Search results for: health monitoring systems

Authors: T.C. Manjunath, B. Bandyopadhyay

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This paper features the modeling and design of a Fast Output Sampling (FOS) Feedback control technique for the Active Vibration Control (AVC) of a smart flexible aluminium cantilever beam for a Single Input Single Output (SISO) case. Controllers are designed for the beam by bonding patches of piezoelectric layer as sensor / actuator to the master structure at different locations along the length of the beam by retaining the first 2 dominant vibratory modes. The entire structure is modeled in state space form using the concept of piezoelectric theory, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Finite Element Method (FEM) and the state space techniques by dividing the structure into 3, 4, 5 finite elements, thus giving rise to three types of systems, viz., system 1 (beam divided into 3 finite elements), system 2 (4 finite elements), system 3 (5 finite elements). The effect of placing the sensor / actuator at various locations along the length of the beam for all the 3 types of systems considered is observed and the conclusions are drawn for the best performance and for the smallest magnitude of the control input required to control the vibrations of the beam. Simulations are performed in MATLAB. The open loop responses, closed loop responses and the tip displacements with and without the controller are obtained and the performance of the proposed smart system is evaluated for vibration control.

Keywords: Smart structure, Finite element method, State spacemodel, Euler-Bernoulli theory, SISO model, Fast output sampling, Vibration control, LMI

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Authors: Kuvshinov, D., Siswanto, A., Lozano-Parada, J., Zimmerman, W. B.

Abstract:

Ozone is well known as a powerful, fast reacting oxidant. Ozone based processes produce no by-product residual as non-reacted ozone decomposes to molecular oxygen. Therefore an application of ozone is widely accepted as one of the main approaches for a Sustainable and Clean Technologies development.

There are number of technologies which require ozone to be delivered to specific points of a production network or reactors construction. Due to space constraints, high reactivity and short life time of ozone the use of ozone generators even of a bench top scale is practically limited. This requires development of mini/micro scale ozone generator which can be directly incorporated into production units.

Our report presents a feasibility study of a new micro scale rector for ozone generation (MROG). Data on MROG calibration and indigo decomposition at different operation conditions are presented.

At selected operation conditions with residence time of 0.25 s the process of ozone generation is not limited by reaction rate and the amount of ozone produced is a function of power applied. It was shown that the MROG is capable to produce ozone at voltage level starting from 3.5kV with ozone concentration of 5.28*10^-6 (mol/L) at 5kV. This is in line with data presented on numerical investigation for a MROG. It was shown that in compare to a conventional ozone generator, MROG has lower power consumption at low voltages and atmospheric pressure.

The MROG construction makes it applicable for both submerged and dry systems. With a robust compact design MROG can be used as an integrated module for production lines of high complexity.

Keywords: DBD, micro reactor, ozone, plasma.

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Authors: L. Moussaoui, L. Rahmani

Abstract:

This paper deals with the direct torque control (DTC) of the induction motor. This type of control allows decoupling control between the flux and the torque without the need for a transformation of coordinates. However, as with other hysteresis-based systems, the classical DTC scheme represents a high ripple, in both the electromagnetic torque and the stator flux and a distortion in the stator current. As well, it suffers from variable switching frequency. To solve these problems various modifications, in conventional DTC scheme, have been made during the last decade. Indeed the DTC based on space vector modulation (SVM) has proved to generate very low ripples in torque and flux with constant switching frequency. It also shows almost the same dynamic performances as the classical DTC system. On the other hand, fuzzy logic is considered as an interesting alternative approach for its advantages: Analysis close to the exigencies of user, ability of nonlinear systems control, best dynamic performances and inherent quality of robustness.

Therefore, two fuzzy direct torque control approaches, for the induction motor fed by SVM-voltage source inverter, are proposed in this paper. By using these two approaches of DTC, the advantages of fuzzy logic control, space vector modulation, and direct torque control method are combined. The performances of these DTC schemes are evaluated through digital simulation using Matlab/Simulink platform and fuzzy logic tools. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed Fuzzy DTC-SVM schemes in comparison to the classical DTC.

Keywords: Direct torque control, Fuzzy logic control, Induction motor, Switching frequency, Space vector modulation, Torque and flux ripples.

