Search results for: Basic reproductive number

Authors: Afnan T. Bagasi, Donia M. Bettaieb, Abeer Alsobahi

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The wayfinding system affects the course of a museum journey for visitors, both directly and indirectly. The design aspects of this system play an important role, making it an effective communication system within the museum space. However, translating the concepts that pertain to its design, and which are based on integration and connectivity in museum space design, such as intelligibility, lacks customization in the form of specific design considerations with reference to the most important approaches. These approaches link the organizational and practical aspects to the semiotic and semantic aspects related to the space syntax by targeting the visual and perceived consistency of visitors. In this context, the present study aims to identify how to apply the concept of intelligibility by employing integration and connectivity to design a wayfinding system in museums as a kind of composite interior space. Using the available plans and images to extrapolate the considerations used to design the wayfinding system in the Saudi National Museum as a case study, a descriptive analytical method was used to understand the basic organizational and Morphological principles of the museum space through the main aspects of space design (the Morphological and the pragmatic). The study’s methodology is based on the description and analysis of the basic organizational and Morphological principles of the museum space at the level of the major Morphological and Pragmatic design layers (based on available pictures and diagrams) and inductive method about applied level of intelligibility in spatial layout in the Hall of Islam and Arabia at the National Museum Saudi Arabia within the framework of a case study through the levels of verification of the properties of the concepts of connectivity and integration. The results indicated that the application of the characteristics of intelligibility is weak on both Pragmatic and Morphological levels. Based on the concept of connective and integration, we conclude the following: (1) High level of reflection of the properties of connectivity on the pragmatic level, (2) Weak level of reflection of the properties of Connectivity at the morphological level (3) Weakness in the level of reflection of the properties of integration in the space sample as a result of a weakness in the application at the morphological and pragmatic level. The study’s findings will assist designers, professionals, and researchers in the field of museum design in understanding the significance of the wayfinding system by delving into it through museum spaces by highlighting the most essential aspects using a clear analytical method.

Keywords: wayfinding system, museum journey, intelligibility, integration, connectivity, interior design

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Authors: Dewan Md. Farid, Nouria Harbi, Emna Bahri, Mohammad Zahidur Rahman, Chowdhury Mofizur Rahman

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Recently, information security has become a key issue in information technology as the number of computer security breaches are exposed to an increasing number of security threats. A variety of intrusion detection systems (IDS) have been employed for protecting computers and networks from malicious network-based or host-based attacks by using traditional statistical methods to new data mining approaches in last decades. However, today's commercially available intrusion detection systems are signature-based that are not capable of detecting unknown attacks. In this paper, we present a new learning algorithm for anomaly based network intrusion detection system using decision tree algorithm that distinguishes attacks from normal behaviors and identifies different types of intrusions. Experimental results on the KDD99 benchmark network intrusion detection dataset demonstrate that the proposed learning algorithm achieved 98% detection rate (DR) in comparison with other existing methods.

Keywords: Detection rate, decision tree, intrusion detectionsystem, network security.

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Authors: Santosh Kr. Choudhary

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In this article, LQR based PID controller design for 3DOF helicopter system is investigated. The 3-DOF helicopter system is a benchmark laboratory model having strongly nonlinear characteristics and unstable dynamics which make the control of such system a challenging task. This article first presents the mathematical model of the 3DOF helicopter system and then illustrates the basic idea and technical formulation for controller design. The paper explains the simple approach for the approximation of PID design parameters from the LQR controller gain matrix. The simulation results show that the investigated controller has both static and dynamic performance, therefore the stability and the quick control effect can be obtained simultaneously for the 3DOF helicopter system.

Keywords: 3DOF helicopter system, PID controller, LQR controller, modeling, simulation.

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Authors: Zhan Haiyang, Zhang Lei, Ning Juan

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This paper presents a configuration software solution in Linux, which is used for the control of space environment simulator. After introducing the structure and basic principle, it is said that the developing of QT software frame and the dynamic data exchanging between PLC and computer. The OPC driver in Linux is also developed. This driver realizes many-to-many communication between hardware devices and SCADA software. Moreover, an algorithm named “Scan PRI” is put forward. This algorithm is much more optimizable and efficient compared with "Scan in sequence" in Windows. This software has been used in practical project. It has a good control effect and can achieve the expected goal.

