Search results for: long term instability risks

Authors: Nadya Hajar, Zainal, S., Atikah, O., Tengku Elida, T. Z. M.

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Ethanol has been known for a long time, being perhaps the oldest product obtained through traditional biotechnology fermentation. Agriculture waste as substrate in fermentation is vastly discussed as alternative to replace edible food and utilization of organic material. Pineapple peel, highly potential source as substrate is a by-product of the pineapple processing industry. Bio-ethanol from pineapple (Ananas comosus) peel extract was carried out by controlling fermentation without any treatment. Saccharomyces ellipsoides was used as inoculum in this fermentation process as it is naturally found at the pineapple skin. In this study, the capability of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for optimization of ethanol production from pineapple peel extract using Saccharomyces ellipsoideus in batch fermentation process was investigated. Effect of five test variables in a defined range of inoculum concentration 6- 14% (v/v), pH (4.0-6.0), sugar concentration (14-22°Brix), temperature (24-32°C) and time of incubation (30-54 hrs) on the ethanol production were evaluated. Data obtained from experiment were analyzed with RSM of MINITAB Software (Version 15) whereby optimum ethanol concentration of 8.637% (v/v) was determined. The optimum condition of 14% (v/v) inoculum concentration, pH 6, 22°Brix, 26°C and 30hours of incubation. The significant regression equation or model at the 5% level with correlation value of 99.96% was also obtained.

Keywords: Bio-ethanol, pineapple peel extract, Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Saccharomyces ellipsoideus.

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Authors: Belkacem Selma, Boumediene Selma, Samira Chouraqui, Hanifi Missoum, Tourkia Guerzou

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Natural disasters have occurred and will continue to cause human and material damage. Therefore, the idea of "preventing" natural disasters will never be possible. However, their prediction is possible with the advancement of technology. Even if natural disasters are effectively inevitable, their consequences may be partly controlled. The rapid growth and progress of artificial intelligence (AI) had a major impact on the prediction of natural disasters and risk assessment which are necessary for effective disaster reduction. Earthquake prediction to prevent the loss of human lives and even property damage is an important factor; that, is why it is crucial to develop techniques for predicting this natural disaster. This study aims to analyze the ability of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict earthquakes that occur in a given area. The used data describe the problem of high energy (higher than 104 J) seismic bumps forecasting in a coal mine using two long walls as an example. For this purpose, seismic bumps data obtained from mines have been analyzed. The results obtained show that the ANN is able to predict earthquake parameters with  high accuracy; the classification accuracy through neural networks is more than 94%, and the models developed are efficient and robust and depend only weakly on the initial database.

Keywords: Earthquake prediction, artificial intelligence, AI, Artificial Neural Network, ANN, seismic bumps.

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Authors: Leon Pan

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The first programming course within post-secondary education has long been recognized as a challenging endeavor for both educators and students alike. Historically, these courses have exhibited high failure rates and a notable number of dropouts. Instructors often lament students' lack of effort on their coursework, and students often express frustration that the teaching methods employed are not effective. Drawing inspiration from the successful principles of Extreme Programming, this study introduces an approach—the Extremes-based teaching model—aimed at enhancing the teaching of introductory programming courses. To empirically determine the effectiveness of the model, a comparison was made between a section taught using the extreme-based model and another utilizing traditional teaching methods. Notably, the extreme-based teaching class required students to work collaboratively on projects, while also demanding continuous assessment and performance enhancement within groups. This paper details the application of the extreme-based model within the post-secondary online classroom context and presents the compelling results that emphasize its effectiveness in advancing the teaching and learning experiences. The extreme-based model led to a significant increase of 13.46 points in the weighted total average and a commendable 10% reduction in the failure rate.

Keywords: Extreme-based teaching model, innovative pedagogical methods, project-based learning, team-based learning.

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Authors: Ahmad Zahran, Ahmed Herzallah, Ahmad Ahmad, Mahran Quraan

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Generation of high DC voltages is necessary for testing the insulation material of high voltage AC transmission lines with long lengths. The harmonic and ripple contents of the output DC voltage supplied by high voltage DC circuits require the use of costly capacitors to smooth the output voltage after rectification. This paper proposes a new modular multiplier high voltage DC generator with embedded Cockcroft-Walton circuits that achieve a negligible harmonic and ripple contents of the output DC voltage without the need for costly filters to produce a nearly constant output voltage. In this new topology, Cockcroft-Walton modules are connected in series to produce a high DC output voltage. The modules are supplied by low input AC voltage sources that have the same magnitude and frequency and shifted from each other by a certain angle to eliminate the harmonics from the output voltage. The small ripple factor is provided by the smoothing column capacitors and the phase shifted input voltages of the cascaded modules. The constituent harmonics within each module are determined using Fourier analysis. The viability of the proposed DC generator for testing purposes and the effectiveness of the cascaded connection are confirmed by numerical simulations using MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: Cockcroft-Walton circuit, Harmonics, Ripple factor, HVDC generator.

