barij Nayan Sinha

Abstract:

Chikungunya virus (CHICKV) is an arboviruses belonging to family Tagoviridae and is transmitted to human through by mosquito (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) bite. A large outbreak of chikungunya has been reported in India between 2006 and 2007, along with several other countries from South-East Asia and for the first time in Europe. It was for the first time that the CHICKV outbreak has been reported with mortality from Reunion Island and increased mortality from Asian countries. CHICKV affects all age groups, and currently there are no specific drugs or vaccine to cure the disease. The need of antiviral agents for the treatment of CHICKV infection and the success of virtual screening against many therapeutically valuable targets led us to carry out the structure based drug design against Chikungunya nSP2 protease (PDB: 3TRK). Highthroughput virtual screening of publicly available databases, ZINC12 and BindingDB, has been carried out using the Openeye tools and Schrodinger LLC software packages. Openeye Filter program has been used to filter the database and the filtered outputs were docked using HTVS protocol implemented in GLIDE package of Schrodinger LLC. The top HITS were further used for enriching the similar molecules from the database through vROCS; a shape based screening protocol implemented in Openeye. The approach adopted has provided different scaffolds as HITS against CHICKV protease. Three scaffolds: Indole, Pyrazole and Sulphone derivatives were selected based on the docking score and synthetic feasibility. Derivatives of Pyrazole were synthesized and submitted for antiviral screening against CHICKV.

Keywords: Chikungunya, nsP2 protease, ADME filter, HTVS, Docking, Active site.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2467

Authors: Kemalettin Erbatur, Özer Koca, Evrim Taşkıran, Metin Yılmaz, Utku Seven

Abstract:

Recent fifteen years witnessed fast improvements in the field of humanoid robotics. The human-like robot structure is more suitable to human environment with its supreme obstacle avoidance properties when compared with wheeled service robots. However, the walking control for bipedal robots is a challenging task due to their complex dynamics. Stable reference generation plays a very important role in control. Linear Inverted Pendulum Model (LIPM) and the Zero Moment Point (ZMP) criterion are applied in a number of studies for stable walking reference generation of biped walking robots. This paper follows this main approach too. We propose a natural and continuous ZMP reference trajectory for a stable and human-like walk. The ZMP reference trajectories move forward under the sole of the support foot when the robot body is supported by a single leg. Robot center of mass trajectory is obtained from predefined ZMP reference trajectories by a Fourier series approximation method. The Gibbs phenomenon problem common with Fourier approximations of discontinuous functions is avoided by employing continuous ZMP references. Also, these ZMP reference trajectories possess pre-assigned single and double support phases, which are very useful in experimental tuning work. The ZMP based reference generation strategy is tested via threedimensional full-dynamics simulations of a 12-degrees-of-freedom biped robot model. Simulation results indicate that the proposed reference trajectory generation technique is successful.

Keywords: Biped robot, Linear Inverted Pendulum Model, Zero Moment Point, Fourier series approximation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1602

Authors: Tahani Aljohani, Jialin Yu, Alexandra. I. Cristea

Abstract:

The more an educational system knows about a learner, the more personalised interaction it can provide, which leads to better learning. However, asking a learner directly is potentially disruptive, and often ignored by learners. Especially in the booming realm of MOOC Massive Online Learning platforms, only a very low percentage of users disclose demographic information about themselves. Thus, in this paper, we aim to predict learners’ demographic characteristics, by proposing an approach using linguistically motivated Deep Learning Architectures for Learner Profiling, particularly targeting gender prediction on a FutureLearn MOOC platform. Additionally, we tackle here the difficult problem of predicting the gender of learners based on their comments only – which are often available across MOOCs. The most common current approaches to text classification use the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model, considering sentences as sequences. However, human language also has structures. In this research, rather than considering sentences as plain sequences, we hypothesise that higher semantic - and syntactic level sentence processing based on linguistics will render a richer representation. We thus evaluate, the traditional LSTM versus other bleeding edge models, which take into account syntactic structure, such as tree-structured LSTM, Stack-augmented Parser-Interpreter Neural Network (SPINN) and the Structure-Aware Tag Augmented model (SATA). Additionally, we explore using different word-level encoding functions. We have implemented these methods on Our MOOC dataset, which is the most performant one comparing with a public dataset on sentiment analysis that is further used as a cross-examining for the models' results.

