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284 Nurses’ Views on ‘Effective Nurse Leader’ Characteristics in Iraq
Authors: S. Abed, S. O’Neill
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This research explored ward nurses’ views about the characteristics of effective nurse leaders in the context of Iraq as a developing country, where the delivery of health care continues to face disruption and change. It is well established that the provision of modern health care requires effective nurse leaders, but in countries such as Iraq the lack of effective nurse leaders is noted as a major challenge. In a descriptive quantitative study, a survey questionnaire was administered to 210 ward nurses working in two public hospitals in a major city in the north of Iraq. The participating nurses were of the opinion that the effectiveness of their nurse leaders was evident in their ability to demonstrate: good clinical knowledge, effective communication and managerial skills. They also viewed their leaders as needing to hold high-level nursing qualifications, though this was not necessarily the case in practice. Additionally, they viewed nurse leaders’ personal qualities as important, which included politeness, ethical behaviour, and trustworthiness. When considered against the issues raised in interviews with a smaller group (20) of senior nurse leaders, representative of the various occupational levels, implications identify the need for professional development that focuses on how the underpinning competencies relate to leadership and how transformational leadership is evidenced in practice.
Keywords: Health care, nurse education, nurse leadership, nursing in Iraq, transformational leadership.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1588283 The Investigation of Green Roof and White Roof Cooling Potential on Single Storey Residential Building in the Malaysian Climate
Authors: Asmat Ismail, Muna Hanim Abdul Samad, Abdul Malek Abdul Rahman
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The phenomenon of global warming or climate change has led to many environmental issues including higher atmospheric temperatures, intense precipitation, increased greenhouse gaseous emissions and increased indoor discomfort. Studies have shown that bringing nature to the roof such as constructing green roof and implementing high-reflective roof may give positive impact in mitigating the effects of global warming and in increasing thermal comfort sensation inside buildings. However, no study has been conducted to compare both types of passive roof treatments in Malaysia in order to increase thermal comfort in buildings. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the effect of green roof and white painted roof as passive roof treatment in improving indoor comfort of Malaysian homes. This study uses an experimental approach in which the measurements of temperatures are conducted on the case study building. The measurements of outdoor and indoor environments were conducted on the flat roof with two different types of roof treatment that are green roof and white roof. The measurement of existing black bare roof was also conducted to act as a control for this study.Keywords: global warming, green roof, white painted roof, indoor temperature reduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2723282 Validation of Automotive Centrals Using Hardware in the Loop-Body Control Unit and Lights
Authors: Marley Rosa Luciano, Rodney Rezende Saldanha
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The race for electrification and the need for innovation to attract customers has led the automotive industry to do something different with vehicles. New emissions control challenges and efficient technological availability are the pillars of creation. The growing demand to upgrade industrial manufacturing systems creates actions that directly impact vehicle production. With this comes the search for new prototyping methods and virtual tools for component testing and validation, and vehicle systems have established themselves. The demand for Electronic Control Units (ECU) is increasing due to the availability of intelligence and safety in today's vehicles, directly affecting their development, performance, and functional testing. In order to keep up with global changes, the automotive industry uses different virtual environments to produce, verify and validate their vehicles and test prototypes used during development. Therefore, in this paper, integration and validation were performed using the Hardware in the Loop (HIL) test platform, focusing on the ECU Body Control Module (BCM). Then, a brief commentary reviews other test medium platforms, such as the Plywood Buck (PWB), and examines the reliability, flexibility, installation time, and cost of the three test platforms, software in the loop (SIL), Model in the loop (MIL), and HIL, to review their benefits, challenges, and issues in use and information to optimize the use of each platform and test medium.