Keywords: Linux OS, configuration software, OPC server driver, MYSQL database.

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Authors: Emanuele Stomeo, Tatiana Kalganova, Cyrille Lambert

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The evolution of logic circuits, which falls under the heading of evolvable hardware, is carried out by evolutionary algorithms. These algorithms are able to automatically configure reconfigurable devices. One of main difficulties in developing evolvable hardware with the ability to design functional electrical circuits is to choose the most favourable EA features such as fitness function, chromosome representations, population size, genetic operators and individual selection. Until now several researchers from the evolvable hardware community have used and tuned these parameters and various rules on how to select the value of a particular parameter have been proposed. However, to date, no one has presented a study regarding the size of the chromosome representation (circuit layout) to be used as a platform for the evolution in order to increase the evolvability, reduce the number of generations and optimize the digital logic circuits through reducing the number of logic gates. In this paper this topic has been thoroughly investigated and the optimal parameters for these EA features have been proposed. The evolution of logic circuits has been carried out by an extrinsic evolvable hardware system which uses (1+λ) evolution strategy as the core of the evolution.

Keywords: Evolvable hardware, genotype size, computational intelligence, design of logic circuits.

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Authors: P. U. S. Peiris

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The butterflies are ecologically very important insects. The adults generally feed on nectar and are important as pollinators of flowering plants. However, these pollinators are under threat with their habitat loss. One reason for habitat loss is spread of invasive plants. However, there are even beneficial exotic plants which can directly support for Butterfly Conservation Action Plan of Sri Lanka by attracting butterflies for nectar. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) is an important nectar plant which attracts a diverse set of butterflies in higher number. It comprises a violet color inflorescence which last for about 37 hours where it attracted a peak of butterflies around 9.00am having around average of 15 butterflies. There were no butterflies in early and late hours where the number goes to very low values as 2 at 1.00pm. it was found that a diverse group of butterflies were attracted from around 15 species including 01 endemic species, 02 endemic subspecies and 02 vulnerable species. Therefore, this is a beneficial exotic plant that could be used in butterfly attraction and conservation however with adequate monitoring of the plant population.

Keywords: Butterflies, exotic plants, pollinators, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.), butterfly conservation

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Authors: Vesile Evrim, Aliyu Awwal

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Today, there is a large number of political transcripts available on the Web to be mined and used for statistical analysis, and product recommendations. As the online political resources are used for various purposes, automatically determining the political orientation on these transcripts becomes crucial. The methodologies used by machine learning algorithms to do an automatic classification are based on different features that are classified under categories such as Linguistic, Personality etc. Considering the ideological differences between Liberals and Conservatives, in this paper, the effect of Personality traits on political orientation classification is studied. The experiments in this study were based on the correlation between LIWC features and the BIG Five Personality traits. Several experiments were conducted using Convote U.S. Congressional- Speech dataset with seven benchmark classification algorithms. The different methodologies were applied on several LIWC feature sets that constituted by 8 to 64 varying number of features that are correlated to five personality traits. As results of experiments, Neuroticism trait was obtained to be the most differentiating personality trait for classification of political orientation. At the same time, it was observed that the personality trait based classification methodology gives better and comparable results with the related work.

Keywords: Politics, personality traits, LIWC, machine learning.

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Authors: Arda Yunianta, Norazah Yusof, Mohd Shahizan Othman, Dewi Octaviani

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Learning is the acquisition of new mental schemata, knowledge, abilities and skills which can be used to solve problems potentially more successfully. The learning process is optimum when it is assisted and personalized. Learning is not a single activity, but should involve many possible activities to make learning become meaningful. Many e-learning applications provide facilities to support teaching and learning activities. One way to identify whether the e-learning system is being used by the learners is through the number of hits that can be obtained from the e-learning system's log data. However, we cannot rely solely to the number of hits in order to determine whether learning had occurred meaningfully. This is due to the fact that meaningful learning should engage five characteristics namely active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative. This paper aims to analyze the e-learning activities that is meaningful to learning. By focusing on the meaningful learning characteristics, we match it to the corresponding Moodle e-learning activities. This analysis discovers the activities that have high impact to meaningful learning, as well as activities that are less meaningful. The high impact activities is given high weights since it become important to meaningful learning, while the low impact has less weight and said to be supportive e-learning activities. The result of this analysis helps us categorize which e-learning activities that are meaningful to learning and guide us to measure the effectiveness of e-learning usage.

