Search results for: septic B-spline scheme

Authors: Rafsan Al Mamun, Md. Motaharul Islam, Rabana Tajrin, Nabiha Noor, Shafinaz Qader

Abstract:

In an attempt to enrich the lives of billions of people by providing proper information, security and a way of communicating with others, the need for efficient and improved satellites is constantly growing. Thus, there is an increasing demand for better error detection and correction (EDAC) schemes, which are capable of protecting the data onboard the satellites. The paper is aimed towards detecting and correcting such errors using a special algorithm called the Hamming Code, which uses the concept of parity and parity bits to prevent single-bit errors onboard a satellite in Low Earth Orbit. This paper focuses on the study of Low Earth Orbit satellites and the process of generating the Hamming Code matrix to be used for EDAC using computer programs. The most effective version of Hamming Code generated was the Hamming (16, 11, 4) version using MATLAB, and the paper compares this particular scheme with other EDAC mechanisms, including other versions of Hamming Codes and Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), and the limitations of this scheme. This particular version of the Hamming Code guarantees single-bit error corrections as well as double-bit error detections. Furthermore, this version of Hamming Code has proved to be fast with a checking time of 5.669 nanoseconds, that has a relatively higher code rate and lower bit overhead compared to the other versions and can detect a greater percentage of errors per length of code than other EDAC schemes with similar capabilities. In conclusion, with the proper implementation of the system, it is quite possible to ensure a relatively uncorrupted satellite storage system.

Keywords: bit-flips, Hamming code, low earth orbit, parity bits, satellite, single error upset

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: A. A. M. A. S. S. Perera, L. A. Ranasinghe, T. K. H. Nimeshika, D. M. Dhanushka Dissanayake, Namalie Walgampaya

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Nowadays, skin fungal diseases are mostly found in people of tropical countries like Sri Lanka. A skin fungal disease is a particular kind of illness caused by fungus. These diseases have various dangerous effects on the skin and keep on spreading over time. It becomes important to identify these diseases at their initial stage to control it from spreading. This paper presents an automated skin fungal disease identification system implemented to speed up the diagnosis process by identifying skin fungal infections in digital images. An image of the diseased skin lesion is acquired and a comprehensive computer vision and image processing scheme is used to process the image for the disease identification. This includes colour analysis using RGB and HSV colour models, texture classification using Grey Level Run Length Matrix, Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix and Local Binary Pattern, Object detection, Shape Identification and many more. This paper presents the approach and its outcome for identification of four most common skin fungal infections, namely, Tinea Corporis, Sporotrichosis, Malassezia and Onychomycosis. The main intention of this research is to provide an automated skin fungal disease identification system that increase the diagnostic quality, shorten the time-to-diagnosis and improve the efficiency of detection and successful treatment for skin fungal diseases.

Keywords: Circularity Index, Grey Level Run Length Matrix, Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix, Local Binary Pattern, Object detection, Ring Detection, Shape Identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Wan-Ling Chang, Hsiu-Ju Huang, Jui-Hsiu Chang

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In 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan launched ‘An Arrangement on Working Holiday Scheme’ with 15 countries including New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Britain, Australia and others. The aim of the scheme is to allow young people to work and study English or other foreign languages. Each year, there are 30,000 Taiwanese youths applied for participating in the working holiday schemes. However, frequent accidents could cause huge medical expenses and post-delivery fee, which are usually unaffordable for most families. Therefore, this study explored the relationship among perceived risk toward working holiday, insurance product knowledge, brand image and insurance purchase intention for Taiwanese youths who plan to apply for working holiday. A survey questionnaire was distributed for data collection. A total of 316 questionnaires were collected for data analyzed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples T-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, regression analysis and hierarchical regression methods of analysis and hypothesis testing. The results of this research indicate that perceived risk has a negative influence on insurance purchase intention. On the opposite, product knowledge has brand image has a positive influence on the insurance purchase intention. According to the mentioned results, practical implications were further addressed for insurance companies when developing a future marketing plan.

Keywords: insurance product knowledges, insurance purchase intention, perceived risk, working holiday

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Katerina Bakela, Ioanna Zerva, Irene Athanassakis

Abstract:

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is commonly used in murine sepsis models, which are largely associated with immunosuppression (incretion of MDSCs cells and Tregs, imbalance of inflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokines) and collapse of the immune system. After adapting the LPS treatment to the needs of locally bred BALB/c mice, the present study explored the protective role of Micrococcus luteus peptidoglycan (PG) pre-activated vaccine-on chip in endotoxemia. The established protocol consisted of five daily intraperitoneal injections of 0.2mg/g LPS. Such protocol allowed longer survival, necessary in the prospect of the therapeutic treatment application. The so-called vaccine-on-chip consists of a 3-dimensional laser micro-texture Si-scaffold loaded with BALB/c mouse macrophages and activated in vitro with 1μg/ml PG, which exert its action upon subcutaneous implantation. The LPS treatment significantly decreased CD4+, CD8+, CD3z+, and CD19+ cells, while increasing myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), CD25+, and Foxp3+ cells. These results were accompanied by increased arginase-1 activity in spleen cell lysates and production of IL-6, TNF-a, and IL-18 while acquiring severe sepsis phenotype as defined by the murine sepsis scoring. The in vivo application of PG pre-activated vaccine-on chip significantly decreased the percent of CD11b+, Gr1+, CD25+, Foxp3+ cells, and arginase-1 activity in the spleen of LPS-treated animals, while decreasing IL-6 and TNF-a in the serum, allowing survival to all animals tested and rescuing the severity of sepsis phenotype. In conclusion, these results reveal a promising mode of action of PG pre-activated vaccine-on chip in LPS endotoxemia, strengthening; thus, the use of treatment is septic patients.