Keywords: Automotive, Electronic Central Unit, xIL, Hardware in the loop.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 291281 Robust Sensorless Speed Control of Induction Motor with DTFC and Fuzzy Speed Regulator
Authors: Jagadish H. Pujar, S. F. Kodad
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Recent developments in Soft computing techniques, power electronic switches and low-cost computational hardware have made it possible to design and implement sophisticated control strategies for sensorless speed control of AC motor drives. Such an attempt has been made in this work, for Sensorless Speed Control of Induction Motor (IM) by means of Direct Torque Fuzzy Control (DTFC), PI-type fuzzy speed regulator and MRAS speed estimator strategy, which is absolutely nonlinear in its nature. Direct torque control is known to produce quick and robust response in AC drive system. However, during steady state, torque, flux and current ripple occurs. So, the performance of conventional DTC with PI speed regulator can be improved by implementing fuzzy logic techniques. Certain important issues in design including the space vector modulated (SVM) 3-Ф voltage source inverter, DTFC design, generation of reference torque using PI-type fuzzy speed regulator and sensor less speed estimator have been resolved. The proposed scheme is validated through extensive numerical simulations on MATLAB. The simulated results indicate the sensor less speed control of IM with DTFC and PI-type fuzzy speed regulator provides satisfactory high dynamic and static performance compare to conventional DTC with PI speed regulator.Keywords: Sensor-less Speed Estimator, Fuzzy Logic Control(FLC), SVM, DTC, DTFC, IM, fuzzy speed regulator.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2482280 The Transient Reactive Power Regulation Capability of SVC for Large Scale WECS Connected to Distribution Networks
Authors: Y. Ates, A. R. Boynuegri, M. Uzunoglu, A. Karakas
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The recent interest in alternative and renewable energy systems results in increased installed capacity ratio of such systems in total energy production of the world. Specifically, Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) draw significant attention among possible alternative energy options, recently. On the contrary of the positive points of penetrating WECS in all over the world in terms of environment protection, energy independence of the countries, etc., there are significant problems to be solved for the grid connection of large scale WECS. The reactive power regulation, voltage variation suppression, etc. can be presented as major issues to be considered in this regard. Thus, this paper evaluates the application of a Static VAr Compensator (SVC) unit for the reactive power regulation and operation continuity of WECS during a fault condition. The system is modeled employing the IEEE 13 node test system. Thus, it is possible to evaluate the system performance with an overall grid simulation model close to real grid systems. The overall simulation model is developed in MATLAB/Simulink/SimPowerSystems® environments and the obtained results effectively match the target of the provided study.Keywords: IEEE 13 bus distribution system, reactive power regulation, static VAr compensator, wind energy conversion system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1968279 Armed Groups and Intra State Conflict: A Study on the Egyptian Case
Authors: Ghzlan Mahmoud Abdel Aziz
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This case study aims to identify the intrastate conflicts between the nation state and armed groups. Nowadays, most wars weaken states against armed groups. Thus, it is very important to negotiate with such groups in order to reinforce the law for the protection of victims. These armed groups are the cause of conflicts and they are related with many of humanitarian issues that result out of conflicts. In this age of rivalry; terrorists, insurgents, or transnational criminal parties have surfaced to the top as a reaction to these armed groups in an effort to set up a new world order. Moreover, the intra state conflicts became increasingly treacherous than the interstate conflicts, particularly when nation state systems deal with armed groups which try to influence the state. The unexpected upraising of the Arab Spring during 2011 in parts of the Middle East and North Africa formed various patterns of conflicts. The events of the Arab Spring resulted in current and long term change across the region. Significant modifications in the level, strength and period of armed conflict around the world have been made. Egypt was in the center of these events. It has fought back the armed groups under the name of terrorism and spread common disorder and violence among civilians. On this note, this study focuses on the problem of the transformation in the methods of organized violence within one state rather than between two state or more and analyzes the objectives, strategies, and internal composition of armed groups and the environments that foster them, with a focus on the Egyptian case.
Keywords: Armed groups, conflicts, Egyptian armed forces, intrastate conflicts.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1326278 Overview of Multi-Chip Alternatives for 2.5D and 3D Integrated Circuit Packagings
Authors: Ching-Feng Chen, Ching-Chih Tsai
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With the size of the transistor gradually approaching the physical limit, it challenges the persistence of Moore’s Law due to such issues of the short channel effect and the development of the high numerical aperture (NA) lithography equipment. In the context of the ever-increasing technical requirements of portable devices and high-performance computing (HPC), relying on the law continuation to enhance the chip density will no longer support the prospects of the electronics industry. Weighing the chip’s power consumption-performance-area-cost-cycle time to market (PPACC) is an updated benchmark to drive the evolution of the advanced wafer nanometer (nm). The advent of two and half- and three-dimensional (2.5 and 3D)- Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) packaging based on Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology has updated the traditional die assembly methods and provided the solution. This overview investigates the up-to-date and cutting-edge packaging technologies for 2.5D and 3D integrated circuits (IC) based on the updated transistor structure and technology nodes. We conclude that multi-chip solutions for 2.5D and 3D IC packaging can prolong Moore’s Law.
