Search results for: urban area

Authors: Hyun-Koo Kim, Sagong Kuk, MinKwan Kim, Ho-Youl Jung

Abstract:

This paper presents an effective method for detecting vehicles in front of the camera-assisted car during nighttime driving. The proposed method detects vehicles based on detecting vehicle headlights and taillights using techniques of image segmentation and clustering. First, to effectively extract spotlight of interest, a segmentation process based on automatic multi-level threshold method is applied on the road-scene images. Second, to spatial clustering vehicle of detecting lamps, a grouping process based on light tracking and locating vehicle lighting patterns. For simulation, we are implemented through Da-vinci 7437 DSP board with near infrared mono-camera and tested it in the urban and rural roads. Through the test, classification performances are above 97% of true positive rate evaluated on real-time environment. Our method also has good performance in the case of clear, fog and rain weather.

Keywords: Assistance Driving System, Multi-level Threshold Method, Near Infrared Mono Camera, Nighttime Vehicle Detection.

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Authors: Farouq Twaiq, Ishaq Al-Anbari, Mustafa Nasser

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The kinetics of palm oil catalytic cracking over aluminum containing mesoporous silica Al-MCM-41 (5% Al) was investigated in a batch autoclave reactor at the temperatures range of 573 – 673 K. The catalyst was prepared by using sol-gel technique and has been characterized by nitrogen adsorption and x-ray diffraction methods. Surface area of 1276 m2/g with average pore diameter of 2.54 nm and pore volume of 0.811 cm3/g was obtained. The experimental catalytic cracking runs were conducted using 50 g of oil and 1 g of catalyst. The reaction pressure was recorded at different time intervals and the data were analyzed using Levenberg- Marquardt (LM) algorithm using polymath software. The results show that the reaction order was found to be -1.5 and activation energy of 3200 J/gmol.

Keywords: Batch Reactor, Catalytic Cracking, Kinetics, Palm Oil.

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Authors: Frantisek Bozek, Lenka Jesonkova, Jiri Dvorak

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Trihalogenmethanes are the most significant byproducts of the reaction of disinfection agent with organic precursors naturally present in ground and surface waters.Their incidence negatively affects the quality of drinking water in relation to their nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic and genotoxic effects on human health. Taking into consideration the considerable volatility of monitored contaminants it could be assumed that their incidence in drinking water would depend on the distance of sampling from the area of disinfection. Based on the concentration of trihalogenmethanes determined with the help of gas chromatography with mass detector and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) such dependence has been proved as statistically significant. The acquired outcomes will be used for assessing the non-carcinogenic and genotoxic risks to consumers.

Keywords: disinfection byproducts, drinking water, trihalogenmethanes

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Authors: Odenigbo Veronica Ngozi, Lorreta Chika Ukwuaba

Abstract:

This study focuses on how the strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria, specifically in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. The research delved into the definition of FGM, adult literacy programs, and how to achieve ending FGM in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030. It further discussed the practice of FGM in Nigeria and emphasized the statement of the problem. Main purpose of the study was to investigate how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs in 2030. A survey research design was used to conduct the study in Nsukka L.G.A. The population was composed of 26 facilitators and adult learners in five adult learning centres in the area. The entire population was used as a sample. Structured questionnaires were employed to elicit information from the respondents. The items on the questionnaire were face-validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was verified using Cronbach Alpha Reliability Technique. The research questions were analysed using means and standard deviation while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of degree of significance using a t-test statistics. The result of the findings shows that the practices of FGM can end through strengthening adult literacy programs. Strengthening adult literacy programs is a good channel to end or stop FGM through the knowledge and skill acquired from the learning centres. The theoretical importance of the study lies in the fact that it highlights the role of adult literacy programs in accelerating transformative strategies to combat harmful cultural practices such as FGM. It further supports the importance of education and knowledge in achieving SDGs by 2030. The study addressed the question of how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies which can end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs by 2030. In conclusion, the study revealed that adult literacy is a good tool to end FGM in Nigeria. The recommendation was that (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and individuals should support the funding and establishment of adult literacy centres in communities so as to reach all illiterate parents or individuals so that they can acquire the knowledge and skill needed to understand the negative effect of FGM in the life of a girl child.

Keywords: Adult literacy, female genital mutilation, learning centres, Sustainable Development Goals.

