Search results for: Loss Functions

Authors: G. V. Byrd, B. B. Ghaley, E. Hayashi

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In urban farming, research and innovation are taking place at an unprecedented pace, and soilless growing technologies are emerging at different rates motivated by different objectives in various parts of the world. Local food production is ultimately a main objective everywhere, but adoption rates and expressions vary with socio-economic drivers. Herein, the status of hydroponics and aquaponics is summarized for four countries with diverse socio-economic settings: Europe (Denmark), Asia (Japan and Nepal) and North America (US). In Denmark, with a strong environmental ethic, soilless growing is increasing in urban agriculture because it is considered environmentally friendly. In Japan, soil-based farming is being replaced with commercial plant factories using advanced technology such as complete environmental control and computer monitoring. In Nepal, where rapid loss of agricultural land is occurring near cities, dozens of hydroponics and aquaponics systems have been built in the past decade, particularly in “non-traditional” sites such as roof tops to supplement family food. In the US, where there is also strong interest in locally grown fresh food, backyard and commercial systems have proliferated. Nevertheless, soilless growing is still in the research and development and early adopter stages, and the broad contribution of hydroponics and aquaponics to food security is yet to be fully determined. Nevertheless, current adoption of these technologies in diverse environments in different socio-economic settings highlights the potential contribution to food security with social and environmental benefits which contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: Aquaponics, hydroponics, soilless agriculture, urban agriculture.

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Authors: H. L. Yim, S. H. Lee, S. K. Yoo, J. J. Kim

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This study proposes a materials procurement contracts model to which the zero-cost collar option is applied for heading price fluctuation risks in construction.The material contract model based on the collar option that consists of the call option striking zone of the construction company(the buyer) following the materials price increase andthe put option striking zone of the material vendor(the supplier) following a materials price decrease. This study first determined the call option strike price Xc of the construction company by a simple approach: it uses the predicted profit at the project starting point and then determines the strike price of put option Xp that has an identical option value, which completes the zero-cost material contract.The analysis results indicate that the cost saving of the construction company increased as Xc decreased. This was because the critical level of the steel materials price increasewas set at a low level. However, as Xc decreased, Xpof a put option that had an identical option value gradually increased. Cost saving increased as Xc decreased. However, as Xp gradually increased, the risk of loss from a construction company increased as the steel materials price decreased. Meanwhile, cost saving did not occur for the construction company, because of volatility. This result originated in the zero-cost features of the two-way contract of the collar option. In the case of the regular one-way option, the transaction cost had to be subtracted from the cost saving. The transaction cost originated from an option value that fluctuated with the volatility. That is, the cost saving of the one-way option was affected by the volatility. Meanwhile, even though the collar option with zero transaction cost cut the connection between volatility and cost saving, there was a risk of exercising the put option.

Keywords: Construction materials, Supply chain management, Procurement, Payment, Collar option

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Authors: Hind Bouami, Patrick Millot

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Handling life-critical systems complexity requires to be equipped with appropriate technology and the right human agents’ functions such as knowledge, experience, and competence in problem’s prevention and solving. Human agents are involved in the management and control of human-machine system’s performance. Documenting human agent’s situation awareness is crucial to support human-machine designers’ decision-making. Knowledge about risks, critical parameters and factors that can impact and threaten automation system’s performance should be collected using preventive and retrospective approaches. This paper aims to document operators’ situation awareness through the analysis of automated organizations’ feedback. The analysis of automated hospital pharmacies feedback helps identify and control critical parameters influencing human machine interaction in order to enhance system’s performance and security. Our human machine system evaluation approach has been deployed in Macon hospital center’s pharmacy which is equipped with automated drug dispensing systems since 2015. Automation’s specifications are related to technical aspects, human-machine interaction, and human aspects. The evaluation of drug delivery automation performance in Macon hospital center has shown that the performance of the automated activity depends on the performance of the automated solution chosen, and also on the control of systemic factors. In fact, 80.95% of automation specification related to the chosen Sinteco’s automated solution is met. The performance of the chosen automated solution is involved in 28.38% of automation specifications performance in Macon hospital center. The remaining systemic parameters involved in automation specifications performance need to be controlled. 

Keywords: Life-critical systems, situation awareness, human-machine interaction, decision-making.

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Authors: Paiboon Chuwatthanakij

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Each of the countries around the world has different ways of management and many of them depend on people to administrate their country. Thailand, for example, empowers the sovereignty of Thai people under constitution; however, our Thai voting system is not able to flow fast enough under the current Political management system. The sovereignty of Thai people is addressing this problem through representatives during current elections, in order to set a new policy for the countries ideology to change in the House and the Cabinet. This is particularly important in a democracy to be developed under our current political institution. The Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 is the establishment we have today that is causing confrontations within the establishment. There are many political parties that will soon be abolished. Many political parties have already been subsidized. This research study is to analyze the legal problems with the political party establishment under the Organic Act on Political Parties 2007. This will focus on the freedom of each political establishment compared to an effective political operation. Textbooks and academic papers will be referenced from studies home and abroad. The study revealed that Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 has strict provisions on the political structure over the number of members and the number of branches involved within political parties system. Such operations shall be completed within one year; but under the existing laws the small parties are not able to participate with the bigger parties. The cities are capable of fulfilling small political party requirements but fail to become coalesced because the current laws won't allow them to be united as one. It is important to allow all independent political parties to join our current political structure. Board members can’t help the smaller parties to become a large organization under the existing Thai laws. Creating a new establishment that functions efficiently throughout all branches would be one solution to these legal problems between all political parties. With this new operation, individual political parties can participate with the bigger parties during elections. Until current political institutions change their system to accommodate public opinion, these current Thai laws will continue to be a problem with all political parties in Thailand.

Keywords: Coalesced, Political Party, Sovereignty.

