Search results for: quantum systems

Authors: Brian Carey Sims

Abstract:

The current study examines psychological factors relevant to child custody litigation among African American fathers. Thirty-seven fathers engaged in various stages of custody litigation involving their children were surveyed about their perceptions of racial stereotypes, parental motivations, and racialized dynamics of the court/ legal process. Data were analyzed using a Critical Race Theory model designed to statistically isolate fathers’ perceptions of the existence and maintenance of structural racism through the legal process. Results indicate significant correlations between fathers’ psychological measures and structural outcomes of their cases. Findings are discussed in terms of ethical implications for family court judicial systems and attorney practice.

Keywords: ethics, family, legal psychology, policy, race

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Authors: Ilya Kavalchuk, Hayrettin Arisoy, Alex Stojcevski, Aman Maun Than Oo

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Electric vehicles are one of the most complicated electric devices to simulate due to the significant number of different processes involved in electrical structure of it. There are concurrent processes of energy consumption and generation with different onboard systems, which make simulation tasks more complicated to perform. More accurate simulation on energy consumption can provide a better understanding of all energy management for electric transport. As a result of all those processes, electric transport can allow for a more sustainable future and become more convenient in relation to the distance range and recharging time. This paper discusses the problems of energy consumption simulations for electric vehicles using different software packages to provide ideas on how to make this process more precise, which can help engineers create better energy management strategies for electric vehicles.

Keywords: electric vehicles, EV, power consumption, power management, simulation

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Authors: Ilya Kavalchuk, Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Ben Horan, Aman Than Oo, Alex Stojcevski

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The power electronic components within Electric Vehicles (EV) need to operate in several important modes. Some modes directly influence safety, while others influence vehicle performance. Given the variety of functions and operational modes required of the power electronics, it needs to meet efficiency requirements to minimize power losses. Another challenge in the control and construction of such systems is the ability to support bidirectional power flow. This paper considers the construction, operation, and feasibility of available converters for electric vehicles with feasible configurations of electrical buses and loads. This paper describes logic and control signals for the converters for different operations conditions based on the efficiency and energy usage bases.

Keywords: electric vehicles, electrical machines control, power electronics, powerflow regulations

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Authors: Moreblessings Shoko

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Polymersomes are materials which are considered as artificial counterparts of natural vesicles. The nanotechnology of such smart nanovesicles is very useful to enhance the efficiency of many therapeutic and diagnostic drugs. Those compounds show a higher stability, flexibility, and mechanical strength to the membrane compared to natural liposomes. Also, they can be designed in detail, the permeability of the membrane can be controlled by different stimuli, and the surface can be functionalized with different biological molecules to facilitate monitoring and target. For this purpose, this study demonstrates the formation of multifunctional and pH sensitive polymersomes and their functionalization with different reactive groups or biomolecules inside and outside of polymersomes´ membrane providing by crossing the membrane and docking/undocking processes for biomedical applications. Overall, they are highly versatile and thus present new opportunities for the design of targeted and selective recognition systems, for example, in mimicking cell functions and in synthetic biology.

Keywords: women, geomatics, challenges, capacity building

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Authors: Martín Felipe García Romero, Nancy Mondragón Escamilla, Ismael Araujo Vargas, Viviana Basurto Rios, Kevin Cano Pulido, Pedro Enrique Velázquez Elisondo

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This paper presents a preliminary prototype of an 83 kW all-electric motorbike since, nowadays, electric motorbikes have advanced drastically in their technology in such a way that lately, there has been a boom in the field of competition of medium power electric vehicles. The field of electric vehicle racing mainly pursues the aim of obtaining an optimal performance of all the motorbike components in order to obtain a safe racing vehicle fast enough while looking for the stability of all the systems onboard. A general description of the project is given up to date, detailing the parts of the system, integration, numerical estimations, and a rearrangement proposal of the actual prototype with the aim to mechanically and thermally improve the vehicle.