Keywords: e-learning system, e-learning activity, meaningful learning characteristics, Moodle

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Authors: Yasser M. Saad, Amr A. El Hanafy, Saleh A. Alkarim, Hussein A. Almehdar, Elrashdy M. Redwan

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Camels are substantial providers of transport, milk, sport, meat, shelter, security and capital in many countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Inter simple sequence repeat technique was used to detect the genetic variations among some camel breeds (Majaheim, Safra, Wadah, and Hamara). Actual number of alleles, effective number of alleles, gene diversity, Shannon’s information index and polymorphic bands were calculated for each evaluated camel breed. Neighbor-joining tree that re-constructed for evaluated these camel breeds showed that, Hamara breed is distantly related from the other evaluated camels. In addition, the polymorphic sites, haplotypes and nucleotide diversity were identified for some camelidae cox1 gene sequences (obtained from NCBI). The distance value between C. bactrianus and C. dromedarius (0.072) was relatively low. Analysis of genetic diversity is an important way for conserving Camelus dromedarius genetic resources.

Keywords: Camel, genetics, ISSR, cox1, neighbor-joining.

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Authors: Chih Chin Yang, Chih Yu Lee, Jing Yi Wang, Mei Zhen Xue, Chia Yueh Wu

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A well-defined frequency multiple dividing (FMD) circuit using a resonant model is presented in this research. The basic component of a frequency multiple divider as used in a resonant model is established by compositing a well-defined resonant effect of negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristics which possesses a wider operational region and high operational current at a bias voltage of about 1.15 V. The resonant model is then applied in the frequency dividing circuit with the above division ratio (R_D) of 200 at the signal input of middle frequency. The division ratio also exists at the input of a low frequency signal.

Keywords: Divider, frequency, resonant model.

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Authors: Yue-Tzu Yang, Shu-Ching Liao

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This study presents the numerical simulation of three-dimensional incompressible steady and laminar fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink using water as a cooling fluid in a silicon substrate. Navier-Stokes equations with conjugate energy equation are discretized by finite-volume method. We perform numerical computations for a range of 50 ≦ Re ≦ 600, 0.05W ≦ P ≦ 0.8W, 20W/cm² ≦q"≦ 40W/cm². The present study demonstrates the numerical optimization of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink design using the response surface methodology (RSM) and the genetic algorithm method (GA). The results show that the average Nusselt number increases with an increase in the Reynolds number or pumping power, and the thermal resistance decreases as the pumping power increases. The thermal resistance of a trapezoidal microchannel is minimized for a constant heat flux and constant pumping power.

Keywords: Microchannel heat sinks, Conjugate heat transfer, Optimization, Genetic algorithm method.

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Authors: Boonyarat Chaleephay

Abstract:

The purpose of this research paper was to describe the relationship of acupressure points on the anterior surface of the upper limb in accordance with Applied Thai Traditional Massage (ATTM) and the deep structures located at those acupressure points. There were 2 population groups; normal subjects and cadaver specimens. Eighteen males with age ranging from 20-40 years old and seventeen females with ages ranging from 30-97 years old were studies. This study was able to obtain a fundamental knowledge concerning acupressure point and the deep structures that related to those acupressure points. It might be used as the basic knowledge for clinically applying and planning treatment as well as teaching in ATTM.

Keywords: Acupressure point (AP), Applie Thai Traditional Medicine (ATTM), Paresthesia, Numbness.

