Search results for: management of human resources
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5162

Search results for: management of human resources

2252 Wash Fastness of Textile Fibers Dyed with Natural Dye from Eucalyptus Wood Steaming Waste

Authors: Ticiane Rossi, Maurício C. Araújo, José O. Brito, Harold S. Freeman

Abstract:

Natural dyes are gaining interest due their expected low risk to human health and to the environment. In this study, the wash fastness of a natural coloring matter from the liquid waste produced in the steam treatment of eucalyptus wood in textile fabrics was investigated. Specifically, eucalyptus wood extract was used to dye cotton, nylon and wool in an exhaust dyeing process without the addition of the traditional mordanting agents and then submitted to wash fastness analysis. The resulting dyed fabrics were evaluated for color fastness. It was found that wash fastness of dyed fabrics was very good to cotton and excellent to nylon and wool.

Keywords: Eucalyptus, natural dye, textile fibers, wash fastness.

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2251 Blockchain for Decentralized Finance: Impact, Challenges and Remediation

Authors: Rishabh Garg

Abstract:

Blockchain technology can allow remote, untrusted parties in the banking and financial sector to reach consensus on the state of databases without the involvement of gatekeepers. Like a bookkeeper, it can manage all financial transactions including payments, settlements, fundraising, securities management, loans, credits and trade finance. It can outperform existing systems in terms of identity verification, asset transfers, peer-to-peer transfers, hedge funds, security and auditability. Blockchain-based decentralized finance (DeFi) is a new financial protocol. Being open and programmable, it enables various DeFi use-cases, including asset management, tokenization, tokenized derivatives, decentralized autonomous organizations, data analysis and valuation, payments, lending and borrowing, insurance, margin trading, prediction market, gambling and yield-farming, etc. In addition, it can ease financial transactions, cash-flow, use of programmable currency, no-loss lotteries, etc. This paper aims to assess the potential of decentralized finance by leveraging the blockchain-enabled Ethereum platform as an alternative to traditional finance. The study also aims to find out the impact of decentralized finance on prediction markets, quadratic funding and crowd-funding, together with the potential challenges and solutions associated with its implementation.

Keywords: Advance trading, crowd funding, exchange tokens, fund aggregation, margin trading, quadratic funding, smart contracts, streaming money, token derivatives.

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2250 Natural Gas Sweetening by Wetted-Wire Column

Authors: Sarah Taheri, Shahram Ghanbari Pakdehi, Arash Rezaei

Abstract:

Natural gas usually includes H2S component which is very toxic, hazardous and corrosive to environment, human being and process equipments, respectively. Therefore, sweetening of the gas (separation of H2S) is inevitable. To achieve this purpose, using packed-bed columns with liquid absorbents such as MEA or DEA is very common. Due to some problems of usual packed columns especially high pressure drop of gas phase, a novel kind of them called wetted-wire column (WWC) has been invented. The column decreases the pressure drop significantly and improves the absorption efficiency. The packings are very thin rods (like wire) and as long as column. The column has 100 wires with a triangular arrangement and counter current flows of gas and liquid phases. The observation showed that at the same conditions, the absorption performance was quite comparable to conventional packed-bed towers and a very low pressure drop.

Keywords: H2S, Natural gas, separation, wetted-wire column (WWC).

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2249 UV Resistibility of a Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced Polymer Composite

Authors: A. Evcin, N. Çiçek Bezir, R. Duman, N. Duman

Abstract:

Nowadays, a great concern is placed on the harmfulness of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) which attacks human bodies. Nanocarbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and graphene, have been considered promising alternatives to shielding materials because of their excellent electrical conductivities, very high surface areas and low densities. In the present work, carbon nanofibers have been synthesized from solutions of Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/ N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) by electrospinning method. The carbon nanofibers have been stabilized by oxidation at 250 °C for 2 h in air and carbonized at 750 °C for 1 h in H2/N2. We present the fabrication and characterization of transparent and ultraviolet (UV) shielding CNF/polymer composites. The content of CNF filler has been varied from 0.2% to 0.6 % by weight. UV Spectroscopy has been performed to study the effect of composition on the transmittance of polymer composites.

