Search results for: policy evaluation

Authors: LC Chong , A Yaacob, MH Rosli, Y Adam, A Yusuf , MS Omar-Fauzee, N Sutresna, Berliana, HH Pramono, M Nazrul-Hakim

Abstract:

Currently, there is no database or local norms for the physical performance of Malaysian rugby players. This database or norms are vital for Malaysian-s sports development as programs can be setup to improve the current status. This pilot study was conducted to evaluate the status of our semi professional rugby players. The rugby players were randomly selected from the Malaysian National team and several clubs in the Klang valley, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. 54 male rugby players (Age: 24.41 ± 4.06 years) were selected for this pilot study. Height, bodyweight, percentage body fat and body mass index (BMI) and several other physical tests were performed. Results from the BLEEP test revealed an average of level 9, shuttle 2 for the players. Interestingly, forwards were taller, heavier, and had lower maximal aerobic power than backs in the same team. In conclusion, the physical characteristics of the rugby players were much lower when compared to international players from other countries. From this pilot study, the physical performance of the Malaysian team must be improved in order to further develop the sports.

Keywords: Rugby, Malaysia, Fitness, Collision sports

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Authors: F. Havas Beigi, E. Mohammadi, M.Vafaee Yeganeh

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Curriculum is one of the most important inputs in higher education system and for knowing the strong and weak spots of it we need evaluation. The main purpose of this study was to survey of the curriculum quality of Insurance Management field. Case: University of Allameh Taba Tabaee(according to view point of students,alumni,employer and faculty members).Descriptive statistics (mean, tables, percentages, frequency distribution) and inferential statistics (CHI SQUARE) were used to analyze the data. Six criterions considered for the Quality of curriculum: objectives, content, teaching and learning methods, space and facilities, Time, assessment of learning. objectives, teaching and learning methods criterions was desirable level, content criteria was undesirable level, space and facilities, time and assessment of learning were rather desirable level. The quality of curriculum of insurance management field was relatively desirable level.

Keywords: Quality, curriculum, insurance management, higher education.

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Authors: Nagasamy Venkatesh Dhandapani

Abstract:

The objective of the present study was to develop sustained release oral matrix tablets of anti epileptic drug levetiracetam. The sustained release matrix tablets of levetiracetam were prepared using hydrophilic matrix hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as a release retarding polymer by wet granulation method. Prior to compression, FTIR studies were performed to understand the compatibility between the drug and excipients. The study revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and excipients used in the study. The tablets were characterized by physical and chemical parameters and results were found in acceptable limits. In vitro release study was carried out for the tablets using 0.1 N HCl for 2 hours and in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 for remaining time up to 12 hours. The effect of polymer concentration was studied. Different dissolution models were applied to drug release data in order to evaluate release mechanisms and kinetics. The drug release data fit well to zero order kinetics. Drug release mechanism was found as a complex mixture of diffusion, swelling and erosion.

Keywords: Levetiracetam, sustained-release, hydrophilic matrix tablet, HPMC grade K 100 MCR, wet granulation, zero order release kinetics.

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Authors: Manjie Li, Xiangju Cheng, Yongcan Chen

Abstract:

With rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, water environmental deterioration is widespread in majority of urban rivers, which seriously affects city image and life satisfaction of residents. As an emergency measure to improve water quality, clean water diversion is introduced for water environmental management. Lubao River and Southwest River, two urban rivers in typical plain tidal river network, are identified as technically and economically feasible for the application of clean water diversion. One-dimensional hydrodynamic-water quality model is developed to simulate temporal and spatial variations of water level and water quality, with satisfactory accuracy. The mathematical model after calibration is applied to investigate hydrodynamic and water quality variations in rivers as well as determine the optimum operation scheme of water diversion. Assessment system is developed for evaluation of positive and negative effects of water diversion, demonstrating the effectiveness of clean water diversion and the necessity of pollution reduction.

Keywords: Assessment system, clean water diversion, hydrodynamic-water quality model, tidal river network, urban rivers, water environment improvement.

