Search results for: photovoltaic system and simulation results.

Authors: Mohd F. Taha, Chong F. Kiat, Maizatul S. Shaharun, Anita Ramli

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The abundance and availability of rice husk, an agricultural waste, make them as a good source for precursor of activated carbon. In this work, rice husk-based activated carbons were prepared via base treated chemical activation process prior the carbonization process. The effect of carbonization temperatures (400, 600 and 800oC) on their pore structure was evaluated through morphology analysis using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sample carbonized at 800oC showed better evolution and development of pores as compared to those carbonized at 400 and 600oC. The potential of rice husk-based activated carbon as an alternative adsorbent was investigated for the removal of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Pb(II) from single metal aqueous solution. The adsorption studies using rice husk-based activated carbon as an adsorbent were carried out as a function of contact time at room temperature and the metal ions were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The ability to remove metal ion from single metal aqueous solution was found to be improved with the increasing of carbonization temperature. Among the three metal ions tested, Pb(II) ion gave the highest adsorption on rice husk-based activated carbon. The results obtained indicate the potential to utilize rice husk as a promising precursor for the preparation of activated carbon for removal of heavy metals.

Keywords: Activated carbon, metal ion adsorption, rice husk, wastewater treatment.

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Authors: Rita U. Onolemhemhen, Saheed L. Bello, Akin P. Iwayemi

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The effectiveness of energy demand policy depends on identifying the key drivers of energy demand both in the short-run and the long-run. This paper examines the influence of regional differences on the link between energy demand and other explanatory variables for Nigeria, China and USA using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach. This study employed annual time series data on energy consumption (ED), real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (RGDP), real energy prices (P) and urbanization (N) for a thirty-six-year sample period. The utilized time-series data are sourced from World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2016) and US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Results from the study, shows that all the independent variables (income, urbanization, and price) substantially affect the long-run energy consumption in Nigeria, USA and China, whereas, income has no significant effect on short-run energy demand in USA and Nigeria. In addition, the long-run effect of urbanization is relatively stronger in China. Urbanization is a key factor in energy demand, it therefore recommended that more attention should be given to the development of rural communities to reduce the inflow of migrants into urban communities which causes the increase in energy demand and energy excesses should be penalized while energy management should be incentivized.

Keywords: Economic growth, energy demand, income, real GDP, urbanization, VECM.

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Authors: Aurela Saliaj, Majlinda Zahaj, Bruna Pura

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Background: Breast milk may impact early brain development, with potentially important biological, medical and social implications. There is an important discussion on which is the adequate breastfeeding extension to the development consolidation and how the children breastfeeding affects their psychomotor development, in the first year of life, and in following periods as well. Some special fats (LC PUFA) contained in breast milk play a key role in the brain’s maturation and cognitive development or social skills. These capacities created during breastfeeding time would be unfolded throughout all lifespan. Aim of the study: In our research, we have studied the effect of breastfeeding in preschooler's psychomotor assessment. Method: This study was conducted in a sample of 158 preschool children in Vlorë, Albania. We have measured the psychometric parameters of preschoolers with ASQ-3 (Age&Stage Questionnaires- 3). The studied sample was divided in three groups according to their breastfeeding duration (3, 6 and 12 months). Results: Children breastfed for only 3 months have definitely lower psychometric scores compared to the ones with 6 or more months of breastfeeding (respectively 217 to 239 ASQ-3 scores). Six and twelvemonth breastfed children have progressively more odds to have high levels of psychomotor development comparing to those with only 3 months of breastfeeding. The most affected psychometric domains by shortness of breastfeeding are Communication and Global motor. Conclusion: This leads to conclusion that to ensure high psychomotor parameters during childhood is necessary breastfeeding for at least 6 months.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, preschoolers, psycho-motor development, psycho-motor domains.

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Authors: Seyyed Yasser Hashemi, Khalil Monfaredi

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Automatic transformation of paper documents into electronic documents requires document segmentation at the first stage. However, some parameters restrictions such as variations in character font sizes, different text line spacing, and also not uniform document layout structures altogether have made it difficult to design a general-purpose document layout analysis algorithm for many years. Thus in most previously reported methods it is inevitable to include these parameters. This problem becomes excessively acute and severe, especially in Persian/Arabic documents. Since the Persian/Arabic scripts differ considerably from the English scripts, most of the proposed methods for the English scripts do not render good results for the Persian scripts. In this paper, we present a novel parameter-free method for segmenting the Persian/Arabic document images which also works well for English scripts. This method segments the document image into maximal homogeneous regions and identifies them as texts and non-texts based on a pyramidal image structure. In other words the proposed method is capable of document segmentation without considering the character font sizes, text line spacing, and document layout structures. This algorithm is examined for 150 Arabic/Persian and English documents and document segmentation process are done successfully for 96 percent of documents.

Keywords: Persian/Arabic document, document segmentation, Pyramidal Image Structure, skew detection and correction.