Keywords: Deep learning, data mining, gender predication, MOOCs.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1321

Authors: Redouane Tlemsani, Abdelkader Benyettou

Abstract:

Work is in on line Arabic character recognition and the principal motivation is to study the Arab manuscript with on line technology.

This system is a Markovian system, which one can see as like a Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN). One of the major interests of these systems resides in the complete models training (topology and parameters) starting from training data.

Our approach is based on the dynamic Bayesian Networks formalism. The DBNs theory is a Bayesians networks generalization to the dynamic processes. Among our objective, amounts finding better parameters, which represent the links (dependences) between dynamic network variables.

In applications in pattern recognition, one will carry out the fixing of the structure, which obliges us to admit some strong assumptions (for example independence between some variables). Our application will relate to the Arabic isolated characters on line recognition using our laboratory database: NOUN. A neural tester proposed for DBN external optimization.

The DBN scores and DBN mixed are respectively 70.24% and 62.50%, which lets predict their further development; other approaches taking account time were considered and implemented until obtaining a significant recognition rate 94.79%.

Keywords: Arabic on line character recognition, dynamic Bayesian network, pattern recognition.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1719

Authors: Ju-Young Kim, Tae-Heon Moon, Jung-Hun Cho

Abstract:

Urban regeneration projects have been actively promoted in Korea. In particular, Jeonju Hanok Village is evaluated as one of representative cases in terms of utilizing local cultural heritage sits in the urban regeneration project. However, recently, there has been a growing concern in this area, due to the ‘gentrification’, caused by the excessive commercialization and surging tourists. This trend was changing land and building use and resulted in the loss of identity of the region. In this regard, this study analyzed the land use transformation between 2010 and 2016 to identify the commercialization trend in Jeonju Hanok Village. In addition, it conducted SNS big data analysis on Jeonju Hanok Village from February 14th, 2016 to March 31st, 2016 to identify visitors’ awareness of the village. The study results demonstrate that rapid commercialization was underway, unlikely the initial intention, so that planners and officials in city government should reconsider the project direction and rebuild deliberate management strategies. This study is meaningful in that it analyzed the land use transformation and SNS big data to identify the current situation in urban regeneration area. Furthermore, it is expected that the study results will contribute to the vitalization of regeneration area.

Keywords: Land use, SNS, text mining, urban regeneration.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1181

Authors: Zachariah Sinkala

Abstract:

A systems approach model for prostate cancer in prostate duct, as a sub-system of the organism is developed. It is accomplished in two steps. First this research work starts with a nonlinear system of coupled Fokker-Plank equations which models continuous process of the system like motion of cells. Then extended to PDEs that include discontinuous processes like cell mutations, proliferation and deaths. The discontinuous processes is modeled by using intensity poisson processes. The model incorporates the features of the prostate duct. The system of PDEs spatial coordinate is along the proximal distal axis. Its parameters depend on features of the prostate duct. The movement of cells is biased towards distal region and mutations of prostate cancer cells is localized in the proximal region. Numerical solutions of the full system of equations are provided, and are exhibit traveling wave fronts phenomena. This motivates the use of the standard transformation to derive a canonically related system of ODEs for traveling wave solutions. The results obtained show persistence of prostate cancer by showing that the non-negative cone for the traveling wave system is time invariant. The traveling waves have a unique global attractor is proved also. Biologically, the global attractor verifies that evolution of prostate cancer stem cells exhibit the avascular tumor growth. These numerical solutions show that altering prostate stem cell movement or mutation of prostate cancer cells lead to avascular tumor. Conclusion with comments on clinical implications of the model is discussed.