Keywords: Moore’s Law, High Numerical Aperture, Power Consumption-Performance-Area-Cost-Cycle Time to Market, PPACC, 2.5 and 3D-Very-Large-Scale Integration Packaging, Through Silicon Vi.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 204277 Aggregation Scheduling Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Min Kyung An
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In Wireless Sensor Networks which consist of tiny wireless sensor nodes with limited battery power, one of the most fundamental applications is data aggregation which collects nearby environmental conditions and aggregates the data to a designated destination, called a sink node. Important issues concerning the data aggregation are time efficiency and energy consumption due to its limited energy, and therefore, the related problem, named Minimum Latency Aggregation Scheduling (MLAS), has been the focus of many researchers. Its objective is to compute the minimum latency schedule, that is, to compute a schedule with the minimum number of timeslots, such that the sink node can receive the aggregated data from all the other nodes without any collision or interference. For the problem, the two interference models, the graph model and the more realistic physical interference model known as Signal-to-Interference-Noise-Ratio (SINR), have been adopted with different power models, uniform-power and non-uniform power (with power control or without power control), and different antenna models, omni-directional antenna and directional antenna models. In this survey article, as the problem has proven to be NP-hard, we present and compare several state-of-the-art approximation algorithms in various models on the basis of latency as its performance measure.Keywords: Data aggregation, convergecast, gathering, approximation, interference, omni-directional, directional.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 791276 Evaluation of Food Safety Management Systems of Food Service Establishments within the Greater Accra Region
Authors: Benjamin Osei-Tutu
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Food contaminated with biological, chemical and physical hazards usually leads to foodborne illnesses which in turn increase the disease burden of developing and developed economies. Restaurants play a key role in the food service industry and violations in application of standardized food safety management systems in these establishments have been associated with foodborne disease outbreaks. This study was undertaken to assess the level of compliance to the Code of practice that was developed and implemented after conducting needs assessment of the food safety management systems employed by the Food Service Establishments in Ghana. Data on pre-licence inspections were reviewed to assess the compliance of the Food Service Establishments. During the period under review (2012-2016), 74.52% of the food service facilities in the hospitality industry were in compliance with the FDA’s code of practice. Main violations observed during the study bordered on facility layout and fabrication (61.8%) and this is because these facilities may not have been built for use as a food service establishment. Another fact that came to the fore was that the redesigning of the facilities to bring them into compliance required capital intensive investments, which some establishments are not prepared for. Other challenges faced by the industry regarded issues on records and documentations, personnel facilities and hygiene, raw materials acquisition, storage and control, and cold storage.
Keywords: Assessment, Accra, food safety management systems, restaurants, hotel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1795275 Combating Money Laundering in the Banking Industry: Malaysian Experience
Authors: Aspalella A. Rahman
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Money laundering has been described by many as the lifeblood of crime and is a major threat to the economic and social well-being of societies. It has been recognized that the banking system has long been the central element of money laundering. This is in part due to the complexity and confidentiality of the banking system itself. It is generally accepted that effective anti-money laundering (AML) measures adopted by banks will make it tougher for criminals to get their "dirty money" into the financial system. In fact, for law enforcement agencies, banks are considered to be an important source of valuable information for the detection of money laundering. However, from the banks- perspective, the main reason for their existence is to make as much profits as possible. Hence their cultural and commercial interests are totally distinct from that of the law enforcement authorities. Undoubtedly, AML laws create a major dilemma for banks as they produce a significant shift in the way banks interact with their customers. Furthermore, the implementation of the laws not only creates significant compliance problems for banks, but also has the potential to adversely affect the operations of banks. As such, it is legitimate to ask whether these laws are effective in preventing money launderers from using banks, or whether they simply put an unreasonable burden on banks and their customers. This paper attempts to address these issues and analyze them against the background of the Malaysian AML laws. It must be said that effective coordination between AML regulator and the banking industry is vital to minimize problems faced by the banks and thereby to ensure effective implementation of the laws in combating money laundering.
Keywords: Banking Industry, Bank Negara Money, Laundering, Malaysia.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4276274 Performance Assessment of Computational Gridon Weather Indices from HOAPS Data
Authors: Madhuri Bhavsar, Anupam K Singh, Shrikant Pradhan
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Long term rainfall analysis and prediction is a challenging task especially in the modern world where the impact of global warming is creating complications in environmental issues. These factors which are data intensive require high performance computational modeling for accurate prediction. This research paper describes a prototype which is designed and developed on grid environment using a number of coupled software infrastructural building blocks. This grid enabled system provides the demanding computational power, efficiency, resources, user-friendly interface, secured job submission and high throughput. The results obtained using sequential execution and grid enabled execution shows that computational performance has enhanced among 36% to 75%, for decade of climate parameters. Large variation in performance can be attributed to varying degree of computational resources available for job execution. Grid Computing enables the dynamic runtime selection, sharing and aggregation of distributed and autonomous resources which plays an important role not only in business, but also in scientific implications and social surroundings. This research paper attempts to explore the grid enabled computing capabilities on weather indices from HOAPS data for climate impact modeling and change detection.Keywords: Climate model, Computational Grid, GridApplication, Heterogeneous Grid
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1427273 Touristification of Industrial Waterfronts: The Rocks and Darling Harbour
Authors: Ece Kaya
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Industrial heritage reflects the traces of an industrial past that have contributed to the economic development of a country. This heritage should be included within the scope of preservation to remind of and to connect the city and its inhabitants to the past. Through adaptive conservation, industrial heritage can be reintroduced into contemporary urban life, with suitable functions and unique identities sustained. The conservation of industrial heritage should protect the material fabric of such heritage and maintain its cultural significance. Emphasising the historical and cultural significance of industrial areas, this research argues that industrial heritage is primarily impacted by political and economic thinking rather than by informed heritage and conservation issues. Waterfront redevelopment projects create similar landscapes around the world, transforming industrial identities and cultural significances. In the case of The Rocks and Darling Harbour, the goal of redevelopment was the creation of employment opportunities, and the provision of places to work, live and shop, through tourism promoted by the NSW State Government. The two case study areas were pivotal to the European industrial development of Sydney. Sydney Cove was one of the largest commercial wharves used to handle cargo in Australia. This paper argues, together with many historians, planners and heritage experts, that these areas have not received the due diligence deserved in regards to their significance to the industrial history of Sydney and modern Australia.