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Authors: Franklin Nantui Mabe, Samuel A. Donkoh, Seidu Al-Hassan

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Rice yields among agro-ecological zones are heterogeneous. Farmers, researchers and policy makers are making frantic efforts to bridge rice yield gaps between agro-ecological zones through the promotion of improved agricultural technologies (IATs). Farmers are also modifying these IATs and blending them with indigenous farming practices (IFPs) to form farmer innovation systems (FISs). Also, different metafrontier models have been used in estimating productivity performances and their drivers. This study used the two-step stochastic metafrontier model to estimate the productivity performances of rice farmers and their determining factors in GSZ, FSTZ and CSZ. The study used both primary and secondary data. Farmers in CSZ are the most technically efficient. Technical inefficiencies of farmers are negatively influenced by age, sex, household size, education years, extension visits, contract farming, access to improved seeds, access to irrigation, high rainfall amount, less lodging of rice, and well-coordinated and synergized adoption of technologies. Albeit farmers in CSZ are doing well in terms of rice yield, they still have the highest potential of increasing rice yield since they had the lowest TGR. It is recommended that government through the ministry of food and agriculture, development partners and individual private companies promote the adoption of IATs as well as educate farmers on how to coordinate and synergize the adoption of the whole package. Contract farming concept and agricultural extension intensification should be vigorously pursued to the latter.

Keywords: Efficiency, farmer innovation systems, improved agricultural technologies, two-step stochastic metafrontier approach.

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Authors: P. K. Sarkar, Amit Kumar Jain

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The demand for Urban transportation is characterised by a large scale temporal and spatial variations which causes heavy congestion inside metro trains in peak hours near Centre Business District (CBD) of the city. The conventional approach to address peak hour congestion, metro trains has been to increase the supply by way of introduction of more trains, increasing the length of the trains, optimising the time table to increase the capacity of the system. However, there is a limitation of supply side measures determined by the design capacity of the systems beyond which any addition in the capacity requires huge capital investments. The demand side interventions are essentially required to actually spread the demand across the time and space. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the potential Transport Demand Management tools applicable to Urban Rail Transportation systems with a special focus on differential pricing. A conceptual price elasticity model has been developed to analyse the effect of various combinations of peak and nonpeak hoursfares on demands. The elasticity values for peak hour, nonpeak hour and cross elasticity have been assumed from the relevant literature available in the field. The conceptual price elasticity model so developed is based on assumptions which need to be validated with actual values of elasticities for different segments of passengers. Once validated, the model can be used to determine the peak and nonpeak hour fares with an objective to increase overall ridership, revenue, demand levelling and optimal utilisation of assets.

Keywords: Congestion, differential pricing, elasticity, transport demand management, urban transportation.

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Authors: H. Juma, F. Al-hujaili, R. Kashani

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Modern structures such as floor systems, pedestrian bridges and high-rise buildings have become lighter in mass and more flexible with negligible damping and thus prone to vibration. In this paper, a semi-actively controlled pendulum tuned mass dampers (PTMD) is presented that uses air springs as both the restoring (resilient) and energy dissipating (damping) elements; the tuned mass damper (TMD) uses no passive dampers. The proposed PTMD can readily be fine-tuned and re-tuned, via software, without changing any hardware. Almost all existing semi-active systems have the three elements that passive TMDs have, i.e., inertia, resilient, and dissipative elements with some adjustability built into one or two of these elements. The proposed semi-active air suspended TMD, on the other hand, is made up of only inertia and resilience elements. A notable feature of this TMD is the absence of a physical damping element in its make-up. The required viscous damping is introduced into the TMD using a semi-active control scheme residing in a micro-controller which actuates a high-speed proportional valve regulating the flow of air in and out of the air springs. In addition to introducing damping into the TMD, the semi-active control scheme adjusts the stiffness of the TMD. The focus of this work has been the synthesis and analysis of the control algorithms and strategies to vary the tuning accuracy, introduce damping into air suspended PTMD, and enable the PTMD to self-tune itself. The accelerations of the main structure and PTMD as well as the pressure in the air springs are used as the feedback signals in control strategies. Numerical simulation and experimental evaluation of the proposed tuned damping system are presented in this paper.

Keywords: Tuned mass damper, air spring, semi-active, vibration control.

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Authors: Ali A. Alshatwi, Vaiyapuri S. Periasamy, Jegan Athinarayanan

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Engineered nanoparticles’ usage rapidly increased in various applications in the last decade due to their unusual properties. However, there is an ever increasing concern to understand their toxicological effect in human health. Particularly, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been used in various sectors including biomedical, food and agriculture. But their impact on human health is yet to be fully understood. In this present investigation, we assessed the toxic effect of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) including Ag, MgO and Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) on human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) adopting cell viability and cellular morphological changes as tools The results suggested that silver NPs are more toxic than MgO and Co3O4NPs. The ENPs induced cytotoxicity and nuclear morphological changes in hMSC depending on dose. The cell viability decreases with increase in concentration of ENPs. The cellular morphology studies revealed that ENPs damaged the cells. These preliminary findings have implications for the use of these nanoparticles in food industry with systematic regulations.

Keywords: Cobalt oxide, Human mesenchymal stem cells, MgO, Silver.