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Authors: Nooshin Salari, Viliam Makis

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In this paper, we propose a condition-based maintenance policy for multi-unit systems considering the existence of economic dependency among units. We consider a system composed of N identical units, where each unit deteriorates independently. Deterioration process of each unit is modeled as a three-state continuous time homogeneous Markov chain with two working states and a failure state. The average production rate of units varies in different working states and demand rate of the system is constant. Units are inspected at equidistant time epochs, and decision regarding performing maintenance is determined by the number of units in the failure state. If the total number of units in the failure state exceeds a critical level, maintenance is initiated, where units in failed state are replaced correctively and deteriorated state units are maintained preventively. Our objective is to determine the optimal number of failed units to initiate maintenance minimizing the long run expected average cost per unit time. The problem is formulated and solved in the semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) framework. A numerical example is developed to demonstrate the proposed policy and the comparison with the corrective maintenance policy is presented.

Keywords: Reliability, production, maintenance optimization, Semi-Markov Decision Process.

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Authors: Jun-ya Nagase, Toshiyuki Satoh, Norihiko Saga, Koichi Suzumori

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In recent years, Japanese society has been aging, engendering a labor shortage of young workers. Robots are therefore expected to perform tasks such as rehabilitation, nursing elderly people, and day-to-day work support for elderly people. The pneumatic balloon actuator is a rubber artificial muscle developed for use in a robot hand in such environments. This actuator has a long stroke and a high power-to-weight ratio compared with the present pneumatic artificial muscle. Moreover, the dynamic characteristics of this actuator resemble those of human muscle. This study evaluated characteristics of force control of balloon actuator using a predictive functional control (PFC) system with disturbance observer. The predictive functional control is a model-based predictive control (MPC) scheme that predicts the future outputs of the actual plants over the prediction horizon and computes the control effort over the control horizon at every sampling instance. For this study, a 1-link finger system using a pneumatic balloon actuator is developed. Then experiments of PFC control with disturbance observer are performed. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of its control of a pneumatic balloon actuator for a robot hand.

Keywords: Disturbance observer, Pneumatic balloon, Predictive functional control, Rubber artificial muscle.

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Authors: J. P. Dubois, H. M. Chiu

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In this paper, we study statistical multiplexing of VBR video in ATM networks. ATM promises to provide high speed realtime multi-point to central video transmission for telemedicine applications in rural hospitals and in emergency medical services. Video coders are known to produce variable bit rate (VBR) signals and the effects of aggregating these VBR signals need to be determined in order to design a telemedicine network infrastructure capable of carrying these signals. We first model the VBR video signal and simulate it using a generic continuous-data autoregressive (AR) scheme. We carry out the queueing analysis by the Fluid Approximation Model (FAM) and the Markov Modulated Poisson Process (MMPP). The study has shown a trade off: multiplexing VBR signals reduces burstiness and improves resource utilization, however, the buffer size needs to be increased with an associated economic cost. We also show that the MMPP model and the Fluid Approximation model fit best, respectively, the cell region and the burst region. Therefore, a hybrid MMPP and FAM completely characterizes the overall performance of the ATM statistical multiplexer. The ramifications of this technology are clear: speed, reliability (lower loss rate and jitter), and increased capacity in video transmission for telemedicine. With migration to full IP-based networks still a long way to achieving both high speed and high quality of service, the proposed ATM architecture will remain of significant use for telemedicine.

Keywords: ATM, multiplexing, queueing, telemedicine, VBR.

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Authors: Karen Puren, Ernst Drewes, Vera Roos

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This paper explores the sense of place in the Vredefort Dome World Heritage site, South Africa, as an essential input for the formulation of spatial planning proposals for the area. Intangible aspects such as personal and symbolic meanings of sites are currently not integrated in spatial planning in South Africa. This may have a detrimental effect on local inhabitants who have a long history with the site and built up a strong place identity. Involving local inhabitants at an early stage of the planning process and incorporating their attitudes and opinions in future intervention in the area, may also contribute to the acceptance of the legitimacy of future policy. An interdisciplinary and mixed-method research approach was followed in this study in order to identify possible ways to anchor spatial planning proposals in the identity of the place. In essence, the qualitative study revealed that inhabitants reflect a deep and personal relationship with and within the area, which contributes significantly to their sense of emotional security and selfidentity. Results include a strong conservation-orientated attitude with regard to the natural rural character of the site, especially in the inner core.

Keywords: Place identity, Sense of Place, Spatial Planning, Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site.