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Authors: R. Walha, F. Drira, H. El-Abed, A. M. Alimi

Abstract:

The Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) applied to Arabic language is a challenging task. This is mainly related to the language specificities which make the researchers facing multiple difficulties such as the insufficient linguistic resources and the very limited number of available transcribed Arabic speech corpora. In this paper, we are interested in the development of a HMM-based ASR system for Standard Arabic (SA) language. Our fundamental research goal is to select the most appropriate acoustic parameters describing each audio frame, acoustic models and speech recognition unit. To achieve this purpose, we analyze the effect of varying frame windowing (size and period), acoustic parameter number resulting from features extraction methods traditionally used in ASR, speech recognition unit, Gaussian number per HMM state and number of embedded re-estimations of the Baum-Welch Algorithm. To evaluate the proposed ASR system, a multi-speaker SA connected-digits corpus is collected, transcribed and used throughout all experiments. A further evaluation is conducted on a speaker-independent continue SA speech corpus. The phonemes recognition rate is 94.02% which is relatively high when comparing it with another ASR system evaluated on the same corpus.

Keywords: ASR, HMM, acoustical analysis, acoustic modeling, Standard Arabic language

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Authors: Lady Marianne E. Polinga, Candy C. Mercado, Camilo A. Polinga

Abstract:

This study was an investigation on the suitability of Lahar/HDPE composite as a primary material for low-cost smallscale biogas digesters. While sources of raw materials for biogas are abundant in the Philippines, cost of the technology has made the widespread utilization of this resource an indefinite proposition. Aside from capital economics, another problem arises with space requirements of current digester designs. These problems may be simultaneously addressed by fabricating digesters on a smaller, household scale to reach a wider market, and to use materials that may accommodate optimization of overall design and fabrication cost without sacrificing operational efficiency. This study involved actual fabrication of the Lahar/HDPE composite at varying composition and geometry, subsequent mechanical and thermal characterization, and implementation of Statistical Analysis to find intrinsic relationships between variables. From the results, Lahar/HDPE composite was found to be feasible for use as digester material from both mechanical and economic standpoints. 

Keywords: Biogas digester, Composite, High density polyethylene, Lahar.

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Authors: Ezenwa Chinenye Amanamba

Abstract:

There is a call to ensure that the issues of safety and efficient throughput are considered during design; the solutions to these issues can also be retrofitted at locations where they were not captured during design, but have become problems to road users over time. This paper adopts several methods to analyze the performance of an intersection which was formerly a ‘priority-controlled’ intersection, but has now been converted to a ‘signal-controlled’ intersection. Extensive review of literature helped form the basis for result analysis and discussion. The Ikot-Ekpene/Anagha-Ezikpe intersection, located at the heart of Umuahia was adopted as case study; considering the high traffic volume on the route. Anecdotal evidence revealed that traffic signals imposed enormous delays at the intersection, especially for traffic on the major road. The major road has arrival flow which surpasses the saturation flow obtained from modelling of the isolated signalized intersection. Similarly, there were several geometric elements that did not agree with the specific function of the road. A roundabout, particularly flower roundabout was recommended as a better traffic control measure.

Keywords: Highway function, level of service, roundabout, traffic delays, Umuahia.

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Authors: K. Vinoth Kumar, M.P. Selvan

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This paper presents a simple approach for load flow analysis of a radial distribution network. The proposed approach utilizes forward and backward sweep algorithm based on Kirchoff-s current law (KCL) and Kirchoff-s voltage law (KVL) for evaluating the node voltages iteratively. In this approach, computation of branch current depends only on the current injected at the neighbouring node and the current in the adjacent branch. This approach starts from the end nodes of sub lateral line, lateral line and main line and moves towards the root node during branch current computation. The node voltage evaluation begins from the root node and moves towards the nodes located at the far end of the main, lateral and sub lateral lines. The proposed approach has been tested using four radial distribution systems of different size and configuration and found to be computationally efficient.

Keywords: constant current load, constant impedance load, constant power load, forward–backward sweep, load flow analysis, radial distribution system.