Keywords: Industrial heritage, post-industrial city, transformation of waterfronts, tourism, consumption.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1329272 New Chinese Landscapes in the Works of the Chinese Photographer Yao Lu
Authors: Xiaoling Dai
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Many Chinese artists have used digital photography to create works with features of Chinese landscape paintings since the 20th century. The ‘New Mountains and Water’ works created by digital techniques reflect the fusion of photographic techniques and traditional Chinese aesthetic thoughts. Borrowing from Chinese landscape paintings in the Song Dynasty, the Chinese photographer Yao Lu uses digital photography to reflect contemporary environmental construction in his series New Landscapes. By portraying a variety of natural environments brought by urbanization in the contemporary period, Lu deconstructs traditional Chinese paintings and reconstructs contemporary photographic practices. The primary object of this study is to investigate how Chinese photographer Yao Lu redefines and re-interprets the relationship between tradition and contemporaneity. In this study, Yao Lu’s series work New Landscapes is used for photo elicitation, which seeks to broaden understanding of the development of Chinese landscape photography. Furthermore, discourse analysis will be used to evaluate how Chinese social developments influence the creation of photographic practices. Through the visual and discourse analysis, this study aims to excavate the relationship between tradition and contemporaneity in Lu’s works. According to New Landscapes, the study argues that in Lu’s interpretations of landscapes, tradition and contemporaneity are seen to establish a new relationship. Traditional approaches to creation do not become obsolete over time. On the contrary, traditional notions and styles of creation can shed new light on contemporary issues or techniques.
Keywords: Chinese aesthetics, contemporaneity, New Landscapes, tradition, Yao Lu.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 177271 A Review on Factors Influencing Implementation of Secure Software Development Practices
Authors: Sri Lakshmi Kanniah, Mohd Naz’ri Mahrin
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More and more businesses and services are depending on software to run their daily operations and business services. At the same time, cyber-attacks are becoming more covert and sophisticated, posing threats to software. Vulnerabilities exist in the software due to the lack of security practices during the phases of software development. Implementation of secure software development practices can improve the resistance to attacks. Many methods, models and standards for secure software development have been developed. However, despite the efforts, they still come up against difficulties in their deployment and the processes are not institutionalized. There is a set of factors that influence the successful deployment of secure software development processes. In this study, the methodology and results from a systematic literature review of factors influencing the implementation of secure software development practices is described. A total of 44 primary studies were analysed as a result of the systematic review. As a result of the study, a list of twenty factors has been identified. Some of factors that affect implementation of secure software development practices are: Involvement of the security expert, integration between security and development team, developer’s skill and expertise, development time and communication between stakeholders. The factors were further classified into four categories which are institutional context, people and action, project content and system development process. The results obtained show that it is important to take into account organizational, technical and people issues in order to implement secure software development initiatives.
Keywords: Secure software development, software development, software security, systematic literature review.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2468270 Determination of Skills Gap between School-Based Learning and Laboratory-Based Learning in Omar Al-Mukhtar University
Authors: Aisha Othman, Crinela Pislaru, Ahmed Impes
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This paper provides an identification of the existing practical skills gap between school-based learning (SBL) and laboratory based learning (LBL) in the Computing Department within the Faculty of Science at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Libya. A survey has been conducted and the first author has elicited the responses of two groups of stakeholders, namely the academic teachers and students.
The primary goal is to review the main strands of evidence available and argue that there is a gap between laboratory and school-based learning in terms of opportunities for experiment and application of skills. In addition, the nature of experimental work within the laboratory at Omar Al-Mukhtar University needs to be reconsidered. Another goal of our study was to identify the reasons for students’ poor performance in the laboratory and to determine how this poor performance can be eliminated by the modification of teaching methods. Bloom’s taxonomy of learning outcomes has been applied in order to classify questions and problems into categories, and the survey was formulated with reference to third year Computing Department students. Furthermore, to discover students’ opinions with respect to all the issues, an exercise was conducted. The survey provided questions related to what the students had learnt and how well they had learnt. We were also interested in feedback on how to improve the course and the final question provided an opportunity for such feedback.