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Authors: F. S. Kadhim, A. Samsuri, H. Alwan

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Well logging records can help to answer many questions from a wide range of special interested information and basic petrophysical properties to formation evaluation of oil and gas reservoirs. The accurate calculations of porosity in carbonate reservoirs are the most challenging aspects of the well logging analysis. Many equations have been developed over the years based on known physical principles or on empirically derived relationships, which are used to calculate porosity, estimate lithology, and water saturation; however these parameters are calculated from well logs by using modern technique in a current study. Nasiriya oil field is one of the giant oilfields in the Middle East, and the formation under study is the Mishrif carbonate formation which is the shallowest hydrocarbon bearing zone in this oilfield. Neurolog software was used to digitize the scanned copies of the available logs. Environmental corrections had been made as per Schlumberger charts 2005, which supplied in the Interactive Petrophysics software. Three saturation models have been used to calculate water saturation of carbonate formations, which are simple Archie equation, Dual water model, and Indonesia model. Results indicate that the Mishrif formation consists mainly of limestone, some dolomite, and shale. The porosity interpretation shows that the logging tools have a good quality after making the environmental corrections. The average formation water saturation for Mishrif formation is around 0.4- 0.6.This study is provided accurate behavior of petrophysical properties with depth for this formation by using modern software.

Keywords: Lithology, Porosity, Water Saturation, Carbonate Formation, Mishrif Formation.

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Authors: Amirmohsen Behjat, Aleck Ostry, Christina Miewald, Bernie Pauly

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Substantial research has indicated that socioeconomic and demographic characteristics’ of neighborhoods are strong determinants of food security. The aim of this study was to develop a Food Insecurity Neighborhood Index (FINI) based on the associated socioeconomic and demographic variables to identify the areas at potential risk of food insecurity in rural British Columbia (BC). Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique was used to calculate the FINI for each rural Dissemination Area (DA) using the food security determinant variables from Canadian Census data. Using ArcGIS, the neighborhoods with the top quartile FINI values were classified as food insecure. The results of this study indicated that the most food insecure neighborhood with the highest FINI value of 99.1 was in the Bulkley-Nechako (central BC) area whereas the lowest FINI with the value of 2.97 was for a rural neighborhood in the Cowichan Valley area. In total, 98.049 (19%) of the rural population of British Columbians reside in high food insecure areas. Moreover, the distribution of food insecure neighborhoods was found to be strongly dependent on the degree of rurality in BC. In conclusion, the cluster of food insecure neighbourhoods was more pronounced in Central Coast, Mount Wadington, Peace River, Kootenay Boundary, and the Alberni-Clayoqout Regional Districts.

Keywords: Neighbourhood food insecurity index, socioeconomic and demographic determinants, principal component analysis, Canada Census, ArcGIS.

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Authors: Yukiyo Yamamoto, Jun Furuya, Shintaro Kobayashi

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Using 1km grid datasets representing monthly mean precipitation, monthly mean temperature, and dry matter production (DMP), we considered the regional plant production ability in Southeast and South Asia, and also employed pixel-by-pixel correlation analysis to assess the intensity of relation between climate factors and plant production. While annual DMP in South Asia was approximately less than 2,000kg, the one in most part of Southeast Asia exceeded 2,500 - 3,000kg. It suggested that plant production in Southeast Asia was superior to South Asia, however, Rain-Use Efficiency (RUE) representing dry matter production per 1mm precipitation showed that inland of Indochina Peninsula and India were higher than islands in Southeast Asia. By the results of correlation analysis between climate factors and DMP, while the area in most parts of Indochina Peninsula indicated negative correlation coefficients between DMP and precipitation or temperature, the area in Malay Peninsula and islands showed negative correlation to precipitation and positive one to temperature, and most part of India dominating South Asia showed positive to precipitation and negative to temperature. In addition, the areas where the correlation coefficients exceeded |0.8| were regarded as “susceptible" to climate factors, and the areas smaller than |0.2| were “insusceptible". By following the discrimination, the map implying expected impacts by climate change was provided.

Keywords: Asia, correlation analysis, plant production, precipitation, temperature.

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Authors: N. Guru Prasath, Sangjin Ma, Chang-Wan Kim

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A butterfly valve is a quarter turn valve which is used to control the flow of a fluid through a section of pipe. Generally, butterfly valve is used in wide range of applications such as water distribution, sewage, oil and gas plants. In particular, butterfly valve with larger diameter finds its immense applications in hydro power plants to control the fluid flow. In-lieu with the constraints in cost and size to run laboratory setup, analysis of large diameter values will be mostly studied by computational method which is the best and inexpensive solution. For fluid and structural analysis, CFD and FEM software is used to perform large scale valve analyses, respectively. In order to perform above analysis in butterfly valve, the CAD model has to recreate and perform mesh in conventional software’s for various dimensions of valve. Therefore, its limitation is time consuming process. In-order to overcome that issue, python code was created to outcome complete pre-processing setup automatically in Salome software. Applying dimensions of the model clearly in the python code makes the running time comparatively lower and easier way to perform analysis of the valve. Hence, in this paper, an attempt was made to study the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of butterfly valves by varying the valve angles and dimensions using python code in pre-processing software, and results are produced.

