Search results for: Regional development initiatives
3449 Development of an Efficient CVT using Electromecanical System
Authors: A. A. Shafie, M. H. Ali
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Continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a type of automatic transmission that can change the gear ratio to any arbitrary setting within the limits. The most common type of CVT operates on a pulley system that allows an infinite variability between highest and lowest gears with no discrete steps. However, the current CVT system with hydraulic actuation method suffers from the power loss. It needs continuous force for the pulley to clamp the belt and hold the torque resulting in large amount of energy consumption. This study focused on the development of an electromechanical actuated control CVT to eliminate the problem that faced by the existing CVT. It is conducted with several steps; computing and selecting the appropriate sizing for stroke length, lead screw system and etc. From the visual observation it was found that the CVT system of this research is satisfactory.Keywords: CVT, Hydraulic Actuator, Discrete shifts, Electromechanical system, Lead screws.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22243448 Interdisciplinarity: A Pedagogical Practice in the Classrooms
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The world is changing and, consequently, the young people need to acquire more sophisticated tools and skills to lead with the new societies’ challenges. In the curriculum of the Portuguese education system, in the profile of students leaving compulsory education, the critical thinking and creative thinking are pointed out as skills to be developed, as well as the capacity of interconnect different knowledge and applicate them in different contexts and learning areas. Unlike primary school teachers, teachers specialized in a specific area sometimes reveal more difficulties in developing interdisciplinary approaches in the classrooms and, despite the effort, the interdisciplinarity is not a common practice in schools. Statements like "Mathematics is everywhere" are unquestionable, however, some math teachers continue to develop an abstract teaching of mathematics devoid of any connection with reality. Good mathematical problems in real contexts are promising in the development of interdisciplinary pedagogical practices. However, these problems are often addressed by teachers in multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary contexts or are not addressed at all due several reasons, which range from insecurity in working on disciplinary domains with which they are not comfortable to a lack of pedagogical resources. In this study this issue is approached through a case study involving Mathematics teachers, which, in their professional development scope, attended a training aimed at stimulating interdisciplinary practices in real contexts, namely related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: Interdisciplinarity, Mathematics, professional development, teacher training.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1503447 Indigenous Dayak People’s Perceptions of Wildlife Loss and Gain Related to Oil Palm Development
Authors: A. Sunkar, A. Saraswati, Y. Santosa
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Controversies surrounding the impacts of oil palm plantations have resulted in some heated debates, especially concerning biodiversity loss and indigenous people well-being. The indigenous people of Dayak generally used wildlife to fulfill their daily needs thus were assumed to have experienced negative impacts due to oil palm developments within and surrounding their settlement areas. This study was conducted to identify the characteristics of the Dayak community settled around an oil palm plantation, to determine their perceptions of wildlife loss or gain as the results of the development of oil palm plantations, and to identify the determinant characteristic of the perceptions. The research was conducted on March 2018 in Nanga Tayap and Tajok Kayong Villages, which were located around the oil palm plantation of NTYE of Ketapang, West Kalimantan-Indonesia. Data were collected through in depth-structured interview, using closed and semi-open questionnaires and three-scale Likert statements. Interviews were conducted with 74 respondents using accidental sampling, and categorized into respondents who were dependent on oil palm for their livelihoods and those who were not. Data were analyzed using quantitative statistics method, Likert Scale, Chi-Square Test, Spearman Test, and Mann-Whitney Test. The research found that the indigenous Dayak people were aware of wildlife species loss and gain since the establishment of the plantation. Nevertheless, wildlife loss did not affect their social, economic, and cultural needs since they could find substitutions. It was found that prior to the plantation’s development, the local Dayak communities were already slowly experiencing some livelihood transitions through local village development. The only determinant characteristic of the community that influenced their perceptions of wildlife loss/gain was level of education.