Keywords: electric motorcycle, thermal analysis, mechanic analysis, electric vehicle

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Authors: Jozsef Katona, Attila Kovari, Tibor Ujbanyi, Gergely Sziladi

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By the development of IT systems, human-computer interaction is also developing even faster and newer communication methods become available in human-machine interaction. In this article, the application of a hand gesture controlled human-computer interface is being introduced through the example of a mobile robot. The control of the mobile robot is implemented in a realistic virtual environment that is advantageous regarding the aspect of different tests, parallel examinations, so the purchase of expensive equipment is unnecessary. The usability of the implemented hand gesture control has been evaluated by test subjects. According to the opinion of the testing subjects, the system can be well used, and its application would be recommended on other application fields too.

Keywords: human-machine interface (HCI), mobile robot, hand control, virtual environment

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Authors: N. Demertzis, J. L. Bowen

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Sepsis is a complex and rapidly evolving condition, resulting from uncontrolled prolonged activation of host immune system due to pathogenic insult. The aim of this study is the development of a multiplex electrochemical sensing platform, capable of detecting both pathogen associated and host immune markers to enable the rapid and definitive diagnosis of sepsis. A combination of aptamers and molecular imprinting approaches have been employed to generate sensing systems for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), c-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). Gold working electrodes were mechanically polished and electrochemically cleaned with 0.1 M sulphuric acid using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Following activation, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was generated, by incubating the electrodes with a thiolated anti-LPS aptamer / dithiodibutiric acid (DTBA) mixture (1:20). 3-aminophenylboronic acid (3-APBA) in combination with the anti-LPS aptamer was used for the development of the hybrid molecularly imprinted sensor (apta-MIP). Aptasensors, targeting PCT and CRP were also fabricated, following the same approach as in the case of LPS, with mercaptohexanol (MCH) replacing DTBA. In the case of the CRP aptasensor, the SAM was formed following incubation of a 1:1 aptamer: MCH mixture. However, in the case of PCT, the SAM was formed with the aptamer itself, with subsequent backfilling with 1 μM MCH. The binding performance of all systems has been evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The apta-MIP’s polymer thickness is controlled by varying the number of electropolymerisation cycles. In the ideal number of polymerisation cycles, the polymer must cover the electrode surface and create a binding pocket around LPS and its aptamer binding site. Less polymerisation cycles will create a hybrid system which resembles an aptasensor, while more cycles will be able to cover the complex and demonstrate a bulk polymer-like behaviour. Both aptasensor and apta-MIP were challenged with LPS and compared to conventional imprinted (absence of aptamer from the binding site, polymer formed in presence of LPS) and non-imprinted polymers (NIPS, absence of LPS whilst hybrid polymer is formed). A stable LPS aptasensor, capable of detecting down to 5 pg/ml of LPS was generated. The apparent Kd of the system was estimated at 17 pM, with a Bmax of approximately 50 pM. The aptasensor demonstrated high specificity to LPS. The apta-MIP demonstrated superior recognition properties with a limit of detection of 1 fg/ml and a Bmax of 100 pg/ml. The CRP and PCT aptasensors were both able to detect down to 5 pg/ml. Whilst full binding performance is currently being evaluated, there is none of the sensors demonstrate cross-reactivity towards LPS, CRP or PCT. In conclusion, stable aptasensors capable of detecting LPS, PCT and CRP at low concentrations have been generated. The realisation of a multiplex panel such as described herein, will effectively contribute to the rapid, personalised diagnosis of sepsis.

Keywords: aptamer, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, molecularly imprinted polymers, sepsis

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Authors: V. Verma, Syed Riyaz-ul-Hassan

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Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most commonly found pathogenic bacteria and is hard to eliminate from the human environment. It is responsible for many nosocomial infections, besides being the main causative agent of food intoxication by virtue of its variety of enterotoxins. Routine detection of S. aureus in food is usually carried out by traditional methods based on morphological and biochemical characterization. These methods are time-consuming and tedious. In addition, misclassifications with automated susceptibility testing systems or commercially available latex agglutination kits have been reported by several workers. Consequently, there is a need for methods to specifically discriminate S. aureus from other staphylococci as quickly as possible. Data on protocols developed using molecular means like PCR technology will be presented for rapid and specific detection of this pathogen in food, clinical and environmental samples, especially milk.