Keywords: Electrospinning, carbon nanofiber, characterization, composites, nanofiber, ultraviolet radiation.

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2248 Sociodemographic Risk Factors of Cervical Cancer in Imphal, Manipur

Authors: Arundhati Devi Maibam, K. Ingocha Singh

Abstract:

Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early. Determination of risk factors is essential to plan screening programmes to prevent the disease. To study the demographic risk factors of cervical cancer among Manipuri women, information on age, marital status, educational level, monthly family income and socioeconomic status were collected through a pre-tested interview schedule. In this study, 64 incident cases registered at the RT Dept, RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences), Imphal, Manipur, India during 2008-09 participated. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and the results were expressed in percentages. Among the 64 patients with cervical cancer, 56 (88.9%) were in the age group of 40+ years. The majority of the patients were from rural areas (68.75%) and 31.25% were from urban areas. The majority of the patients were Hindus (73%), 55(85.9%) were of low educational level, 43(67.2%) were married, and 36 (56.25%) belonged to Class IV socioeconomic status. In conclusion, if detected early, cervical cancer is preventable and curable. The potential risk factors need to be identified and women in the risk group need to be motivated for screening. Affordable screening programmes and health care resources will help in lessening the burden of the disease.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Manipuri women, RIIMS, Socio-demographic risk factors.

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2247 PetriNets Manipulation to Reduce Roaming Duration: Criterion to Improve Handoff Management

Authors: Hossam el-ddin Mostafa, Pavel Čičak

Abstract:

IETF RFC 2002 originally introduced the wireless Mobile-IP protocol to support portable IP addresses for mobile devices that often change their network access points to the Internet. The inefficiency of this protocol mainly within the handoff management produces large end-to-end packet delays, during registration process, and further degrades the system efficiency due to packet losses between subnets. The criterion to initiate a simple and fast full-duplex connection between the home agent and foreign agent, to reduce the roaming duration, is a very important issue to be considered by a work in this paper. State-transition Petri-Nets of the modeling scenario-based CIA: communication inter-agents procedure as an extension to the basic Mobile-IP registration process was designed and manipulated. The heuristic of configuration file during practical Setup session for registration parameters, on Cisco platform Router-1760 using IOS 12.3 (15)T is created. Finally, stand-alone performance simulations results from Simulink Matlab, within each subnet and also between subnets, are illustrated for reporting better end-to-end packet delays. Results verified the effectiveness of our Mathcad analytical manipulation and experimental implementation. It showed lower values of end-to-end packet delay for Mobile-IP using CIA procedure. Furthermore, it reported packets flow between subnets to improve packet losses between subnets.

Keywords: Cisco configuration, handoff, packet delay, Petri-Nets, registration process, Simulink.

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2246 Performance Evaluation of a Diesel Engine Fueled with Methyl Ester of shea Butter

Authors: Christopher C. Enweremadu, Hilary L. Rutto, Najeem Peleowo

Abstract:

Biodiesel as an alternative fuel for diesel engines has been developed for some three decades now. While it is gaining wide acceptance in Europe, USA and some parts of Asia, the same cannot be said of Africa. With more than 35 countries in the continent depending on imported crude oil, it is necessary to look for alternative fuels which can be produced from resources available locally within any country. Hence this study presents performance of single cylinder diesel engine using blends of shea butter biodiesel. Shea butter was transformed into biodiesel by transesterification process. Tests are conducted to compare the biodiesel with baseline diesel fuel in terms of engine performance and exhaust emission characteristics. The results obtained showed that the addition of biodiesel to diesel fuel decreases the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and increases the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC). These results are expected due to the lower energy content of biodiesel fuel. On the other hand while the NOx emissions increased with increase in biodiesel content in the fuel blends, the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), un-burnt hydrocarbon (UHC) and smoke opacity decreased. The engine performance which indicates that the biodiesel has properties and characteristics similar to diesel fuel and the reductions in exhaust emissions make shea butter biodiesel a viable additive or substitute to diesel fuel.

