Search results for: Christopher Wilson
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 75

Search results for: Christopher Wilson

75 Prediction of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Dynamics in an Iowan Agriculture Watershed

Authors: Mohamed Elhakeem, A. N. Thanos Papanicolaou, Christopher Wilson, Yi-Jia Chang

Abstract:

In this study, a physically-based, modeling framework was developed to predict saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) dynamics in the Clear Creek Watershed (CCW), Iowa. The modeling framework integrated selected pedotransfer functions and watershed models with geospatial tools. A number of pedotransfer functions and agricultural watershed models were examined to select the appropriate models that represent the study site conditions. Models selection was based on statistical measures of the models’ errors compared to the Ksat field measurements conducted in the CCW under different soil, climate and land use conditions. The study has shown that the predictions of the combined pedotransfer function of Rosetta and the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) provided the best agreement to the measured Ksat values in the CCW compared to the other tested models. Therefore, Rosetta and WEPP were integrated with the Geographic Information System (GIS) tools for visualization of the data in forms of geospatial maps and prediction of Ksat variability in CCW due to the seasonal changes in climate and land use activities. 

Keywords: Saturated hydraulic conductivity, pedotransfer functions, watershed models, geospatial tools.

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74 New Multi-Solid Thermodynamic Model for the Prediction of Wax Formation

Authors: Ehsan Ghanaei, Feridun Esmaeilzadeh, Jamshid Fathi Kaljahi

Abstract:

In the previous multi-solid models,¤ò approach is used for the calculation of fugacity in the liquid phase. For the first time, in the proposed multi-solid thermodynamic model,γ approach has been used for calculation of fugacity in the liquid mixture. Therefore, some activity coefficient models have been studied that the results show that the predictive Wilson model is more appropriate than others. The results demonstrate γ approach using the predictive Wilson model is in more agreement with experimental data than the previous multi-solid models. Also, by this method, generates a new approach for presenting stability analysis in phase equilibrium calculations. Meanwhile, the run time in γ approach is less than the previous methods used ¤ò approach. The results of the new model present 0.75 AAD % (Average Absolute Deviation) from the experimental data which is less than the results error of the previous multi-solid models obviously.

Keywords: Multi-solid thermodynamic model, PredictiveWilson model, Wax formation.

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73 Mutation Analysis of the ATP7B Gene in 43 Vietnamese Wilson’s Disease Patients

Authors: Huong M. T. Nguyen, Hoa A. P. Nguyen, Mai P. T. Nguyen, Ngoc D. Ngo, Van T. Ta, Hai T. Le, Chi V. Phan

Abstract:

Wilson’s disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder of the copper metabolism, which is caused by a mutation in the copper-transporting P-type ATPase (ATP7B). The mechanism of this disease is the failure of hepatic excretion of copper to bile, and leads to copper deposits in the liver and other organs. The ATP7B gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 13 (13q14.3). This study aimed to investigate the gene mutation in the Vietnamese patients with WD, and make a presymptomatic diagnosis for their familial members. Forty-three WD patients and their 65 siblings were identified as having ATP7B gene mutations. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples; 21 exons and exon-intron boundaries of the ATP7B gene were analyzed by direct sequencing. We recognized four mutations ([R723=; H724Tfs*34], V1042Cfs*79, D1027H, and IVS6+3A>G) in the sum of 20 detectable mutations, accounting for 87.2% of the total. Mutation S105* was determined to have a high rate (32.6%) in this study. The hotspot regions of ATP7B were found at exons 2, 16, and 8, and intron 14, in 39.6 %, 11.6 %, 9.3%, and 7 % of patients, respectively. Among nine homozygote/compound heterozygote siblings of the patients with WD, three individuals were determined as asymptomatic by screening mutations of the probands. They would begin treatment after diagnosis. In conclusion, 20 different mutations were detected in 43 WD patients. Of this number, four novel mutations were explored, including [R723=; H724Tfs*34], V1042Cfs*79, D1027H, and IVS6+3A>G. The mutation S105* is the most prevalent and has been considered as a biomarker that can be used in a rapid detection assay for diagnosis of WD patients. Exons 2, 8, and 16, and intron 14 should be screened initially for WD patients in Vietnam. Based on risk profile for WD, genetic testing for presymptomatic patients is also useful in diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: ATP7B gene, mutation detection, presymptomatic diagnosis, Vietnamese Wilson’s disease.

