Search results for: response analysis

Authors: Thinakar Mani Balusamy, Venkateswaran A. R., Bharat Narasimhan, Ratnakar Kini S., Kani Sheikh M., Prem Kumar K., Pugazhendi Thangavelu, Arun Murugan, Sibi Thooran Karmegam, Radhakrishnan N., Mohammed Noufal, Amit Soni

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Background and Aims: The liver is integral to lipid metabolism, and a compromise in its function leads to perturbations in these pathways. In this study, we hope to determine the correlation between CLD severity and its effect on lipid parameters. We also look at the etiology-specific effects on lipid levels. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 250 patients with cirrhosis compared to 250 healthy age and sex-matched controls. Severity assessment of CLD using MELD and Child-Pugh scores was performed and etiological details collected. A questionnaire was used to obtain patient demographic details and lastly, a fasting lipid profile (Total, LDL, HDL cholesterol, Triglycerides and VLDL) was obtained. Results: All components of the lipid profile declined linearly with increasing severity of CLD as determined by MELD and Child-Pugh scores. Lipid levels were clearly lower in CLD patients as compared to healthy controls. Interestingly, preliminary analysis indicated that CLD of different etiologies had differential effects on Lipid profiles. This aspect is under further analysis. Conclusion: All components of the lipid profile were definitely lower in CLD patients as compared to controls and demonstrated an inverse correlation with increasing severity. The utilization of this parameter as a prognosticating aid requires further study. Additionally, preliminary analysis indicates that various CLD etiologies appear to have specific effects on the lipid profile – a finding under further analysis.

Keywords: CLD, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, lipid profile, triglycerides, VLDL

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Authors: Golyasamin Khanehzaei, Mohd. Bakri Ishak, Ahmad Makmom Hj Abdullah, Latifah Abd Manaf

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Abstract—Management of clinical waste is a critical problem worldwide. Immediate attention is required to manage the clinical waste in an appropriate way in newly developing economy country such as Malaysia. The increasing amount of clinical waste generated is resulted from rapid urbanization and growing number of private health care facilities in developing countries such as Malaysia. In order to develop a sensible clinical waste management system and improvement of the management, information on factors affecting clinical waste generation has the crucial role. This paper is the study of management characteristics of clinical waste and the level of efficiency of clinical waste management systems operating in private clinics located in Selangor, Malaysia. Are they following the proper international standards? By taking all of this in consideration the aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the current trend, current challenges and also the present opportunities among the challenges of clinical waste management in private clinics of Selangor, Malaysia. The SWOT analysis was characterized for the evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The methodology for this study was constituted of direct observation, Informal interviews, Conducting SWOT analysis, conduction of one sustainability dimensions analysis and application. The results show that clinical waste management in private clinics is far from an ideal model.

Keywords: clinical waste, SWOT analysis, Selangor, Malaysia

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Authors: Olasunkanmi Jame Ayodeji, Adebayo Adeyinka Victor

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In a hyperconnected world, cybersecurity faces a continuous evolution of threats that challenge traditional defence mechanisms. This paper explores emerging cybersecurity threats like malware, ransomware, phishing, social engineering, and the Internet of Things (IoT) vulnerabilities. It delves into the inadequacies of existing cybersecurity defences in addressing these evolving risks and advocates for adaptive defence mechanisms that leverage AI, machine learning, and zero-trust architectures. The paper proposes collaborative approaches, including public-private partnerships and information sharing, as essential to building a robust defence strategy to address future cyber threats. The need for continuous monitoring, real-time incident response, and adaptive resilience strategies is highlighted to fortify digital infrastructures in the face of escalating global cyber risks.

Keywords: cybersecurity, hyperconnectivity, malware, adaptive defences, zero-trust architecture, internet of things vulnerabilities

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Authors: Sanja Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Denis Kučević, Strahinja Kovačević, Milica Karadžić, Lidija Jevrić

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The present study describes the application of chemometric methods in analysis of milk samples which were collected in a conventional dairy farm and an organic dairy farm in AP Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia. The chemometric analysis included the application of univariate regression modeling and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) method. The ANOVA was used in order to determine the differences in fatty acids content in the milk samples from conventional and organic farm. The results of the ANOVA testing indicate that there is a highly statistically significant difference between the content of fatty acid (saturated fatty acid vs. unsaturated fatty acids) in different dairy farming. Besides, the linear univariate models have been obtained as a result of modeling the linear relationships between the milk fat content and saturated fatty acids content, and the linear relationships between the milk fat content and unsaturated fatty acids content. The models obtained on the basis of the milk samples which originate from the organic farming are statistically better than the models based on the milk samples from conventional farming.