Keywords: myeloid-derived suppressor cells, peptidoglycan, sepsis, Si-scaffolds

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Yaser S. Kishawi, Sadi R. Ali

Abstract:

Part of Palestine, Gaza Strip (365 km2 and 1.8 million inhabitants) is considered a semi-arid zone relies solely on the Coastal Aquifer. The coastal aquifer is only source of water with only 5-10% suitable for human use. This barely cover the domestic and agricultural needs of Gaza Strip. Palestinian Water Authority Strategy is finding non-conventional water resource from treated wastewater to cover agricultural requirements and serve the population. A new WWTP project is to replace the old-overloaded Biet Lahia WWTP. The project consists of three parts; phase A (pressure line & infiltration basins - IBs), phase B (a new WWTP) and phase C (Recovery and Reuse Scheme – RRS – to capture the spreading plume). Currently, only phase A is functioning. Nearly 23 Mm3 of partially treated wastewater were infiltrated into the aquifer. Phase B and phase C witnessed many delays and this forced a reassessment of the RRS original design. An Environmental Management Plan was conducted from Jul 2013 to Jun 2014 on 13 existing monitoring wells surrounding the project location. This is to measure the efficiency of the SAT system and the spread of the contamination plume with relation to the efficiency of the proposed RRS. Along with the proposed location of the 27 recovery wells as part of the proposed RRS. The results of monitored wells were assessed compared with PWA baseline data. This was put into a groundwater model to simulate the plume to propose the best suitable solution to the delays. The redesign mainly manipulated the pumping rate of wells, proposed locations and functioning schedules (including wells groupings). The proposed simulations were examined using visual MODFLOW V4.2 to simulate the results. The results of monitored wells were assessed based on the location of the monitoring wells related to the proposed recovery wells locations (200m, 500m and 750m away from the IBs). Near the 500m line (the first row of proposed recovery wells), an increase of nitrate (from 30 to 70mg/L) compare to a decrease in Chloride (1500 to below 900mg/L) was found during the monitoring period which indicated an expansion of plume to this distance. On this rate with the required time to construct the recovery scheme, keeping the original design the RRS will fail to capture the plume. Based on that many simulations were conducted leading into three main scenarios. The scenarios manipulated the starting dates, the pumping rate and the locations of recovery wells. A simulation of plume expansion and path-lines were extracted from the model monitoring how to prevent the expansion towards the nearby municipal wells. It was concluded that the location is the most important factor in determining the RRS efficiency. Scenario III was adopted and showed an effective results even with a reduced pumping rates. This scenario proposed adding two additional recovery wells in a location beyond the 750m line to compensate the delays and effectively capture the plume. A continuous monitoring program for current and future monitoring wells should be in place to support the proposed scenario and ensure maximum protection.

Keywords: soil aquifer treatment, recovery and reuse scheme, infiltration basins, north gaza

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Laleh Boroumand, Muhammad Shiraz, Abdullah Gani, Rashid Hafeez Khokhar

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Cloud computing being the use of hardware and software that are delivered as a service over a network has its application in the area of health care. Due to the emergency cases reported in most of the medical centers, prompt for an efficient scheme to make health data available with less response time. To this end, we propose a mobile global healthcare village (MGHV) model that combines the components of three deployment model which include country, continent and global health cloud to help in solving the problem mentioned above. In the creation of continent model, two (2) data centers are created of which one is local and the other is global. The local replay the request of residence within the continent, whereas the global replay the requirements of others. With the methods adopted, there is an assurance of the availability of relevant medical data to patients, specialists, and emergency staffs regardless of locations and time. From our intensive experiment using the simulation approach, it was observed that, broker policy scheme with respect to optimized response time, yields a very good performance in terms of reduction in response time. Though, our results are comparable to others when there is an increase in the number of virtual machines (80-640 virtual machines). The proportionality in increase of response time is within 9%. The results gotten from our simulation experiments shows that utilizing MGHV leads to the reduction of health care expenditures and helps in solving the problems of unqualified medical staffs faced by both developed and developing countries.

Keywords: cloud computing (MCC), e-healthcare, availability, response time, service broker policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Azhar Ulhaq, Zubair Yameen, Almas Anjum

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Frequency behaviour of self-excited induction generator (SEIG) wind turbines during control mode transition from grid connected to islanded mode is studied in detail. A robust control scheme for frequency regulation based on combined action of STATCOM, energy storage system (ESS) and pitch angle control for wind powered microgrid (MG) is proposed. Suggested STATCOM controller comprises a 3-phase voltage source converter (VSC) that contains insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) based pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters along with a capacitor bank. Energy storage system control consists of current controlled voltage source converter and battery bank. Both of them acting simultaneously after detection of island compensates for reactive and active power demands, thus regulating frequency at point of common coupling (PCC) and also improves load stability. STATCOM integrates at point of common coupling and ESS is connected to microgrids main bus. Results reveal that proposed control not only stabilizes frequency during transition duration but also minimizes sudden frequency imbalance caused by load variation or wind intermittencies in islanded operation. System is investigated with and without suggested control scheme. The efficacy of proposed strategy has been verified by simulation in MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: energy storage system, island, wind, STATCOM, self-excited induction generator, SEIG, transient

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Yaser S. Kishawi, Sadi R. Ali

Abstract:

Part of Palestine, Gaza Strip (365 km2 and 1.8 million habitants) is considered a semi-arid zone relies solely on the Coastal Aquifer. The coastal aquifer is only source of water with only 5-10% suitable for human use. This barely covers the domestic and agricultural needs of Gaza Strip. Palestinian Water Authority Strategy is finding non-conventional water resource from treated wastewater to cover agricultural requirements and serve the population. A new WWTP project is to replace the old-overloaded Biet Lahia WWTP. The project consists of three parts; phase A (pressure line and infiltration basins-IBs), phase B (a new WWTP) and phase C (Recovery and Reuse Scheme–RRS– to capture the spreading plume). Currently, only phase A is functioning. Nearly 23 Mm3 of partially treated wastewater were infiltrated into the aquifer. Phase B and phase C witnessed many delays and this forced a reassessment of the RRS original design. An Environmental Management Plan was conducted from Jul 2013 to Jun 2014 on 13 existing monitoring wells surrounding the project location. This is to measure the efficiency of the SAT system and the spread of the contamination plume with relation to the efficiency of the proposed RRS. Along with the proposed location of the 27 recovery wells as part of the proposed RRS. The results of monitored wells were assessed compared with PWA baseline data. This was put into a groundwater model to simulate the plume to propose the best suitable solution to the delays. The redesign mainly manipulated the pumping rate of wells, proposed locations and functioning schedules (including wells groupings). The proposed simulations were examined using visual MODFLOW V4.2 to simulate the results. The results of monitored wells were assessed based on the location of the monitoring wells related to the proposed recovery wells locations (200m, 500m, and 750m away from the IBs). Near the 500m line (the first row of proposed recovery wells), an increase of nitrate (from 30 to 70mg/L) compare to a decrease in Chloride (1500 to below 900mg/L) was found during the monitoring period which indicated an expansion of plume to this distance. On this rate with the required time to construct the recovery scheme, keeping the original design the RRS will fail to capture the plume. Based on that many simulations were conducted leading into three main scenarios. The scenarios manipulated the starting dates, the pumping rate and the locations of recovery wells. A simulation of plume expansion and path-lines were extracted from the model monitoring how to prevent the expansion towards the nearby municipal wells. It was concluded that the location is the most important factor in determining the RRS efficiency. Scenario III was adopted and showed effective results even with a reduced pumping rates. This scenario proposed adding two additional recovery wells in a location beyond the 750m line to compensate the delays and effectively capture the plume. A continuous monitoring program for current and future monitoring wells should be in place to support the proposed scenario and ensure maximum protection.

Keywords: soil aquifer treatment, recovery reuse scheme, infiltration basins, North Gaza

Procedia PDF Downloads 204

Authors: Tai Yuan Yu, Pei-Jen Wang

Abstract:

A simulation scheme of rotational motions for predictions of bump-type gas foil bearings operating at steady-state is proposed; and, the scheme is based on multi-physics coupling computer aided engineering packages modularized with computational fluid dynamic model and structure elasticity model to numerically solve the dynamic equation of motions of a hydrodynamic loaded shaft supported by an elastic bump foil. The bump foil is assumed to be modelled as infinite number of Hookean springs mounted on stiff wall. Hence, the top foil stiffness is constant on the periphery of the bearing housing. The hydrodynamic pressure generated by the air film lubrication transfers to the top foil and induces elastic deformation needed to be solved by a finite element method program, whereas the pressure profile applied on the top foil must be solved by a finite element method program based on Reynolds Equation in lubrication theory. As a result, the equation of motions for the bearing shaft are iteratively solved via coupling of the two finite element method programs simultaneously. In conclusion, the two-dimensional center trajectory of the shaft plus the deformation map on top foil at constant rotational speed are calculated for comparisons with the experimental results.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, fluid structure interaction multi-physics simulations, gas foil bearing, load capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Mohammed Bnebaghdad, Feriel Betouche, Malika Semmani

Abstract:

Image processing become more sophisticated over time due to technological advances, especially artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Currently, AI image processing is used in many areas, including surveillance, industry, science, and medicine. AI in medical image processing can help doctors diagnose diseases faster, with minimal mistakes, and with less effort. Among these diseases is malaria, which remains a major public health challenge in many parts of the world. It affects millions of people every year, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Early detection of malaria is essential to prevent serious complications and reduce the burden of the disease. In this paper, we propose and implement a scheme based on AI image processing to enhance malaria disease diagnosis through automated analysis of blood smear images. The scheme is based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) method. So, we have developed a model that classifies infected and uninfected single red cells using images available on Kaggle, as well as real blood smear images obtained from the Central Laboratory of Medical Biology EHS Laadi Flici (formerly El Kettar) in Algeria. The real images were segmented into individual cells using the watershed algorithm in order to match the images from the Kaagle dataset. The model was trained and tested, achieving an accuracy of 99% and 97% accuracy for new real images. This validates that the model performs well with new real images, although with slightly lower accuracy. Additionally, the model has been embedded in a Raspberry Pi4, and a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed to visualize the malaria diagnostic results and facilitate user interaction.

Keywords: medical image processing, malaria parasite, classification, CNN, artificial intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 19

Authors: Avirup Chowdhury, Angus K. McFadyen, Linsey Batchelor

Abstract:

Blood cultures (BCs) are an important aspect of management of the septic patient, identifying the underlying pathogen and its antibiotic sensitivities. However, while the current literature outlines indications for initial BCs to be taken, there is little guidance for repeat sampling in the following 5-day period and little information on how antibiotic use can affect the usefulness of this investigation. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using inpatients who had undergone 2 or more BCs within 5 days between April 2016 and April 2017 at a 400-bed hospital in the west of Scotland and received antibiotic therapy between the first and second BCs. The data for BC sampling was collected from the electronic microbiology database, and cross-referenced with data from the hospital electronic prescribing system. Overall, 283 BCs were included in the study, taken from 92 patients (mean 3.08 cultures per patient, range 2-10). All 92 patients had initial BCs, of which 83 were positive (90%). 65 had a further sample within 24 hours of commencement of antibiotics, with 35 positive (54%). 23 had samples within 24-48 hours, with 4 (17%) positive; 12 patients had sampling at 48-72 hours, 12 at 72-96 hours, and 10 at 96-120 hours, with none positive. McNemar’s Exact Test was used to calculate statistical significance for patients who received blood cultures in multiple time blocks (Initial, < 24h, 24-120h, > 120h). For initial vs. < 24h-post BCs (53 patients tested), the proportion of positives fell from 46/53 to 29/53 (one-tailed P=0.002, OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.48-7.96). For initial vs 24-120h (n=42), the proportions were 38/42 and 4/42 respectively (P < 0.001, OR 35.0, 95% CI 4.79-255.48). For initial vs > 120h (n=36), these were 33/36 and 2/36 (P < 0.001,OR ∞). These were also calculated for a positive in initial or < 24h vs. 24-120h (n=42), with proportions of 41/42 and 4/42 (P < 0.001, OR 38.0, 95% CI 5.22-276.78); and for initial or < 24h vs > 120h (n=36), with proportions of 35/36 and 2/36 respectively (P < 0.001, OR ∞). This data appears to show that taking an initial BC followed by a BC within 24 hours of antibiotic commencement would maximise blood culture yield while minimising the risk of false negative results. This could potentially remove the need for as many as 46% of BC samples without adversely affecting patient care. BC yield decreases sharply after 48 hours of antibiotic use, and may not provide any clinically useful information after this time. Further multi-centre studies would validate these findings, and provide a foundation for future health policy generation.

