Search results for: active and independent learning
1467 Family Structure between Muslim and Santal Communities in Rural Bangladesh
Authors: Md. Emaj Uddin
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Family structure that is culturally constructed in every society is the basic unit of social structure. Purpose of the study was to compare family structure, including marriage, residence, family size, type, role sharing, authority, and communication patterns between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh. For this we assumed that family structure with the elements was significantly different between the two communities in rural Bangladesh. In so doing, 288 active couples (145 for Muslim and 143 for Santal) selected by cluster random sampling were intensively interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire method. The results of Pearson Chi-Squire Test reveal that there were significant differences in the family structure followed by the two communities in the study area. Further cross-cultural study should be done on why family structure varies between the communities in Bangladesh.Keywords: Bangladesh, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Family Structure, Muslim, Santal.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 28111466 Performance Evaluation of a Neural Network based General Purpose Space Vector Modulator
Authors: A.Muthuramalingam, S.Himavathi
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Space Vector Modulation (SVM) is an optimum Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique for an inverter used in a variable frequency drive applications. It is computationally rigorous and hence limits the inverter switching frequency. Increase in switching frequency can be achieved using Neural Network (NN) based SVM, implemented on application specific chips. This paper proposes a neural network based SVM technique for a Voltage Source Inverter (VSI). The network proposed is independent of switching frequency. Different architectures are investigated keeping the total number of neurons constant. The performance of the inverter is compared for various switching frequencies for different architectures of NN based SVM. From the results obtained, the network with minimum resource and appropriate word length is identified. The bit precision required for this application is identified. The network with 8-bit precision is implemented in the IC XCV 400 and the results are presented. The performance of NN based general purpose SVM with higher bit precision is discussed.Keywords: NN based SVM, FPGA Implementation, LayerMultiplexing, NN structure and Resource Reduction, PerformanceEvaluation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14991465 Inhibition on Conidial Germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes and Pestalotiopsis eugeniae by Bacillus subtilis LB5
Authors: Onuma Ruangwong, Wen-Jinn Liang, S.Y. Zhang, Chi-I Chang
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The effect of antifungal compound from Bacillus subtilis strain LB5 was tested against conidial germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Pestalotiopsis eugeniae, causal agent of anthracnose and fruit rot of wax apple, respectively. Observation under scanning electron microscope and light compound microscope revealed that conidial germination was completely inhibited when treated with culture broth, culture filtrate, or crude extract from strain LB5. Identification of purified antifungal compound produced by strain LB5 in cell-free supernatant by nuclear magnetic resonance and fast atom bombardment showed that the active compound was iturin A-2.Keywords: Iturin A-2, Bacillus subtilis LB5, Colleteotrichum gloeospporioides, Pestalotiopsis eugeniae, wax apple
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22691464 Elegant: An Intuitive Software Tool for Interactive Learning of Power System Analysis
Authors: Eduardo N. Velloso, Fernando M. N. Dantas, Luciano S. Barros
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A common complaint from power system analysis students lies in the overly complex tools they need to learn and use just to simulate very basic systems or just to check the answers to power system calculations. The most basic power system studies are power-flow solutions and short-circuit calculations. This paper presents a simple tool with an intuitive interface to perform both these studies and assess its performance in comparison with existent commercial solutions. With this in mind, Elegant is a pure Python software tool for learning power system analysis developed for undergraduate and graduate students. It solves the power-flow problem by iterative numerical methods and calculates bolted short-circuit fault currents by modeling the network in the domain of symmetrical components. Elegant can be used with a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) and automatically generates human-readable reports of the simulation results. The tool is exemplified using a typical Brazilian regional system with 18 buses. This study performs a comparative experiment with 1 undergraduate and 4 graduate students who attempted the same problem using both Elegant and a commercial tool. It was found that Elegant significantly reduces the time and labor involved in basic power system simulations while still providing some insights into real power system designs.