Keywords: Biodiesel, diesel engine, engine performance and emission, shea butter, transesterification

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2245 Measuring of Urban Sustainability in Town Planners Practice

Authors: J. Zagorskas, I. Veteikyte

Abstract:

Physical urban form is recognized to be the media for human transactions. It directly influences the travel demand of people in a specific urban area and the amount of energy used for transportation. Distorted, sprawling form often creates sustainability problems in urban areas. It is declared in EU strategic planning documents that compact urban form and mixed land use pattern must be given the main focus to achieve better sustainability in urban areas, but the methods to measure and compare these characteristics are still not clear. This paper presents the simple methods to measure the spatial characteristics of urban form by analyzing the location and distribution of objects in an urban environment. The extended CA (cellular automata) model is used to simulate urban development scenarios.

Keywords: Cellular automata (CA), Mixed used planning, Spatial analysis, Urban compactness, Geographic information systems (GIS).

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2244 Neuron-Based Control Mechanisms for a Robotic Arm and Hand

Authors: Nishant Singh, Christian Huyck, Vaibhav Gandhi, Alexander Jones

Abstract:

A robotic arm and hand controlled by simulated neurons is presented. The robot makes use of a biological neuron simulator using a point neural model. The neurons and synapses are organised to create a finite state automaton including neural inputs from sensors, and outputs to effectors. The robot performs a simple pick-and-place task. This work is a proof of concept study for a longer term approach. It is hoped that further work will lead to more effective and flexible robots. As another benefit, it is hoped that further work will also lead to a better understanding of human and other animal neural processing, particularly for physical motion. This is a multidisciplinary approach combining cognitive neuroscience, robotics, and psychology.

Keywords: Robot, neuron, cell assembly, spiking neuron, force sensitive resistor.

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2243 Face Tracking using a Polling Strategy

Authors: Rodrigo Montufar-Chaveznava

Abstract:

The colors of the human skin represent a special category of colors, because they are distinctive from the colors of other natural objects. This category is found as a cluster in color spaces, and the skin color variations between people are mostly due to differences in the intensity. Besides, the face detection based on skin color detection is a faster method as compared to other techniques. In this work, we present a system to track faces by carrying out skin color detection in four different color spaces: HSI, YCbCr, YES and RGB. Once some skin color regions have been detected for each color space, we label each and get some characteristics such as size and position. We are supposing that a face is located in one the detected regions. Next, we compare and employ a polling strategy between labeled regions to determine the final region where the face effectively has been detected and located.

Keywords: Tracking, face detection, image processing, colorspaces.

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2242 An Integrated Natural Language Processing Approach for Conversation System

Authors: Zhi Teng, Ye Liu, Fuji Ren

Abstract:

The main aim of this research is to investigate a novel technique for implementing a more natural and intelligent conversation system. Conversation systems are designed to converse like a human as much as their intelligent allows. Sometimes, we can think that they are the embodiment of Turing-s vision. It usually to return a predetermined answer in a predetermined order, but conversations abound with uncertainties of various kinds. This research will focus on an integrated natural language processing approach. This approach includes an integrated knowledge-base construction module, a conversation understanding and generator module, and a state manager module. We discuss effectiveness of this approach based on an experiment.