Keywords: antibiotics, blood culture, efficacy, inpatient

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Ariq Bani Hardi

Abstract:

Empowerment of smartphone technology is growing very rapidly in various fields of science. One of the mobile operating systems that dominate the smartphone market today is Android by Google. Unfortunately, the expansion of mobile technology is misused by criminals to hide the information that they store or exchange with each other. It makes law enforcement more difficult to prove crimes committed in the judicial process (anti-forensic). One of technique that used to hide the information is encryption, such as the usages of SMS encryption applications. A Mobile Forensic Examiner or an investigator should prepare a countermeasure technique if he finds such things during the investigation process. This paper will discuss an extension procedure if the investigator found unreadable SMS in android evidence because of encryption. To define the extended procedure, we create and analyzing a dataset of android SMS encryption application. The dataset was grouped by application characteristics related to communication permissions, as well as the availability of source code and the documentation of encryption scheme. Permissions indicate the possibility of how applications exchange the data and keys. Availability of the source code and the encryption scheme documentation can show what the cryptographic algorithm specification is used, how long the key length, how the process of key generation, key exchanges, encryption/decryption is done, and other related information. The output of this paper is an extended or alternative procedure for examination and analysis process of android digital forensic. It can be used to help the investigators while they got a confused cause of SMS encryption during examining and analyzing. What steps should the investigator take, so they still have a chance to discover the encrypted SMS in android evidence?

Keywords: anti-forensic countermeasure, SMS encryption android, examination and analysis, digital forensic

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Monojit Manna, Arpan Adhikary

Abstract:

In Mobile cloud sensing across the globe, an emerging paradigm is selected by the user to compute sensing tasks. In urban cities current days, Mobile vehicles are adapted to perform the task of data sensing and data collection for universality and mobility. In this work, we focused on the optimality and mobile nodes that can be selected in order to collect the maximum amount of data from urban areas and fulfill the required data in the future period within a couple of minutes. We map out the requirement of the vehicle to configure the maximum data optimization problem and budget. The Application implementation is basically set up to generalize a realistic online platform in which real-time vehicles are moving apparently in a continuous manner. The data center has the authority to select a set of vehicles immediately. A deep learning-based scheme with the help of mobile vehicles (DLMV) will be proposed to collect sensing data from the urban environment. From the future time perspective, this work proposed a deep learning-based offline algorithm to predict mobility. Therefore, we proposed a greedy approach applying an online algorithm step into a subset of vehicles for an NP-complete problem with a limited budget. Real dataset experimental extensive evaluations are conducted for the real mobility dataset in Rome. The result of the experiment not only fulfills the efficiency of our proposed solution but also proves the validity of DLMV and improves the quantity of collecting the sensing data compared with other algorithms.

Keywords: mobile crowdsensing, deep learning, vehicle recruitment, sensing coverage, data collection

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Maatouk Mohamed, Nouira Mariem, Hamdi Kbir Gh, Mahjoubi M. F., Ben Moussa M.

Abstract:

Background and aim: Preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) has been introduced to lower bilirubin levels and to control the negative effects of obstructive jaundice in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). The optimal time interval between PBD and PD is still not clear. Delaying surgery by 4 to 6 weeks is the commonly accepted practice. However, delayed PD has been shown to decrease the rate of resection and adversely affect the tumor grading and prognosis. Thus, the purpose of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the optimal period for PBD prior to PD: short or prolonged in terms of postoperative morbidity and survival outcomes. Methods: Trials were searched in PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library until November 2022. Studies using PBD in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice that compared short duration group (SDG) (surgery performed within 3-4 weeks) with prolonged duration group (PDG) (at least 3-4 weeks after PBD) were included in this study. The risk of bias was assessed using the Rob v2 and Robins-I tools. The priori protocol was published in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022381405). Results: Seven studies comprising 1625 patients (SDG 870, PDG 882) were included. All studies were non-randomized, and only one was prospective. No significant differences were observed between the SDG and PDG in mortality (OR= 0.59; 95% CI [0.30, 1.17], p=0.13), major morbidity (Chi² = 30.28, p <0.00001; I² = 87%), pancreatic fistula (Chi² = 6.61, p = 0.25); I² = 24%), post pancreatectomy haemorrhage (OR= 1.16; 95% CI [0.67, 2.01], p=0.59), positive drainage culture (OR= 0.36; 95% CI [0.10, 1.32], p=0.12), septic complications (OR= 0.78; 95% CI [0.23, 2.72], p=0.70), wound infection (OR= 0.08, p=0.07), operative time (MD= 0.21; p=0.21). Conclusion: Early surgery within 3 or 4 weeks after biliary drainage is both safe and effective. Thus, it is reasonable to suggest early surgery following PBD for patients having resectable periampullary cancers.