Keywords: Fokker-Plank equations, global attractor, stem cell.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1869

Authors: F. M. Pisano, M. Ciminello

Abstract:

Aerospace, mechanical, and civil engineering infrastructures can take advantages from damage detection and identification strategies in terms of maintenance cost reduction and operational life improvements, as well for safety scopes. The challenge is to detect so called “barely visible impact damage” (BVID), due to low/medium energy impacts, that can progressively compromise the structure integrity. The occurrence of any local change in material properties, that can degrade the structure performance, is to be monitored using so called Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, in charge of comparing the structure states before and after damage occurs. SHM seeks for any "anomalous" response collected by means of sensor networks and then analyzed using appropriate algorithms. Independently of the specific analysis approach adopted for structural damage detection and localization, textual reports, tables and graphs describing possible outlier coordinates and damage severity are usually provided as artifacts to be elaborated for information extraction about the current health conditions of the structure under investigation. Visual Analytics can support the processing of monitored measurements offering data navigation and exploration tools leveraging the native human capabilities of understanding images faster than texts and tables. Herein, a SHM system enrichment by integration of a Visual Analytics component is investigated. Analytical dashboards have been created by combining worksheets, so that a useful Visual Analytics tool is provided to structural analysts for exploring the structure health conditions examined by a Principal Component Analysis based algorithm.

Keywords: Interactive dashboards, optical fibers, structural health monitoring, visual analytics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 785

Authors: M. Amir Abas, M. Dahlui

Abstract:

This paper presents the investigation results of UV measurement at different level of altitudes and the development of a new portable instrument for measuring UV. The rapid growth of industrial sectors in developing countries including Malaysia, brings not only income to the nation, but also causes pollution in various forms. Air pollution is one of the significant contributors to global warming by depleting the Ozone layer, which would reduce the filtration of UV rays. Long duration of exposure to high to UV rays has many devastating health effects to mankind directly or indirectly through destruction of the natural resources. This study aimed to show correlation between UV and altitudes which indirectly can help predict Ozone depletion. An instrument had been designed to measure and monitors the level of UV. The instrument comprises of two main blocks namely data logger and Graphic User Interface (GUI). Three sensors were used in the data logger to detect changes in the temperature, humidity and ultraviolet. The system has undergone experimental measurement to capture data at two different conditions; industrial area and high attitude area. The performance of the instrument showed consistency in the data captured and the results of the experiment drew a significantly high reading of UV at high altitudes.

Keywords: Ozone Layer, Monitoring, Global Warming, Measurement, Ultraviolet

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1708

Authors: Anita Khadka, Gregory Epiphaniou, Carsten Maple

Abstract:

There is a dramatic surge in the adoption of Machine Learning (ML) techniques in many areas, including the nuclear industry (such as fault diagnosis and fuel management in nuclear power plants), autonomous systems (including self-driving vehicles), space systems (space debris recovery, for example), medical surgery, network intrusion detection, malware detection, to name a few. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a part of everyday modern human life. To date, the predominant focus has been developing underpinning ML algorithms that can improve accuracy, while factors such as resiliency and robustness of algorithms have been largely overlooked. If an adversarial attack is able to compromise the learning method or data, the consequences can be fatal, especially but not exclusively in safety-critical applications. In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of five adversarial attacks and two defence methods on a crack detection ML model. Our analysis shows that it can be dangerous to adopt ML techniques without rigorous testing, since they may be vulnerable to adversarial attacks, especially in security-critical areas such as the nuclear industry. We observed that while the adopted defence methods can effectively defend against different attacks, none of them could protect against all five adversarial attacks entirely.

Keywords: Resilient Machine Learning, attacks, defences, nuclear industry, crack detection.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 437

Authors: T. Abdulkadir

Abstract:

Most often, marking and assessment of multiple choice kinds of examinations have been opined by many as a cumbersome and herculean task to accomplished manually in Nigeria. Usually this may be in obvious nexus to the fact that mass numbers of candidates were known to take the same examination simultaneously. Eventually, marking such a mammoth number of booklets dared and dread even the fastest paid examiners who often undertake the job with the resulting consequences of stress and boredom. This paper explores the evolution, as well as the set aim to envision and transcend marking the Multiple Choice Objectives- type examination into a thing of creative recreation, or perhaps a more relaxing activity via the use of the mobile phone. A more “pragmatic” dimension method was employed to achieve this work, rather than the formal “in-depth research” based approach due to the “novelty” of the mobile-smartphone e-Marking Scheme discovery. Moreover, being an evolutionary scheme, no recent academic work shares a direct same topic concept with the ‘use of cell phone as an e-marking technique’ was found online; thus, the dearth of even miscellaneous citations in this work. Additional future advancements are what steered the anticipatory motive of this paper which laid the fundamental proposition. However, the paper introduces for the first time the concept of mobile-smart phone e-marking, the steps to achieve it, as well as the merits and demerits of the technique all spelt out in the subsequent pages.

