Search results for: BIM schedule updating mechanism

Authors: Ekin Ozer

Abstract:

Assessment of structural reliability is essential for efficient use of civil infrastructure which is subjected hazardous events. Dynamic analysis of finite element models is a commonly used tool to simulate structural behavior and estimate its performance accordingly. However, theoretical models purely based on preliminary assumptions and design drawings may deviate from the actual behavior of the structure. This study proposes up-to-date reliability estimation procedures which engages actual bridge vibration data modifying finite element models for finite element model updating and performing reliability estimation, accordingly. The proposed method utilizes vibration response measurements of bridge structures to identify modal parameters, then uses these parameters to calibrate finite element models which are originally based on design drawings. The proposed method does not only show that reliability estimation based on updated models differs from the original models, but also infer that non-updated models may overestimate the structural capacity.

Keywords: earthquake engineering, engineering vibrations, reliability estimation, structural health monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: A. Almohammedi, A. J. Hudson, N. M. Storey

Abstract:

Following ischaemia/reperfusion injury, as in a myocardial infraction, cardiac myocytes undergo oxidative stress which leads to several potential outcomes including; necrotic or apoptotic cell death or dysregulated calcium homeostasis or disruption of the electron transport chain. Several studies have shown that nitric oxide donors protect cardiomyocytes against ischemia and reperfusion. However until present, the mechanism of cardioprotective effect of nitric oxide donor in isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes is not fully understood and has not been investigated before using Raman spectroscopy. For these reasons, the aim of this study was to develop a novel technique, pre-resonance Raman spectroscopy, to investigate the mechanism of cardioprotective effect of nitric oxide donor in isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes exposed to metabolic inhibition and re-energisation. The results demonstrated the first time that Raman microspectroscopy technique has the capability to monitor the metabolic inhibition of cardiomyocytes and to monitor the effectiveness of cardioprotection by nitric oxide donor prior to metabolic inhibition of cardiomyocytes. Metabolic inhibition and reenergisation were used in this study to mimic the low and high oxygen levels experienced by cells during ischaemic and reperfusion treatments. A laser wavelength of 488 nm used in this study has been found to provide the most sensitive means of observe the cellular mechanisms of myoglobin during nitric oxide donor preconditioning, metabolic inhibition and re-energisation and did not cause any damage to the cells. The data also highlight the considerably different cellular responses to metabolic inhibition to ischaemia. Moreover, the data has been shown the relationship between the release of myoglobin and chemical ischemia where that the release of myoglobin from the cell only occurred if a cell did not recover contractility.

Keywords: ex vivo biospectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, biophotonics, cardiomyocytes, ischaemia / reperfusion injury, cardioprotection, nitric oxide donor

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Terefe Fuge, George Tsourtos , Emma Miller

Abstract:

Objectives: Maintaining optimal adherence and viral suppression in people living with HIV (PLWHA) is essential to ensure both preventative and therapeutic benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Prisoners bear a particularly high burden of HIV infection and are highly likely to transmit to others during and after incarceration. However, the level of adherence and viral suppression, as well as its associated factors in incarcerated populations in low-income countries is unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of non-adherence and viral failure, and contributing factors to this amongst prisoners in South Ethiopia. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted between June 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020 to compare the level of adherence and viral suppression between incarcerated and non-incarcerated PLWHA. The study involved 74 inmates living with HIV (ILWHA) and 296 non-incarcerated PLWHA. Background information including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioural, and incarceration-related characteristics was collected using a structured questionnaire. Adherence was determined based on participants’ self-report and pharmacy refill records, and plasma viral load measurements which were undertaken within the study period were prospectively extracted to determine viral suppression. Various univariate and multivariate regression models were used to analyse data. Results: Self-reported dose adherence was approximately similar between ILWHA and non-incarcerated PLWHA (81% and 83% respectively), but ILWHA had a significantly higher medication possession ratio (MPR) (89% vs 75%). The prevalence of viral failure (VF) was slightly higher (6%) in ILWHA compared to non-incarcerated PLWHA (4.4%). The overall dose non-adherence (NA) was significantly associated with missing ART appointments, level of satisfaction with ART services, patient’s ability to comply with a specified medication schedule and types of methods used to monitor the schedule. In ILWHA specifically, accessing ART services from a hospital compared to a health centre, an inability to always attend clinic appointments, experience of depression and a lack of social support predicted NA. VF was significantly higher in males, people of age 31-35 years and in those who experienced social stigma, regardless of their incarceration status. Conclusions: This study revealed that HIV-infected prisoners in South Ethiopia were more likely to be non-adherent to doses and so to develop viral failure compared to their non-incarcerated counterparts. A multitude of factors was found to be responsible for this requiring multilevel intervention strategies focusing on the specific needs of prisoners.

