Search results for: sources evaluation.
1472 Petrology and Geochemistry of Granitic Rocks in South Sulawesi, Indonesia: Implication for Origin of Magma and Geodynamic Setting
Authors: Adi Maulana, Koichiro Watanabe, Akira Imai, Kotaro Yonezu
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Petrology and geochemical characteristics of granitic rocks from South Sulawesi, especially from Polewaliand Masamba area are presented in order to elucidate their origin of magma and geodynamic setting. The granitic rocks in these areas are dominated by granodiorite and granite in composition. Quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase occur as major phases with hornblende and biotite as major ferromagnesian minerals. All of the samples were plotted in calc-alkaline field, show metaluminous affinity and typical of I-type granitic rock. Harker diagram indicates that granitic rocks experienced fractional crystallization during magmatic evolution. Both groups displayed an extreme enrichment of LILE, LREE and a slight negative Eu anomaly which resemble upper continental crust affinity. They were produced from partial melting of upper continental crust and have close relationship of sources composition within a suite. The geochemical characteristics explained the arc related subduction environment which later give an evidence of continent-continent collision between Australia-derived microcontinent and Sundalandto form continental arc environment.Keywords: Geochemistry, Granitic Rock, Petrology, Sulawesi
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37151471 Scaling up Potato Economic Opportunities: Evaluation of Youths Participation in Potato Value Chain in Nigeria
Authors: Chigozirim N. Onwusiribe, Jude A. Mbanasor
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The potato value chain when harnessed can engage numerous youths and aid in the fight against poverty, malnutrition and unemployment. This study seeks to evaluate the level of youth participation in the potato value chain in Nigeria. Specifically, this study will examine the extent of youth participation in potato value chain, analyze the cost, benefits and sustainability of youth participation in the potato value chain, identify the factors that can propel or hinder youth participation in the potato value chain and make recommendations that will result in the increase in youth employment in the potato value chain. This study was conducted in the North Central and South East geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A multi stage sampling procedure was used to select 540 youths from the study areas. Focused group discussions and survey approach was used to elicit the required data. The data were analyzed using statistical and econometric tools. The study revealed that the potato value chain is very profitable.
Keywords: Potato, youths, value, chain, participation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7581470 Common Carotid Artery Intima Media Thickness Segmentation Survey
Authors: L. Ashok Kumar, C. Nagarajan
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The ultrasound imaging is very popular to diagnosis the disease because of its non-invasive nature. The ultrasound imaging slowly produces low quality images due to the presence of spackle noise and wave interferences. There are several algorithms to be proposed for the segmentation of ultrasound carotid artery images but it requires a certain limit of user interaction. The pixel in an image is highly correlated so the spatial information of surrounding pixels may be considered in the process of image segmentation which improves the results further. When data is highly correlated, one pixel may belong to more than one cluster with different degree of membership. There is an important step to computerize the evaluation of arterial disease severity using segmentation of carotid artery lumen in 2D and 3D ultrasonography and in finding vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques susceptible to rupture which can cause stroke.
Keywords: IMT measurement, Image Segmentation, common carotid artery, internal and external carotid arteries, ultrasound imaging.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19981469 The Project of Three Photovoltaic Systems in an Italian Natural Park
Authors: M.Paroncini, F.Corvaro, G.Nardini, S.Pistolesi
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The development of renewable energies - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's energy policy. There are several reasons for this choice: renewable energies are sustainable, nonpolluting, widely available and clean. Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy balance enhances sustainability. It also helps to improve the security of energy supply by reducing the Community's growing dependence on imported energy sources.In this paper it was studied the possibility to realize three photovoltaic systems in the Italian Natural Park “Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi". The first photovoltaic system is a grid-connected system for Services and Documentation Center of Castelletta with a nominal power of about 6 kWp. The second photovoltaic system is a grid-connected integrated system on the ticket office-s roof with a nominal power of about 4 kWp. The third project is set up by five grid-connected systems integrated on the roofs of the bungalows in Natural Park-s tourist camping with a nominal power of about 10 kWp. The electricity which is generated by all these plants is purchased according to the Italian program called “Conto Energia". Economical analysis and the amount of the avoided CO2 emissions are elaborated for these photovoltaic systems.