Keywords: Butterfly valve, fluid-structure interaction, automatic CFD analysis, flow coefficient.

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Authors: Zeynep İltüzer Samur, Gül Tekin Temur

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Due to the increasing and varying risks that economic units face with, derivative instruments gain substantial importance, and trading volumes of derivatives have reached very significant level. Parallel with these high trading volumes, researchers have developed many different models. Some are parametric, some are nonparametric. In this study, the aim is to analyse the success of artificial neural network in pricing of options with S&P 100 index options data. Generally, the previous studies cover the data of European type call options. This study includes not only European call option but also American call and put options and European put options. Three data sets are used to perform three different ANN models. One only includes data that are directly observed from the economic environment, i.e. strike price, spot price, interest rate, maturity, type of the contract. The others include an extra input that is not an observable data but a parameter, i.e. volatility. With these detail data, the performance of ANN in put/call dimension, American/European dimension, moneyness dimension is analyzed and whether the contribution of the volatility in neural network analysis make improvement in prediction performance or not is examined. The most striking results revealed by the study is that ANN shows better performance when pricing call options compared to put options; and the use of volatility parameter as an input does not improve the performance.

Keywords: Option Pricing, Neural Network, S&P 100 Index, American/European options

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Authors: Rakesh Arasu, Sasitharan Ambicapathy, Sivaraj Ponnusamy, Mohanraj Murugesan, V. R. Sanal Kumar

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The flow field within the combustor of scramjet engine is very complex and poses a considerable challenge in the design and development of a supersonic combustor with an optimized geometry. In this paper comprehensive numerical studies on flow field characteristics of different cavity based scramjet combustors with transverse injection of hydrogen have been carried out for both non-reacting and reacting flows. The numerical studies have been carried out using a validated 2D unsteady, density based 1st-order implicit k-omega turbulence model with multi-component finite rate reacting species. The results show a wide variety of flow features resulting from the interactions between the injector flows, shock waves, boundary layers, and cavity flows. We conjectured that an optimized cavity is a good choice to stabilize the flame in the hypersonic flow, and it generates a recirculation zone in the scramjet combustor. We comprehended that the cavity based scramjet combustors having a bearing on the source of disturbance for the transverse jet oscillation, fuel/air mixing enhancement, and flameholding improvement. We concluded that cavity shape with backward facing step and 45o forward ramp is a good choice to get higher temperatures at the exit compared to other four models of scramjet combustors considered in this study.

Keywords: Flame holding, Hypersonic flow, Scramjet combustor, Supersonic combustor.

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Authors: Kamel K. Alzboon, Khalid N.Mahasneh

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The aim of this work is to study the possible use of stone cutting sludge waste in concrete production, which would reduce both the environmental impact and the production cost .Slurry sludge was used a source of water in concrete production, which was obtained from Samara factory/Jordan, The physico-chemical and mineralogical characterization of the sludge was carried out to identify the major components and to compare it with the typical sand used to produce concrete. Samples analysis showed that 96% of slurry sludge volume is water, so it should be considered as an important source of water. Results indicated that the use of slurry sludge as water source in concrete production has insignificant effect on compression strength, while it has a sharp effect on the slump values. Using slurry sludge with a percentage of 25% of the total water content obtained successful concrete samples regarding slump and compression tests. To clarify slurry sludge, settling process can be used to remove the suspended solid. A settling period of 30 min. obtained 99% removal efficiency. The clarified water is suitable for using in concrete mixes, which reduce water consumption, conserve water recourses, increase the profit, reduce operation cost and save the environment. Additionally, the dry sludge could be used in the mix design instead of the fine materials with sizes < 160 um. This application could conserve the natural materials and solve the environmental and economical problem caused by sludge accumulation.

Keywords: Concrete, recycle, sludge, slurry waste, stone cutting waste, waste.

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Authors: O. I. Rufai, G. I. Lawal, B. O. Bolasodun, S. I. Durowaye, J. O. Etoh

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It is an established fact that polymers have several physical limitations such as low stiffness and low resistance to impact on loading. Hence, polymers do not usually have requisite mechanical strength for application in various fields. The reinforcement by high strength fibers provides the polymer substantially enhanced mechanical properties and makes them more suitable for a large number of diverse applications. This research evaluates the effects of particulate Cow bone and Groundnut shell additions on the mechanical properties and microstructure of cow bone and groundnut shell reinforced epoxy composite in order to assess the possibility of using it as a material for engineering applications. Cow bone and groundnut shell particles reinforced with epoxy (CBRPC and GSRPC) was prepared by varying the cow bone and groundnut shell particles from 0-25 wt% with 5 wt% intervals. A Hybrid of the Cow bone and Groundnut shell (HGSCB) reinforce with epoxy was also prepared. The mechanical properties of the developed composites were investigated. Optical microscopy was used to examine the microstructure of the composites. The results revealed that mechanical properties did not increase uniformly with additions in filler but exhibited maximum properties at specific percentages of filler additions. From the Microscopic evaluation, it was discovered that homogeneity decreases with increase in % filler, this could be due to poor interfacial bonding.