Keywords: preoperative biliary drainage, pancreatic cancer, pancreatic surgery, complication

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Rowane May A. Fesalbon, Greyland C. Agno, Jodel L. Cuasay, Dindo A. Malonzo, Ma. Rosario Concepcion O. Ang

Abstract:

The Department of Energy of the Republic of the Philippines estimates that the country’s energy reserves for 2015 are dwindling– observed in the rotating power outages in several localities. To aid in the energy crisis, a national hydropower resource assessment scheme is developed. Hydropower is a resource that is derived from flowing water and difference in elevation. It is a renewable energy resource that is deemed abundant in the Philippines – being an archipelagic country that is rich in bodies of water and water resources. The objectives of this study is to develop a methodology for a national hydropower resource assessment using hydrologic modeling and geospatial techniques in order to generate resource maps for future reference and use of the government and other stakeholders. The methodology developed for this purpose is focused on two models – the implementation of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the river discharge and the use of geospatial techniques to analyze the topography and obtain the head, and generate the theoretical hydropower potential sites. The methodology is highly coupled with Geographic Information Systems to maximize the use of geodatabases and the spatial significance of the determined sites. The hydrologic model used in this workflow is SWAT integrated in the GIS software ArcGIS. The head is determined by a developed algorithm that utilizes a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived digital elevation model (DEM) which has a resolution of 10-meters. The initial results of the developed workflow indicate hydropower potential in the river reaches ranging from pico (less than 5 kW) to mini (1-3 MW) theoretical potential.

Keywords: ArcSWAT, renewable energy, hydrologic model, hydropower, GIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Yuexin Liu, Gordon B. Mills, Russell R. Broaddus, John N. Weinstein

Abstract:

The lethality of endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC) is primarily attributable to the high-stage diseases. However, there are no available biomarkers that predict EEC patient staging at the time of diagnosis. We aim to develop a predictive scheme to help in this regards. Using reverse-phase protein array expression profiles for 210 EEC cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we constructed a Protein Scoring of EEC Staging (PSES) scheme for surgical stage prediction. We validated and evaluated its diagnostic potential in an independent cohort of 184 EEC cases obtained at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to examine the association of PSES score with patient outcome, and Ingenuity pathway analysis was used to identify relevant signaling pathways. Two-sided statistical tests were used. PSES robustly distinguished high- from low-stage tumors in the TCGA cohort (area under the ROC curve [AUC]=0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 0.82) and in the validation cohort (AUC=0.67; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.76). Even among grade 1 or 2 tumors, PSES was significantly higher in high- than in low-stage tumors in both the TCGA (P = 0.005) and MDACC (P = 0.006) cohorts. Patients with positive PSES score had significantly shorter progression-free survival than those with negative PSES in the TCGA (hazard ratio [HR], 2.033; 95% CI, 1.031 to 3.809; P = 0.04) and validation (HR, 3.306; 95% CI, 1.836 to 9.436; P = 0.0007) cohorts. The ErbB signaling pathway was most significantly enriched in the PSES proteins and downregulated in high-stage tumors. PSES may provide clinically useful prediction of high-risk tumors and offer new insights into tumor biology in EEC.

Keywords: endometrial carcinoma, protein, protein scoring of EEC staging (PSES), stage

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Andriy Fedorenko

Abstract:

Background Early closure of the open abdomen is a priority after damage control laparotomy to prevent retraction of fascial layers and prevent hernia formation that requires definitive repair at a later stage. This substantially reduces the complications associated with ventral hernia formation for up to a year after initial surgery. TopClosure® is an innovative method that employs stress-relaxation and mechanical creep for skin stretching. Its use enables the primary closure of large abdominal wall defects and mitigates large ventral hernia formation. Materials and Methods A 7-year-old girl presented with severe blast injury. She underwent initial laparotomy in a facility within the conflict zone and was transferred in a state of septic shock to our facility for further care. Her abdominal injuries included liver lacerations, multiple perforations of the transverse colon and ileum, and a 8x16cm oblique abdominal wall defect. Further damage control laparotomy was performed with primary suture of the colon and ileum and temporary closure of the abdomen using a Bagota bag. Twelve hours later, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) was applied to the abdominal wound after relook laparotomy. Five days later, TopClosure® was applied to the lower part of the wound incorporating NPWT to the upper wound. Results The patient suffered leak from the colonic suture line and required relaparotomy. TopClosure® abdominal closure was achieved after every laparotomy. Conclusion TopClosure® utilizes the viscoelastic properties of the skin achieving full closure of the abdominal wall (including the fascia and skin),eliminating the need for prolonged NPWT, skin graft, and delayed ventral hernia repair surgery.

Keywords: topclosure, abdominal wall defect, hernia, damage control

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: David Blaine, George Raschbaum

Abstract:

The evaluation of DHCP has synthesized SCSI disks, and current trends suggest that the exploration of e-business that would allow for further study into robots will soon emerge. Given the current status of embedded algorithms, hackers worldwide obviously desire the exploration of replication, which embodies the confusing principles of programming languages. In our research we concentrate our efforts on arguing that erasure coding can be made "fuzzy", encrypted, and game-theoretic.

Keywords: SCHI disks, robot, algorithm, hacking, programming language

Procedia PDF Downloads 426

Authors: Jae-Yeong Choi, Gyu-Mok Jeon, Jong-Chun Park, Yong-Jin Cho, Seok-Tae Yoon

Abstract:

When air flow is injected into water, bubbles are formed in various types inside the water pool along with the air flow rate. The bubbles are floated in equilibrium with forces such as buoyancy, surface tension and shear force. Single bubble generated at low flow rate maintains shape, but bubbles with high flow rate break up to make mixing and turbulence. In addition to this phenomenon, as the hot air bubbles are injected into the water, heat affects the interface of phases. Therefore, the main scope of the present work reveals how to proceed heat transfer between water and hot air bubbles injected into water. In the present study, a series of CFD simulation for the heat transfer of hot bubbles injected through a nozzle near the bottom in a cylindrical water column are performed using a commercial CFD software, STAR-CCM+. The governing equations for incompressible and viscous flow are the continuous and the RaNS (Reynolds- averaged Navier-Stokes) equations and discretized by the FVM (Finite Volume Method) manner. For solving multi-phase flow, the Eulerian multiphase model is employed and the interface is defined by VOF (Volume-of-Fluid) technique. As a turbulence model, the SST k-w model considering the buoyancy effects is introduced. For spatial differencing the 3th-order MUSCL scheme is adopted and the 2nd-order implicit scheme for time integration. As the results, the dynamic behavior of the rising hot bubbles with the flow rate injected and regarding heat transfer mechanism are discussed based on the simulation results.