Keywords: hemometrics, milk, organic farming, quality control

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Authors: Sanghoon Bae, Hanju Cha

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Failed fuel detector (FFD) in research reactor is a very crucial instrument to detect the anomaly from failed fuels in the early stage around primary cooling system (PCS) outlet prior to the decay tank. FFD is considered as a mandatory sensor to ensure the integrity of fuel assemblies and mitigate the consequence from a failed fuel accident. For the effective function of FFD, the location of them should be determined by contemplating the effect from coolant flow around two outlets. For this, the analysis on computational flow dynamics (CFD) should be first performed how the coolant outlet flow including radioactive materials from failed fuels are mixed and discharged through the outlet plenum within certain seconds. The analysis result shows that the outlet flow is well mixed regardless of the position of failed fuel and ultimately illustrates the effect of detector location.

Keywords: computational flow dynamics (CFD), failed fuel detector (FFD), fresh fuel assembly (FFA), spent fuel assembly (SFA)

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Authors: Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Zamani, Kamran Behdinan

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In this study, a multiscale framework is performed to model the strength of Nextel fibers in presence of an atomistic scale pre-crack at finite temperatures. The bridging cell method (BCM) is the multiscale technique applied in this study, which decomposes the system into the atomistic, bridging and continuum domains; solves the whole system in a finite element framework; and incorporates temperature dependent calculations. Since Nextel is known to be structurally stable and retain 70% of its initial strength up to 1100°C; simulations are conducted at both of the room temperatures, 25°C, and fire temperatures, 1200°C. Two cases are modeled for a pre-crack present in either phases of alumina or mullite of the Nextel structure. The materials’ response is studied with respect to deformation behavior and ultimate tensile strength. Results show different crack growth trends for the two cases, and as the temperature increases, the crack growth resistance and material’s strength decrease.

Keywords: Nextel fibers, multiscale modeling, pre-crack, ultimate tensile strength

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Authors: Chen-Fu Wang, Lin-Ya Kung

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For traditional painting materials, the artisan used to combine the pigments with different binders to create colors. As time goes by, the materials used for painting evolved from natural to chemical materials. The vast variety of ingredients used in chemical materials has complicated restoration work; it makes conservation work more difficult. Conservation work also becomes harder when the materials cannot be easily identified; therefore, it is essential that we take a more scientific approach to assist in conservation work. Paintings materials are high molecular weight polymer, and their analysis is very complicated as well other contamination such as smoke and dirt can also interfere with the analysis of the material. The current methods of composition analysis of painting materials include Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), mass spectrometer, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), each of which has its own limitation. In this study, FT-IR was used to analyze the components of the paint coating. We have taken the most commonly seen materials as samples and deteriorated it. The aged information was then used for the database to exam the temple painting materials. By observing the FT-IR changes over time, we can tell all of the painting materials will be deteriorated by the UV light, but only the speed of its degradation had some difference. From the deterioration experiment, the acrylic resin resists better than the others. After collecting the painting materials aging information on FT-IR, we performed some test on the paintings on the temples. It was found that most of the artisan used tune-oil for painting materials, and some other paintings used chemical materials. This method is now working successfully on identifying the painting materials. However, the method is destructive and high cost. In the future, we will work on the how to know the painting materials more efficiently.

Keywords: temple painting, painting material, conservation, FT-IR

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Authors: Thalita Carvalho Martins de Castro, Núbia Bernardi