Keywords: Groundnut shell reinforced polymer composite (GSRPC), Cow bone reinforced polymer composite (CBRPC), Hybrid of ground nutshell and cowbone (HGSCB).

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Authors: Y. N. Phang, E. F. Loh

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Many researchers have suggested the use of zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models in modeling overdispersed medical count data with extra variations caused by extra zeros and unobserved heterogeneity. The studies indicate that ZIP and ZINB always provide better fit than using the normal Poisson and negative binomial models in modeling overdispersed medical count data. In this study, we proposed the use of Zero Inflated Inverse Trinomial (ZIIT), Zero Inflated Poisson Inverse Gaussian (ZIPIG) and zero inflated strict arcsine models in modeling overdispered medical count data. These proposed models are not widely used by many researchers especially in the medical field. The results show that these three suggested models can serve as alternative models in modeling overdispersed medical count data. This is supported by the application of these suggested models to a real life medical data set. Inverse trinomial, Poisson inverse Gaussian and strict arcsine are discrete distributions with cubic variance function of mean. Therefore, ZIIT, ZIPIG and ZISA are able to accommodate data with excess zeros and very heavy tailed. They are recommended to be used in modeling overdispersed medical count data when ZIP and ZINB are inadequate.

Keywords: Zero inflated, inverse trinomial distribution, Poisson inverse Gaussian distribution, strict arcsine distribution, Pearson’s goodness of fit.

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Authors: Muhammad Irfan Aziz, Thomas Owens, Uzair Khaleeq uz Zaman

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The instantaneous and spatial localization for visually impaired people in dynamically changing environments with unexpected hazards and obstacles, is the most demanding and challenging issue faced by the navigation systems today. Since Bluetooth cannot utilize techniques like Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Time of Arrival (TOA), it uses received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to measure Receive Signal Strength (RSS). The measurements using RSSI can be improved significantly by improving the existing methodologies related to RSSI. Therefore, the current paper focuses on proposing an improved method using trilateration for localization of Bluetooth devices for visually impaired people. To validate the method, class 2 Bluetooth devices were used along with the development of a software. Experiments were then conducted to obtain surface plots that showed the signal interferences and other environmental effects. Finally, the results obtained show the surface plots for all Bluetooth modules used along with the strong and weak points depicted as per the color codes in red, yellow and blue. It was concluded that the suggested improved method of measuring RSS using trilateration helped to not only measure signal strength affectively but also highlighted how the signal strength can be influenced by atmospheric conditions such as noise, reflections, etc.

Keywords: Bluetooth, indoor/outdoor localization, received signal strength indicator, visually impaired.

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Authors: Mohamed Hesham Hamdy Abdelmohsen, Ahmed Shawky Abdul Aziz, Mona Fawzy Al-Daghma

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Helical piles are widely used as axially and laterally loaded deep foundations. When they are required to resist bearing combined loads (BCLs), such as axial compression and lateral thrust, different behaviour is expected, necessitating further investigation. The aim of the present article is to clarify the behaviour of a single helical pile of different shaft rigidity embedded in cohesionless soil and subjected to simultaneous or successive loading patterns of BCLs. The study was first developed analytically and extended numerically. The numerical analysis using PLAXIS 3D was further verified through a laboratory experimental programme on a set of helical pile models. The results indicate highly interactive effects of the studied parameters, but it is obviously confirmed that the pile performance increases with both the increase of shaft rigidity and the change of BCLs loading pattern from simultaneous to successive. However, it is noted that the increase of vertical load does not always enhance the lateral capacity but may cause a decrement in lateral capacity, as observed with helical piles of flexible shafts. This study provides insightful information for the design of helical piles in structures loaded by complex sequence of forces, wind turbines, and industrial shafts.

Keywords: Helical pile, lateral loads. combined loads, cohesionless soil, analytical model, PLAXIS 3D.