Keywords: Wildlife, oil palm plantations, indigenous Dayak, biodiversity loss and gain.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13643446 Long Term Changes of Water Quality in Latvia
Authors: Maris Klavins, Valery Rodinov
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The aim of this study was to analyze long term changes of surface water quality in Latvia, spatial variability of water chemical composition, possible impacts of different pollution sources as well as to analyze the measures to protect national water resources - river basin management. Within this study, the concentrations of major water ingredients and microelements in major rivers and lakes of Latvia have been determined. Metal concentrations in river and lake waters were compared with water chemical composition. The mean concentrations of trace metals in inland waters of Latvia are appreciably lower than the estimated world averages for river waters and close to or lower than background values, unless regional impacts determined by local geochemistry. This may be explained by a comparatively lower level of anthropogenic load. In the same time in several places, direct anthropogenic impacts are evident, regarding influences of point sources both transboundary transport impacts. Also, different processes related to pollution of surface waters in Latvia have been analyzed. At first the analysis of changes and composition of pollutant emissions in Latvia has been realized, and the obtained results were compared with actual composition of atmospheric precipitation and their changes in time.
Keywords: Water quality, trend analysis, pollution, human impact.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10013445 A Feasibility-study of a Micro- Communications Sonobuoy Deployable by UAV Robots
Authors: B. Munro, D. Lim, A. Anvar
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This paper describes a feasibility study that is included with the research, development and testing of a micro communications sonobuoy deployable by Maritime Fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (M-UAV) and rotor wing Quad Copters which are both currently being developed by the University of Adelaide. The micro communications sonobuoy is developed to act as a seamless communication relay between an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and an above water human operator some distance away. Development of such a device would eliminate the requirement of physical communication tethers attached to submersible vehicles for control and data retrieval.Keywords: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, AUV, Maritime, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, Micro Sonobuoy, Communication.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20513444 Nonlinear Multivariable Analysis of CO2 Emissions in China
Authors: Hsiao-Tien Pao, Yi-Ying Li, Hsin-Chia Fu
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This paper addressed the impacts of energy consumption, economic growth, financial development, and population size on environmental degradation using grey relational analysis (GRA) for China, where foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is the proxy variable for financial development. The more recent historical data during the period 2004–2011 are used, because the use of very old data for data analysis may not be suitable for rapidly developing countries. The results of the GRA indicate that the linkage effects of energy consumption–emissions and GDP–emissions are ranked first and second, respectively. These reveal that energy consumption and economic growth are strongly correlated with emissions. Higher economic growth requires more energy consumption and increasing environmental pollution. Likewise, more efficient energy use needs a higher level of economic development. Therefore, policies to improve energy efficiency and create a low-carbon economy can reduce emissions without hurting economic growth. The finding of FDI–emissions linkage is ranked third. This indicates that China do not apply weak environmental regulations to attract inward FDI. Furthermore, China’s government in attracting inward FDI should strengthen environmental policy. The finding of population–emissions linkage effect is ranked fourth, implying that population size does not directly affect CO2 emissions, even though China has the world’s largest population, and Chinese people are very economical use of energy-related products. Overall, the energy conservation, improving efficiency, managing demand, and financial development, which aim at curtailing waste of energy, reducing both energy consumption and emissions, and without loss of the country’s competitiveness, can be adopted for developing economies. The GRA is one of the best way to use a lower data to build a dynamic analysis model.
Keywords: Grey relational analysis, foreign direct investment, CO2 emissions, China.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12743443 Development of Elementary Literacy in the Czech Republic
Authors: Iva Košek Bartošová
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There is great attention being paid in the field of development of first reading, thus early literacy skills in the Czech Republic. Yet inconclusive results of PISA and PIRLS force us to think over the teacher´s work, his/her roles in the education process and methods and forms used in lessons. There is also a significant importance to monitor the family environment and the pupil, themselves. The aim of the publishing output is to focus on one side dealing with methods of practicing reading technique and their results in the process of comprehension. In the first part of the contribution there are the goals of development of reading literacy and the methods used in reading practice in some EU countries and a follow-up comparison of research implemented by the help of modern technology of an eye tracker device in the year 2015 and a research conducted at the Institute of Education and Psychological Counselling of the Czech Republic in the year 2011/12. These are the results of a diagnostic test of reading in first classes of primary schools, taught by the genetic method and analytic-synthetic method. The results show that in the first stage of practice there are no statistically significant differences between any researched subjects taught by different methods of reading practice (with the use of several diagnostic texts focused on reading technique and its comprehension). Different results are shown at the end of Grade One and during Grade Two of primary school.