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Currently, studies evidence that our cities are portraits of social relations. In the midst of so many segregations, cultural buildings emerge as a place to assemble collective activities and expressions. Through theater, exhibitions, educational workshops, libraries, the architecture approaches human relations and seeks to propose meeting places. The purpose of this research is to deepen the discussions about the contributions of cultural buildings in the use of the spaces of the contemporary city, based on the data and measure collected in the master's research in progress. The graphic analysis of the insertion of contemporary cultural buildings seeks to highlight the social use of space. The urban insertions of contemporary cultural buildings in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) will be analyzed to understand the relations between the architectural form and its audience. The collected data describe a dynamic of flows and the permanence in the use of these spaces, indicating the contribution of the cultural buildings, associated with artistic production, in the dynamics of urban spaces and the social modifications of their milieu. Among the case studies, the research in development is based on the registration and graphic analysis of the Praça das Artes (2012) building located in the historical central region of the city, which after a long period of great degradation undergoes a current redevelopment. The choice of this building was based on four parameters, both on the architectural scale and on the urban scale: urban insertion, local impact, cultural production and a mix of uses. For the analysis will be applied two methodologies of graphic analysis, one with diagrams accompanied by texts and another with the active analysis for open space projects using complementary graphic methodologies, with maps, plants, info-graphics, perspectives, time-lapse videos and analytical tables. This research aims to reinforce the debates between the methodologies of form-use spaces and visual synthesis applied in cultural buildings, in order that new projects can structure public spaces as catalysts for social use, generating improvements in the daily life of its users and in the cities where they are inserted.

Keywords: cultural buildings, design methodologies, graphic analysis, public spaces

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Authors: Ankita Shukla, Tiratha Raj Singh

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) imposes serious mortality burden worldwide and it has been increasing for past consecutive years. Continuous efforts have been made so far to diagnose the disease condition and to identify the root cause for it. In this study, we performed the pathway level as well as the differential gene expression studies for CRC. We analyzed the gene expression profile GSE24514 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) along with the gene pathways involved in the CRC. This analysis helps us to understand the behavior of the genes that have shown differential expression through their targeted pathways. Pathway analysis for the targeted genes covers the wider area which therefore decreases the possibility to miss the significant ones. This will prove to be beneficial to expose the ones that have not been given attention so far. Through this analysis, we attempt to understand the various neighboring genes that have close relationship to the targeted one and thus proved to be significantly controlling the CRC. It is anticipated that the identified hub and neighboring genes will provide new directions to look at the pathway level differently and will be crucial for the regulatory processes of the disease.

Keywords: mismatch repair, microsatellite instability, carcinogenesis, morbidity

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Authors: Wenqing Fan, Yixuan Cheng, Wei Huang

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The diversity and complexity of modern IT systems make it almost impossible for internal teams to find vulnerabilities in all software before the software is officially released. The emergence of threat intelligence and vulnerability reporting policy has greatly reduced the burden on software vendors and organizations to find vulnerabilities. However, to prove the existence of the reported vulnerability, it is necessary but difficult for security incident response team to build a deliberated vulnerable environment from the vulnerability report with limited and incomplete information. This paper presents a structured, standardized, machine-oriented vulnerability intelligence format, that can be used to automate the orchestration of Deliberated Vulnerable Environment (DVE). This paper highlights the important role of software configuration and proof of vulnerable specifications in vulnerability intelligence, and proposes a triad model, which is called DIR (Dependency Configuration, Installation Configuration, Runtime Configuration), to define software configuration. Finally, this paper has also implemented a prototype system to demonstrate that the orchestration of DVE can be automated with the intelligence.

Keywords: DIR triad model, DVE, vulnerability intelligence, vulnerability recurrence

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Authors: Juan Manuel Martinez Alvarez, Michele Chiumenti

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This work explores the benefit of the thermo-metallurgical simulation to tackle the Wire Laser Additive Manufacturing (WLAM) of low-carbon steel components. The Finite Element Analysis is calibrated by process monitoring via thermal imaging and thermocouples measurements, to study the complex thermo-metallurgical behavior inherent to the WLAM process of low carbon steel parts.A critical aspect is the analysis of the heterogeneity in the resulting microstructure. This heterogeneity depends on both the thermal history and the residual stresses experienced during the WLAM process. Because of low carbon grades are highly sensitive to quenching, a high-gradient microstructure often arises due to the layer-by-layer metal deposition in WLAM. The different phases have been identified by scanning electron microscope. A clear influence of the heterogeneities on the final mechanical performance has been established by the subsequent mechanical characterization. The thermo-metallurgical analysis has been used to determine the actual thermal history and the corresponding thermal gradients during the printing process. The correlation between the thermos-mechanical evolution, the printing parameters and scanning sequence has been established. Therefore, an enhanced printing strategy, including optimized process window has been used to minimize the microstructure heterogeneity at ArcelorMittal.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, numerical simulation, metallurgy, steel

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Authors: Vijay Vir Singh

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In this paper, we focus on the reliability and performance analysis of Computer Centre (CC) at Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. The CC consists of three servers: one database mail server, one redundant and one for sharing with the client computers in the CC (called as local server). Observing the different possibilities of functioning of the CC, analysis has been done to evaluate the various reliability characteristics of the system. The system can completely fail due to failure of router, redundant server before repairing the mail server, and switch failure. The system can also partially fail when local server fails. The system can also fail completely due to a cooling failure, electricity failure or some natural calamity like earthquake, fire etc. All the failure rates are assumed to be constant while repair follows two types of distributions: general and Gumbel-Hougaard family copula.