Keywords: Conversation System, integrated knowledge-base construction, conversation understanding and generator, state manager

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2241 Automatic Generating CNC-Code for Milling Machine

Authors: Chalakorn Chitsaart, Suchada Rianmora, Mann Rattana-Areeyagon, Wutichai Namjaiprasert

Abstract:

G-code is the main factor in computer numerical control (CNC) machine for controlling the toolpaths and generating the profile of the object’s features. For obtaining high surface accuracy of the surface finish, non-stop operation is required for CNC machine. Recently, to design a new product, the strategy that concerns about a change that has low impact on business and does not consume lot of resources has been introduced. Cost and time for designing minor changes can be reduced since the traditional geometric details of the existing models are applied. In order to support this strategy as the alternative channel for machining operation, this research proposes the automatic generating codes for CNC milling operation. Using this technique can assist the manufacturer to easily change the size and the geometric shape of the product during the operation where the time spent for setting up or processing the machine are reduced. The algorithm implemented on MATLAB platform is developed by analyzing and evaluating the geometric information of the part. Codes are created rapidly to control the operations of the machine. Comparing to the codes obtained from CAM, this developed algorithm can shortly generate and simulate the cutting profile of the part.

Keywords: Geometric shapes, Milling operation, Minor changes, CNC Machine, G-code, and Cutting parameters.

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2240 In Cognitive Radio the Analysis of Bit-Error- Rate (BER) by using PSO Algorithm

Authors: Shrikrishan Yadav, Akhilesh Saini, Krishna Chandra Roy

Abstract:

The electromagnetic spectrum is a natural resource and hence well-organized usage of the limited natural resources is the necessities for better communication. The present static frequency allocation schemes cannot accommodate demands of the rapidly increasing number of higher data rate services. Therefore, dynamic usage of the spectrum must be distinguished from the static usage to increase the availability of frequency spectrum. Cognitive radio is not a single piece of apparatus but it is a technology that can incorporate components spread across a network. It offers great promise for improving system efficiency, spectrum utilization, more effective applications, reduction in interference and reduced complexity of usage for users. Cognitive radio is aware of its environmental, internal state, and location, and autonomously adjusts its operations to achieve designed objectives. It first senses its spectral environment over a wide frequency band, and then adapts the parameters to maximize spectrum efficiency with high performance. This paper only focuses on the analysis of Bit-Error-Rate in cognitive radio by using Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm. It is theoretically as well as practically analyzed and interpreted in the sense of advantages and drawbacks and how BER affects the efficiency and performance of the communication system.

Keywords: BER, Cognitive Radio, Environmental Parameters, PSO, Radio spectrum, Transmission Parameters

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2239 Obstruction to Treatments Meeting International Standards for Lyme and Relapsing Fever Borreliosis Patients

Authors: J. Luché-Thayer, C. Perronne, C. Meseko

Abstract:

We reviewed how certain institutional policies and practices, as well as questionable research, are creating obstacles to care and informed consent for Lyme and relapsing fever Borreliosis patients. The interference is denying access to treatments that meet the internationally accepted standards as set by the Institute of Medicine. This obstruction to care contributes to significant human suffering, disability and negative economic effect across many nations and in many regions of the world. We note how evidence based medicine emphasizes the importance of clinical experience and patient-centered care and how these patients benefit significantly when their rights to choose among treatment options are upheld.  

Keywords: Conflicts of interest, obstacles to healthcare accessibility, patient-centered care, the right to informed consent.

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2238 Image Processing Using Color and Object Information for Wireless Capsule Endoscopy

Authors: Jin-Hee Park, Yong-Gyu Lee, Gilwon Yoon

Abstract:

Wireless capsule endoscopy provides real-time images in the digestive tract. Capsule images are usually low resolution and are diverse images due to travel through various regions of human body. Color information has been a primary reference in predicting abnormalities such as bleeding. Often color is not sufficient for this purpose. In this study, we took morphological shapes into account as additional, but important criterion. First, we processed gastric images in order to indentify various objects in the image. Then, we analyzed color information in the object. In this way, we could remove unnecessary information and increase the accuracy. Compared to our previous investigations, we could handle images of various degrees of brightness and improve our diagnostic algorithm.

Keywords: Capsule Endoscopy, HSV model, Image processing, Object Identification, Color Separation.