Keywords: Bloom’s taxonomy, e-learning, Omar Al-Mukhtar University.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2417269 Arduino Pressure Sensor Cushion for Tracking and Improving Sitting Posture
Authors: Andrew Hwang
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The average American worker sits for thirteen hours a day, often with poor posture and infrequent breaks, which can lead to health issues and back problems. The Smart Cushion was created to alert individuals of their poor postures, and may potentially alleviate back problems and correct poor posture. The Smart Cushion is a portable, rectangular, foam cushion, with five strategically placed pressure sensors, that utilizes an Arduino Uno circuit board and specifically designed software, allowing it to collect data from the five pressure sensors and store the data on an SD card. The data is then compiled into graphs and compared to controlled postures. Before volunteers sat on the cushion, their levels of back pain were recorded on a scale from 1-10. Data was recorded for an hour during sitting, and then a new, corrected posture was suggested. After using the suggested posture for an hour, the volunteers described their level of discomfort on a scale from 1-10. Different patterns of sitting postures were generated that were able to serve as early warnings of potential back problems. By using the Smart Cushion, the areas where different volunteers were applying the most pressure while sitting could be identified, and the sitting postures could be corrected. Further studies regarding the relationships between posture and specific regions of the body are necessary to better understand the origins of back pain; however, the Smart Cushion is sufficient for correcting sitting posture and preventing the development of additional back pain.
Keywords: Arduino Sketch Algorithm, biomedical technology, pressure sensors, Smart Cushion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1275268 Spatiotemporal Analysis of Visual Evoked Responses Using Dense EEG
Authors: Rima Hleiss, Elie Bitar, Mahmoud Hassan, Mohamad Khalil
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A comprehensive study of object recognition in the human brain requires combining both spatial and temporal analysis of brain activity. Here, we are mainly interested in three issues: the time perception of visual objects, the ability of discrimination between two particular categories (objects vs. animals), and the possibility to identify a particular spatial representation of visual objects. Our experiment consisted of acquiring dense electroencephalographic (EEG) signals during a picture-naming task comprising a set of objects and animals’ images. These EEG responses were recorded from nine participants. In order to determine the time perception of the presented visual stimulus, we analyzed the Event Related Potentials (ERPs) derived from the recorded EEG signals. The analysis of these signals showed that the brain perceives animals and objects with different time instants. Concerning the discrimination of the two categories, the support vector machine (SVM) was applied on the instantaneous EEG (excellent temporal resolution: on the order of millisecond) to categorize the visual stimuli into two different classes. The spatial differences between the evoked responses of the two categories were also investigated. The results showed a variation of the neural activity with the properties of the visual input. Results showed also the existence of a spatial pattern of electrodes over particular regions of the scalp in correspondence to their responses to the visual inputs.
Keywords: Brain activity, dense EEG, evoked responses, spatiotemporal analysis, SVM, perception.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1065267 Street Begging and Its Psychosocial Social Effects in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria
Authors: Temitope M. Ojo, Titilayo A. Benson
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This study investigated street begging and its psychosocial effect in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. In carrying out this study, four research questions were used. The instrument used for data collection was a face-to-face and self-developed questionnaire. The results revealed there is high awareness level on the causes of street begging among the respondents, who also mentioned several factors contributing to street begging. However, respondents disagreed that lack of education is a factor contributing to street begging in Nigeria. The psycho-social effects of street begging, as identified by the respondents, are development of inferiority complex, lack of social interaction, loss of self-respect and dignity, increased mindset of poverty and loss of self-confident. Solution to street begging as identified by the respondents also includes provision of rehabilitation centers, provision of food for students in Islamic schools and monthly survival allowance. Specific policies and other legislative frameworks are needed in terms of age, sex, disability, and family-related issues, to effectively address the begging problem. Therefore, it is recommended that policy planners must adopt multi-faceted, multi-targeted, and multi-tiered approaches if they are to have any impact on the lives of street beggars in all four categories. In this regard, both preventative and responsive interventions are needed instead of rehabilitative solutions for each category of street beggars.
Keywords: Beggars, begging, psychosocial effect, respondents, street begging.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3697266 Teaching English to Engineers: Between English Language Teaching and Psychology
Authors: Irina-Ana Drobot
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Teaching English to Engineers is part of English for Specific Purposes, a domain which is under the attention of English students especially under the current conditions of finding jobs and establishing partnerships outside Romania. The paper will analyse the existing textbooks together with the teaching strategies they adopt. Teaching English to Engineering students can intersect with domains such as psychology and cultural studies in order to teach them efficiently. Textbooks for students of ESP, ranging from those at the Faculty of Economics to those at the Faculty of Engineers, have shifted away from using specialized vocabulary, drills for grammar and reading comprehension questions and toward communicative methods and the practical use of language. At present, in Romania, grammar is neglected in favour of communicative methods. The current interest in translation studies may indicate a return to this type of method, since only translation specialists can distinguish among specialized terms and determine which are most suitable in a translation. Engineers are currently encouraged to learn English in order to do their own translations in their own field. This paper will analyse the issue of the extent to which it is useful to teach Engineering students to do translations in their field using cognitive psychology applied to language teaching, including issues such as motivation and social psychology. Teaching general English to engineering students can result in lack of interest, but they can be motivated by practical aspects which will help them in their field. This is why this paper needs to take into account an interdisciplinary approach to teaching English to Engineers.