Keywords: reliability, availability Gumbel-Hougaard family copula, MTTF, internet data centre

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Authors: Ahmed Arkoazi, Hussein Znad, Ranjeet Utikar

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The synergistic impact and optimization of gas flow rate, concentration of CO₂, and light intensity on CO₂ biofixation rate were investigated using wastewater as a medium to cultivate Chlorella vulgaris under different conditions (gas flow rate 1-8 L/min), CO₂ concentration (0.03-7%), and light intensity (150-400 µmol/m².s)). Response Surface Methodology and Box-Behnken experimental Design were applied to find optimum values for gas flow rate, CO₂ concentration, and light intensity. The optimum values of the three independent variables (gas flow rate, concentration of CO₂, and light intensity) and desirability were 7.5 L/min, 3.5%, and 400 µmol/m².s, and 0.904, respectively. The highest amount of biomass produced and CO₂ biofixation rate at optimum conditions were 5.7 g/L, 1.23 gL^-1d^-1, respectively. The synergistic effect between gas flow rate and concentration of CO₂, and between gas flow rate and light intensity was significant on the three responses, while the effect between CO₂ concentration and light intensity was less significant on CO₂ biofixation rate. The results of this study could be highly helpful when using microalgae for CO₂ biofixation in wastewater treatment.

Keywords: bubble column reactor, gas holdup, hydrodynamics, sparger

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Authors: Michalis Linardakis, Vasilis Grammatikopoulos, Athanasios Gregoriadis, Kalliopi Trouli

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Discrete choice models belong to the family of Conjoint analysis that are applied on the preferences of the respondents towards a set of scenarios that describe alternative choices. The scenarios have been pre-designed to cover all the attributes of the alternatives that may affect the choices. In this study, we examine how preschool educators integrate physical activities into their everyday teaching practices through the use of discrete choice models. One of the advantages of discrete choice models compared to other more traditional data collection methods (e.g. questionnaires and interviews that use ratings) is that the respondent is called to select among competitive and realistic alternatives, rather than objectively rate each attribute that the alternatives may have. We present the effort to construct and choose representative attributes that would cover all possible choices of the respondents, and the scenarios that have arisen. For the purposes of the study, we used a sample of 50 preschool educators in Greece that responded to 4 scenarios (from the total of 16 scenarios that the orthogonal design resulted), with each scenario having three alternative teaching practices. Seven attributes of the alternatives were used in the scenarios. For the analysis of the data, we used multinomial logit model with random effects, multinomial probit model and generalized mixed logit model. The conclusions drawn from the estimated parameters of the models are discussed.

Keywords: conjoint analysis, discrete choice models, educational data, multivariate statistical analysis

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Authors: Murada Alholy, Mengshi Lin, Omar Alhaj, Mahmoud Abugoush

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Alicyclobacillus is a causative agent of spoilage in pasteurized and heat-treated apple juice products. Differentiating between this genus and the closely related Bacillus is crucially important. In this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to identify and discriminate between four Alicyclobacillus strains and four Bacillus isolates inoculated individually into apple juice. Loading plots over the range of 1350 and 1700 cm-1 reflected the most distinctive biochemical features of Bacillus and Alicyclobacillus. Multivariate statistical methods (e.g. principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA)) were used to analyze the spectral data. Distinctive separation of spectral samples was observed. This study demonstrates that FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis could serve as a rapid and effective tool for fruit juice industry to differentiate between Bacillus and Alicyclobacillus and to distinguish between species belonging to these two genera.

