Search results for: volume rate.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 32931

Search results for: volume rate.

15651 Information Support for Emergency Staff Processes and Effective Decisions

Authors: Tomáš Ludík, Josef Navrátil

Abstract:

Managing the emergency situations at the Emergency Staff requires a high co-operation between its members and their fast decision making. For these purpose it is necessary to prepare Emergency Staff members adequately. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of information support that focuses to emergency staff processes and effective decisions. The information support is based on the principles of process management, and Process Framework for Emergency Management was used during the development. The output is the information system that allows users to simulate an emergency situation, including effective decision making. The system also evaluates the progress of the emergency processes solving by quantitative and qualitative indicators. By using the simulator, a higher quality education of specialists can be achieved. Therefore, negative impacts resulting from arising emergency situations can be directly reduced.

Keywords: Information Support for Emergency Staff, Effective Decisions, Process Framework, Simulation of Emergency Processes, System Development.

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15650 System Reliability by Prediction of Generator Output and Losses in a Competitive Energy Market

Authors: Perumal Nallagownden, Ravindra N. Mukerjee, Syafrudin Masri

Abstract:

In a competitive energy market, system reliability should be maintained at all times. Power system operation being of online in nature, the energy balance requirements must be satisfied to ensure reliable operation the system. To achieve this, information regarding the expected status of the system, the scheduled transactions and the relevant inputs necessary to make either a transaction contract or a transmission contract operational, have to be made available in real time. The real time procedure proposed, facilitates this. This paper proposes a quadratic curve learning procedure, which enables a generator-s contribution to the retailer demand, power loss of transaction in a line at the retail end and its associated losses for an oncoming operating scenario to be predicted. Matlab program was used to test in on a 24-bus IEE Reliability Test System, and the results are found to be acceptable.

Keywords: Deregulation, learning coefficients, reliability, prediction, competitive energy market.

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15649 Influence of Noise on the Inference of Dynamic Bayesian Networks from Short Time Series

Authors: Frank Emmert Streib, Matthias Dehmer, Gökhan H. Bakır, Max Mühlhauser

Abstract:

In this paper we investigate the influence of external noise on the inference of network structures. The purpose of our simulations is to gain insights in the experimental design of microarray experiments to infer, e.g., transcription regulatory networks from microarray experiments. Here external noise means, that the dynamics of the system under investigation, e.g., temporal changes of mRNA concentration, is affected by measurement errors. Additionally to external noise another problem occurs in the context of microarray experiments. Practically, it is not possible to monitor the mRNA concentration over an arbitrary long time period as demanded by the statistical methods used to learn the underlying network structure. For this reason, we use only short time series to make our simulations more biologically plausible.

Keywords: Dynamic Bayesian networks, structure learning, gene networks, Markov chain Monte Carlo, microarray data.

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15648 Visualisation and Navigation in Large Scale P2P Service Networks

Authors: H. Unger, H. Coltzau

Abstract:

In Peer-to-Peer service networks, where peers offer any kind of publicly available services or applications, intuitive navigation through all services in the network becomes more difficult as the number of services increases. In this article, a concept is discussed that enables users to intuitively browse and use large scale P2P service networks. The concept extends the idea of creating virtual 3D-environments solely based on Peer-to-Peer technologies. Aside from browsing, users shall have the possibility to emphasize services of interest using their own semantic criteria. The appearance of the virtual world shall intuitively reflect network properties that may be of interest for the user. Additionally, the concept comprises options for load- and traffic-balancing. In this article, the requirements concerning the underlying infrastructure and the graphical user interface are defined. First impressions of the appearance of future systems are presented and the next steps towards a prototypical implementation are discussed.