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Authors: Jian Yao

Abstract:

To investigate the energy performance of solar shading devices, this paper carried out a survey on the current status of solar shading utilization in buildings in Ningbo and performed building simulations to evaluate the energy savings potential by adopting different solar shading devices. Results show that solar shading utilization in this area is not popular and effective, and should be considered firstly in the design stage since the potential for energy savings is up to 6.8% for residential buildings and 9.4% for commercial buildings.

Keywords: Solar shading, Energy savings, Building design.

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Authors: Andreia Guimarães Farnese, Mateus Fernandes Réu Urban, Leandro Procópio, Renato Zângaro, Regiane Albertini

Abstract:

Senescence changes include postural balance, inferring the risk of falls, and can lead to fractures, bedridden, and the risk of death. Physical activity, e.g., cardiovascular exercises, is notable for improving balance due to brain cell stimulations, but fine coordination exercises also elevate cell brain metabolism. This study aimed to verify whether the elderly person who performs fine motor activity has a balance similar to that of those who practice physical activity. The subjects were divided into three groups according to the activity practice: control group (CG) with seven participants for the sedentary individuals, motor coordination group (MCG) with six participants, and physical activity group (PAG) with eight participants. Data comparisons were from the Berg balance scale, Time up and Go test, and stabilometric analysis. Descriptive statistical and ANOVA analyses were performed for data analysis. The results reveal that including fine motor activities can improve the balance of the elderly and indirectly decrease the risk of falls.

Keywords: Balance, barapodometer, coordination, elderly.

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Authors: Zhankun Wang, Timothy Makubuya

Abstract:

The efficiency of public sports service of prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang from 2008 to 2012 was evaluated by applying the DEA method, then its influencing factors were also analyzed through Tobit model. Upon analysis, the results revealed the following; (i) the change in average efficiency of public sports service in Zhejiang present a smooth uptrend and at a relatively high level from 2008 to 2012 (ii) generally, the productivity of public sports service in Zhejiang improved from 2008 to 2012, the productivity efficiency varied greatly in different years, and the regional difference of production efficiency increased. (iii) The correlations for urbanization rate, aging rate, per capita GDP and the population density were significantly positive with the public sports service efficiency in Zhejiang, of which the most significant was the aging rate. However, the population density and per capita GDP had less impact on the efficiency of public sports service in Zhejiang. In addition, whether the efficiency of public sports services in different areas in Zhejiang reciprocates to overall benefits in public wellbeing in both rural and urban settings is still arguable.

Keywords: DEA Model, public sports service, efficiency, Tobit model, Malmquist productivity index, Zhejiang.

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Authors: Sun-Young Jang, Sung-Ah Kim, Dongyoun Shin

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Current real-estate value estimation, difficult for laymen, usually is performed by specialists. This paper presents an automated estimation process based on big data and machine-learning technology that calculates influences of building conditions on real-estate price measurement. The present study analyzed actual building sales sample data for Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, measuring the major influencing factors among the various building conditions. Further to that analysis, a prediction model was established and applied using RapidMiner Studio, a graphical user interface (GUI)-based tool for derivation of machine-learning prototypes. The prediction model is formulated by reference to previous examples. When new examples are applied, it analyses and predicts accordingly. The analysis process discerns the crucial factors effecting price increases by calculation of weighted values. The model was verified, and its accuracy determined, by comparing its predicted values with actual price increases.

Keywords: Big data, building-value analysis, machine learning, price prediction.

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Authors: Yi Feng, Jingwen Li, Lei Huang, Changping Liu

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In this paper we proposed a novel method to acquire the ROI (Region of interest) of unsupervised and touch-less palmprint captured from a web camera in real-time. We use Viola-Jones approach and skin model to get the target area in real time. Then an innovative course-to-fine approach to detect the key points on the hand is described. A new algorithm is used to find the candidate key points coarsely and quickly. In finely stage, we verify the hand key points with the shape context descriptor. To make the user much comfortable, it can process the hand image with different poses, even the hand is closed. Experiments show promising result by using the proposed method in various conditions.

Keywords: Palmprint recoginition, hand detection, touch-lesspalmprint, ROI localization.