Keywords: Free- and open-source software, power-flow, power system analysis, Python, short-circuit.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4691463 Strengthening Adult Literacy Programs in Order to End Female Genital Mutilation to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Odenigbo Veronica Ngozi, Lorreta Chika Ukwuaba
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This study focuses on how the strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria, specifically in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. The research delved into the definition of FGM, adult literacy programs, and how to achieve ending FGM in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030. It further discussed the practice of FGM in Nigeria and emphasized the statement of the problem. Main purpose of the study was to investigate how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies to end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs in 2030. A survey research design was used to conduct the study in Nsukka L.G.A. The population was composed of 26 facilitators and adult learners in five adult learning centres in the area. The entire population was used as a sample. Structured questionnaires were employed to elicit information from the respondents. The items on the questionnaire were face-validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was verified using Cronbach Alpha Reliability Technique. The research questions were analysed using means and standard deviation while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of degree of significance using a t-test statistics. The result of the findings shows that the practices of FGM can end through strengthening adult literacy programs. Strengthening adult literacy programs is a good channel to end or stop FGM through the knowledge and skill acquired from the learning centres. The theoretical importance of the study lies in the fact that it highlights the role of adult literacy programs in accelerating transformative strategies to combat harmful cultural practices such as FGM. It further supports the importance of education and knowledge in achieving SDGs by 2030. The study addressed the question of how strengthening adult literacy programs can help accelerate transformative strategies which can end FGM in Nigeria and achieve SDGs by 2030. In conclusion, the study revealed that adult literacy is a good tool to end FGM in Nigeria. The recommendation was that (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and individuals should support the funding and establishment of adult literacy centres in communities so as to reach all illiterate parents or individuals so that they can acquire the knowledge and skill needed to understand the negative effect of FGM in the life of a girl child.
Keywords: Adult literacy, female genital mutilation, learning centres, Sustainable Development Goals.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 861462 The Appraisal of Construction Sites Productivity: In Kendall’s Concordance
Authors: Abdulkadir Abu Lawal
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For the dearth of reliable cardinal numerical data, the linked phenomena in productivity indices such as operational costs and company turnovers, etc. could not be investigated. This would not give us insight to the root of productivity problems at unique sites. So, ordinal ranking by professionals who were most directly involved with construction sites was applied for Kendall’s concordance. Responses gathered from independent architects, builders/engineers, and quantity surveyors were herein analyzed. They were responses based on factors that affect sites productivity, and these factors were categorized as head office factors, resource management effectiveness factors, motivational factors, and training/skill development factors. It was found that productivity is low and has to be improved in order to facilitate Nigerian efforts in bridging its infrastructure deficit. The significance of this work is underlined with the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance of 0.78, while remedial measures must be emphasized to stimulate better productivity. Further detailed study can be undertaken by using Fuzzy logic analysis on wider Delphi survey.
Keywords: Factors, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, magnitude of agreement, percentage magnitude of dichotomy, ranking variables.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9791461 Using Axiomatic Design for Developing a Framework of Manufacturing Cloud Service Composition in the Equilibrium State
Authors: Ehsan Vaziri Goodarzi, Mahmood Houshmand, Omid Fatahi Valilai, Vahidreza Ghezavati, Shahrooz Bamdad
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One important paradigm of industry 4.0 is Cloud Manufacturing (CM). In CM everything is considered as a service, therefore, the CM platform should consider all service provider's capabilities and tries to integrate services in an equilibrium state. This research develops a framework for implementing manufacturing cloud service composition in the equilibrium state. The developed framework using well-known tools called axiomatic design (AD) and game theory. The research has investigated the factors for forming equilibrium for measures of the manufacturing cloud service composition. Functional requirements (FRs) represent the measures of manufacturing cloud service composition in the equilibrium state. These FRs satisfied by related Design Parameters (DPs). The FRs and DPs are defined by considering the game theory, QoS, consumer needs, parallel and cooperative services. Ultimately, four FRs and DPs represent the framework. To insure the validity of the framework, the authors have used the first AD’s independent axiom.Keywords: Axiomatic design, manufacturing cloud service composition, cloud manufacturing, Industry 4.0.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7151460 Process of Revitalization of the City Centers in Poland: The Problem of Cooperation between Sectors
Authors: Ewa M. Boryczka
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Contemporary city is a subject to rapid economic and social changes. Therefore, it requires an active policy designed to meet the diverse needs of their residents, build competitive position and capacity to compete with other cities. Competitiveness of cities depends largely on their resources but also to a large extent, on the policies and performance of local authorities. Cooperation with social sector also plays an important role, as it affects the use of resources and builds an advantage over other cities. The subject of this article is city's contemporary problems of development with particular emphasis on central areas. This issue is a starting point for reflection on the process of urban regeneration in medium size cities in Poland, as well as cooperation between various actors and their roles in the revitalization processes of Polish cities' centers.