Keywords: Cell phone, e-marking scheme, mobile phone, mobile-smart phone, multiple choice objectives, smartphone.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 939

Authors: R. Weinzierl, R. Estes, N. Tinsley, M. Keshlaf

Abstract:

The corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea Boddie, is a serious pest of corn. Larval feeding in ear tips destroys kernels and allows growth of fungi and production of mycotoxins. Infested sweet corn is not marketable. Development of improved transgenic hybrids expressing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) may limit or prevent crop losses. The effectiveness of Attribute^® II Bt resistance and applications of Voliam Xpress insecticide were evaluated for effectiveness in controlling corn earworm in plots near Urbana, IL, USA, in 2013. Where no insecticides were applied, ear infestations and kernel damage in Attribute^® II ‘Protector’ plots were consistently lower (near zero) than in plots of the non-Bt isoline ‘Garrison.’ Multiple applications of Voliam Xpress significantly reduced the number of corn earworm larvae and kernel damage in the Garrison plots, but infestations and damage in these plots were greater than in Protectorplots that did not receive insecticide applications. Our results indicate that Attribute^® II Bt resistance is more effective than multiple applications of an insecticide for preventing losses caused by corn earworm in sweet corn.

Keywords: Bacillus thuringiensis, Helicoverpa zea, insect pest management, transgenic sweet corn.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2190

Authors: Krisnanda, Naili Qiyadatul Ulya

Abstract:

Utilization of zakat for productive economic and social activities can be considered an appropriate way to optimize the efficiency and major benefits within these community funds. As we know, not least among the Muslims who desperately need help from zakat funds to improve the livelihoods of their standard of living. In this case, optimizing the utilization of zakat funds can help the community, especially Muslims, to improve and prosper in their lives. Optimizing zakat funds for this purpose can not only motivate people to help others for the welfare and empowerment of the people but can also foster social solidarity between religious communities. The establishment of the nature of social solidarity will reduce the impact of poverty and even eradicate poverty. This study was conducted to determine how the strategy of zakat utilization is through the program of Zakat Galang Berdikari by the Zakat, Infaq, and Shodaqoh Institute of Waqf Board Foundation of Universitas Islam Indonesia (LAZIS YBW UII), what are successful indicators of LAZIS YBW UII in empowering zakat, how to manage zakat at LAZIS YBW UII through the program of Zakat Galang Berdikari to determine the extent of zakat utilization in productive economic activities and to help people less able to start an independent business in Yogyakarta. This study used a qualitative approach and the type of empirical research. This study used primary and secondary data by interviewing stakeholders according to the criteria, carrying out field observations and documentation which were then analyzed carefully and presented in a descriptive form. The result of this research is that the utilization of zakat funds in the Zakat Galang Berdikari program by LAZIS YBW UII is the right strategy to optimize zakat for productive economic and social activities in Yogyakarta.

Keywords: Zakat utilization, zakat funds, productive economic, LAZIS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Armando Cartenì, Ilaria Henke

Abstract:

Recently, the Italian government has approved a new law for public contracts and has been laying the groundwork for restarting a planning phase. The government has adopted the indications given by the European Commission regarding the estimation of the external costs within the Cost-Benefit Analysis, and has been approved the ‘Guidelines for assessment of Investment Projects’. In compliance with the new Italian law, the aim of this research was to perform a feasibility study applying quantitative methods regarding the revamping of an Italian tourist railway line. A Cost-Benefit Analysis was performed starting from the quantification of the passengers’ demand potentially interested in using the revamped rail services. The benefits due to the external costs reduction were also estimated (quantified) in terms of variations (with respect to the not project scenario): climate change, air pollution, noises, congestion, and accidents. Estimations results have been proposed in terms of the Measure of Effectiveness underlying a positive Net Present Value equal to about 27 million of Euros, an Internal Rate of Return much greater the discount rate, a benefit/cost ratio equal to 2 and a PayBack Period of 15 years.