Keywords: Internet Operating System, Peer-To-Peer, Service Exploration

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15647 An Open Loop Distribution Module for Precise and Uniform Drip Fertigation in Soilless Culture

Authors: Juan Ignacio Arango, Andres Diaz, Giacomo Barbieri

Abstract:

In soilless culture, the definition of efficient fertigation strategies is fundamental for the growth of crops. Flexible test-benches able to independently manage groups of crops are key for investigating efficient fertigation practices through experimentation. These test-benches must be able to provide nutrient solution (NS) in a precise, uniform and repeatable way in order to effectively implement and compare different fertigation strategies. This article describes a distribution module for investigating fertigation practices able to control the fertigation dose and frequency. The proposed solution is characterized in terms of precision, uniformity and repeatability since these parameters are fundamental in the implementation of effective experiments for the investigation of fertigation practices. After a calibration process, the implemented system reaches a precision of 1mL, a uniformity of 98.5% at a total cost of 735USD.

Keywords: Precision horticulture, test-bench, fertigation strategy, automation, flexibility.

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15646 School Design and Energy Efficiency

Authors: B. Su

Abstract:

Auckland has a temperate climate with comfortable warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. An Auckland school normally does not need air conditioning for cooling during the summer and only need heating during the winter. The space hating energy is the major portion of winter school energy consumption and the winter energy consumption is major portion of annual school energy consumption. School building thermal design should focus on the winter thermal performance for reducing the space heating energy. A number of Auckland schools- design data and energy consumption data are used for this study. This pilot study investigates the relationships between their energy consumption data and school building design data to improve future school design for energy efficiency.

Keywords: Building energy efficiency, building thermal performance, school building design, school energy consumption

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15645 Using a Semantic Self-Organising Web Page-Ranking Mechanism for Public Administration and Education

Authors: Marios Poulos, Sozon Papavlasopoulos, V. S. Belesiotis

Abstract:

In the proposed method for Web page-ranking, a novel theoretic model is introduced and tested by examples of order relationships among IP addresses. Ranking is induced using a convexity feature, which is learned according to these examples using a self-organizing procedure. We consider the problem of selforganizing learning from IP data to be represented by a semi-random convex polygon procedure, in which the vertices correspond to IP addresses. Based on recent developments in our regularization theory for convex polygons and corresponding Euclidean distance based methods for classification, we develop an algorithmic framework for learning ranking functions based on a Computational Geometric Theory. We show that our algorithm is generic, and present experimental results explaining the potential of our approach. In addition, we explain the generality of our approach by showing its possible use as a visualization tool for data obtained from diverse domains, such as Public Administration and Education.

Keywords: Computational Geometry, Education, e-Governance, Semantic Web.

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15644 Damage Assessment and Repair for Older Brick Buildings

Authors: Tim D. Sass

Abstract:

The experience of engineers and architects practicing today is typically limited to current building code requirements and modern construction methods and materials. However, many cities have a mix of new and old buildings with many buildings constructed over one hundred years ago when building codes and construction methods were much different. When a brick building sustains damage, a structural engineer is often hired to determine the cause of damage as well as determine the necessary repairs. Forensic studies of dozens of brick buildings shows an appreciation of historical building methods and materials is needed to correctly identify the cause of damage and design an appropriate repair. Damage on an older, brick building can be mistakenly attributed to storms or seismic events when the real source of the damage is deficient original construction. Assessing and remediating damaged brickwork on older brick buildings requires an understanding of the original construction, an understanding of older repair methods, and, an understanding of current building code requirements.

Keywords: Brick, damage, deterioration, facade.

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15643 One-Pot Facile Synthesis of N-Doped Graphene Synthesized from Paraphenylenediamine as Metal-Free Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Used for Alkaline Fuel Cells

Authors: Leila Samiee, Amir Yadegari, Saeedeh Tasharrofi

Abstract:

In the work presented here, nitrogen-doped graphene materials were synthesized and used as metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) under alkaline conditions. Paraphenylenediamine was used as N precursor. The N-doped graphene was synthesized under hydrothermal treatment at 200°C. All the materials have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, for electrochemical evaluation of samples, Rotating Disk electrode (RDE) and Cyclic Voltammetry techniques (CV) were employed. The resulting material exhibits an outstanding catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as well as excellent resistance towards methanol crossover effects, indicating their promising potential as ORR electrocatalysts for alkaline fuel cells.

Keywords: Alkaline fuel cell, graphene, metal-free catalyst, paraphenylenediamine.