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2237 Emulation of a Wind Turbine Using Induction Motor Driven by Field Oriented Control

Authors: L. Benaaouinate, M. Khafallah, A. Martinez, A. Mesbahi, T. Bouragba

Abstract:

This paper concerns with the modeling, simulation, and emulation of a wind turbine emulator for standalone wind energy conversion systems. By using emulation system, we aim to reproduce the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine torque on the generator shaft: it provides the testing facilities to optimize generator control strategies in a controlled environment, without reliance on natural resources. The aerodynamic, mechanical, electrical models have been detailed as well as the control of pitch angle using Fuzzy Logic for horizontal axis wind turbines. The wind turbine emulator consists mainly of an induction motor with AC power drive with torque control. The control of the induction motor and the mathematical models of the wind turbine are designed with MATLAB/Simulink environment. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the induction motor control system and the functionality of the wind turbine emulator for providing all necessary parameters of the wind turbine system such as wind speed, output torque, power coefficient and tip speed ratio. The findings are of direct practical relevance.

Keywords: Wind turbine, modeling, emulator, electrical generator, renewable energy, induction motor drive, field oriented control, real time control, wind turbine emulator, pitch angle control.

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2236 Mutual Authentication for Sensor-to-Sensor Communications in IoT Infrastructure

Authors: Shadi Janbabaei, Hossein Gharaee Garakani, Naser Mohammadzadeh

Abstract:

Internet of things is a new concept that its emergence has caused ubiquity of sensors in human life, so that at any time, all data are collected, processed and transmitted by these sensors. In order to establish a secure connection, the first challenge is authentication between sensors. However, this challenge also requires some features so that the authentication is done properly. Anonymity, untraceability, and being lightweight are among the issues that need to be considered. In this paper, we have evaluated the authentication protocols and have analyzed the security vulnerabilities found in them. Then an improved light weight authentication protocol for sensor-to-sensor communications is presented which uses the hash function and logical operators. The analysis of protocol shows that security requirements have been met and the protocol is resistant against various attacks. In the end, by decreasing the number of computational cost functions, it is argued that the protocol is lighter than before.

Keywords: Anonymity, authentication, Internet of Things, lightweight, untraceablity.

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2235 A Tool for Audio Quality Evaluation Under Hostile Environment

Authors: Akhil Kumar Arya, Jagdeep Singh Lather, Lillie Dewan

Abstract:

In this paper is to evaluate audio and speech quality with the help of Digital Audio Watermarking Technique under the different types of attacks (signal impairments) like Gaussian Noise, Compression Error and Jittering Effect. Further attacks are considered as Hostile Environment. Audio and Speech Quality Evaluation is an important research topic. The traditional way for speech quality evaluation is using subjective tests. They are reliable, but very expensive, time consuming, and cannot be used in certain applications such as online monitoring. Objective models, based on human perception, were developed to predict the results of subjective tests. The existing objective methods require either the original speech or complicated computation model, which makes some applications of quality evaluation impossible.

Keywords: Digital Watermarking, DCT, Speech Quality, Attacks.

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2234 Interdisciplinarity: A Pedagogical Practice in the Classrooms

Authors: C. Cruz, A. Breda

Abstract:

The world is changing and, consequently, the young people need to acquire more sophisticated tools and skills to lead with the new societies’ challenges. In the curriculum of the Portuguese education system, in the profile of students leaving compulsory education, the critical thinking and creative thinking are pointed out as skills to be developed, as well as the capacity of interconnect different knowledge and applicate them in different contexts and learning areas. Unlike primary school teachers, teachers specialized in a specific area sometimes reveal more difficulties in developing interdisciplinary approaches in the classrooms and, despite the effort, the interdisciplinarity is not a common practice in schools. Statements like "Mathematics is everywhere" are unquestionable, however, some math teachers continue to develop an abstract teaching of mathematics devoid of any connection with reality. Good mathematical problems in real contexts are promising in the development of interdisciplinary pedagogical practices. However, these problems are often addressed by teachers in multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary contexts or are not addressed at all due several reasons, which range from insecurity in working on disciplinary domains with which they are not comfortable to a lack of pedagogical resources. In this study this issue is approached through a case study involving Mathematics teachers, which, in their professional development scope, attended a training aimed at stimulating interdisciplinary practices in real contexts, namely related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Interdisciplinarity, Mathematics, professional development, teacher training.

