Search results for: speed hump detection

Authors: Ajay Biswas, Abhijit Bhowmik, Saurav Datta, Swapan Bhaumik

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A series of experiments has been carried out to study the feasibility of submerged arc welding (SAW) on mild steel plate of designation IS 2062 grade B. Specimen temperature of which is reduced to zero degree Celsius whereas the ambient temperature is about 25-27 degree Celsius. To observe this, bead on plate submerged arc welding is formed on the specimen plate of heavy duty mild steel of designation IS 2062 grade B, fitted on the special fixture ensuring zero degree Celsius temperature to the specimen plate. Sixteen numbers of cold samples is welded by varying the most influencing parameters viz. Voltage, wire feed rate, travel speed and electrode stick-out at four different levels. Another sixteen numbers of specimens are at normal room temperature are welded by applying same combination of parameters. Those sixteen numbers of specimens are selected based on the design of experiment of Taguchi‘s L16 orthogonal array with the intension of reducing the number of experimental runs. Different attributes of bead geometry of the entire sample for both the situations are measured and compared. It is established that submerged arc welding is feasible at zero degree Celsius on mild steel plate of designation IS 2062 grade B and optimization of the process parameters can also be drawn as a clear response of parameters are obtained.

Keywords: geometry of weldment, submerged arc welding, Taguchi’s design of experiment, zero degree Celsius

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Authors: Dolly Gadhiya, Jayvadan Patel, Mihir Raval

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Lercanidipine hydrochloride is a calcium channel blockers used for treating angina pectoris and hypertension. Lercanidipine is a BCS Class II drug having poor aqueous solubility. Absolute bioavailability of Lercanidipine is very low and the main reason ascribed for this is poor aqueous solubility of the drug. Design and formulatation of nanocrystals by media milling method was main focus of this study. In this present study preliminary optimization was carried out with one factor at a time (OFAT) approach. For this different parameters like size of milling beads, amount of zirconium beads, types of stabilizer, concentrations of stabilizer, concentrations of drug, stirring speeds and milling time were optimized on the basis of particle size, polydispersity index and zeta potential. From the OFAT model different levels for above parameters selected for Plackett - Burman Design (PBD). Plackett-Burman design having 13 runs involving 6 independent variables was carried out at higher and lower level. Based on statistical analysis of PBD it was found that concentration of stabilizer, concentration of drug and stirring speed have significant impact on particle size, PDI, zeta potential value and saturation solubility. These experimental designs for preparation of nanocrystals were applied successfully which shows increase in aqueous solubility and dissolution rate of Lercanidipine hydrochloride.

Keywords: Lercanidipine hydrochloride, nanocrystals, OFAT, Plackett Burman

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Authors: Gabriela Kloudova, Miloslav Stehlik, Peter Sos

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The quality of sleep can affect combat performance where the vigilance, accuracy and reaction time are a decisive factor. In the present study, airborne and special units are measured on duty using actigraphy fingerprint scoring algorithm and QEEG (quantitative EEG). Actigraphic variables of interest will be: mean nightly sleep duration, mean napping duration, mean 24-h sleep duration, mean sleep latency, mean sleep maintenance efficiency, mean sleep fragmentation index, mean sleep onset time, mean sleep offset time and mean midpoint time. In an attempt to determine the individual somnotype of each subject, the data like sleep pattern, chronotype (morning and evening lateness), biological need for sleep (daytime and anytime sleepability) and trototype (daytime and anytime wakeability) will be extracted. Subsequently, a series of recommendations will be included in the training plan based on daily routine, timing of the day and night activities, duration of sleep and the number of sleeping blocks in a defined time. The aim of these modifications in the training plan is to reduce day-time sleepiness, improve vigilance, attention, accuracy, speed of the conducted tasks and to optimize energy supplies. Regular improvement of the training supposed to have long-term neurobiological consequences including neuronal activity changes measured by QEEG. Subsequently, that should enhance cognitive functioning in subjects assessed by the digital cognitive test batteries and improve their overall performance.

Keywords: sleep quality, combat performance, actigraph, somnotype

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Authors: Bushra Nabi, Saleha Rehman, Sanjula Baboota, Javed Ali

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Aim: The objective of research undertaken is analytical method validation (HPLC method) of an anti-HIV drug Elvitegravir (EVG). Additionally carrying out the forced degradation studies of the drug under different stress conditions to determine its stability. It is envisaged in order to determine the suitable technique for drug estimation, which would be employed in further research. Furthermore, comparative pharmacokinetic profile of the drug from lipid architectonics and drug suspension would be obtained post oral administration. Method: Lipid Architectonics (LA) of EVR was formulated using probe sonication technique and optimized using QbD (Box-Behnken design). For the estimation of drug during further analysis HPLC method has been validation on the parameters (Linearity, Precision, Accuracy, Robustness) and Limit of Detection (LOD) and Limit of Quantification (LOQ) has been determined. Furthermore, HPLC quantification of forced degradation studies was carried out under different stress conditions (acid induced, base induced, oxidative, photolytic and thermal). For pharmacokinetic (PK) study, Albino Wistar rats were used weighing between 200-250g. Different formulations were given per oral route, and blood was collected at designated time intervals. A plasma concentration profile over time was plotted from which the following parameters were determined:

Keywords: AIDS, Elvitegravir, HPLC, nanostructured lipid carriers, pharmacokinetics