Keywords: CO2 emissions, conto energia, photovoltaic systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16151468 Power Quality Improvement Using UPQC Integrated with Distributed Generation Network
Authors: B. Gopal, Pannala Krishna Murthy, G. N. Sreenivas
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The increasing demand of electric power is giving an emphasis on the need for the maximum utilization of renewable energy sources. On the other hand maintaining power quality to satisfaction of utility is an essential requirement. In this paper the design aspects of a Unified Power Quality Conditioner integrated with photovoltaic system in a distributed generation is presented. The proposed system consist of series inverter, shunt inverter are connected back to back on the dc side and share a common dc-link capacitor with Distributed Generation through a boost converter. The primary task of UPQC is to minimize grid voltage and load current disturbances along with reactive and harmonic power compensation. In addition to primary tasks of UPQC, other functionalities such as compensation of voltage interruption and active power transfer to the load and grid in both islanding and interconnected mode have been addressed. The simulation model is design in MATLAB/ Simulation environment and the results are in good agreement with the published work.Keywords: Distributed Generation(DG), Interconnected mode, Islanding mode, Maximum power point tracking (MPPT), Power Quality (PQ), Unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), Photovoltaic array (PV).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23831467 A Model to Study the Effect of Na+ ions on Ca2+diffusion under Rapid Buffering Approximation
Authors: Vikas Tewari, K.R. Pardasani
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Calcium is very important for communication among the neurons. It is vital in a number of cell processes such as secretion, cell movement, cell differentiation. To reduce the system of reactiondiffusion equations of [Ca2+] into a single equation, two theories have been proposed one is excess buffer approximation (EBA) other is rapid buffer approximation (RBA). The RBA is more realistic than the EBA as it considers both the mobile and stationary endogenous buffers. It is valid near the mouth of the channel. In this work we have studied the effects of different types of buffers on calcium diffusion under RBA. The novel thing studied is the effect of sodium ions on calcium diffusion. The model has been made realistic by considering factors such as variable [Ca2+], [Na+] sources, sodium-calcium exchange protein(NCX), Sarcolemmal Calcium ATPase pump. The proposed mathematical leads to a system of partial differential equations which has been solved numerically to study the relationships between different parameters such as buffer concentration, buffer disassociation rate, calcium permeability. We have used Forward Time Centred Space (FTCS) approach to solve the system of partial differential equations.Keywords: rapid buffer approximation, sodium-calcium exchangeprotein, Sarcolemmal Calcium ATPase pump, buffer disassociationrate, forward time centred space.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15201466 Evaluation of Salivary Nickel Level during Orthodontic Treatment
Authors: Mudafara S. Bengleil, Juma M. Orfi, Iman Abdelgader
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Since nickel is a known toxic and carcinogenic metal, the present study was designed to evaluate the level of nickel released into the saliva of orthodontic patients. Non-stimulated saliva was collected from 18 patients attending The Orthodontic Clinic of Dental Faculty of Benghazi University. Patients were divided into two groups and level of nickel was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Nickel concentration value (mg/L) in first group prior to starting treatment was 0.097± 0.071. An increase in level of nickel was followed by decrease 4 and 8 weeks after applying the arch wire (0.208± 0.112) and (0.077±0.056 mg/L) respectively. Nickel levels in saliva of the second group were showed minimal variation and ranged from 0.061± 0.044mg/L to 0.083±0.054 throughout period of study. It may be concluded that there could be a release of nickel from the appliances used in first group but it doesn't reach toxic level in saliva.