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Authors: Dosun Shin, Assegid Kidane, Pavan Turaga

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This research project brings together experts in multiple disciplines to bring product design, sensor design, algorithms, and health intervention studies to develop a product and system that helps reduce the amount of time sitting at the workplace. This paper illustrates ongoing improvements to prototypes the research team developed in initial research; including working prototypes with a software application, which were developed and demonstrated for users. Additional modifications were made to improve functionality, aesthetics, and ease of use, which will be discussed in this paper. Extending on the foundations created in the initial phase, our approach sought to further improve the product by conducting additional human factor research, studying deficiencies in competitive products, testing various materials/forms, developing working prototypes, and obtaining feedback from additional potential users. The solution consisted of an aesthetically pleasing seat cover cushion that easily attaches to common office chairs found in most workplaces, ensuring that a wide variety of people can use the product. The product discreetly contains sensors that track when the user sits on their chair, sending information to a phone app that triggers reminders for users to stand up and move around after sitting for a set amount of time. This paper also presents the analyzed typical office aesthetics and selected materials, colors, and forms that complimented the working environment. Comfort and ease of use remained a high priority as the design team sought to provide a product and system that integrated into the workplace. As the research team continues to test, improve, and implement this solution for the sedentary workplace, the team seeks to create a viable product that acts as an impetus for a more active workday and lifestyle, further decreasing the proliferation of chronic disease and health issues for sedentary working people. This paper illustrates in detail the processes of engineering, product design, methodology, and testing results.

Keywords: Anti-sedentary work behavior, new product development, sensor design, health intervention studies.

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Authors: Gergely Horváth

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The study presents the complexity of food safety dividing it into two layers. Beyond the basic layer of requirements, there is a more demanding higher level linked with quality and purity aspects. It would be important to give special prominence to both layers, given that massive illnesses are caused by foods even though officially licensed. Then the study discusses an exciting safety challenge stemming from the risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Furthermore, it features legal case examples that illustrate how certain liability questions are solved or not yet decided in connection with the production of genetically modified crops. In addition, a special kind of land grabbing, more precisely land grabbing from non-GMO farming systems can also be noticed as well as a new phenomenon eroding food sovereignty. Coexistence, the state where organic, conventional, and GM farming systems are standing alongside each other is an unsuitable experiment that cannot be successful, because of biophysical reasons (such as cross-pollination). Agricultural and environmental lawyers both try to find the optimal solution. Agri-environmental measures are introduced as a special subfield of law maintaining also food safety. The important steps of agri-environmental legislation are aiming at the protection of natural values, the environmental media and strengthening food safety as well, practically the quality of agricultural products intended for human consumption. The major findings of the study focus on searching for the appropriate approach capable of solving the security and safety problems of food production. The most interesting concepts of the Hungarian national and EU food law legislation are analyzed in more detail with descriptive, analytic and comparative methods.

Keywords: Food law, food safety, food security, GMO, agri-environmental measures.

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Authors: Turki M. Habeebullah, Atef M. F. Mohammed, Essam A. Morsy

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In recent decades, particulate matter (PM10) have received much attention due to its potential adverse health impact and the subsequent need to better control or regulate these pollutants. The aim of this paper is focused on study risk assessment of PM10 in four different districts (Shebikah, Masfalah, Aziziyah, Awali) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during the period from 1 Ramadan 1434 AH - 27 Safar 1435 AH. Samples were collected by using Low Volume Sampler (LVS Low Volume Sampler) device and filtration method for estimating the total concentration of PM10. The study indicated that the mean PM10 concentrations were 254.6 (186.1 - 343.2) μg/m3 in Shebikah, 184.9 (145.6 - 271.4) μg/m3 in Masfalah, 162.4 (92.4-253.8) μg/m3 in Aziziyah, and 56.0 (44.5 - 119.8) μg/m3 in Awali. These values did not exceed the permissible limits in PME (340 μg/m3 as daily average). Furthermore, health assessment is carried out using AirQ2.2.3 model to estimate the number of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. The cumulative number of cases per 100,000 were 1534 (18-3050 case), which lower than that recorded in the United States, Malaysia. The concentration response coefficient was 0.49 (95% CI 0.05 - 0.70) per 10 μg/m3 increase of PM10.

Keywords: Air pollution, Respiratory diseases, AirQ2.2.3, Makkah.

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Authors: Daohong Yang, Xiang Zhang, Wanting Zhou, Lei Li

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Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) is a technology that gathers information about the surrounding environment to ascertain its own position and create a map. It is widely used in computer vision, robotics, and various other fields. Many visual SLAM systems, such as OBSLAM3, utilize a constant velocity motion model. The utilization of this model facilitates the determination of the initial pose of the current frame, thereby enhancing the efficiency and precision of feature matching. However, it is often difficult to satisfy the constant velocity motion model in actual situations. This can result in a significant deviation between the obtained initial pose and the true value, leading to errors in nonlinear optimization results. Therefore, this paper proposes a motion model based on acceleration that can be applied to most SLAM systems. To provide a more accurate description of the camera pose acceleration, we separate the pose transformation matrix into its rotation matrix and translation vector components. The rotation matrix is now represented by a rotation vector. We assume that, over a short period, the changes in rotating angular velocity and translation vector remain constant. Based on this assumption, the initial pose of the current frame is estimated. In addition, the error of the constant velocity model is analyzed theoretically. Finally, we apply our proposed approach to the ORBSLAM3 system and evaluate two sets of sequences from the TUM datasets. The results show that our proposed method has a more accurate initial pose estimation, resulting in an improvement of 6.61% and 6.46% in the accuracy of the ORBSLAM3 system on the two test sequences, respectively.