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Authors: Nooshin Salari, Viliam Makis, Jane Doe

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This paper presents a maintenance policy for a system consisting of two units. Unit 1 is gradually deteriorating and is subject to soft failure. Unit 2 has a general lifetime distribution and is subject to hard failure. Condition of unit 1 of the system is monitored periodically and it is considered as failed when its deterioration level reaches or exceeds a critical level N. At the failure time of unit 2 system is considered as failed, and unit 2 will be correctively replaced by the next inspection epoch. Unit 1 or 2 are preventively replaced when deterioration level of unit 1 or age of unit 2 exceeds the related preventive maintenance (PM) levels. At the time of corrective or preventive replacement of unit 2, there is an opportunity to replace unit 1 if its deterioration level reaches the opportunistic maintenance (OM) level. If unit 2 fails in an inspection interval, system stops operating although unit 1 has not failed. A mathematical model is derived to find the preventive and opportunistic replacement levels for unit 1 and preventive replacement age for unit 2, that minimize the long run expected average cost per unit time. The problem is formulated and solved in the semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) framework. Numerical example is provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed model and the comparison of the proposed model with an optimal policy without opportunistic maintenance level for unit 1 is carried out.

Keywords: Condition-based maintenance, opportunistic maintenance, preventive maintenance, two-unit system.

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Authors: Dimitrios N. Gkritzapis, Elias E. Panagiotopoulos, Dionissios P. Margaris, Dimitrios G. Papanikas

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A full six degrees of freedom (6-DOF) flight dynamics model is proposed for the accurate prediction of short and long-range trajectories of high spin and fin-stabilized projectiles via atmospheric flight to final impact point. The projectiles is assumed to be both rigid (non-flexible), and rotationally symmetric about its spin axis launched at low and high pitch angles. The mathematical model is based on the full equations of motion set up in the no-roll body reference frame and is integrated numerically from given initial conditions at the firing site. The projectiles maneuvering motion depends on the most significant force and moment variations, in addition to wind and gravity. The computational flight analysis takes into consideration the Mach number and total angle of attack effects by means of the variable aerodynamic coefficients. For the purposes of the present work, linear interpolation has been applied from the tabulated database of McCoy-s book. The developed computational method gives satisfactory agreement with published data of verified experiments and computational codes on atmospheric projectile trajectory analysis for various initial firing flight conditions.

Keywords: Constant-Variable aerodynamic coefficients, low and high pitch angles, wind.

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Authors: Aspalella A. Rahman

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Money laundering has been described by many as the lifeblood of crime and is a major threat to the economic and social well-being of societies. It has been recognized that the banking system has long been the central element of money laundering. This is in part due to the complexity and confidentiality of the banking system itself. It is generally accepted that effective anti-money laundering (AML) measures adopted by banks will make it tougher for criminals to get their "dirty money" into the financial system. In fact, for law enforcement agencies, banks are considered to be an important source of valuable information for the detection of money laundering. However, from the banks- perspective, the main reason for their existence is to make as much profits as possible. Hence their cultural and commercial interests are totally distinct from that of the law enforcement authorities. Undoubtedly, AML laws create a major dilemma for banks as they produce a significant shift in the way banks interact with their customers. Furthermore, the implementation of the laws not only creates significant compliance problems for banks, but also has the potential to adversely affect the operations of banks. As such, it is legitimate to ask whether these laws are effective in preventing money launderers from using banks, or whether they simply put an unreasonable burden on banks and their customers. This paper attempts to address these issues and analyze them against the background of the Malaysian AML laws. It must be said that effective coordination between AML regulator and the banking industry is vital to minimize problems faced by the banks and thereby to ensure effective implementation of the laws in combating money laundering.

Keywords: Banking Industry, Bank Negara Money, Laundering, Malaysia.

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Authors: Eric S. Lee, Connie Bygrave, Jordan Mahar, Naina Garg, Suzanne Cottreau

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Marking exams is universally detested by lecturers. Final exams in many higher education courses often last 3.0 hrs. Do exams really need to be so long? Can we justifiably reduce the number of questions on them? Surprisingly few have researched these questions, arguably because of the complexity and difficulty of using traditional methods. To answer these questions empirically, we used a new approach based on three key elements: Use of an unusual variation of a true experimental design, equivalence hypothesis testing, and an expanded set of six psychometric criteria to be met by any shortened exam if it is to replace a current 3.0-hr exam (reliability, validity, justifiability, number of exam questions, correspondence, and equivalence). We compared student performance on each official 3.0-hr exam with that on five shortened exams having proportionately fewer questions (2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 hours) in a series of four experiments conducted in two classes in each of two finance courses (224 students in total). We found strong evidence that, in these courses, shortening of final exams to 2.0 hrs was warranted on all six psychometric criteria. Shortening these exams by one hour should result in a substantial one-third reduction in lecturer time and effort spent marking, lower student stress, and more time for students to prepare for other exams. Our approach provides a relatively simple, easy-to-use methodology that lecturers can use to examine the effect of shortening their own exams.

Keywords: Exam length, psychometric criteria, synthetic experimental designs, test length.