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2233 A Comparative Analysis Approach Based on Fuzzy AHP, TOPSIS and PROMETHEE for the Selection Problem of GSCM Solutions

Authors: Omar Boutkhoum, Mohamed Hanine, Abdessadek Bendarag

Abstract:

Sustainable economic growth is nowadays driving firms to extend toward the adoption of many green supply chain management (GSCM) solutions. However, the evaluation and selection of these solutions is a matter of concern that needs very serious decisions, involving complexity owing to the presence of various associated factors. To resolve this problem, a comparative analysis approach based on multi-criteria decision-making methods is proposed for adequate evaluation of sustainable supply chain management solutions. In the present paper, we propose an integrated decision-making model based on FAHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process), TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for Enrichment Evaluations) to contribute to a better understanding and development of new sustainable strategies for industrial organizations. Due to the varied importance of the selected criteria, FAHP is used to identify the evaluation criteria and assign the importance weights for each criterion, while TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods employ these weighted criteria as inputs to evaluate and rank the alternatives. The main objective is to provide a comparative analysis based on TOPSIS and PROMETHEE processes to help make sound and reasoned decisions related to the selection problem of GSCM solution.

Keywords: GSCM solutions, multi-criteria analysis, FAHP, TOPSIS, PROMETHEE, decision support system.

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2232 Identification of Critical Success Factors in Non-Formal Service Sector Using Delphi Technique

Authors: Amol A. Talankar, Prakash Verma, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for the effective implementation of Six Sigma in non-formal service Sectors.

Based on the survey of literature, the critical success factors (CSFs) for Six Sigma have been identified and are assessed for their importance in Non-formal service sector using Delphi Technique. These selected CSFs were put forth to the panel of expert to cluster them and prepare cognitive map to establish their relationship.

All the critical success factors examined and obtained from the review of literature have been assessed for their importance with respect to their contribution to Six Sigma effectiveness in non formal service sector.

The study is limited to the non-formal service sectors involved in the organization of religious festival only. However, the similar exercise can be conducted for broader sample of other non-formal service sectors like temple/ashram management, religious tours management etc.

The research suggests an approach to identify CSFs of Six Sigma for Non-formal service sector. All the CSFs of the formal service sector will not be applicable to Non-formal services, hence opinion of experts was sought to add or delete the CSFs. In the first round of Delphi, the panel of experts has suggested, two new CSFs-“competitive benchmarking (F19) and resident’s involvement (F28)”, which were added for assessment in the next round of Delphi.  One of the CSFs-“fulltime six sigma personnel (F15)” has been omitted in proposed clusters of CSFs for non-formal organization, as it is practically impossible to deploy full time trained Six Sigma recruits.

Keywords: Critical success factors (CSFs), Quality assurance, non-formal service sectors, Six Sigma.

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2231 Aggressive Interactions in Hospital Emergency Units

Authors: C. Blatier, M. El Methni, F. Carpentier, S. Abdellaoui, C. Kock, M. Maillard

Abstract:

International literature emphasizes on the concern regarding the phenomenon of aggression in hospital. This paper focuses on the reality of aggressive interactions reigning within an emergency triage involving three chaps of protagonists: the professionals, the patients and their carers. The data collection was made from a grid of observation, in which the various variables exposed in the literature were integrated. They observations took place around the clock, for three weeks, at the rate of one week a month. In this research 331 aggressive interactions have been listed and analyzed by means of the software SPSS. This research is one of the very few continuous observation surveys in the literature. It shows the various human factors at play in the emergence of aggressive interaction. The data may be used both for taking steps in primary prevention, thanks to the analysis of interaction modes, and in secondary prevention by integrating the useful results in situational prevention.

Keywords: Aggressive interaction, emergency unit, observational study.