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72 OSGi in Cloud Environments

Authors: Irina Astrova, Arne Koschel, Björn Siekmann, Mark Starrach, Christopher Tebbe, StefanWolf, Marc Schaaf

Abstract:

This paper deals with the combination of OSGi and cloud computing. Both technologies are mainly placed in the field of distributed computing. Therefore, it is discussed how different approaches from different institutions work. In addition, the approaches are compared to each other.

Keywords: Cloud computing, OSGi, distributed environments.

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71 A Conceptual Query-Driven Design Framework for Data Warehouse

Authors: Resmi Nair, Campbell Wilson, Bala Srinivasan

Abstract:

Data warehouse is a dedicated database used for querying and reporting. Queries in this environment show special characteristics such as multidimensionality and aggregation. Exploiting the nature of queries, in this paper we propose a query driven design framework. The proposed framework is general and allows a designer to generate a schema based on a set of queries.

Keywords: Conceptual schema, data warehouse, queries, requirements.

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70 ANDASA: A Web Environment for Artistic and Cultural Data Representation

Authors: Carole Salis, Marie F. Wilson, Fabrizio Murgia, Cristian Lai, Franco Atzori, Giulia M. Orrù

Abstract:

ANDASA is a knowledge management platform for the capitalization of knowledge and cultural assets for the artistic and cultural sectors. It was built based on the priorities expressed by the participating artists. Through mapping artistic activities and specificities, it enables to highlight various aspects of the artistic research and production. Such instrument will contribute to create networks and partnerships, as it enables to evidentiate who does what, in what field, using which methodology. The platform is accessible to network participants and to the general public.

Keywords: Cultural promotion, knowledge representation, cultural mapping, ICT.

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69 Analytical Modeling of Globular Protein-Ferritin in α-Helical Conformation: A White Noise Functional Approach

Authors: Vernie C. Convicto, Henry P. Aringa, Wilson I. Barredo

Abstract:

This study presents a conformational model of the helical structures of globular protein particularly ferritin in the framework of white noise path integral formulation by using Associated Legendre functions, Bessel and convolution of Bessel and trigonometric functions as modulating functions. The model incorporates chirality features of proteins and their helix-turn-helix sequence structural motif.

Keywords: Globular protein, modulating function, white noise, winding probability.

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68 Risk Monitoring through Traceability Information Model

Authors: Juan P. Zamora, Wilson Adarme, Laura Palacios

Abstract:

This paper shows a traceability framework for supply risk monitoring, beginning with the identification, analysis, and evaluation of the supply chain risk and focusing on the supply operations of the Health Care Institutions with oncology services in Bogota, Colombia. It includes a brief presentation of the state of the art of the Supply Chain Risk Management and traceability systems in logistics operations, and it concludes with the methodology to integrate the SCRM model with the traceability system.

Keywords: Supply risk, risk monitoring, supply chain risk management, cancer drugs, traceability systems.

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67 AGV Guidance System: An Application of Simple Active Contour for Visual Tracking

Authors: M.Asif, M.R.Arshad, P.A.Wilson

Abstract:

In this paper, a simple active contour based visual tracking algorithm is presented for outdoor AGV application which is currently under development at the USM robotic research group (URRG) lab. The presented algorithm is computationally low cost and able to track road boundaries in an image sequence and can easily be implemented on available low cost hardware. The proposed algorithm used an active shape modeling using the B-spline deformable template and recursive curve fitting method to track the current orientation of the road.

Keywords: Active contour, B-spline, recursive curve fitting.

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66 Deixis and Personalization in Ad Slogans

Authors: Anne A. Christopher

Abstract:

This study examines the use of the persuasive strategy of deixis and personalization in advertising slogans. This rhetorical/ stylistic and linguistic strategy has been found to be widely used in advertising slogans for over a century. A total of five hundred advertising slogans of multinational companies in both product and service sectors were obtained. The analysis reveals the 3 main components of this strategy as being deictic words, absolute uniqueness and personal pronouns. The percentage and mean of the use of the 3 components are tabulated. The findings show that advertisers have used this persuasive strategy in creative ways to persuade consumers to buy their products and services.

Keywords: Advertising slogans, deixis, personalization, persuasive strategy.