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15642 Model of Continuous Cheese Whey Fermentation by Candida Pseudotropicalis

Authors: Rudy Agustriyanto, Akbarningrum Fatmawati

Abstract:

The utilization of cheese whey as a fermentation substrate to produce bio-ethanol is an effort to supply bio-ethanol demand as a renewable energy. Like other process systems, modeling is also required for fermentation process design, optimization and plant operation. This research aims to study the fermentation process of cheese whey by applying mathematics and fundamental concept in chemical engineering, and to investigate the characteristic of the cheese whey fermentation process. Steady state simulation results for inlet substrate concentration of 50, 100 and 150 g/l, and various values of hydraulic retention time, showed that the ethanol productivity maximum values were 0.1091, 0.3163 and 0.5639 g/l.h respectively. Those values were achieved at hydraulic retention time of 20 hours, which was the minimum value used in this modeling. This showed that operating reactor at low hydraulic retention time was favorable. Model of bio-ethanol production from cheese whey will enhance the understanding of what really happen in the fermentation process.

Keywords: Cheese whey, ethanol, fermentation, modeling.

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15641 The Finite Difference Scheme for the Suspended String Equation with the Nonlinear Damping Term

Authors: Jaipong Kasemsuwan

Abstract:

A numerical solution of the initial boundary value problem of the suspended string vibrating equation with the particular nonlinear damping term based on the finite difference scheme is presented in this paper. The investigation of how the second and third power terms of the nonlinear term affect the vibration characteristic. We compare the vibration amplitude as a result of the third power nonlinear damping with the second power obtained from previous report provided that the same initial shape and initial velocities are assumed. The comparison results show that the vibration amplitude is inversely proportional to the coefficient of the damping term for the third power nonlinear damping case, while the vibration amplitude is proportional to the coefficient of the damping term in the second power nonlinear damping case.

Keywords: Finite-difference method, the nonlinear damped equation, the numerical simulation, the suspended string equation

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15640 Single-Camera Basketball Tracker through Pose and Semantic Feature Fusion

Authors: Adrià Arbués-Sangüesa, Coloma Ballester, Gloria Haro

Abstract:

Tracking sports players is a widely challenging scenario, specially in single-feed videos recorded in tight courts, where cluttering and occlusions cannot be avoided. This paper presents an analysis of several geometric and semantic visual features to detect and track basketball players. An ablation study is carried out and then used to remark that a robust tracker can be built with Deep Learning features, without the need of extracting contextual ones, such as proximity or color similarity, nor applying camera stabilization techniques. The presented tracker consists of: (1) a detection step, which uses a pretrained deep learning model to estimate the players pose, followed by (2) a tracking step, which leverages pose and semantic information from the output of a convolutional layer in a VGG network. Its performance is analyzed in terms of MOTA over a basketball dataset with more than 10k instances.

Keywords: Basketball, deep learning, feature extraction, single-camera, tracking.

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15639 Sonic Therapeutic Intervention for Preventing Financial Fraud: A Phenomenological Study

Authors: Vasudev Das

Abstract:

The specific problem is that private and public organizational leaders often do not understand the importance of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The study aimed to explore sonic therapeutic intervention practitioners' lived experiences regarding the value of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The data collection methods were semi-structured interviews of purposeful samples and documentary reviews, which were analyzed thematically. Four themes emerged from the analysis of interview transcription data: Sonic therapeutic intervention enabled self-control, pro-spiritual values, consequentiality mindset, and post-conventional consciousness. The itemized four themes helped non-engagement in financial fraud. Implications for positive social change include enhanced financial fraud management, more significant financial leadership, and result-oriented decision-taking in the financial market. Also, the study results can improve the increased de-escalation of anxiety/stress associated with defrauding.