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Authors: Sadia Munir

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Preeclampsia is the contributor to the worldwide maternal mortality of approximately 100,000 deaths a year. It complicates about 10% of all pregnancies and is the first cause of maternal admission to intensive care units. Predicting preeclampsia is a major challenge in obstetrics. More importantly, no major progress has been achieved in the treatment of preeclampsia. As placenta is the main cause of the disease, the only way to treat the disease is to extract placental and deliver the baby. In developed countries, the cost of an average case of preeclampsia is estimated at £9000. Interestingly, preeclampsia may have an impact on the health of mother or infant, beyond the pregnancy. We performed a systematic search of PubMed including the combination of terms such as preeclampsia, biomarkers, treatment, hypoxia, inflammation, oxidative stress, vascular endothelial growth factor A, activin A, inhibin A, placental growth factor, transforming growth factor β-1, Nodal, placenta, trophoblast cells, microRNAs. In this review, we have summarized current knowledge on the identification of potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of preeclampsia. Although these studies show promising data in early diagnosis of preeclampsia, the current value of these factors as biomarkers, for the precise prediction of preeclampsia, has its limitation. Therefore, future studies need to be done to support some of the very promising and interesting data to develop affordable and widely available tests for early detection and treatment of preeclampsia.

Keywords: activin, biomarkers, growth factors, miroRNA

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Authors: Atef Alaaeddine Sarraj, Brendan Jackman, Frank Walsh

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Tomorrow’s car will be more automated and increasingly connected. Innovative and intuitive interfaces are essential to accompany this functional enrichment. For that, today the automotive companies are competing to offer an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) which will be able to provide enhanced navigation, collision avoidance, intersection support and lane keeping. These vision-based functions require an accurately calibrated camera. To achieve such differentiation in ADAS requires sophisticated sensors and efficient algorithms. This paper explores the different calibration methods applicable to vehicle-mounted fish-eye cameras with arbitrary fields of view and defines the first steps towards a self-calibration method that adequately addresses ADAS requirements. In particular, we present a self-calibration method after comparing different camera calibration algorithms in the context of ADAS requirements. Our method gathers data from unknown scenes while the car is moving, estimates the camera intrinsic and extrinsic parameters and corrects the wide-angle distortion. Our solution enables continuous and real-time detection of objects, pedestrians, road markings and other cars. In contrast, other camera calibration algorithms for ADAS need pre-calibration, while the presented method calibrates the camera without prior knowledge of the scene and in real-time.

Keywords: advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), fish-eye, real-time, self-calibration

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Authors: Hanene Sahli, Aymen Mouelhi, Marwa Hajji, Amine Ben Slama, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech, Radhwane Rachdi

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Fetal abnormality is still a public health problem of interest to both mother and baby. Head defect is one of the most high-risk fetal deformities. Fetal head categorization is a sensitive task that needs a massive attention from neurological experts. In this sense, biometrical measurements can be extracted by gynecologist doctors and compared with ground truth charts to identify normal or abnormal growth. The fetal head biometric measurements such as Biparietal Diameter (BPD), Occipito-Frontal Diameter (OFD) and Head Circumference (HC) needs to be monitored, and expert should carry out its manual delineations. This work proposes a new approach to automatically compute BPD, OFD and HC based on morphological characteristics extracted from head shape. Hence, the studied data selected at the same Gestational Age (GA) from the fetal Ultrasound images (US) are classified into two categories: Normal and abnormal. The abnormal subjects include hydrocephalus, microcephaly and dolichocephaly anomalies. By the use of a support vector machines (SVM) method, this study achieved high classification for automated detection of anomalies. The proposed method is promising although it doesn't need expert interventions.

Keywords: biometric measurements, fetal head malformations, machine learning methods, US images

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Authors: Amal Hussain Alkhaiwani, Ghadah Abdullah Almalki

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Recently human errors have increasingly become a very high factor in security breaches that may affect confidential data, and most of the cyber data breaches are caused by human errors. With one individual mistake, the attacker will gain access to the entire network and bypass the implemented access controls without any immediate detection. Unaware employees will be vulnerable to any social engineering cyber-attacks. Providing security awareness to People is part of the company protection process; the cyber risks cannot be reduced by just implementing technology; the human awareness of security will significantly reduce the risks, which encourage changes in staff cyber-awareness. In this paper, we will focus on Human Awareness, human needs to continue the required security education level; we will review human errors and introduce a proposed solution to avoid the breach from occurring again. Recently Saudi Arabia faced many attacks with different methods of social engineering. As Saudi Arabia has become a target to many countries and individuals, we needed to initiate a defense mechanism that begins with awareness to keep our privacy and protect the confidential data against possible intended attacks.

Keywords: cybersecurity, human aspects, human errors, human mistakes, security awareness, Saudi Arabia, security program, security education, social engineering

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Authors: Sirisak Choedkiatphon, Tanya Niyamapa

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This research aimed to indeed understand the soil-rotary blade interaction of the newly-design rotary blade for Thai walking tractor. Therefore, this study was carried out to clarify the characteristics of the horizontal and the vertical forces and the moment around a rotary shaft of prototype rotary blade 15 lengthwise slice angle. It was set up and tested in laboratory soil bin at Kasetsart University under sandy loam and clay soil at soil dry bulk density and soil specific weight of 9.81 kN/m3 and 11.3% (d.b.), respectively. The tests were conducted at travel speeds of 0.069 and 0.142 m/s and rotational speeds of 150, 250 and 350 rpm. The characteristic of pushing-forward and lifting-up forces and moment around a rotor shaft were obtained by using the EOR transducer. Also, the acting point of resultant force of these soil-blade reaction forces was determined. The pushing-forward and lifting-up forces, moment around a rotor shaft and resultant force increased at higher travel speed and higher soil moisture content. In tilling stage, the acting points of resultant force located inside the circumstance of the blade locus. The results showed that the variation of magnitude and direction of pushing-forward, lifting-up and resultant forces corresponded to soil-blade interaction of the newly-design in tilling stage.