Keywords: Elementary literacy, eye tracker device, diagnostic reading tests, reading teaching method.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10813442 Successful Management of a Boy with Mild Persistent Asthma (A Longitudinal Case)
Authors: Lubis A., Setiawati L., Setyoningrum A. R., Suryawan A., Irwanto
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Asthma is a condition that causing chronic health problems in children. In addition to basic therapy against disease, we must try to reduce the impact of chronic health problems and also optimize their medical aspect of growth and development. A boy with mild asthma attack frequent episode did not showed any improvement with medical treatment and his asthma control test was 11. From radiologic examination he got hyperaerated lung and billateral sinusitis maxillaris; skin test results were house dust, food and pet allergy; an overweight body; bad school grades; psychological and environmental problem. We followed and evaluated this boy in 6 months, treated holistically. Even we could not do much on environmental but no more psychological and school problems, his on a good bodyweight and his asthma control test was 22. A case of a child with mild asthma attack frequent episode was reported. Asthma clinical course show no significant improvement when other predisposing factor is not well-controlled and a child’s growth and development may be affected. Improving condition of the patient can be created with the help of loving and caring way of nurturing from the parents and supportive peer group. Therefore, continuous and consistent monitoring is required because prognosis of asthma is generally good when regularly and properly controlled.
Keywords: Asthma, chronic health problems, growth and development.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16543441 Hospital Administration for Humanized Healthcare in Thailand
Authors: Niwatchai Namwichisirikul
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Due to the emergence of “Humanized Healthcare" introduced by Professor Dr. Prawase Wasi in 2003[1], the development of this paradigm tends to be widely implemented. The organizations included Healthcare Accreditation Institute (public organization), National Health Foundation, Mahidol University in cooperation with Thai Health Promotion Foundation, and National Health Security Office (Thailand) have selected the hospitals or infirmaries that are qualified for humanized healthcare since 2008- 2010 and 35 of them are chosen to be the outstandingly navigating organizations for the development of humanized healthcare, humanized healthcare award [2]. The research aims to study the current issue, characteristics and patterns of hospital administration contributing to humanized healthcare system in Thailand. The selected case studies are from four hospitals including Dansai Crown Prince Hospital, Leoi; Ubolrattana Hospital, Khon Kaen; Kapho Hospital, Pattani; and Prathai Hospital, Nakhonrachasima. The methodology is in-depth interviewing with 10 staffs working as hospital executive directors, and representatives from leader groups including directors, multidisciplinary hospital committees, personnel development committees, physicians and nurses in each hospital. (Total=40) In addition, focus group discussions between hospital staffs and general people (including patients and their relatives, the community leader, and other people) are held by means of setting 4 groups including 8 people within each group. (Total=128) The observation on the working in each hospital is also implemented. The findings of the study reveal that there are five important aspects found in each hospital including (1) the quality improvement under the mental and spiritual development policy from the chief executives and lead teams, leaders as Role model and they have visionary leadership; (2) the participation hospital administration system focusing on learning process and stakeholder- needs, spiritual human resource management and development; (3) the relationship among people especially staffs, team work skills, mutual understanding, effective communication and personal inner-development; (4) organization culture relevant to the awareness of patients- rights as well as the participation policy including spiritual growth achieving to the same goals, sharing vision, developing public mind, and caring; and (5) healing structures or environment providing warmth and convenience for hospital staffs, patients and their relatives and visitors.Keywords: Hospital administration, Humanized healthcare.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25023440 Properties of Cement Pastes with Different Particle Size Fractions of Metakaolin
Authors: M. Boháč, R. Novotný, F. Frajkorová, R. S. Yadav, T. Opravil, M. Palou
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Properties of Portland cement mixtures with various fractions of metakaolin were studied. 10% of Portland cement CEM I 42.5 R was replaced by different fractions of high reactivity metakaolin with defined chemical and mineralogical properties. Various fractions of metakaolin were prepared by jet mill classifying system. There is a clear trend between fineness of metakaolin and hydration heat development. Due to metakaolin presence in mixtures the compressive strength development of mortars is rather slower for coarser fractions but 28-day flexural strengths are improved for all fractions of metakaoline used in mixtures compared to reference sample of pure Portland cement. Yield point, plastic viscosity and adhesion of fresh pastes are considerably influenced by fineness of metakaolin used in cement pastes.