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2230 Quantitative Quality Assessment of Microscopic Image Mosaicing

Authors: Alessandro Bevilacqua, Alessandro Gherardi, Filippo Piccinini

Abstract:

The mosaicing technique has been employed in more and more application fields, from entertainment to scientific ones. In the latter case, often the final evaluation is still left to human beings, that assess visually the quality of the mosaic. Many times, a lack of objective measurements in microscopic mosaicing may prevent the mosaic from being used as a starting image for further analysis. In this work we analyze three different metrics and indexes, in the domain of signal analysis, image analysis and visual quality, to measure the quality of different aspects of the mosaicing procedure, such as registration errors and visual quality. As the case study we consider the mosaicing algorithm we developed. The experiments have been carried out by considering mosaics with very different features: histological samples, that are made of detailed and contrasted images, and live stem cells, that show a very low contrast and low detail levels.

Keywords: Mosaicing, quality assessment, microscopy, stem cells.

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2229 Representing Uncertainty in Computer-Generated Forces

Authors: Ruibiao J. Guo, Brad Cain, Pierre Meunier

Abstract:

The Integrated Performance Modelling Environment (IPME) is a powerful simulation engine for task simulation and performance analysis. However, it has no high level cognition such as memory and reasoning for complex simulation. This article introduces a knowledge representation and reasoning scheme that can accommodate uncertainty in simulations of military personnel with IPME. This approach demonstrates how advanced reasoning models that support similarity-based associative process, rule-based abstract process, multiple reasoning methods and real-time interaction can be integrated with conventional task network modelling to provide greater functionality and flexibility when modelling operator performance.

Keywords: Computer-Generated Forces, Human Behaviour Representation, IPME, Modelling and Simulation, Uncertainty Reasoning

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2228 A SiGe Low Power RF Front-End Receiver for 5.8GHz Wireless Biomedical Application

Authors: Hyunwon Moon

Abstract:

It is necessary to realize new biomedical wireless communication systems which send the signals collected from various bio sensors located at human body in order to monitor our health. Also, it should seamlessly connect to the existing wireless communication systems. A 5.8 GHz ISM band low power RF front-end receiver for a biomedical wireless communication system is implemented using a 0.5 µm SiGe BiCMOS process. To achieve low power RF front-end, the current optimization technique for selecting device size is utilized. The implemented low noise amplifier (LNA) shows a power gain of 9.8 dB, a noise figure (NF) of below 1.75 dB, and an IIP3 of higher than 7.5 dBm while current consumption is only 6 mA at supply voltage of 2.5 V. Also, the performance of a down-conversion mixer is measured as a conversion gain of 11 dB and SSB NF of 10 dB.

Keywords: Biomedical, low noise amplifier, mixer, receiver, RF front-end, SiGe.

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2227 Enhancement of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Properties by Mechanical Treatment and Verification in Concrete Mixes with Replacement up to 100%

Authors: Iveta Nováková, Martin-Andrè S. Husby, Boy-Arne Buyle

Abstract:

The building industry has one of the most significant contributions to global warming due to the production of building materials, transportation, building activities, and demolition of structures when they reach the end of their life. Implementation of circular material flow and circular economy can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses and simultaneously reduce the need for natural resources. The use of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) is one of the possibilities for reducing the depletion of raw materials for concrete production. Concrete is the most used building material worldwide, and aggregates constitute large part of its volume. RCA can replace a certain amount of natural aggregates (NA), and concrete will still perform as required. The aim of this scientific paper is to evaluate RCA properties with and without mechanical treatment. Analysis of RCA itself will be followed by compressive strength of concrete containing various amounts of treated and non-treated RCA. Results showed improvement in compressive strength of the mix with mechanically treated RCA compared to standard RCA, and even the strength of concrete with mechanically treated RCA in dose 50% of coarse aggregates was higher than the reference mix by 4%. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that integration of RCA in industrial concrete production is feasible, at a replacement ratio of 50% for mechanically treated RCA and 30% if untreated RCA is used, without affecting the compressive strength negatively.