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Authors: Moneeb Gohar, Seok Joo Koh, Tae-Won Um, Hyun-Woo Lee

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This paper proposes a fast tree join scheme to provide seamless multicast handover in the mobile networks based on the Fast Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6). In the existing FMIPv6-based multicast handover scheme, the bi-directional tunnelling or the remote subscription is employed with the packet forwarding from the previous access router (AR) to the new AR. In general, the remote subscription approach is preferred to the bi-directional tunnelling one, since in the remote subscription scheme we can exploit an optimized multicast path from a multicast source to many mobile receivers. However, in the remote subscription scheme, if the tree joining operation takes a long time, the amount of data packets to be forwarded and buffered for multicast handover will increase, and thus the corresponding buffer may overflow, which results in severe packet losses. In order to reduce these costs associated with packet forwarding and buffering, this paper proposes the fast join to multicast tree, in which the new AR will join the multicast tree as fast as possible, so that the new multicast data packets can also arrive at the new AR, by which the packet forwarding and buffering costs can be reduced. From numerical analysis, it is shown that the proposed scheme can give better performance than the existing FMIPv6-based multicast handover schemes in terms of the multicast packet delivery costs.

Keywords: Mobile Multicast, FMIPv6, Seamless Handover, Fast Tree Join.

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Authors: M. A. Meslem

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For precise geoid determination, we use a reference field to subtract long and medium wavelength of the gravity field from observations data when we use the remove-compute-restore technique. Therefore, a comparison study between considered models should be made in order to select the optimal reference gravity field to be used. In this context, two recent global geopotential models have been selected to perform this comparison study over Northern Algeria. The Earth Gravitational Model (EGM2008) and the Global Gravity Model (GECO) conceived with a combination of the first model with anomalous potential derived from a GOCE satellite-only global model. Free air gravity anomalies in the area under study have been used to compute residual data using both gravity field models and a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) to subtract the residual terrain effect from the gravity observations. Residual data were used to generate local empirical covariance functions and their fitting to the closed form in order to compare their statistical behaviors according to both cases. Finally, height anomalies were computed from both geopotential models and compared to a set of GPS levelled points on benchmarks using least squares adjustment. The result described in details in this paper regarding these two models has pointed out a slight advantage of GECO global model globally through error degree variances comparison and ground-truth evaluation.

Keywords: Quasigeoid, gravity anomalies, covariance, GGM.

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Authors: W. I. Wan Rosli, M. S. Aishah

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The grey oyster mushroom, Pleurotus sajor-caju (PSC), is a common edible mushroom and is now grown commercially around the world for food. This fungus has been broadly used as food or food ingredients in various food products for a long time. To enhance the nutritional quality and sensory attributes of bakery-based products, PSC powder is used in the present study to partially replace wheat flour in baked product formulations. The nutrient content and sensory properties of rice-porridge and unleavened bread (paratha) incorporated with various levels of PSC powder were studied. These food items were formulated with either 0%, 2%, 4% or 6% of PSC powder. Results show PSC powder recorded β-glucan at 3.57g/100g. In sensory evaluation, consumers gave higher score to both rice-porridge and paratha bread containing 2-4% PSC compared to those that are not added with PSC powder. The paratha containing 4% PSC powder can be formulated with the intention in improving overall acceptability of paratha bread. Meanwhile, for rice-porridge, consumers prefer the formulated product added with 4% PSC powder. In conclusion, the addition of PSC powder to partially wheat flour can be recommended for the purpose of enhancing nutritional composition and maintaining the acceptability of carbohydrate-based products.

Keywords: Pleurotus sajor-caju (PSC), nutrient contents, sensory evaluation

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Authors: Mohd Faridz Ahmad, Muhammad Amir Asyraf Rosli

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Aerobic dance has becoming a popular mode of exercise especially among women due to its fun nature. With a catchy music background and joyful dance steps, aerobic dancers would be able to have fun while sweating out. Depending on its level of aggressiveness, aerobic may also improve and maintain cardiorespiratory fitness other than being a great tool for weight loss. This study intends to prove that aerobic dance activity can bring the same, if not better impacts on health than other types of cardiovascular exercise such as jogging and cycling. The objective of this study was to evaluate and identify the effect of six weeks aerobic dance on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss among women. This study, which was held in Seremban Fit Challenge, used a quasiexperimental design. The subjects selected include a total of 14 women (n = 14) with age (32.4 years old ± 9.1), weight (65.93 kg ± 11.24) and height (165.36 ± 3.46) who joined the Seremban Fit Challenge Season 13. The subjects were asked to join an aerobic dance class with a duration of one hour for six weeks in a row. As for the outcome, cardiovascular fitness was measured with a 1-mile run test while any changes on weight were measured using the weighing scale. The result showed that there was a significant difference between pre and post-test for cardiovascular fitness when p = 0.02 < 0.05 and weight loss when p = 0.00 < 0.05. In conclusion, a six-week long aerobic dance program would have a positive effect on cardiovascular fitness and weight. Therefore, aerobic dance may be used as an alternative for people who wish to lead a healthy lifestyle in a fun way.