Keywords: City, cooperation between sectors, crisis of city centers, revitalization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16601459 Normalized Cumulative Spectral Distribution in Music
Authors: Young-Hwan Song, Hyung-Jun Kwon, Myung-Jin Bae
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As the remedy used music becomes active and meditation effect through the music is verified, people take a growing interest about psychological balance or remedy given by music. From traditional studies, it is verified that the music of which spectral envelop varies approximately as 1/f (f is frequency) down to a frequency of low frequency bandwidth gives psychological balance. In this paper, we researched signal properties of music which gives psychological balance. In order to find this, we derived the property from voice. Music composed by voice shows large value in NCSD. We confirmed the degree of deference between music by curvature of normalized cumulative spectral distribution. In the music that gives psychological balance, the curvature shows high value, otherwise, the curvature shows low value.Keywords: Cognitive Psychology, Normalized Cumulative Spectral Distribution, Curvature.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22121458 Ultrasound Assisted Extraction and Microwave Assisted Extraction of Carotenoids from Melon Shells
Authors: A. Brinda Lakshmi, J. Lakshmi Priya
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Cantaloupes (muskmelon and watermelon) contain biologically active molecules such as carotenoids which are natural pigments used as food colorants and afford health benefits. ß-carotene is the major source of carotenoids present in muskmelon and watermelon shell. Carotenoids were extracted using Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) utilising organic lipophilic solvents such as acetone, methanol, and hexane. Extraction conditions feed-solvent ratio, microwave power, ultrasound frequency, temperature and particle size were varied and optimized. It was found that the yield of carotenoids was higher using UAE than MAE, and muskmelon had the highest yield of carotenoids when was ethanol used as a solvent for 0.5 mm particle size.Keywords: Carotenoids, extraction, muskmelon shell, watermelon shell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9871457 Acute Coronary Syndrome Prediction Using Data Mining Techniques- An Application
Authors: Tahseen A. Jilani, Huda Yasin, Madiha Yasin, C. Ardil
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In this paper we use data mining techniques to investigate factors that contribute significantly to enhancing the risk of acute coronary syndrome. We assume that the dependent variable is diagnosis – with dichotomous values showing presence or absence of disease. We have applied binary regression to the factors affecting the dependent variable. The data set has been taken from two different cardiac hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. We have total sixteen variables out of which one is assumed dependent and other 15 are independent variables. For better performance of the regression model in predicting acute coronary syndrome, data reduction techniques like principle component analysis is applied. Based on results of data reduction, we have considered only 14 out of sixteen factors.
Keywords: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS), binary logistic regression analyses, myocardial ischemia (MI), principle component analysis, unstable angina (U.A.).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21201456 Memristor: The Missing Circuit Element and its Application
Authors: Vishnu Pratap Singh Kirar
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Memristor is also known as the fourth fundamental passive circuit element. When current flows in one direction through the device, the electrical resistance increases and when current flows in the opposite direction, the resistance decreases. When the current is stopped, the component retains the last resistance that it had, and when the flow of charge starts again, the resistance of the circuit will be what it was when it was last active. It behaves as a nonlinear resistor with memory. Recently memristors have generated wide research interest and have found many applications. In this paper we survey the various applications of memristors which include non volatile memory, nanoelectronic memories, computer logic, neuromorphic computer architectures low power remote sensing applications, crossbar latches as transistor replacements, analog computations and switches.Keywords: Memristor, non-volatile memory, arithmatic operation, programmable resistor.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 40141455 Variable Step-Size Affine Projection Algorithm With a Weighted and Regularized Projection Matrix
Authors: Tao Dai, Andy Adler, Behnam Shahrrava
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This paper presents a forgetting factor scheme for variable step-size affine projection algorithms (APA). The proposed scheme uses a forgetting processed input matrix as the projection matrix of pseudo-inverse to estimate system deviation. This method introduces temporal weights into the projection matrix, which is typically a better model of the real error's behavior than homogeneous temporal weights. The regularization overcomes the ill-conditioning introduced by both the forgetting process and the increasing size of the input matrix. This algorithm is tested by independent trials with coloured input signals and various parameter combinations. Results show that the proposed algorithm is superior in terms of convergence rate and misadjustment compared to existing algorithms. As a special case, a variable step size NLMS with forgetting factor is also presented in this paper.
