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Avans Hogeschool, Megatronica, Undergraduate
The seismic design of structures is a requirement for any places [sic] where earthquake [sic] occurs, and the design is based upon the codes that vary according to the jurisdictions in which the code was developed for. This study... more
The seismic design of structures is a requirement for any places [sic] where earthquake [sic] occurs, and the design is based upon the codes that vary according to the jurisdictions in which the code was developed for. This study introduces and assesses the document ACI 350.3-06 which was developed by the ACI Committee to guide the design of liquid containing structures, and compares to other codes such as ACI 350.3-01 and NZS 3106 of New Zealand Standard. The importance of liquid containing structures cannot be stressed further, as it is apparent in nuclear applications. The failure of tanks could be due to many reasons: 1) Shell buckling, caused by axial compression due to overall bending. 2) Roof damage as a result of sloshing of the upper portion of the containing liquid due to insufficient provision of freeboard. 3) Failure of inlets and outlets due to their inability to accommodate the deformations of the flexible tank. 4) Differential settlement or failure of supporting soil....
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This article provides an overview of natural phonological processes in the dialect of Sistani Persian spoken in Iranian Sistan, and reviews theoretical implications of these processes. A representative selection of processes in the... more
This article provides an overview of natural phonological processes in the dialect of Sistani Persian spoken in Iranian Sistan, and reviews theoretical implications of these processes. A representative selection of processes in the language is examined in reference to conditioning by surrounding segments and conditioning in reference to syllable structure. While assimilation and dissimilation are tied to segmental context, deletion, epenthesis and metathesis are considered in light of syllable structure requirements. Synchronically, natural processes include those that are of an allophonic nature as well as those which involve morphophonological alternation. The description of these phenomena is corroborated by a discussion of the application of natural processes in diachronic changes. The authors show that, in some cases, the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) is violated in Sistani Persian. This phenomenon is attributed not to language-internal factors, but rather to the generali...
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Emotion assessments traditionally take place in academic or medical settings. The impact of environmental factors such as e.g. the characteristics of the place, the weather, or the time of day on the emotional state of inhabitants are... more
Emotion assessments traditionally take place in academic or medical settings. The impact of environmental factors such as e.g. the characteristics of the place, the weather, or the time of day on the emotional state of inhabitants are often dismissed, thus emotions as a dynamic feature cannot be used for city planning or development. To estimate emotions as spatio-temporal data, a growing research community focused on emotion extraction from social network platforms such as Twitter or Facebook. The quality and the reliability of the resulting emotion evaluations are not comparable to direct emotion assessments, e.g. because of possible biases of emotional statements in social communities. In order to bridge this gap, we designed a web-based survey service that allows for the acquisition of geo-located emotion ratings of a huge group of participants in real-world environments, which in turn can be related to numerous environmental variables. In this paper, we present the architecture...
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Knowledge extraction from video data is challenging due to its high complexity in both the spatial and temporal domain. Ground truth is crucial for the evaluation and the adaptation of algorithms to new domains. Unfortunately, ground... more
Knowledge extraction from video data is challenging due to its high complexity in both the spatial and temporal domain. Ground truth is crucial for the evaluation and the adaptation of algorithms to new domains. Unfortunately, ground truth annotation is inconvenient and time consuming. Common annotation tools mostly rely on simple geometric primitives such as rectangles or ellipses. Here we propose a novel, interactive and semi-automatic process, which actively asks for user input if the result of the automatic annotation appears to be incorrect. After a brief review of related tools for video annotation, we explain our proposed semi-automatic method iSeg using a prototype implementation. iSeg has been tested on two visual stimulus datasets for eye tracking experiments and on two surveillance datasets. The experimental results and the usability are compared to existing annotation tools. Finally, we discuss the properties and opportunities of polygon-based video annotation.
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For the last three decades, due to population growth and urban development, the mega cities of Pakistan like Karachi and Lahore are experiencing air pollution issues. Out of many, the sulphur dioxide (SO2) in one the most widely... more
For the last three decades, due to population growth and urban development, the mega cities of Pakistan like Karachi and Lahore are experiencing air pollution issues. Out of many, the sulphur dioxide (SO2) in one the most widely researched atmospheric pollutants. Therefore, present research deals with the spatial and periodic distribution of SO2and its seasonal variations and contamination at fifteen locations in the metropolitan area of Lahore. The sulphur dioxide analyzer's monitoring method has been used to find the concentration and variations which allows instantaneous and continuous analysis of gas in an unaltered state. The industries which are located within or around the metropolitan area of Lahore cause most of the Urban Air Pollution (UAP), especially the emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2).The aims of this study have been to investigate the occurrence of systematic differences in the exposure of SO2 in different Landuse of the Lahore metropolitan areas and to identify ...