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Authors: Markus Link, Manfred Spraul, Hartmut Schaefer, Fang Fang, Birk Schuetz

Abstract:

High Resolution NMR Spectroscopy offers unique screening capabilities for food quality and safety by combining non-targeted and targeted screening in one analysis.

The objective is to demonstrate, that due to its extreme reproducibility NMR can detect smallest changes in concentrations of many components in a mixture, which is best monitored by statistical evaluation however also delivers reliable quantification results.

The methodology typically uses a 400 MHz high resolution instrument under full automation after minimized sample preparation.

For example one fruit juice analysis in a push button operation takes at maximum 15 minutes and delivers a multitude of results, which are automatically summarized in a PDF report.

The method has been proven on fruit juices, where so far unknown frauds could be detected. In addition conventional targeted parameters are obtained in the same analysis. This technology has the advantage that NMR is completely quantitative and concentration calibration only has to be done once for all compounds. Since NMR is so reproducible, it is also transferable between different instruments (with same field strength) and laboratories. Based on strict SOP`s, statistical models developed once can be used on multiple instruments and strategies for compound identification and quantification are applicable as well across labs.

Keywords: Automated solution, NMR, non-targeted screening, targeted screening.

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Authors: D. Dinis, M. Liz Martins, A. Rocha

Abstract:

Quality of school meals is one of the major concerns of governments and international organizations worldwide. This study aims to evaluate nutritional compliance of meals served at a Portuguese primary school considering the portions stated by Portuguese Education Ministry. To evaluate adequacy of portions served, weighing of all meal components offered to students and leftovers was performed during ten consecutive days at two different moments. Plate waste (%) was calculated by the ratio of food discarded and food served to the children. Nutritional evaluation of menus was made using the Portuguese Food Composition Table. Meals evaluated showed a percent contribution to energetic daily intake higher than recommendations. Meals served to children were considered high energy and protein dense. No significant waste of soup was accounted and the main meal components wasted were fish and vegetables. It will be necessary to adjust portions indicated by Ministry of Education in order to comply with recommendations and reduce food waste. 

Keywords: Portions, waste, nutritional adequacy, school meals.

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Authors: Rashid Slaheldinn Elhaj Mohammed

Abstract:

The design of high performance combustion chambers for turbojet engines is considered as one of the most challenges that face gas turbine designers, since the design approach depends on empirical correlations of data derived from the previous design experiences. The objective of this paper is to design a combustion chamber that suits the requirements of a micro-turbojet engine with 400 N output thrust and operates with kerosene as fuel. In this paper, only preliminary calculations related to the annular type of combustion chamber are explained in details. These calculations will cover the evaluation of reference quantities, calculation of required dimensions, calculation of air distribution and pressure drop, estimation of number and diameters for air admission holes, as well as aerodynamic considerations. The design process is then accompanied by analytical procedure using commercial CFD ANALYSIS tool; ANSYS 16 CFX software. After conducting CFD analysis, the design process will be then iterated in order to gain satisfactory results. It should be noted that the design of the fuel preparation and installation systems is beyond the scope of this work, and it will be discussed separately in another work.  

Keywords: Annular combustion chamber, micro-turbojet engine, CFD ANALYSIS, pressure drop.

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Authors: Eva Nedeliakova, Jaroslav Masek, Juraj Camaj

Abstract:

This article describes the results of research focused on quality of railway freight transport services. Improvement of these services has a crucial importance in customer considering on the future use of railway transport. Processes filling the customer demands and output quality assessment were defined as a part of the research. In this contribution is introduced the map of quality planning and the algorithm of applied methodology. It characterizes a model which takes into account characters of transportation with linking a perception services quality in ordinary and extraordinary operation. Despite the fact that rail freight transport has its solid position in the transport market, lots of carriers worldwide have been experiencing a stagnation for a couple of years. Therefore, specific results of the research have a significant importance and belong to numerous initiatives aimed to develop and support railway transport not only by creating a single railway area or reducing noise but also by promoting railway services. This contribution is focused also on the application of dynamic quality models which represent an innovative method of evaluation quality services. Through this conception, time factor, expected, and perceived quality in each moment of the transportation process can be taken into account.