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Authors: Xiao Yihong, Yu Kexin, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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With the accelerating process of urbanization, the problem of urban road congestion is becoming more and more serious. Intelligent transportation system combining distributed and artificial intelligence has become a research hotspot. As the core development direction of the intelligent transportation system, Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS) integrates advanced information technology and communication methods and realizes the integration of human, vehicle, roadside infrastructure and other elements through the multi-agent distributed system. By analyzing the system architecture and technical characteristics of C-ITS, the paper proposes a distributed multi-agent C-ITS. The system consists of Roadside Subsystem, Vehicle Subsystem and Personal Subsystem. At the same time, we explore the scalability of the C-ITS and put forward incorporating local rewards in the centralized training decentralized execution paradigm, hoping to add a scalable value decomposition method. In addition, we also suggest introducing blockchain to improve the safety of the traffic information transmission process. The system is expected to improve vehicle capacity and traffic safety.

Keywords: Distributed system, artificial intelligence, multi-agent, Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System.

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Authors: Benmabrouk. Zaineb, Ben Hamed. Mouna, Lassaad. Sbita

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This paper discusses the development of wireless structure control of an induction motor scalar drives. This was realised up on the wireless WiFi networks. This strategy of control is ensured by the use of Wireless ad hoc networks and a virtual network interface based on VNC which is used to make possible to take the remote control of a PC connected on a wireless Ethernet network. Verification of the proposed strategy of control is provided by experimental realistic tests on scalar controlled induction motor drives. The experimental results of the implementations with their analysis are detailed.

Keywords: Digital drives, Induction motor, Remote control, Virtual Network Computing VNC, Wireless Local Area NetworkWiFi.

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Authors: A. Hellany, M.Nagrial, M. Nassereddine, J. Rizk

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As new challenges emerge in power electrical workplace safety, it is the responsibility of the systems designer to seek out new approaches and solutions that address them. Design decisions made today will impact cost, safety and serviceability of the installed systems for 40 or 50 years during the useful life for the owner. Studies have shown that this cost is an order of magnitude of 7 to 10 times the installed cost of the power distribution equipment. This paper reviews some aspects of earthing system design in power substation surrounded by residential houses. The electrical potential rise and split factors are discussed and a few recommendations are provided to achieve a safety voltage in the area beyond the boundary of the substation.

Keywords: EPR, Split Factor, Earthing Design

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Authors: Younes Djaghloul, Zizette Boufaida

Abstract:

This paper addresses the problem of building a unified structure to describe a peer-to-peer system. Our approach uses the well-known notations in the P2P area, and provides a global architecture that puts a separation between the platform specific characteristics and the logical ones. In order to enable the navigation of the peer across platforms, a roaming layer is added. The latter provides a capability to define a unique identification of peer and assures the mapping between this identification and those used in each platform. The mapping task is assured by special wrapper. In addition, ontology is proposed to give a clear presentation of the structure of the P2P system without interesting in the content and the resource managed by the peer. The ontology is created according to the web semantic paradigm and using OWL language; so, the structure of the system is considered as a web resource.

Keywords: Peer to peer, ontology, owl.

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Authors: Mohammad R. Jafari, Francois G. Bernardeau

Abstract:

With its arid climate, Qatar experiences low annual rainfall, intense storms, and high evaporation rates. However, the fast-paced rate of infrastructure development in the capital city of Doha has led to recurring instances of surface water flooding as well as rising groundwater levels. Public Work Authority (PWA/ASHGHAL) has implemented an approach to collect and discharge the flood water into a) positive gravity systems; b) Emergency Flooding Area (EFA) – Evaporation, Infiltration or Storage off-site using tankers; and c) Discharge to deep injection wells. As part of the flood prevention scheme, 21 deep injection wells have been constructed to discharge the collected surface and groundwater table in Doha city. These injection wells function as an alternative in localities that do not possess either positive gravity systems or downstream networks that can accommodate additional loads. These injection wells are 400-m deep and are constructed in a complex karstic subsurface condition with large cavities. The injection well system will discharge collected groundwater and storm surface runoff into the permeable Umm Er Radhuma Formation, which is an aquifer present throughout the Persian Gulf Region. The Umm Er Radhuma formation contains saline water that is not being used for water supply. The injection zone is separated by an impervious gypsum formation which acts as a barrier between upper and lower aquifer. State of the art drilling, grouting, and geophysical techniques have been implemented in construction of the wells to assure that the shallow aquifer would not be contaminated and impacted by injected water. Injection and pumping tests were performed to evaluate injection well functionality (injectability). The results of these tests indicated that majority of the wells can accept injection rate of 200 to 300 m³ /h (56 to 83 l/s) under gravity with average value of 250 m³ /h (70 l/s) compared to design value of 50 l/s. This paper presents design and construction process and issues associated with these injection wells, performing injection/pumping tests to determine capacity and effectiveness of the injection wells, the detailed design of collection system and conveying system into the injection wells, and the operation and maintenance process. This system is completed now and is under operation, and therefore, construction of injection wells is an effective option for flood control.