Keywords: Aerobic dance, cardiovascular fitness, weight loss, 1-mile run test.

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Authors: Dinh-Ha Tran, Chung-Ruey Yen, Yu-Kuang H. Chen

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A collection of thirty cultivars/clones of a red pitaya was used to investigate flowering response to lighting supplementation in the winter season of 2013-2014 in southern Taiwan. The night-breaking treatment was conducted during the period of 10 Oct. 2013 to 5 Mar. 2014 with 4-continuous hours (22.00 – 02.00 hrs) of additional lighting daily using incandescent bulbs (100W). Among cultivars and clones tested, twenty-three genotypes, most belonging to the red-magenta flesh type, were found to have positively flowering response to the lighting treatment. The duration of night-breaking treatment for successful flowering initiation varied from 33- 48 days. The lighting-sensitive genotypes bore 1-2 flowering flushes. Floral and fruiting stages took 21-26 and 46-59 days, respectively. Among sixteen fruiting genotypes, the highest fruit set rates were found in Damao 9, D4, D13, Chaozou large, Chaozhou 5, Small Nick and F22. Five cultivars and clones (Orejona, D4, Chaozhou large, Chaozhou 5 and Small Nick) produced fruits with an average weight of more than 300 g per fruit which were higher than those of the fruits formed in the summer of 2013. Fruits produced during off-season containing total soluble solids (TSS) from 17.5 to 20.7oBrix, which were higher than those produced inseason.

Keywords: Flowering response, long-day plant, night-breaking treatment, off-season production, pitaya.

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Authors: S. A. A. Korori, H. Valipour K., S. Shabestani, A. shirvany, M. Matinizadeh

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Tehran, one of the heavily-populated capitals, is severely suffering from increasing air pollution. To show a documented trend of such pollutants during last years, plane tree species (Platanus orientalis) were suited to be studied as indicators, for the species have been planted throughout the city many years ago. Two areas (Saadatabad and Narmak districts) allotting different contents of crowed and highly-traffic routs but the same ecological characteristics were selected. Twelve sample individuals were cored twice perpendicularly in each area. Tree-rings of each core were measured by a binocular microscope and separated annually for the last 25 years. Two heavy metals including Cd and Pb accompanied by a mineral element (Ca) were analyzed using Hatch method. Treerings analysis of the two areas showed different groups in term of physiologically ability as the growths were plunged during the last 10 years in Saadatabad district and showed a slight decrease in the same period for another studying area. In direct contrast to decreasing growth trend in Saadatabad, all three mentioned elements increased sharply during last 25 years in the same area. When it came to Narmak district, the trend was completely different with Saadatabad. There were some fluctuations in absorbing trace elements like tree-rings widths were, yet calcium showed an upward trend all the last 25 years. The results of the study proved the possibility of using tree species of each region to monitor its air pollution trends of the past, hence to depict a pollution assessment of a populated city for last years and then to make appropriate decisions for the future as it is well-known what the trend is. On the other hand, risen values of calcium (as the stress-indicator element) accompanied by increased trace elements suggests non-sustainable state of the trees.

Keywords: Air pollution, Platanus orientalis, Tehran, Traceelements, Tree rings.

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Authors: María Araya Léon, Ainoa Abella, Aura Murillo, Ricardo Guasch, Laura Clèries

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This article aims to examine scientific theory framed within the term hospitals of the future from a multidisciplinary and cross-sectional perspective. To understand the connection that the various cross-sectional areas, we studied have with architectural spaces and to determine the future outlook of the works examined and how they can be classified into the categories of need/solution, evolution/revolution, collective/individual, and preventive/corrective. The changes currently taking place within the context of healthcare demonstrate how important these projects are and the need for companies to face future changes. A systematic review has been carried out focused on what will the hospitals of the future be like in relation to the elements that form part of their use, design, and architectural space experience, using the WOS database from 2016 to 2019. The large number of works about sensoring & big data and the scarce amount related to the area of materials is worth highlighting. Furthermore, no growth concerning future issues is envisaged over time. Regarding classifications, the articles we reviewed address evolutionary and collective solutions more, and in terms of preventive and corrective solutions, they were found at a similar level. Although our research focused on the future of hospitals, there is little evidence representing this approach. We also detected that, given the relevance of the research on how the built environment influences human health and well-being, these studies should be promoted within the context of healthcare. This article allows to find evidence on the future perspective from within the domain of hospital architecture, in order to create bridges between the productive sector of architecture and scientific theory. This will make it possible to detect R&D opportunities in each analyzed cross-section.

Keywords: Hospitals, trends, architectural space, disruptive approach.