Keywords: Adaptive signal processing, affine projection algorithms, variable step-size adaptive algorithms, regularization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16421454 Food and Beverage Safety and Satisfaction: A Gender Effect
Authors: Sakul Jariyachamsit, Kevin Wongleedee
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There has been considerable growth in the issue of food & beverage safety in Thailand. This is important because the level of satisfaction in food & beverage safety has impacts on travel decision made by foreign tourists. Therefore, this paper was aimed to test if there is any significant gender effect in the level of satisfaction of food & beverage safety made by foreign tourists in Thailand. In addition, this paper utilized the Chi Square test of independent to test if there was an association between gender and sickness because of food and if there was an association between gender and the perception of food safety standard. During January to June, 2012, a total of 400 foreign tourist respondents, 200 male as well as 200 female foreign tourists, were interviewed at the departure lounge at Suvarnabhumi airport, Thailand. The findings revealed the astonishing result that there was no significant effect of gender. Also, there was no significant difference in the association between gender and being sick because of food as well as the association between gender and the perception on the standard of food safety during their trip in Thailand.Keywords: Food & Beverage, Gender Effect, Safety Standard, Satisfaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23121453 Detecting Subsurface Circular Objects from Low Contrast Noisy Images: Applications in Microscope Image Enhancement
Authors: Soham De, Nupur Biswas, Abhijit Sanyal, Pulak Ray, Alokmay Datta
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Particle detection in very noisy and low contrast images is an active field of research in image processing. In this article, a method is proposed for the efficient detection and sizing of subsurface spherical particles, which is used for the processing of softly fused Au nanoparticles. Transmission Electron Microscopy is used for imaging the nanoparticles, and the proposed algorithm has been tested with the two-dimensional projected TEM images obtained. Results are compared with the data obtained by transmission optical spectroscopy, as well as with conventional circular object detection algorithms.Keywords: Transmission Electron Microscopy, Circular Hough Transform, Au Nanoparticles, Median Filter, Laplacian Sharpening Filter, Canny Edge Detection
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25891452 Numerical Simulation of Plasma Actuator Using OpenFOAM
Authors: H. Yazdani, K. Ghorbanian
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This paper deals with modeling and simulation of the plasma actuator with OpenFOAM. Plasma actuator is one of the newest devices in flow control techniques which can delay separation by inducing external momentum to the boundary layer of the flow. The effects of the plasma actuators on the external flow are incorporated into Navier-Stokes computations as a body force vector which is obtained as a product of the net charge density and the electric field. In order to compute this body force vector, the model solves two equations: One for the electric field due to the applied AC voltage at the electrodes and the other for the charge density representing the ionized air. The simulation result is compared to the experimental and typical values which confirms the validity of the modeling.