Keywords: consciousness, consequentiality, rehabilitation, reintegration

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15638 Providing Additional Advantages for STATCOM in Power Systems by Integration of Energy Storage Device

Authors: Reza Sedaghati

Abstract:

The use of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices in a power system can potentially overcome limitations of the present mechanically controlled transmission system. Also, the advance of technology makes possible to include new energy storage devices in the electrical power system. The integration of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) into Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) can lead to increase their flexibility in improvement of power system dynamic behaviour by exchanging both active and reactive powers with power grids. This paper describes structure and behaviour of SMES, specifications and performance principles of the STATCOM/SMES compensator. Moreover, the benefits and effectiveness of integrated SMES with STATCOM in power systems is presented. Also, the performance of the STATCOM/SMES compensator is evaluated using an IEEE 3-bus system through the dynamic simulation by PSCAD/EMTDC software.

Keywords: STATCOM/SMES compensator, chopper, converter, energy storage system, power systems.

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15637 Connectionist Approach to Generic Text Summarization

Authors: Rajesh S.Prasad, U. V. Kulkarni, Jayashree.R.Prasad

Abstract:

As the enormous amount of on-line text grows on the World-Wide Web, the development of methods for automatically summarizing this text becomes more important. The primary goal of this research is to create an efficient tool that is able to summarize large documents automatically. We propose an Evolving connectionist System that is adaptive, incremental learning and knowledge representation system that evolves its structure and functionality. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for Part of Speech disambiguation using a recurrent neural network, a paradigm capable of dealing with sequential data. We observed that connectionist approach to text summarization has a natural way of learning grammatical structures through experience. Experimental results show that our approach achieves acceptable performance.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks (ANN); Computational Intelligence (CI); Connectionist Text Summarizer ECTS (ECTS); Evolving Connectionist systems; Evolving systems; Fuzzy systems (FS); Part of Speech (POS) disambiguation.

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15636 Challenge of Net-Zero Carbon Construction and Measurement of Energy Consumption and Carbon Emission Reduction to Climate Change, Economy and Job Growths in Hong Kong and Australia

Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

Abstract:

Under the Paris Agreement 2015, the countries committed to address and combat the climate change and its negative impacts and agree to the target of reducing the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission substantially by limiting the global temperature to 2 0C above the pre-industrial level in this century. An international submit named “26th United Nations Climate Conference” (COP26) was held in Glasgow in 2021 with all committed countries agreed to finalize the outstanding element in Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact to keep 1.5 0C. In this paper, we will focus on the basic approach of waste strategy, recycling policy, circular economy strategy, net-zero strategy and sustainability strategy and the importance of the elements which affect the carbon emission, waste generation and energy conservation will be further reviewed with recommendation for future study.

Keywords: Net-zero carbon, climate change, carbon emission, energy consumption.

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15635 Fatty Acid Profile of Meat from Lambs Fed on Diets Containing Mulberry Hay

Authors: A. G. Silva Sobrinho, L. G. A. Cirne, V. T. Santana

Abstract:

The aim of this trial was to evaluate fatty acid profile of meat from lambs fed on diets containing 0, 12.5 and 25.0% mulberry hay as a substitute for the concentrate. Twenty-four feedlot Ile de France lambs (average weight of 15kg and average age of 60 days) were randomized to receive the different diets and slaughtered at 32kg body weight. Increases were observed in the concentrations of the saturated pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic and arachidic fatty acids; of the monounsaturated nervonic fatty acid and of the polyunsaturated α-linolenic, ɣ-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic fatty acids. Increased conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was also found in the meat of lambs fed on 12.5% mulberry hay. In addition, the omega-3 composition was augmented, while the omega-3/omega-6 ratio was decreased in mulberry hay-fed animals. In conclusion, a more desirable fatty acid profile was observed in lamb meat following the substitution of mulberry hay in the concentrate of fed, resulting in improved nutritional characteristics of the meat.

Keywords: Alternative food, fatty acids, feedlot, sheep meat.