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Authors: Uğur Çakır, Erol Sahin, Kemal Çomaklı, Aysegül Çokgez Kus

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Greenhouses offer us suitable conditions which can be controlled easily for the growth of the plant and they are made by using a covering material that allows the sun light entering into the system. Covering material can be glass, fiber glass, plastic or another transparent element. This study investigates the solar energy usability rates and solar energy benefitting rates of a semi-spherical (modified arch) type greenhouse system according to different orientations and positions which exists under climatic conditions of Bayburt. In the concept of this study it is tried to determine the best direction and best sizes of a semi-spherical greenhouse to get best solar benefit from the sun. To achieve this aim a modeling study is made by using MATLAB. However, this modeling study is run for some determined shapes and greenhouses it can be used for different shaped greenhouses or buildings. The basic parameters are determined as greenhouse azimuth angle, the rate of size of long edge to short and seasonal solar energy gaining of greenhouse. The optimum azimuth angles of 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50 m2 modified arch greenhouse are 90o, 90o, 35o, 35o, 34o, 33o and 22o while their optimum k values (ratio of length to width) are 10, 10, 10, 10, 6, 4 and 4 respectively. Positioning the buildings in order to get more solar heat energy in winter and less in summer brings out energy and money savings and increases the comfort.

Keywords: Greenhousing, solar energy, direct radiation, renewable energy.

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Authors: M. I. Ribah, M. Jibir, Y. A. Bashar, S. S. Manga

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Food safety is a significant and growing public health problem in the world and Nigeria as a developing country, since food-borne diseases are important contributors to the huge burden of sickness and death of humans. In Nigeria, traditional ready-to-eat meat products (RTE-MPs) like balangu, tsire, guru and dried meat products like kilishi, dambun nama, banda, were reported to be highly appreciated because of their eating qualities. The consumption of these products was considered as safe due to the treatments that are usually involved during their production process. However, during processing and handling, the products could be contaminated by pathogens that could cause food poisoning. Therefore, a hazard identification for pathogenic bacteria on some traditional RTE-MPs was conducted in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria. A total of 116 RTE-MPs (balangu-38, kilishi-39 and tsire-39) samples were obtained from retail outlets and analyzed using standard cultural microbiological procedures in general and selective enrichment media to isolate the target pathogens. A six-fold serial dilution was prepared and using the pour plating method, colonies were counted. Serial dilutions were selected based on the prepared pre-labeled Petri dishes for each sample. A volume of 10-12 ml of molten Nutrient agar cooled to 42-45°C was poured into each Petri dish and 1 ml each from dilutions of 102, 104 and 106 for every sample was respectively poured on a pre-labeled Petri plate after which colonies were counted. The isolated pathogens were identified and confirmed after series of biochemical tests. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the presence of pathogens. The General Linear Model was used to analyze data on pathogen presence according to RTE-MPs and means were separated using the Tukey test at 0.05 confidence level. Of the 116 RTE-MPs samples collected, 35 (30.17%) samples were found to be contaminated with some tested pathogens. Prevalence results showed that Escherichia coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the samples. Mean total bacterial count was 23.82×106 cfu/g. The frequency of individual pathogens isolated was; Staphylococcus aureus 18 (15.51%), Escherichia coli 12 (10.34%) and Salmonella 5 (4.31%). Also, among the RTE-MPs tested, the total bacterial counts were found to differ significantly (P < 0.05), with 1.81, 2.41 and 2.9×104 cfu/g for tsire, kilishi, and balangu, respectively. The study concluded that the presence of pathogenic bacteria in balangu could pose grave health risks to consumers, and hence, recommended good manufacturing practices in the production of balangu to improve the products’ safety.

Keywords: Ready-to-eat meat products, retail outlets, safety assessment, public health.

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Authors: Maha Salah Abdullah Ismail, Mahmoud M. Alsagheir, Mohammed Salah Abd Allah

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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by permeability pulmonary edema and refractory hypoxemia. Lung-protective ventilation is still the key of better outcome in ARDS. Prone position reduces the trans-pulmonary pressure gradient, recruiting collapsed regions of the lung without increasing airway pressure or hyperinflation. Prone ventilation showed improved oxygenation and improved outcomes in severe hypoxemic patients with ARDS. This study evaluates the effect of prone positioning on mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS. A quasi-experimental design was carried out at Critical Care Units, on 60 patients. Two tools were utilized to collect data; Socio demographic, medical and clinical outcomes data sheet. Results of the present study indicated that prone position improves oxygenation in patients with severe respiratory distress syndrome. The study recommended that use prone position in patients with severe ARDS, as early as possible and for long sessions. Also, replication of this study on larger probability sample at the different geographical location is highly recommended.

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Critical care, Mechanical ventilation and Prone position.

