Search results for: structural system

Authors: Nadeem Yousuf Khan

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This paper proposes the formation of a digital emergency response system (dERS) in the aged, long-term care, and chronic disease setups in the post-COVID healthcare ecosystem, focusing on the Asia Pacific market where the aging population is increasing significantly. It focuses on the use of digital technologies such as wearables, a global positioning system (GPS), and mobile applications to build an integrated care system for old folks with co-morbidities and other chronic diseases. The paper presents a conceptual framework of a connected digital health ecosystem that not only provides proactive care to registered patients but also prevents the damages due to sudden conditions such as strokes by alerting and treating the patients in a digitally connected and coordinated manner. A detailed review of existing digital health technologies such as wearables, GPS, and mobile apps was conducted in context with the new post-COVID healthcare paradigm, along with a detailed literature review on the digital health policies and usability. A good amount of research papers is available in the application of digital health, but very few of them discuss the formation of a new framework for a connected digital ecosystem for the aged care population, which is increasing around the globe. A connected digital emergency response system has been proposed by the author whereby all registered patients (chronic disease and aged/long term care) will be connected to the proposed digital emergency response system (dERS). In the proposed ecosystem, patients will be provided with a tracking wrist band and a mobile app through which the control room will be monitoring the mobility and vitals such as atrial fibrillation (AF), blood sugar, blood pressure, and other vital signs. In addition to that, an alert in case if the patient falls down will add value to this system. In case of any variation in the vitals, an alert is sent to the dERS 24/7, and dERS clinical staff immediately trigger that alert which goes to the connected hospital and the adulatory service providers, and the patient is escorted to the nearest connected tertiary care hospital. By the time, the patient reaches the hospital, dERS team is ready to take appropriate clinical action to save the life of the patient. Strokes or myocardial infarction patients can be prevented from disaster if they are accessible to engagement healthcare. This dERS will play an effective role in saving the lives of aged patients or patients with chronic co-morbidities.

Keywords: aged care, atrial fibrillation, digital health, digital emergency response system, digital technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Lucian Pîslaru-Dănescu, George-Claudiu Zărnescu, Laurențiu Constantin Lipan, Rareș-Andrei Chihaia

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In recent years, the utilization of supercapacitors for energy storage (ES) devices that are designed for energy harvesting (EH) applications has increased substantially. The use of supercapacitors as energy storage devices in hybrid energy harvesting systems allows the miniaturization of electronic structures for energy storage. This study is concerned with the concept of energy management capacitors – supercapacitors and the new electronic structures for energy storage used for energy harvesting devices. Supercapacitors are low-voltage devices, and electronic overvoltage protection is needed for powering the source. The power management device that uses these proposed new electronic structures for energy storage is better than conventional electronic structures used for this purpose, like rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, and hybrid systems. A hybrid energy harvesting system with energy storage management is able to simultaneously use several energy sources with recovery from the environment. The power management device uses a summing electronic block to combine the electric power obtained from piezoelectric composite plates and from a photovoltaic conversion system. Also, an overvoltage protection circuit used as a voltage detector and an improved concept of charging supercapacitors is presented. The piezoelectric composite plates are realized only by pressing two printed circuit boards together without damaging or prestressing the piezoceramic elements. The photovoltaic conversion system has the advantage that the modules are covered with glass plates with nanostructured film of ZnO with the role of anti-reflective coating and to improve the overall efficiency of the solar panels.

Keywords: supercapacitors, energy storage, electronic overvoltage protection, energy harvesting

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Anthony Townley

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Contract negotiation is fundamental to commercial law practice. For this study, genre and discourse analytical methodology was used to examine the legal negotiation of a Merger & Acquisition (M&A) deal undertaken by legal and business professionals in English across different jurisdictions in Europe. While some of the most delicate negotiations involved in this process were carried on face-to-face or over the telephone, these were generally progressed more systematically – and on the record – in the form of emails, email attachments, and as comments and amendments recorded in successive ‘marked-up’ versions of the contracts under negotiation. This large corpus of textual data was originally obtained by the author, in 2012, for the purpose of doctoral research. For this study, the analysis is particularly concerned with the use of emails and covering letters to exchange legal advice about the negotiations. These two genres help to stabilize and progress the negotiation process and account for negotiation activities. Swalesian analysis of functional Moves and Steps was able to identify structural similarities and differences between these text types and to identify certain salient discursive features within them. The analytical findings also indicate how particular linguistic strategies are more appropriately and more effectively associated with one legal genre rather than another. The concept of intertextuality is an important dimension of contract negotiation discourse and this study also examined how the discursive relationships between the different texts influence the way that texts are constructed. In terms of materials development, the research findings can contribute to more authentic English for Legal & Business Purposes pedagogies for students and novice lawyers and business professionals. The findings can first be used to design discursive maps that provide learners with a coherent account of the intertextual nature of the contract negotiation process. These discursive maps can then function as a framework in which to present detailed findings about the textual and structural features of the text types by applying the Swalesian genre analysis. Based on this acquired knowledge of the textual nature of contract negotiation, the authentic discourse materials can then be used to provide learners with practical opportunities to role-play negotiation activities and experience professional ways of thinking and using language in preparation for the written discourse challenges they will face in this important area of legal and business practice.