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65 Multi-board Run-time Reconfigurable Implementation of Intrinsic Evolvable Hardware

Authors: Cyrille Lambert, Tatiana Kalganova, Emanuele Stomeo, Manissa Wilson

Abstract:

A multi-board run-time reconfigurable (MRTR) system for evolvable hardware (EHW) is introduced with the aim to implement on hardware the bidirectional incremental evolution (BIE) method. The main features of this digital intrinsic EHW solution rely on the multi-board approach, the variable chromosome length management and the partial configuration of the reconfigurable circuit. These three features provide a high scalability to the solution. The design has been written in VHDL with the concern of not being platform dependant in order to keep a flexibility factor as high as possible. This solution helps tackling the problem of evolving complex task on digital configurable support.

Keywords: Evolvable Hardware, Evolutionary Strategy, multiboardFPGA system.

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64 Implementing a Database from a Requirement Specification

Authors: M. Omer, D. Wilson

Abstract:

Creating a database scheme is essentially a manual process. From a requirement specification the information contained within has to be analyzed and reduced into a set of tables, attributes and relationships. This is a time consuming process that has to go through several stages before an acceptable database schema is achieved. The purpose of this paper is to implement a Natural Language Processing (NLP) based tool to produce a relational database from a requirement specification. The Stanford CoreNLP version 3.3.1 and the Java programming were used to implement the proposed model. The outcome of this study indicates that a first draft of a relational database schema can be extracted from a requirement specification by using NLP tools and techniques with minimum user intervention. Therefore this method is a step forward in finding a solution that requires little or no user intervention.

Keywords: Information Extraction, Natural Language Processing, Relation Extraction.

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63 Grid Based and Random Based Ant Colony Algorithms for Automatic Hose Routing in 3D Space

Authors: Gishantha Thantulage, Tatiana Kalganova, Manissa Wilson

Abstract:

Ant Colony Algorithms have been applied to difficult combinatorial optimization problems such as the travelling salesman problem and the quadratic assignment problem. In this paper gridbased and random-based ant colony algorithms are proposed for automatic 3D hose routing and their pros and cons are discussed. The algorithm uses the tessellated format for the obstacles and the generated hoses in order to detect collisions. The representation of obstacles and hoses in the tessellated format greatly helps the algorithm towards handling free-form objects and speeds up computation. The performance of algorithm has been tested on a number of 3D models.

Keywords: Ant colony algorithm, Automatic hose routing, tessellated format, RAPID.

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62 Modelling the Occurrence of Defects and Change Requests during User Acceptance Testing

Authors: Kevin McDaid, Simon P. Wilson

Abstract:

Software developed for a specific customer under contract typically undergoes a period of testing by the customer before acceptance. This is known as user acceptance testing and the process can reveal both defects in the system and requests for changes to the product. This paper uses nonhomogeneous Poisson processes to model a real user acceptance data set from a recently developed system. In particular a split Poisson process is shown to provide an excellent fit to the data. The paper explains how this model can be used to aid the allocation of resources through the accurate prediction of occurrences both during the acceptance testing phase and before this activity begins.

Keywords: User acceptance testing. Software reliability growth modelling. Split Poisson process. Bayesian methods.

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61 Coordination on Agrifood Supply Chain

Authors: Martha Liliana Reina Usuga, Wilson Adarme Jaimes, Oscar Eduardo Suarez

Abstract:

Coordinated supply chain represents major challenges for the different actors involved in it, because each agent responds to individual interests. The paper presents a framework with the reviewed literature regarding the system's decision structure and nature of demand. Later, it characterizes an agri food supply chain in the Central Region of Colombia, it responds to a decentralized distribution system and a stochastic demand. Finally, the paper recommends coordinating the chain based on shared information, and mechanisms for each agent, as VMI (vendor-managed inventory) strategy for farmer-buyer relationship, information system for farmers and contracts for transportation service providers.

Keywords: Agri-food supply chain, Coordination mechanisms, Decentralized distribution system, Supply chain coordination.

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60 The Ethics of Dissent: The Case of David Kelly

Authors: A. Kayes, D. Christopher Kayes

Abstract:

In this paper, we rely on the story of the late British weapons inspector David Kelly to illustrate how sensemaking can inform the study of the ethics of suppression of dissent. Using archival data, we reconstruct Dr. Kelly-s key responsibilities as a weapons inspector and government employee. We begin by clarifying the concept of dissent and how it is a useful organizational process. We identify the various ways that dissent has been discussed in the organizational literature and reconsider the process of sensemaking. We conclude that suppression of opinions that deviate from the majority is part of the identity maintenance of the sensemaking process. We illustrate the prevention of dissent in organizations consists of a set of unsatisfactory trade-offs.