Keywords: Calorimetry, cement, metakaolin fineness, rheology, strength.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26963439 SolarSPELL Case Study: Pedagogical Quality Indicators to Evaluate Digital Library Resources
Authors: Lorena Alemán de la Garza, Marcela Georgina Gómez-Zermeño
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This paper presents the SolarSPELL case study that aims to generate information on the use of indicators that help evaluate the pedagogical quality of a digital library resources. SolarSPELL is a solar-powered digital library with WiFi connectivity. It offers a variety of open educational resources selected for their potential for the digital transformation of educational practices and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States. The case study employed a quantitative methodology and the research instrument was applied to 55 teachers, directors and librarians. The results indicate that it is possible to strengthen the pedagogical quality of open educational resources, through actions focused on improving temporal and technological parameters. They also reveal that users believe that SolarSPELL improves the teaching-learning processes and motivates the teacher to improve his or her development. This study provides valuable information on a tool that supports teaching-learning processes and facilitates connectivity with renewable energies that improves the teacher training in active methodologies for ecosystem learning.Keywords: Educational innovation, digital library, pedagogical quality, solar energy, teacher training, sustainable development.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9423438 Flowability and Strength Development Characteristics of Bottom Ash Based Geopolymer
Authors: Si-Hwan Kim, Gum-Sung Ryu, Kyung-Taek Koh, Jang-Hwa Lee
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Despite of the preponderant role played by cement among the construction materials, it is today considered as a material destructing the environment due to the large quantities of carbon dioxide exhausted during its manufacture. Besides, global warming is now recognized worldwide as the new threat to the humankind against which advanced countries are investigating measures to reduce the current amount of exhausted gases to the half by 2050. Accordingly, efforts to reduce green gases are exerted in all industrial fields. Especially, the cement industry strives to reduce the consumption of cement through the development of alkali-activated geopolymer mortars using industrial byproducts like bottom ash. This study intends to gather basic data on the flowability and strength development characteristics of alkali-activated geopolymer mortar by examining its FT-IT features with respect to the effects and strength of the alkali-activator in order to develop bottom ash-based alkali-activated geopolymer mortar. The results show that the 35:65 mass ratio of sodium hydroxide to sodium silicate is appropriate and that a molarity of 9M for sodium hydroxide is advantageous. The ratio of the alkali-activators to bottom ash is seen to have poor effect on the strength. Moreover, the FT-IR analysis reveals that larger improvement of the strength shifts the peak from 1060 cm–1 (T-O, T=Si or Al) toward shorter wavenumber.
Keywords: Bottom Ash, Geopolymer mortar, Flowability, Strength Properties.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24983437 Development of a Simulator for Explaining Organic Chemical Reactions Based on Qualitative Process Theory
Authors: Alicia Y. C. Tang, Rukaini Hj. Abdullah, Sharifuddin M. Zain
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This paper discusses the development of a qualitative simulator (abbreviated QRiOM) for predicting the behaviour of organic chemical reactions. The simulation technique is based on the qualitative process theory (QPT) ontology. The modelling constructs of QPT embody notions of causality which can be used to explain the behaviour of a chemical system. The major theme of this work is that, in a qualitative simulation environment, students are able to articulate his/her knowledge through the inspection of explanations generated by software. The implementation languages are Java and Prolog. The software produces explanation in various forms that stresses on the causal theories in the chemical system which can be effectively used to support learning.Keywords: Chemical reactions, explanation, qualitative processtheory, simulation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15623436 Practical Problems as Tools for the Development of Secondary School Students’ Motivation to Learn Mathematics
Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets
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This article discusses plausible reasoning use for solution to practical problems. Such reasoning is the major driver of motivation and implementation of mathematical, scientific and educational research activity. A general, practical problem solving algorithm is presented which includes an analysis of specific problem content to build, solve and interpret the underlying mathematical model. The author explores the role of practical problems such as the stimulation of students' interest, the development of their world outlook and their orientation in the modern world at the different stages of learning mathematics in secondary school. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of those problems which were systematized and presented in the conclusions.