Keywords: rotary blde, soil-blade interaction, walking tractor, clay, sandy loam

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Authors: Claudio Clemente, Valentina Gargiulo, Alessio Occhicone, Giovanni Piero Pepe, Giovanni Ausanio, Michela Alfè

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Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions represent a serious risk to human health and the integrity of the ecosystems, especially at high concentrations. For this reason, it is very important to continuously monitor environmental quality and develop fast and reliable portable sensors to allow analysis on site. Chemiresistors have become promising candidates for VOC sensing as their ease of fabrication, variety of suitable sensitive materials, and simple sensing data. A chemoresistive gas sensor is a transducer that allows to measure the concentration of an analyte in the gas phase because the changes in resistance are proportional to the amount of the analyte present. The selection of the sensitive material, which interacts with the target analyte, is very important for the sensor performance. The most used VOC detection materials are metal oxides (MOx) for their rapid recovery, high sensitivity to various gas molecules, easy fabrication. Their sensing performance can be improved in terms of operating temperature, selectivity, and detection limit. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a lot of attention also in the field of gas sensing due to their high porosity, high surface area, tunable morphologies, structural variety. MOFs are generated by the self-assembly of multidentate organic ligands connecting with adjacent multivalent metal nodes via strong coordination interactions, producing stable and highly ordered crystalline porous materials with well-designed structures. However, most MOFs intrinsically exhibit low electrical conductivity. To improve this property, MOFs can be combined with organic and inorganic materials in a hybrid fashion to produce composite materials or can be transformed into more stable structures. MOFs, indeed, can be employed as the precursors of metal oxides with well-designed architectures via the calcination method. The MOF-derived MOx partially preserved the original structure with high surface area and intrinsic open pores, which act as trapping centers for gas molecules, and showed a higher electrical conductivity. Core-shell heterostructures, in which the surface of a metal oxide core is completely coated by a MOF shell, forming a junction at the core-shell heterointerface, can also be synthesized. Also, nanocomposite in which MOF structures are intercalated with graphene related materials can also be produced, and the conductivity increases thanks to the high mobility of electrons of carbon materials. As MOF structures, zinc-based MOFs belonging to the ZIF family were selected in this work. Several Zn-based materials based and/or derived from MOFs were produced, structurally characterized, and arranged in a chemo resistive architecture, also exploring the potentiality of different approaches of sensing layer deposition based on PLD (pulsed laser deposition) and, in case of thermally labile materials, MAPLE (Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation) to enhance the adhesion to the support. The sensors were tested in a controlled humidity chamber, allowing for the possibility of varying the concentration of ethanol, a typical analyte chosen among the VOCs for a first survey. The effect of heating the chemiresistor to improve sensing performances was also explored. Future research will focus on exploring new manufacturing processes for MOF-based gas sensors with the aim to improve sensitivity, selectivity and reduce operating temperatures.

Keywords: chemiresistors, gas sensors, graphene related materials, laser deposition, MAPLE, metal-organic frameworks, metal oxides, nanocomposites, sensing performance, transduction mechanism, volatile organic compounds

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Authors: Nazira Kakulia

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The analysis of transformation of institutional changes outlines two important characteristics. These are: the speed of the changes and their sequence. Successful transformation must be carried out in three different stages; On the first stage, macroeconomic stabilization must be achieved with the help of fiscal and monetary tools. Two-tier banking system should be established and the active functions of central bank should be replaced by the passive ones (reserve requirements and refinancing rate), together with the involvement growth of private sector. Fiscal policy by itself here means the creation of tax system which must replace previously existing direct state revenues; the share of subsidies in the state expenses must be reduced also. The second stage begins after reaching the macroeconomic stabilization at a time of change of formal institutes which must stimulate the private business. Corporate legislation creates a competitive environment at the market and the privatization of state companies takes place. Bankruptcy and contract law is created. he third stage is the most extended one, which means the formation of all state structures that is necessary for the further proper functioning of a market economy. These three stages about the cycle period of political and social transformation and the hierarchy of changes can also be grouped by the different methodology: on the first and the most short-term stage the transfer of power takes place. On the second stage institutions corresponding to new goal are created. The last phase of transformation is extended in time and it includes the infrastructural, socio-cultural and socio-structural changes. The main goal of this research is to explore and identify the features of such kind of models.