Keywords: Error estimation, constant acceleration motion model, pose estimation, visual SLAM.

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Authors: Qin Wei

Abstract:

There has been an increased number of immigrants arriving in Canada and a concurrent rise in the number of immigrant youth suffering from drug abuse. Immigrant youths’ drug abuse has become a significant social and public health concern for researchers. This paper explores the nature of immigrant youths’ drug abuse by examining the factors influencing the onset of substance misuse, the barriers that discourage youth to seek out treatment, and how to resolve addictions amidst immigrant youth. Findings demonstrate that diminished parental supervision, acculturation challenges, peer conformity, discrimination, and ethnic marginalization are all significant factors influencing youth to use drugs as an outlet for their pain, while culturally incompetent care and fear of family and culture-based addiction stigma act as barriers discouraging youth from seeking out addiction support. To resolve addiction challenges amidst immigrant youth, future research should focus on promoting and implementing culturally sensitive practices and psychoeducational initiatives into immigrant communities and within public health policies.

Keywords: Approaches, barriers, drug abuse, Canada, immigrant youth.

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Authors: M. Saravanan

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Antimicrobial resistant is becoming a major factor in virtually all hospital acquired infection may soon untreatable is a serious public health problem. These concerns have led to major research effort to discover alternative strategies for the treatment of bacterial infection. Nanobiotehnology is an upcoming and fast developing field with potential application for human welfare. An important area of nanotechnology for development of reliable and environmental friendly process for synthesis of nanoscale particles through biological systems In the present studies are reported on the use of fungal strain Aspergillus species for the extracellular synthesis of bionanoparticles from 1 mM silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution. The report would be focused on the synthesis of metallic bionanoparticles of silver using a reduction of aqueous Ag+ ion with the culture supernatants of Microorganisms. The bio-reduction of the Ag+ ions in the solution would be monitored in the aqueous component and the spectrum of the solution would measure through UV-visible spectrophotometer The bionanoscale particles were further characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thin layer chromatography. The synthesized bionanoscale particle showed a maximum absorption at 385 nm in the visible region. Atomic Force Microscopy investigation of silver bionanoparticles identified that they ranged in the size of 250 nm - 680 nm; the work analyzed the antimicrobial efficacy of the silver bionanoparticles against various multi drug resistant clinical isolates. The present Study would be emphasizing on the applicability to synthesize the metallic nanostructures and to understand the biochemical and molecular mechanism of nanoparticles formation by the cell filtrate in order to achieve better control over size and polydispersity of the nanoparticles. This would help to develop nanomedicine against various multi drug resistant human pathogens.

Keywords: Bionanoparticles, UV-visible spectroscopy, AtomicForce Microscopy, Extracellular synthesis, Multi drug resistant, antimicrobial activity, Nanomedicine

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Authors: Daniel Murrant, Andrew Quinn, Lee Chapman

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A growing population has led to increasing global water and energy demand. This demand, combined with the effects of climate change and an increasing need to maintain and protect the natural environment, represents a potentially severe threat to many national infrastructure systems. This has resulted in a considerable quantity of published material on the interdependencies that exist between the supply of water and the thermal generation of electricity, often known as the water-energy nexus. Focusing specifically on the UK, there is a growing concern that the future availability of water may at times constrain thermal electricity generation, and therefore hinder the UK in meeting its increasing demand for a secure, and affordable supply of low carbon electricity. To provide further information on the threat the water-energy nexus may pose to the UK’s energy system, this paper models the regional water demand of UK thermal electricity generation in 2030 and 2050. It uses the strategically important Energy Systems Modelling Environment model developed by the Energy Technologies Institute. Unlike previous research, this paper was able to use abstraction and consumption factors specific to UK power stations. It finds that by 2050 the South East, Yorkshire and Humber, the West Midlands and North West regions are those with the greatest freshwater demand and therefore most likely to suffer from a lack of resource. However, it finds that by 2050 it is the East, South West and East Midlands regions with the greatest total water (fresh, estuarine and seawater) demand and the most likely to be constrained by environmental standards.

Keywords: Water-energy nexus, water resources, abstraction, climate change, power station cooling.