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Authors: Sharifah Mousli, Sona Taheri, Jiayuan He

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition involving persistent difficulties with social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behavior. The challenges associated with ASD can interfere with an affected individual’s ability to function in social, academic, and employment settings. Although there is no effective medication known to treat ASD, to our best knowledge, early intervention can significantly improve an affected individual’s overall development. Hence, an accurate diagnosis of ASD at an early phase is essential. The use of machine learning approaches improves and speeds up the diagnosis of ASD. In this paper, we focus on the application of unsupervised clustering methods in ASD, as a large volume of ASD data generated through hospitals, therapy centers, and mobile applications has no pre-existing labels. We conduct a comparative analysis using seven clustering approaches, such as K-means, agglomerative hierarchical, model-based, fuzzy-C-means, affinity propagation, self organizing maps, linear vector quantisation – as well as the recently developed optimization-based clustering (COMSEP-Clust) approach. We evaluate the performances of the clustering methods extensively on real-world ASD datasets encompassing different age groups: toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults. Our experimental results suggest that the COMSEP-Clust approach outperforms the other seven methods in recognizing ASD with well-separated clusters.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, clustering, optimization, unsupervised machine learning.

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Authors: Mojibul Sajjad, Mohammad G. Rasul, Md. Sharif Imam Ibne Amir

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The rate of natural gas dissociation from the Coal Matrix depends on depressurization of reservoir through removing of the cleat water from the coal seam. These waters are similar to brine and aged of very long years. For improving the connectivity through fracking /fracturing, high pressure liquids are pumped off inside the coal body. A significant quantity of accumulated water, a combined mixture of cleat water and fracking fluids (back flow water) is pumped out through gas well. In Queensland, Australia Coal Seam Gas (CSG) industry is in booming state and estimated of 30,000 wells would be active for CSG production forecasting life span of 30 years. Integrated water management along with water softening programs is practiced for subsequent treatment and later on discharge to nearby surface water catchment. Water treatment is an important part of the CSG industry. A case study on a CSG site and review on the test results are discussed for assessing the Standards & Practices for management of CSG by-product water and their subsequent disposal activities. This study was directed toward (i) water management and softening process in Spring Gully CSG field, (ii) Comparative analysis on experimental study and standards and (iii) Disposal of the treated water. This study also aimed for alternative usages and their impact on vegetation, living species as well as long term effects.

Keywords: Coal Seam Gas (CSG), Cleat Water, Hydro-Fracking, Desalination, Reverse Osmosis.

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Authors: Chen-Yu Chien, Shiow-Fang Shieh

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Tattoos are the most intimate form of body art. Unlike other art forms, tattoos emphasize breaking through tradition, innovation, and creativity. The designs created by tattoo artists are often regarded as true works of art. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in athletes with tattoos, thereby amplifying the beliefs and psychological expressions conveyed by tattoos on athletes compared to the past. The primary objectives of this study are 1) to explore and understand the presence and significance of tattoos for athletes and 2) to examine the impact of tattoos on athletes' performance. This study employs a semi-structured, in-depth interview method utilizing purposive sampling. The participants are athletes who have engaged in regular exercise for more than three years and have tattoos. A total of 10 athletes were interviewed, including nine males and one female, aged 24-43 years, each with different sports specializations. The sample was collected using snowball sampling. Results: 1) For athletes, tattoos are not merely body decorations but serve to reinforce their inner beliefs, thereby enhancing their athletic performance. 2) Tattoos have a positive impact on the appearance of athletes. 3) The influence of tattoos on athletic performance extends beyond physical appearance, serving as a psychological motivation and support. 4) Individuals with tattoos tend to be more outgoing and extroverted, with higher impulsivity and adventurousness in their athletic endeavors. Conclusion: 1) For athletes, tattoos not only have a positive impact on their appearance but also strengthen their internal beliefs. 2) Athletes with tattoos exhibit not only greater extroversion and openness but also heightened impulsivity and adventurousness in their athletic performance.

Keywords: Tattoo, athletes, athletic performance, psychological impact, body art.

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Authors: Rodolfo Lorbieski, Silvia Modesto Nassar

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Many supervised machine learning tasks require decision making across numerous different classes. Multi-class classification has several applications, such as face recognition, text recognition and medical diagnostics. The objective of this article is to analyze an adapted method of Stacking in multi-class problems, which combines ensembles within the ensemble itself. For this purpose, a training similar to Stacking was used, but with three levels, where the final decision-maker (level 2) performs its training by combining outputs from the tree-based pair of meta-classifiers (level 1) from Bayesian families. These are in turn trained by pairs of base classifiers (level 0) of the same family. This strategy seeks to promote diversity among the ensembles forming the meta-classifier level 2. Three performance measures were used: (1) accuracy, (2) area under the ROC curve, and (3) time for three factors: (a) datasets, (b) experiments and (c) levels. To compare the factors, ANOVA three-way test was executed for each performance measure, considering 5 datasets by 25 experiments by 3 levels. A triple interaction between factors was observed only in time. The accuracy and area under the ROC curve presented similar results, showing a double interaction between level and experiment, as well as for the dataset factor. It was concluded that level 2 had an average performance above the other levels and that the proposed method is especially efficient for multi-class problems when compared to binary problems.

Keywords: Stacking, multi-layers, ensemble, multi-class.

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Authors: Chethana K., Guru Prasad A. S., Vikranth H. N., Varun H., Omkar S. N., Asokan S.