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Authors: Ragi Poyyara, Vijaya Patnana, Mohammed Alam

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When acid is pumped into damaged reservoirs for damage removal/stimulation, distorted inflow of acid into the formation occurs caused by acid preferentially traveling into highly permeable regions over low permeable regions, or (in general) into the path of least resistance. This can lead to poor zonal coverage and hence warrants diversion to carry out an effective placement of acid. Diversion is desirably a reversible technique of temporarily reducing the permeability of high perm zones, thereby forcing the acid into lower perm zones. The uniqueness of each reservoir can pose several challenges to engineers attempting to devise optimum and effective diversion strategies. Diversion techniques include mechanical placement and/or chemical diversion of treatment fluids, further sub-classified into ball sealers, bridge plugs, packers, particulate diverters, viscous gels, crosslinked gels, relative permeability modifiers (RPMs), foams, and/or the use of placement techniques, such as coiled tubing (CT) and the maximum pressure difference and injection rate (MAPDIR) methodology. It is not always realized that the effectiveness of diverters greatly depends on reservoir properties, such as formation type, temperature, reservoir permeability, heterogeneity, and physical well characteristics (e.g., completion type, well deviation, length of treatment interval, multiple intervals, etc.). This paper reviews the mechanisms by which each variety of diverter functions and discusses the effect of various reservoir properties on the efficiency of diversion techniques. Guidelines are recommended to help enhance productivity from zones of interest by choosing the best methods of diversion while pumping an optimized amount of treatment fluid. The success of an overall acid treatment often depends on the effectiveness of the diverting agents.

Keywords: Acid treatment, carbonate, diversion, sandstone.

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Authors: Mohd Noah A. Rahman, Afzaal H. Seyal, Sharul T. Tajuddin, Hartiny Md Azmi

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Taking into consideration the real time situation specifically the higher academic institutions, small, medium to large companies, public to private sectors and the remaining sectors, do experience the inventory or asset shrinkages due to theft, loss or even inventory tracking errors. This happening is due to a zero or poor security systems and measures being taken and implemented in their organizations. Henceforth, implementing the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology into any manual or existing web-based system or web application can simply deter and will eventually solve certain major issues to serve better data retrieval and data access. Having said, this manual or existing system can be enhanced into a mobile-based system or application. In addition to that, the availability of internet connections can aid better services of the system. Such involvement of various technologies resulting various privileges to individuals or organizations in terms of accessibility, availability, mobility, efficiency, effectiveness, real-time information and also security. This paper will look deeper into the integration of mobile devices with RFID technologies with the purpose of asset tracking and control. Next, it is to be followed by the development and utilization of MongoDB as the main database to store data and its association with RFID technology. Finally, the development of a web based system which can be viewed in a mobile based formation with the aid of Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), MongoDB, Hyper-Text Markup Language 5 (HTML5), Android, JavaScript and AJAX programming language.

Keywords: RFID, asset tracking system, MongoDB, NoSQL.

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Authors: Basant H. El-Refay, Nabeel T. Faiad

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Background: The high prevalence of obesity in Egypt has a great impact on the health care system, economic and social situation. Evidence suggests that even a moderate amount of weight loss can be useful. Aim of the study: To analyze the effects of lower body positive pressure supported treadmill training, conducted with hypocaloric diet, on body composition of obese children. Methods: Thirty children aged between 8 and 14 years, were randomly assigned into two groups: intervention group (15 children) and control group (15 children). All of them were evaluated using body composition analysis through bioelectric impedance. The following parameters were measured before and after the intervention: body mass, body fat mass, muscle mass, body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat and basal metabolic rate (BMR). The study group exercised with antigravity treadmill three times a week during 2 months, and participated in a hypocaloric diet program. The control group participated in a hypocaloric diet program only. Results: Both groups showed significant reduction in body mass, body fat mass and BMI. Only study group showed significant reduction in percentage of body fat (p = 0.0.043). Changes in muscle mass and BMR didn't reach statistical significance in both groups. No significant differences were observed between groups except for muscle mass (p = 0.049) and BMR (p = 0.042) favoring study group. Conclusion: Both programs proved effective in the reduction of obesity indicators, but lower body positive pressure supported treadmill training was more effective in improving muscle mass and BMR.

Keywords: Children, Hypocaloric diet, Lower body positive pressure supported treadmill, obesity.

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Authors: Samy A. Selim

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The antimicrobial, antiplasmid and cytotoxic activities of marine algae Halimeda opuntia and Sarconema filiforme were investigated. Antimicrobial bioassay against some human pathogenic bacteria and yeast were conducted using disc diffusion method. Halimeda extract exhibited antibacterial activity against six species of microrganisms, with significant inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus. While Sarconema extract was better potent as antifungal against Candida albicans. Comparative antibacterial studies showed that Halimeda extract showed equivalent or better activity as compared with commercial antibiotic when tested against Staphylococcus aureus. Further tests conducted using dilution method showed both extracts as having bacteriostatic mode of action against the tested microorganisms. Methanol extract of two species showed significant cytotoxicity (LC50 <500μg) on brine shrimp. Halimeda opuntia showed highest cytotoxic activity (LC50 =192.3μg). Also, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the ability of methanolic extract of the algal extracts to cure R-plasmids from certain clinical E. coli isolates. The active fraction of Halimeda and Sarconema could cure plasmids from E. coli at curing efficiencies of approximately 78%. The active fraction mediated plasmid curing resulted in the subsequent loss of antibiotic resistance encoded in the plasmids as revealed by antibiotic resistance profile of cured strains. The screening results confirm the possible use of marine algae Halimeda opuntia and Sarconema filiforme as a source of pharmacological benefits.

Keywords: Antimicrobial, antiplasmid Cytotoxicity, Marine Algae.