Keywords: Deep injection well, wellhead assembly system, emergency flood area, flood prevention scheme, geophysical tests, pumping and injection tests, Qatar geology.

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Authors: Fatma Kürüm Varolgüneş, Fatih Canan

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Mardin is one of the unique cities in Turkey with its rich cultural and historical heritage. Mardin’s traditional dwellings have been affected both by natural data such as climate and topography and by cultural data like lifestyle and belief. However, in the new settlements, housing is formed with modern approaches and unsuitable forms clashing with Mardin’s culture and environment. While the city is expanding, traditional textures are ignored. Thus, traditional settlements are losing their identity and are vanishing because of the rapid change and transformation. The main aim of this paper is to determine the physical and social data needed to define the characteristic features of Mardin’s old and new settlements. In this context, based on social and cultural data, old and new settlement formations of Mardin have been investigated from various aspects. During this research, the following methods have been utilized: observations, interviews, public surveys, literature review, as well as site examination via maps, photographs and questionnaire methodology. In conclusion, this paper focuses on how changes in the physical forms of cities affect the typology and the identity of cities, as in the case of Mardin.

Keywords: Urban and local identity, historical city center, traditional settlements, Mardin, Turkey.

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Authors: M.M. Al Emran Hasan, M.Ektesabi, A.Kapoor

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Recently electric vehicles are becoming popular as an alternative of conventional fossil fuel vehicles. Conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle uses fossil fuel which contributing a major part of overall carbon emission in the environment. Carbon and other green house gas emission are responsible for global warming and resulting climate change. It becomes vital to evaluate performance of vehicle based on emission. In this paper an effort has been made to depict the picture of emission caused by vehicle and scenario of Australia has taken into account. Effort has been made to compare the fossil based vehicle with electric vehicle in phases. The study also evaluates advancement in electric vehicle technology, required infrastructure for sustainability and future scope of developments. This paper also includes the evaluation of electric vehicle concept for pollution control and sustainable transport systems in future. This study can be a benchmark for development of electric vehicle as low carbon emission alternative for the cities of tomorrow.

Keywords: Electric Vehicle, Fossil Fuel, Internal CombustionEngine, Green House Gas, In wheel motor, Smart grid

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Authors: Marco Ogê Muniz, Luiz Fernando Gonçalves De Figueiredo

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Design, as an area of knowledge, is subject to changes that affect it through different approaches, both theoretical and practical; its include matters related with responsibility, environment, social worries, and things alike. Commensurately, such contemporary aspects open room for social initiatives. This scenario begins to be looked at, especially in creative communities. Such proposal for a systemic approach of design is seen as a way to involve the stakeholders in the processes of investigation and of social innovation, which can decisively contribute for the development of traditional local communities. As a theoretical basis for the research, this paper outlines some especial features of design and social innovation, in their particular and in their complementary aspects, as well as in the way they relate with each other.

Keywords: Responsible design, social innovation, creative community, systemic approach, network.

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Authors: Reza Gharehkhani

Abstract:

The main purpose of the dam is to control the surface streams and rivers across the country. Dam construction and formation of river and big water reservoirs and resources happen in the glen is a big incident which would change its surrounding area considerably. In fact, constructing a dam the glen width is close and fishes don't migrate from upstream to downstream and ultimately it would led to their death. To resolve this, it seems necessity to create a passage for fishes during the construction of dam. It is provided establishing a set of stepped pools overlooking each other as a fish way or fish ladder a proper pathway for moving fishes. In this article we first examine the surrounding environment and then Ghazal Ozon River and preserving the aquatics.