Keywords: Mathematics, motivation, secondary school, student, practical problem.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10633435 Arabic Literature as a Tool for Educational Transformation in Nigeria
Authors: Abdulfatah A Raji
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This paper started with the definitions of literature, Arabic literature, transformation and went further to highlight the components of educational transformation. The general history of Arabic literature was discussed with focus on how it undergoes some transformations from pre-Islamic period through Quranic era, Abbasid literature to renaissance period in which the modernization of Arabic literature started in Egypt. It also traces the spread of Arabic literature in Nigeria from the pre-colonial era during the Kanuri rulers to Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio and the development of literature which manifested to the Teacher’s Colleges and Bayero University in Northern Nigeria. Also, the establishment of primary and post-primary schools by Muslim organizations in many cities and towns of the Western part of Nigeria. Literary criticism was also discussed in line with Arabic literature. Poetry work of eminent poets were cited to show its importance in line with educational transformation in Nigerian literature and lessons from the cited Arabic poetry works were also highlighted to include: motivation to behave well and to tolerate others, better spirits of interaction, love and co-existence among different sexes, religion etc. All these can help in developing a better educational transformation in Nigeria which can in turn help in how to conduct researches for national development. The paper recommended compulsory Arabic literature at all levels of the nations’ educational system as well as publication of Arabic books and journals to encourage peace in this era of conflicts and further transform Nigeria’s educational system for better.Keywords: Arabic, literature, peace, development, Nigeria
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15673434 Hybrid Power – Application for Tourism in Isolated Areas
Authors: Aurelian Octavian Ciucâ, Ioan Bitir-Istrate, Mircea Scripcariu
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The rapidly increasing costs of power line extensions and fossil fuel, combined with the desire to reduce carbon dioxide emissions pushed the development of hybrid power system suited for remote locations, the purpose in mind being that of autonomous local power systems. The paper presents the suggested solution for a “high penetration" hybrid power system, it being determined by the location of the settlement and its “zero policy" on carbon dioxide emissions. The paper focuses on the technical solution and the power flow management algorithm of the system, taking into consideration local conditions of development.Keywords: Renewable energy, hybrid power system, wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, bio-diesel cogeneration, bio-fuel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16193433 Kosovo- A Unique Experiment in Europe- in the International Context at the End of the Cold War?
Authors: Raluca Iulia Iulian
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The question of interethnic and interreligious conflicts in ex-Yugoslavia receives much attention within the framework of the international context created after 1991 because of the impact of these conflicts on the security and the stability of the region of Balkans and of Europe. This paper focuses on the rationales leading to the declaration of independence by Kosovo according to ethnic and religious criteria and analyzes why these same rationales were not applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The approach undertaken aims at comparatively examining the cases of Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, it aims at understanding the political decision making of the international community in the case of Kosovo. Specifically, was this a good political decision for the security and the stability of the region of Balkans, of Europe, or even for global security and stability? This research starts with an overview on the European security framework post 1991, paying particular attention to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It then presents the theoretical and methodological framework and compares the representative cases. Using the constructivism issue and the comparative methodology, it arrives at the results of the study. An important issue of the paper is the thesis that this event modifies the principles of international law and creates dangerous precedents for regional stability in the Balkans.Keywords: Interethnic and interreligious conflict, security andstability, superpower.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14043432 Development of a Technology Assessment Model by Patents and Customers' Review Data
Authors: Kisik Song, Sungjoo Lee