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Authors: Perumal Kumar, Rajamohan Ganesan

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Addition of milli or micro sized particles to the heat transfer fluid is one of the many techniques employed for improving heat transfer rate. Though this looks simple, this method has practical problems such as high pressure loss, clogging and erosion of the material of construction. These problems can be overcome by using nanofluids, which is a dispersion of nanosized particles in a base fluid. Nanoparticles increase the thermal conductivity of the base fluid manifold which in turn increases the heat transfer rate. Nanoparticles also increase the viscosity of the basefluid resulting in higher pressure drop for the nanofluid compared to the base fluid. So it is imperative that the Reynolds number (Re) and the volume fraction have to be optimum for better thermal hydraulic effectiveness. In this work, the heat transfer enhancement using aluminium oxide nanofluid using low and high volume fraction nanofluids in turbulent pipe flow with constant wall temperature has been studied by computational fluid dynamic modeling of the nanofluid flow adopting the single phase approach. Nanofluid, up till a volume fraction of 1% is found to be an effective heat transfer enhancement technique. The Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor predictions for the low volume fractions (i.e. 0.02%, 0.1 and 0.5%) agree very well with the experimental values of Sundar and Sharma (2010). While, predictions for the high volume fraction nanofluids (i.e. 1%, 4% and 6%) are found to have reasonable agreement with both experimental and numerical results available in the literature. So the computationally inexpensive single phase approach can be used for heat transfer and pressure drop prediction of new nanofluids.

Keywords: Heat transfer intensification, nanofluid, CFD, friction factor

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Authors: Magda S. Taipina, Maria L. Garbelotti, Mariana G.B. Cadioli

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Banana is one of the most consumed fruits in the tropics and subtropics. Brazil accounts for about 9% of the world banana production. However, the production losses are as high as 30 to 40% and even much higher in some developing countries. The green banana flour is a complex carbohydrate source, including a high total starch (73.4%), resistant starch (17.5%) with functional properties. Gamma irradiation is considered to be an alternative method for food preservation. It has been performed due to the need of extending the shelf - life of foods, whilst maintaining their safety and avoiding one of the main concerns: the nutrient loss. In this work data about on the effects of ionizing radiation on the physicochemical analysis (carbohydrate, proteins, lipids, alimentary fiber, moistures and ashes) of Brazilian functional products (biscuits and bread) of the green banana pulp are presented. The caloric value was calculated. No significant difference was observed between the samples of irradiated and non – irradiated green banana biscuits with the following determinations: carbohydrates, proteins, alimentary fiber and ashes. Only a small significant difference was found in lipids (macronutrients). The results of physical chemical analysis of the irradiated and non- irradiated green banana bread non- irradiated showed no significant difference with the following determinations: carbohydrates, lipids (macronutrients), moisture, ashes and caloric value. A small difference was found in proteins (macronutrients). Irradiation of functional products (biscuits and bread) with doses of 1 and 3kGy maintained their original macronutrients content, showing good radioresistance.

Keywords: Irradiation, Functional Food, Nutritional value.

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Authors: Rabih Ghostine, Craig Kapfer, Viswanathan Kannan, Ibrahim Hoteit

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Urban flooding resulting from a sudden release of water due to dam-break or excessive rainfall is a serious threatening environment hazard, which causes loss of human life and large economic losses. Anticipating floods before they occur could minimize human and economic losses through the implementation of appropriate protection, provision, and rescue plans. This work reports on the numerical modelling of flash flood propagation in urban areas after an excessive rainfall event or dam-break. A two-dimensional (2D) depth-averaged shallow water model is used with a refined unstructured grid of triangles for representing the urban area topography. The 2D shallow water equations are solved using a second-order well-balanced discontinuous Galerkin scheme. Theoretical test case and three flood events are described to demonstrate the potential benefits of the scheme: (i) wetting and drying in a parabolic basin (ii) flash flood over a physical model of the urbanized Toce River valley in Italy; (iii) wave propagation on the Reyran river valley in consequence of the Malpasset dam-break in 1959 (France); and (iv) dam-break flood in October 1982 at the town of Sumacarcel (Spain). The capability of the scheme is also verified against alternative models. Computational results compare well with recorded data and show that the scheme is at least as efficient as comparable second-order finite volume schemes, with notable efficiency speedup due to parallelization.

Keywords: Flood modeling, dam-break, shallow water equations, Discontinuous Galerkin scheme, MUSCL scheme.

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Authors: Zaharani Ahmad, Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin

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The aim of this paper is to examine and identify the issue of linguistic redundancy in two competing grammars of Malay, namely the school grammar and the corpus grammar. The former is a normative grammar which is formally and prescriptively taught in the classroom, whereas the latter is a descriptive grammar that is informally acquired and mastered by the students as native speakers of the language outside the classroom. Corpus grammar is depicted based on its actual used in natural occurring texts, as attested in the corpus. It is observed that the grammar taught in schools is incompatible with the grammar used in the corpus. For instance, a noun phrase containing nominal reduplicated form which denotes plurality (i.e. murid-murid ‘students’ which is derived from murid ‘student’) and a modifier categorized as quantifiers (i.e. semua ‘all’, seluruh ‘entire’, and kebanyakan ‘most’) is not acceptable in the school grammar because the formation (i.e. semua murid-murid ‘all the students’ kebanyakan pelajar-pelajar ‘most of the students’) is claimed to be redundant, and redundancy is prohibited in the grammar. Redundancy is generally construed as the property of speech and language by which more information is provided than is precisely required for the message to be understood, so that, if some information is omitted, the remaining information will still be sufficient for the message to be comprehended. Thus, the correct construction to be used is strictly the reduplicated form (i.e. murid-murid ‘students’) or the quantifier plus the root (i.e. semua murid ‘all the students’) with the intention that the grammatical meaning of plural is not repeated. Nevertheless, the so-called redundant form (i.e. kebanyakan pelajar-pelajar ‘most of the students’) is frequently used in the corpus grammar. This study shows that there are a number of redundant forms occur in the morphology of the language, particularly in affixation, reduplication and combination of both. Apparently, the so-called redundancy has grammatical and socio-cultural functions in communication that is to give emphasis and to stress the importance of the information delivered by the speakers or writers.