Keywords: Quality, railway, transport, service.

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Authors: WooYoung Jung, HoYoung Son

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This study presented to reduce earthquake damage and emergency rehabilitation of critical structures such as schools, hightech factories, and hospitals due to strong ground motions associated with climate changes. Regarding recent trend, a strong earthquake causes serious damage to critical structures and then the critical structure might be influenced by sequence aftershocks (or tsunami) due to fault plane adjustments. Therefore, in order to improve seismic performance of critical structures, retrofitted or strengthening study of the structures under aftershocks sequence after emergency rehabilitation of the structures subjected to strong earthquakes is widely carried out. Consequently, this study used composite material for emergency rehabilitation of the structure rather than concrete and steel materials because of high strength and stiffness, lightweight, rapid manufacturing, and dynamic performance. Also, this study was to develop or improve the seismic performance or seismic retrofit of critical structures subjected to strong ground motions and earthquake aftershocks, by utilizing GFRP-Corrugated Infill Panels (GCIP).

Keywords: Composite material, GFRP, Infill Panel, Aftershock, Seismic Retrofitting.

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Authors: D. Kari Basavaraja, M. G. Skanda, C. Soumya, V. Ramesh

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This paper discusses the effects of sodium hypophosphite concentration, pH, and temperature on deposition rate. This paper also discusses the evaluation of coating strength, surface, and subsurface by varying the bath parameters, percentage of phosphate, plating temperature, and pH of the plating solution. Taguchi technique has been used for the analysis. In the experiment, nickel chloride which is a source of nickel when mixed with sodium hypophosphite has been used as the reducing agent and the source of phosphate and sodium hydroxide has been used to vary the pH of the coating bath. The coated samples are tested for impact energy by conducting impact test. Finally, the effects of coating bath parameters on the impact energy absorbed have been plotted, and analysis has been carried out. Further, percentage contribution of coating bath parameters using Design of Experiments approach (DOE) has been analysed. Finally, it can be concluded that the bath parameters of the Ni-P coating will certainly influence on the strength of the specimen.

Keywords: Bath parameters, coatings, design of experiment, fracture toughness, impact strength.

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Authors: Hatem Hajri, Mohamed-Cherif Rahal

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Both Lidars and Radars are sensors for obstacle detection. While Lidars are very accurate on obstacles positions and less accurate on their velocities, Radars are more precise on obstacles velocities and less precise on their positions. Sensor fusion between Lidar and Radar aims at improving obstacle detection using advantages of the two sensors. The present paper proposes a real-time Lidar/Radar data fusion algorithm for obstacle detection and tracking based on the global nearest neighbour standard filter (GNN). This algorithm is implemented and embedded in an automative vehicle as a component generated by a real-time multisensor software. The benefits of data fusion comparing with the use of a single sensor are illustrated through several tracking scenarios (on a highway and on a bend) and using real-time kinematic sensors mounted on the ego and tracked vehicles as a ground truth.

Keywords: Ground truth, Hungarian algorithm, lidar Radar data fusion, global nearest neighbor filter.

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Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Alireza Pour-Aboughadareh

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Wheat is the first and the most important grain of the world and its bakery property is due to glutenin and gliadin qualities. Wheat seed proteins were divided into four groups according to solubility including albumin, globulin, glutenin and prolamin or gliadin. Gliadins are major components of the storage proteins in wheat endosperm. It seems that little information is available about gliadin genes in Iranian wild relatives of wheat. Thus, the aim of this study was the evaluation of the wheat wild relatives collected from different origins of Zagros Mountains in Iran, in terms of coding gliadin genes using specific primers. For this, forty accessions of Triticum boeoticum and Triticum urartu were selected for this study. For each accession, genomic DNA was extracted and PCRs were performed in total volumes of 15 μl. The amplification products were separated on 1.5% agarose gels. In results, for Gli-2A locus three allelic variants were detected by Gli-2As primer pairs. The sizes of PCR products for these alleles were 210, 490 and 700 bp. Only five (13%) and two accessions (5%) produced 700 and 490 bp fragments when their DNA was amplified with the Gli.As.2 primer pairs. However, 93% of the accessions carried allele 210 bp, and only 8% did not any product for this marker. Therefore, these germplasm could be used as rich gene pool to broaden the genetic base of bread wheat.