Keywords: Cost-benefit analysis, evaluation analysis, demand management, external cost, transport planning, quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 846

Authors: A. Arockia Selvakumar, R. Sivaramakrishnan, Srinivasa Karthik.T.V, Valluri Siva Ramakrishna, B.Vinodh.

Abstract:

Industrial robots play a vital role in automation however only little effort are taken for the application of robots in machining work such as Grinding, Cutting, Milling, Drilling, Polishing etc. Robot parallel manipulators have high stiffness, rigidity and accuracy, which cannot be provided by conventional serial robot manipulators. The aim of this paper is to perform the modeling and the workspace analysis of a 3 DOF Parallel Manipulator (3 DOF PM). The 3 DOF PM was modeled and simulated using 'ADAMS'. The concept involved is based on the transformation of motion from a screw joint to a spherical joint through a connecting link. This paper work has been planned to model the Parallel Manipulator (PM) using screw joints for very accurate positioning. A workspace analysis has been done for the determination of work volume of the 3 DOF PM. The position of the spherical joints connected to the moving platform and the circumferential points of the moving platform were considered for finding the workspace. After the simulation, the position of the joints of the moving platform was noted with respect to simulation time and these points were given as input to the 'MATLAB' for getting the work envelope. Then 'AUTOCAD' is used for determining the work volume. The obtained values were compared with analytical approach by using Pappus-Guldinus Theorem. The analysis had been dealt by considering the parameters, link length and radius of the moving platform. From the results it is found that the radius of moving platform is directly proportional to the work volume for a constant link length and the link length is also directly proportional to the work volume, at a constant radius of the moving platform.

Keywords: Three Degrees of freedom Parallel Manipulator (3DOF PM), ADAMS, Work volume, MATLAB, AUTOCAD, Pappus- Guldinus Theorem.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2961

Authors: Habibollah Najafi, Amir Abbas Yazdani, Hosseinali Nahavandi

Abstract:

The review performed on the condition of energy consumption & rate in Iran, shows that unfortunately the subject of optimization and conservation of energy in active industries of country lacks a practical & effective method and in most factories, the energy consumption and rate is more than in similar industries of industrial countries. The increasing demand of electrical energy and the overheads which it imposes on the organization, forces companies to search for suitable approaches to optimize energy consumption and demand management. Application of value engineering techniques is among these approaches. Value engineering is considered a powerful tool for improving profitability. These tools are used for reduction of expenses, increasing profits, quality improvement, increasing market share, performing works in shorter durations, more efficient utilization of sources & etc. In this article, we shall review the subject of value engineering and its capabilities for creating effective transformations in industrial organizations, in order to reduce energy costs & the results have been investigated and described during a case study in Mazandaran wood and paper industries, the biggest consumer of energy in north of Iran, for the purpose of presenting the effects of performed tasks in optimization of energy consumption by utilizing value engineering techniques in one case study.

Keywords: Value Engineering (VE), Expense, Energy, Industrial

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2242

Authors: Dinabandhu Mahata, Amit Kumar, Ambarish Kumar Rai

Abstract:

India is known as a country of diversity regarding the social, cultural and wide geographical variations. In the north and north-west part of the country, the strong patriarchal norms and the male dominance based social structure are the important constructs. Patriarchal social setup adversely affects the women’s social and economic wellbeing and hence in that social structure women are considered as second level citizen. Work participation rate of women has directly linked to the development of society or household. Haryana is one of the developed states of India, still being ahead in economic prosperity, much lagged behind in gender-based equality and male dominance in all dimensions of life. The position of women in the Haryana is no better than the other states of India. Haryana state has the great difference among the male-female sex ratio which is a serious concern for social science research as a demographic problem for the state. Now women are requiring for their holistic empowerment and that will take care of them for an enabling process that must lead to their economic as well as social transformation. Hence, the objective of the paper is to address the role of sex ratio, women literacy and her work participation in the process of their empowerment with special attention to the gender perspective. The study used the data from Census of India from 1991 to 2011. This paper will examine the regional disparity of sex ratio, literacy rate and female work participation and the improvement of empowerment of women in the state of Haryana. This paper will suggest the idea for focusing much intensively on the issues of women empowerment through enhancement of her education, workforce participation and social participation with people participation and holistic approach.