Keywords: Atomic absorption spectrophotometry, nickel, orthodontic treatment, saliva, toxicity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24021465 Validation of the WAsP Model for a Terrain Surrounded by Mountainous Region
Authors: Mohammadamin Zanganeh, Vahid Khalajzadeh
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The problems associated with wind predictions of WAsP model in complex terrain are already the target of several studies in the last decade. In this paper, the influence of surrounding orography on accuracy of wind data analysis of a train is investigated. For the case study, a site with complex surrounding orography is considered. This site is located in Manjil, one of the windiest cities of Iran. For having precise evaluation of wind regime in the site, one-year wind data measurements from two metrological masts are used. To validate the obtained results from WAsP, the cross prediction between each mast is performed. The analysis reveals that WAsP model can estimate the wind speed behavior accurately. In addition, results show that this software can be used for predicting the wind regime in flat sites with complex surrounding orography.Keywords: Complex terrain, Meteorological mast, WAsPmodel, Wind prediction
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17901464 White Blood Cells Identification and Counting from Microscopic Blood Image
Authors: Lorenzo Putzu, Cecilia Di Ruberto
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The counting and analysis of blood cells allows the evaluation and diagnosis of a vast number of diseases. In particular, the analysis of white blood cells (WBCs) is a topic of great interest to hematologists. Nowadays the morphological analysis of blood cells is performed manually by skilled operators. This involves numerous drawbacks, such as slowness of the analysis and a nonstandard accuracy, dependent on the operator skills. In literature there are only few examples of automated systems in order to analyze the white blood cells, most of which only partial. This paper presents a complete and fully automatic method for white blood cells identification from microscopic images. The proposed method firstly individuates white blood cells from which, subsequently, nucleus and cytoplasm are extracted. The whole work has been developed using MATLAB environment, in particular the Image Processing Toolbox.Keywords: Automatic detection, Biomedical image processing, Segmentation, White blood cell analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 89051463 Prediction Heating Values of Lignocellulosics from Biomass Characteristics
Authors: Kaltima Phichai, Pornchanoke Pragrobpondee, Thaweesak Khumpart, Samorn Hirunpraditkoon
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The paper provides biomasses characteristics by proximate analysis (volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash) and ultimate analysis (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen) for the prediction of the heating value equations. The heating value estimation of various biomasses can be used as an energy evaluation. Thirteen types of biomass were studied. Proximate analysis was investigated by mass loss method and infrared moisture analyzer. Ultimate analysis was analyzed by CHNO analyzer. The heating values varied from 15 to 22.4MJ kg-1. Correlations of the calculated heating value with proximate and ultimate analyses were undertaken using multiple regression analysis and summarized into three and two equations, respectively. Correlations based on proximate analysis illustrated that deviation of calculated heating values from experimental heating values was higher than the correlations based on ultimate analysis.
Keywords: Heating value equation, Proximate analysis, Ultimate analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37241462 Hydrochemical Assessment and Quality Classification of Water in Torogh and Kardeh Dam Reservoirs, North-East Iran
Authors: Mojtaba Heydarizad
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Khorasan Razavi is the second most important province in north-east of Iran, which faces a water shortage crisis due to recent droughts and huge water consummation. Kardeh and Torogh dam reservoirs in this province provide a notable part of Mashhad metropolitan (with more than 4.5 million inhabitants) potable water needs. Hydrochemical analyses on these dam reservoirs samples demonstrate that MgHCO3 in Kardeh and CaHCO3 and to lower extent MgHCO3 water types in Torogh dam reservoir are dominant. On the other hand, Gibbs binary diagram demonstrates that rock weathering is the main factor controlling water quality in dam reservoirs. Plotting dam reservoir samples on Mg2+/Na+ and HCO3-/Na+ vs. Ca2+/ Na+ diagrams demonstrate evaporative and carbonate mineral dissolution is the dominant rock weathering ion sources in these dam reservoirs. Cluster Analyses (CA) also demonstrate intense role of rock weathering mainly (carbonate and evaporative minerals dissolution) in water quality of these dam reservoirs. Studying water quality by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) WQI index NSF-WQI, Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) and Canadian Water Quality Index DWQI index show moderate and good quality.Keywords: Hydrochemistry, water quality classification, water quality indexes, Torogh and Kardeh Dam Reservoirs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11461461 Modification of Palm Oil Structure to Cocoa Butter Equivalent by Carica papaya Lipase- Catalyzed Interesterification