Keywords: Corpus grammar, morphology, redundancy, school grammar.

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Authors: Joo-Hack Lee, Jin-Seung Choi, Dong-Won Kang, Jeong-Woo Seo, Ju-Young Kim, Dae-Hyeok Kim, Seung-Tae Yang, Gye-Rae Tack

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For cycling, the analysis of the pedal force is one of the important factors in the study of exercise ability assessment and overuse injuries. In past studies, a two-axis measurement sensor was used at the sagittal plane to measure the force only in the anterior, posterior, and vertical directions and to analyze the loss of force and the injury on the frontal plane due to the forces in the right and left directions. In this study, which is a basic study on diverse analyses of the pedal force that consider the forces on the sagittal plane and the frontal plane, a three-axis pedal force measurement sensor was developed to measure the anterior-posterior (Fx), medio-lateral (Fz), and vertical (Fy) forces. The sensor was fabricated with a size and shape similar to those of the general flat pedal, and had a 550g weight that allowed smooth pedaling. Its measurement range was ±1000 N for Fx and Fz and ±2000 N for Fy, and its non-linearity, hysteresis, and repeatability were approximately 0.5%. The data were sampled at 1000 Hz using a signal collector. To use the developed sensor, the pedaling efficiency (index of efficiency, IE) and the range of left and right (medio-lateral, ML) forces were measured with two seat heights (low and high). The results of the measurement showed that the IE was higher and the force range in the ML direction was lower with the high position than with the low position. The developed measurement sensor and its application results will be useful in understanding and explaining the complicated pedaling technique, and will enable diverse kinematic analyses of the pedal force on the sagittal plane and the frontal plane.

Keywords: Cycling, Index of effectiveness, Pedal force.

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Authors: Lixin Tian, Wei Xue

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Many jobs in society go underground, such as mine mining, tunnel construction and subways, which are vital to the development of society. Once accidents occur in these places, the interruption of traditional wired communication is not conducive to the development of rescue work. In order to realize the positioning, early warning and command functions of underground personnel and improve rescue efficiency, it is necessary to develop and design an emergency ground communication system. It is easy to be subjected to narrowband interference when performing conventional underground communication. Spreading communication can be used for this problem. However, general spread spectrum methods such as direct spread communication are inefficient, so it is proposed to use parallel combined spread spectrum (PCSS) communication to improve efficiency. The PCSS communication not only has the anti-interference ability and the good concealment of the traditional spread spectrum system, but also has a relatively high frequency band utilization rate and a strong information transmission capability. So, this technology has been widely used in practice. This paper presents a PCSS communication model-multiple detection parallel combined spread spectrum (MDPCSS) communication system. In this paper, the principle of MDPCSS communication system is described, that is, the sequence at the transmitting end is processed in blocks and cyclically shifted to facilitate multiple detection at the receiving end. The block diagrams of the transmitter and receiver of the MDPCSS communication system are introduced. At the same time, the calculation formula of the system bit error rate (BER) is introduced, and the simulation and analysis of the BER of the system are completed. By comparing with the common parallel PCSS communication, we can draw a conclusion that it is indeed possible to reduce the BER and improve the system performance. Furthermore, the influence of different pseudo-code lengths selected on the system BER is simulated and analyzed, and the conclusion is that the larger the pseudo-code length is, the smaller the system error rate is.

Keywords: Cyclic shift, multiple detection, parallel combined spread spectrum, PN code.

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Authors: Ali Hamadi Dicko, Nicolas Tong-Yette, Benjamin Gilles, François Faure, Olivier Palombi

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A novel hybrid model of the lumbar spine, allowing fast static and dynamic simulations of the disc pressure and the spine mobility, is introduced in this work. Our contribution is to combine rigid bodies, deformable finite elements, articular constraints, and springs into a unique model of the spine. Each vertebra is represented by a rigid body controlling a surface mesh to model contacts on the facet joints and the spinous process. The discs are modeled using a heterogeneous tetrahedral finite element model. The facet joints are represented as elastic joints with six degrees of freedom, while the ligaments are modeled using non-linear one-dimensional elastic elements. The challenge we tackle is to make these different models efficiently interact while respecting the principles of Anatomy and Mechanics. The mobility, the intradiscal pressure, the facet joint force and the instantaneous center of rotation of the lumbar spine are validated against the experimental and theoretical results of the literature on flexion, extension, lateral bending as well as axial rotation. Our hybrid model greatly simplifies the modeling task and dramatically accelerates the simulation of pressure within the discs, as well as the evaluation of the range of motion and the instantaneous centers of rotation, without penalizing precision. These results suggest that for some types of biomechanical simulations, simplified models allow far easier modeling and faster simulations compared to usual full-FEM approaches without any loss of accuracy.

Keywords: Hybrid, modeling, fast simulation, lumbar spine.

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Authors: Jakub Elbl, Lukáš Plošek, Antonín Kintl, Jaroslav Hynšt, Jaroslav Záhora, Soňa Javoreková, Ivana Charousová, Libor Kalhotka, Olga Urbánková

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This work presents the first results from the long-term laboratory experiment dealing with impact of drought on soil properties. Three groups of the treatment (A, B and C) with different regime of irrigation were prepared. The soil water content was maintained at 70 % of soil water holding capacity in group A, at 40 % in group B. In group C, soil water regime was maintained in the range of wilting point. Each group of the experiment was divided into three variants (A1 = B1, C1; A2 = B2, C2 etc.) with three repetitions: Variants A1 (B1, C1) were a controls without addition of another fertilizer. Variants A2 (B2, C2) were fertilized with mineral nitrogen fertilizer DAM 390 (0.140 Mg of N per ha) and variants A3 (B3, C3) contained 45 g of C_p per a pot.