Keywords: English for legal and business purposes, discourse analysis, genre analysis, intertextuality, pedagogical materials

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Mahtab Makaremi Masouleh, Günter Wozniak

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This work is part of a major research project concerning the design of a light temporary installable textile flood control structure. The motivation for this work is the great need of applying light structures for the protection of coastal areas from detrimental effects of rapid water runoff. The prime objective of the study is the numerical analysis of the interaction among free surface water flow and slender shaped pliable structures, playing a key role in safety performance of the intended system. First, the behavior of down scale membrane is examined under hydrostatic pressure by the Abaqus explicit solver, which is part of the finite element based commercially available SIMULIA software. Then the procedure to achieve a stable and convergent solution for strongly coupled media including fluids and structures is explained. A partitioned strategy is imposed to make both structures and fluids be discretized and solved with appropriate formulations and solvers. In this regard, finite element method is again selected to analyze the structural domain. Moreover, computational fluid dynamics algorithms are introduced for solutions in flow domains by means of a commercial package of Star CCM+. Likewise, SIMULIA co-simulation engine and an implicit coupling algorithm, which are available communication tools in commercial package of the Star CCM+, enable powerful transmission of data between two applied codes. This approach is discussed for two different cases and compared with available experimental records. In one case, the down scale membrane interacts with open channel flow, where the flow velocity increases with time. The second case illustrates, how the full scale flexible flood barrier behaves when a massive flotsam is accelerated towards it.

Keywords: finite element formulation, finite volume algorithm, fluid-structure interaction, light pliable structure, VOF multiphase model

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Authors: Farhad Asadi, Mohammad Javad Mollakazemi

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In this paper, Bayesian online inference in models of data series are constructed by change-points algorithm, which separated the observed time series into independent series and study the change and variation of the regime of the data with related statistical characteristics. variation of statistical characteristics of time series data often represent separated phenomena in the some dynamical system, like a change in state of brain dynamical reflected in EEG signal data measurement or a change in important regime of data in many dynamical system. In this paper, prediction algorithm for studying change point location in some time series data is simulated. It is verified that pattern of proposed distribution of data has important factor on simpler and smother fluctuation of hazard rate parameter and also for better identification of change point locations. Finally, the conditions of how the time series distribution effect on factors in this approach are explained and validated with different time series databases for some dynamical system.

Keywords: time series, fluctuation in statistical characteristics, optimal learning, change-point algorithm

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Authors: Tamás Matuszka, Attila Kiss

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Due the proliferation of smartphones in everyday use, several different outdoor navigation systems have become available. Since these smartphones are able to connect to the Internet, the users can obtain location-based information during the navigation as well. The users could interactively get to know the specifics of a particular area (for instance, ancient cultural area, Statue Park, cemetery) with the help of thus obtained information. In this paper, we present an Augmented Reality system which uses Semantic Web technologies and is based on the interaction between the user and the smartphone. The system allows navigating through a specific area and provides information and details about the sight an interactive manner.

Keywords: augmented reality, semantic web, human computer interaction, mobile application

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Authors: Yuxin Wu, Yu-Shing Wang, Zitao Zhang

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A high-speed and time-lapse S-wave velocity measurement system has been built up for S-wave tomography in sand. This system is based on bender elements and applied to model pile tests in a tailor-made pressurized chamber to monitor the shear wave velocity distribution during pile installation in sand. Tactile pressure sensors are used parallel together with bender elements to monitor the stress changes during the tests. Strain gages are used to monitor the shaft resistance and toe resistance of pile. Since the shear wave velocity (Vs) is determined by the shear modulus of sand and the shaft resistance of pile is also influenced by the shear modulus of sand around the pile, the purposes of this study are to time-lapse monitor the S-wave velocity distribution change at a certain horizontal section during pile installation and to correlate the S-wave velocity distribution and shaft resistance of pile in sand.

Keywords: bender element, pile, shaft resistance, shear wave velocity, tomography

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Authors: Marwa Abida, Florian Gehring, Jamel Mars, Alexandre Vivet, Fakhreddine Dammak, Mohamed Haddar

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The demand for bio-based materials in semi-structural and structural applications is constantly growing to conform to new environmental policies. Among them, Plant Fiber Reinforced Composites (PFRC) are attractive for the scientific community as well as the industrial world. Due to their relatively low densities and low environmental impact, vegetal fibers appear to be suitable as reinforcing materials for polymers. However, the major issue of plant fibers and PFRC in general is their hydrophilic behavior (high affinity to water molecules). Indeed, when absorbed, water causes fiber swelling and a loss of mechanical properties. Thus, the environmental loadings (moisture, temperature, UV) can strongly affect their mechanical properties and therefore play a critical role in the service life of PFRC. In order to analyze the influence of conditioning at relative humidity on the behavior of flax fiber reinforced composites, a preliminary study on flax fabrics has been conducted. The conditioning of the fabrics in different humid atmospheres made it possible to study the influence of the water content on the hygro-mechanical behavior of flax reinforcement through mechanical tensile tests. This work shows that increasing the relative humidity of the atmosphere induces an increase of the water content in the samples. It also brings up the significant influence of water content on the stiffness and elongation at break of the fabric, while no significant change of the breaking load is detected. Non-linear decrease of flax fabric rigidity and increase of its elongation at maximal force with the increase of water content are observed. It is concluded that water molecules act as a softening agent on flax fabrics. Two kinds of typical tensile curves are identified. Most of the tensile curves of samples show one unique linear region where the behavior appears to be linear prior to the first yarn failure. For some samples in which water content is between 2.7 % and 3.7 % (regardless the conditioning atmosphere), the emergence of a two-linear region behavior is pointed out. This phenomenon could be explained by local heterogeneities of water content which could induce premature local plasticity in some regions of the flax fabric sample behavior.