Authors: P. Pinyaphong, S. Phutrakul
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Palm oil could be converted to cocoa butter equivalent by lipase-catalyzed interesterification. The objective of this research was to investigate the structure modification of palm oil to cocoa butter equivalent using Carica papaya lipase –catalyzed interesterification. The study showed that the compositions of cocoa butter equivalent were affected by acyl donor sources, substrate ratio, initial water of enzyme, reaction time, reaction temperature and the amount of enzyme. Among three acyl donors tested (methyl stearate, ethyl stearate and stearic acid), methyl stearate appeared to be the best acyl donor for incorporation to palm oil structure. The best reaction conditions for cocoa butter equivalent production were : substrate ratio (palm oil : methyl stearate, mol/mol) at 1 : 4, water activity of enzyme at 0.11, reaction time at 4 h, reaction temperature at 45 ° C and 18% by weight of the enzyme. The chemical and physical properties of cocoa butter equivalent were 9.75 ± 0.41% free fatty acid, 44.89 ± 0.84 iodine number, 193.19 ± 0.78 sponification value and melting point at 37-39 °C.
Keywords: Carica papaya lipase, cocoa butter equivalent, interesterification, palm oil.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32201460 Evaluation of Evolution Strategy, Genetic Algorithm and their Hybrid on Evolving Simulated Car Racing Controllers
Authors: Hidehiko Okada, Jumpei Tokida
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Researchers have been applying tional intelligence (AI/CI) methods to computer games. In this research field, further researchesare required to compare AI/CI methods with respect to each game application. In th our experimental result on the comparison of three evolutionary algorithms – evolution strategy, genetic algorithm, and their hybrid applied to evolving controller agents for the CIG 2007 Simulated Car Racing competition. Our experimental result shows that, premature convergence of solutions was observed in the case of ES, and GA outperformed ES in the last half of generations. Besides, a hybrid which uses GA first and ES next evolved the best solution among the whole solutions being generated. This result shows the ability of GA in globally searching promising areas in the early stage and the ability of ES in locally searching the focused area (fine-tuning solutions).Keywords: Evolutionary algorithm, autonomous agent, neuroevolutions, simulated car racing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18091459 Tuberculosis Modelling Using Bio-PEPA Approach
Authors: Dalila Hamami, Baghdad Atmani
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Modelling is a widely used tool to facilitate the evaluation of disease management. The interest of epidemiological models lies in their ability to explore hypothetical scenarios and provide decision makers with evidence to anticipate the consequences of disease incursion and impact of intervention strategies.
All models are, by nature, simplification of more complex systems. Models that involve diseases can be classified into different categories depending on how they treat the variability, time, space, and structure of the population. Approaches may be different from simple deterministic mathematical models, to complex stochastic simulations spatially explicit.
Thus, epidemiological modelling is now a necessity for epidemiological investigations, surveillance, testing hypotheses and generating follow-up activities necessary to perform complete and appropriate analysis.
The state of the art presented in the following, allows us to position itself to the most appropriate approaches in the epidemiological study.
Keywords: Bio-PEPA, Cellular automata, Epidemiological modelling, multi agent system, ordinary differential equations, PEPA, Process Algebra, Tuberculosis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21581458 Psychometric Examination of the QUEST-25: An Online Assessment of Intellectual Curiosity and Scientific Epistemology
Authors: Matthew J. Zagumny
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The current study reports an examination of the QUEST-25 (Q-Assessment of Undergraduate Epistemology and Scientific Thinking) online version for assessing the dispositional attitudes toward scientific thinking and intellectual curiosity among undergraduate students. The QUEST-25 consists of scientific thinking (SIQ-25) and intellectual curiosity (ICIQ-25), which were correlated in hypothesized directions with the Religious Commitment Inventory, Curiosity and Exploration Inventory, Belief in Science scale, and measures of academic self-efficacy. Additionally, concurrent validity was established by the resulting significant differences between those identifying the centrality of religious belief in their lives and those who do not self-identify as being guided daily by religious beliefs. This study demonstrates the utility of the QUEST-25 for research, evaluation, and theory development.