Keywords: heat transfer, hot bubble injection, eulerian multiphase model, flow rate, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Hebe Wong, Luz Fernandez Calventos

Abstract:

Tandem language learning, a language exchange process based on the principles of autonomy and reciprocity, provides opportunities for interlocutors to learn each other’s language by communicating online or face-to-face. While much attention has been paid to the process and outcomes of tandem learning via email, little has been discussed about the effectiveness of face-to-face tandem learning on language and culture exchange for university students. The LACTS (Language and Culture Tandem Scheme), an 8-week project, was set up to study students’ perceptions of conducting tandem learning to assist their language and culture exchange. Students of both post-graduate and undergraduate programmes (N=103) from a Hong Kong SAR university were put in groups of 4 to 6 according to their availability and language preferences and met for an hour a week. While sample task sheets on a range of topics were provided to assist the language exchange, all groups were encouraged to take charge of their meeting format and choose their own topics. At the end of the project, a 19-item questionnaire, which included both open-and closed-ended questions investigating students’ perceptions of reciprocal teaching and cultural exchange, was administered. Thirty-minute individual interviews were conducted to elicit students’ views and experiences in the LACTS activities. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis showed that most students agreed that the project had enhanced their cultural awareness and helped create an inclusive and participatory learning environment. Significant differences were found in students’ confidence in speaking their targeted language after joining the scheme. The interviews also provided rich data on the variety of formats and leadership patterns in student-led meetings, which could shed light on student autonomy and future tandem language learning projects.

Keywords: autonomy, reciprocity, tandem language learning, university students

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Authors: Yu Zhang, Ye Tian, Fang Ye Yixuan Kang

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The capacity of conventional cellular networks has reached its upper bound and it can be well handled by introducing femtocells with low-cost and easy-to-deploy. Spectrum interference issue becomes more critical in peace with the value-added multimedia services growing up increasingly in two-tier cellular networks. Spectrum allocation is one of effective methods in interference mitigation technology. This paper proposes a game-theory-based on OFDMA downlink spectrum allocation aiming at reducing co-channel interference in two-tier femtocell networks. The framework is formulated as a non-cooperative game, wherein the femto base stations are players and frequency channels available are strategies. The scheme takes full account of competitive behavior and fairness among stations. In addition, the utility function reflects the interference from the standpoint of channels essentially. This work focuses on co-channel interference and puts forward a negative logarithm interference function on distance weight ratio aiming at suppressing co-channel interference in the same layer network. This scenario is more suitable for actual network deployment and the system possesses high robustness. According to the proposed mechanism, interference exists only when players employ the same channel for data communication. This paper focuses on implementing spectrum allocation in a distributed fashion. Numerical results show that signal to interference and noise ratio can be obviously improved through the spectrum allocation scheme and the users quality of service in downlink can be satisfied. Besides, the average spectrum efficiency in cellular network can be significantly promoted as simulations results shown.

Keywords: femtocell networks, game theory, interference mitigation, spectrum allocation

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Authors: Olalekan Sunday Alabi, Titus Adeyemi Alonge, Olumuyiwa Idowu Ojo

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Agricultural land suitability analysis and mapping play an imperative role for sustainable utilization of scarce physical land resources. The objective of this study was to prepare spatial database of physical land resources for irrigated agriculture and to assess land suitability for irrigation and developing suitable area map of the study area. The study was conducted at Kampe-Omi irrigation scheme located at Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Temperature and rainfall data of the study area were collected for 10 consecutive years (2005-2014). Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were used to develop irrigation land suitability map of the study area. Attribute parameters such as the slope, soil properties, topography of the study area were used for the analysis. The available data were arranged, proximity analysis of Arc-GIS was made, and this resulted into five mapping units. The final agricultural land suitability map of the study area was derived after overlay analysis. Based on soil composition, slope, soil properties and topography, it was concluded that; Kampe-Omi has rich sandy loam soil, which is viable for agricultural purpose, the soil composition is made up of 60% sand and 40% loam. The land-use pattern map of Kampe-Omi has vegetal area and water-bodies covering 55.6% and 19.3% of the total assessed area respectively. The landform of Kampe-Omi is made up of 41.2% lowlands, 37.5% normal lands and 21.3% highlands. Kampe-Omi is adequately suitable for agricultural purpose while an extra of 20.2% of the area is highly suitable for agricultural purpose making 72.6% while 18.7% of the area is slightly suitable.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, Kampe–Omi, land suitability, mapping

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Authors: Dan Wang, Qing Ma, Xiaodan Wang, Tianjiao Qi

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The sound of peddling in Beijing, also called “yo-heave-ho” or “cry of one's ware”, is a unique folk culture and usually found in Beijing hutong. For the civilians in Beijing, sound of peddling is part of their childhood. And for those who love the traditional culture of Beijing, it is an old song singing the local conditions and customs of the ancient city. For example, because of his great appreciation, the British poet Osbert Stewart once put sound of peddling which he had heard in Beijing as a street orchestra performance in the article named "Beijing's sound and color".This research aims to collect and integrate the voice/photo resources and historical materials of sound concerning peddling in Beijing by digital technology in order to protect the intangible cultural heritage and pass on the city memory. With the goal in mind, the next stage is to collect and record all the materials and resources based on the historical documents study and interviews with civilians or performers. Then set up a metadata scheme (which refers to the domestic and international standards such as "Audio Data Processing Standards in the National Library", DC, VRA, and CDWA, etc.) to describe, process and organize the sound of peddling into a database. In order to fully show the traditional culture of sound of peddling in Beijing, web design and GIS technology are utilized to establish a website and plan holding offline exhibitions and events for people to simulate and learn the sound of peddling by using VR/AR technology. All resources are opened to the public and civilians can share the digital memory through not only the offline experiential activities, but also the online interaction. With all the attempts, a multi-media narrative platform has been established to multi-dimensionally record the sound of peddling in old Beijing with text, images, audio, video and so on.