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15634 Spark Breakdown Voltage and Surface Degradation of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Electrode Surfaces

Authors: M. G. Rostedt, M. J. Hall, L. Shi, R. D. Matthews

Abstract:

Silicon substrates coated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were experimentally investigated to determine spark breakdown voltages relative to uncoated surfaces, the degree of surface degradation associated with the spark discharge, and techniques to minimize the surface degradation. The results may be applicable to instruments or processes that use MWCNT as a means of increasing local electric field strength and where spark breakdown is a possibility that might affect the devices’ performance or longevity. MWCNTs were shown to reduce the breakdown voltage of a 1mm gap in air by 30-50%. The relative decrease in breakdown voltage was maintained over gap distances of 0.5 to 2mm and gauge pressures of 0 to 4 bar. Degradation of the MWCNT coated surfaces was observed. Several techniques to improve durability were investigated. These included: chromium and gold-palladium coatings, tube annealing, and embedding clusters of MWCNT in a ceramic matrix.

Keywords: Ionization sensor, spark, nanotubes, electrode, breakdown.

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15633 A Systematic Review on the Integration of Project Management with Organizational Flows

Authors: Maurício Covolan Rosito, Ricardo Melo Bastos

Abstract:

Software projects are very dynamic and require recurring adjustments of their project plans. These settings can be understood as reconfigurations in the schedule, in the resources allocation and other design elements. Yet, during the planning and execution of a software project, the integration of specific activities in the projects with the activities that take part in the organization-s common activity flow should be considered. This article presents the results from a systematic review of aspects related to software projects- dynamic reconfiguration emphasizing the integration of project management with the organizational flows. A series of studies was analyzed from the year 2000 to the present. The results of this work show that there is a diversity of techniques and strategies for dynamic reconfiguration of software projects-. However, few approaches consider the integration of software project activities with the activities that take part in the organization-s common workflow.

Keywords: Dynamic Reconfiguration, Organizational workflows, Project Management, Systematic Review

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15632 Data-Driven Decision-Making in Digital Entrepreneurship

Authors: Abeba Nigussie Turi, Xiangming Samuel Li

Abstract:

Data-driven business models are more typical for established businesses than early-stage startups that strive to penetrate a market. This paper provided an extensive discussion on the principles of data analytics for early-stage digital entrepreneurial businesses. Here, we developed data-driven decision-making (DDDM) framework that applies to startups prone to multifaceted barriers in the form of poor data access, technical and financial constraints, to state some. The startup DDDM framework proposed in this paper is novel in its form encompassing startup data analytics enablers and metrics aligning with startups' business models ranging from customer-centric product development to servitization which is the future of modern digital entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Startup data analytics, data-driven decision-making, data acquisition, data generation, digital entrepreneurship.

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15631 Teaching for Change: Instructional Support in a Bilingual Setting

Authors: S. J. Hachar

Abstract:

The goal of this paper is to provide educators an overview of international practices supporting young learners, arming us with adequate information to lead effective change. We will report on research and observations of Service Learning Projects conducted by one South Texas University. The intent of the paper is also to provide readers an overview of service learning in the preparation of teacher candidates pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. The objective of noting the efficiency and effectiveness of programs leading to literacy and oral fluency in a native language and second language will be discussed. This paper also highlights experiential learning for academic credit that combines community service with student learning. Six weeks of visits to a variety of community sites, making personal observations with faculty members, conducting extensive interviews with parents and key personnel at all sites will be discussed. The culminating Service Learning Expo will be reported as well.

Keywords: Elementary education, junior achievement, service learning.

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15630 Optimizing Hadoop Block Placement Policy and Cluster Blocks Distribution

Authors: Nchimbi Edward Pius, Liu Qin, Fion Yang, Zhu Hong Ming

Abstract:

The current Hadoop block placement policy do not fairly and evenly distributes replicas of blocks written to datanodes in a Hadoop cluster.

This paper presents a new solution that helps to keep the cluster in a balanced state while an HDFS client is writing data to a file in Hadoop cluster. The solution had been implemented, and test had been conducted to evaluate its contribution to Hadoop distributed file system.

It has been found that, the solution has lowered global execution time taken by Hadoop balancer to 22 percent. It also has been found that, Hadoop balancer respectively over replicate 1.75 and 3.3 percent of all re-distributed blocks in the modified and original Hadoop clusters.

The feature that keeps the cluster in a balanced state works as a core part to Hadoop system and not just as a utility like traditional balancer. This is one of the significant achievements and uniqueness of the solution developed during the course of this research work.