Keywords: ethics, dissent, suppression, sensemaking

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59 Isobaric Vapor-Liquid Equilibria of Mesitylene + 1- Heptanol and Mesitylene +1-Octanol at 97.3 kPa

Authors: Seema Kapoor, Sushil K. Kansal, Baljinder K. Gill, Aarti Sharma, Swati Arora

Abstract:

Isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium measurements are reported for the binary mixtures of Mesitylene + 1-Heptanol and Mesitylene + 1-Octanol at 97.3 kPa. The measurements have been performed using a vapor recirculating type (modified Othmer's) equilibrium still. Both the mixtures show positive deviation from ideality. The Mesitylene + 1-Heptanol mixture forms an azeotrope whereas Mesitylene + 1- Octanol form a non – azeotropic mixture. The activity coefficients have been calculated taking into consideration the vapor phase nonideality. The data satisfy the thermodynamic consistency tests of Herington, and Hirata. The activity coefficients have been satisfactorily correlated by means of the Margules, Redlich-Kister, Wilson, Black, and NRTL equations. The activity coefficient values have also been obtained by UNIFAC method.

Keywords: Binary mixture, Mesitylene, Vapor-liquid equilibrium, 1-Heptanol, 1-Octanol.

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58 Gravitino Dark Matter in (nearly) SLagy D3/D7 m-Split SUSY

Authors: Mansi Dhuria, Aalok Misra

Abstract:

In the context of large volume Big Divisor (nearly) SLagy D3/D7 μ-Split SUSY [1], after an explicit identification of first generation of SM leptons and quarks with fermionic superpartners of four Wilson line moduli, we discuss the identification of gravitino as a potential dark matter candidate by explicitly calculating the decay life times of gravitino (LSP) to be greater than age of universe and lifetimes of decays of the co-NLSPs (the first generation squark/slepton and a neutralino) to the LSP (the gravitino) to be very small to respect BBN constraints. Interested in non-thermal production mechanism of gravitino, we evaluate the relic abundance of gravitino LSP in terms of that of the co-NLSP-s by evaluating their (co-)annihilation cross sections and hence show that the former satisfies the requirement for a potential Dark Matter candidate. We also show that it is possible to obtain a 125 GeV light Higgs in our setup.

Keywords: Split Supersymmetry, Large Volume Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau's, Dark Matter, (N)LSP decays, relic abundance.

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57 Beyond Possibilities: Re- Reading Republican Ankara

Authors: Zelal Çinar

Abstract:

This paper aims to expose the effects of the ideological program of Turkish Republic on city planning, through the first plan of Ankara. As the new capital, Ankara was planned to be the ‘showcase’ of modern Turkey. It was to represent all new ideologies and the country’s cultural similarities with the west. At the same time it was to underline the national identity and independence of Turkish republic. To this end, a new plan for the capital was designed by German city planner Carl Christopher Lörcher. Diametrically opposed with the existing fabric of the city, this plan was built on the basis of papers and plans, on ideological aims. On the contrary, this paper argues that the city is a machine of possibilities, rather than a clear, materialized system.

Keywords: Architecture, ideology, modernization, urban planning.

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56 Feasibility Study of Distributed Lightless Intersection Control with Level 1 Autonomous Vehicles

Authors: Bo Yang, Christopher Monterola

Abstract:

Urban intersection control without the use of the traffic light has the potential to vastly improve the efficiency of the urban traffic flow. For most proposals in the literature, such lightless intersection control depends on the mass market commercialization of highly intelligent autonomous vehicles (AV), which limits the prospects of near future implementation. We present an efficient lightless intersection traffic control scheme that only requires Level 1 AV as defined by NHTSA. The technological barriers of such lightless intersection control are thus very low. Our algorithm can also accommodate a mixture of AVs and conventional vehicles. We also carry out large scale numerical analysis to illustrate the feasibility, safety and robustness, comfort level, and control efficiency of our intersection control scheme.

Keywords: Intersection control, autonomous vehicles, traffic modelling, intelligent transport system.

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55 Supervisory Fuzzy Learning Control for Underwater Target Tracking

Authors: C.Kia, M.R.Arshad, A.H.Adom, P.A.Wilson

Abstract:

This paper presents recent work on the improvement of the robotics vision based control strategy for underwater pipeline tracking system. The study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and a fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The main goal is to implement the supervisory fuzzy learning control technique to reduce the errors on navigation decision due to the pipeline occlusion problem. The system developed is capable of interpreting underwater images containing occluded pipeline, seabed and other unwanted noise. The algorithm proposed in previous work does not explore the cooperation between fuzzy controllers, knowledge and learnt data to improve the outputs for underwater pipeline tracking. Computer simulations and prototype simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. The system accuracy level has also been discussed.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, Underwater target tracking, Autonomous underwater vehicles, Artificial intelligence, Simulations, Robot navigation, Vision system.