Keywords: Sex ratio, literacy rate, workforce participation rate, women empowerment, Haryana.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2601

Authors: R. Pudasaini, R. B. Thapa, P. R. Poudel

Abstract:

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of pollination on seed quality of rapeseed in Chitwan, Nepal during 2012-2013. The experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block with four replications and five treatments. The rapeseed plots were caged with mosquito nets at 10% flowering except natural pollination. Two-framed colonies of Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. were introduced separately for pollination, and control plot caged without pollinators. The highest germination percent was observed on Apis cerana F. pollinated plot seeds (90.50% germination) followed by Apis mellifera L. pollinated plots (87.25 %) and lowest on control plots (42.00% germination) seeds. Similarly, seed test weight of Apis cerana F. pollinated plots (3.22 gm/ 1000 seed) and Apis mellifera L. pollinated plots (2.93 gm/1000 seed) were and lowest on control plots (2.26 gm/ 1000 seed) recorded. Likewise, oil content was recorded highest on pollinated by Apis cerana F. (36.1%) followed by pollinated by Apis mellifera L. (35.4%) and lowest on control plots (32.8%). This study clearly indicated pollination increases the seed quality of rapeseed and therefore, management of honeybee is necessary for producing higher quality of rapeseed under Chitwan condition.

Keywords: Apis cerana, Apis mellifera, rapeseed pollination, seed quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2551

Authors: Haythem A. Nakkas, Philip J. Scott, Jim S. Briggs

Abstract:

This paper reports a structured literature review of the application of Health Information Technology in developing countries, defined as the World Bank categories Low-income countries, Lower-middle-income, and Upper-middle-income countries. The aim was to identify and classify the various applications of health information technology to assess its current state in developing countries and explore potential areas of research. We offer specific analysis and application of HIT in Libya as one of the developing countries. A structured literature review was conducted using the following online databases: IEEE, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Publication dates were set for 2000-2013. For the PubMed search, publications in English, French, and Arabic were specified. Using a content analysis approach, 159 papers were analyzed and a total number of 26 factors were identified that affect the adoption of health information technology. Of the 2681 retrieved articles, 159 met the inclusion criteria which were carefully analyzed and classified. The implementation of health information technology across developing countries is varied. Whilst it was initially expected financial constraints would have severely limited health information technology implementation, some developing countries like India have nevertheless dominated the literature and taken the lead in conducting scientific research. Comparing the number of studies to the number of countries in each category, we found that Low-income countries and Lower-middle-income had more studies carried out than Upper-middle-income countries. However, whilst IT has been used in various sectors of the economy, the healthcare sector in developing countries is still failing to benefit fully from the potential advantages that IT can offer.

Keywords: Developing Countries, Developed Countries, Factors, Failure, Implementation, Libya, Success.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2191

Authors: Ronbanchob Apiratikul

Abstract:

This research studied recycled waste by the Recyclable Material Bank Project of 4 universities in the central region of Thailand for the evaluation of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with landfilling activity during July 2012 to June 2013. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes of about 911,984.80 kilograms. Office paper had the largest amount among these recycled wastes (50.68% of total recycled waste). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables, and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 2814.969 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is office paper which is 70.16% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metals, mixed recyclables, and glass, respectively.

Keywords: Recycling, garbage bank, waste management, recyclable wastes, greenhouse gasses.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1849

Authors: Shinji Kajiwara, Tadamasa Fukuoka

Abstract:

The formula project of Kinki University has been involved in the student Formula SAE of Japan (JSAE) since the second year the competition was held. The vehicle developed in the project uses a ZX-6R engine, which has been manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the JSAE competition for the eighth time. The limited performance of the concept vehicle was improved through the development of a power train. The supercharger loading, engine dry sump, and engine cooling management of the vehicle were also enhanced. The supercharger loading enabled the vehicle to achieve a maximum output of 59.6 kW (80.6 PS)/9000 rpm and a maximum torque of 70.6 Nm (7.2 kgf m)/8000 rpm. We successfully achieved 90% of the engine’s torque band (4000–10000 rpm) with 50% of the revolutions in regular engine use (2000–12000 rpm). Using a dry sump system, we periodically managed hydraulic pressure during engine operation. A system that controls engine stoppage when hydraulic pressure falls was also constructed. Using the dry sump system at 80 mm reduced the required engine load and the vehicle’s center of gravity. Even when engine motion was suspended by the electromotive force exerted by the water pump, the circulation of cooling water was still possible. These findings enabled us to create a cooling system in accordance with the requirements of the competition.