Keywords: competitive environment, fiscal policy, macroeconomic stabilization, tax system

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Authors: B. Adebayo, A. A. Adebayo

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Adequate power generation and supply are enormous challenges confronting Nigeria state today. This is a powerful mechanism that drives industrial development and socio-economy of any nation. The present level of power generation and supply have become national embarrassment to both government and the citizens of Nigeria, where over 60% of the population have no access to electricity. This paper is set to review the abundant clean energy alternative sources available in abundance that are capable of boosting power generation. The clean energy sources waiting to be exploited include: nuclear, solar and wind energy. The environmental benefits of these sources of power generation are identified. Nuclear energy is a powerful clean energy source. However, Africa accounted for 20% of known recoverable reserve and uranium produces heat of 500,000 MJ/kg. Moreover, Nigeria receives average daily solar radiation of over 5.249 kWh/m2/day. Researchers have shown that wind speed and power flux densities varied from 1.5 – 4.1 m/s and 5.7 – 22.5 W/m2 respectively. It is a fact that the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high, leading to winding up of the multi-national companies and then led to increase unemployment level. More importantly, readily available vast quantity of energy will reduce cost of running industries. Hence, more industries will come on board, goods, services, and more job creation will be achieved. This clean source of power generation is devoid of production of green house gases, elimination of environmental pollution, and reduced waste disposal. Then Nigerians will live in harmony with the environment.

Keywords: power, generation, energy, mix, clean, industrial

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Authors: Giacomo Ciani

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This paper reviews the impact of quantum noise on modern gravitational wave interferometers and explains how squeezed vacuum states are used to push the noise below the standard quantum limit. With the first detection of gravitational waves from a pair of colliding black holes in September 2015 and subsequent detections including that of gravitational waves from a pair of colliding neutron stars, the ground-based interferometric gravitational wave observatories LIGO and VIRGO have opened the era of gravitational-wave and multi-messenger astronomy. Improving the sensitivity of the detectors is of paramount importance to increase the number and quality of the detections, fully exploiting this new information channel about the universe. Although still in the commissioning phase and not at nominal sensitivity, these interferometers are designed to be ultimately limited by a combination of shot noise and quantum radiation pressure noise, which define an envelope known as the standard quantum limit. Despite the name, this limit can be beaten with the use of advanced quantum measurement techniques, with the use of squeezed vacuum states being currently the most mature and promising. Different strategies for implementation of the technology in the large-scale detectors, in both their frequency-independent and frequency-dependent variations, are presented, together with an analysis of the main technological issues and expected sensitivity gain.

Keywords: gravitational waves, interferometers, squeezed vacuum, standard quantum limit

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Authors: Shivani Verma, Amit Agrawal, Pankaj Kumar Meena, Ashish B. Deoghare

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Over the decade robotics has been a major area of interest among the researchers and scientists in reducing human efforts. The need for robots to replace human work in different dangerous fields such as underground mining, nuclear power station and war against terrorist attack has gained huge attention. Most of the robot design is based on human structure popularly known as humanoid robots. However, the problems encountered in humanoid robots includes low speed of movement, misbalancing in structure, poor load carrying capacity, etc. The simplification and adaptation of the fundamental design principles seen in animals have led to the creation of bio-inspired robots. But the major challenges observed in naturally inspired robot include complexity in structure, several degrees of freedom and energy storage problem. The present work focuses on design and fabrication of a bionic quadruped walking robot which is based on different joint of quadruped mammals like a dog, cheetah, etc. The design focuses on the structure of the robot body which consists of four legs having three degrees of freedom per leg and the electronics system involved in it. The robot is built using readily available plastics and metals. The proposed robot is simple in construction and is able to move through uneven terrain, detect and locate obstacles and take images while carrying additional loads which may include hardware and sensors. The robot will find possible application in the artificial intelligence sector.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, bionic, quadruped robot, degree of freedom

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Authors: Lauren M. McKinnon, Justin B. Miller, Michael F. Whiting, John S. K. Kauwe, Perry G. Ridge

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Background: Ramp sequences increase translational speed and accuracy when rare, slowly-translated codons are found at the beginnings of genes. Here, the results of the first analysis of ramp sequences in a phylogenetic construct are presented. Methods: Ramp sequences were compared from 211 vertebrates (110 Mammalian and 101 non-mammalian). The presence and absence of ramp sequences were analyzed as a binary character in a parsimony and maximum likelihood framework. Additionally, ramp sequences were mapped to the Open Tree of Life taxonomy to determine the number of parallelisms and reversals that occurred, and these results were compared to what would be expected due to random chance. Lastly, aligned nucleotides in ramp sequences were compared to the rest of the sequence in order to examine possible differences in phylogenetic signal between these regions of the gene. Results: Parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of the presence/absence of ramp sequences recovered phylogenies that are highly congruent with established phylogenies. Additionally, the retention index of ramp sequences is significantly higher than would be expected due to random chance (p-value = 0). A chi-square analysis of completely orthologous ramp sequences resulted in a p-value of approximately zero as compared to random chance. Discussion: Ramp sequences recover comparable phylogenies as other phylogenomic methods. Although not all ramp sequences appear to have a phylogenetic signal, more ramp sequences track speciation than expected by random chance. Therefore, ramp sequences may be used in conjunction with other phylogenomic approaches.

Keywords: codon usage bias, phylogenetics, phylogenomics, ramp sequence

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Authors: Sabyasachi Biswas, Indrajit Ghosh

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The random and heterogeneous behavior of vehicles in India puts up a greater challenge for researchers. Stop-and-go modeling at signalized intersections under heterogeneous traffic conditions has remained one of the most sought-after fields. Vehicles are often caught up in the dilemma zone and are unable to take quick decisions whether to stop or cross the intersection. This hampers the traffic movement and may lead to accidents. The purpose of this work is to develop a stop and go prediction model that depicts the drivers’ decision during the yellow time at signalised intersections. To accomplish this, certain traffic parameters were taken into account to develop surrogate model. This research investigated the Stop and Go behavior of the drivers by collecting data from 4-signalized intersections located in two major Indian cities. Model was developed to predict the drivers’ decision making during the yellow phase of the traffic signal. The parameters used for modeling included distance to stop line, time to stop line, speed, and length of the vehicle. A Kriging base surrogate model has been developed to investigate the drivers’ decision-making behavior in amber phase. It is observed that the proposed approach yields a highly accurate result (97.4 percent) by Gaussian function. It was observed that the accuracy for the crossing probability was 95.45, 90.9 and 86.36.11 percent respectively as predicted by the Kriging models with Gaussian, Exponential and Linear functions.