The significant differences (ANOVA, P<0.05) in the leaching of mineral nitrogen and values of saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) were found. The highest values of K_sat were found in variants (within each group) with addition of compost (A3, B3, C3). Conversely, the lowest values of K_sat were found in variants with addition of mineral nitrogen. Low values of K_sat indicate an increased level of hydrophobicity in individual groups of the experiment. Moreover, all variants with compost addition showed lower amount of mineral nitrogen leaching and high level of microbial activity than variants without. This decrease of mineral nitrogen leaching was about 200 % in comparison with the control variant and about 300 % with variant, where mineral nitrogen was added. Based on these results, we can conclude that changes of soil water content directly have impact on microbial activity, soil hydrophobicity and loss of mineral nitrogen from soil. 

Keywords: Drought, Microbial activity, Mineral nitrogen, Soil hydrophobicity.

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Authors: O. E. Eberechi, G. P. Stevens

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Legal theory has been referred to as the explanation of why things do or do not happen. It also describes situations and why they ensue. It provides a normative framework by which things are regulated and a foundation for the establishment of legal mechanisms/institutions that can bring about a desired change in a society. Furthermore, it offers recommendations in resolving practical problems and describes what the law is, what the law ought to be and defines the legal landscape generally. Some legal theories provide a universal standard, e.g. human rights, while others are capable of organizing and streamlining the collective use, and, by extension, bring order to society. Legal theory is used to explain how the world works and how it does not work. This paper will argue for the application of the principles of legal theory in the achievement of access to justice for female victims of sexual violence in refugee camps in Africa through the analysis of legal theories underpinning the access to justice for these women. It is a known fact that female refugees in camps in Africa often experience some form of sexual violation. The perpetrators of these incidents may never be apprehended, prosecuted, convicted or sentenced. Where prosecution does occur, the perpetrators are either acquitted as a result of poor investigation, inept prosecution, a lack of evidence, or the case may be dismissed owing to tardiness on the part of the prosecutor, which accounts for the culture of impunity in refugee camps. In other words, victims do not have access to the justice that could ameliorate the plight of the victims. There is, thus, a need for a legal framework that will facilitate access to justice for these victims. This paper will start with an introduction, and be followed by the definition of legal theory, its functions and its application in law. Secondly, it will provide a brief explanation of the problems faced by female refugees who are victims of sexual violence in refugee camps in Africa. Thirdly, it will embark on an analysis of theories which will be a help to an understanding of the precarious situation of female refugees, why they are violated, the need for access to justice for these victims, and the principles of legal theory in its usefulness in resolving access to justice for these victims.

Keywords: Access to justice, underpinning legal theory, refugee, sexual violence.

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Authors: Jonathan N. Nayga, Emelita B. Valdez, Mila R. Andres, Beulah B. Estrada, Emelina A. Lopez, Rogelio B. Tamayo, Aubrey Joy M. Balbin

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Goat production is one of the activities included in integrated farming in the Philippines. Goats are raised for its meat and regardless of breed the animal is slaughtered for this purpose. In order to document the carcass yield of different goats slaughtered, five (5) different breeds of goats to include Purebred Boer and Anglo-nubian, Crossbred Boer and Anglo-nubian and Philippine Native goat were used in the study. Data on slaughter parameters, carcass characteristics, and sensory evaluation were gathered and analyzed using Complete Random Design (CRD) at 5% level of significance and the results of carcass conformation were assessed descriptively. Results showed that slaughter data such as slaughter/live weight, hot and chilled carcass weights, dressing percentage and percentage drip loss were significantly different (P>0.05) among breeds. On carcass and meat characteristics, pure breed and upgraded Boer were found to be moderately muscular while Native goat was rated as thin muscular. The color of the carcass also revealed that Purebred and crossbred Boer were described dark red, while Native goat was noted to be slightly pale. On sensory evaluation, the results indicated that there was no significant difference (P>0.05) among breeds evaluated. It is therefore concluded that purebred goat has heavier carcass, while both purebred Boer and upgrade are rated slightly muscular. It is further confirms that regardless of breed, goat will have the same sensory characteristics. Thus, it is recommended to slaughter heavier goats to obtain more carcasses with better conformation and quality.

Keywords: Carcass quality, goat, sensory evaluation, slaughter.

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Authors: Maia Kukhaleishvili, Ekaterine Bulauri, Iveta Megrelishvili, Tamar Shamatava, Tamar Chipashvili

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Plant viruses can cause loss of yield and quality in a lot of important crops. Symptoms of pathogens are variable depending on the cultivars and virus strain. Selection of resistant potato varieties would reduce the risk of virus transmission and significant economic impact. Other way to avoid reduced harvest yields is regular potato seed production sampling and testing for viral infection. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence and distribution of viral diseases according potato cultivars for further selection of virus-free material in Georgia. During the summer 2015- 2016, 5 potato cultivars (Sante, Laura, Jelly, Red Sonia, Anushka) at 5 different farms located in Akhalkalaki were tested for 6 different potato viruses: Potato virus A (PVA), Potato virus M (PVM), Potato virus S (PVS), Potato virus X (PVX), Potato virus Y (PVY) and potato leaf roll virus (PLRV). A serological method, Double Antibody Sandwich-Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (DASELISA) was used at the laboratory to analyze the results. The result showed that PVY (21.4%) and PLRV (19.7%) virus presence in collected samples was relatively high compared to others. Researched potato cultivars except Jelly and Laura were infected by PVY with different concentrations. PLRV was found only in three potato cultivars (Sante, Jelly, Red Sonia) and PVM virus (3.12%) was characterized with low prevalence. PVX, PVA and PVS virus infection was not reported. It would be noted that 7.9% of samples were containing PVY/PLRV mix infection. Based on the results it can be concluded that PVY and PLRV infections are dominant in all research cultivars. Therefore significant yield losses are expected. Systematic, long-term control of potato viral infection, especially seed-potatoes, must be regarded as the most important factor to increase seed productivity.