Keywords: Ghazal Ozon River, fish way, Dam construction, fish

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Authors: M. Afshin, A. Sohankar, M. Dehghan Manshadi, M. R. Daneshgar, G. R. Dehghan Kamaragi

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In this paper, the influence of upstream structures on the flow patternaround and inside the wind-catcher is experimentally investigated by smoke flow visualization techniques. Wind-catchers are an important part of natural ventilation in residential buildings or public places such as shopping centers, libraries, etc. Wind-catchers might be also used in places of high urban densities; hence their potential to provide natural ventilation is dependent on the presence of upstream structures. In this study, the two-sided wind-catcher model was based on a real wind-catcher observed in the city of Yazd, Iran. The present study focuses on the flow patterns around and inside the isolated two-sided wind-catcher, and on a two-sided wind-catcher in the presence of an upstream structure. The results show that the presence of an upstream structure influences the airflow pattern force and direction. Placing a high upstream structure reverses the airflow direction inside the wind-catcher.

Keywords: Natural Ventilation, Smoke Flow Visualization, Two-Sided Wind-Catcher.

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Authors: Ramin Halavati, Saeed B. Shouraki, Mahdieh Noroozian, Saman H. Zadeh

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Packing problems arise in a wide variety of application areas. The basic problem is that of determining an efficient arrangement of different objects in a region without any overlap and with minimal wasted gap between shapes. This paper presents a novel population based approach for optimizing arrangement of irregular shapes. In this approach, each shape is coded as an agent and the agents' reproductions and grouping policies results in arrangements of the objects in positions with least wasted area between them. The approach is implemented in an application for cutting sheets and test results on several problems from literature are presented.

Keywords: Optimization, Bin Packing, Agent Based Systems.

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Authors: G. B. M. Carvalho, V. A. C. Vale, E. T. L. Cöuras Ford

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With the aim of increasing the levels of comfort and security structures, the study of dynamic loads on buildings has been one of the focuses in the area of control engineering, civil engineering and architecture. Thus, this work presents a study based on simulation of the dynamics of buildings in the form of portico subjected to wind action, besides presenting an action of passive control, using for this the dynamics of the structure, consequently representing a system appropriated on environmental issues. These control systems are named the dynamic vibration absorbers.

Keywords: Dynamic vibration absorber, structure, comfort, safety, wind behavior, structure.

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Authors: Yuanyuan Zhang, Guang Sun, Li Su, Depeng Jin, Lieguang Zeng

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Since Network-on-Chip (NoC) uses network interfaces (NIs) to improve the design productivity, by now, there have been a few papers addressing the design and implementation of a NI module. However, none of them considered the difference of address encoding methods between NoC and the traditional bus-shared architecture. On the basis of this difference, in the paper, we introduce a transmit mechanism to solve such a problem for global asynchronous locally synchronous (GALS) NoC. Furthermore, we give the concrete implementation of the NI module in this transmit mechanism. Finally, we evaluate its performance and area overhead by a VHDL-based cycle-accurate RTL model and simulation results confirm the validity of this address-oriented transmit mechanism.

Keywords: Network-on-Chip, Network Interface, Open CoreProtocol, Address.

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Authors: B. A. A. Paixão, J. V. B. Gomide

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This work aims to analyze the locative structure used by the locative games of the company Niantic. To fulfill this objective, a literature review on the representation and simulation of cities was developed; interviews with Ingress players and playing Ingress. Relating these data, it was possible to deepen the relationship between the virtual and the real to create the simulation of cities and their cultural objects in locative games. Cities representation associates geo-location provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS), with augmented reality and digital image, and provides a new paradigm in the city interaction with its parts and real and virtual world elements, homeomorphic to real world. Bibliographic review of papers related to the representation and simulation study and their application in locative games was carried out and is presented in the present paper. The cities representation and simulation concepts in locative games, and how this setting enables the flow and immersion in urban space, are analyzed. Some examples of games are discussed for this new setting development, which is a mix of real and virtual world. Finally, it was proposed a Locative Structure for electronic games using the concepts of heterotrophic representations and isotropic representations conjoined with immediacy and hypermediacy.

Keywords: Cities representation, city simulation, games simulation, locative games.

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Authors: Carsten Röcker

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This paper illustrates why existing technology acceptance models are only of limited use for predicting and explaining the adoption of future information and communication technologies. It starts with a general overview over technology adoption processes, and presents several theories for the acceptance as well as adoption of traditional information technologies. This is followed by an overview over the recent developments in the area of information and communication technologies. Based on the arguments elaborated in these sections, it is shown why the factors used to predict adoption in existing systems, will not be sufficient for explaining the adoption of future information and communication technologies.

Keywords: Technology Diffusion, Technology AcceptanceModels, Ambient Intelligence, Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing.