Keywords: decision-making decision, dilemma zone, surrogate model, Kriging

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Authors: Jaiprakash Dargad

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CdMnSe dilute semiconductor or semimagnetic semiconductors have become the focus of intense research due to their interesting combination of magnetic and semiconducting properties, and are employed in a variety of devices including solar cells, gas sensors etc. A series of thin films of this material, Cd1−xMnxSe (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5), were therefore synthesized onto precleaned amorphous glass substrates using a solution growth technique. The sources of cadmium (Cd2+) and manganese (Mn2+) were aqueous solutions of cadmium sulphate and manganese sulphate, and selenium (Se2−) was extracted from a reflux of sodium selenosulphite. The different deposition parameters such as temperature, time of deposition, speed of mechanical churning, pH of the reaction mixture etc were optimized to yield good quality deposits. The as-grown samples were thin, relatively uniform, smooth and tightly adherent to the substrate support. The colour of the deposits changed from deep red-orange to yellowish-orange as the composition parameter, x, was varied from 0 to 0.5. The terminal layer thickness decreased with increasing value of, x. The optical energy gap decreased from 1.84 eV to 1.34 eV for the change of x from 0 to 0.5. The coefficient of optical absorption is of the order of 10-4 - 10-5 cm−1 and the type of transition (m = 0.5) is of the band-to-band direct type. The dc electrical conductivities were measured at room temperature and in the temperature range 300 K - 500 K. It was observed that the room temperature electrical conductivity increased with the composition parameter x up to 0.1, gradually decreasing thereafter. The thermo power measurements showed n-type conduction in these films.

Keywords: dilute semiconductor, reflux, CBD, thin film

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Authors: Khaliun Nyambayar, Nomindari Azzaya, Batkhuyag Purevjav

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Pharmacovigilance was officially introduced in Mongolia in 2003, in accordance with the Health Minister Order 183 for the registry of adverse drug reactions (ADR), approved in 2006 and was reviewed in 2010. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence and common types of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized children, the frequency of adverse drug reaction reported by health care providers, and the follow-up processes resulting from adverse drug reactions. A retrospective study of paediatric patients who experienced an adverse drug reaction from 2015 to 2019, extracted from the “yellow” card at the State Research Center for Maternal and Child Health, (city). A total of 417 adverse drug reactions were reported with an overall incidence was 80 (21.5%). Adverse reactions resulting from the use of antibiotics (particularly gentamycin, cephalosporins, and vancomycin) were usually mild. ADR’s were reported by physicians and nurses (93.8%), pharmacists (6.25%). Although documentation of physician notification occurred for 93% of adverse drug reactions, only 29% of cases were documented in the patient's medical chart, 13% included follow-up education for individuals involved, and 10% were updated in the allergy profile of the hospital computer system. Measures to improve the detection and reporting of adverse drug reactions by all health care professionals should be improved, to enhance our understanding of the nature and impact of these reactions in children.

Keywords: adverse drug reaction, pediatric, yellow card, Mongolia

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Authors: Soumya Bhattacharjya, Avinandan Sahoo, Gaurav Datta

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Wind fragility analysis of chimney is often carried out disregarding temperature effect. However, the combined effect of wind and temperature is the most critical limit state for chimney design. Hence, in the present paper, an efficient fragility analysis for concrete chimney is explored under combined wind and temperature effect. Wind time histories are generated by Davenports Power Spectral Density Function and using Weighed Amplitude Wave Superposition Technique. Fragility analysis is often carried out in full Monte Carlo Simulation framework, which requires extensive computational time. Thus, in the present paper, an efficient adaptive metamodelling technique is adopted to judiciously approximate limit state function, which will be subsequently used in the simulation framework. This will save substantial computational time and make the approach computationally efficient. Uncertainty in wind speed, wind load related parameters, and resistance-related parameters is considered. The results by the full simulation approach, conventional metamodelling approach and proposed adaptive metamodelling approach will be compared. Effect of disregarding temperature in wind fragility analysis will be highlighted.

Keywords: adaptive metamodelling technique, concrete chimney, fragility analysis, stochastic extreme wind load, temperature effect

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Authors: Qinghua Xing, Noha M. Mesbah, Haisheng Wang, Jun Li, Baisuo Zhao

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Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is being increasingly adopted for gene detection and quantification because of its higher sensitivity and specificity. According to previous observations and our lab data, it is essential to use endogenous reference genes (RGs) when investigating gene expression at the mRNA level under salt stress. This study aimed to select and validate suitable RGs for gene expression under salt stress using ddPCR. Six candidate RGs were selected based on the tandem mass tag (TMT)-labeled quantitative proteomics of Alkalicoccus halolimnae at four salinities. The expression stability of these candidate genes was evaluated using statistical algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and RefFinder). There was a small fluctuation in cycle threshold (Ct) value and copy number of the pdp gene. Its expression stability was ranked in the vanguard of all algorithms, and was the most suitable RG for quantification of expression by both qPCR and ddPCR of A. halolimnae under salt stress. Single RG pdp and RG combinations were used to normalize the expression of ectA, ectB, ectC, and ectD under four salinities. The present study constitutes the first systematic analysis of endogenous RG selection for halophiles responding to salt stress. This work provides a valuable theory and an approach reference of internal control identification for ddPCR-based stress response models.