Keywords: Diseases, infection, potato, virus.

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Authors: U K Chakrabarti, Jigisha Parikh

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Hazardous Material transportation by road is coupled with inherent risk of accidents causing loss of lives, grievous injuries, property losses and environmental damages. The most common type of hazmat road accident happens to be the releases (78%) of hazardous substances, followed by fires (28%), explosions (14%) and vapour/ gas clouds (6 %.). The paper is discussing initially the probable 'Impact Zones' likely to be caused by one flammable (LPG) and one toxic (ethylene oxide) chemicals being transported through a sizable segment of a State Highway connecting three notified Industrial zones in Surat district in Western India housing 26 MAH industrial units. Three 'hotspots' were identified along the highway segment depending on the particular chemical traffic and the population distribution within 500 meters on either sides. The thermal radiation and explosion overpressure have been calculated for LPG / Ethylene Oxide BLEVE scenarios along with toxic release scenario for ethylene oxide. Besides, the dispersion calculations for ethylene oxide toxic release have been made for each 'hotspot' location and the impact zones have been mapped for the LOC concentrations. Subsequently, the maximum Initial Isolation and the protective zones were calculated based on ERPG-3 and ERPG-2 values of ethylene oxide respectively which are estimated taking the worst case scenario under worst weather conditions. The data analysis will be helpful to the local administration in capacity building with respect to rescue / evacuation and medical preparedness and quantitative inputs to augment the District Offsite Emergency Plan document.

Keywords: Hotspot, Ethylene Oxide, LPG, MAH (MajorAccident Hazard).

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Authors: B. Nassar, W. Hussein, M. Mokhtar

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The critical concern of satellite operations is to ensure the health and safety of satellites. The worst case in this perspective is probably the loss of a mission, but the more common interruption of satellite functionality can result in compromised mission objectives. All the data acquiring from the spacecraft are known as Telemetry (TM), which contains the wealth information related to the health of all its subsystems. Each single item of information is contained in a telemetry parameter, which represents a time-variant property (i.e. a status or a measurement) to be checked. As a consequence, there is a continuous improvement of TM monitoring systems to reduce the time required to respond to changes in a satellite's state of health. A fast conception of the current state of the satellite is thus very important to respond to occurring failures. Statistical multivariate latent techniques are one of the vital learning tools that are used to tackle the problem above coherently. Information extraction from such rich data sources using advanced statistical methodologies is a challenging task due to the massive volume of data. To solve this problem, in this paper, we present a proposed unsupervised learning algorithm based on Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The algorithm is particularly applied on an actual remote sensing spacecraft. Data from the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) was acquired under two operation conditions: normal and faulty states. The models were built and tested under these conditions, and the results show that the algorithm could successfully differentiate between these operations conditions. Furthermore, the algorithm provides competent information in prediction as well as adding more insight and physical interpretation to the ADCS operation.

Keywords: Space telemetry monitoring, multivariate analysis, PCA algorithm, space operations.

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Authors: Alireza Azimi Sani , Shahram Chaharmahalie

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Internal controls of accounting are an essential business function for a growth-oriented organization, and include the elements of risk assessment, information communications and even employees' roles and responsibilities. Internal controls of accounting systems are designed to protect a company from fraud, abuse and inaccurate data recording and help organizations keep track of essential financial activities. Internal controls of accounting provide a streamlined solution for organizing all accounting procedures and ensuring that the accounting cycle is completed consistently and successfully. Implementing a formal Accounting Procedures Manual for the organization allows the financial department to facilitate several processes and maintain rigorous standards. Internal controls also allow organizations to keep detailed records, manage and organize important financial transactions and set a high standard for the organization's financial management structure and protocols. A well-implemented system also reduces the risk of accounting errors and abuse. A well-implemented controls system allows a company's financial managers to regulate and streamline all functions of the accounting department. Internal controls of accounting can be set up for every area to track deposits, monitor check handling, keep track of creditor accounts, and even assess budgets and financial statements on an ongoing basis. Setting up an effective accounting system to monitor accounting reports, analyze records and protect sensitive financial information also can help a company set clear goals and make accurate projections. Creating efficient accounting processes allows an organization to set specific policies and protocols on accounting procedures, and reach its financial objectives on a regular basis. Internal accounting controls can help keep track of such areas as cash-receipt recording, payroll management, appropriate recording of grants and gifts, cash disbursements by authorized personnel, and the recording of assets. These systems also can take into account any government regulations and requirements for financial reporting.

Keywords: Internal controls, risk assessment, financial management.