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Karachi is the largest and most populous metropolitan city of Pakistan and the main seaport and financial centre of the country. Rapid urbanization during last 40 to 50 years caused to accelerate its population to 23.7 million. The... more
Karachi is the largest and most populous metropolitan city of Pakistan and the main seaport and financial centre of the country. Rapid urbanization during last 40 to 50 years caused to accelerate its population to 23.7 million. The objective of this work was to study the impact of urbanization on development of urban heat island (UHI) of Karachi city. The study was conducted by using Finite Volume Mesoscale Model (FVM) in which topography from GTOPO30, land-use from GLC 2000 and Meteorological data from NCEP were used as an input to run the simulation. The simulations were run for three days starting at 00:00 (GMT) on 19th day of April and ending at 00:00 (GMT) on 22nd day of April over selected domain with resolution of 3x3 km of 30 cells. The results showed that there is significance urban heat island presence in Karachi city where the urban area has 5.6°C to 13.5°C higher temperature than its surrounding non-urban areas depending upon the time of a day.
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Sleep is not a unique entity but can be divided into 2 separate states called REM (rapid eye movement) and nonREM sleep stages. The present study describes REM sleep in the unrestrained chimpanzee and compares the first REM period which... more
Sleep is not a unique entity but can be divided into 2 separate states called REM (rapid eye movement) and nonREM sleep stages. The present study describes REM sleep in the unrestrained chimpanzee and compares the first REM period which occurs during the night with the last REM period. The last REM period is longer, has more eye movements, more body movements, and possibly a different type of posture than early REM periods. These differences suggest that REM sleep, as is already known for nonREM sleep, changes during the course of the night.
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Zusammenfassung An einem Fahrradergometer wurden bei 60 Pedalumdrehungen pro Minute in Istündigen Versuchen Arbeiten teils pausenlos, teils mit eingeschobenen Pausen geleistet. Variiert wurden die effektive Leistung (Leistung während der... more
Zusammenfassung An einem Fahrradergometer wurden bei 60 Pedalumdrehungen pro Minute in Istündigen Versuchen Arbeiten teils pausenlos, teils mit eingeschobenen Pausen geleistet. Variiert wurden die effektive Leistung (Leistung während der Arbeitsabschnitte), die Dauer der Arbeitsabschnitte sowie die Dauer der Pausenabschnitte. Als Maß der Ermüdung durch die Arbeit wurden 3 Kriterien untersucht:1. EPS nach Versuchsende, 2. Anstieg der mittleren minütliehen Pulsfrequenz während der Arbeit, 3. Verhalten der Arbeitspulsfrequenz der letzten Minute der einzelnen Arbeitsabschnitte. Oberhalb der Dauerleistungsgrenze wächst die Ermüdung exponentiell sowohl mit der effektiven Leistung als auch mit der Dauer des Arbeitsabschnittes. Beide Einflußgrößen sind multiplikativ miteinander verknüpft.Aus den Versuchsergebnissen mit 6 bzw. 7 Versuchspersonen läßt sich der für Dauerarbeit notwendige Erholungszuschlag für Radfahrarbeit individuell unabhängig berechnen mit Hilfe der Gleichung:EZ = 1,9 (t arb)0.145 · (Neff/N dlg–1)1.4 · 100% EZ = Erholungszuschlag in Prozent vont arb, t arb = Dauer eines Arbeitsabschnittes in Minuten, N eff = effektive Leistung während des Arbeitsabschnittes in mkp/sec, N dlg = Dauerleistungsgrenzwert für pausenlose Arbeit in mkp/sec.
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Asset securitization via special purpose entities involves the process of transforming assets into securities that are issued to investors. These investors hold the rights to payments supported by the cash flows from an asset pool held by... more
Asset securitization via special purpose entities involves the process of transforming assets into securities that are issued to investors. These investors hold the rights to payments supported by the cash flows from an asset pool held by the said entity. In this paper, we discuss the mechanism by which low- and high-quality entities securitize low- and high-quality assets, respectively, into collateralized debt obligations. During the 2007–2009 financial crisis, asset securitization was seriously inhibited. In response to this, for instance, new Basel III capital and liquidity regulations were introduced. Here, we find that we can explicitly determine the transaction costs related to low-quality asset securitization. Also, in the case of dynamic and static multipliers, the effects of unexpected negative shocks such as rating downgrades on asset price and input, debt obligation price and output, and profit will be quantified. In this case, we note that Basel III has been designed to...