Keywords: endogenous reference gene, salt stress, ddPCR, RT-qPCR, Alkalicoccus halolimnae

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Authors: Theresa N. Uzor

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The word cardiovascular fitness is a topic of much interest to people of Nigeria, especially during this time, some heart diseases run in families. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the heart and lungs to supply-rich blood to the working muscle tissues. This type of fitness is a health-related component of physical fitness that is brought about by sustained physical activity such as plyometric training. Plyometric is a form of advanced fitness training that uses fast muscular contractions to improve power and speed in the sports performance by coaches and athletes. Plyometric training involves a rapid stretching of muscle (eccentric phase) immediately followed by a concentric or shortening action of the same muscle and connective tissue. However, the most basic example of true plyometric training is running and can be safe for a wide variety of populations. This paper focused on building cardiovascular health through Plyometric Training. The centre focus of the article is cardiovascular fitness and plyometric training with factors of cardiovascular fitness. Plyometric training at any age provides multiple benefits even beyond weight control and weight loss, decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other diseases, among other benefits of plyometric training to cardiovascular fitness. Participation in plyometric training will increase metabolism of an individual, thereby burning more calories even when at rest and reduces weight is also among the benefits of plyometric training. Some guidelines were recommended for planning plyometric training programme to minimise the chance of injury. With plyometric training in Nigeria, fortune can change for good, especially now that there has been an increase in cardiovascular diseases within the society for great savings would be saved.

Keywords: aerobic, cardiovascular, concentric, stretch-shortening cycle, plyometric

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Authors: Bo Hu, Shibo Wang, Haoyang Zhang, Jie Shi

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With the development of sonar detection technology, the acoustic stealth technology of underwater vehicles is facing severe challenges. The underwater acoustic coating is developing towards the direction of low-frequency absorption capability and broad absorption frequency bandwidth. In this paper, an acoustic model of underwater acoustic coating of composite material embedded with periodical steel structure is presented. The model has multiple high absorption peaks in the frequency range of 1kHz-8kHz, where achieves high sound absorption and broad bandwidth performance. It is found that the frequencies of the absorption peaks are related to the classic half-wavelength transmission principle. The sound absorption performance of the acoustic model is investigated by the finite element method using COMSOL software. The sound absorption mechanism of the proposed model is explained by the distributions of the displacement vector field. The influence of geometric parameters of periodical steel structure, including thickness and distance, on the sound absorption ability of the proposed model are further discussed. The acoustic model proposed in this study provides an idea for the design of underwater low-frequency broadband acoustic coating, and the results shows the possibility and feasibility for practical underwater application.

Keywords: acoustic coating, composite material, broad frequency bandwidth, sound absorption performance

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Authors: Zakieh Piri, Shahla Damanabi, Peyman Rezaii Hachesoo

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Introduction: Healthcare organizations like other organizations suffer from a number of disorders such as Business Sponsor Disorder, Business Acceptance Disorder, Cultural/Political Disorder, Data Disorder, etc. As quality in healthcare care mostly depends on the quality of data, we aimed to identify data disorders and its symptoms in two teaching hospitals. Methods: Using a self-constructed questionnaire, we asked 20 questions in related to quality and usability of patient data stored in patient records. Research population consisted of 150 managers, physicians, nurses, medical record staff who were working at the time of study. We also asked their views about the symptoms and treatments for any data disorders they mentioned in the questionnaire. Using qualitative methods we analyzed the answers. Results: After classifying the answers, we found six main data disorders: incomplete data, missed data, late data, blurred data, manipulated data, illegible data. The majority of participants believed in their important roles in treatment of data disorders while others believed in health system problems. Discussion: As clinicians have important roles in producing of data, they can easily identify symptoms and disorders of patient data. Health information managers can also play important roles in early detection of data disorders by proactively monitoring and periodic check-ups of data.

Keywords: data disorders, quality, healthcare, treatment

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Authors: Han-Bin Park, Taesam Kang, SunKi Hong, Jeong Hoi Gu

Abstract:

The piezoelectric material is being used widely for actuators due to its large power density with simple structure. It can generate a larger force than the conventional actuators with the same size. Furthermore, the response time of piezoelectric actuators is very short, and thus, it can be used for very fast system applications with compact size. To control the piezoelectric actuator, we need analog signal conditioning circuits as well as digital microcontrollers. Conventional microcontrollers are not equipped with analog parts and thus the control system becomes bulky compared with the small size of the piezoelectric devices. To overcome these weaknesses, we are developing one-chip micro controller that can handle analog and digital signals simultaneously using mixed signal FPGA technology. We used the SmartFusion™ FPGA device that integrates ARM®Cortex-M3, analog interface and FPGA fabric in a single chip and offering full customization. It gives more flexibility than traditional fixed-function microcontrollers with the excessive cost of soft processor cores on traditional FPGAs. In this paper we introduce the design of single chip controller using mixed signal FPGA, SmartFusion™[1] device. To demonstrate its performance, we implemented a PI controller for power driving circuit and a 5th order H-infinity controller for the system with piezoelectric actuator in the FPGA fabric. We also demonstrated the regulation of a power output and the operation speed of a 5th order H-infinity controller.