Keywords: alicyclobacillus, bacillus, FT-IR, spectroscopy, PCA

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Authors: Dilip Saikia, Suparna Bhattacharjee, Nirab Adhikary

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In this piece of work, we have presented the synthesis and characterization of CdTe/ZnS core/shell (CS) quantum dots (QD). CS QDs are used as a fluorescence probe to design a simple cost-effective and ultrasensitive sensor for the detection of toxic Hg(II) in an aqueous medium. Mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) has been used as a capping agent for the synthesis CdTe/ZnS CS QD. Photoluminescence quenching mechanism has been used in the detection experiment of Hg(II). The designed sensing technique shows a remarkably low detection limit of about 1 picomolar (pM). Here, the CS QDs are synthesized by a simple one-pot aqueous method. The synthesized CS QDs are characterized by using advanced diagnostics tools such as UV-vis, Photoluminescence, XRD, FTIR, TEM and Zeta potential analysis. The interaction between CS QDs and the Hg(II) ions results in the quenching of photoluminescence (PL) intensity of QDs, via the mechanism of excited state electron transfer. The proposed mechanism is explained using cyclic voltammetry and zeta potential analysis. The designed sensor is found to be highly selective towards Hg (II) ions. The analysis of the real samples such as drinking water and tap water has been carried out and the CS QDs show remarkably good results. Using this simple sensing method we have designed a prototype low-cost electronic device for the detection of Hg(II) in an aqueous medium. The findings of the experimental results of the designed sensor is crosschecked by using AAS analysis.

Keywords: photoluminescence, quantum dots, quenching, sensor

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Authors: Moufida Benmoussa

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Since the escalation of the Syrian conflict in 2011, 6.9 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries, and 6.7 have remained displaced in Syria. Out of the 6.9 who fled Syria, over one million have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and become refugees and asylum seekers in various European countries. As a European and a member country of the EU, the Republic of Ireland was not an exception. In response to the refugee crisis caused mainly by the Syrian displacement, Ireland established the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAM) in 2014 and the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in 2015, followed by its second phase in 2019. In light of these events, Irish print media played a significant role in covering the Irish government’s decisions, political stance, and public opinion on the debate on taking Syrian refugees into Ireland. Considering the tremendous impact of media on politics and public opinion, my research examined how The Irish Times and Irish Independent framed Syrian migration to Ireland. I adopted a qualitative framing analysis to identify the prominent framings in these two newspapers. The collection of newspaper articles focused on three periods. The first period is from the first of January 2014 to the end of December 2014. During this period, the media covered the launch of the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP) and stories about the first arrival of the Syrian refugees to Ireland. The second period is the year 2015. During this year, various events gained the attention of the Irish media. These events include Ireland’s establishment of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, the Paris attacks, and the publishing of Aylan Kurdi’s Photograph. The third period is from the first of December 2019 to the thirtieth of January 2020. In this period, the media covered the convention of Ireland with the UNHCR and the European Union to provide sanctuary to 2900 refugees in the years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The primary findings of my study indicate that The Irish Times and Irish Independent’s framing of Syrian migration to Ireland was various. My research findings indicate that The Irish Times and Irish Independent’s framing of Syrian migration to Ireland was varied and asymmetrical. The dominant frames used by these two newspapers are humanitarian, responsibility, contribution, burden, intruder, and threat. The former three frames positively perceive Syrian migration to Ireland and support the Irish government’s decisions to welcome more Syrian refugees. On the other hand, the last three frames perceive Syrian migration and refugees negatively and stand for the principle that Ireland should not take Syrian refugees.

Keywords: framing, Syrian migration, Ireland, newspaper

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Authors: Marcos Bosques-Perez, Walter Izquierdo, Harold Martin, Liangdon Deng, Josue Rodriguez, Thony Yan, Mercedes Cabrerizo, Armando Barreto, Naphtali Rishe, Malek Adjouadi

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Aerial imagery is a powerful tool when it comes to analyzing temporal changes in ecosystems and extracting valuable information from the observed scene. It allows us to identify and assess various elements such as objects, structures, textures, waterways, and shadows. To extract meaningful information, multispectral cameras capture data across different wavelength bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this study, the collected multispectral aerial images were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) to identify independent and uncorrelated components or features that extend beyond the visible spectrum captured in standard RGB images. The results demonstrate that these principal components contain unique characteristics specific to certain wavebands, enabling effective object identification and image segmentation.