Keywords: Balancer, Datanode, Distributed file system, Hadoop, Replicas.

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15629 A Discriminatory Rewarding Mechanism for Sybil Detection with Applications to Tor

Authors: Asim Kumar Pal, Debabrata Nath, Sumit Chakraborty

Abstract:

This paper presents an economic game for sybil detection in a distributed computing environment. Cost parameters reflecting impacts of different sybil attacks are introduced in the sybil detection game. The optimal strategies for this game in which both sybil and non-sybil identities are expected to participate are devised. A cost sharing economic mechanism called Discriminatory Rewarding Mechanism for Sybil Detection is proposed based on this game. A detective accepts a security deposit from each active agent, negotiates with the agents and offers rewards to the sybils if the latter disclose their identity. The basic objective of the detective is to determine the optimum reward amount for each sybil which will encourage the maximum possible number of sybils to reveal themselves. Maintaining privacy is an important issue for the mechanism since the participants involved in the negotiation are generally reluctant to share their private information. The mechanism has been applied to Tor by introducing a reputation scoring function.

Keywords: Game theory, Incentive mechanism, Reputation, Sybil Attack

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15628 A Deterministic Dynamic Programming Approach for Optimization Problem with Quadratic Objective Function and Linear Constraints

Authors: S. Kavitha, Nirmala P. Ratchagar

Abstract:

This paper presents the novel deterministic dynamic programming approach for solving optimization problem with quadratic objective function with linear equality and inequality constraints. The proposed method employs backward recursion in which computations proceeds from last stage to first stage in a multi-stage decision problem. A generalized recursive equation which gives the exact solution of an optimization problem is derived in this paper. The method is purely analytical and avoids the usage of initial solution. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated with a practical example. The numerical results show that the proposed method provides global optimum solution with negligible computation time.

Keywords: Backward recursion, Dynamic programming, Multi-stage decision problem, Quadratic objective function.

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15627 Effects of Tillage and Oil Palm Bunch Ash Plus Poultry Manure on Soil Chemical Properties, Growth and Ginger Yield

Authors: T. M. Agbede

Abstract:

Field experiments were carried out at Owo, southwest Nigeria to evaluate the effect of different tillage practices (zero tillage with mulch (ZTM), row tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT), and with or without oil palm bunch ash plus poultry manure (OBA+PM) on soil chemical properties, growth and yield of ginger. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete plot design with three replications. Soil chemical properties, growth and fresh rhizome yield reduced with frequency/intensity of tillage imposed while application of OBA+PM increased them. Among the tillage practices, the highest fresh rhizome yield (15.0t ha-1) was produced by ZTM which was significantly different from other tillage practices. Among the tillage – OBA+PM combinations, the  most satisfactorily yield (20.1t ha-1) was produced by ZTM+OBA+PM while the lowest yield (15.7t ha-1) was in CT+OBA+PM.

Keywords: Oil palm bunch ash, poultry manure, rhizome yield, tillage.

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15626 Enhancing Soft Skills through Peer Review Activity in a Technical Writing Class

Authors: Hairuzila Idrus, Zullina Hussain Shaari, Razol Mahari Mohd Ali

Abstract:

Peer review is an activity where students review their classmates- writing and then evaluate the content, development, unity and organization. Studies have shown that peer review activities benefit both the reviewer and the writer in developing their reading and writing skills. Furthermore, peer review activities may also enhance students- soft skills. This study was conducted to find out the benefits of peer review activity in a technical writing class based on engineering students- perceptions. The study also highlights how these benefits could improve the students- soft skills. A set of questionnaire was given to 200 undergraduate students of a technical writing course. The results of the study indicate that the activity could help improve their critical thinking skills, written and oral communication skills, as well as team work. This paper further discusses how the implications of these benefits could help enhance students- soft skills.

Keywords: Peer review, soft skills, technical writing.