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54 HIV Treatment Planning on a case-by-CASE Basis

Authors: Marios M. Hadjiandreou, Raul Conejeros, Ian Wilson

Abstract:

This study presents a mathematical modeling approach to the planning of HIV therapies on an individual basis. The model replicates clinical data from typical-progressors to AIDS for all stages of the disease with good agreement. Clinical data from rapid-progressors and long-term non-progressors is also matched by estimation of immune system parameters only. The ability of the model to reproduce these phenomena validates the formulation, a fact which is exploited in the investigation of effective therapies. The therapy investigation suggests that, unlike continuous therapy, structured treatment interruptions (STIs) are able to control the increase in both the drug-sensitive and drug-resistant virus population and, hence, prevent the ultimate progression from HIV to AIDS. The optimization results further suggest that even patients characterised by the same progression type can respond very differently to the same treatment and that the latter should be designed on a case-by-case basis. Such a methodology is presented here.

Keywords: AIDS, chemotherapy, mathematical modeling, optimal control, progression.

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53 Modeling and Control of a 4DoF Robotic Assistive Device for Hand Rehabilitation

Authors: Christopher Spiewak, M. R. Islam, Mohammad Arifur Rahaman, Mohammad H. Rahman, Roger Smith, Maarouf Saad

Abstract:

For those who have lost the ability to move their hand, going through repetitious motions with the assistance of a therapist is the main method of recovery. We have been developed a robotic assistive device to rehabilitate the hand motions in place of the traditional therapy. The developed assistive device (RAD-HR) is comprised of four degrees of freedom enabling basic movements, hand function, and assists in supporting the hand during rehabilitation. We used a nonlinear computed torque control technique to control the RAD-HR. The accuracy of the controller was evaluated in simulations (MATLAB/Simulink environment). To see the robustness of the controller external disturbance as modelling uncertainty (±10% of joint torques) were added in each joints.

Keywords: Biorobotics, rehabilitation, nonlinear control, robotic assistive device, exoskeleton.

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52 Bio-inspired Audio Content-Based Retrieval Framework (B-ACRF)

Authors: Noor A. Draman, Campbell Wilson, Sea Ling

Abstract:

Content-based music retrieval generally involves analyzing, searching and retrieving music based on low or high level features of a song which normally used to represent artists, songs or music genre. Identifying them would normally involve feature extraction and classification tasks. Theoretically the greater features analyzed, the better the classification accuracy can be achieved but with longer execution time. Technique to select significant features is important as it will reduce dimensions of feature used in classification and contributes to the accuracy. Artificial Immune System (AIS) approach will be investigated and applied in the classification task. Bio-inspired audio content-based retrieval framework (B-ACRF) is proposed at the end of this paper where it embraces issues that need further consideration in music retrieval performances.

Keywords: Bio-inspired audio content-based retrieval framework, features selection technique, low/high level features, artificial immune system

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51 Genetic Combined with a Simplex Algorithm as an Efficient Method for the Detection of a Depressed Ellipsoidal Flaw using the Boundary Element Method

Authors: Clio G. Vossou, Ioannis N. Koukoulis, Christopher G. Provatidis

Abstract:

The present work encounters the solution of the defect identification problem with the use of an evolutionary algorithm combined with a simplex method. In more details, a Matlab implementation of Genetic Algorithms is combined with a Simplex method in order to lead to the successful identification of the defect. The influence of the location and the orientation of the depressed ellipsoidal flaw was investigated as well as the use of different amount of static data in the cost function. The results were evaluated according to the ability of the simplex method to locate the global optimum in each test case. In this way, a clear impression regarding the performance of the novel combination of the optimization algorithms, and the influence of the geometrical parameters of the flaw in defect identification problems was obtained.

Keywords: Defect identification, genetic algorithms, optimization.