Keywords: big data, image processing, multispectral, principal component analysis

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Authors: Ruqyyah Mushtaq, Chiacar Gamberdella, Roberta Miroglio, Fabio Novelli, Domenica Papro, M. Paturzo, A. Rubano, Angela Sardo

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Microalgae, particularly diatoms, are well suited for monitoring environmental health, especially in assessing the quality of seas and rivers in terms of organic matter, nutrients, and heavy metal pollution. They respond rapidly to changes in habitat quality. In this study, we focused on Skeletonema pseudocostatum, a unicellular alga that forms chains depending on environmental conditions. Specifically, we explored whether metal toxicants could affect the growth of these algal chains, potentially serving as an ecotoxicological indicator of heavy metal pollution. We utilized THz spectroscopy in conjunction with standard optical microscopy to observe the formation of these chains and their response to toxicants. Despite the strong absorption of terahertz radiation in water, we demonstrate that changes in water absorption in the terahertz range due to water-diatom interaction can provide insights into diatom chain length.

Keywords: THz-TDS spectroscopy, diatoms, marine ecotoxicology, marine pollution

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Authors: Astrid Tannert, Anuradha Ramoji, Christina Ebert, Frederike Gladigau, Lorena Tuchscherr, Jürgen Popp, Ute Neugebauer

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Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative intracellular pathogen, which by entering host cells may evade immunologic host response as well as antimicrobial treatment. In that way, S. aureus can cause persistent intracellular infections which are difficult to treat. Depending on the strain, S. aureus may persist at different intracellular locations like the phagolysosome. The first barrier invading pathogens from the blood stream that they have to cross are the endothelial cells lining the inner surface of blood and lymphatic vessels. Upon proceeding from an acute to a chronic infection, intracellular pathogens undergo certain biochemical and structural changes including a deceleration of metabolic processes to adopt for long-term intracellular survival and the development of a special phenotype designated as small colony variant. In this study, the endothelial cell line Ea.hy 926 was used as a model for acute and chronic S. aureus infection. To this end, Ea.hy 926 cells were cultured on QIAscout™ Microraft Arrays, a special graded cell culture substrate that contains around 12,000 microrafts of 200 µm edge length. After attachment to the substrate, the endothelial cells were infected with GFP-expressing S. aureus for 3 weeks. The acute infection and the development of persistent bacteria was followed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, scanning the whole Microraft Array for the presence and for detailed determination of the intracellular location of fluorescent intracellular bacteria every second day. After three weeks of infection representative microrafts containing infected cells, cells with protruded infections and cells that did never show any infection were isolated and fixed for Raman micro-spectroscopic investigation. For comparison, also microrafts with acute infection were isolated. The acquired Raman spectra are correlated with the fluorescence microscopic images to give hints about a) the molecular alterations in endothelial cells during acute and chronic infection compared to non-infected cells, and b) metabolic and structural changes within the pathogen when entering a mode of persistence within host cells. We thank Dr. Ruth Kläver from QIAGEN GmbH for her support regarding QIAscout technology. Financial support by the BMBF via the CSCC (FKZ 01EO1502) and from the DFG via the Jena Biophotonic and Imaging Laboratory (JBIL, FKZ PO 633/29-1, BA 1601/10-1) is highly acknowledged.

Keywords: correlative image analysis, intracellular infection, pathogen-host adaption, Raman micro-spectroscopy

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Authors: Reza Ziaie Moayed, Naeem Gholampoor

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Jet grouting strengthened pile (JPP) is one of composite piles used in soft ground improvement. It may improve the vertical and lateral bearing capacity effectively and it has been practically used in a considerable scale. In order to make a further research on load transfer mechanism of single JPP with and without cap under lateral loads, JPP is analyzed by means of FEM analysis. It is resulted that the JPP pile could improve lateral bearing capacity by compared with bored concrete pile which is higher for shorter pile and the biggest bending moment of JPP pile is located in the depth of around 48% of embedded length of the pile. Meanwhile, increase of JPP pile length causes to increase of peak mobilized bending moment. Also, by cap addition, JPP piles will have a much higher lateral bearing capacity and increasing in cohesion of soil layer resulted to increase of lateral bearing capacity of JPP pile. In addition, the numerical results basically coincide with the experimental results presented by other researchers.