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Authors: C. A. Oloo, C. Ojwang

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The performances of small and medium enterprises have stagnated in the last two decades. This has mainly been due to the emergence of HIV / Aids. The disease has had a detrimental effect on the general economy of the country leading to morbidity and mortality of the Kenyan workforce in their primary age. The present study sought to establish the economic impact of HIV / Aids on the micro-enterprise development in Obunga slum – Kisumu, in terms of production loss, increasing labor related cost and to establish possible strategies to address the impact of HIV / Aids on microenterprises. The study was necessitated by the observation that most micro-enterprises in the slum are facing severe economic and social crisis due to the impact of HIV / Aids, they get depleted and close down within a short time due to death of skilled and experience workforce. The study was carried out between June 2008 and June 2009 in Obunga slum. Data was subjected to computer aided statistical analysis that included descriptive statistic, chi-squared and ANOVA techniques. Chi-squared analysis on the micro-enterprise owners opinion on the impact of HIV / Aids on depletion of microenterprise compared to other diseases indicated high levels of the negative effects of the disease at significance levels of P<0.01. Analysis of variance on the impact of HIV / Aids on the performance and productivity of micro-enterprises also indicated a negative effect on the general performance of micro-enterprise at significance levels of P<0.01. Therefore reducing the negative impacts of HIV/Aids on micro-enterprise development, there is need to improve the socioeconomic environment, mobilize donors and stake holders in training and funding, and review the current strategies for addressing the disease. Further conclusive research should also be conducted on a bigger scale.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, HIV-AIDS, Micro-enterprise, Poverty.

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Authors: Jing Zhang, Lian Wu, Jie-ming Qu, Chun-xue Bai, Mervyn J Merrilees, Peter N Black

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COPD is characterized by loss of elastic fibers from small airways and alveolar walls, with the decrease in elastin increasing with disease severity. It is unclear why there is a lack of repair of elastic fibers. We have examined fibroblasts cultured from lung tissue from normal and COPD subjects to determine if the secretory profile explains lack of tissue repair. In this study, fibroblasts were cultured from lung parenchyma of bronchial carcinoma patients with varying degrees of COPD; controls (non-COPD, n=5), mild COPD (GOLD 1, n=5) and moderate-severe COPD (GOLD 2-3, n=12). Measurements were made of proliferation, senescence-associated beta-galactosidase-1, mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8, MMP-1, tropoelastin and versican, and protein levels for IL-6, IL-8, PGE2, tropoelastin, insoluble elastin, and versican. It was found that GOLD 2-3 fibroblasts proliferated more slowly (p<0.01) and had higher levels of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase-1 (p<0.001) than controls (non-COPD). GOLD 2-3 fibroblasts showed significant increases in mRNA and/or protein for IL-6, IL-8, MMP-1, PGE2, versican (p<0.01) and tropoelastin (p<0.05). mRNA expression and/or protein levels of tropoelastin (p<0.01), versican (p<0.02), IL-6 (p<0.05) and IL-8 (p<0.05) were negatively correlated with FEV1%. Insoluble elastin was not increased. In summary, fibroblasts from moderate to severe COPD subjects display a secretory phenotype with up-regulation of inflammatory molecules including the matrix proteoglycan versican, and increased soluble, but not insoluble, elastin. Versican inhibits assembly of tropoelastin into insoluble elastin and we conclude that the pro-inflammatory phenotype of COPD fibroblasts it is not compatible with repair elastic fibers.

Keywords: COPD, pulmonary fibroblasts, pro-inflammatory phenotype, versican, elastin

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Authors: J. Urbánek Jiří, Krahulec Josef, Johanidesová Jitka, F. Urbánek Jiří

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This paper deals with using of prevailing operation system MS Office (SmartArt...) for mathematical models, using DYVELOP (Dynamic Vector Logistics of Processes) method. It serves for crisis situations investigation and modelling within the organizations of critical infrastructure. In first part of paper, it will be introduced entities, operators, and actors of DYVELOP method. It uses just three operators of Boolean algebra and four types of the entities: the Environments, the Process Systems, the Cases, and the Controlling. The Process Systems (PrS) have five “brothers”: Management PrS, Transformation PrS, Logistic PrS, Event PrS and Operation PrS. The Cases have three “sisters”: Process Cell Case, Use Case, and Activity Case. They all need for the controlling of their functions special Ctrl actors, except ENV – it can do without Ctrl. Model´s maps are named the Blazons and they are able mathematically - graphically express the relationships among entities, actors and processes. In second part of this paper, the rich blazons of DYVELOP method will be used for the discovering and modelling of the cycling cases and their phases. The blazons need live PowerPoint presentation for better comprehension of this paper mission. The crisis management of energetic crisis infrastructure organization is obliged to use the cycles for successful coping of crisis situations. Several times cycling of these cases is necessary condition for the encompassment for both emergency events and the mitigation of organization´s damages. Uninterrupted and continuous cycling process brings for crisis management fruitfulness and it is good indicator and controlling actor of organizational continuity and its sustainable development advanced possibilities. The research reliable rules are derived for the safety and reliable continuity of energetic critical infrastructure organization in the crisis situation.

Keywords: Blazons, computational assistance, DYVELOP method, critical infrastructure.

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Authors: Paula Pascoal-Faria, Rúben Pereira, Elodie Pinto, Miguel Belbut, Ana Rosa, Inês Sousa, Nuno Alves

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Apple bruise damage from harvesting, handling, transporting and sorting is considered to be the major source of reduced fruit quality, resulting in loss of profits for the entire fruit industry. The three factors which can physically cause fruit bruising are vibration, compression load and impact, the latter being the most common source of bruise damage. Therefore, prediction of the level of damage, stress distribution and deformation of the fruits under external force has become a very important challenge. In this study, experimental and numerical methods were used to better understand the impact caused when an apple is dropped from different heights onto a plastic surface and a conveyor belt. Results showed that the extent of fruit damage is significantly higher for plastic surface, being dependent on the height. In order to support the development of a biomimetic electronic device for the determination of fruit damage, the mechanical properties of the apple fruit were determined using mechanical tests. Preliminary results showed different values for the Young’s modulus according to the zone of the apple tested. Along with the mechanical characterization of the apple fruit, the development of the first two prototypes is discussed and the integration of the results obtained to construct the final element model of the apple is presented. This work will help to reduce significantly the bruise damage of fruits or vegetables during the entire processing which will allow the introduction of exportation destines and consequently an increase in the economic profits in this sector.