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Authors: Innocent Kafodya, Guijun Xian

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This paper presents effects of distilled water, seawater and sustained bending strains of 30% and 50% ultimate strain at room temperature, on the durability of unidirectional pultruded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. In this study, dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) was used to investigate the synergic effects of the immersions and bending strains on the viscoelastic properties of (CFRP) such as storage modulus, tan delta and glass transition temperature. The study reveals that the storage modulus and glass transition temperature increase while tan delta peak decreases in the initial stage of both immersions due to the progression of curing. The storage modulus and Tg subsequently decrease and tan delta increases due to the matrix plasticization. The blister induced damages in the unstrained seawater samples enhance water uptake and cause more serious degradation of Tg and storage modulus than in water immersion. Increasing sustained bending decreases Tg and storage modulus in a long run for both immersions due to resin matrix cracking and debonding. The combined effects of immersions and strains are not clearly reflected due to the statistical effects of DMA sample sizes and competing processes of molecular reorientation and postcuring.

Keywords: Pultruded CFRP plate, bending strain, glass transition temperature, storage modulus, tan delta.

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Authors: Anju Luthra, Rajender Lal, Dhananjoy Shaw

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Participation in games and sports in the contemporary times has become more competing with the developed scientific knowledge, skills and methods, along with the equipment and applied research in the field. In spite of India being a large country having vast resources and potential, its performance in the world of sports on the whole needs sincere attention for better achievements. Beside numerous factors responsible for the dismal performance of a sportsperson, the physique and body composition, including the size, shape and form are known to play a significant role. The present investigation was undertaken to study the specific morphological characteristics of Indian female Track and Field athletes. A total of 300 athletes were randomly selected as sample for the purpose of the study from the six events having 50 athletes in each event including 100m., 400m., Shot Put, Discus Throw, Long Jump and High Jump. The study included body weight, body fat percentage, lean body weight, endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy as variables. The data were computed statistically by using Mean, Standard Deviation and Analysis of Variance. The post-hoc analysis was conducted where the F-ratio was found to be significant at .05 level. The study concluded that there is a significant difference with regard to the selected variables among the Indian female athletes of different track and field events.

Keywords: Indian female athletes, body composition, morphology, somatotypes, track and field.

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Authors: Tero Huhtala, Minna Pikkarainen, Saila Saraniemi

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Information technology has long been used as an enabler of exchange for goods and services. Services are evolving from generic to personalized, and the reverse use of customer data has been discussed in both academia and industry for the past few years. This article presents the results of an empirical case study in the area of preventive health care services. The primary data were gathered in workshops, in which future personal data-based services were conceptualized by analyzing future scenarios from a business perspective. The aim of this study is to understand business model transformation in emerging personal data ecosystems. The work was done as a case study in the context of occupational healthcare. The results have implications to theory and practice, indicating that adopting personal data management principles requires transformation of the business model, which, if successfully managed, may provide access to more resources, potential to offer better value, and additional customer channels. These advantages correlate with the broadening of the business ecosystem. Expanding the scope of this study to include more actors would improve the validity of the research. The results draw from existing literature and are based on findings from a case study and the economic properties of the healthcare industry in Finland.

Keywords: Ecosystem, business model, personal data, preventive healthcare.

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Authors: Muhammad Mehran Arshad Khan, Chengliang Wang, Zou Minhui, Danyal Badar Soomro

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Security of the smart home in terms of behavior activity pattern recognition is a totally dissimilar and unique issue as compared to the security issues of other scenarios. Sensor devices (low capacity and high capacity) interact and negotiate each other by detecting the daily behavior activity of individuals to execute common tasks. Once a device (e.g., surveillance camera, smart phone and light detection sensor etc.) is compromised, an adversary can then get access to a specific device and can damage daily behavior activity by altering the data and commands. In this scenario, a group of common instruction processes may get involved to generate deadlock. Therefore, an effective suitable security solution is required for smart home architecture. This paper proposes seamless distributed Scheme which fortifies low computational wireless devices for secure communication. Proposed scheme is based on lightweight key-session process to upheld cryptic-link for trajectory by recognizing of individual’s behavior activities pattern. Every device and service provider unit (low capacity sensors (LCS) and high capacity sensors (HCS)) uses an authentication token and originates a secure trajectory connection in network. Analysis of experiments is revealed that proposed scheme strengthens the devices against device seizure attack by recognizing daily behavior activities, minimum utilization memory space of LCS and avoids network from deadlock. Additionally, the results of a comparison with other schemes indicate that scheme manages efficiency in term of computation and communication.

Keywords: Authentication, key-session, security, wireless sensors.