Keywords: Active flow control, flow field, OpenFOAM, plasma actuator.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25831451 Reducing Test Vectors Count Using Fault Based Optimization Schemes in VLSI Testing
Authors: Vinod Kumar Khera, R. K. Sharma, A. K. Gupta
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Power dissipation increases exponentially during test mode as compared to normal operation of the circuit. In extreme cases, test power is more than twice the power consumed during normal operation mode. Test vector generation scheme is key component in deciding the power hungriness of a circuit during testing. Test vector count and consequent leakage current are functions of test vector generation scheme. Fault based test vector count optimization has been presented in this work. It helps in reducing test vector count and the leakage current. In the presented scheme, test vectors have been reduced by extracting essential child vectors. The scheme has been tested experimentally using stuck at fault models and results ensure the reduction in test vector count.Keywords: Low power VLSI testing, independent fault, essential faults, test vector reduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14341450 Machine Learning Framework: Competitive Intelligence and Key Drivers Identification of Market Share Trends among Healthcare Facilities
Authors: A. Appe, B. Poluparthi, L. Kasivajjula, U. Mv, S. Bagadi, P. Modi, A. Singh, H. Gunupudi, S. Troiano, J. Paul, J. Stovall, J. Yamamoto
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The necessity of data-driven decisions in healthcare strategy formulation is rapidly increasing. A reliable framework which helps identify factors impacting a healthcare provider facility or a hospital (from here on termed as facility) market share is of key importance. This pilot study aims at developing a data-driven machine learning-regression framework which aids strategists in formulating key decisions to improve the facility’s market share which in turn impacts in improving the quality of healthcare services. The US (United States) healthcare business is chosen for the study, and the data spanning 60 key facilities in Washington State and about 3 years of historical data are considered. In the current analysis, market share is termed as the ratio of the facility’s encounters to the total encounters among the group of potential competitor facilities. The current study proposes a two-pronged approach of competitor identification and regression approach to evaluate and predict market share, respectively. Leveraged model agnostic technique, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), to quantify the relative importance of features impacting the market share. Typical techniques in literature to quantify the degree of competitiveness among facilities use an empirical method to calculate a competitive factor to interpret the severity of competition. The proposed method identifies a pool of competitors, develops Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) and feature level word vectors, and evaluates the key connected components at the facility level. This technique is robust since it is data-driven, which minimizes the bias from empirical techniques. The DAGs factor in partial correlations at various segregations and key demographics of facilities along with a placeholder to factor in various business rules (for e.g., quantifying the patient exchanges, provider references, and sister facilities). Identified are the multiple groups of competitors among facilities. Leveraging the competitors' identified developed and fine-tuned Random Forest Regression model to predict the market share. To identify key drivers of market share at an overall level, permutation feature importance of the attributes was calculated. For relative quantification of features at a facility level, incorporated SHAP, a model agnostic explainer. This helped to identify and rank the attributes at each facility which impacts the market share. This approach proposes an amalgamation of the two popular and efficient modeling practices, viz., machine learning with graphs and tree-based regression techniques to reduce the bias. With these, we helped to drive strategic business decisions.
Keywords: Competition, DAGs, hospital, healthcare, machine learning, market share, random forest, SHAP.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3031449 Measurement of Acoustic Loss in Nano-Layered Coating Developed for Thermal Noise Reduction
Authors: E. Cesarini, M. Lorenzini, R. Cardarelli, S. Chao, E. Coccia, V. Fafone, Y. Minenkow, I. Nardecchia, I. M. Pinto, A. Rocchi, V. Sequino, C. Taranto
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Structural relaxation processes in optical coatings represent a fundamental limit to the sensitivity of gravitational waves detectors, MEMS, optical metrology and entangled state experiments. To face this problem, many research lines are now active, in particular the characterization of new materials and novel solutions to be employed as coatings in future gravitational wave detectors. Nano-layered coating deposition is among the most promising techniques. We report on the measurement of acoustic loss of nm-layered composites (Ti2O/SiO2), performed with the GeNS nodal suspension, compared with sputtered λ/4 thin films nowadays employed.
Keywords: Mechanical measurement, nanomaterials, optical coating, thermal noise.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18431448 Pathogenetic Mechanism of Alcohol's Effect on Academic Performance
Authors: M. O. Welcome, E. V. Pereverzeva, V. A. Pereverzev
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The regulatory competence of blood glucose homeostasis might determine the degree of academic performance. The aim of this study was to produce a model of students' alcohol use based on glucose homeostasis control and cognitive functions that might define the pathogenetic mechanism of alcohol's effect on academic performance. The study took six hours and thirty minutes on fasting, involving thirteen male students. Disturbances in cognitive functions, precisely a decrease in the effectiveness of active attention and a faster development of fatigue after four to six hours of mental work in alcohol users, compared to abstainers was statistically proven. These disturbances in alcohol users were retained even after seven to ten days of moderate alcohol use and might be the reason for the low academic performances among students who use alcoholic beverages.