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This paper describes a novel application of Fiber Braggs Grating (FBG) sensors in the assessment of human postural stability and balance on an unstable platform. In this work, FBG sensor Stability Analyzing Device (FBGSAD) is developed for measurement of plantar strain to assess the postural stability of subjects on unstable platforms during different stances in eyes open and eyes closed conditions on a rocker board. The studies are validated by comparing the Centre of Gravity (CG) variations measured on the lumbar vertebra of subjects using a commercial accelerometer. The results obtained from the developed FBGSAD depict qualitative similarities with the data recorded by commercial accelerometer. The advantage of the FBGSAD is that it measures simultaneously plantar strain distribution and postural stability of the subject along with its inherent benefits like non-requirement of energizing voltage to the sensor, electromagnetic immunity and simple design which suits its applicability in biomechanical applications. The developed FBGSAD can serve as a tool/yardstick to mitigate space motion sickness, identify individuals who are susceptible to falls and to qualify subjects for balance and stability, which are important factors in the selection of certain unique professionals such as aircraft pilots, astronauts, cosmonauts etc.

Keywords: Biomechanics, Fiber Bragg Gratings, Plantar Strain Measurement, Postural Stability Analysis.

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Authors: Ayat E. Ali, Christeen R. Aziz, Merna A. Helmy, Mohammed M. Malek, Sherif H. El-Gohary

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Goal: Purpose of the project was to make a plastic surgery prediction by using pre-operative images for the plastic surgeries’ patients and to show this prediction on a screen to compare between the current case and the appearance after the surgery. Methods: To this aim, we implemented a software which used data from the internet for facial skin diseases, skin burns, pre-and post-images for plastic surgeries then the post- surgical prediction is done by using K-nearest neighbor (KNN). So we designed and fabricated a smart mirror divided into two parts a screen and a reflective mirror so patient's pre- and post-appearance will be showed at the same time. Results: We worked on some skin diseases like vitiligo, skin burns and wrinkles. We classified the three degrees of burns using KNN classifier with accuracy 60%. We also succeeded in segmenting the area of vitiligo. Our future work will include working on more skin diseases, classify them and give a prediction for the look after the surgery. Also we will go deeper into facial deformities and plastic surgeries like nose reshaping and face slim down. Conclusion: Our project will give a prediction relates strongly to the real look after surgery and decrease different diagnoses among doctors. Significance: The mirror may have broad societal appeal as it will make the distance between patient's satisfaction and the medical standards smaller.

Keywords: K-nearest neighbor, face detection, vitiligo, bone deformity.

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Authors: A.R. Pazoki, A. H. Shirani Rad, D. Habibi, F. Paknejad, S. Kobraee, N. Hadayat

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In the other to Study of drought stress and Selenium spraying effect on superoxide dismotase (SOD) activity of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) cultivars in Shahr-e-Rey region, an experiment carried out in Split factorial design in the basis of randomized complete blocks with 4 replications in 2006. Irrigation in two levels: Normal irrigation and irrigation with drought stress when the soil electrical conductivity reached to 60 as main factor and rapeseed cultivars in 3 levels Zarfam, Okapi, Opera and selenium spraying at the beginning of flowering stage in 3 levels: 0, 16 and 21 g/ha as sub factor. The results showed that the simple and interaction effect of irrigation, selenium and cultivars on SOD activity had significant difference. In this case Zarfam cultivar with 2010 u.mg-1 protein and Opera with 1454 u.mg-1 protein produced maximum and minimum amounts of SOD activitiy. Interaction effect of irrigation and variety showed that, normal irrigation in Opera with 1115 u.mg-1 protein and drought stress in Zarfam with 2784 u.mg-1 protein conducted to and minimum and maximum amounts of SOD activity. Interaction effect of irrigation, cultivar and selenium on SOD indicated that drought stress condition and 21 gr/ha selenium spraying in Zarfam variety with 3146 u.mg-1 protein gained to highest activities of SOD.

Keywords: Drought stress, Rapeseed, Selenium, Superoxide dismutase.

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Authors: Su Ying-Ming

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High density of high rise buildings in urban areas lead to a deteriorative Urban Heat Island Effect, gradually. This study focuses on discussing the relationship between urban layout and ventilation comfort in street canyons. This study takes Songjiang Nanjing Rd. area of Taipei, Taiwan as an example to evaluate the wind environment comfort index by field measurement and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to improve both the quality and quantity of the environment. In this study, different factors including street blocks size, the width of buildings, street width ratio and the direction of the wind were used to discuss the potential of ventilation. The environmental wind field was measured by the environmental testing equipment, Testo 480. Evaluation of blocks sizes, the width of buildings, street width ratio and the direction of the wind was made under the condition of constant floor area with the help of Stimulation CFD to adjust research methods for optimizing regional wind environment. The results of this study showed the width of buildings influences the efficiency of outdoor ventilation; improvement of the efficiency of ventilation with large street width was also shown. The study found that Block width and H/D value and PR value has a close relationship. Furthermore, this study showed a significant relationship between the alteration of street block geometry and outdoor comfortableness.