Keywords: hygro-mechanical behavior, hygroscopy, flax fabric, relative humidity, mechanical properties

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Authors: Ying-Pin Chang

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This paper presents a method for combining a particle swarm optimization with nonlinear time-varying evolution and orthogonal arrays (PSO-NTVEOA) in the planning of harmonic filters for the high speed railway traction system with specially connected transformers in unbalanced three-phase power systems. The objective is to minimize the cost of the filter, the filters loss, the total harmonic distortion of currents and voltages at each bus simultaneously. An orthogonal array is first conducted to obtain the initial solution set. The set is then treated as the initial training sample. Next, the PSO-NTVEOA method parameters are determined by using matrix experiments with an orthogonal array, in which a minimal number of experiments would have an effect that approximates the full factorial experiments. This PSO-NTVEOA method is then applied to design optimal harmonic filters in Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) traction system, where both rectifiers and inverters with IGBT are used. From the results of the illustrative examples, the feasibility of the PSO-NTVEOA to design an optimal passive harmonic filter of THSR system is verified and the design approach can greatly reduce the harmonic distortion. Three design schemes are compared that V-V connection suppressing the 3rd order harmonic, and Scott and Le Blanc connection for the harmonic improvement is better than the V-V connection.

Keywords: harmonic filters, particle swarm optimization, nonlinear time-varying evolution, orthogonal arrays, specially connected transformers

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Authors: Raymond Li

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In this project a web-based classroom response system (CRS) was used in the teaching an intermediate level economics course. This system allows the instructor to post a question on the screen and students to answer questions using their own electronic mobile devices. The questions and the results summarizing student responses can be shown to students simultaneously and the instructor can make timely feedback to students in class. CRS gives students a chance to respond to the instructor’s question privately, encouraging students who might not typically speak up in class to express their thoughts and opinions. There is a vast literature on the advantages and challenges of using CRS. However, empirical evidence on the student attributes that increase the effectiveness of CRS in improving student learning outcomes is sparse. The purpose of this project is to (1) find out if the use of CRS is beneficial to students taking economics, and (2) discover key student attributes that will likely make CRS more effective. Students’ performance in examinations and an end-of-semester questionnaire were used to assess the effectiveness of CRS in this project. Comparing the examination scores of the CRS treatment group and control group, the treatment group performed considerably better and statistically significant differences were found basing on paired t-tests on the differences. According to the questionnaire results, around 75% of the students in the treatment group generally agreed that CRS allowed them to express their views more freely. We also observed that students who prefer to use instant messaging rather than making conversations are generally more positive towards CRS. The use of CRS also benefits the instructor – students’ rating of the instructor in the teaching evaluation was significantly higher for the CRS treatment group.

Keywords: education technology, classroom response system, student attributes, economics education

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Lidia Lombardi

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Waste management in Europe and North America is evolving towards sustainable materials management, intended as a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. Various waste management strategies are prioritized and ranked from the most to the least environmentally preferred, placing emphasis on reducing, reusing, and recycling as key to sustainable materials management. However, non-recyclable materials must also be appropriately addressed, and waste-to-energy (WtE) offers a solution to manage them, especially when a WtE plant is integrated within a complex system of waste and wastewater treatment plants and potential users of the output flows. To evaluate the environmental effects of such system integration, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a helpful and powerful tool. LCA has been largely applied to the waste management sector, dating back to the late 1990s, producing a large number of theoretical studies and applications to the real world as support to waste management planning. However, LCA still has a fundamental role in helping the development of waste management systems supporting decisions. Thus, LCA was applied to evaluate the environmental performances of a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management system, with improved separate material collection and recycling and an integrated network of treatment plants including WtE, anaerobic digestion (AD) and also wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), for a reference study case area. The proposed system was compared to the actual situation, characterized by poor recycling, large landfilling and absence of WtE. The LCA results showed that the increased recycling significantly increases the environmental performances, but there is still room for improvement through the introduction of energy recovery (especially by WtE) and through its use within the system, for instance, by feeding the heat to the AD, to sludge recovery processes and supporting the water reuse practice. WtE offers a solution to manage non-recyclable MSW and allows saving important resources (such as landfill volumes and non-renewable energy), reducing the contribution to global warming, and providing an essential contribution to fulfill the goals of really sustainable waste management.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, life cycle assessment, waste-to-energy, municipal solid waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 48