Keywords: Diploied wheat, gliadin, Triticum boeoticum, Triticum urartu.

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Authors: Azleena Mohd Kassim, Muhamad Rashidi A. Rahman, Yu-N. Cheah

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Knowledge-based e-mail systems focus on incorporating knowledge management approach in order to enhance the traditional e-mail systems. In this paper, we present a knowledgebased e-mail system called KS-Mail where people do not only send and receive e-mail conventionally but are also able to create a sense of knowledge flow. We introduce semantic processing on the e-mail contents by automatically assigning categories and providing links to semantically related e-mails. This is done to enrich the knowledge value of each e-mail as well as to ease the organization of the e-mails and their contents. At the application level, we have also built components like the service manager, evaluation engine and search engine to handle the e-mail processes efficiently by providing the means to share and reuse knowledge. For this purpose, we present the KS-Mail architecture, and elaborate on the details of the e-mail server and the application server. We present the ontology mapping technique used to achieve the e-mail content-s categorization as well as the protocols that we have developed to handle the transactions in the e-mail system. Finally, we discuss further on the implementation of the modules presented in the KS-Mail architecture.

Keywords: E-mail rating, knowledge-based system, ontology mapping, text categorization.

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Authors: Rurui (Angelina) Liu

Abstract:

Universities have been one of the most important institutions in society. They shoulder the responsibility to do research and teach further generations. Therefore, the governance of universities has been a heated topic and has been learned for years. Recently, it witnessed great changes, for example, the massification of Higher Education (HE), marketization, and privatization. As a result, more stakeholders are involved in the governance of HE, among which students’ participation in HE becomes more important. However, the research about students’ participation in HE governance in China is not sufficient, and the situation requires improvement. The paper aims to not only fill in the research gap but also put forward practical suggestions to follow the world’s trend of HE governance. The methodology of this paper is literature analysis with comparative studies between China and western countries. The research points out that the current situation of students’ participation in HE governance is unideal due to problems in three fields, values and concepts, mechanisms and systems, as well as student unions. Then, the policy implications are based on these reasons: universities should highlight students’ status, respect their subjectivity and adhere to the service awareness; the government requires to build a sound legal system while universities should establish complete mechanisms and systems; student unions should be encouraged by universities to take part in HE governance affairs with sufficient funds, and autonomy. On the one hand, this paper is a further application of four rationales (consumerism, political-realism, communitarian, democracy, and consequentialism) created by Luescher‐Mamashela for the inevitable trend of students’ participation in HE governance. On the other hand, the suggestions it made benefit the students, universities, and society in practical ways.

Keywords: Students’ participation, higher education governance, Chinese higher education, university power.

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Authors: Yujin Jeong, Youkyung Son, Myounghwan Choi, Sanghyub Lee, Sangyeol Lee, Changho Hwang, Kyo-in Koo

Abstract:

Dysphasia is difficulty in swallowing food because of oral cavity impairments induced by stroke, muscle damage, tumor. Intermittent oro-esophageal (IOE) tube feeding is one of the well-known feeding methods for the dysphasia patients. However, it is hard to insert at the proper position in esophagus. In this study, we design and fabricate the IOE tube guide using 3-dimensional (3D) printer. The printed IOE tube is tested in a mannequin (Airway Management Trainer, Co., Ltd., Copenhagen, Denmark) mimicking human’s esophagus. The gag reflex point is measured as the design point in the mannequin. To avoid the gag reflex, we design various shapes of IOE tube guide. One structure is separated into three parts; biting part, part through oral cavity, connecting part to oro-esophageal. We designed 6 types of IOE tube guide adjusting length and angle of these three parts. To evaluate the IOE tube guide, it is inserted in the mannequin, and through the inserted guide, an endoscopic camera successfully arrived at the oro-esophageal. We had planned to apply this mannequin-based design experience to patients in near future.