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Recent years have seen an increasing number of patent disputes due to excessive competition in the global market and a reduced technology life-cycle; this has increased the risk of investment in technology development. While many global companies have started developing a methodology to identify promising technologies and assess for decisions, the existing methodology still has some limitations. Post hoc assessments of the new technology are not being performed, especially to determine whether the suggested technologies turned out to be promising. For example, in existing quantitative patent analysis, a patent’s citation information has served as an important metric for quality assessment, but this analysis cannot be applied to recently registered patents because such information accumulates over time. Therefore, we propose a new technology assessment model that can replace citation information and positively affect technological development based on post hoc analysis of the patents for promising technologies. Additionally, we collect customer reviews on a target technology to extract keywords that show the customers’ needs, and we determine how many keywords are covered in the new technology. Finally, we construct a portfolio (based on a technology assessment from patent information) and a customer-based marketability assessment (based on review data), and we use them to visualize the characteristics of the new technologies.Keywords: Technology assessment, patents, citation information, opinion mining.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9913431 Implementation of Geo-knowledge Based Geographic Information System for Estimating Earthquake Hazard Potential at a Metropolitan Area, Gwangju, in Korea
Authors: Chang-Guk Sun, Jin-Soo Shin
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In this study, an inland metropolitan area, Gwangju, in Korea was selected to assess the amplification potential of earthquake motion and provide the information for regional seismic countermeasure. A geographic information system-based expert system was implemented for reliably predicting the spatial geotechnical layers in the entire region of interesting by building a geo-knowledge database. Particularly, the database consists of the existing boring data gathered from the prior geotechnical projects and the surface geo-knowledge data acquired from the site visit. For practical application of the geo-knowledge database to estimate the earthquake hazard potential related to site amplification effects at the study area, seismic zoning maps on geotechnical parameters, such as the bedrock depth and the site period, were created within GIS framework. In addition, seismic zonation of site classification was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design at any site in the study area. KeywordsEarthquake hazard, geo-knowledge, geographic information system, seismic zonation, site period.Keywords: Earthquake hazard, geo-knowledge, geographic information system, seismic zonation, site period.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16623430 Status, Habitat Use, and Behaviour of Wintering Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus in Semi-Arid and Saharan Wetlands of Algeria
Authors: E. Bensaci, M. Saheb, Y. Nouidjem, A. Zoubiri, A. Bouzegag, M. Houhamdi
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The Greater flamingo is considered the flagship species of wetlands across semi-arid and Saharan regions of Africa, especially Chotts and Sebkhas, which also concentrate significant numbers of bird species. Flamingos have different status (wintering and breeder) which vary between sites in different parts of Algeria. We conducted surveys and recorded banded flamingos across distinct regions within two climatic belts: semi-arid (Hauts Plateaux) and arid (Sahara), showing the importance of these sites in the migratory flyways particularly the relation between West Mediterranean and West Africa populations. The distribution of Greater flamingos varied between sites and seasons, where the concentrations mainly were in the wide, lees deep and salt lakes. Many of the sites (17) in the surveyed area were regularly supporting at least 1% of the regional population during winter. The analysis of Greater flamingos behaviour in different climatic regions in relation showed that the feeding is the dominant diurnal activity with rates exceeding 60% of the time. While feeding varies between seasons, and showed a negative relationship with the degree of disturbance.Keywords: Algeria, greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, Sahara, semi-arid.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11453429 Geographical Information System for Sustainable Management of Water Resources
Authors: Vakhtang Geladze, Nana Bolashvili, Nino Machavariani, Tamazi Karalashvili, Nino Chikhradze, Davit Kartvelishvili
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Fresh water deficit is one of the most important global problems today. In the countries with scarce water resources, they often become a reason of armed conflicts. The peaceful settlement of relations connected with management and water consumption issues within and beyond the frontiers of the country is an important guarantee of the region stability. The said problem is urgent in Georgia as well because of its water objects are located at the borders and the transit run-off that is 12% of the total one. Fresh water resources are the major natural resources of Georgia. Despite of this, water supply of population at its Eastern part is an acute issue. Southeastern part of the country has been selected to carry out the research. This region is notable for deficiency of water resources in the country. The region tends to desertification which aggravates fresh water problem even more and presumably may lead to migration of local population from the area. The purpose of study was creation geographical information system (GIS) of water resources. GIS contains almost all layers of different content (water resources, springs, channels, hydrological stations, population water supply, etc.). The results of work provide an opportunity to identify the resource potential of the mentioned region, control and manage it, carry out monitoring and plan regional economy.