Keywords: Cognition, ESP, motivation, psychology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3110265 Brain Image Segmentation Using Conditional Random Field Based On Modified Artificial Bee Colony Optimization Algorithm
Authors: B. Thiagarajan, R. Bremananth
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Tumor is an uncontrolled growth of tissues in any part of the body. Tumors are of different types and they have different characteristics and treatments. Brain tumor is inherently serious and life-threatening because of its character in the limited space of the intracranial cavity (space formed inside the skull). Locating the tumor within MR (magnetic resonance) image of brain is integral part of the treatment of brain tumor. This segmentation task requires classification of each voxel as either tumor or non-tumor, based on the description of the voxel under consideration. Many studies are going on in the medical field using Markov Random Fields (MRF) in segmentation of MR images. Even though the segmentation process is better, computing the probability and estimation of parameters is difficult. In order to overcome the aforementioned issues, Conditional Random Field (CRF) is used in this paper for segmentation, along with the modified artificial bee colony optimization and modified fuzzy possibility c-means (MFPCM) algorithm. This work is mainly focused to reduce the computational complexities, which are found in existing methods and aimed at getting higher accuracy. The efficiency of this work is evaluated using the parameters such as region non-uniformity, correlation and computation time. The experimental results are compared with the existing methods such as MRF with improved Genetic Algorithm (GA) and MRF-Artificial Bee Colony (MRF-ABC) algorithm.
Keywords: Conditional random field, Magnetic resonance, Markov random field, Modified artificial bee colony.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2937264 Health Hazards Related to Computer Use: Experience of the National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania
Authors: V. P. Mvungi, J. Mcharo, M. E. Mmbuji, L. E. Mgonja, A. Y. Kitua
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This paper is based on a study conducted in 2006 to assess the impact of computer usage on health of National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) staff. NIMR being a research Institute, most of its staff spend substantial part of their working time on computers. There was notion among NIMR staff on possible prolonged computer usage health hazards. Hence, a study was conducted to establish facts and possible mitigation measures. A total of 144 NIMR staff were involved in the study of whom 63.2% were males and 36.8% females aged between 20 and 59 years. All staff cadres were included in the sample. The functions performed by Institute staff using computers includes; data management, proposal development and report writing, research activities, secretarial duties, accounting and administrative duties, on-line information retrieval and online communication through e-mail services. The interviewed staff had been using computers for 1-8 hours a day and for a period ranging from 1 to 20 years. The study has indicated ergonomic hazards for a significant proportion of interviewees (63%) of various kinds ranging from backache to eyesight related problems. The authors highlighted major issues which are substantially applicable in preventing occurrences of computer related problems and they urged NIMR Management and/or the government of Tanzania opts to adapt their practicability.
Keywords: Computers ergonomic hazards, computer usagehealth hazards.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2834263 Prediction of the Lateral Bearing Capacity of Short Piles in Clayey Soils Using Imperialist Competitive Algorithm-Based Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Reza Dinarvand, Mahdi Sadeghian, Somaye Sadeghian
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Prediction of the ultimate bearing capacity of piles (Qu) is one of the basic issues in geotechnical engineering. So far, several methods have been used to estimate Qu, including the recently developed artificial intelligence methods. In recent years, optimization algorithms have been used to minimize artificial network errors, such as colony algorithms, genetic algorithms, imperialist competitive algorithms, and so on. In the present research, artificial neural networks based on colonial competition algorithm (ANN-ICA) were used, and their results were compared with other methods. The results of laboratory tests of short piles in clayey soils with parameters such as pile diameter, pile buried length, eccentricity of load and undrained shear resistance of soil were used for modeling and evaluation. The results showed that ICA-based artificial neural networks predicted lateral bearing capacity of short piles with a correlation coefficient of 0.9865 for training data and 0.975 for test data. Furthermore, the results of the model indicated the superiority of ICA-based artificial neural networks compared to back-propagation artificial neural networks as well as the Broms and Hansen methods.
Keywords: Lateral bearing capacity, short pile, clayey soil, artificial neural network, Imperialist competition algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 925262 3D Numerical Studies on Jets Acoustic Characteristics of Chevron Nozzles for Aerospace Applications
Authors: R. Kanmaniraja, R. Freshipali, J. Abdullah, K. Niranjan, K. Balasubramani, V. R. Sanal Kumar
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The present environmental issues have made aircraft jet noise reduction a crucial problem in aero-acoustics research. Acoustic studies reveal that addition of chevrons to the nozzle reduces the sound pressure level reasonably with acceptable reduction in performance. In this paper comprehensive numerical studies on acoustic characteristics of different types of chevron nozzles have been carried out with non-reacting flows for the shape optimization of chevrons in supersonic nozzles for aerospace applications. The numerical studies have been carried out using a validated steady 3D density based, k-ε turbulence model. In this paper chevron with sharp edge, flat edge, round edge and U-type edge are selected for the jet acoustic characterization of supersonic nozzles. We observed that compared to the base model a case with round-shaped chevron nozzle could reduce 4.13% acoustic level with 0.6% thrust loss. We concluded that the prudent selection of the chevron shape will enable an appreciable reduction of the aircraft jet noise without compromising its overall performance. It is evident from the present numerical simulations that k-ε model can predict reasonably well the acoustic level of chevron supersonic nozzles for its shape optimization.