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50 Quantifying Freeway Capacity Reductions by Rainfall Intensities Based on Stochastic Nature of Flow Breakdown

Authors: Hoyoung Lee, Dong-Kyu Kim, Seung-Young Kho, R. Eddie Wilson

Abstract:

This study quantifies a decrement in freeway capacity during rainfall. Traffic and rainfall data were gathered from Highway Agencies and Wunderground weather service. Three inter-urban freeway sections and its nearest weather stations were selected as experimental sites. Capacity analysis found reductions of maximum and mean pre-breakdown flow rates due to rainfall. The Kruskal-Wallis test also provided some evidence to suggest that the variance in the pre-breakdown flow rate is statistically insignificant. Potential application of this study lies in the operation of real time traffic management schemes such as Variable Speed Limits (VSL), Hard Shoulder Running (HSR), and Ramp Metering System (RMS), where speed or flow limits could be set based on a number of factors, including rainfall events and their intensities.

Keywords: Capacity randomness, flow breakdown, freeway capacity, rainfall.

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49 The Path to Wellbeing: The Role of Work-Family Conflict, Family-Work Conflict and Psychological Strain

Authors: Thomas Kalliath, Parveen Kalliath, Christopher C. A. Chan, Geetha Thachil

Abstract:

Although considerable amount of research has attested to the link between work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) and psychological strain and wellbeing, there is a paucity of research investigating the phenomenon in the context of social workers. Moreover, very little is known about the impact of WFC and FWC in developing countries. The present study investigated the mediating effect of psychological strain on the relationship between WFC and FWC with wellbeing of social workers in India. Our findings show that WFC and FWC are influential antecedents of wellbeing; their influence is both direct on psychological strain, and indirect on wellbeing transmitted through psychological strain. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords: Family-to-work conflict, psychological strain, wellbeing, work-to-family conflict.

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48 Application of Sensory Thermography as Measuring Method to Study Median Nerve Temperatures

Authors: Javier Ordorica Villalvazo, Claudia Camargo Wilson, Jesus Everardo Olguin Tiznado

Abstract:

This paper presents an experimental case using sensory thermography to describe temperatures behavior on median nerve once an activity of repetitive motion was done. Thermography is a noninvasive technique without biological hazard and not harm at all times and has been applied in many experiments to seek for temperature patterns that help to understand diseases like cancer and cumulative trauma disorders (CTD’s). An infrared sensory thermography technology was developed to execute this study. Three women in good shape were selected for the repetitive motion tests for 4 days, two right-handed women and 1 left handed woman, two sensory thermographers were put on both median nerve wrists to get measures. The evaluation time was of 3 hours 30 minutes in a controlled temperature, 20 minutes of stabilization time at the beginning and end of the operation. Temperatures distributions are statistically evaluated and showed similar temperature patterns behavior.

Keywords: Median nerve, temperature, sensory thermography, wrists, CTD’s.

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47 Design of Encoding Calculator Software for Huffman and Shannon-Fano Algorithms

Authors: Wilson Chanhemo, Henry. R. Mgombelo, Omar F Hamad, T. Marwala

Abstract:

This paper presents a design of source encoding calculator software which applies the two famous algorithms in the field of information theory- the Shannon-Fano and the Huffman schemes. This design helps to easily realize the algorithms without going into a cumbersome, tedious and prone to error manual mechanism of encoding the signals during the transmission. The work describes the design of the software, how it works, comparison with related works, its efficiency, its usefulness in the field of information technology studies and the future prospects of the software to engineers, students, technicians and alike. The designed “Encodia" software has been developed, tested and found to meet the intended requirements. It is expected that this application will help students and teaching staff in their daily doing of information theory related tasks. The process is ongoing to modify this tool so that it can also be more intensely useful in research activities on source coding.

Keywords: Coding techniques, Coding algorithms, Codingefficiency, Encodia, Encoding software.

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46 Effect of Sand Particle Transportation in Oil and Gas Pipeline Erosion

Authors: Christopher Deekia Nwimae, Nigel Simms, Liyun Lao

Abstract:

Erosion in a pipe bends caused by particles is a major concern in the oil and gas fields and might cause breakdown to production equipment. This work investigates the effect of sand particle transport in an elbow using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Two-way coupled Euler-Lagrange and discrete phase model is employed to calculate the air/solid particle flow in the elbow. Generic erosion model in Ansys fluent and three particle rebound models are used to predict the erosion rate on the 90° elbows. The model result is compared with experimental data from the open literature validating the CFD-based predictions which reveals that due to the sand particles impinging on the wall of the elbow at high velocity, a point on the pipe elbow were observed to have started turning red due to velocity increase and the maximum erosion locations occur at 48°.

Keywords: Erosion, prediction, elbow, computational fluid dynamics, CFD.

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