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Authors: Jung-Chuan Chou, Cheng-Wei Chen

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The hard clam (meretrix lusoria) cultivated industry has been developed vigorously for recent years in Taiwan, and seawater quality determines the cultivated environment. The pH concentration variation affects survival rate of meretrix lusoria immediately. In order to monitor seawater quality, solid-state sensing electrode of ruthenium-doped titanium dioxide (TiO2:Ru) is developed to measure hydrogen ion concentration in different cultivated solutions. Because the TiO2:Ru sensing electrode has high chemical stability and superior sensing characteristics, thus it is applied as a pH sensor. Response voltages of TiO2:Ru sensing electrode are readout by instrument amplifier in different sample solutions. Mean sensitivity and linearity of TiO2:Ru sensing electrode are 55.20 mV/pH and 0.999 from pH1 to pH13, respectively. We expect that the TiO2:Ru sensing electrode can be applied to real environment measurement, therefore we collect two sample solutions by different meretrix lusoria cultivated ponds in the Yunlin, Taiwan. The two sample solutions are both measured for 200 seconds after calibration of standard pH buffer solutions (pH7, pH8 and pH 9). Mean response voltages of sample 1 and sample 2 are -178.758 mV (Standard deviation=0.427 mV) and -180.206 mV (Standard deviation =0.399 mV), respectively. Response voltages of the two sample solutions are between pH 8 and pH 9 which conform to weak alkali range and suitable meretrix lusoria growth. For long-term monitoring, drift of cultivated solutions (sample 1 and sample 2) are 1.16 mV/hour and 1.03 mV/hour, respectively.

Keywords: Co-sputtering system, Hard clam (meretrix lusoria), Ruthenium-doped titanium dioxide, Solid-state sensing electrode.

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Authors: Shahlan Surat, Saemah Rahman, Saadiah Kummin

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When teachers reflect and evaluate whether their teaching methods actually have an impact on students’ learning, they will adjust their practices accordingly. This inevitably improves their students’ learning and performance. The approach in meta-teaching can invigorate and create a passion for teaching. It thus helps to increase the commitment and love for the teaching profession. This study was conducted to determine the level of metacognitive thinking of teachers in the process of teaching and learning in the classroom. Metacognitive thinking teachers include the use of metacognitive knowledge which consists of different types of knowledge: declarative, procedural and conditional. The ability of the teachers to plan, monitor and evaluate the teaching process can also be determined. This study was conducted on 377 graduate teachers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The stratified sampling method was selected for the purpose of this study. The metacognitive teaching inventory consisting of 24 items is called InKePMG (Teacher Indicators of Effectiveness Meta-Teaching). The results showed the level of mean is high for two components of metacognitive knowledge; declarative knowledge (mean = 4.16) and conditional (mean = 4.11) whereas, the mean of procedural knowledge is 4.00 (moderately high). Similarly, the level of knowledge in monitoring (mean = 4.11), evaluating (mean = 4.00) which indicate high score and planning (mean = 4.00) are moderately high score among teachers. In conclusion, this study shows that the planning and procedural knowledge is an important element in improving the quality of teachers teaching in the classroom. Thus, the researcher recommended that further studies should focus on training programs for teachers on metacognitive skills and also on developing creative thinking among teachers.

Keywords: Metacognitive thinking skills, procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, declarative knowledge, meta-teaching and regulation of cognitive.

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Authors: J. George, M. Al Mutairi, W. Aljuryyad, A. Alhussanan, A. Alkashan, T. Aldoghiri, Z. Alamari, A. Albakr

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Introduction: Students make plans for their career and are keen in exploring options of employment in those carriers. They make their employment choice based on their desires and preferences. This study aims to identify if students of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz for Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences after obtaining appropriate education prefer to work as clinicians, university faculty, or full-time researchers. There are limited studies in Saudi Arabia exploring the university student’s employment choices and preferences. This study would help employers to build the required job positions and prevent misleading employers from opening undesired positions in the job market. Methodology: The study included 394 students from third and fourth years both male and female among the eighth programs of college of applied medical sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh campus. A prospective quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted; data were collected by distributing a seven item questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. Results: Among the participants, 358 (90.9%) of them chose one of the three listed career choices, 263 (66.8%) decided to work as hospital staff after their education, 75 students (19.0%) chose to work as a faculty member in a university after obtaining appropriate degree, 20 students (5.1%) preferred to work as full-time researcher after obtaining appropriate degree, the remaining 36 students (9.1%) had different career goals, such as obtaining a master degree after graduating, to obtain a bachelor of medicine and bachelor in surgery degree, and working in the private sector. The most recurrent reason behind the participants' choice was "career goal", where 276 (70.1%) chose it as a reason. Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that most student’s preferred to work in hospitals as clinicians, followed by choice of working as a faculty in a university, the least choice was to be working as full-time researchers.

Keywords: College of Applied Medical Sciences, employment ambitions, graduating students, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences.