Keywords: food Pathogens, PCR technology, rapid and specific detection, staphylococcus aureus

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Authors: A. Rajabpour, A. Hadizadeh Kheirkhah

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Heat transfer is of great importance to biological systems in order to function properly. In the present study, specific heat capacity as one of the most important heat transfer properties is calculated for a soluble in water Lysozyme protein. Using equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, specific heat capacities of pure water, dry lysozyme, and lysozyme-water solution are calculated at 300K for different weight fractions. It is found that MD results are in good agreement with ideal binary mixing rule at small weight fractions. Results of all simulations have been validated with experimental data.

Keywords: specific heat capacity, molecular dynamics simulation, lysozyme protein, equilibrium

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Authors: Abdulwakeel B. Raji

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This paper introduces a concept of an intelligent virtual learning environment that involves communication between learners and an artificially intelligent teaching agent in an attempt to replicate classroom learning interactions. The benefits of this technology over current e-learning practices is that it creates a virtual classroom where real time adaptive learning interactions are made possible. This is a move away from the static learning practices currently being adopted by e-learning systems. Over the years, artificial intelligence has been applied to various fields, including and not limited to medicine, military applications, psychology, marketing etc. The purpose of e-learning applications is to ensure users are able to learn outside of the classroom, but a major limitation has been the inability to fully replicate classroom interactions between teacher and students. This study used comparative surveys to gain information and understanding of the current learning practices in Nigerian universities and how they compare to these practices compare to the use of a developed e-learning system. The study was conducted by attending several lectures and noting the interactions between lecturers and tutors and as an aftermath, a software has been developed that deploys the use of an artificial intelligent teaching-agent alongside an e-learning system to enhance user learning experience and attempt to create the similar learning interactions to those found in classroom and lecture hall settings. Dialogflow has been used to implement a teaching-agent, which has been developed using JSON, which serves as a virtual teacher. Course content has been created using HTML, CSS, PHP and JAVASCRIPT as a web-based application. This technology can run on handheld devices and Google based home technologies to give learners an access to the teaching agent at any time. This technology also implements the use of definite clause grammars and natural language processing to match user inputs and requests with defined rules to replicate learning interactions. This technology developed covers familiar classroom scenarios such as answering users’ questions, asking ‘do you understand’ at regular intervals and answering subsequent requests, taking advanced user queries to give feedbacks at other periods. This software technology uses deep learning techniques to learn user interactions and patterns to subsequently enhance user learning experience. A system testing has been undergone by undergraduate students in the UK and Nigeria on the course ‘Introduction to Database Development’. Test results and feedback from users shows that this study and developed software is a significant improvement on existing e-learning systems. Further experiments are to be run using the software with different students and more course contents.

Keywords: virtual learning, natural language processing, definite clause grammars, deep learning, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Mahbube Eghtesad

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For a number of years, the problem of simultaneous detection and tracking of a target has been one of the most relevant and challenging issues in a wide variety of military and civilian systems. We develop methods for detecting and tracking a target using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based radar. As a preliminary step we introduce the target trajectory and Gaussian noise model in discrete time form. Then resorting to match filter and Kalman filter we derive a detector and target tracker. After that we propose an OFDM radar in order to achieve further improvement in tracking performance. The motivation for employing multiple frequencies is that the different scattering centers of a target resonate differently at each frequency. Numerical examples illustrate our analytical results, demonstrating the achieved performance improvement due to the OFDM signaling method.

Keywords: matched filter, target trashing, OFDM radar, Kalman filter

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Authors: Tzu-Jung Huang, Hsun-Jung Cho, Chien-Chia Liäm Huang

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To improve the level of service (LoS) of urban arterial systems containing a series of signalized intersections, a proper design of offsets for all intersections associated is of great importance. The MAXBAND model has been the most common approach for this purpose. In this paper, we propose a MAXBAND model with phase constraints so that the lengths of the phases in a cycle are variable. In other words, the length of a cycle is also variable in our setting. We conduct experiments on a real-world traffic network, having several major paths, in Taiwan for numerical evaluations. Actual traffic data were collected through on-site experiments. Numerical evidences suggest that the improvements are around 32%, on average, in terms of total delay of the entire network.