Keywords: GIS, irrigation, water resources.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12083428 A Proposal for Systematic Mapping Study of Software Security Testing, Verification and Validation
Authors: Adriano Bessa Albuquerque, Francisco Jose Barreto Nunes
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Software vulnerabilities are increasing and not only impact services and processes availability as well as information confidentiality, integrity and privacy, but also cause changes that interfere in the development process. Security test could be a solution to reduce vulnerabilities. However, the variety of test techniques with the lack of real case studies of applying tests focusing on software development life cycle compromise its effective use. This paper offers an overview of how a Systematic Mapping Study (MS) about security verification, validation and test (VVT) was performed, besides presenting general results about this study.
Keywords: Software test, software security verification validation and test, security test institutionalization, systematic mapping study.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16223427 Software Model for a Computer Based Training for an HVDC Control Desk Simulator
Authors: José R. G. Braga, Joice B. Mendes, Guilherme H. Caponetto, Alexandre C. B. Ramos
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With major technological advances and to reduce the cost of training apprentices for real-time critical systems, it was necessary the development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems for training apprentices in these systems. These systems, in general, have interactive features so that the learning is actually more efficient, making the learner more familiar with the mechanism in question. In the home stage of learning, tests are performed to obtain the student's income, a measure on their use. The aim of this paper is to present a framework to model an Intelligent Tutoring Systems using the UML language. The various steps of the analysis are considered the diagrams required to build a general model, whose purpose is to present the different perspectives of its development.Keywords: Computer based training, Hypermedia, Software modeling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16063426 Development of Total Maximum Daily Load Using Water Quality Modelling as an Approach for Watershed Management in Malaysia
Authors: S. A. Che Osmi, W. M. F. Wan Ishak, H. Kim, M. A. Azman, M. A. Ramli
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River is one of important water sources for many activities including industrial and domestic usage such as daily usage, transportation, power supply and recreational activities. However, increasing activities in a river has grown the sources of pollutant enters the water bodies, and degraded the water quality of the river. It becomes a challenge to develop an effective river management to ensure the water sources of the river are well managed and regulated. In Malaysia, several approaches for river management have been implemented such as Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) program for coordinating the management of resources in a natural environment based on river basin to ensure their sustainability lead by Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID), Malaysia. Nowadays, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is one of the best approaches for river management in Malaysia. TMDL implementation is regulated and implemented in the United States. A study on the development of TMDL in Malacca River has been carried out by doing water quality monitoring, the development of water quality model by using Environmental Fluid Dynamic Codes (EFDC), and TMDL implementation plan. The implementation of TMDL will help the stakeholders and regulators to control and improve the water quality of the river. It is one of the good approaches for river management in Malaysia.
Keywords: EFDC, river management, TMDL, water quality modelling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15743425 Finite Element and Subspace Identification Approaches to Model Development of a Smart Acoustic Box with Experimental Verification
Authors: Tamara Nestorović, Jean Lefèvre, Stefan Ringwelski, Ulrich Gabbert
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Two approaches for model development of a smart acoustic box are suggested in this paper: the finite element (FE) approach and the subspace identification. Both approaches result in a state-space model, which can be used for obtaining the frequency responses and for the controller design. In order to validate the developed FE model and to perform the subspace identification, an experimental set-up with the acoustic box and dSPACE system was used. Experimentally obtained frequency responses show good agreement with the frequency responses obtained from the FE model and from the identified model.