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Authors: M. Kasusse, M. Rosette, E. Burke, C. Mwangi, R. Batamwita, N. Tumwesigye, S. Aisu

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A cross-sectional survey to ascertain the capacity of laboratory persons in using ICTs was conducted in 15 Ugandan districts (July-August 2013). A self-administered questionnaire served as data collection tool, interview guide and observation checklist. 69 questionnaires were filled, 12 interviews conducted, 45 HC observed. SPSS statistics 17.0 and SAS 9.2 software were used for entry and analyses. 69.35% of participants find it difficult to access a computer at work. Of the 30.65% who find it easy to access a computer at work, a significant 21.05% spend 0 hours on a computer daily. 60% of the participants cannot access internet at work. Of the 40% who have internet at work, a significant 20% lack email address but 20% weekly read emails weekly and 48% daily. It is viable/feasible to pilot informatics projects as strategies to build bridges develop skills for e-health landscape in laboratory services with a bigger financial muscle.

Keywords: ICT Behavior, Clinical Laboratory persons, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda.

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Authors: Fan-Yong Meng, Yan Wang

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In this paper, we discuss the egalitarianism solution (ES) and center-of-gravity of the imputation-set value (CIV) for bicooperative games, which can be seen as the extensions of the solutions for traditional games given by Dutta and Ray [1] and Driessen and Funaki [2]. Furthermore, axiomatic systems for the given values are proposed. Finally, a numerical example is offered to illustrate the player ES and CTV.

Keywords: Bicooperative games, egalitarianism solution, center of- gravity of the imputation-set value.

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Authors: Dolores Hidalgo, Jesús M. Martín-Marroquín, Francisco Corona

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Municipal waste consist of a variety of items that are everyday discarded by the population. They are usually collected by municipalities and include waste generated by households, commercial activities (local shops) and public buildings. The composition of municipal waste varies greatly from place to place, being mostly related to levels and patterns of consumption, rates of urbanization, lifestyles, and local or national waste management practices. Each year, a huge amount of resources is consumed in the EU, and according to that, also a huge amount of waste is produced. The environmental problems derived from the management and processing of these waste streams are well known, and include impacts on land, water and air. The situation in remote areas is even worst. Difficult access when climatic conditions are adverse, remoteness of centralized municipal treatment systems or dispersion of the population, are all factors that make remote areas a real municipal waste treatment challenge. Furthermore, the scope of the problem increases significantly because the total lack of awareness of the existing risks in this area together with the poor implementation of advanced culture on waste minimization and recycling responsibly. The aim of this work is to analyze the existing situation in remote areas in reference to the production of municipal waste and evaluate the efficiency of different management alternatives. Ideas for improving waste management in remote areas include, for example: the implementation of self-management systems for the organic fraction; establish door-to-door collection models; promote small-scale treatment facilities or adjust the rates of waste generation thereof.

Keywords: Door to door collection, islands, isolated areas, municipal waste, remote areas, rural communities.

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Authors: Kudzai Ashley Tagwira, Michelle Marle Marais, Tracy Anne Ludwig, Rutendo Precious Chidziva, Mavis Nyaradzo Munodawafa, Wendy M. Wrench, Roman Tandlich

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Risk of infectious disease outbreaks is related to the hygiene among the population. To assess the actual risks and modify the relevant emergency procedures if necessary, a hygiene survey was conducted among undergraduate students on the Rhodes University campus. Soap was available to 10.5% and only 26.8% of the study participants followed proper hygiene in relation to food consumption. This combination increases the risk of infectious disease outbreaks at the campus. Around 83.6% were willing to wash their hands if soap was provided. Procurement and availability of soap in undergraduate residences on campus should be improved, as the total cost is estimated at only 2000 USD per annum. Awareness campaigns about food-related hygiene and the need for regular handwashing with soap should be run among Rhodes University students. If successful, rates of respiratory and hygiene-related diseases will be decreased and emergency health management simplified.

Keywords: Awareness, Food hygiene, Infectious disease spread, Undergraduate students.

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Authors: Folasade F. Awe, Tayo N. Fagbemi, Comfort F. Ajibola, Adebanjo A. Badejo

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The antioxidant capability of beverage blends made from cocoa, zobo and ginger with standard antioxidant assay procedures was investigated. The DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) scavenging capacity ranged from 21.2-25.8% in comparison with GSH of 37.1%. The ferric reducing ability was highest in the zobo drink and lowest in ginger. The superoxide scavenging capacity was also highest in the zobo drink followed by the drink with alkalized cocoa. The metal chelating power decreased as the level of zobo in the blends decreases. The chelating power of zobo and ginger were significantly lower than the natural and alkalized cocoa. The 100% zobo drink inhibited linoleic acid till the fifth day while natural and alkalized cocoa as well as the blend with 50% alkalized cocoa inhibited linoleic acid greatly till the sixth day. The finding describes the potential health benefit of the phytochemical antioxidants of cocoa:zobo:ginger beverage blends.