Authors: M. Atef Gabr, M. H. Abdel Latif, Ramadan El Gamsy

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Sandwich panels comprise a thick, light-weight plastic foam such as polyurethane (PU) sandwiched between two relatively thin faces. One or both faces may be flat, lightly profiled or fully profiled. Until recently sandwich panel construction in Egypt has been widely used in cold-storage buildings, cold trucks, prefabricated buildings and insulation in construction. Recently new techniques are used in mass production of Sandwich Materials such as Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) and Vacuum bagging technique. However, in recent times their use has increased significantly due to their widespread structural applications in building systems. Structural sandwich panels generally used in Egypt comprise polyurethane foam core and thinner (0.42 mm) and high strength about 550 MPa (yield strength) flat steel faces bonded together using separate adhesives and By RIM technique. In this paper, we will use a new technique in sandwich panel preparation by using different face sheet materials in combination with polyurethane foam to form sandwich panel structures. Previously, PU Foam core with same thin 2 faces material was used, but in this work, we use different face materials and thicknesses for the upper face sheet such as Galvanized steel sheets (G.S),Aluminum sheets (Al),Fiberglass sheets (F.G) and Aluminum-Rubber composite sheets (Al/R) with polyurethane foam core 10 mm thickness and 45 Kg/m3 Density and Galvanized steel as lower face sheet. Using Aluminum-Rubber composite sheets as face sheet is considered a hybrid composite sandwich panel which is built by Hand-Layup technique by using PU glue as adhesive. This modification increases the benefits of the face sheet that will withstand different working environments with relatively small increase in its weight and will be useful in several applications. In this work, a 3-point bending test is used assistant professor to measure the most important factor in sandwich materials that is strength to weight ratio(STW) for different combinations of sandwich structures and make a comparison to study the effect of changing the face sheet material on the mechanical behavior of PU sandwich material. Also, the density of the different prepared sandwich materials will be measured to obtain the specific bending strength.

Keywords: hybrid sandwich panel, mechanical behavior, PU foam, sandwich panel, 3-point bending, flexural strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Mohammed H. Karim, Bestoon M. Faraj

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Introduction: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a Dynamic Navigation System (DNS) and a three-dimensional microscope in retrieving broken rotary NiTi files when using trepan burs and the extractor system. Materials and Methods: Thirty maxillary first bicuspids with sixty separate roots were split into two comparable groups based on a comprehensive Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) analysis of the root length and curvature. After standardized access opening, glide paths, and patency attainment with the K file (sizes 10 and 15), the teeth were arranged on 3D models (three per quadrant, six per model). Subsequently, controlled-memory heat-treated NiTi rotary files (#25/0.04) were notched 4 mm from the tips and fractured at the apical third of the roots. The C-FR1 Endo file removal system was employed under both guidance to retrieve the fragments, and the success rate, canal aberration, treatment time and volumetric changes were measured. The statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The microscope-guided group had a higher success rate than the DNS guidance, but the difference was insignificant (p > 0.05). In addition, the microscope-guided drills resulted in a substantially lower proportion of canal aberration, required less time to retrieve the fragments and caused minimal change in the root canal volume (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although dynamically guided trephining with the extractor can retrieve separated instruments, it is inferior to three-dimensional microscope guidance regarding treatment time, procedural errors, and volume change.

Keywords: separated instruments retrieval, dynamic navigation system, 3D video microscope, trephine burs, extractor

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Muhammad S. El-Feky, Mohamed I. Serag, Ahmed M. Yasien, Hala Elkady

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Reinforced concrete requires steel bars in order to provide the tensile strength that is needed in structural concrete. However, when steel bars corrode, a loss in bond between the concrete and the steel bars occurs due to the formation of rust on the bars surface. Permeability of concrete is a fundamental property in perspective of the durability of concrete as it represents the ease with which water or other fluids can move through concrete, subsequently transporting corrosive agents. Nanotechnology is a standout amongst active research zones that envelops varies disciplines including construction materials. The application of nanotechnology in the corrosion protection of metal has lately gained momentum as nano scale particles have ultimate physical, chemical and physicochemical properties, which may enhance the corrosion protection in comparison to large size materials. The presented research aims to study the bond performance of concrete containing relatively high volume nano silica (up to 4.5%) exposed to corrosive conditions. This was extensively studied through tensile, bond strengths as well as the permeability of nano silica concrete. In addition micro-structural analysis was performed in order to evaluate the effect of nano silica on the properties of concrete at both; the micro and nano levels. The results revealed that by the addition of nano silica, the permeability of concrete mixes decreased significantly to reach about 50% of the control mix by the addition of 4.5% nano silica. As for the corrosion resistance, the nano silica concrete is comparatively higher resistance than ordinary concrete. Increasing Nano Silica percentage increased significantly the critical time corresponding to a metal loss (equal to 50 ϻm) which usually corresponding to the first concrete cracking due to the corrosion of reinforcement to reach about 49 years instead of 40 years as for the normal concrete. Finally, increasing nano Silica percentage increased significantly the residual bond strength of concrete after being subjected to corrosive environment. After being subjected to corrosive environment, the pullout behavior was observed for the bars embedded in all of the mixes instead of the splitting behavior that was observed before being corroded. Adding 4.5% nano silica in concrete increased the residual bond strength to reach 79% instead of 27% only as compared to control mix (0%W) before the subjection of the corrosive environment. From the conducted study we can conclude that the Nano silica proved to be a significant pore blocker material.