Keywords: Engine, combustion, cooling system, dry sump system, numerical simulation, power, torque, mechanical supercharger.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2089

Authors: S. M. Ali, A. Salam Khan, A. U. Khan, M. Tariq, M. S. Hussain, B. A. Abbasi, I. Hussain, U. Farid

Abstract:

Environment and surrounding plays a pivotal rule in structuring life-style of the consumers. Living standards intern effect the energy consumption of the consumers. In smart grid paradigm, climate drifts, weather parameter and green environmental directly relates to the energy profiles of the various consumers, such as residential, commercial and industrial. Considering above factors helps policy in shaping utility load curves and optimal management of demand and supply. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop correlation models of load and weather parameters and critical analysis of the factors effecting energy profiles of smart grid consumers. In this paper, we elaborated various environment and weather parameter factors effecting demand of consumers. Moreover, we developed correlation models, such as Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall, an inter-relation between dependent (load) parameter and independent (weather) parameters. Furthermore, we validated our discussion with real-time data of Texas State. The numerical simulations proved the effective relation of climatic drifts with energy consumption of smart grid consumers.

Keywords: Climatic drifts, correlation analysis, energy consumption, smart grid, weather parameter.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1747

Authors: Ehi E. Aimiuwu

Abstract:

As of 2017, many researchers in educational journals are still wondering if students are effectively and efficiently engaged in active learning in the online learning environment. The goal of this qualitative single case study and narrative research is to explore if students are actively engaged in their online learning. Seven online students in the United States from LinkedIn and residencies were interviewed for this study. Eleven online learning techniques from research were used as a framework.  Data collection tools were used for the study that included a digital audiotape, observation sheet, interview protocol, transcription, and NVivo 12 Plus qualitative software.  Data analysis process, member checking, and key themes were used to reach saturation. About 85.7% of students preferred individual grading. About 71.4% of students valued professor’s interacting 2-3 times weekly, participating through posts and responses, having good internet access, and using email.  Also, about 57.1% said students log in 2-3 times weekly to daily, professor’s social presence helps, regular punctuality in work submission, and prefer assessments style of research, essay, and case study.  About 42.9% appreciated syllabus usefulness and professor’s expertise.

Keywords: Class facilitation, course management, online teaching, online education, student engagement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 659

Authors: A. Javed, K. Djidjeli, J. T. Xing, S. J. Cox

Abstract:

A method for simulating flow around the solid bodies has been presented using hybrid meshfree and mesh-based schemes. The presented scheme optimizes the computational efficiency by combining the advantages of both meshfree and mesh-based methods. In this approach, a cloud of meshfree nodes has been used in the domain around the solid body. These meshfree nodes have the ability to efficiently adapt to complex geometrical shapes. In the rest of the domain, conventional Cartesian grid has been used beyond the meshfree cloud. Complex geometrical shapes can therefore be dealt efficiently by using meshfree nodal cloud and computational efficiency is maintained through the use of conventional mesh-based scheme on Cartesian grid in the larger part of the domain. Spatial discretization of meshfree nodes has been achieved through local radial basis functions in finite difference mode (RBF-FD). Conventional finite difference scheme has been used in the Cartesian ‘meshed’ domain. Accuracy tests of the hybrid scheme have been conducted to establish the order of accuracy. Numerical tests have been performed by simulating two dimensional steady and unsteady incompressible flows around cylindrical object. Steady flow cases have been run at Reynolds numbers of 10, 20 and 40 and unsteady flow problems have been studied at Reynolds numbers of 100 and 200. Flow Parameters including lift, drag, vortex shedding, and vorticity contours are calculated. Numerical results have been found to be in good agreement with computational and experimental results available in the literature.

Keywords: CFD, Meshfree particle methods, Hybrid grid, Incompressible Navier Strokes equations, RBF-FD.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2877