Keywords: Guided-inquiry learning, intellectual curiosity, psychometric assessment, scientific thinking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7601457 FHOJ: A New Java Benchmark Framework
Authors: Vinh Quang La, Dirk Jansen
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There are some existing Java benchmarks, application benchmarks as well as micro benchmarks or mixture both of them,such as: Java Grande, Spec98, CaffeMark, HBech, etc. But none of them deal with behaviors of multi tasks operating systems. As a result, the achieved outputs are not satisfied for performance evaluation engineers. Behaviors of multi tasks operating systems are based on a schedule management which is employed in these systems. Different processes can have different priority to share the same resources. The time is measured by estimating from applications started to it is finished does not reflect the real time value which the system need for running those programs. New approach to this problem should be done. Having said that, in this paper we present a new Java benchmark, named FHOJ benchmark, which directly deals with multi tasks behaviors of a system. Our study shows that in some cases, results from FHOJ benchmark are far more reliable in comparison with some existing Java benchmarks.
Keywords: Java Virtual Machine, Java benchmark, FHOJ framework.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15291456 A Novel Framework for User-Friendly Ontology-Mediated Access to Relational Databases
Authors: Efthymios Chondrogiannis, Vassiliki Andronikou, Efstathios Karanastasis, Theodora Varvarigou
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A large amount of data is typically stored in relational databases (DB). The latter can efficiently handle user queries which intend to elicit the appropriate information from data sources. However, direct access and use of this data requires the end users to have an adequate technical background, while they should also cope with the internal data structure and values presented. Consequently the information retrieval is a quite difficult process even for IT or DB experts, taking into account the limited contributions of relational databases from the conceptual point of view. Ontologies enable users to formally describe a domain of knowledge in terms of concepts and relations among them and hence they can be used for unambiguously specifying the information captured by the relational database. However, accessing information residing in a database using ontologies is feasible, provided that the users are keen on using semantic web technologies. For enabling users form different disciplines to retrieve the appropriate data, the design of a Graphical User Interface is necessary. In this work, we will present an interactive, ontology-based, semantically enable web tool that can be used for information retrieval purposes. The tool is totally based on the ontological representation of underlying database schema while it provides a user friendly environment through which the users can graphically form and execute their queries.
Keywords: Ontologies, Relational Databases, SPARQL, Web Interface.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19321455 Video-Based Tracking of Laparoscopic Instruments Using an Orthogonal Webcams System
Authors: Fernando Pérez, Humberto Sossa, Rigoberto Martínez, Daniel Lorias, Arturo Minor
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This paper presents a system for tracking the movement of laparoscopic instruments which is based on an orthogonal system of webcams and video image processing. The movements are captured with two webcams placed orthogonally inside of the physical trainer. On the image, the instruments were detected by using color markers placed on the distal tip of each instrument. The 3D position of the tip of the instrument within the work space was obtained by linear triangulation method. Preliminary results showed linearity and repeatability in the motion tracking with a resolution of 0.616 mm in each axis; the accuracy of the system showed a 3D instrument positioning error of 1.009 ± 0.101 mm. This tool is a portable and low-cost alternative to traditional tracking devices and a trustable method for the objective evaluation of the surgeon’s surgical skills.