Keywords: bond strength, concrete, corrosion resistance, nano silica, permeability

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Authors: Eugenia P. Ramirez, Kevin Matthe Caramancion, Mia Eleazar

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Getting the attention of students is a constant challenge to the instructors/lecturers. Although in the computer laboratories some networking and entertainment websites are blocked, yet, these websites have unlimited ways of attracting students to get into it. Thus, when an instructor gives a specific set of instructions, some students may not be able to follow sequentially the steps that are given. The instructor has to physically go to the specific remote terminal and show the student the details. Sometimes, during an examination in laboratory set-up, a proctor may prefer to give detailed and text-written instructions rather than verbal instructions. Even the mere calling of a specific student at any time will distract the whole class especially when activities are being performed. What is needed is : An application software that is able to lock the student's monitor and at the same time display the instructor’s screen; a software that is powerful enough to process in its side alone and manipulate a specific user’s terminal in terms of free configuration that is, without restrictions at the server level is a required functionality for a modern and optimal server structure; a software that is able to send text messages to students, per terminal or in group will be a solution. These features are found in LabSupport. This paper outlines the LabSupport application software framework to efficiently manage computer laboratory sessions and will include different modules: screen viewer, demonstration mode, monitor locking system, text messaging, and class management. This paper's ultimate aim is to provide a system that increases instructor productivity.

Keywords: application software, broadcast messaging, class management, locking system

Procedia PDF Downloads 423

Authors: Jiji Jose, R. Narayanacharyulu, Molly Mathew, Jisha Prems

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Introduction: Lercanidipine hydrochloride (LD), an effective calcium channel blocker, widely used for the treatment of chronic stable angina and hypertension seems to be potential transdermal therapeutic system candidate, mainly due to its low oral bio availability, short half life and high first-pass metabolism. Objective: To develop transdermal therapeutic systems for LD and to evaluate its in vivo performance in rabbits. Methodology: Transdermal patches of LD were formulated using the polymer blend of eudragit RL100 (ERL) and polyvinyl pyrolidone (PVP) by casting method Propylene glycol (PG) and tween 80 were used as plasticizer and permeation enhancer respectively. The pharmaco kinetic parameters of LD after the administration of transdermal patches was compared with that of oral administration. The study was carried out in a two way crossover design in male New Zealand albino rabbits. Results: The formulation with ERL: PVP ratio 1:4 with 15% w/w PG as plasticizer and 4% w/w tween 80 as permeation enhancer showed the best drug release results. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as Cmax, tmax, mean residence time (MRT) and area under the curve (AUC 0-∞) were significantly different following transdermal administration compared to oral administration. The terminal half life of transdermally administered LD was found to similar that of oral administration. A sustained drug release over a period of 24 hrs was observed after transdermal administration. Conclusion: The fabricated transdermal delivery system have the potential to provide controlled and extended drug release, better bio availability and thus, this may improve the patient compliance.

Keywords: transdermal therapeutic system, lercanidipine hydrochloride, eudragit, skinpermeation

Procedia PDF Downloads 602

Authors: R. Rajabpour, N. Talebbeydokhti, M. H. Ahmadi

Abstract:

Carefully scheduling the operations of pumps can be resulted to significant energy savings. Schedules can be defined either implicit, in terms of other elements of the network such as tank levels, or explicit by specifying the time during which each pump is on/off. In this study, two new explicit representations based on time-controlled triggers were analyzed, where the maximum number of pump switches was established beforehand, and the schedule may contain fewer switches than the maximum. The optimal operation of pumping stations was determined using a Jumping Particle Swarm Optimization (JPSO) algorithm to achieve the minimum energy cost. The model integrates JPSO optimizer and EPANET hydraulic network solver. The optimal pump operation schedule of VanZyl water distribution system was determined using the proposed model and compared with those from Genetic and Ant Colony algorithms. The results indicate that the proposed model utilizing the JPSP algorithm outperformed the others and is a versatile management model for the operation of real-world water distribution system.

Keywords: JPSO, operation, optimization, water distribution system

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Authors: Ainur Bulasheva

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During the last decade, the dual learning system (DLS) has been actively introduced in various industries in Kazakhstan, including both vocational, post-secondary, and higher education levels. It is a relatively new practice-oriented approach to training qualified personnel in Kazakhstan, officially introduced in 2012. Dual learning was integrated from the German vocational education and training system, combining practical training with part-time work in production and training in an educational institution. The policy of DLS has increasingly focused on decreasing youth unemployment and the shortage of mid-level professionals by providing incentives for employers to involve in this system. By participating directly in the educational process, the enterprise strives to train its future personnel to meet fast-changing market demands. This study examines the effectiveness of DLS from the perspective of employers to understand the motivations of businesses to participate (invest) in this program. The human capital theory of Backer, which predicts that employers will invest in training their workers (in our case, dual students) when they expect that the return on investment will be greater than the cost - acts as a starting point. Further extensionists of this theory will be considered to understand investing intentions of businesses. By comparing perceptions of DLS employers and non-dual practices, this study determines the efficiency of promoted training approach for enterprises in the Kazakhstan agri-food industry.