Keywords: Apple, fruit damage, impact during crop and post-crop, mechanical characterization of the apple, numerical evaluation of fruit bruise damage, electronic device.

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Authors: Warangkana Juangjandee

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The rapidly increasing number of population in the limited area creates an effect on the idea of the improvement of the area to suit the environment and the needs of people. Faculty of architecture Chiang Mai University is also expanding in both variety fields of study and quality of education. In 2020, the new department will be introduced in the faculty which is Department of Landscape Architecture. With the limitation of the area in the existing building, the faculty plan to renovate some parts of its school for anticipates the number of students who will join the program in the next two years. As a result, the old wooden workshop area is selected to be renovated as student studio space. With such condition, it is necessary to study the restriction and the distinctive environment of the site prior to the improvement in order to find ways to manage the existing space due to the fact that the primary functions that have been practiced in the site, an old wooden workshop space and the new function, studio space, are too different. 72.9% of the annual times in the room are considered to be out of the thermal comfort condition with high relative humidity. This causes non-comfort condition for occupants which could promote mould growth. This study aims to analyze thermal comfort condition in the Landscape Learning Studio Area for finding the solution to improve indoor air quality and respond to local conditions. The research methodology will be in two parts: 1) field gathering data on the case study 2) analysis and finding the solution of improving indoor air quality. The result of the survey indicated that the room needs to solve non-comfort condition problem. This can be divided into two ways which are raising ventilation and indoor temperature, e.g. improving building design and stack driven ventilation, using fan for enhancing more internal ventilation.

Keywords: Relative humidity, renovation, temperature, thermal comfort.

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Authors: Marco Picco, Mahmood Alam

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Improving the energy performance of existing buildings can be challenging, particularly when facades cannot be modified, and the only available option is internal insulation. In such cases, the choice of the most suitable material becomes increasingly complex, as in addition to thermal transmittance and capital cost, the designer needs to account for the impact of the intervention on the internal spaces, and in particular the loss of usable space due to the additional layers of materials installed. This paper explores this issue by analyzing a case study of an average office building needing to go through a refurbishment in order to reach the limits imposed by current regulations to achieve energy efficiency in buildings. The building is simulated through dynamic performance simulation under three different climate conditions in order to evaluate its energy needs. The use of Vacuum Insulated Panels as an option for energy refurbishment is compared to traditional insulation materials (XPS, Mineral Wool). For each scenario, energy consumptions are calculated and, in combination with their expected capital costs, used to perform a financial feasibility analysis. A holistic approach is proposed, taking into account the impact of the intervention on internal space by quantifying the value of the lost usable space and used in the financial feasibility analysis. The proposed approach highlights how taking into account different drivers will lead to the choice of different insulation materials, showing how accounting for the economic value of space can make VIPs an attractive solution for energy retrofitting under various climate conditions.

Keywords: Vacuum insulated panels, building performance simulation, payback period, building energy retrofit.

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Authors: C. Malça, P. Gonçalves, N. Alves, A. Mateus

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Regardless of the manufacturing process used, subtractive or additive, material, purpose and application, produced components are conventionally solid mass with more or less complex shape depending on the production technology selected. Aspects such as reducing the weight of components, associated with the low volume of material required and the almost non-existent material waste, speed and flexibility of production and, primarily, a high mechanical strength combined with high structural performance, are competitive advantages in any industrial sector, from automotive, molds, aviation, aerospace, construction, pharmaceuticals, medicine and more recently in human tissue engineering. Such features, properties and functionalities are attained in metal components produced using the additive technique of Rapid Prototyping from metal powders commonly known as Selective Laser Melting (SLM), with optimized internal topologies and varying densities. In order to produce components with high strength and high structural and functional performance, regardless of the type of application, three different internal topologies were developed and analyzed using numerical computational tools. The developed topologies were numerically submitted to mechanical compression and four point bending testing. Finite Element Analysis results demonstrate how different internal topologies can contribute to improve mechanical properties, even with a high degree of porosity relatively to fully dense components. Results are very promising not only from the point of view of mechanical resistance, but especially through the achievement of considerable variation in density without loss of structural and functional high performance.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, Internal topologies, Porosity, Rapid Prototyping, Selective Laser Melting.

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Authors: Tamer ElSerafi

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In recent approaches to heritage conservation, the whole context of historic areas becomes as important as the single historic building. This makes the provision of infrastructure and network of mobility an effective element in the urban conservation. Sustainable urban conservation projects consider the high density of activities, the need for a good quality access system to the transit system, and the importance of the configuration of the mobility network by identifying the best way to connect the different districts of the urban area through a complex unique system that helps the synergic development to achieve a sustainable mobility system. A sustainable urban mobility is a key factor in maintaining the integrity between socio-cultural aspects and functional aspects. This paper illustrates the mobility aspects, mobility problems in historic districts, and the needs of the mobility systems in the first part. The second part is a practical analysis for different mobility plans. It is challenging to find innovative and creative conservation solutions fitting modern uses and needs without risking the loss of inherited built resources. Urban mobility management is becoming an essential and challenging issue in the urban conservation projects. Depending on literature review and practical analysis, this paper tries to define and clarify the guidelines for mobility management in historic districts as a key element in sustainability of urban conservation and development projects. Such rules and principles could control the conflict between the socio–cultural and economic activities, and the different needs for mobility in these districts in a sustainable way. The practical analysis includes a comparison between mobility plans which have been implemented in four different cities; Freiburg in Germany, Zurich in Switzerland and Bray Town in Ireland. This paper concludes with a matrix of guidelines that considers both principles of sustainability and livability factors in urban historic districts.

Keywords: Sustainable mobility, urban mobility, mobility management, historic districts.

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