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15625 Empirical Study on the Student Satisfaction in Higher Education: Importance-Satisfaction Analysis

Authors: Silva, Fátima, Fernandes, Paula Odete

Abstract:

The future of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) depend on their ability to attract and retain students, increase recognition and prestige. In order to respond to the 'customers' increasingly demanding, HEI need to identify the key factors that influence the satisfaction of a 'customers', thereby creating competitive advantages. These determinants of satisfaction are important elements that guide the strategy of an institution and allow the successful achievement of strategic plans, both teaching and administrative, to offer their ‘costumers’ services and products with higher quality. Following this way of thinking, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction with the service quality of the School of Technology and Management of Bragança (ESTiG), of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, identifying, thus, the dimensions related to the quality of services that might influence students' satisfaction. The results showed that, in general, the students are satisfied with the performance of ESTiG.

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Higher Education Institutions, Importance-Satisfaction Model.

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15624 Automatic Detection and Classification of Diabetic Retinopathy Using Retinal Fundus Images

Authors: A. Biran, P. Sobhe Bidari, A. Almazroe V. Lakshminarayanan, K. Raahemifar

Abstract:

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a severe retinal disease which is caused by diabetes mellitus. It leads to blindness when it progress to proliferative level. Early indications of DR are the appearance of microaneurysms, hemorrhages and hard exudates. In this paper, an automatic algorithm for detection of DR has been proposed. The algorithm is based on combination of several image processing techniques including Circular Hough Transform (CHT), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), Gabor filter and thresholding. Also, Support Vector Machine (SVM) Classifier is used to classify retinal images to normal or abnormal cases including non-proliferative or proliferative DR. The proposed method has been tested on images selected from Structured Analysis of the Retinal (STARE) database using MATLAB code. The method is perfectly able to detect DR. The sensitivity specificity and accuracy of this approach are 90%, 87.5%, and 91.4% respectively.

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, fundus images, STARE, Gabor filter, SVM.

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15623 Comparison of Vermicompost and Vermiwash Bio-Fertilizers from Vermicomposting Waste Corn Pulp

Authors: M. M. Manyuchi, A. Phiri, P. Muredzi, T. Chitambwe

Abstract:

Vermicomposting is the conversion of organic waste into bio-fertilizers through the action of earthworm. This technology is widely used for organic solid waste management. Waste corn pulp blended with cow dung manure was vermicomposted over 30 days using Eisenia fetida earthworms species. pH, temperature, moisture content, and electrical conductivity were daily monitored. The feedstock, vermicompost and vermiwash were analyzed for nutrient composition. The average temperature and moisture content in the vermi-reactor was 22.5°C and 42.5% respectively. The vermicompost and vermiwash had an almost neutral pH whilst the electrical conductivity was 21% higher in the vermicompost. The nitrogen and potassium content was 57% and 79.6% richer in the vermicompost respectively compared to the vermiwash. However, the vermiwash was 84% richer in phosphorous as compared to vermicompost. Furthermore, the vermiwash was 89.1% and 97.6% richer in Ca and Mg respectively and was 97.8% richer in Na salts compared to the vermicompost. The vermiwash also indicated a significantly higher amount of micronutrients. Both bio-fertilizers were rich in nutrients specification for fertilizers.

Keywords: Vermicompost, vermiwash, nutrient composition.

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15622 Neural Networks for Short Term Wind Speed Prediction

Authors: K. Sreelakshmi, P. Ramakanthkumar

Abstract:

Predicting short term wind speed is essential in order to prevent systems in-action from the effects of strong winds. It also helps in using wind energy as an alternative source of energy, mainly for Electrical power generation. Wind speed prediction has applications in Military and civilian fields for air traffic control, rocket launch, ship navigation etc. The wind speed in near future depends on the values of other meteorological variables, such as atmospheric pressure, moisture content, humidity, rainfall etc. The values of these parameters are obtained from a nearest weather station and are used to train various forms of neural networks. The trained model of neural networks is validated using a similar set of data. The model is then used to predict the wind speed, using the same meteorological information. This paper reports an Artificial Neural Network model for short term wind speed prediction, which uses back propagation algorithm.

Keywords: Short term wind speed prediction, Neural networks, Back propagation.

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