Keywords: Recycled concrete aggregates, RCA, mechanical treatment, aggregate properties, compression strength.

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2226 Constitutional Complaint as an Instrument of Fulfilling the Worker ׳s Rights in Croatian Legal System

Authors: Dragana Bjelić, Mirela Mezak Stastny

Abstract:

This paper begins with formal defining of human rights and freedoms, and the basic document regarding the said subject is undoubtedly French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 789. This paper furthermore parses legal sources relevant for the workers' rights in legal system of the Republic of Croatia, international contracts and the Labour Act, which is also a master bill regarding workers' rights The authors are also dealing with issues of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia and its' position in judicial system of the Republic of Croatia, as well as with the specifics of Constitutional Complaint, and the crucial part of the paper is based on the research conducted with an aim to determine implementation of rights and liberties guaranteed by the articles 54. and 55. of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia by means of Constitutional Complaint.

Keywords: a right to work, a freedom of work, Constitutional Court of Republic of Croatia, Constitutional Complaint.

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2225 Auto Classification for Search Intelligence

Authors: Lilac A. E. Al-Safadi

Abstract:

This paper proposes an auto-classification algorithm of Web pages using Data mining techniques. We consider the problem of discovering association rules between terms in a set of Web pages belonging to a category in a search engine database, and present an auto-classification algorithm for solving this problem that are fundamentally based on Apriori algorithm. The proposed technique has two phases. The first phase is a training phase where human experts determines the categories of different Web pages, and the supervised Data mining algorithm will combine these categories with appropriate weighted index terms according to the highest supported rules among the most frequent words. The second phase is the categorization phase where a web crawler will crawl through the World Wide Web to build a database categorized according to the result of the data mining approach. This database contains URLs and their categories.

Keywords: Information Processing on the Web, Data Mining, Document Classification.

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2224 Modeling the Human Cardiovascular System with Aspecial Focus on the Heart Using Dymola

Authors: Stefanie Heinke, Carina Pereira, Jan Spillner, Steffen Leonhardt

Abstract:

Severe heart failure is a common problem that has a significant effect on health expenditures in industrialized countries; moreover it reduces patient-s quality of life. However, current research usually focuses either on detailed modeling of the heart or on detailed modeling of the cardiovascular system. Thus, this paper aims to present a sophisticated model of the heart enhanced with an extensive model of the cardiovascular system. Special interest is on the pressure and flow values close to the heart since these values are critical to accurately diagnose causes of heart failure. The model is implemented in Dymola an object-oriented, physical modeling language. Results achieved with the novel model show overall feasibility of the approach. Moreover, results are illustrated and compared to other models. The novel model shows significant improvements.

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, heart, modeling.

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2223 Intelligent Parking Systems for Quasi-Close Communities

Authors: Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole, Olumide Olawale Jegede

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental design and needs justifications for a localized intelligent parking system (L-IPS), ideal for quasi-close communities with increasing vehicular volume that depends on limited or constant parking facilities. For a constant supply in parking facilities, the demand for an increasing vehicular volume could lead to poor time conservation or extended travel time, traffic congestion or impeded mobility, and safety issues. Increased negative environmental and economic externalities are other associated and consequent downsides of disparities in demand and supply. This L-IPS is designed using a microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, LED indicators, such that the current status, in terms of parking spots availability, can be known from the main entrance to the community or a parking zone on a LCD screen. As an advanced traffic management system (ATMS), the L-IPS is designed to resolve aspects of infrastructure-to-driver (I2D) communication and parking detection issues. Thus, this L-IPS can act as a timesaver for users by helping them know the availability of parking spots. Providing on-time, informed routing, to a next preference or seamless moving to berth on the available spot on a proximate facility as the case may be. Its use could also increase safety and increase mobility, and fuel savings and costs, therefore, reducing negative environmental and economic externalities due to transportation systems.

Keywords: Intelligent parking systems, localized intelligent parking system, intelligent transport systems, advanced traffic management systems, infrastructure-to-drivers communication.

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