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Authors: Subramaniam Chandran

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This paper presents an assessment study conducted among the distance learners in India. Open and distance learning systems have traveled a long way since its inception and its journey has witnessed the evolution and adoption of different generations of technology. This study focuses on the distant learners in India. Sampling for this study has been derived from the mass enrollment from Tamil Nadu area, a southern state of India. Learners were chosen from dual mode universities, private universities, Tamil Nadu Open University and IGNOU. The main focus of the study is to examine the coverage and appropriation of students support services and learning aids. It explores two aspects: the facilities available and the awareness and use of such services. It includes, self-learning materials, face-to-face counseling, multimedia learning materials, website, e-learning, radio and television services etc. While exploring the student-s perspective on these learning aspects, it is important to understand the perspectives of the teachers. Two different interests are visible among the teachers. Majority of the teachers support faceto- face counseling. However, the young teachers are in favour of online learning and multimedia supports in teaching. Through the awareness is somewhat high, the actual participation in online is very low. This is due to the inadequate infrastructure as well as the traditional attitudes of the teachers. Still the face-to-face sessions remain popular than online.

Keywords: Face-to-face session, online session, distance learning, multimedia

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Authors: E. Satoh, R. Kasahara, T. Aoki, K. Fukatsu, D. Venkata Ramanarao, H. Harayama, T. Murata, A. Suwa

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Rice plant hoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) have been causing extensive economic damage in rice and are considered as serious threat in rice producing countries of Asia. They have developed resistance to major groups of chemical insecticide, and severe outbreaks occur commonly throughout Asia. To control these nuisance pests, Nihon Nohyaku Co., Ltd., recently discovered an insecticide, benzpyrimoxan (proposed ISO name), which is under development as NNI-1501 (development code). Benzpyrimoxan has a unique chemical structure which contains benzyloxy and cyclic acetal groups on pyrimidine moiety (5-(1,3-dioxan-2-yl)-4-[4- (trifluoromethyl)benzyloxy]pyrimidine). In order to clarify the biological properties of benzpyrimoxan, we conducted several experiments and found the following results. Benzpyrimoxan has high activity against nymphal stages of rice plant hoppers without any adulticidal activity. It provides excellent and long lasting control against rice plant hoppers, including populations that have developed resistance to several other chemical groups of insecticide. The study on its mode of action is undergoing. These features highlight the versatility of this insecticide as an effective and valuable tool from the viewpoints of insecticide resistance management and integrated pest management program. With the use of benzpyrimoxan, farmers shall be able to lead the best yield potential by keeping the population density of rice plant hoppers and associated virus diseases under control.

Keywords: Acetal, benzpyrimoxan, insecticide, NNI-1501, pyrimidine, rice plant hoppers.

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Authors: Simon Bambang Widjanarko, Novita Wijayanti, Aji Sutrisno

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There is long history of konjac tubers being used as a cure for certain diseases in China and Japan. Konjac flour is prepared from konjac tubers and it contains high concentration of glucomannan. Konjac Glucomannan (KGM) is dietary fiber and the role of which has been demonstrated in weight reduction, lowering blood cholesterol and sugar level, promoting intestinal activity etc. Konjac glucomanan has a property of swelling by absorbing water, more than a hundred times its own weight. Therefore it helps increasing weight of feces, water content of feces, and promotes satiety feeling. Mode of actions of dietary fibre as laxatives agents includes holding water inside the bowel lumen, inhibition of water absorption in the colon and stimulating colonic motility. Number of fecal pellets did not effected in rats were fed on 300 and 600 mg/kg of konjac flour, as well as constipated control and Dulcolax treatment. Water content, weight of fecal pellets and gastrointestinal transit ratio were higher in rats treated with 600 mg/kg than 300 mg/kg of konjac flour. Rats were administered with Dulcolax showed the highest gastrointestinal transit ratio, followed by 600 mg/kg konjac flour. The lowest feed consumption was noted in 600 mg/kg konjac flour diet group.

Keywords: Laxative, konjac flour, Amorphophallus muelleri Blume, glucomannan, constipation.

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Authors: A. Joseph, D.B.L. Bong, D.A.A. Mat

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Security has been an important issue and concern in the smart home systems. Smart home networks consist of a wide range of wired or wireless devices, there is possibility that illegal access to some restricted data or devices may happen. Password-based authentication is widely used to identify authorize users, because this method is cheap, easy and quite accurate. In this paper, a neural network is trained to store the passwords instead of using verification table. This method is useful in solving security problems that happened in some authentication system. The conventional way to train the network using Backpropagation (BPN) requires a long training time. Hence, a faster training algorithm, Resilient Backpropagation (RPROP) is embedded to the MLPs Neural Network to accelerate the training process. For the Data Part, 200 sets of UserID and Passwords were created and encoded into binary as the input. The simulation had been carried out to evaluate the performance for different number of hidden neurons and combination of transfer functions. Mean Square Error (MSE), training time and number of epochs are used to determine the network performance. From the results obtained, using Tansig and Purelin in hidden and output layer and 250 hidden neurons gave the better performance. As a result, a password-based user authentication system for smart home by using neural network had been developed successfully.

Keywords: Neural Network, User Authentication, Smart Home, Security

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