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Authors: Turki M. Habeebullah, Atef M. F. Mohammed, Essam A. Morsy

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In recent decades, particulate matter (PM10) have received much attention due to its potential adverse health impact and the subsequent need to better control or regulate these pollutants. The aim of this paper is focused on study risk assessment of PM10 in four different districts (Shebikah, Masfalah, Aziziyah, Awali) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during the period from 1 Ramadan 1434 AH - 27 Safar 1435 AH. Samples were collected by using Low Volume Sampler (LVS Low Volume Sampler) device and filtration method for estimating the total concentration of PM10. The study indicated that the mean PM10 concentrations were 254.6 (186.1 - 343.2) μg/m3 in Shebikah, 184.9 (145.6 - 271.4) μg/m3 in Masfalah, 162.4 (92.4-253.8) μg/m3 in Aziziyah, and 56.0 (44.5 - 119.8) μg/m3 in Awali. These values did not exceed the permissible limits in PME (340 μg/m3 as daily average). Furthermore, health assessment is carried out using AirQ2.2.3 model to estimate the number of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. The cumulative number of cases per 100,000 were 1534 (18-3050 case), which lower than that recorded in the United States, Malaysia. The concentration response coefficient was 0.49 (95% CI 0.05 - 0.70) per 10 μg/m3 increase of PM10.

Keywords: Air pollution, Respiratory diseases, AirQ2.2.3, Makkah.

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Authors: C. A. Cortes-Quiroz, A. Azarbadegan, E. Moeendarbary

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A new design of a planar passive T-micromixer with fin-shaped baffles in the mixing channel is presented. The mixing efficiency and the level of pressure loss in the channel have been investigated by numerical simulations in the range of Reynolds number (Re) 1 to 50. A Mixing index (Mi) has been defined to quantify the mixing efficiency, which results over 85% at both ends of the Re range, what demonstrates the micromixer can enhance mixing using the mechanisms of diffusion (lower Re) and convection (higher Re). Three geometric dimensions: radius of baffle, baffles pitch and height of the channel define the design parameters, and the mixing index and pressure loss are the performance parameters used to optimize the micromixer geometry with a multi-criteria optimization method. The Pareto front of designs with the optimum trade-offs, maximum mixing index with minimum pressure loss, is obtained. Experiments for qualitative and quantitative validation have been implemented.

Keywords: Computational fluids dynamics, fin-shaped baffle, mixing strategies, multi-objective optimization, passive micromixer.

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Authors: Qin Wei

Abstract:

There has been an increased number of immigrants arriving in Canada and a concurrent rise in the number of immigrant youth suffering from drug abuse. Immigrant youths’ drug abuse has become a significant social and public health concern for researchers. This paper explores the nature of immigrant youths’ drug abuse by examining the factors influencing the onset of substance misuse, the barriers that discourage youth to seek out treatment, and how to resolve addictions amidst immigrant youth. Findings demonstrate that diminished parental supervision, acculturation challenges, peer conformity, discrimination, and ethnic marginalization are all significant factors influencing youth to use drugs as an outlet for their pain, while culturally incompetent care and fear of family and culture-based addiction stigma act as barriers discouraging youth from seeking out addiction support. To resolve addiction challenges amidst immigrant youth, future research should focus on promoting and implementing culturally sensitive practices and psychoeducational initiatives into immigrant communities and within public health policies.

Keywords: Approaches, barriers, drug abuse, Canada, immigrant youth.

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Authors: Cheng-Hong Yang, Tsung-Mu Shih, Li-Yeh Chuang

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Serial Analysis of Gene Expression is a powerful quantification technique for generating cell or tissue gene expression data. The profile of the gene expression of cell or tissue in several different states is difficult for biologists to analyze because of the large number of genes typically involved. However, feature selection in machine learning can successfully reduce this problem. The method allows reducing the features (genes) in specific SAGE data, and determines only relevant genes. In this study, we used a genetic algorithm to implement feature selection, and evaluate the classification accuracy of the selected features with the K-nearest neighbor method. In order to validate the proposed method, we used two SAGE data sets for testing. The results of this study conclusively prove that the number of features of the original SAGE data set can be significantly reduced and higher classification accuracy can be achieved.

Keywords: Serial Analysis of Gene Expression, Feature selection, Genetic Algorithm, K-nearest neighbor method.