Keywords: arterial progression, MAXBAND, signal control, offset

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Authors: Sina Moradi, Christopher W. K. Chow, John Van Leeuwen, David Cook, Mary Drikas, Patrick Hayde, Rose Amal

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Chloramine is commonly used as a disinfectant in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs), particularly in Australia and the USA. Maintaining a chloramine residual throughout the DWDS is important in ensuring microbiologically safe water is supplied at the customer’s tap. In order to simulate how chloramine behaves when it moves through the distribution system, a water quality network model (WQNM) can be applied. In this work, the WQNM was based on mono-chloramine decomposition reactions, which enabled prediction of mono-chloramine residual at different locations through a DWDS in Australia, using the Bentley commercial hydraulic package (Water GEMS). The accuracy of WQNM predictions is influenced by a number of water quality parameters. Optimization of these parameters in order to obtain the closest results in comparison with actual measured data in a real DWDS would result in both cost reduction as well as reduction in consumption of valuable resources such as energy and materials. In this work, the optimum operating conditions of water quality parameters (i.e. temperature, pH, and initial mono-chloramine concentration) to maximize the accuracy of mono-chloramine residual predictions for two water supply scenarios in an entire network were determined using response surface methodology (RSM). To obtain feasible and economical water quality parameters for highest model predictability, Design Expert 8.0 software (Stat-Ease, Inc.) was applied to conduct the optimization of three independent water quality parameters. High and low levels of the water quality parameters were considered, inevitably, as explicit constraints, in order to avoid extrapolation. The independent variables were pH, temperature and initial mono-chloramine concentration. The lower and upper limits of each variable for two water supply scenarios were defined and the experimental levels for each variable were selected based on the actual conditions in studied DWDS. It was found that at pH of 7.75, temperature of 34.16 ºC, and initial mono-chloramine concentration of 3.89 (mg/L) during peak water supply patterns, root mean square error (RMSE) of WQNM for the whole network would be minimized to 0.189, and the optimum conditions for averaged water supply occurred at pH of 7.71, temperature of 18.12 ºC, and initial mono-chloramine concentration of 4.60 (mg/L). The proposed methodology to predict mono-chloramine residual can have a great potential for water treatment plant operators in accurately estimating the mono-chloramine residual through a water distribution network. Additional studies from other water distribution systems are warranted to confirm the applicability of the proposed methodology for other water samples.

Keywords: chloramine decay, modelling, response surface methodology, water quality parameters

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Authors: Katsumi Hirata

Abstract:

Certain systems can function well only if they recognize the sound environment as humans do. In this research, we focus on sound classification by adopting a convolutional neural network and aim to develop a method that automatically classifies various environmental sounds. Although the neural network is a powerful technique, the performance depends on the type of input data. Therefore, we propose an approach via a slice bispectrogram, which is a third-order spectrogram and is a slice version of the amplitude for the short-time bispectrum. This paper explains the slice bispectrogram and discusses the effectiveness of the derived method by evaluating the experimental results using the ESC‑50 sound dataset. As a result, the proposed scheme gives high accuracy and stability. Furthermore, some relationship between the accuracy and non-Gaussianity of sound signals was confirmed.