Keywords: Dysphagia, feeding method, IOE tube guide, 3-D printer.

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Authors: Swapnil Rajan Jadhav, Ajay Vasantrao Kashikar

Abstract:

Lubrication, cooling and chip removal are the desired functions of any cutting fluid. Conventional or flood lubrication requires high volume flow rate and cost associated with this is higher. In addition, flood lubrication possesses health risks to machine operator. To avoid these consequences, dry machining and minimum quantity are two alternatives. Dry machining cannot be a suited alternative as it can generate greater heat and poor surface finish. Here, turning work is carried out on a Lathe machine using EN3 Mild steel. Variable cutting speeds and depth of cuts are provided and corresponding temperatures and surface roughness values were recorded. Experimental results are analyzed by Minitab software. Regression analysis, main effect plot, and interaction plot conclusion are drawn by using ANOVA. There is a 95.83% reduction in the use of cutting fluid. MQL gives a 9.88% reduction in tool temperature, this will improve tool life. MQL produced a 17.64% improved surface finish. MQL appears to be an economical and environmentally compatible lubrication technique for sustainable manufacturing.

Keywords: ANOVA, MQL, regression analysis, surface roughness

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Authors: Swapnil Rajan Jadhav, Ajay Vasantrao Kashikar

Abstract:

Lubrication, cooling and chip removal are the desired functions of any cutting fluid. Conventional or flood lubrication requires high volume flow rate and cost associated with this is higher. In addition, flood lubrication possesses health risks to machine operator. To avoid these consequences, dry machining and minimum quantity are two alternatives. Dry machining cannot be a suited alternative as it can generate greater heat and poor surface finish. Here, turning work is carried out on a Lathe machine using EN3 Mild steel. Variable cutting speeds and depth of cuts are provided and corresponding temperatures and surface roughness values were recorded. Experimental results are analyzed by Minitab software. Regression analysis, main effect plot, and interaction plot conclusion are drawn by using ANOVA. There is a 95.83% reduction in the use of cutting fluid. MQL gives a 9.88% reduction in tool temperature, this will improve tool life. MQL produced a 17.64% improved surface finish. MQL appears to be an economical and environmentally compatible lubrication technique for sustainable manufacturing.

Keywords: ANOVA, MQL, regression analysis, surface roughness

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Authors: N. P. Dhull, K. Gupta, R. Soni, D. K. Rahi, S. K. Soni

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The aim of the present work was to statistically design an autotrophic medium for maximum biomass production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa using response surface methodology. After evaluating one factor at a time approach, K2HPO4, KNO3, MgSO4.7H2O and NaHCO3 were preferred over the other components of the fog’s medium as most critical autotrophic medium components. The study showed that the maximum biomass yield was achieved while the concentrations of MgSO4.7H2O, K2HPO4, KNO3 and NaHCO3 were 0.409 g/L, 0.24 g/L, 1.033 g/L, and 3.265 g/L, respectively. The study reported that the biomass productivity of C. pyrenoidosa improved from 0.14 g/L in defined fog’s medium to 1.40 g/L in modified fog’s medium resulting 10 fold increase. The biochemical composition biosynthesis of C. pyrenoidosa was altered using nitrogen limiting stress bringing about 5.23 fold increase in lipid content than control (cell without stress), as analyzed by FTIR integration method.

Keywords: Autotrophic condition, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, FTIR, Response Surface Methodology, Optimization.