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Authors: Jun-Hyuk Choi, Joon Sung Park, Jung-Moo Seo, In-Soung Jung

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A brushless DC motor with integrated drive circuit for air management system is presented. Using magnetic equivalent circuit model a basic design of the motor is determined, and specific configurations are inspected thanks to finite element analysis. In order to reduce an unbalanced magnetic force in an axial direction, induced forces between a stator core and a permanent magnet are calculated with respect to the relative positions of them. For the high efficiency, and high power density, BLDC motor and drive are developed. Also vibration mode and eccentricity of a rotor are considered at the rated and maximum rotational speed Through the experimental results, a validity of the simulated one is confirmed.

Keywords: blower, BLDC, inverter

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Authors: S. Aghainajafizadeh, F. Heydari, H. Abbasian

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Populations of wild boar present in semi-arid of central Iran. We studied features influencing bed site selection by this species in semi-arid central steppe of Iran. Habitat features of the detected bed site were compared with randomly selected by quantifying number of habitat variables in semi- arid area in Iran. The results revealed that the most important influencing factors in bed site selection were vegetation cover, number of Artemisia sieberi, percentage cover and height of Acer cinerascens, percentage cover and height of Amygdalus scoparia. This is the first ecological study of the wild boar in a protected area of the semi desert biome of Iran. Sustainability of wild boar populations in this area dependent to shrubs of Amygdalus scoparia and Acer cinerascens for thermal and camouflage cover.

Keywords: Wild boar, Bed site selection, Yazd, Iran

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Authors: K. M. Alsager, N. O. Alshehri

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In this paper, we proposed the notion of single valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy rough set, by combining single valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set and rough set. The combination of single valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set and rough set is a powerful tool for dealing with uncertainty, granularity and incompleteness of knowledge in information systems. We presented both definition and some basic properties of the proposed model. Finally, we gave a general approach which is applied to a decision making problem in disease diagnoses, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach by a numerical example.

Keywords: Single valued neutrosophic hesitant set, single valued neutrosophic hesitant relation, single valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy rough set, decision making method.

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Authors: Zundong Zhang, Limin Jia, Yuanyuan Chai

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Control of complex systems is one of important files in complex systems, that not only relies on the essence of complex systems which is denoted by the core concept – emergence, but also embodies the elementary concept in control theory. Aiming at giving a clear and self-contained description of emergence, the paper introduces a formal way to completely describe the formation and dynamics of emergence in complex systems. Consequently, this paper indicates the Emergence-Oriented Control methodology that contains three kinds of basic control schemes: the direct control, the system re-structuring and the system calibration. As a universal ontology, the Emergence-Oriented Control provides a powerful tool for identifying and resolving control problems in specific systems.

Keywords: Complex System Control, Emergence, Emergence- Oriented Control Methodology.

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Authors: Karen Armstrong

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This paper examines the issues, the dangers and the saving graces of life in a transparent global community where there is truly “no place to hide". In recent years, social networks and online groups have transformed issues of privacy and the ways in which we perceive and interact with others. The idea of reputation is critical to this dynamic. The discussion begins with a brief etymological history of the concept of reputation and moves to an exploration of how and why online communication changes our basic nature, our various selves and the Bakhtin idea of the polyphonic nature of truth. The discussion considers the damaging effects of bullying and gossip, both of which constitute an assault on reputation and the latter of which is not limited to the lifetime of the person. It concludes with guidelines and specific recommendations.

Keywords: online reputation, gossip, cyberbullying, privacy

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Authors: Eyup Yurt, Ahmet Kurnaz, Ismail Sahin

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The purpose of the study is to investigate the education faculty students’ attitudes towards e-learning according to different variables. In current study, the data were collected from 393 students of an education faculty in Turkey. In this study, theattitude towards e‐learning scale and the demographic information form were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. It was found that there is a significant difference in students’ tendency towards e-learning and avoidance from e-learning based on gender. Male students have more positive attitudes towards e-learning than female students. Also, the students who used the internet lesshave higher levels of avoidance from e-learning. Additionally, it is found that there is a positive and significant relationship between the number of personal mobile learning devices and tendency towards e-learning. On the other hand, there is a negative and significant relationship between the number of personal mobile learning devices and avoidance from e-learning. Also, suggestions were presented according to findings.

Keywords: Education faculty students, attitude towards e-learning, gender, daily Internet usage time, m-learning.