Keywords: Antioxidant, cocoa, ginger, health benefit, zobo blend.

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Omati, Mahmod Reza Sahebi

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The information on land use/land cover changing plays an essential role for environmental assessment, planning and management in regional development. Remotely sensed imagery is widely used for providing information in many change detection applications. Polarimetric Synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) image, with the discrimination capability between different scattering mechanisms, is a powerful tool for environmental monitoring applications. This paper proposes a new boundary-based segmentation algorithm as a fundamental step for land cover change detection. In this method, first, two PolSAR images are segmented using integration of marker-controlled watershed algorithm and coupled Markov random field (MRF). Then, object-based classification is performed to determine changed/no changed image objects. Compared with pixel-based support vector machine (SVM) classifier, this novel segmentation algorithm significantly reduces the speckle effect in PolSAR images and improves the accuracy of binary classification in object-based level. The experimental results on Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) polarimetric images show a 3% and 6% improvement in overall accuracy and kappa coefficient, respectively. Also, the proposed method can correctly distinguish homogeneous image parcels.

Keywords: Coupled Markov random field, environment, object-based analysis, Polarimetric SAR images.

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Authors: V. Santamarina Campos, M. de Miguel Molina, B. de Miguel Molina, M. Á. Carabal Montagud

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With this contribution, we want to show a successful example of the application of the Design Thinking methodology, in the European project 'Technology transfer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for the creative industry'. The use of this methodology has allowed us to design and build a drone, based on the real needs of prospective users. It has demonstrated that this is a powerful tool for generating innovative ideas in the field of robotics, by focusing its effectiveness on understanding and solving real user needs. In this way, with the support of an interdisciplinary team, comprised of creatives, engineers and economists, together with the collaboration of prospective users from three European countries, a non-linear work dynamic has been created. This teamwork has generated a sense of appreciation towards the creative industries, through continuously adaptive, inventive, and playful collaboration and communication, which has facilitated the development of prototypes. These have been designed to enable filming and photography in interior spaces, within 13 sectors of European creative industries: Advertising, Architecture, Fashion, Film, Antiques and Museums, Music, Photography, Televison, Performing Arts, Publishing, Arts and Crafts, Design and Software. Furthermore, it has married the real needs of the creative industries, with what is technologically and commercially viable. As a result, a product of great value has been obtained, which offers new business opportunities for small companies across this sector.

Keywords: Design thinking, design for effectiveness, methodology, active toolkit, storyboards, storytelling, PAR, focus group, innovation, RPAS, indoor drone, robotics, TRL, aerial film, creative industries, end-users.

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Authors: Syed Zohaib Javaid Zaidi, W. Iqbal

Abstract:

The industrial automation is dependent upon pneumatic control systems. The industrial units are now controlled with digital control systems to tackle the process variables like Temperature, Pressure, Flow rates and Composition.

This research work produces an evaluation of the response time fluctuations for proportional mode, proportional integral and proportional integral derivative modes of automated chemical process control. The controller output is measured for different values of gain with respect to time in three modes (P, PI and PID). In case of P-mode for different values of gain the controller output has negligible change. When the controller output of PI-mode is checked for constant gain, it can be seen that by decreasing the integral time the controller output has showed more fluctuations. The PID mode results have found to be more interesting in a way that when rate minute has changed, the controller output has also showed fluctuations with respect to time.  The controller output for integral mode and derivative mode are observed with lesser steady state error, minimum offset and larger response time to control the process variable.   The tuning parameters in case of P-mode are only steady state gain with greater errors with respect to controller output. The integral mode showed controller outputs with intermediate responses during integral gain (ki).  By increasing the rate minute the derivative gain (kd) also increased which showed the controlled oscillations in case of PID mode and lesser overshoot.

Keywords: Controller Output, P, PI &PID modes, Steady state gain.

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Authors: Yanping Liao, Congcong He, Ruigang Zhao

Abstract:

The application of magnetocardiography signals to detect cardiac electrical function is a new technology developed in recent years. The magnetocardiography signal is detected with Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUID) and has considerable advantages over electrocardiography (ECG). It is difficult to extract Magnetocardiography (MCG) signal which is buried in the noise, which is a critical issue to be resolved in cardiac monitoring system and MCG applications. In order to remove the severe background noise, the Total Variation (TV) regularization method is proposed to denoise MCG signal. The approach transforms the denoising problem into a minimization optimization problem and the Majorization-minimization algorithm is applied to iteratively solve the minimization problem. However, traditional TV regularization method tends to cause step effect and lacks constraint adaptability. In this paper, an improved TV regularization method for denoising MCG signal is proposed to improve the denoising precision. The improvement of this method is mainly divided into three parts. First, high-order TV is applied to reduce the step effect, and the corresponding second derivative matrix is used to substitute the first order. Then, the positions of the non-zero elements in the second order derivative matrix are determined based on the peak positions that are detected by the detection window. Finally, adaptive constraint parameters are defined to eliminate noises and preserve signal peak characteristics. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that this algorithm can effectively improve the output signal-to-noise ratio and has superior performance.