Keywords: environmental sound, bispectrum, spectrogram, slice bispectrogram, convolutional neural network

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Authors: Khaled M. Khader, Mamdouh I. Elimy, Omayma A. Nada

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Sustainable development is the nominal goal of most countries at present. In general, fossil fuels are the development mainstay of most world countries. Regrettably, the fossil fuel consumption rate is very high, and the world is facing the problem of conventional fuels depletion soon. In addition, there are many problems of environmental pollution resulting from the emission of harmful gases and vapors during fuel burning. Thus, clean, renewable energy became the main concern of most countries for filling the gap between available energy resources and their growing needs. There are many renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and wave energy. Energy can be obtained from the motion of sea waves almost all the time. However, power generation from solar or wind energy is highly restricted to sunny periods or the availability of suitable wind speeds. Moreover, energy produced from sea wave motion is one of the cheapest types of clean energy. In addition, renewable energy usage of sea waves guarantees safe environmental conditions. Cheap electricity can be generated from wave energy using different systems such as oscillating bodies' system, pendulum gate system, ocean wave dragon system and oscillating water column device. In this paper, a multi-criteria model has been developed using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to support the decision of selecting the most effective system for generating power from sea waves. This paper provides a widespread overview of the different design alternatives for sea wave energy converter systems. The considered design alternatives have been evaluated using the developed AHP model. The multi-criteria assessment reveals that the off-shore Oscillating Water Column (OWC) system is the most appropriate system for generating power from sea waves. The OWC system consists of a suitable hollow chamber at the shore which is completely closed except at its base which has an open area for gathering moving sea waves. Sea wave's motion pushes the air up and down passing through a suitable well turbine for generating power. Improving the power generation capability of the OWC system is one of the main objectives of this research. After investigating the effect of some design modifications, it has been concluded that selecting the appropriate settings of some effective design parameters such as the number of layers of Wells turbine fans and the intermediate distance between the fans can result in significant improvements. Moreover, simple dynamic analysis of the Wells turbine is introduced. Furthermore, this paper strives for comparing the theoretical and experimental results of the built experimental prototype.

Keywords: renewable energy, oscillating water column, multi-criteria selection, Wells turbine

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Authors: Ananda Perera

Abstract:

Diet therapy has a positive impact on many diseases in General Practice. If a meal plan can be generated as easily as writing a drug prescription for dyspepsia, then the evidence and practice gap in nutrition therapy can be narrowed. Meal plans of 50 diet prescriptions were compared with the criteria for a healthy diet given by Australian authorities. The energy value of each meal plan was compared with the recommended daily energy requirements of the authorities for Diet Prescription Generator (DPG) accuracy. Meal plans generated were within the criteria laid down by the Australian authorities for a healthy diet.

Keywords: dieting, obesity, diabetes, weight loss, computerized decision support systems, dieting software, CDSS, meal plans

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Authors: Javier Fernandez De Canete, Alvaro Fernandez-Quintero

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Nowadays, adaptive control schemes are being used when model based control schemes are applied in presence of uncertainty and model mismatches. Artificial neural networks have been employed both in modelling and control of non-linear dynamic systems with unknown dynamics. In fact, these are powerful tools to solve this control problem when only input-output operational data are available. A neural network controller under SIMULINK together with the ARDUINO hardware platform has been used to perform real-time speed control of a computer case fan. Comparison of performance with a PID controller has also been presented in order to show the efficacy of neural control under different command signals tracking and also when disturbance signals are present in the speed control loops.

Keywords: neural networks, ARDUINO platform, SIMULINK, adaptive speed control

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Authors: Rajendra Kumar Isaac, Monisha Isaac

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India, having a vast cultivable area and regional climatic variability, encounters water Resource Management Problems at various levels. The agricultural production of India needs to be increased to meet out projected population growth. Sustainable water resource is the only option to ensure food security, especially in northern Indian states, where the ground and surface water resources are fast depleting. Various tools and technologies available for management of scarce water resources have been discussed. It was concluded that multiple use of water, adopting latest water management options, identification of climate adoptable cropping and farming systems, can enhance water productivity and would encounter the fast growing water management and water shortage problems in Indian agriculture.

Keywords: water resource management, sustainable, water management technologies, water productivity, agriculture

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Authors: Usman Nasir, Minxiao Han, S. M. R. Kazmi

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Three phase inverters being used today are based on field orientation control (FOC) and sine wave PWM (SPWM) techniques because 120 degree or 180 degree conduction methods produce high value of THD (total harmonic distortion) in the power system. The indirect field orientation control (IFOC) method is difficult to implement in real systems due to speed sensor accuracy issue. This paper discusses the problem with IFOC and a PWM based 180 degree conduction mode for the three phase inverter. The modified control method improves THD and this paper also compares the results obtained using modified control method with the conventional 180 degree conduction mode.