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Authors: Markus G. Ortner, Christian Magele, Klaus Krischan

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Knowledge about the magnetic quantities in a magnetic circuit is always of great interest. On the one hand, this information is needed for the simulation of a transformer. On the other hand, parameter studies are more reliable, if the magnetic quantities are derived from a well established model. One possibility to model the 3-phase transformer is by using a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC). Though this is a well known system, it is often not an easy task to set up such a model for a large number of lumped elements which additionally includes the nonlinear characteristic of the magnetic material. Here we show the setup of a solver for a MEC and the results of the calculation in comparison to measurements taken. The equations of the MEC are based on a rearranged system of the nodal analysis. Thus it is possible to achieve a minimum number of equations, and a clear and simple structure. Hence, it is uncomplicated in its handling and it supports the iteration process. Additional helpful tasks are implemented within the solver to enhance the performance. The electric circuit is described by an electric equivalent circuit (EEC). Our results for the 3-phase transformer demonstrate the computational efficiency of the solver, and show the benefit of the application of a MEC.

Keywords: Inrush current, magnetic equivalent circuit, nonlinear behavior, transformer.

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Authors: Victoria L. Nkosi, Parvaneh Farhangpour

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Often a Grade 12 certificate is perceived as a passport to tertiary education and the minimum requirement to enter the world of work. In spite of its importance, many students do not make this milestone in South Africa. It is important to find out why so many students still fail in spite of transformation in the education system in the post-apartheid era. Given the complexity of education and its context, this study adopted a case study design to examine one historically underperforming high school in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa in 2013. The aim was to gain a understanding of the inner and outer school contextual factors associated with the high failure rate among Grade 12 students.  Government documents and reports were consulted to identify factors in the district and the village surrounding the school and a student survey was conducted to identify school, home and student factors. The randomly-sampled half of the population of Grade 12 students (53) participated in the survey and quantitative data are analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The findings showed that a host of factors is at play. The school is located in a village within a municipality which has been one of the poorest three municipalities in South Africa and the lowest Grade 12 pass rate in the Mpumalanga province.   Moreover, over half of the families of the students are single parents, 43% are unemployed and the majority has a low level of education. In addition, most families (83%) do not have basic study materials such as a dictionary, books, tables, and chairs. A significant number of students (70%) are over-aged (+19 years old); close to half of them (49%) are grade repeaters. The school itself lacks essential resources, namely computers, science laboratories, library, and enough furniture and textbooks. Moreover, teaching and learning are negatively affected by the teachers’ occasional absenteeism, inadequate lesson preparation, and poor communication skills. Overall, the continuous low performance of students in this school mirrors the vicious circle of multiple negative conditions present within and outside of the school. The complexity of factors associated with the underperformance of Grade 12 students in this school calls for a multi-dimensional intervention from government and stakeholders. One important intervention should be the placement of over-aged students and grade-repeaters in suitable educational institutions for the benefit of other students.

Keywords: Inner context, outer context, over-aged students, vicious circle.

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Authors: M. Sedlmajer, J. Zach, J. Hroudová, P. Rovnaníková

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There are several possibilities of reducing the required amount of cement in concrete production. Natural zeolite is one of the raw materials which can partly substitute Portland cement. The effort to reduce the amount of Portland cement used in concrete production is brings both economical as well as ecological benefits. The paper presents the properties of concrete containing natural zeolite as an active admixture in the concrete which partly substitutes Portland cement. The properties discussed here bring information about the basic mechanical properties and frost resistance of concrete containing zeolite. The properties of concretes with the admixture of zeolite are compared with a reference concrete with no content of zeolite. The properties of the individual concretes are observed for 360 days.

Keywords: Concrete, zeolite, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, durability.