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Authors: Abdallah S. Abdallah, A. Lynn Abbott, Mohamad Abou El-Nasr

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This paper presents a new technique for detection of human faces within color images. The approach relies on image segmentation based on skin color, features extracted from the two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (DCT), and self-organizing maps (SOM). After candidate skin regions are extracted, feature vectors are constructed using DCT coefficients computed from those regions. A supervised SOM training session is used to cluster feature vectors into groups, and to assign “face" or “non-face" labels to those clusters. Evaluation was performed using a new image database of 286 images, containing 1027 faces. After training, our detection technique achieved a detection rate of 77.94% during subsequent tests, with a false positive rate of 5.14%. To our knowledge, the proposed technique is the first to combine DCT-based feature extraction with a SOM for detecting human faces within color images. It is also one of a few attempts to combine a feature-invariant approach, such as color-based skin segmentation, together with appearance-based face detection. The main advantage of the new technique is its low computational requirements, in terms of both processing speed and memory utilization.

Keywords: Face detection, skin color segmentation, self-organizingmap.

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Authors: Bing-Wen Chen, Alvin W. Y. Su, Yu-Lin Wang

Abstract:

Electromyography (EMG) is one of the important indicators during exercise, as it is closely related to the level of muscle activations. This work quantifies the muscle conditions of the lower limbs in a constant workload exercise. Surface EMG signals of the vastus laterals (VL), vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), gastrocnemius medianus (GM), gastrocnemius lateral (GL) and Soleus (SOL) were recorded from fourteen healthy males. The EMG signals were segmented in two phases: activation segment (AS) and relaxation segment (RS). Period entropy (PE), peak count (PC), zero crossing (ZC), wave length (WL), mean power frequency (MPF), median frequency (MDF) and root mean square (RMS) are calculated to provide the quantitative information of the measured EMG segments. The outcomes reveal that the PE, PC, ZC and RMS have significantly changed (p<.001); WL presents moderately changed (p<.01); MPF and MDF show no changed (p>.05) during exercise. The results also suggest that the RS is also preferred for performance evaluation, while the results of the extracted features in AS are usually affected directly by the amplitudes. It is further found that the VL exhibits the most significant changes within six muscles during pedaling exercise. The proposed work could be applied to quantify the stamina analysis and to predict the instant muscle status in athletes.

Keywords: EMG, feature extraction, muscle status, pedaling exercise, relaxation segment.

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Authors: Alexander Y. Vaninsky

Abstract:

This paper presents a simplified version of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) - a conventional approach to evaluating the performance and ranking of competitive objects characterized by two groups of factors acting in opposite directions: inputs and outputs. DEA with a Perfect Object (DEA PO) augments the group of actual objects with a virtual Perfect Object - the one having greatest outputs and smallest inputs. It allows for obtaining an explicit analytical solution and making a step to an absolute efficiency. This paper develops this approach further and introduces a DEA model with Partially Perfect Objects. DEA PPO consecutively eliminates the smallest relative inputs or greatest relative outputs, and applies DEA PO to the reduced collections of indicators. The partial efficiency scores are combined to get the weighted efficiency score. The computational scheme remains simple, like that of DEA PO, but the advantage of the DEA PPO is taking into account all of the inputs and outputs for each actual object. Firm evaluation is considered as an example.

Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis, Perfect object, Partially perfect object, Partial efficiency, Explicit solution, Simplified algorithm.

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

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The distribution, enrichment, and accumulation of zinc (Zn) in the sediments of Kaohsiung Ocean Disposal Site (KODS), Taiwan were investigated. Sediment samples from two outer disposal site stations and nine disposed stations in the KODS were collected per quarterly in 2009 and characterized for Zn, aluminum, organic matter, and grain size. Results showed that the mean Zn concentrations varied from 48 mg/kg to 456 mg/kg. Results from the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) analyses imply that the sediments collected from the KODS can be characterized between moderate and moderately severe degree enrichment and between none and none to medium accumulation of Zn, respectively. However, results of potential ecological risk index indicate that the sediment has low ecological potential risk. The EF, Igeo, and Zn concentrations at the disposed stations were slightly higher than those at outer disposal site. This indicated that the disposed area centers may be subjected to the disposal impaction of harbor dredged sediments.

Keywords: ocean dispose; zinc; enrichment factor; potential ecological risk index.