Keywords: three phase inverters, IFOC, THD, sine wave PWM (SPWM)

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Authors: Seulbi Choi, Hyunchul Ahn

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Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithm has been popularly used for recommender systems in both academic and practical applications. It basically generates recommendation results using users’ numeric ratings. However, the additional use of the information other than user ratings may lead to better accuracy of CF. Considering that a lot of people are likely to share their honest opinion on the items they purchased recently due to the advent of the Web 2.0, user's review can be regarded as the new informative source for identifying user's preference with accuracy. Under this background, this study presents a hybrid recommender system that fuses CF and user's review mining. Our system adopts conventional memory-based CF, but it is designed to use both user’s numeric ratings and his/her text reviews on the items when calculating similarities between users.

Keywords: Recommender system, Collaborative filtering, Text mining, Review mining

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Authors: Guofan Shao, Lina Tang, Hao Zhang

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The values of image classification accuracy are affected by class size distributions and classification schemes, making it difficult to compare the performance of classification algorithms across different remote sensing data sources and classification systems. Based on the term efficacy from medicine and pharmacology, we have developed the metrics of image classification efficacy at the map and class levels. The novelty of this approach is that a baseline classification is involved in computing image classification efficacies so that the effects of class statistics are reduced. Furthermore, the image classification efficacies are interpretable and comparable, and thus, strengthen the assessment of image data classification methods. We use real-world and hypothetical examples to explain the use of image classification efficacies. The metrics of image classification efficacy meet the critical need to rectify the strategy for the assessment of image classification performance as image classification methods are becoming more diversified.

Keywords: accuracy assessment, efficacy, image classification, machine learning, uncertainty

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Authors: Jiaqi Yan, Yani Shi

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With the growing popularity of bitcoin transactions, criminals have exploited the bitcoin like cryptocurrencies, and cybercriminals such as money laundering have thrived. Unlike traditional currencies, the Internet-based virtual currencies can be used anonymously via the blockchain technology underpinning. In this paper, we analyze the double-edged sword features of blockchain technology in the context of money laundering. In particular, the traceability feature of blockchain-based system facilitates a level of governance, while the decentralization feature of blockchain-based system may bring governing difficulties. Based on the analysis, we propose guidelines for policy makers in governing blockchain-based cryptocurrency systems.

Keywords: cryptocurrency, money laundering, blockchain, decentralization, traceability

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Authors: M. Habab, C. Benachaiba, B. Mazari, H. Madi, C. Benoudjafer

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The use of Distributed Generation (DG) has been increasing in recent years to fill the gap between energy supply and demand. This paper presents the grid connected wind energy system with UPQC based on fuzzy controller to compensate for voltage and current disturbances. The proposed system can improve power quality at the point of installation on power distribution systems. Simulation results show the capability of the DG-UPQC intelligent system to compensate sags voltage and current harmonics at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC).

Keywords: shunt active filter, series active filter, UPQC, power quality, sags voltage, distributed generation, wind turbine

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Authors: Henning Lahmann, Benjamyn I. Scott, Bart Custers