Keywords: Laparoscopic Surgery, Orthogonal Vision, Tracking Instruments, Triangulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26441454 Performance Evaluation for Weightlifting Lifter by Barbell Trajectory
Authors: Ying-Chen Lin, Ching-Ting Hsu, Wei-Hua Ho
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the kinematic characteristics and differences of the snatch barbell trajectory of 53 kg class female weight lifters. We take the 2014 Taiwan College Cup players as examples, and tend to make kinematic applications through the proven weightlifting barbell track system. The competition videos are taken by consumer camcorder with a tripod which set up at the side of the lifter. The results will be discussed in three parts, the first part is various lifting phase, the second part is the compare lifting between success and unsuccessful, and the third part is to compare the outstanding player with the general. Conclusion through the barbell can be used to observe the trajectories of our players lifting the usual process cannot be observed in the presence of malfunction or habits, so that the coach can find the problem and guide the players more accurately. Our system can be applied in practice and competition to increase the resilience of the lifter on the field.
Keywords: Computer aided sport training, Kinematic, Trajectory, Weightlifting.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32321453 I2Navi: An Indoor Interactive NFC Navigation System for Android Smartphones
Authors: Jing Hang Choo, Soon Nyean Cheong, Yee Lien Lee, Sze Hou Teh
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The advancement of smartphones, wireless networking and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology have opened up a new approach to indoor navigation. Although NFC technology has been used to support electronic commerce, access control, and ticketing, there is a lack of research work on building NFC-based indoor navigation system for smartphone users. This paper presents an indoor interactive navigation system (named I2Navi) based on NFC technology for users to navigate within a building with ease using their smartphones. The I2Navi system has been implemented at the Faculty of Engineering (FOE), Multimedia University (MMU) to enable students, parents, visitors who own NFC-enabled Android smartphones to navigate themselves within the faculty. An evaluation is carried out and the results show positive response to the proposed indoor navigation system using NFC and smartphone technologies.Keywords: Near Field Communication, indoor navigation system, smartphones.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27071452 An Approach Based on Statistics and Multi-Resolution Representation to Classify Mammograms
Authors: Nebi Gedik
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One of the significant and continual public health problems in the world is breast cancer. Early detection is very important to fight the disease, and mammography has been one of the most common and reliable methods to detect the disease in the early stages. However, it is a difficult task, and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are needed to assist radiologists in providing both accurate and uniform evaluation for mass in mammograms. In this study, a multiresolution statistical method to classify mammograms as normal and abnormal in digitized mammograms is used to construct a CAD system. The mammogram images are represented by wave atom transform, and this representation is made by certain groups of coefficients, independently. The CAD system is designed by calculating some statistical features using each group of coefficients. The classification is performed by using support vector machine (SVM).
Keywords: Wave atom transform, statistical features, multi-resolution representation, mammogram.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8821451 Seismic Behavior and Capacity/Demand Analyses of a Simply-Supported Multi-Span Precast Bridge
Authors: Nasim Shatarat, Adel Assaf
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This paper presents the results of an analytical study on the seismic response of a Multi-Span-Simply-Supported precast bridge in Washington State. The bridge was built in the early 1960's along Interstate 5 and was widened the first time in 1979 and the second time in 2001. The primary objective of this research project is to determine the seismic vulnerability of the bridge in order to develop the required retrofit measure. The seismic vulnerability of the bridge is evaluated using two seismic evaluation methods presented in the FHWA Seismic Retrofitting Manual for Highway Bridges, Method C and Method D2. The results of the seismic analyses demonstrate that Method C and Method D2 vary markedly in terms of the information they provide to the bridge designer regarding the vulnerability of the bridge columns.Keywords: Bridges, Capacity, Demand, Seismic, Static pushover, Retrofit.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29541450 Characterisation of Hydrocarbons in Atmospheric Aerosols from Different European Sites
Authors: C. A. Alves, A. Vicente, M. Evtyugina, C. A. Pio, A. Hoffer, G. Kiss, S. Decesari, R. Hillamo, E.Swietlicki
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The concentrations of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were determined in atmospheric aerosol samples collected at a rural site in Hungary (K-puszta, summer 2008), a boreal forest (Hyytiälä, April 2007) and a polluted rural area in Italy (San Pietro Capofiume, Po Valley, April 2008). A clear distinction between “clean" and “polluted" periods was observed. Concentrations obtained for Hyytiälä are significantly lower than those for the other two sites. Source reconciliation was performed using diagnostic parameters, such as the carbon preference index and ratios between PAH. The presence of an unresolved complex mixture of hydrocarbons, especially for the Finnish and Italian samples, is indicative of petrogenic inputs. In K-puszta, the aliphatic hydrocarbons are dominated by leaf wax n-alkanes. The long range transport of anthropogenic pollution contributed to the Finnish aerosol. Industrial activities and vehicular emissions represent major sources in San Pietro Capofiume. PAH in K-puszta consist of both pyrogenic and petrogenic compounds.