Keywords: Supersonic nozzle, Chevron, Acoustic level, Shape Optimization of Chevron Nozzles, Jet noise suppression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3809261 An Optimal Load Shedding Approach for Distribution Networks with DGs considering Capacity Deficiency Modelling of Bulked Power Supply
Authors: A. R. Malekpour, A.R. Seifi
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This paper discusses a genetic algorithm (GA) based optimal load shedding that can apply for electrical distribution networks with and without dispersed generators (DG). Also, the proposed method has the ability for considering constant and variable capacity deficiency caused by unscheduled outages in the bulked generation and transmission system of bulked power supply. The genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to search for the optimal load shedding strategy in distribution networks considering DGs in two cases of constant and variable modelling of bulked power supply of distribution networks. Electrical power distribution systems have a radial network and unidirectional power flows. With the advent of dispersed generations, the electrical distribution system has a locally looped network and bidirectional power flows. Therefore, installed DG in the electrical distribution systems can cause operational problems and impact on existing operational schemes. Introduction of DGs in electrical distribution systems has introduced many new issues in operational and planning level. Load shedding as one of operational issue has no exempt. The objective is to minimize the sum of curtailed load and also system losses within the frame-work of system operational and security constraints. The proposed method is tested on a radial distribution system with 33 load points for more practical applications.
Keywords: DG, Load shedding, Optimization, Capacity Deficiency Modelling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1729260 A Saltwater Battery Inspired by the Membrane Potential Found in Biological Cells
Authors: Andrew Jester, Ross Lee, Pritpal Singh
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As the world transitions to a more sustainable energy economy, the deployment of energy storage technologies is expected to increase to develop a more resilient grid system. However, current technologies are associated with various environmental and safety issues throughout their entire lifecycle; therefore, a new battery technology is desirable for grid applications to curtail these risks. Biological cells, such as human neurons and electrocytes in the electric eel, can serve as a more sustainable design template for a new bio-inspired (i.e., biomimetic) battery. Within biological cells, an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane forms the membrane potential, which serves as the driving force for ion transport into/out of the cell akin to the charging/discharging of a battery cell. This work serves as the first step for developing such a biomimetic battery cell, starting with the fabrication and characterization of ion-selective membranes to facilitate ion transport through the cell. Performance characteristics (e.g., cell voltage, power density, specific energy, roundtrip efficiency) for the cell under investigation are compared to incumbent battery technologies and biological cells to assess the readiness level for this emerging technology. Using a Na+-Form Nafion-117 membrane, the cell in this work successfully demonstrated behavior like human neurons; these findings will inform how cell components can be re-engineered to enhance device performance.
Keywords: Battery, biomimetic, electrocytes, human neurons, ion-selective membranes, membrane potential.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 368259 Investigating the Regulation System of the Synchronous Motor Excitation Mode Serving as a Reactive Power Source
Authors: Baghdasaryan Marinka, Ulikyan Azatuhi
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The efficient usage of the compensation abilities of the electrical drive synchronous motors used in production processes can essentially improve the technical and economic indices of the process. Reducing the flows of the reactive electrical energy due to the compensation of reactive power allows to significantly reduce the load losses of power in the electrical networks. As a result of analyzing the scientific works devoted to the issues of regulating the excitation of the synchronous motors, the need for comprehensive investigation and estimation of the excitation mode has been substantiated. By means of the obtained transmission functions, in the Simulink environment of the software package MATLAB, the transition processes of the excitation mode have been studied. As a result of obtaining and estimating the graph of the Nyquist plot and the transient process, the necessity of developing the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) regulator has been justified. The transient processes of the system of the PID regulator have been investigated, and the amplitude–phase characteristics of the system have been estimated. The analysis of the obtained results has shown that the regulation indices of the developed system have been improved. The developed system can be successfully applied for regulating the excitation voltage of different-power synchronous motors, operating with a changing load, ensuring a value of the power coefficient close to 1.