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A multitude of image-based 3D reconstruction and modeling techniques exist, which have achieved significant success in recent years. However, these techniques still lack certain abilities. For example, current 3D reconstruction techniques... more
A multitude of image-based 3D reconstruction and modeling techniques exist, which have achieved significant success in recent years. However, these techniques still lack certain abilities. For example, current 3D reconstruction techniques cannot decompose an object into its individual subparts. Thus, a printed model will consist of one single monolithic piece, which does not allow composing or decomposing parts, does not allow movable or flexible parts, and does not allow manufacturing the model from multiple different materials like wood, metal, or plastic. I reviewed the work in the research area of 3D reconstruction and provide an analysis of neglected research objectives and current drawbacks. Furthermore, I propose a mock-up of an interactive tool as a guideline for future research which describes a possible architecture, user interfaces, and processing pipeline, to overcome existing drawbacks of 3D reconstruction techniques.
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Research Interests: History, Geography, South Asian Studies, Urban Planning, Population Dynamics, and 11 moreRemote Sensing and GIS Applied to Natural Resources and Population, Geo-spatial analysis with GIS and GPS, Multidisciplinary, Population, Population Connectivity, Population Studies, Industrialisation, Population Growth, Lahore, Walled City Lahore, and Human Settlement
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ABSTRACT During the 2009–2010 school year, 40% of New York City (NYC) Earth science teachers were not certified to teach Earth science [New York State Education Department (NYSED), 2011]. This highlights a longstanding shortage of... more
ABSTRACT During the 2009–2010 school year, 40% of New York City (NYC) Earth science teachers were not certified to teach Earth science [New York State Education Department (NYSED), 2011]. This highlights a longstanding shortage of certified teachers, which persists today and prevents many schools from offering courses on the subject, thus diminishing student opportunities to study or embark on careers in Earth science. More generally, the paucity of qualified, effective science teachers hinders student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and research has consistently shown that improving the quality of teaching substantially increases achievement in STEM-related fields [National Science Board, 2007]. With only 36% of NYC 8th graders scoring at or above the basic level of proficiency in science and with even lower scores for African-American and Hispanic students [Livingston and Wirt, 2005], the need for more qualified science teachers is clear.
Regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) is a beta-chemokine and has been detected in brain lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Considering its potential role in MS, we screened two functional... more
Regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) is a beta-chemokine and has been detected in brain lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Considering its potential role in MS, we screened two functional polymorphisms in the proximal promoter region of the RANTES in MS patients versus controls. Methods: We examined 140 postmortem brain samples from subjects with a primary diagnosis of MS, and peripheral blood samples from 216 control subjects. The RANTES-28C/G and -403G/A promoter polymorphisms were examined. All subjects were non-Hispanic Caucasians. Results: MS cases differed from controls showing a significant association with the 403G/A polymorphism (odds ratio, 2.359, [1.465-3.799]; P-0.0001), but not the -28C/G (P-NS) polymorphism. There was a significant association of the -28G allele with both early onset (P-0.031) and longer survival (P-0.006). Conclusion: There is a significant but complex association of the RANTES gene with MS.
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The main objective was to investigate multi-temporal changes of the natural resources using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. Landsat5 TM full frame images of 16 June 1984 and 06 August 1998 were used in this... more
The main objective was to investigate multi-temporal changes of the natural resources using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. Landsat5 TM full frame images of 16 June 1984 and 06 August 1998 were used in this study. For ...
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... соціального партнерства в систему соціально-трудових відносин України; висвітлено процес ... суспільно-політичну -- соціальне партнерство як механізм побудови громадянськогосуспільства» [65, с ... партнерства відповідних рівнів за... more
... соціального партнерства в систему соціально-трудових відносин України; висвітлено процес ... суспільно-політичну -- соціальне партнерство як механізм побудови громадянськогосуспільства» [65, с ... партнерства відповідних рівнів за участю органів державної влади і ...
... 1997 pp. xx + 297 pp. ISBN 1-85339-386-X Record Number 19971801093. Abstract. In this sequel to 'Rural Development: Putting the last first' it is argued that personal, profession and... more
... 1997 pp. xx + 297 pp. ISBN 1-85339-386-X Record Number 19971801093. Abstract. In this sequel to 'Rural Development: Putting the last first' it is argued that personal, profession and institutional change is essential if the realities of the poor are to receive greater recognition. ...