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Authors: Angel Daniel Muñoz Guzmán

Abstract:

E-learning is becoming more and more common every day. For online, hybrid or traditional face-to-face programs, there are some e-teaching platforms like Google classroom, Blackboard, Moodle and Canvas, and there are platforms for full e-learning like Coursera, edX or Udemy. These tools are changing the way students acquire knowledge at schools; however, in today’s changing world that is not enough. As students’ needs and skills change and become more complex, new tools will need to be added to keep them engaged and potentialize their learning. This is especially important in the current global situation that is changing everything: the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to Covid-19, education had to make an unexpected switch from face-to-face courses to digital courses. In this study, the students’ learning experience is analyzed by applying different e-tools and following the Tec21 Model and a flexible and digital model, both developed by the Tecnologico de Monterrey University. The evaluation of the students’ learning experience has been made by the quantitative PrEmo method of emotions. Findings suggest that the quantity of e-tools used during a course does not affect the students’ learning experience as much as how a teacher links every available tool and makes them work as one in order to keep the student engaged and motivated.

Keywords: Student, experience, e-learning, e-teaching, e-tools, technology, education.

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Authors: R. Reka, R. S. D. Wahidabanu

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to propose a novel technique to guarantee Quality of Service (QoS) in a highly dynamic environment. The MANET changes its topology dynamically as the nodes are moved frequently. This will cause link failure between mobile nodes. MANET cannot ensure reliability without delay. The relay node is selected based on achieving QoS in previous transmission. It considers one more factor Connection Existence Period (CEP) to ensure reliability. CEP is to find out the period during that connection exists between the nodes. The node with highest CEP becomes a next relay node. The relay node is selected dynamically to avoid frequent failure. The bandwidth of each link changed dynamically based on service rate and request rate. This paper proposes Active bandwidth setting up algorithm to guarantee the QoS. The series of results obtained by using the Network Simulator (NS-2) demonstrate the viability of our proposed techniques.

Keywords: Bandwidth, Connection Existence Period (CEP), Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET), Quality of Service (QoS), Relay node.

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Authors: Shun Horikoshi, Tohru Kawabe

Abstract:

This study presents performance analysis results of SMC (Sliding mode control) with changing the chattering functions applied to slip suppression problem of electric vehicles (EVs). In SMC, chattering phenomenon always occurs through high frequency switching of the control inputs. It is undesirable phenomenon and degrade the control performance, since it causes the oscillations of the control inputs. Several studies have been conducted on this problem by introducing some general saturation function. However, study about whether saturation function was really best and the performance analysis when using the other functions, weren’t being done so much. Therefore, in this paper, several candidate functions for SMC are selected and control performance of candidate functions is analyzed. In the analysis, evaluation function based on the trade-off between slip suppression performance and chattering reduction performance is proposed. The analyses are conducted in several numerical simulations of slip suppression problem of EVs. Then, we can see that there is no difference of employed candidate functions in chattering reduction performance. On the other hand, in slip suppression performance, the saturation function is excellent overall. So, we conclude the saturation function is most suitable for slip suppression sliding mode control.

Keywords: Sliding mode control, chattering function, electric vehicle, slip suppression, performance analysis.

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Authors: Parvinder Singh Sandhu, Dalwinder Singh Salaria, Hardeep Singh

Abstract:

Software Reusability is primary attribute of software quality. There are metrics for identifying the quality of reusable components but the function that makes use of these metrics to find reusability of software components is still not clear. These metrics if identified in the design phase or even in the coding phase can help us to reduce the rework by improving quality of reuse of the component and hence improve the productivity due to probabilistic increase in the reuse level. In this paper, we have devised the framework of metrics that uses McCabe-s Cyclometric Complexity Measure for Complexity measurement, Regularity Metric, Halstead Software Science Indicator for Volume indication, Reuse Frequency metric and Coupling Metric values of the software component as input attributes and calculated reusability of the software component. Here, comparative analysis of the fuzzy, Neuro-fuzzy and Fuzzy-GA approaches is performed to evaluate the reusability of software components and Fuzzy-GA results outperform the other used approaches. The developed reusability model has produced high precision results as expected by the human experts.

Keywords: Software Reusability, Software Metrics, Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithm, Fuzzy Logic.

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