Keywords: bending moment, FEM analysis, JPP pile, lateral bearing capacity

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Authors: Adrian Morris, Rodney Phillips, Mattia Tabacchi

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Minimizing construction noise and vibration impacts is a key challenge for major infrastructure projects in urban environments. Before commencing construction works, Construction Noise and Vibration Management Plan (CNVMP) and Construction Noise and Vibration Impact Statements (CNVIS) are required to be prepared and submitted to the relevant government authorities for review and approval. However, the assessment of potential impacts from work activities at pre-approval stage may be inaccurate as works methodology and scheduling are yet to be determined. In response, noise and vibration management tools have been developed to refine and supplement the CNVIS as works progress. These tools have been successfully implemented in major infrastructure projects allowing contractors to plan and assess construction works in a cost effective and timely manner. As a result, noise and vibration management tools have been incorporated into management plans and are increasingly required by regulators.

Keywords: noise management, environmental noise, infrastructure projects, construction, vibration, cost effective

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Authors: Fadwa Jewilli

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A sudden leak of a 6-inch gas line pipe after being in service for one year was observed. The pipe had been designed to transport dry gas. The failure had taken place in 6 o’clock position at the stage discharge of the flow process. Laboratory investigations were conducted to find out the cause of the pipe rupture. Visual and metallographic observations confirmed that the pipe split was due to a crack initiated in circumferential and then turned into longitudinal direction. Sever wall thickness reduction was noticed on the internal pipe surface. Scanning electron microscopy observations at the fracture surface revealed features of ductile fracture mode. Corrosion product analysis showed the traces of iron carbonate and iron sulphate. The laboratory analysis resulted in the conclusion that the pipe failed due to the effect of wet fluid (condensate) caused severe wall thickness dissolution resulted in pipe could not stand the continuation at in-service working condition.

Keywords: gas line pipe, corrosion prediction ductile fracture, ductile fracture, failure analysis

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Authors: A. Mostafa

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This paper presents a numerical study on determination of ballistic limit velocity (V₅₀) of stainless steel 304 (SS 304) used in manufacturing security screens. The simulated ballistic impact tests were conducted on clamped sheets with different thicknesses using ABAQUS/Explicit nonlinear finite element (FE) package. The ballistic limit velocity was determined using three approaches, namely: numerical tests based on material properties, FE calculated residual velocities and FE calculated residual energies. Johnson-Cook plasticity and failure criterion were utilized to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the SS 304 under various strain rates, while the well-known Lambert-Jonas equation was used for the data regression for the residual velocity and energy model. Good agreement between the investigated numerical methods was achieved. Additionally, the dependence of the ballistic limit velocity on the sheet thickness was observed. The proposed approaches present viable and cost-effective assessment methods of the ballistic performance of SS 304, which will support the development of robust security screen systems.

Keywords: ballistic velocity, stainless steel, numerical approaches, security screen

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Authors: Julia B. Kischkat, Charlie D. Waters

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This research aims to understand the factors that may affect the survival and productivity of Pacific salmonids through two components. The first component is lab-based and aims to improve high-performance liquid chromatography to better quantify vitamin deficiencies such as thiamine. The lab work is conducted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute in Juneau, Alaska. Deficiencies in thiamine have been shown to reduce the survival of salmonids at early life stages. The second component involves the analysis of a 22-year data set of migration timing of juvenile Coho Salmon, Dolly Varden, Steelhead, and returning adult Steelhead at Little Port Walter, Alaska. The statistical analysis quantifies their migration fluctuations and whether they correlate to various environmental conditions such as temperature, salinity, and precipitation.

Keywords: climate change, smolt timing, phenology, migration timing, salmon, time series analysis, ecology, chemistry, fisheries science

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Authors: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. Y. Li, H. T. Lin, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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The dry-storage systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Taiwan have become one of the major safety concerns. There are two steps considered in this study. The first step is the verification of the TRACE by using VSC-17 experimental data. The results of TRACE were similar to the VSC-17 data. It indicates that TRACE has the respectable accuracy in the simulation and analysis of the dry-storage systems. The next step is the application of TRACE in the dry-storage system of Kuosheng NPP (BWR/6). Kuosheng NPP is the second BWR NPP of Taiwan Power Company. In order to solve the storage of the spent fuels, Taiwan Power Company developed the new dry-storage system for Kuosheng NPP. In this step, the dry-storage system model of Kuosheng NPP was established by TRACE. Then, the steady state simulation of this model was performed and the results of TRACE were compared with the Kuosheng NPP data. Finally, this model was used to perform the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP dry-storage system. Besides, FRAPTRAN was used tocalculate the transient performance of fuel rods.