Keywords: Particulate matter, n-alkanes, PAH, BaPE, ruralsites, source reconciliation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19451449 Influence of Synthetic Antioxidant in the Iodine Value and Acid Number of Jatropha Curcas Biodiesel
Authors: Supriyono, Sumardiyono
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Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that promising for substituting petro diesel as energy source which is advantage on sustainability and ecofriendly. Due to the raw material that tend to decompose during storage, biodiesel also have the same characteristic that tend to decompose and formed higher acid value which is the result of oxidation to double bond on a chain of ester. Decomposition of biodiesel due to oxidation reaction could prevent by introduce a small amount of antioxidant. The origin of raw materials and the process for producing biodiesel will determine the effectiveness of antioxidant. The quality degradation on biodiesel could evaluate by measuring iodine value and acid number of biodiesel. Biodiesel made from high fatty acid Jatropha curcas oil by using esterification and transesterification process will stand on the quality by introduce 90 ppm pyrogallol powder on the biodiesel, which could increase Induction period time from 2 hours to more than 6 hours in rancimat test evaluation.Keywords: Acid value, antioxidant, biodiesel, iodine value.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22911448 Evaluation of Toxic Elements in Thai Rice Samples
Authors: W. Srinuttrakul, V. Permnamtip
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Toxic elements in rice samples are great concern in Thailand because rice (Oryza sativa) is a staple food for Thai people. Furthermore, rice is an economic crop of Thailand for export. In this study, the concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in rice samples collected from the paddy fields in the northern, northeastern and southern regions of Thailand were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The mean concentrations of As, Cd and Pb in 55 rice samples were 0.112±0.056, 0.029±0.037 and 0.031±0.033 mg kg-1, respectively. All rice samples showed As, Cd and Pb lower than the limit data of Codex. The estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of As, Cd, and Pb from rice consumption were 0.026±0.013, 0.007±0.009 and 0.007±0.008 mg day-1, respectively. The percentage contribution to Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) values of As, Cd and Pb for Thai male (body weight of 69 kg) was 17.6%, 9.7%, and 2.9%, respectively, and for Thai female (body weight of 57 kg) was 21.3%, 11.7% and 3.5%, respectively. The findings indicated that all studied rice samples are safe for consumption.Keywords: Arsenic, cadmium, ICP-MS, lead, rice.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7931447 Tag Impersonation Attack on Ultra-Lightweight Radio Frequency Identification Authentication Scheme
Authors: Reham Al-Zahrani, Noura Aleisa
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The proliferation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has raised concerns about system security, particularly regarding tag impersonation attacks. Regarding RFID systems, an appropriate authentication protocol must resist active and passive attacks. A tag impersonation occurs when an adversary's tag is used to fool an authenticating reader into believing it is a legitimate tag. The paper thoroughly analyses the security of the Efficient, Secure, and Practical Ultra-Lightweight RFID Authentication Scheme (ESRAS). It examines the protocol within the context of RFID systems and focuses specifically on its vulnerability to tag impersonation attacks. The Scyther tool is utilized to assess the protocol's security, providing a comprehensive evaluation of ESRAS's effectiveness in preventing unauthorized tag impersonation.