Keywords: Alcohol, academic performance, pathogenetic mechanism.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15331447 The Effectiveness of Therapeutic Exercise on Motor Skills and Attention of Male Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Masoume Pourmohamadreza-Tajrishi, Parviz Azadfallah
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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) involve myriad aberrant perceptual, cognitive, linguistic, and social behaviors. The term spectrum emphasizes that the disabilities associated with ASD fall on a continuum from relatively mild to severe. People with ASD may display stereotyped behaviors such as twirling, spinning objects, flapping the hands, and rocking. The individuals with ASD exhibit communication problems due to repetitive/restricted behaviors. Children with ASD who lack the motivation to learn, who do not enjoy physical challenges, or whose sensory perception results in confusing or unpleasant feedback from movement may not become sufficiently motivated to practice motor activities. As a result, they may show both a delay in developing certain motor skills. Additionally, attention is an important component of learning. As far as children with ASD have problems in joint attention, many education-based programs are needed to consider some aspects of attention and motor activities development for students with ASD. These programs focus on the basic movement skills that are crucial for the future development of the more complex skills needed in games, dance, sports, gymnastics, active play, and recreational physical activities. The purpose of the present research was to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic exercise on motor skills and attention of male students with ASD. This was an experimental study with a control group. The population consisted of 8-10 year-old male students with ASD and 30 subjects were selected randomly from an available center suitable for the children with ASD. They were evaluated by the Basic Motor Ability Test (BMAT) and Persian version of computerized Stroop color-word test and randomly assigned to an experimental and control group (15 students in per group). The experimental group participated in 16 therapeutic exercise sessions and received therapeutic exercise program (twice a week; each lasting for 45 minutes) designed based on the Spark motor program while the control group did not. All subjects were evaluated by BMAT and Stroop color-word test after the last session again. The collected data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results of MANCOVA showed that experimental and control groups had a significant difference in motor skills and at least one of the components of attention (correct responses, incorrect responses, no responses, the reaction time of congruent words and reaction time of incongruent words in the Stroop test). The findings showed that the therapeutic exercise had a significant effect on motor skills and all components of attention in students with ASD. We can conclude that the therapeutic exercise led to promote the motor skills and attention of students with ASD, so it is necessary to design or plan such programs for ASD students to prevent their communication or academic problems.
Keywords: Attention, autism spectrum disorder, motor skills, therapeutic exercise.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9071446 Burstiness Reduction of a Doubly Stochastic AR-Modeled Uniform Activity VBR Video
Authors: J. P. Dubois
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Stochastic modeling of network traffic is an area of significant research activity for current and future broadband communication networks. Multimedia traffic is statistically characterized by a bursty variable bit rate (VBR) profile. In this paper, we develop an improved model for uniform activity level video sources in ATM using a doubly stochastic autoregressive model driven by an underlying spatial point process. We then examine a number of burstiness metrics such as the peak-to-average ratio (PAR), the temporal autocovariance function (ACF) and the traffic measurements histogram. We found that the former measure is most suitable for capturing the burstiness of single scene video traffic. In the last phase of this work, we analyse statistical multiplexing of several constant scene video sources. This proved, expectedly, to be advantageous with respect to reducing the burstiness of the traffic, as long as the sources are statistically independent. We observed that the burstiness was rapidly diminishing, with the largest gain occuring when only around 5 sources are multiplexed. The novel model used in this paper for characterizing uniform activity video was thus found to be an accurate model.Keywords: AR, ATM, burstiness, doubly stochastic, statisticalmultiplexing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14131445 Dignity and Suffering: Reading of Human Rights in Untouchable by Anand
Authors: Norah A. Elgibreen
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Cultural stories are political. They register cultural phenomena and their relations with the world and society in term of their existence, function, characteristics by using different context. This paper will provide a new way of rethinking which will help us to rethink the relationship between fiction and politics. It discusses the theme of human rights and it shows the relevance between art and politics by studying the civil society through a literary framework. Reasons to establish a relationship between fiction and politics are the relevant themes and universal issues among the two disciplines. Both disciplines are sets of views and ideas formulated by the human mind to explain political or cultural phenomenon. Other reasons are the complexity and depth of the author-s vision, and the need to explain the violations of human rights in a more active structure which can relate to emotional and social existence.Keywords: dignity, human rights, politics and literature, Untouchable.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33121444 An Energy Efficient Cluster Formation Protocol with Low Latency In Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: A. Allirani, M. Suganthi