Keywords: BWR, TRACE, FRAPTRAN, dry-storage

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Authors: Gangmin Li, Fan Yang

Abstract:

Personalized recommendation is crucial for any recommendation system. One of the techniques for personalized recommendation is to identify the intention. Traditional user intention identification uses the user’s selection when facing multiple items. This modeling relies primarily on historical behaviour data resulting in challenges such as the cold start, unintended choice, and failure to capture intention when items are new. Motivated by recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, we present an approach for user intention identification by embracing LLMs with Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting. We use the initial user profile as input to LLMs and design a collection of prompts to align the LLM's response through various recommendation tasks encompassing rating prediction, search and browse history, user clarification, etc. Our tests on real-world datasets demonstrate the improvements in recommendation by explicit user intention identification and, with that intention, merged into a user model.

Keywords: personalized recommendation, generative user modelling, user intention identification, large language models, chain-of-thought prompting

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Authors: Strahinja Z. Kovačević, Lidija R. Jevrić, Sanja O. Podunavac Kuzmanović

Abstract:

The relationship between antibacterial activity of eighteen different substituted benzimidazole derivatives and their molecular characteristics was studied using chemometric QSAR (Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships) approach. QSAR analysis has been carried out on inhibitory activity towards Staphylococcus aureus, by using molecular descriptors, as well as minimal inhibitory activity (MIC). Molecular descriptors were calculated from the optimized structures. Principal component analysis (PCA) followed by hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and multiple linear regression (MLR) was performed in order to select molecular descriptors that best describe the antibacterial behavior of the compounds investigated, and to determine the similarities between molecules. The HCA grouped the molecules in separated clusters which have the similar inhibitory activity. PCA showed very similar classification of molecules as the HCA, and displayed which descriptors contribute to that classification. MLR equations, that represent MIC as a function of the in silico molecular descriptors were established. The statistical significance of the estimated models was confirmed by standard statistical measures and cross-validation parameters (SD = 0.0816, F = 46.27, R = 0.9791, R2CV = 0.8266, R2adj = 0.9379, PRESS = 0.1116). These parameters indicate the possibility of application of the established chemometric models in prediction of the antibacterial behaviour of studied derivatives and structurally very similar compounds.

Keywords: antibacterial, benzimidazole, molecular descriptors, QSAR

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Kefaifi Aissa, Sahraoui Tahar, Kheloufi Abdelkrim, Anas Sabiha, Hannane Farouk

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to show how the Design of Experiments Method (DOE) can be put into use as a practical approach for silica sand etching behavior modeling during its primary step of leaching. In the present work, we have studied etching effect on particle size during a primary step of leaching process on Algerian silica sand with florid acid (HF) at 20% and 30 % during 4 and 8 hours. Therefore, a new purity of the sand is noted depending on the time of leaching. This study was expanded by a numerical approach using a method of experiment design, which shows the influence of each parameter and the interaction between them in the process and approved the obtained experimental results. This model is a predictive approach using hide software. Based on the measured parameters experimentally in the interior of the model, the use of DOE method can make it possible to predict the outside parameters of the model in question and can give us the optimize response without making the experimental measurement.

Keywords: acid leaching, design of experiments method(DOE), purity silica, silica etching

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Authors: Manab Bandhu Bera, Navdeep Singh, Paramjit Singh Panesar

Abstract:

In view of exploiting the health benefits of probiotic yeast S.boulardii NCDC 363 and make it available in the form of non-dairy food products, study was undertaken. In this, probiotic yeast S.boulardii NCDC 363 was incorporated in the edible film made from sodium alginate (SA), whey protein concentrate (WPC) and glycerol (50%). Response surface methodology was used to optimize process variables such as; concentration of SA (0.25-0.75%), WPC (1-2%) and temperature (70-80°C) and also to investigate effect of these process variables on viability of probiotic yeast and hardness when applied as an edible coat on extruded food products. Accelerated storage stability of optimized probiotic extruded food products samples was determined at 38 C and 90% RH. The optimized products were packed in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and aluminum laminated polyethylene (ALP) pouches at 38°C and relative humidity maintained was 90%. It was observed that product stored in ALP had better stability in terms of moisture absorption, hardness and viability.

Keywords: probiotic yeast, extruded food product, WPC, RSM

Procedia PDF Downloads 278