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Authors: Gabriela R. Fernandes, Renato F. Denadai, Guido J. Denipotti

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In this work, are discussed two formulations of the boundary element method - BEM to perform linear bending analysis of plates reinforced by beams. Both formulations are based on the Kirchhoff's hypothesis and they are obtained from the reciprocity theorem applied to zoned plates, where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab. In the first model the problem values are defined along the interfaces and the external boundary. Then, in order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom kinematics hypothesis are assumed along the beam cross section, leading to a second formulation where the collocation points are defined along the beam skeleton, instead of being placed on interfaces. On these formulations no approximation of the generalized forces along the interface is required. Moreover, compatibility and equilibrium conditions along the interface are automatically imposed by the integral equation. Thus, these formulations require less approximation and the total number of the degree s of freedom is reduced. In the numerical examples are discussed the differences between these two BEM formulations, comparing as well the results to a well-known finite element code.

Keywords: Boundary elements, Building floor structures, Platebending.

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Authors: R. J. Kuo, W. C. Cheng, W. C. Lien, T. J. Yang

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Taiwan is a hyper endemic area for the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). The estimated total number of HBsAg carriers in the general population who are more than 20 years old is more than 3 million. Therefore, a case record review is conducted from January 2003 to June 2007 for all patients with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis who were admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of a well-known teaching hospital. The cost for the use of medical resources is defined as the total medical fee. In this study, principal component analysis (PCA) is firstly employed to reduce the number of dimensions. Support vector regression (SVR) and artificial neural network (ANN) are then used to develop the forecasting model. A total of 117 patients meet the inclusion criteria. 61% patients involved in this study are hepatitis B related. The computational result shows that the proposed PCA-SVR model has superior performance than other compared algorithms. In conclusion, the Child-Pugh score and echogram can both be used to predict the cost of medical resources for patients with acute hepatitis in the ED.

Keywords: Acute hepatitis, Medical resource cost, Artificial neural network, Support vector regression.

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Authors: B. Singh, B. K. Nanda

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The characterization and modeling of the dynamic behavior of many built-up structures under vibration conditions is still a subject of current research. The present study emphasizes the theoretical investigation of slip damping in layered and jointed welded cantilever structures using finite element approach. Application of finite element method in damping analysis is relatively recent, as such, some problems particularly slip damping analysis has not received enough attention. To validate the finite element model developed, experiments have been conducted on a number of mild steel specimens under different initial conditions of vibration. Finite element model developed affirms that the damping capacity of such structures is influenced by a number of vital parameters such as; pressure distribution, kinematic coefficient of friction and micro-slip at the interfaces, amplitude, frequency of vibration, length and thickness of the specimen. Finite element model developed can be utilized effectively in the design of machine tools, automobiles, aerodynamic and space structures, frames and machine members for enhancing their damping capacity.

Keywords: Amplitude, finite element method, slip damping, tack welding.

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Authors: Tomáš Melichar, Jiří Bydžovský, Vít Černý

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In this article our research focused on study of basic physical and mechanical parameters of polymer-cement repair materials is presented. Namely the influence of applied aggregates in combination with active admixture is specially considered. New formulas which were exposed in ambient with temperature even to 1000°C were suggested. Subsequently densities and strength characteristics including their changes were evaluated. Selected samples were analyzed using electron microscope. The positive influence of porous aggregates based on sintered ash was definitely demonstrated. Further it was found than in terms of thermal resistance the effective micro silica amount represents 5% to 7.5% of cement weight.

Keywords: Aggregate, ash, high, lightweight, microsilica, mortar, polymer-cement, repair, temperature.

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Authors: Amer A. Boushaala

Abstract:

The heuristic decision rules used for project scheduling will vary depending upon the project-s size, complexity, duration, personnel, and owner requirements. The concept of project complexity has received little detailed attention. The need to differentiate between easy and hard problem instances and the interest in isolating the fundamental factors that determine the computing effort required by these procedures inspired a number of researchers to develop various complexity measures. In this study, the most common measures of project complexity are presented. A new measure of project complexity is developed. The main privilege of the proposed measure is that, it considers size, shape and logic characteristics, time characteristics, resource demands and availability characteristics as well as number of critical activities and critical paths. The degree of sensitivity of the proposed measure for complexity of project networks has been tested and evaluated against the other measures of complexity of the considered fifty project networks under consideration in the current study. The developed measure showed more sensitivity to the changes in the network data and gives accurate quantified results when comparing the complexities of networks.

Keywords: Activity networks, Complexity index, Networkcomplexity measure, Network topology, Project Network.

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