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Suboptimal adoption of AI in defence organisations carries risks for the protection of the freedom, safety, and security of society. Despite the vast opportunities that defence AI-technology presents, there are also a variety of ethical, legal, and societal concerns. To ensure the successful use of AI technology by the military, ethical, legal, and societal aspects (ELSA) need to be considered, and their concerns continuously addressed at all levels. This includes ELSA considerations during the design, manufacturing and maintenance of AI-based systems, as well as its utilisation via appropriate military doctrine and training. This raises the question how defence organisations can remain strategically competitive and at the edge of military innovation, while respecting the values of its citizens. This paper will explain the set-up and share preliminary results of a 4-year research project commissioned by the National Research Council in the Netherlands on the ethical, legal, and societal aspects of AI in defence. The project plans to develop a future-proof, independent, and consultative ecosystem for the responsible use of AI in the defence domain. In order to achieve this, the lab shall devise a context-dependent methodology that focuses on the ‘analysis’, ‘design’ and ‘evaluation’ of ELSA of AI-based applications within the military context, which include inter alia unmanned aircraft. This is bolstered as the Lab also recognises and complements the existing methods in regards to human-machine teaming, explainable algorithms, and value-sensitive design. Such methods will be modified for the military context and applied to pertinent case-studies. These case-studies include, among others, the application of autonomous robots (incl. semi- autonomous) and AI-based methods against cognitive warfare. As the perception of the application of AI in the military context, by both society and defence personnel, is important, the Lab will study how these perceptions evolve and vary in different contexts. Furthermore, the Lab will monitor – as they may influence people’s perception – developments in the global technological, military and societal spheres. Although the emphasis of the research project is on different forms of AI in defence, it focuses on several case studies. One of these case studies is on unmanned aircraft, which will also be the focus of the paper. Hence, ethical, legal, and societal aspects of unmanned aircraft in the defence domain will be discussed in detail, including but not limited to privacy issues. Typical other issues concern security (for people, objects, data or other aircraft), privacy (sensitive data, hindrance, annoyance, data collection, function creep), chilling effects, PlayStation mentality, and PTSD.

Keywords: autonomous weapon systems, unmanned aircraft, human-machine teaming, meaningful human control, value-sensitive design

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Authors: Mauricio Molina

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The present research project aims to determine whether it is possible to have a statement, allowing you to have an economic model to establish clearly if the population that uses the rail system underground in the city of Medellin with an increase in productivity total factor. The present project aims to concentrate on the surroundings to the system underground for a period of 60 months in the city of Medellin. According to the review bibliographic is can establish that in it most of them cases, the cities that have with systems of transport rail are more productive. And should to its time present is an analysis that may lead to determine if effectively the use of the transport railway improves the productivity of a city and its inhabitants.

Keywords: economic growth, mobility urban, total factor productivity, rail transport

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Authors: Shashi Pingolia

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The paper discusses best practices developed and followed by 07 'Maharatna' Central Public sector Enterprises in India. The paper begins with brief analyses of the contribution of ‘Maharatna’ companies in the growth story of India Inc. Progressively; it enlists Human Resource practices and approach of these 'Maharatna' companies in the areas such as Recruitment, Pay structure, Employee Benefits and Development, Rewards and Recognition practices, Performance Management Systems, etc. In the later part of the paper, HR factors that led some of these 'Maharatna' companies from average employers to 'Best Place at Work' are discussed in brief.

Keywords: central public sector enterprises in India, Maharatna companies in India, human resource management, best place to work

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Authors: Gustavo Axel Elizalde-Velázquez