Keywords: sound of peddling, GIS, metadata scheme, VR/AR technology

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Authors: Ammara Khan

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Sepsis is characterized by an overwhelming surge of cytokines and oxidative stress to one of many factors, gram-negative bacteria commonly implicated. Despite major expansion and elaboration of sepsis pathophysiology and therapeutic approach; death rate remains very high in septic patients due to multiple organ damages including hepatotoxicity.The present study was aimed to ascertain the adequacy of three different drugs delivered separately and collectively- low dose steroid-dexamethasone (3mg/kg i.p) ,antioxidant-melatonin(10 mg/kg i.p) ,and phosphodiesterases inhibitor - pentoxifylline (75 mg/kg i.p)in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Endotoxin/lipopolysaccharides induced hepatotoxicity was reproduced in mice by giving lipopolysaccharide of serotype E.Coli intraperitoneally. The preventive role was questioned by giving the experimental agent half an hour prior to LPS injection whereas the therapeutic potential of the experimental agent was searched out via post-LPS delivering. The extent of liver damage was adjudged via serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation along with a histopathological examination of liver tissue. Dexamethasone is given before (Group 3) and after LPS (group 4) significantly attenuated LPS generated liver injury.Pentoxifylline generated similar results and serum ALT; AST histological alteration abated considerably (p≤ 0.05) both in animals subjected to pentoxifylline pre (Group 5) and post-treatment(Group 6). Melatonin was also prosperous in aversion (Group 7) and curation (Group 8) of LPS invoked hepatotoxicity as evident by lessening of augmented ALT (≤0.01) and AST (≤0.01) along with restoration of pathological changes in liver sections (p≤0.05). Combination therapies with dexamethasone in conjunction with melatonin (Group 9), dexamethasone together with pentoxifylline (Group 10), and pentoxifylline along with melatonin (Group 11) after LPS administration tapered LPS evoked hepatic dysfunction statistically considerably. In conclusion, both melatonin and pentoxifylline set up promising results in endotoxin-induced hepatotoxicity and can be used therapeutic adjuncts to conventional treatment strategies in sepsis-induced liver failure.

Keywords: endotoxin/lipopolysacchride, dexamethasone, hepatotoxicity, melatonin, pentoxifylline

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Authors: Ying Han, Yuanxiang Chen, Yongtao Huang, Jia Fu, Kaile Li, Shangjing Lin, Jianguo Yu

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In long-haul and high-speed optical transmission system, the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal suffers various linear and non-linear impairments. In recent years, researchers have proposed compensation schemes for specific impairment, and the effects are remarkable. However, different impairment compensation algorithms have caused an increase in transmission delay. With the widespread application of deep neural networks (DNN) in communication, multi-impairment compensation based on DNN will be a promising scheme. In this paper, we propose and apply DNN to compensate multi-impairment of 16-QAM coherent optical OFDM signal, thereby improving the performance of the transmission system. The trained DNN models are applied in the offline digital signal processing (DSP) module of the transmission system. The models can optimize the constellation mapping signals at the transmitter and compensate multi-impairment of the OFDM decoded signal at the receiver. Furthermore, the models reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitted OFDM signal and the bit error rate (BER) of the received signal. We verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme for 16-QAM Coherent Optical OFDM signal and demonstrate and analyze transmission performance in different transmission scenarios. The experimental results show that the PAPR and BER of the transmission system are significantly reduced after using the trained DNN. It shows that the DNN with specific loss function and network structure can optimize the transmitted signal and learn the channel feature and compensate for multi-impairment in fiber transmission effectively.

Keywords: coherent optical OFDM, deep neural network, multi-impairment compensation, optical transmission

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Authors: Z. Abdollahi Biron, P. Pisu

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Connected vehicles are one of the promising technologies for future Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). A connected vehicle system is essentially a set of vehicles communicating through a network to exchange their information with each other and the infrastructure. Although this interconnection of the vehicles can be potentially beneficial in creating an efficient, sustainable, and green transportation system, a set of safety and reliability challenges come out with this technology. The first challenge arises from the information loss due to unreliable communication network which affects the control/management system of the individual vehicles and the overall system. Such scenario may lead to degraded or even unsafe operation which could be potentially catastrophic. Secondly, faulty sensors and actuators can affect the individual vehicle’s safe operation and in turn will create a potentially unsafe node in the vehicular network. Further, sending that faulty sensor information to other vehicles and failure in actuators may significantly affect the safe operation of the overall vehicular network. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to take these issues into consideration while designing the control/management algorithms of the individual vehicles as a part of connected vehicle system. In this paper, we consider a connected vehicle system under Co-operative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) and propose a fault diagnosis scheme that deals with these aforementioned challenges. Specifically, the conventional CACC algorithm is modified by adding a Kalman filter-based estimation algorithm to suppress the effect of lost information under unreliable network. Further, a sliding mode observer-based algorithm is used to improve the sensor reliability under faults. The effectiveness of the overall diagnostic scheme is verified via simulation studies.

Keywords: fault diagnostics, communication network, connected vehicles, packet drop out, platoon

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Authors: Foad Hassaninejadafarahani, Scott Ormiston

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Reflux condensation occurs in a vertical channels and tubes when there is an upward core flow of vapor (or gas-vapor mixture) and a downward flow of the liquid film. The understanding of this condensation configuration is crucial in the design of reflux condensers, distillation columns, and in loss-of-coolant safety analyses in nuclear power plant steam generators. The unique feature of this flow is the upward flow of the vapor-gas mixture (or pure vapor) that retards the liquid flow via shear at the liquid-mixture interface. The present model solves the full, elliptic governing equations in both the film and the gas-vapor core flow. The computational mesh is non-orthogonal and adapts dynamically the phase interface, thus produces sharp and accurate interface. Shear forces and heat and mass transfer at the interface are accounted for fundamentally. This modeling is a big step ahead of current capabilities by removing the limitations of previous reflux condensation models which inherently cannot account for the detailed local balances of shear, mass, and heat transfer at the interface. Discretisation has been done based on a finite volume method and a co-located variable storage scheme. An in-house computer code was developed to implement the numerical solution scheme. Detailed results are presented for laminar reflux condensation from steam-air mixtures flowing in vertical parallel plate channels. The results include velocity and pressure profiles, as well as axial variations of film thickness, Nusselt number and interface gas mass fraction.