Keywords: mixed signal FPGA, PI control, piezoelectric actuator, SmartFusion™

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Authors: M. Cuevas-González, O. Monserrat, A. Barra, C. Reyes-Carmona, R.M. Mateos, J. P. Galve, R. Sarro, M. Cantalejo, E. Peña, M. Martínez-Corbella, J. A. Luque, J. M. Azañón, A. Millares, M. Béjar, J. A. Navarro, L. Solari

Abstract:

Geohazard prone areas require continuous monitoring to detect risks, understand the phenomena occurring in those regions and prevent disasters. Satellite interferometry (InSAR) has come to be a trustworthy technique for ground movement detection and monitoring in the last few years. InSAR based techniques allow to process large areas providing high number of displacement measurements at low cost. However, the results provided by such techniques are usually not easy to interpret by non-experienced users hampering its use for decision makers. This work presents a set of tools developed in the framework of different projects (Momit, Safety, U-Geohaz, Riskcoast) and an example of their use in the Granada Coastal area (Spain) is shown. The ADA (Active Displacement Areas) tool have been developed with the aim of easing the management, use and interpretation of InSAR based results. It provides a semi-automatic extraction of the most significant ADAs through the application ADAFinder tool. This tool aims to support the exploitation of the European Ground Motion Service (EU-GMS), which will provide consistent, regular and reliable information regarding natural and anthropogenic ground motion phenomena all over Europe.

Keywords: ground displacements, InSAR, natural hazards, satellite imagery

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Authors: Andres Pinilla Palacios, Ricardo Tamayo

Abstract:

Emotional contagion is characterized as an automatic tendency to synchronize behaviors that facilitate emotional convergence among humans. It might thus play a pivotal role to understand the dynamics of key social interactions. However, a few research has investigated its potential mechanisms. We suggest two complementary but independent processes that may underlie emotional contagion. The efficient contagion hypothesis, based on fast and implicit bottom-up processes, modulated by familiarity and spread of activation in the emotional associative networks of memory. Secondly, the emotional contrast hypothesis, based on slow and explicit top-down processes guided by deliberated appraisal and hypothesis-testing. In order to assess these two hypotheses, an experiment with 39 participants was conducted. In the first phase, participants were induced (between-groups) to an emotional state (positive, neutral or negative) using a standardized video taken from the FilmStim database. In the second phase, participants classified and rated (within-subject) the emotional state of 15 faces (5 for each emotional state) taken from the POFA database. In the third phase, all participants were returned to a baseline emotional state using the same neutral video used in the first phase. In a fourth phase, participants classified and rated a new set of 15 faces. The accuracy in the identification and rating of emotions was partially explained by the efficient contagion hypothesis, but the speed with which these judgments were made was partially explained by the emotional contrast hypothesis. However, results are ambiguous, so a follow-up experiment is proposed in which emotional expressions and activation of the sympathetic system will be measured using EMG and EDA respectively.

Keywords: electromyography, emotional contagion, emotional valence, identification of emotions, imitation

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Authors: Riccardo Fratini, Riccardo Santini, Jacopo Serafini, Massimo Gennaretti, Stefano Panzieri

Abstract:

This paper presents a nonlinear differential model, for a three-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) suited for control applications. It is based on a 8-dofs, lumped parameters structural dynamics coupled with a quasi-steady sectional aerodynamics. In particular, using the Euler-Lagrange Equation (Energetic Variation approach), the authors derive, and successively validate, such model. For the derivation of the aerodynamic model, the Greenbergs theory, an extension of the theory proposed by Theodorsen to the case of thin airfoils undergoing pulsating flows, is used. Specifically, in this work, the authors restricted that theory under the hypothesis of low perturbation reduced frequency k, which causes the lift deficiency function C(k) to be real and equal to 1. Furthermore, the expressions of the aerodynamic loads are obtained using the quasi-steady strip theory (Hodges and Ormiston), as a function of the chordwise and normal components of relative velocity between flow and airfoil Ut, Up, their derivatives, and section angular velocity ε˙. For the validation of the proposed model, the authors carried out open and closed-loop simulations of a 5 MW HAWT, characterized by radius R =61.5 m and by mean chord c = 3 m, with a nominal angular velocity Ωn = 1.266rad/sec. The first analysis performed is the steady state solution, where a uniform wind Vw = 11.4 m/s is considered and a collective pitch angle θ = 0.88◦ is imposed. During this step, the authors noticed that the proposed model is intrinsically periodic due to the effect of the wind and of the gravitational force. In order to reject this periodic trend in the model dynamics, the authors propose a collective repetitive control algorithm coupled with a PD controller. In particular, when the reference command to be tracked and/or the disturbance to be rejected are periodic signals with a fixed period, the repetitive control strategies can be applied due to their high precision, simple implementation and little performance dependency on system parameters. The functional scheme of a repetitive controller is quite simple and, given a periodic reference command, is composed of a control block Crc(s) usually added to an existing feedback control system. The control block contains and a free time-delay system eτs in a positive feedback loop, and a low-pass filter q(s). It should be noticed that, while the time delay term reduces the stability margin, on the other hand the low pass filter is added to ensure stability. It is worth noting that, in this work, the authors propose a phase shifting for the controller and the delay system has been modified as e^(−(T−γk)), where T is the period of the signal and γk is a phase shifting of k samples of the same periodic signal. It should be noticed that, the phase shifting technique is particularly useful in non-minimum phase systems, such as flexible structures. In fact, using the phase shifting, the iterative algorithm could reach the convergence also at high frequencies. Notice that, in our case study, the shifting of k samples depends both on the rotor angular velocity Ω and on the rotor azimuth angle Ψ: we refer to this controller as a spatial repetitive controller. The collective repetitive controller has also been coupled with a C(s) = PD(s), in order to dampen oscillations of the blades. The performance of the spatial repetitive controller is compared with an industrial PI controller. In particular, starting from wind speed velocity Vw = 11.4 m/s the controller is asked to maintain the nominal angular velocity Ωn = 1.266rad/s after an instantaneous increase of wind speed (Vw = 15 m/s). Then, a purely periodic external disturbance is introduced in order to stress the capabilities of the repetitive controller. The results of the simulations show that, contrary to a simple PI controller, the spatial repetitive-PD controller has the capability to reject both external disturbances and periodic trend in the model dynamics. Finally, the nominal value of the angular velocity is reached, in accordance with results obtained with commercial software for a turbine of the same type.