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Data gathering is an essential operation in wireless sensor network applications. So it requires energy efficiency techniques to increase the lifetime of the network. Similarly, clustering is also an effective technique to improve the energy efficiency and network lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, an energy efficient cluster formation protocol is proposed with the objective of achieving low energy dissipation and latency without sacrificing application specific quality. The objective is achieved by applying randomized, adaptive, self-configuring cluster formation and localized control for data transfers. It involves application - specific data processing, such as data aggregation or compression. The cluster formation algorithm allows each node to make independent decisions, so as to generate good clusters as the end. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol utilizes minimum energy and latency for cluster formation, there by reducing the overhead of the protocol.Keywords: Sensor networks, Low latency, Energy sorting protocol, data processing, Cluster formation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27471443 Factors Determining the Women Empowerment through Microfinance: An Empirical Study in Sri Lanka
Authors: Y. Rathiranee, D. M. Semasinghe
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This study attempts to identify the factors influencing on women empowerment of rural area in Sri Lanka through micro finance services. Data were collected from one hundred (100) rural women involving self-employment activities through a questionnaire using direct personal interviews. Judgment and Convenience Random sampling technique was used to select the sample size from three Divisional Secretariat divisions of Kandawalai, Poonakari and Karachchi in Kilinochchi District. The factor analysis was performed on fourteen (14) variables for screening and reducing the variables to identify the influencing factors on empowerment. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between the three empowerment factors and the impact of micro finance on overall empowerment of rural women. The result of this study summarized the variables into three factors namely decision making, freedom to mobility and family support and which are positively associated with empowerment. In addition to this the value of adjusted R2 is 0.248 indicates that all the variables extracted can be explained 24.8% of the variation in the women empowerment through microfinance. Independent variables of these three factors have positive correlation with women empowerment as well as significant values at 5 percent level.Keywords: Influencing factors, Micro finance, rural women and women empowerment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 39651442 Adaptive Rfid Positioning System Using Signal Level Matrix
Authors: Ching-Sheng Wang, Xin-Mao Huang, Ming-Yu Hung
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In this paper, we present a method named Signal Level Matrix (SLM) which can improve the accuracy and stability of active RFID indoor positioning system. Considering the accuracy and cost, we use uniform distribution mode to set up and separate the overlapped signal covering areas, in order to achieve preliminary location setting. Then, based on the proposed SLM concept and the characteristic of the signal strength value that attenuates as the distance increases, this system cross-examines the distribution of adjacent signals to locate the users more accurately. The experimental results indicate that the adaptive positioning method proposed in this paper could improve the accuracy and stability of the positioning system effectively and satisfyingly.Keywords: RFID positioning, localization, indoor, location-aware.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26571441 Islamic Education System: Implementation of Curriculum Kuttab Al-Fatih Semarang
Authors: Basyir Yaman, Fades Br. Gultom
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The picture and pattern of Islamic education in the Prophet's period in Mecca and Medina is the history of the past that we need to bring back. The Basic Education Institute called Kuttab. Kuttab or Maktab comes from the word kataba which means to write. The popular Kuttab in the Prophet’s period aims to resolve the illiteracy in the Arab community. In Indonesia, this Institution has 25 branches; one of them is located in Semarang (i.e. Kuttab Al-Fatih). Kuttab Al-Fatih as a non-formal institution of Islamic education is reserved for children aged 5-12 years. The independently designed curriculum is a distinctive feature that distinguishes between Kuttab Al-Fatih curriculum and the formal institutional curriculum in Indonesia. The curriculum includes the faith and the Qur’an. Kuttab Al-Fatih has been licensed as a Community Activity Learning Center under the direct supervision and guidance of the National Education Department. Here, we focus to describe the implementation of curriculum Kuttab Al-Fatih Semarang (i.e. faith and al-Qur’an). After that, we determine the relevance between the implementation of the Kuttab Al-Fatih education system with the formal education system in Indonesia. This research uses literature review and field research qualitative methods. We obtained the data from the head of Kuttab Al-Fatih Semarang, vice curriculum, faith coordinator, al-Qur’an coordinator, as well as the guardians of learners and the learners. The result of this research is the relevance of education system in Kuttab Al-Fatih Semarang about education system in Indonesia. Kuttab Al-Fatih Semarang emphasizes character building through a curriculum designed in such a way and combines thematic learning models in modules.