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Authors: Mouna Mallem, Majid Tlidjane

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The study realized on alive lambs in two different areas mountain and plain in Batna region, aims to demonstrate the possible effect of field type on cupric status of lambs, through evaluation of copper contents in the chain: soil – plant – animal by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. This comparative study also allowed the investigation of the influence of the age and the season. The results obtained show that contents of copper in the soil, forage in the same way as in the plasma of lambs are higher in the plain than in the mountainous area; however, the difference is significant only between the values of feed.

Keywords: Copper, Forage, Lambs, Plasma copper.

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Authors: Vishal Naranje, Shailendra Kumar

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Metal stamping die design is a complex, experiencebased and time-consuming task. Various artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are being used by worldwide researchers for stamping die design to reduce complexity, dependence on human expertise and time taken in design process as well as to improve design efficiency. In this paper a comprehensive review of applications of AI techniques in manufacturability evaluation of sheet metal parts, die design and process planning of metal stamping die is presented. Further the salient features of major research work published in the area of metal stamping are presented in tabular form and scope of future research work is identified.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Die design, ManufacturabilityEvaluation, Metal Stamping Die.

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Authors: May A. Massoud

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The availability of water in adequate quantity and quality is imperative for sustainable development. Worldwide, significant imbalance exists with regards to sustainable development particularly from a water and sanitation perspective. Water is a critical component of public health, and failure to supply safe water will place a heavy burden on the entire population. Although the 21st century has witnessed wealth and advanced development, it has not been realized everywhere. Billions of people are still striving to access the most basic human needs which are food, shelter, safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. The global picture conceals various inequalities particularly with regards to sanitation coverage in rural and urban areas. Currently, water scarcity and in particular water governance is the main challenge which will cause a threat to sustainable development goals. Within the context of water, sanitation and health, sustainable development is a confusing concept primarily when examined from the viewpoint of policy options for developing countries. This perspective paper aims to summarize and critically evaluate evidence of published studies in relation to water, sanitation and health and to identify relevant solutions to reduce public health impacts. Evidently, improving water and sanitation services will result in significant and lasting gains in health and economic development.

Keywords: developing countries, health, sanitation, sustainability, water

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Authors: Jorge Ramírez-Ortiz, Jorge Medina-Valtierra, Merced Martínez Rosales

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Biodiesel production with used frying by transesterification reaction with methanol, using a commercial kaolinite thermally-activated solid acid catalyst was investigated. The surface area, the average pore diameter and pore volume of the kaolinite catalyst were 10 m2/g, 13.0 nm and 30 mm3/g, respectively. The optimal conditions for the transesterification reaction were determined to be oil/methanol, in a molar ratio 1:31, temperature 160 ºC and catalyst concentration of 3% (w/w). The yield of fatty acids methyl esters (FAME) was 92.4% after 2 h of reaction. This method of preparation of biodiesel can be a positive alternative for utilizing used frying corn oil for feedstock of biodiesel combined with the inexpensive catalyst.

Keywords: Biodiesel, frying corn oil, kaolinite, transesterification

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Authors: Sakura Yoshii, Kana Sekiguchi, Akihiro Iijima

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The balance between nitrogen loading and runoff in the forested headwater streams of the Kanna River was estimated to elucidate the current status of nitrogen saturation in a forested watershed. NO3-N concentration in the study area was far higher than the average value in Japan. Estimated nitrogen runoff accounted for 55–57% of nitrogen loading; suggesting that the forest-s nitrogen retention capacity is most likely in decline. Since the 1970s, Japan-s forestry industry has been declining due to the decrease in lumber demand and increase in cheap imported materials. Thus, this decline will contribute significantly to further reducing nitrogen saturation in forest ecosystems.

Keywords: Dissolved inorganic nitrogen species, Forest management, Nitrogen Saturation, Watershed.

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Authors: Hui-Ling Huang, Yue-Yang Chen, Ming-Chi Tsai, Cheng-Jiun Lee

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Recently, a great number of theoretical frameworks have been proposed to develop the linkages between knowledge management (KM) and organizational strategies. However, while there has been much theorizing and case study in the area, validated research models integrating KM and information technology strategies for empirical testing of these theories have been scarce. In this research, we try to develop a research model for explaining the relationship between KM strategy and IT strategy and their effects on performance. Finally, meaningful propositions and conclusions are derived, and suggestions for future research are proposed and discussed.

Keywords: Knowledge management strategy, information technology strategy, knowledge management performance, information technology performance

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