Keywords: vocational and technical education, dualeducation, human capital theory, argi-food industry

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Authors: Jana Abu Ahmada, Zaineb Mohamed, Ilyasse Aksikas

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The linear quadratic control system of hyperbolic first order partial differential equations (PDEs) are presented. The aim of this research is to control chemical reactions. This is achieved by converting the PDEs system to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using the method of characteristics to reduce the system to control it by using the integral reinforcement learning. The designed controller is applied to a catalytic cracking reactor. Background—Transport-Reaction systems cover a large chemical and bio-chemical processes. They are best described by nonlinear PDEs derived from mass and energy balances. As a main application to be considered in this work is the catalytic cracking reactor. Indeed, the cracking reactor is widely used to convert high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and others. On the other hand, control of PDEs systems is an important and rich area of research. One of the main control techniques is feedback control. This type of control utilizes information coming from the system to correct its trajectories and drive it to a desired state. Moreover, feedback control rejects disturbances and reduces the variation effects on the plant parameters. Linear-quadratic control is a feedback control since the developed optimal input is expressed as feedback on the system state to exponentially stabilize and drive a linear plant to the steady-state while minimizing a cost criterion. The integral reinforcement learning policy iteration technique is a strong method that solves the linear quadratic regulator problem for continuous-time systems online in real time, using only partial information about the system dynamics (i.e. the drift dynamics A of the system need not be known), and without requiring measurements of the state derivative. This is, in effect, a direct (i.e. no system identification procedure is employed) adaptive control scheme for partially unknown linear systems that converges to the optimal control solution. Contribution—The goal of this research is to Develop a characteristics-based optimal controller for a class of hyperbolic PDEs and apply the developed controller to a catalytic cracking reactor model. In the first part, developing an algorithm to control a class of hyperbolic PDEs system will be investigated. The method of characteristics will be employed to convert the PDEs system into a system of ODEs. Then, the control problem will be solved along the characteristic curves. The reinforcement technique is implemented to find the state-feedback matrix. In the other half, applying the developed algorithm to the important application of a catalytic cracking reactor. The main objective is to use the inlet fraction of gas oil as a manipulated variable to drive the process state towards desired trajectories. The outcome of this challenging research would yield the potential to provide a significant technological innovation for the gas industries since the catalytic cracking reactor is one of the most important conversion processes in petroleum refineries.

Keywords: PDEs, reinforcement iteration, method of characteristics, riccati equation, cracking reactor

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Authors: Moh’d A. AL-Shboul

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Recently, and due to Arab spring and terrorism around the globe, pushing and driving most governments potentially to harmonize their border measures particularly the regional and an international transit trade within and among Customs Unions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and provide an insight for monitoring and controlling the trade supply chain within and among different countries by using technological advancement (i.e. an electronic tracking system, etc.); furthermore, facilitate the local and intra-regional trade among countries through reviewing the recent trends and practical implementation of an electronic transit traffic and cargo that related to customs measures by introducing and supporting some case studies of several international and landlocked transit trade countries. The research methodology employed in this study was described as qualitative by conducting few interviews with managers, transit truck drivers, and traders and reviewing the related literature to collect qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous studies, etc. The results in this study show that Jordan and other countries around the globe that used an electronic tracking system for monitoring transit trade has led to a significant reduction in cost, effort and time in physical movement of goods internally and crossing through other countries. Therefore, there is no need to escort transit trucks by customs staff; hence, the rate of escort transit trucks is reduced by more than ninety percent, except the bulky and high duty goods. Electronic transit traffic has been increased; the average transit time journey has been reduced by more than seventy percent and has led to decrease in rates of smuggling up to fifty percent. The researcher recommends considering Jordan as regional and international office for tracking electronically and monitoring the transit trade for many considerations.

Keywords: electronic tracking system, facilitation system, regional and international corridor, supply chain security, transit trade

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Authors: Partha Saha, Uttam Kumar Banerjee

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Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) has always been regarded as one of the important issues globally. Reduction of maternal and child mortality rates and increase of healthcare service coverage were declared as one of the targets in Millennium Development Goals till 2015 and thereafter as an important component of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the last decade, worldwide MCH indicators have improved but could not match the expected levels. Progress of both maternal and child mortality rates have been monitored by several researchers. Each of the studies has stated that only less than 26% of low-income and middle income countries (LMICs) were on track to achieve targets as prescribed by MDG4. Average worldwide annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate were 2.2% and 1.9% as on 2011 respectively whereas rates should be minimum 4.4% and 5.5% annually to achieve targets. In spite of having proven healthcare interventions for both mothers and children, those could not be scaled up to the required volume due to fragmented health systems, especially in the developing and under-developed countries. In this research, a knowledge discovery based interactive Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed on web platform which would assist healthcare policy makers to develop evidence-based policies. To achieve desirable results in MCH, efficient resource planning is very much required. In maximum LMICs, resources are big constraint. Knowledge, generated through this system, would help healthcare managers to develop strategic resource planning for combatting with issues like huge inequity and less coverage in MCH. This system would help healthcare managers to accomplish following four tasks. Those are a) comprehending region wise conditions of variables related with MCH, b) identifying relationships within variables, c) segmenting regions based on variables status, and d) finding out segment wise key influential variables which have major impact on healthcare indicators. Whole system development process has been divided into three phases. Those were i) identifying contemporary issues related with MCH services and policy making; ii) development of the system; and iii) verification and validation of the system. More than 90 variables under three categories, such as a) educational, social, and economic parameters; b) MCH interventions; and c) health system building blocks have been included into this web-based DSS and five separate modules have been developed under the system. First module has been designed for analysing current healthcare scenario. Second module would help healthcare managers to understand correlations among variables. Third module would reveal frequently-occurring incidents along with different MCH interventions. Fourth module would segment regions based on previously mentioned three categories and in fifth module, segment-wise key influential interventions will be identified. India has been considered as case study area in this research. Data of 601 districts of India has been used for inspecting effectiveness of those developed modules. This system has been developed by importing different statistical and data mining techniques on Web platform. Policy makers would be able to generate different scenarios from the system before drawing any inference, aided by its interactive capability.