Keywords: Acoustic box, experimental verification, finite element model, subspace identification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15603424 Systematic Functional Analysis Methods for Design Retrieval and Documentation
Authors: L. Zehtaban, D. Roller
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Apart from geometry, functionality is one of the most significant hallmarks of a product. The functionality of a product can be considered as the fundamental justification for a product existence. Therefore a functional analysis including a complete and reliable descriptor has a high potential to improve product development process in various fields especially in knowledge-based design. One of the important applications of the functional analysis and indexing is in retrieval and design reuse concept. More than 75% of design activity for a new product development contains reusing earlier and existing design know-how. Thus, analysis and categorization of product functions concluded by functional indexing, influences directly in design optimization. This paper elucidates and evaluates major classes for functional analysis by discussing their major methods. Moreover it is finalized by presenting a noble hybrid approach for functional analysis.Keywords: Functional analysis, design reuse, functionalindexing and representation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 51693423 A New Type of Integration Error and its Influence on Integration Testing Techniques
Authors: P. Prema, B. Ramadoss
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Testing is an activity that is required both in the development and maintenance of the software development life cycle in which Integration Testing is an important activity. Integration testing is based on the specification and functionality of the software and thus could be called black-box testing technique. The purpose of integration testing is testing integration between software components. In function or system testing, the concern is with overall behavior and whether the software meets its functional specifications or performance characteristics or how well the software and hardware work together. This explains the importance and necessity of IT for which the emphasis is on interactions between modules and their interfaces. Software errors should be discovered early during IT to reduce the costs of correction. This paper introduces a new type of integration error, presenting an overview of Integration Testing techniques with comparison of each technique and also identifying which technique detects what type of error.Keywords: Integration Error, Integration Error Types, Integration Testing Techniques, Software Testing
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22163422 Sociodemographic Risk Factors of Cervical Cancer in Imphal, Manipur
Authors: Arundhati Devi Maibam, K. Ingocha Singh
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Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early. Determination of risk factors is essential to plan screening programmes to prevent the disease. To study the demographic risk factors of cervical cancer among Manipuri women, information on age, marital status, educational level, monthly family income and socioeconomic status were collected through a pre-tested interview schedule. In this study, 64 incident cases registered at the RT Dept, RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences), Imphal, Manipur, India during 2008-09 participated. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and the results were expressed in percentages. Among the 64 patients with cervical cancer, 56 (88.9%) were in the age group of 40+ years. The majority of the patients were from rural areas (68.75%) and 31.25% were from urban areas. The majority of the patients were Hindus (73%), 55(85.9%) were of low educational level, 43(67.2%) were married, and 36 (56.25%) belonged to Class IV socioeconomic status. In conclusion, if detected early, cervical cancer is preventable and curable. The potential risk factors need to be identified and women in the risk group need to be motivated for screening. Affordable screening programmes and health care resources will help in lessening the burden of the disease.Keywords: Cervical cancer, Manipuri women, RIIMS, Socio-demographic risk factors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11373421 Applying Half-Circle Fuzzy Numbers to Control System: A Preliminary Study on Development of Intelligent System on Marine Environment and Engineering
Authors: Chen-Yuan Chen, Wan-I Lee, Yi-Chaio Sui, Cheng-Wu Chen
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This study focuses on the development of triangular fuzzy numbers, the revising of triangular fuzzy numbers, and the constructing of a HCFN (half-circle fuzzy number) model which can be utilized to perform more plural operations. They are further transformed for trigonometric functions and polar coordinates. From half-circle fuzzy numbers we can conceive cylindrical fuzzy numbers, which work better in algebraic operations. An example of fuzzy control is given in a simulation to show the applicability of the proposed half-circle fuzzy numbers.
Keywords: triangular fuzzy number, half-circle fuzzy numbers, predictions, polar coordinates, Lyapunov method
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24343420 Collaborative Professional Education for e-Teaching in Networked Schools
Authors: Ken Stevens
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Networked schools have become a feature of education systems in countries that seek to provide learning opportunities in schools located beyond major centres of population. The internet and e-learning have facilitated the development of virtual educational structures that complement traditional schools, encouraging collaborative teaching and learning to proceed. In rural New Zealand and in the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, e-learning is able to provide new ways of organizing teaching, learning and the management of educational opportunities. However, the future of e-teaching and e-learning in networked schools depends on the development of professional education programs that prepare teachers for collaborative teaching and learning environments in which both virtual and traditional face to face instruction co-exist.Keywords: Advanced Placement, Cybercells, Extranet, Intranet.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1409