Keywords: Urban ventilation path, ventilation efficiency indices, CFD, building layout.

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Authors: Seokbeen Lim, Gilwon Yoon

Abstract:

The readiness potential in brain waves is a brain activity related with an intention whose potential arises even before its conscious intention. This study was carried out in order to understand the generation and mechanism of the readiness potential more. The experiment with two subjects was conducted in two ways following the Oddball task protocol. Firstly, auditory stimuli were randomly presented to the subjects. The subject was allowed to press the keyboard with the right index finger only when the subject heard the target stimulus but not the standard stimulus. Secondly, unlike the first one, the auditory stimuli were randomly presented, and the subjects pressed the keyboard in the same manner, but at the same time with grasping action of the left hand. The readiness potential showed up for both of these experiments. In the first Oddball experiment, the readiness potential was detected only when the target stimulus was presented. However, in the second Oddball experiment with the left hand action of grasping something, the readiness potential was detected at the presentation of for both standard and target stimuli. However, detected readiness potentials with the target stimuli were larger than those of the standard stimuli. We found an interesting phenomenon that the readiness potential was able to be detected even the standard stimulus. This indicates that motor-related readiness potentials can be generated only by the intention to move. These results present a new perspective in psychology and brain engineering since subconscious brain action may be prior to conscious recognition of the intention.

Keywords: Readiness potential, auditory stimuli, event-related potential, electroencephalography, oddball task.

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Authors: Sophia Hayes, Kenny L. Liang, Sahil Sharma, Austin Shema, Mahmoud Bader, Mohamed Elbarkouky

Abstract:

Despite being one of the most significant economic contributors of the country, Canada’s construction industry is lagging behind other sectors when it comes to labor productivity improvements. The construction industry is very collaborative as a general contractor, will hire trade contractors to perform most of a project’s work; meaning low productivity from one contractor can have a domino effect on the shared success of a project. To address this issue and encourage trade contractors to improve their productivity tracking methods, an investigative study was done on the productivity views and tracking methods of various trade contractors. Additionally, an in-depth review was done on four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry: cost codes, benchmarking, the job productivity measurement (JPM) standard, and WorkFace Planning (WFP). The four tracking methods were used as a baseline in comparing the trade contractors’ responses, determining gaps within their current tracking methods, and for making improvement recommendations. 15 interviews were conducted with different trades to analyze how contractors value productivity. The results of these analyses indicated that there seem to be gaps within the construction industry when it comes to an understanding of the purpose and value in productivity tracking. The trade contractors also shared their current productivity tracking systems; which were then compared to the four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry. Gaps were identified in their various tracking methods and using a framework; recommendations were made based on the type of trade on how to improve how they track productivity.

Keywords: Trade contractors’ productivity, productivity tracking, cost codes, benchmarking, job productivity measurement, JPM, workface planning WFP.

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Authors: Revaz Chigladze

Abstract:

The purpose of the research is to investigate the surfaces of Jupiter's Galilean moons (satellites), namely to identify which moon has the most uniform surface among them, what is the difference between the front (in the direction of motion) and the back sides of each moon's surface, as well as the temporal variations of the moons. Since 1981, the E. Kharadze Georgian National Astrophysical Observatory has been conducting polarimetric (P) and photometric (M) observations of Jupiter's Galilean moons with telescopes of different diameters (40-cm and 125-cm), as well as polarimeter Automatic Scanning Electron Polarimeter (ASEP)-78, the latest generation photometer with polarimeter and modern light receiver Santana Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG). As it turns out from the analysis of the observed material, parameters P and M depend on: α, the phase angle of the moon (satellite); L, the orbital latitude of the moon (satellite); λ, the wavelength, and t, the period of observation, i.e., P = P (α, L, λ, t), and similarly: M = M (α, L, λ, t). Based on the analysis of the obtained results, we get: The magnitude of the degree of polarization of Jupiter's Galilean moons near the opposition significantly differs from zero. Europa appears to have the most uniform surface, and Callisto has the least. Time variations are most characteristic of Io, which confirms the presence of volcanic activity on its surface. Based on the observed materials, it can be seen that the intensity of light reflected from the front hemisphere of the first three moons: Io, Europa, and Ganymede, is less than the intensity of light reflected from the rear hemisphere, while the picture with Callisto is opposite. The paper provides an explanation of this fact.

Keywords: Galilean moons, polarization, degree of polarization, photometry, front and rear hemispheres.