Keywords: maternal and child heathcare, decision support systems, data mining techniques, low and middle income countries

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Authors: Juan S. Vera, Miguel A. Gomez, Omar Gelvez

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Water is Earth's most valuable resource, and the lack of it is currently a critical problem in today’s society. Non-treated wastewaters contribute to this situation, especially those coming from industrial activities, as they reduce the quality of the water bodies, annihilating all kind of life and bringing disease to people in contact with them. An effective solution for this problem is distillation, which removes most contaminants. However, this approach must also be energetically efficient in order to appeal to the industry. In this endeavour, most water distillation treatments fail, with the exception of the Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) distillation system, which has a great efficiency due to energy input by a compressor and the latent heat exchange. This paper presents the process of design, construction, and evaluation of a Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) distillation system for the main Colombian poultry company Avidesa Macpollo SA. The system will be located in the principal slaughterhouse in the state of Santander, and it will work along with the Gas Energy Mixing system (GEM) to treat the wastewaters from the plant. The main goal of the MVC distiller, rarely used in this type of application, is to reduce the chlorides, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels according to the state regulations since the GEM cannot decrease them enough. The MVC distillation system works with three components, the evaporator/condenser heat exchanger where the distillation takes place, a low-pressure compressor which gives the energy to create the temperature differential between the evaporator and condenser cavities and a preheater to save the remaining energy in the distillate. The model equations used to describe how the compressor power consumption, heat exchange area and distilled water are related is based on a thermodynamic balance and heat transfer analysis, with correlations taken from the literature. Finally, the design calculations and the measurements of the installation are compared, showing accordance with the predictions in distillate production and power consumption, changing the temperature difference of the evaporator/condenser.

Keywords: mechanical vapor compression, distillation, wastewater, design, construction, evaluation

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Authors: M. Iqbal Mahmud, Haeng Muk Cho, Seo Hyun Sang, Wang Wen Hai, Chang Heon Yi, Man Ik Hwang, Dae Hoon Kang

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Solenoid operated electromagnetic control valve (ECV) playing an important role for car’s air conditioning control system. ECV is used in external variable displacement swash plate type compressor and controls the entire air conditioning system by means of a pulse width modulation (PWM) input signal supplying from an external source (controller). Complete form of ECV contains number of internal features like valve body, core, valve guide, plunger, guide pin, plunger spring, bellows etc. While designing the ECV; dimensions of different internal items must meet the standard requirements as it is quite challenging. In this research paper, especially the dimensioning of ECV body and its three pressure ports through which the air/refrigerant passes are considered. Here internal leakage test analysis of ECV body is being carried out from its discharge port (Pd) to crankcase port (Pc) when the guide valve is placed inside it. The experiments have made both in ordinary and digital system using different assumptions and thereafter compare the results.

Keywords: electromagnetic control valve (ECV), leakage, pressure port, valve body, valve guide

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Authors: Jaouadi Ikram, Machhout Mohsen

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The development of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) platform is the subject of this paper. A quantum cryptographic protocol is designed based on the properties of quantum information and the characteristics of FPGAs. The proposed protocol performs key extraction, reconciliation, error correction, and privacy amplification tasks to generate a perfectly secret final key. We modeled the presence of the spy in our system with a strategy to reveal some of the exchanged information without being noticed. Using an FPGA card with a 100 MHz clock frequency, we have demonstrated the evolution of the error rate as well as the amounts of mutual information (between the two interlocutors and that of the spy) passing from one step to another in the key generation process.

Keywords: QKD, BB84, protocol, cryptography, FPGA, key, security, communication

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Authors: Karina C. Azzolin, Luis E. Kosteski, Alisson S. Milani, Raquel C. Zydeck

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This work aims to represent Numerically tests experimentally developed in reduced scale walls with horizontal and inclined cuts by using the Lattice Discrete Element Method (LDEM) implemented On de Abaqus/explicit environment. The cuts were performed with depths of 20%, 30%, and 50% On the walls subjected to centered and eccentric loading. The parameters used to evaluate the numerical model are its strength, the failure mode, and the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements.

Keywords: structural masonry, wall chases, small scale, numerical model, lattice discrete element method

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Authors: Sumaira Zafar, Arjumand Zaidi, Muhammad Arslan Hafeez

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Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) is the largest contiguous irrigation system of the world comprising Indus River and its tributaries, canals, distributaries, and watercourses. A big challenge faced by IBIS is transmission losses through seepage and leaks that account to 41 percent of the total water derived from the river and about 40 percent of that is through watercourses. Irrigation system rehabilitation programs in Pakistan are focused on improvement of canal system at the watercourse level (tertiary channels). Under these irrigation system management programs more than 22,800 watercourses have been improved or lined out of 43,000 (12,900 Kilometers) watercourses. The evaluation of the improvement work is required at this stage to testify the success of the programs. In this paper, emerging technologies of GIS and satellite remote sensing are used for impact assessment of watercourse rehabilitation work in Sindh. To evaluate the efficiency of the improved watercourses, few parameters are selected like soil moisture along watercourses, availability of water at tail end and changes in cultivable command areas. Improved watercourses details and maps are acquired from National Program for Improvement of Watercourses (NPIW) and Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO). High resolution satellite images of Google Earth for the year of 2004 to 2013 are used for digitizing command areas. Temporal maps of cultivable command areas show a noticeable increase in the cultivable land served by improved watercourses. Field visits are conducted to validate the results. Interviews with farmers and landowners also reveal their overall satisfaction in terms of availability of water at the tail end and increased crop production.