Keywords: Constraint parameters, derivative matrix, magnetocardiography, regular term, total variation.

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Authors: Doori Song, Hyun-Ji Lim, Yoo Jin Chung

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Some believe that stigma is the worst side effect of the people who have mental illness. Mental illness researchers have focused on the influence of mass media on the stigmatization of the people with mental illness. However, no studies have investigated the effects of the interactive media, such as blogs, on the stigmatization of mentally ill people, even though the media have a significant influence on people in all areas of life. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of interactivity in destigmatization of the mentally ill and the moderating effect of self-construal (independent versus interdependent self-construal) on the relation between interactivity and destigmatization. The findings suggested that people in the human-human interaction condition had less social distance toward people with mental illness. Additionally, participants with higher independence showed more favorable affection and less social distance toward mentally ill people. Finally, direct contact with mentally ill people increased a person-s positive affect toward people with mental illness. The current study should provide insights for mental health practitioners by suggesting how they can use interactive media to approach the public that stigmatizes the mentally ill.

Keywords: Mental health, destigmatization, interactivity, selfconstrual

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Authors: V. A. C. Vale, E. T. L. Cöuras Ford

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The use of optical technologies in the telecommunications has been increasing due to its ability to transmit large amounts of data over long distances. However, as in all systems of data transmission, optical communication channels suffer from undesirable and non-deterministic effects, being essential to know the same. Thus, this research allows the assessment of these effects, as well as their characterization and beneficial uses of these effects.

Keywords: Optical communication, optical fiber, non-deterministic effects.

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Authors: Asli Yagmur Akbulut

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Despite a robust and growing job market and lucrative salaries, there is a global shortage of Information Technology (IT) professionals. To make matters worse, women continue to be underrepresented in the IT workforce and among IT degree holders. In today’s knowledge based economy and society, it is extremely important to increase the presence of women in the IT field. In order to do so, it is necessary to reduce entry barriers and attract more women to pursue degrees in various IT fields including the field of Management Information Systems (MIS). Even though MIS is considered to have a more feminine nature, women still tend to avoid majoring in this field. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research that investigates the specific factors that may deter women from pursuing a degree in MIS. To address this research gap, this study examined a set of key environmental barriers that might prevent women from pursuing an MIS degree and explored whether there were any gender differences between female and male students in terms of these key barriers. Based on a survey of 280 students enrolled in an introductory level MIS course, the study empirically confirmed that there were significant differences between male and female students in terms of the key contextual barriers perceived. Female students demonstrated major concerns about gender discrimination related barriers, whereas male students were more concerned about negative social influences. Both male and female students were equally concerned about not being able to fit in well with other MIS majors. The findings have important implications for MIS programs, as the information gained can be used to design and implement specific intervention strategies to overcome the barriers and attract larger pools of women to the MIS discipline. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings, implications, and future research directions.

Keywords: Gender differences, MIS major, underrepresentation, women in IT.

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Authors: C. Galasso

Abstract:

The ancestral relationship between humans and geographical environment has long been at the center of an interdisciplinary dialogue, which sees one of its main research nodes in the relationship between memory and places. Given its deep complexity, this symbiotic connection continues to look for a proper definition that appears increasingly negotiated by different disciplines. Numerous fields of knowledge are involved, from anthropology to semiotics of space, from photography to architecture, up to subjects traditionally far from these reasonings. This is the case of Design of Communication, a young discipline, now confident in itself and its objectives, aimed at finding and investigating original forms of visualization and representation, between sedimented knowledge and new technologies. In particular, Design of Communication for the Territory offers an alternative perspective to the debate, encouraging the reactivation and reconstruction of the memory of places. Recognizing mnemotopes as a cultural object of vertical interpretation of the memory-place relationship, design can become a real mediator of the territorial fixation of memories, making them increasingly accessible and perceptible, contributing to build a topography of memory. According to a mnemotopic vision, Communication Design can support the passage from a memory in which the observer participates only as an individual to a collective form of memory. A mnemotopic form of Communication Design can, through geolocation and content map-based systems, make chronology a topography rooted in the territory and practicable; it can be useful to understand how the perception of the memory of places changes over time, considering how to insert them in the contemporary world. Mnemotopes can be materialized in different format of translation, editing and narration and then involved in complex systems of communication. The memory of places, therefore, if stabilized by the tools offered by Communication Design, can make visible ruins and territorial stratifications, illuminating them with new communicative interests that can be shared and participated.

Keywords: Memory of places, design of communication, territory, mnemotope, topography of memory.

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