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Metformin is the first line of oral therapy to treat type II diabetes and is also employed as a treatment for other indications, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, cancer, and COVID-19. Recent data suggest it is the aspirin of the 21st century due to its antioxidant and anti-aging effects. However, increasingly current articles indicate its long-term consumption generates mitochondrial impairment. Up to date, it is known metformin increases the biogenesis of Alzheimer's amyloid peptides via up-regulating BACE1 transcription, but further information related to brain damage after its consumption is missing. Bearing in mind the above, this work aimed to establish whether or not chronic exposure to metformin may alter swimming behavior and induce neurotoxicity in Danio rerio adults. For this purpose, 250 Danio rerio grown-ups were assigned to six tanks of 50 L of capacity. Four of the six systems contained 50 fish, while the remaining two had 25 fish (≈1 male:1 female ratio). Every system with 50 fish was allocated one of the three metformin treatment concentrations (1, 20, and 40 μg/L), with one system as the control treatment. Systems with 25 fish, on the other hand, were used as positive controls for acetylcholinesterase (10 μg/L of Atrazine) and oxidative stress (3 μg/L of Atrazine). After four months of exposure, a mean of 32 fish (S.D. ± 2) per group of MET treatment survived, which were used for the evaluation of behavior with the Novel Tank test. Moreover, after the behavioral assessment, we aimed to collect the blood and brains of all fish from all treatment groups. For blood collection, fish were anesthetized with an MS-222 solution (150 mg/L), while for brain gathering, fish were euthanized using the hypothermic shock method (2–4 °C). Blood was employed to determine CASP3 activity and the percentage of apoptotic cells with the TUNEL assay, and brains were used to evaluate acetylcholinesterase activity, oxidative damage, and gene expression. After chronic exposure, MET-exposed fish exhibited less swimming activity when compared to control fish. Moreover, compared with the control group, MET significantly inhibited the activity of AChE and induced oxidative damage in the brain of fish. Concerning gene expression, MET significantly upregulated the expression of Nrf1, Nrf2, BAX, p53, BACE1, APP, PSEN1, and downregulated CASP3 and CASP9. Although MET did not overexpress the CASP3 gene, we saw a meaningful rise in the activity of this enzyme in the blood of fish exposed to MET compared to the control group, which we then confirmed by a high number of apoptotic cells in the TUNEL assay. To the best of our understanding, this is the first study that delivers evidence of oxidative impairment, apoptosis, AChE alteration, and overexpression of B- amyloid-related genes in the brain of fish exposed to metformin.

Keywords: AChE inhibition, CASP3 activity, NovelTank test, oxidative damage, TUNEL assay

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Authors: Kassem Saab, Fritzen Bart, Yves-Marie Seveque

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The deployment of Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) systems requires the development of robust and reliable Optical Ground Stations (OGS) that can be easily installed and operated. To this end, the Engineering Department of Airbus Defence and Space is actively working on the development of innovative and compact OGS solutions that can be deployed in various environments and provide high-quality connectivity under different atmospheric conditions. This article presents an overview of our recent developments in this field, including an evaluation study of different use cases of the FSOC with respect to different atmospheric conditions. The goal is to provide OGS solutions that are both simple and highly effective, allowing for the deployment of high-speed communication networks in a wide range of scenarios.

Keywords: end to end optical communication, laser propagation, optical ground station, turbulence

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Authors: M. Fakhim Lamrani, M. Ouchri, M. Belaiche, El Kenz, M. Loulidi, A. Benyoussef

Abstract:

Electronic and magnetic calculations based on density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation for II-VI compound semiconductor TiO2 doped with single impurity Os and Mo; these compounds are a half metallic ferromagnet in their ground state with a total magnetic moment of 2 μB for both systems. Then, TiO2 doped with double impurities Os and Mo have been performed. As result, Ti1-2xOsxMoxO2 with x=0.065 is half-metallic antiferromagnets with 100% spin polarization of the conduction electrons crossing the Fermi level, without showing a net magnetization. Moreover, Ti14OsMoO32 compound is stable energetically than Ti1-xMoxO2 and Ti1-xOsxO2. The antiferromagnetic interaction in Ti1-2xOsxMoxO2 system is attributed to the double exchange mechanism, and the latter could also be the origin of their half metallic.

Keywords: diluted magnetic semiconductor, half-metallic antiferromagnetic, augmented spherical wave method

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Authors: N. Kh. Gomidze, I. N. Jabnidze, K. A. Makharadze

Abstract:

The influence of inhomogeneities of plasma and statistical characteristics on the propagation of signal is very actual in wireless communication systems. While propagating in the media, the deformation and evaluation of the signal in time and space take place and on the receiver we get a deformed signal. The present article is dedicated to studying the space-time evolution of rectangular, sinusoidal, exponential and bi-exponential impulses via numerical experiment in the collisional, cold plasma. The presented method is not based on the Fourier-presentation of the signal. Analytically, we have received the general image depicting the space-time evolution of the radio impulse amplitude that gives an opportunity to analyze the concrete results in the case of primary impulse.

Keywords: collisional, cold plasma, rectangular pulse signal, impulse envelope

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