Keywords: wind turbines, aeroelasticity, repetitive control, periodic systems

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Authors: Khalid Mahmud

Abstract:

In this paper, an analytic approach is presented to evaluate the Bit Error Rate (BER) and round trip distance for a UWB chipless RFID system using diversity technique at the reader receiver using different modulation technique. The analysis is carried out with multiresonator based chipless RFID tags using frequency range from 3 GHz − 6 GHz and bandwidth of 500 M Hz in outdoor non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment. SISO configuration is used to communicate from the reader to the tag and SIMO configuration is used do vice versa. Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) technique is used in the reader. MPSK, DQPSK, DBPSK, BPSK, QPSK and DMPSK modulation techniques are considered with coherent demodulation to evaluate the BER performance. From the numerical analysis of the results, it is found that at a given BER maximum possible round trip distance can be achieved using DMPSK modulation technique. In addition, it has been proved that, while using DMPSK modulation technique, the application of diversity has very little effect on the overall improvement in reader receiver sensitivity and achievable distance. Finally the method not only proves to be a very good way for tag detection in case of a chipless RFID system but also gives a clear insight regarding the interrelationship between BER, read range, reader received power, number of receiving antenna in outdoor NLOS environment.

Keywords: EGC, MRC, BER, read range, diversity

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Authors: Malik Abdul Jabbar Zen, Wiwik Misaco Yuniarti, Azisya Amalia Karimasari, Novita Priandini

Abstract:

Zoonos is as an infectiontransmitted froma nimals to human sand vice versa currently having increased in the last 20 years. The experts/scientists predict that zoonosis will be a threat to the community in the future since it leads on 70% emerging infectious diseases (EID) and the high mortality of 50%-90%. The zoonosis’ spread from animal to human is caused by contaminated food known as foodborne disease. One World One Health, as the conceptual prevention toward zoonosis, requires the crossed disciplines cooperation to accelerate and streamlinethe handling ofanimal-based disease. E-Vet Smart Rapid System is an integrated innovation in the veterinary expertise application is able to facilitate the prevention, treatment, and educationagainst pandemic diseases and zoonosis. This system is constructed by Decision Support System (DSS) method provides a database of knowledge that is expected to facilitate the identification of disease rapidly, precisely, and accurately as well as to identify the deduction. The testingis conducted through a black box test case and questionnaire (N=30) by validity and reliability approach. Based on the black box test case reveals that E-Vet Rapid System is able to deliver the results in accordance with system design, and questionnaire shows that this system is valid (r > 0.361) and has a reliability (α > 0.3610).

Keywords: diagnosis, disease, expert systems, livestock, zoonosis

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Authors: Rehab Abdullah Shendi

Abstract:

The use of customised soft-core processors in which instructions can be integrated into a system in application hardware is increasing in the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) field. Specifically, the partial run-time reconfiguration of FPGAs in specialised processors for a particular domain can be very beneficial. In this report, the design and implementation for the customisation of a soft-core MIPS processor using an FPGA and partial reconfiguration (PR) of FPGA technology will be addressed to achieve efficient resource use. This can be achieved using a PR design flow that helps the design fit into a smaller device. Moreover, the impact of static power consumption could be reduced due to runtime reconfiguration. This will be done by configurable custom instructions implemented in the hardware as an extension on the MIPS CPU. The aim of this project is to investigate the PR of FPGAs for run-time adaptations of the instruction set of a soft-core CPU, including the integration of custom instructions and the exploration of the potential to use the MultiBoot feature available in Xilinx FPGAs to carry out the PR process. The system will be evaluated and tested on a Nexus 3 development board featuring a Xilinx Spartran-6 FPGA. The system will be able to load reconfigurable custom instructions dynamically into user programs with the help of the trap handler when the custom instruction is called by the MIPS CPU. The results of this experiment demonstrate that custom instructions in hardware can speed up a certain function and many instructions can be saved when compared to a software implementation of the same function. Implementing custom instructions in hardware is perfectly possible and worth exploring.

Keywords: customisation, FPGA, MIPS, partial reconfiguration, PR

Procedia PDF Downloads 256