Keywords: Islamic education system, implementation of curriculum, Kuttab Al-Fatih semarang, formal education system in Indonesia.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13121440 Development of Mathematical Model for Overall Oxygen Transfer Coefficient of an Aerator and Comparison with CFD Modeling
Authors: Shashank.B. Thakre, L.B. Bhuyar, Samir.J. Deshmukh
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The value of overall oxygen transfer Coefficient (KLa), which is the best measure of oxygen transfer in water through aeration, is obtained by a simple approach, which sufficiently explains the utility of the method to eliminate the discrepancies due to inaccurate assumption of saturation dissolved oxygen concentration. The rate of oxygen transfer depends on number of factors like intensity of turbulence, which in turns depends on the speed of rotation, size, and number of blades, diameter and immersion depth of the rotor, and size and shape of aeration tank, as well as on physical, chemical, and biological characteristic of water. An attempt is made in this paper to correlate the overall oxygen transfer Coefficient (KLa), as an independent parameter with other influencing parameters mentioned above. It has been estimated that the simulation equation developed predicts the values of KLa and power with an average standard error of estimation of 0.0164 and 7.66 respectively and with R2 values of 0.979 and 0.989 respectively, when compared with experimentally determined values. The comparison of this model is done with the model generated using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and both the models were found to be in good agreement with each other.Keywords: CFD Model, Overall oxygen transfer coefficient, Power, Mathematical Model, Validation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17771439 A Study of Wind Speed Characteristic in PI Controller based DFIG Wind Turbine
Authors: T. Unchim, A. Oonsivilai
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The Wind Turbine Modeling in Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) using Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) PI Controller based design is presented. To study about the variable wind speed. The PI controller performs responding to the dynamic performance. The objective is to study the characteristic of wind turbine and finding the optimum wind speed suitable for wind turbine performance. This system will allow the specification setting (2.5MW). The output active power also corresponding same the input is given. And the reactive power produced by the wind turbine is regulated at 0 Mvar. Variable wind speed is optimum for drive train performance at 12.5 m/s (at maximum power coefficient point) from the simulation of DFIG by Simulink is described.
Keywords: DFIG, wind speed, PI controller, the output power.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33371438 Community Innovation in Sustainable Development: A Cross Case Study
Authors: Tingan Tang, Kimmo Karhu, Matti Hamalainen
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Although in sustainable development field, innovative solutions have been sought worldwide by environmental groups, academia, governments and companies for many years, recently, citizens and communities have emerged as a new group and taken more and more active role in this field. Many scholars call for more research on the role of community and community innovation in sustainable development. This paper is to respond to the calls. In this paper, we first summarize a comprehensive set of innovation principles. Then, we do a qualitative cross case study by comparing three community innovation cases in three different areas of sustainable development according to the innovation principles. Finally, we summarize the case comparison and discuss the implications to sustainable development. A unified role model and innovation distribution map of community innovation are developed to better understand community innovation in sustainable development..Keywords: Community innovation, grassroots innovation, sustainable development, sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1849