Keywords: geospatial, impact assessment, watercourses, GIS, remote sensing, seepage, canal lining

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Authors: Faraz Tahir, M. Usman Akram, Albab Ahmad Khan, Mujahid Abbass, Ahmad Tariq, Nuzhat Qaiser

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the Degree of anemia by taking the picture of the palpebral conjunctiva using Smartphone Camera. We have first localized the region of interest from the image and then extracted certain features from that Region of interest and trained SVM classifier on those features and then, as a result, our system classifies the image in real-time on their level of hemoglobin. The proposed system has given an accuracy of 70%. We have trained our classifier on a locally gathered dataset of 30 patients.

Keywords: anemia, palpebral conjunctiva, SVM, smartphone

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Authors: Hazem M. Al-Mofleh

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In this paper, a new four-parameter univariate continuous distribution called the Normal-Generalized Hyperbolic Secant Distribution (NGHS) is defined and studied. Some general and structural distributional properties are investigated and discussed, including: central and non-central n-th moments and incomplete moments, quantile and generating functions, hazard function, Rényi and Shannon entropies, shapes: skewed right, skewed left, and symmetric, modality regions: unimodal and bimodal, maximum likelihood (MLE) estimators for the parameters. Finally, two real data sets are used to demonstrate empirically its flexibility and prove the strength of the new distribution.

Keywords: bimodality, estimation, hazard function, moments, Shannon’s entropy

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Authors: Ahmad Khoirul Umam

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This paper investigates the role of vested interests and its impacts on anti-corruption agenda in Indonesia following the collapse of authoritarian regime in 1998. A pervasive and rampant corruption has been believed as the main cause of the state economy’s fragility. Hence, anti-corruption measures were implemented by applying democratization and market liberalization since the establishment of a consolidated democracy which go hand in hand with a liberal market economy is convinced to be an efficacious prescription for effective anti-corruption. The reform movement has also mandated the establishment of the independent, neutral and professional special anti-corruption agency namely Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to more intensify the fight against the systemic corruption. This paper will examine whether these anti-corruption measures have been effective to combat corruption, and investigate to what extend have the anti-corruption efforts, especially those conducted by KPK, been impeded by the emergence of a nexus of vested interests as the side-effect of democratization and market liberalization. Based on interviews with key stakeholders from KPK, other law enforcement agencies, government, prominent scholars, journalists and NGOs in Indonesia, it is found that since the overthrow of Soeharto, anti-corruption movement in the country have become more active and serious. After gradually winning the hearth of people, KPK successfully touched the untouchable corruption perpetrators who were previously protected by political immunity, legal protection and bureaucratic barriers. However, these changes have not necessarily reduced systemic and structural corruption practices. Ironically, intensive and devastating counterattacks were frequently posed by the alignment of business actors, elites of political parties, government, and also law enforcement agencies by hijacking state’s instruments to make KPK deflated, powerless, and surrender. This paper concludes that attempts of democratization, market liberalization and the establishment of anti-corruption agency may have helped Indonesia to reduce corruption. However, it is still difficult to imply that such anti-corruption measures have fostered the more effective anti-corruption works in the newly democratized and weakly regulated liberal economic system.

Keywords: vested interests, democratization, market liberalization, anti-corruption, Indonesia

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Authors: Neetu Tyagi, Sumit Sharma

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The study illustrates the results of an integrated study done on Tangni landslide located on NH-58 at Chamoli, Uttarakhand. Geological, geo-morphological and geotechnical investigations were carried out to understand the mechanism of landslide and to plan further investigation and monitoring. At any rate, the movements were favored by continuous rainfall water infiltration from the zones where the phyllites/slates and Dolomites outcrop. The site investigations were carried out including the monitoring of landslide movements and of the water level fluctuations due to rainfall give us a better understanding of landslide dynamics that have been causing in time soil instability at Tangni landslide site. The Early Warning System (EWS) installed different types of sensors and all sensors were directly connected to data logger and raw data transfer to the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory (DTRL) server room with the help of File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The slip surfaces were found at depths ranging from 8 to 10 m from Geophysical survey and hence sensors were installed to the depth of 15m at various locations of landslide. Rainfall is the main triggering factor of landslide. In this study, the developed model of unsaturated soil slope stability is carried out. The analysis of sensors data available for one year, indicated the sliding surface of landslide at depth between 6 to 12m with total displacement up to 6cm per year recorded at the body of landslide. The aim of this study is to set the threshold and generate early warning. Local peoples already alert towards landslide, if they have any types of warning system.

Keywords: early warning system, file transfer protocol, geo-morphological, geotechnical, landslide

Procedia PDF Downloads 143