Keywords: Transient process, synchronous motor, excitation mode, regulator, reactive power.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 678258 Simulation Study of Asphaltene Deposition and Solubility of CO2 in the Brine during Cyclic CO2 Injection Process in Unconventional Tight Reservoirs
Authors: Rashid S. Mohammad, Shicheng Zhang, Sun Lu, Syed Jamal-Ud-Din, Xinzhe Zhao
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A compositional reservoir simulation model (CMG-GEM) was used for cyclic CO2 injection process in unconventional tight reservoir. Cyclic CO2 injection is an enhanced oil recovery process consisting of injection, shut-in, and production. The study of cyclic CO2 injection and hydrocarbon recovery in ultra-low permeability reservoirs is mainly a function of rock, fluid, and operational parameters. CMG-GEM was used to study several design parameters of cyclic CO2 injection process to distinguish the parameters with maximum effect on the oil recovery and to comprehend the behavior of cyclic CO2 injection in tight reservoir. On the other hand, permeability reduction induced by asphaltene precipitation is one of the major issues in the oil industry due to its plugging onto the porous media which reduces the oil productivity. In addition to asphaltene deposition, solubility of CO2 in the aquifer is one of the safest and permanent trapping techniques when considering CO2 storage mechanisms in geological formations. However, the effects of the above uncertain parameters on the process of CO2 enhanced oil recovery have not been understood systematically. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to study the most significant parameters which dominate the process. The main objective of this study is to improve techniques for designing cyclic CO2 injection process while considering the effects of asphaltene deposition and solubility of CO2 in the brine in order to prevent asphaltene precipitation, minimize CO2 emission, optimize cyclic CO2 injection, and maximize oil production.
Keywords: Tight reservoirs, cyclic O2 injection, asphaltene, solubility, reservoir simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1794257 Electoral Mathematics and Asymmetrical Treatment to Political Parties: The Mexican Case
Authors: Verónica Arredondo, Miguel Martínez-Panero, Teresa Peña, Victoriano Ramírez
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The Mexican Chamber of Deputies is composed of 500 representatives: 300 of them elected by relative majority and another 200 ones elected through proportional representation in five electoral clusters (constituencies) with 40 representatives each. In this mixed-member electoral system, the seats distribution of proportional representation is not independent of the election by relative majority, as it attempts to correct representation imbalances produced in single-member districts. This two-fold structure has been maintained in the successive electoral reforms carried out along the last three decades (eight from 1986 to 2014). In all of them, the election process of 200 seats becomes complex: Formulas in the Law are difficult to understand and to be interpreted. This paper analyzes the Mexican electoral system after the electoral reform of 2014, which was applied for the first time in 2015. The research focuses on contradictions and issues of applicability, in particular situations where seats allocation is affected by ambiguity in the law and where asymmetrical treatment of political parties arises. Due to these facts, a proposal of electoral reform will be presented. It is intended to be simpler, clearer, and more enduring than the current system. Furthermore, this model is more suitable for producing electoral outcomes free of contradictions and paradoxes. This approach would allow a fair treatment of political parties and as a result an improved opportunity to exercise democracy.
Keywords: Apportionment paradoxes, biproportional representation, electoral mathematics, electoral reform, Mexican electoral system, proportional representation, political asymmetry.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1214256 Student Attitude towards Entrepreneurship: A South African and Dutch Comparison
Authors: Natanya Meyer, Johann Landsberg
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Unemployment among the youth is a significant problem in South Africa. Large corporations and the public sector simply cannot create enough jobs. Too many youths in South Africa currently do not consider entrepreneurship as an option in order to become independent. Unlike the youth of the Netherlands, South African youth prefer to find employment in the public or private sector. The Netherlands has a much lower unemployment rate than South Africa and the Dutch are generally very entrepreneurial. From early on, entrepreneurship is considered a desirable career option in the Netherlands. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the perceptions of some Dutch and South African students in terms of unemployment and entrepreneurship. Questionnaires were distributed to students at the North West University's Vaal Triangle campus in Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng, South Africa and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. A descriptive statistical analysis approach was followed and the means for the independent questions were calculated. The results demonstrate that the Dutch students are not as concerned about unemployment after completion of their studies as this is not as significant a problem as it is in South Africa. Both groups had positive responses towards the posed questions, but the South African group felt more strongly about the issues. Both groups of students felt that there was a need for more practical entrepreneurship training. The South African education system should focus on practical entrepreneurship training from a young age.Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, entrepreneurship development programmes, entrepreneurship intention, Netherlands, South Africa, unemployment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1913255 Performance Evaluation and Economic Analysis of Minimum Quantity Lubrication with Pressurized/Non-Pressurized Air and Nanofluid Mixture
Authors: M. Amrita, R. R. Srikant, A. V. Sita Rama Raju
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Water miscible cutting fluids are conventionally used to lubricate and cool the machining zone. But issues related to health hazards, maintenance and disposal costs have limited their usage, leading to application of Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL). To increase the effectiveness of MQL, nanocutting fluids are proposed. In the present work, water miscible nanographite cutting fluids of varying concentration are applied at cutting zone by two systems A and B. System A utilizes high pressure air and supplies cutting fluid at a flow rate of 1ml/min. System B uses low pressure air and supplies cutting fluid at a flow rate of 5ml/min. Their performance in machining is evaluated by measuring cutting temperatures, tool wear, cutting forces and surface roughness and compared with dry machining and flood machining. Application of nanocutting fluid using both systems showed better performance than dry machining. Cutting temperatures and cutting forces obtained by both techniques are more than flood machining. But tool wear and surface roughness showed improvement compared to flood machining. Economic analysis has been carried out in all the cases to decide the applicability of the techniques.
Keywords: Economic analysis, Machining, Minimum Quantity lubrication, nanofluid.
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