Keywords: Reflux, Condensation, CFD-Two Phase, Nusselt number

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Authors: T. P. Yu, J. J. Liu, X. L. Zhu, Y. Yin, W. Q. Wang, J. M. Ouyang, F. Q. Shao

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A strong electromagnetic field with E>1015V/m can be supplied by an intense laser such as ELI and HiPER in the near future. Exposing in such a strong laser field, laser-matter interaction enters into the near quantum electrodynamics (QED) regime and highly non-linear physics may occur during the laser-matter interaction. Recently, the multi-photon Breit-Wheeler (BW) process attracts increasing attention because it is capable to produce abundant positrons and it enhances the positron generation efficiency significantly. Here, we propose an all-optical scheme for bright gamma rays and dense positrons generation by irradiating a 1022 W/cm2 laser pulse onto an Al cone filled with near-critical-density plasmas. Two-dimensional (2D) QED particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations show that, the radiation damping force becomes large enough to compensate for the Lorentz force in the cone, causing radiation-reaction trapping of a dense electron bunch in the laser field. The trapped electrons oscillate in the laser electric field and emits high-energy gamma photons in two ways: (1) nonlinear Compton scattering due to the oscillation of electrons in the laser fields, and (2) Compton backwardscattering resulting from the bunch colliding with the reflected laser by the cone tip. The multi-photon Breit-Wheeler process is thus initiated and abundant electron-positron pairs are generated with a positron density ~1027m-3. The scheme is finally demonstrated by full 3D PIC simulations, which indicate the positron flux is up to 109. This compact gamma ray and positron source may have promising applications in future.

Keywords: BW process, electron-positron pairs, gamma rays emission, ultra-intense laser

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Authors: Sergo Tsiramua, Sulkhan Sulkhanishvili, Elisabed Asabashvili, Lazare Kvirtia

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The paper presents logical-probabilistic methods, models, and algorithms for reliability assessment of complex systems, based on which a web application for structural analysis and reliability assessment of systems was created. It is important to design systems based on structural analysis, research, and evaluation of efficiency indicators. One of the important efficiency criteria is the reliability of the system, which depends on the components of the structure. Quantifying the reliability of large-scale systems is a computationally complex process, and it is advisable to perform it with the help of a computer. Logical-probabilistic modeling is one of the effective means of describing the structure of a complex system and quantitatively evaluating its reliability, which was the basis of our application. The reliability assessment process included the following stages, which were reflected in the application: 1) Construction of a graphical scheme of the structural reliability of the system; 2) Transformation of the graphic scheme into a logical representation and modeling of the shortest ways of successful functioning of the system; 3) Description of system operability condition with logical function in the form of disjunctive normal form (DNF); 4) Transformation of DNF into orthogonal disjunction normal form (ODNF) using the orthogonalization algorithm; 5) Replacing logical elements with probabilistic elements in ODNF, obtaining a reliability estimation polynomial and quantifying reliability; 6) Calculation of “weights” of elements of system. Using the logical-probabilistic methods, models and algorithms discussed in the paper, a special software was created, by means of which a quantitative assessment of the reliability of systems of a complex structure is produced. As a result, structural analysis of systems, research, and designing of optimal structure systems are carried out.

Keywords: complex systems, logical-probabilistic methods, orthogonalization algorithm, reliability of systems, “weights” of elements

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Authors: Bander Alzahrani, Mohammed Alreshoodi

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Information-centric networking (ICN) using architectures such as the Publish-Subscribe Internet Technology (PURSUIT) has been proposed as a new networking model that aims at replacing the current used end-centric networking model of the Internet. This emerged model focuses on what is being exchanged rather than which network entities are exchanging information, which gives the control plane functions such as routing and host location the ability to be specified according to the content items. The forwarding plane of the PURSUIT ICN architecture uses a simple and light mechanism based on Bloom filter technologies to forward the packets. Although this forwarding scheme solve many problems of the today’s Internet such as the growth of the routing table and the scalability issues, it is vulnerable to brute force attacks which are starting point to distributed- denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In this work, we design and analyze a novel source-routing and information delivery technique that keeps the simplicity of using Bloom filter-based forwarding while being able to deter different attacks such as denial of service attacks at the ingress of the network. To achieve this, special forwarding nodes called Edge-FW are directly attached to end user nodes and used to perform a security test for malicious injected random packets at the ingress of the path to prevent any possible attack brute force attacks at early stage. In this technique, a core entity of the PURSUIT ICN architecture called topology manager, that is responsible for finding shortest path and creating a forwarding identifiers (FId), uses a cryptographically secure hash function to create a 64-bit hash, h, over the formed FId for authentication purpose to be included in the packet. Our proposal restricts the attacker from injecting packets carrying random FIds with a high amount of filling factor ρ, by optimizing and reducing the maximum allowed filling factor ρm in the network. We optimize the FId to the minimum possible filling factor where ρ ≤ ρm, while it supports longer delivery trees, so the network scalability is not affected by the chosen ρm. With this scheme, the filling factor of any legitimate FId never exceeds the ρm while the filling factor of illegitimate FIds cannot exceed the chosen small value of ρm. Therefore, injecting a packet containing an FId with a large value of filling factor, to achieve higher attack probability, is not possible anymore. The preliminary analysis of this proposal indicates that with the designed scheme, the forwarding function can detect and prevent malicious activities such DDoS attacks at early stage and with very high probability.

Keywords: forwarding identifier, filling factor, information centric network, topology manager

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