Keywords: RFID, radio frequency identification, impersonation attack, authentication, ultra-lightweight protocols, security.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 871446 Evaluation of Hand Grip Strength and EMG Signal on Visual Reaction
Authors: Sung-Wook Shin, Sung-Taek Chung
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Hand grip strength has been utilized as an indicator to evaluate the motor ability of hands, responsible for performing multiple body functions. It is, however, difficult to evaluate other factors (other than hand muscular strength) utilizing the hand grip strength only. In this study, we analyzed the motor ability of hands using EMG and the hand grip strength, simultaneously in order to evaluate concentration, muscular strength reaction time, instantaneous muscular strength change, and agility in response to visual reaction. In results, the average time (and their standard deviations) of muscular strength reaction EMG signal and hand grip strength was found to be 209.6 ± 56.2 ms and 354.3 ± 54.6 ms, respectively. In addition, the onset time which represents acceleration time to reach 90% of maximum hand grip strength, was 382.9 ± 129.9 ms.
Keywords: Hand grip strength, EMG, visual reaction, endurance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30011445 Experimental Evaluation of Mobility Anchor Point Selection Scheme in Hierarchical Mobile IPv6
Authors: Zulkeflee Kusin, Mohamad Shanudin Zakaria
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Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) was designed to support IP micro-mobility management in the Next Generation Networks (NGN) framework. The main design behind this protocol is the usage of Mobility Anchor Point (MAP) located at any level router of network to support hierarchical mobility management. However, the distance MAP selection in HMIPv6 causes MAP overloaded and increase frequent binding update as the network grows. Therefore, to address the issue in designing MAP selection scheme, we propose a dynamic load control mechanism integrates with a speed detection mechanism (DMS-DLC). From the experimental results we obtain that the proposed scheme gives better distribution in MAP load and increase handover speed.Keywords: Dynamic load control, HMIPv6, Mobility AnchorPoint, MAP selection scheme
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18011444 Stakeholder Background and Knowledge Regarding Green Home Rating in Malaysia
Authors: Muhammad Azzam Ismail, Fahanim Abdul Rashid, Deo Prasad
Abstract:
Green home rating has emerged as an important agenda to practice the principles of sustainability. In Malaysia, the establishment of the 'Green Building Index ' Residential New Construction- (GBI-RNC) has brought this agenda closer to the stakeholders of the local green building industry. GBI-RNC focuses on the evaluation of the environmental impacts posed by houses rather than assessing the Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) of Sustainability which also include socio-economic factors. Therefore, as part of a wider study, a survey was conducted to gather the backgrounds of green building stakeholders in Malaysia and their responses to a number of exploratory questions regarding the setting up of a framework to rate green homes against the TBL. This paper reports the findings from Section A and B from this survey and discusses them accordingly with a conclusion that forms part of the basis for a new generation green home rating framework specifically for use in Malaysia.Keywords: Green home rating, Malaysia, stakeholder surveyanalysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15981443 Evaluation Biofilm Sewage Treatment Plant
Authors: K. M. Shahot. I. A. Ekhmaj
Abstract:
The research study is carried out to determine the efficiency of the Biofilm sewage treatment plant which is located at the Engineering Complex-s. Wastewater analyses have been carried out at the Environmental Engineering laboratory to study the six parameters: Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand COD l, and Total Suspended Solids TSS, Ammoniac Nitrogen NH3-N and Phosphorous P which have been selected to determine the wastewater quality. The plant was designed to treat 750 Pe (population equivalent) at hydraulic retention time of 5 hours in the aerobic zone. The results show that Biofilm wastewater treatment plant was able to treat sewage successfully at different flow condition. The discharge has fulfilled the Malaysia Environmental of Standard A water quality. The achieved BOD removal is more than 85%, COD is more than 80%, TSS is more than 80%, NH3-N is more than 70%, and P was more than 70%. The Biofilm system provides a very efficient process for sewage treatment and it is compact in structure thus minimizes the required land area.
Keywords: Sewage, Bio film, Cosmo-Ball, Activated sludge
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2322