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Authors: Botshelo R. Sebola

Abstract:

Unintended pregnancy often results in pregnancy termination. Most countries have legalised the termination of a pregnancy and pregnant adolescents can visit designated clinics without their parents’ consent. In most African and Asian countries, certain cultural practices are performed following any form of childbirth, including abortion, and such practices are ingrained in societies. The aim of this paper was to understand how women who terminated a pregnancy during adolescence coped by embracing cultural practices. A descriptive multiple case study design was adopted for the study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and reflective diaries were used for data collection. Participants were 13 women aged 20 to 35 years who had terminated a pregnancy in adolescence. Three women kept their soiled sanitary pads, burned them to ash and waited for the rainy season to scatter the ash in a flowing stream. This ritual was performed to appease the ancestors, ask them for forgiveness and as a send-off for the aborted foetus. Five women secretly consulted Sangoma (traditional healers) to perform certain rituals. Three women isolated themselves to perform herbal cleansings, and the last two chose not to engage in any sexual activity for one year, which led to the loss of their partners. This study offers a unique contribution to understanding the solitary journey of women who terminate a pregnancy. The study challenges healthcare professionals who work in clinics that offer pregnancy termination services to look beyond releasing the foetus to advocating and providing women with the necessary care and support in performing cultural practices.

Keywords: Adolescence, case study, cultural rituals, pregnancy.

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Authors: Nattapong Techarattanased

Abstract:

The purposes of this research are to make comparisons in respect of the behaviors on the use of the services of metered taxi classified by the demographic factor and to study the influence of the recognition on service quality having the effect on usage behaviors of metered taxi services of consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas. The samples used in this research were 400 metered taxi service users in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas and questionnaire was used as the tool for collecting the data. Analysis statistics are mean and multiple regression analysis. Results of the research revealed that the consumers recognize the overall quality of services in each aspect include tangible aspects of the service, responses to customers, assurance on the confidence, understanding and knowing of customers which is rated at the moderate level except the aspect of the assurance on the confidence and trustworthiness which are rated at a high level. For the result of hypothetical test, it is found that the quality in providing the services on the aspect of the assurance given to the customers has the effect on the usage behaviors of metered taxi services and the aspect of the frequency on the use of the services per month which in this connection. Such variable can forecast at one point nine percent (1.9%). In addition, quality in providing the services and the aspect of the responses to customers have the effect on the behaviors on the use of metered taxi services on the aspect of the expenses on the use of services per month which in this connection, such variable can forecast at two point one percent (2.1%).

Keywords: Consumer behavior, metered taxi, satisfaction, service quality.

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Authors: Ľudmila Ballová, Slavomír Kurhajec, Eva Petrovová, Jarmila Eftimová

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Angiogenesis, a formation of new blood vessels from a pre-existing vasculature, plays an important role in pathologic processes such as the growth and metastasis of tumours. Tumours cannot grow beyond a few millimetres without blood supply from the newly formed blood vessels from the host tissue, a process called tumour-induced angiogenesis. The successful research of antiangiogenic treatment of cancer has focused on nutraceuticals with angiogenesis-modulating properties. Berberine, as a major active component of the bark of Phellodendron amurense Rupr., has shown antitumour activity by intervening into different steps of carcinogenesis. The influence of ethanolic extract of Phellodendron amurese bark on the angiogenesis was tested in vivo on chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The irritancy of the CAM after the application of the crude bark extract dissolved in normal saline (10 mg/mL) was investigated on embryonic day 7. No significant signs of the irritancy, such as vasoconstriction, hyperaemia, haemorrhage or coagulation were observed which indicates the harmless character of the extract. A significant reduction in vessel sprouting and higher percentage of avascular zone was observed in the case of CAM treated with the extract in comparison with non-treated CAM (control), which is a proof of the antiangiogenic potential of the extract. These results could contribute to the development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer or other diseases, in which angiogenesis plays a significant role.

Keywords: Angiogenesis, berberine, chorioallantoic membrane, Phellodendron amurense.

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Authors: Jelena Slugan, Ivica Ružić

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We are witnessing the rapid development of technologies that change the world around us. However, curriculums and teaching processes are often slow to adapt to the change; it takes time, money and expertise to implement technology in the classroom. Therefore, the University of Split, Croatia, partnered with local school Marko Marulić High School and created the project "Modern competence in modern high schools" as part of which five different curriculums for STEM areas were developed. One of the curriculums involves combining information technology with physics. The main idea was to teach students how to use different circuits and microcomputers to explore nature and physical phenomena. As a result, using electrical circuits, students are able to recreate in the classroom the phenomena that they observe every day in their environment. So far, high school students had very little opportunity to perform experiments independently, and especially, those physics experiment did not involve ICT. Therefore, this project has a great importance, because the students will finally get a chance to develop themselves in accordance to modern technologies. This paper presents some new methods of teaching physics that will help students to develop experimental skills through the study of deterministic nature of physical laws. Students will learn how to formulate hypotheses, model physical problems using the electronic circuits and evaluate their results. While doing that, they will also acquire useful problem solving skills.

Keywords: ICT in physics, curriculum, laboratory activities, STEM.

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