Keywords: Adherence , Antiretroviral therapy, Incarceration, South Ethiopia, Viral suppression

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Auezhan Amanov, Inho Cho, Young-Sik Pyun

Abstract:

Control element drive mechanism (CEDM) nozzle is manufactured as welded on the reactor vessel and currently uses Alloy 690 material. The top of the reactor is equipped with about 100 CEDM nozzles with an internal diameter of about 70 mm. Relatively large Inlet/Outlet nozzles are equipped with two outlet nozzles and four inlet nozzles on the reactor wall. The inner diameter of the nozzle is vulnerable to stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and in order to solve this problem, an ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) treatment is performed on the inner diameter of the nozzle and the weld surface. The ultimate goal is to improve the service life of parts by applying compressive residual stress and suppressing primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC). The main purpose is to design and fabricate a UNSM treatment device for the internal diameter processing of CEDM nozzles and inlet/outlet nozzles. In order to develop the system, the basic technology such as the development of UNSM tooling is developed and the mechanical properties and fatigue performance of before and after UNSM treatment of reactor nozzle material made of Ni-based alloys using the specimen are compared and evaluated. The inner diameter of the nozzle was treated by a newly developed UNSM treatment under the optimized treatment parameters. It was found that the mechanical properties and fatigue performance of nozzle were improved in comparison with the untreated nozzle, which may be attributed to the increase in hardness, induced compressive residual stress.

Keywords: control element drive mechanism nozzle, fatigue, Ni-based alloy, ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification, UNSM

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Jianxin Zhu, Na Liu

Abstract:

Entry strategies play a vital role in the development of new enterprises in the catering industry. Different entry strategies will have different effects on the development of new enterprise. Based on the research of scholars at home and abroad, and combining the characteristics of the catering industry, the entry strategies are divided into low-price entry strategies and high-quality entry strategies. Facing the entry of new enterprise, the strategies of incumbent enterprises are divided into response strategies and non-response strategies. This paper uses evolutionary game theory to study the strategic interaction mechanism between incumbent companies and new enterprises. When different initial values and parameter values are set, which strategy will the two-game subjects choose, respectively? Using matlab2016 for numerical simulation, the results show that the choice of strategies for new enterprise and incumbent enterprise is influenced by more than one factor, and the system has different evolution trends under different circumstances. When the parameters were set, the choice of two subjects' strategies mainly depends on the net profit between the strategies.

Keywords: catering industry, entry strategy, evolutionary game, strategic interaction mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Mohammed Benmostefa

Abstract:

In the industrial production of large series or even medium series, there are vibration problems. In continuous operations, technical devices result in vibrations in solid bodies and machine components, which generate solid noise and/or airborne noise. This is because vibrations are the mechanical oscillations of an object near its equilibrium point. In response to the problems resulting from these vibrations, a number of remedial acts and solutions have been put forward. These include insulation of machines, insulation of concrete masses, insulation under screeds, insulation of sensitive equipment, point insulation of machines, linear insulation of machines, full surface insulation of machines, and the like. Following this, the researcher sought not only to raise awareness on the possibility of lowering the vibration frequency in industrial machines but also to stress the significance of procedures involving the pre-installation process of machinery, namely, setting appropriate installation and start-up methods of the machine, allocating and updating imprint folders to each machine, and scheduling maintenance of each machine all year round to have reliable equipment, gain cost reduction and maintenance efficiency to eventually ensure the overall economic performance of the company.

Keywords: maintenance, vibration, efficiency, production, machinery

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: A. Basu, A. A. Purohit, M. M. Vaidya, M. D. Kudale

Abstract:

Mumbai, being traditionally the epicenter of India's trade and commerce, the existing major ports such as Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Ports (JN) situated in Thane estuary are also developing its waterfront facilities. Various developments over the passage of decades in this region have changed the tidal flux entering/leaving the estuary. The intake at Pir-Pau is facing the problem of shortage of water in view of advancement of shoreline, while jetty near Ulwe faces the problem of ship scheduling due to existence of shallower depths between JN Port and Ulwe Bunder. In order to solve these problems, it is inevitable to have information about tide levels over a long duration by field measurements. However, field measurement is a tedious and costly affair; application of artificial intelligence was used to predict water levels by training the network for the measured tide data for one lunar tidal cycle. The application of two layered feed forward Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with back-propagation training algorithms such as Gradient Descent (GD) and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) was used to predict the yearly tide levels at waterfront structures namely at Ulwe Bunder and Pir-Pau. The tide data collected at Apollo Bunder, Ulwe, and Vashi for a period of lunar tidal cycle (2013) was used to train, validate and test the neural networks. These trained networks having high co-relation coefficients (R= 0.998) were used to predict the tide at Ulwe, and Vashi for its verification with the measured tide for the year 2000 & 2013. The results indicate that the predicted tide levels by ANN give reasonably accurate estimation of tide. Hence, the trained network is used to predict the yearly tide data (2015) for Ulwe. Subsequently, the yearly tide data (2015) at Pir-Pau was predicted by using the neural network which was trained with the help of measured tide data (2000) of Apollo and Pir-Pau. The analysis of measured data and study reveals that: The measured tidal data at Pir-Pau, Vashi and Ulwe indicate that there is maximum amplification of tide by about 10-20 cm with a phase lag of 10-20 minutes with reference to the tide at Apollo Bunder (Mumbai). LM training algorithm is faster than GD and with increase in number of neurons in hidden layer and the performance of the network increases. The predicted tide levels by ANN at Pir-Pau and Ulwe provides valuable information about the occurrence of high and low water levels to plan the operation of pumping at Pir-Pau and improve ship schedule at Ulwe.

Keywords: artificial neural network, back-propagation, tide data, training algorithm

Procedia PDF Downloads 483

Authors: Ravid Yinon

Abstract:

Introduction: Pelvic trauma causes high mortality, particularly among the elderly population. Pelvic injury ranges from low-energy incidents such as falls to high-energy trauma like motor vehicle accidents. The mortality rate among high-energy trauma patients is higher, as can be expected. The elderly population is more vulnerable to pelvic trauma even at low energy mechanisms due to the fragility and diminished physiological reserve of these patients. The aim of this study is to examine whether there is a higher long-term mortality in pelvic injuries in the elderly from the low-energy mechanism than those injured in high energy. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a level 1 trauma center with injured patients aged 65 years and over with pelvic trauma. The patients were divided into two groups of low and high-energy mechanisms of injury. Multivariate analysis was conducted to characterize the differences between the groups. Results: There were 585 consecutive injured patients over the age of 65 with a documented pelvic injury who were treated at the primary trauma center between 2008-2020. The injured in the high energy group were younger (mean HE- 75.18, LE-80.73), with fewer comorbidities (mean 0.78 comorbidities at HE and 1.28 at LE), more men (52.6% at HE and 27.4% at LE), were consumed more treatments facilities such as angioembolization, ICU admission, emergency surgeries and blood products transfusion and higher mortality rate at admission (HE- 19/133, 14.28%, LE- 10/452, 2.21%) compared to the low energy group. However, in a long-term follow-up of one year after the injury, mortality in the low-energy group was significantly higher (HE- 14/114, 12.28%, LE- 155/442, 35.06%). Discussion: Although it can be expected that in the mechanism of high energy, the mortality rate in the long term would be higher, it was found that mortality at the low energy patient was higher. Apparently, low-energy pelvic injury in geriatric patients is a measure of frailty in these patients, causes injury to more frail and morbid patients, and is a predictor of mortality in this population in the long term. Conclusion: The long-term follow-up of injured elderly with pelvic trauma should be more intense, and the healthcare provider should put more emphasis on the rehabilitation of these special patient populations in an attempt to prevent long-term mortality.

Keywords: pelvic trauma, elderly trauma, high energy trauma, low energy trauma

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: S. Biondi, V. Catania, R. Di Natale, A. R. Intilisano, D. Panno

Abstract:

One of the major goals of Spoken Dialog Systems (SDS) is to understand what the user utters. In the SDS domain, the Spoken Language Understanding (SLU) Module classifies user utterances by means of a pre-definite conceptual knowledge. The SLU module is able to recognize only the meaning previously included in its knowledge base. Due the vastity of that knowledge, the information storing is a very expensive process. Updating and managing the knowledge base are time-consuming and error-prone processes because of the rapidly growing number of entities like proper nouns and domain-specific nouns. This paper proposes a solution to the problem of Name Entity Recognition (NER) applied to a SDS domain. The proposed solution attempts to automatically recognize the meaning associated with an utterance by using the PANKOW (Pattern based Annotation through Knowledge On the Web) method at runtime. The method being proposed extracts information from the Web to increase the SLU knowledge module and reduces the development effort. In particular, the Google Search Engine is used to extract information from the Facebook social network.

Keywords: spoken dialog system, spoken language understanding, web semantic, name entity recognition

Procedia PDF Downloads 338

Authors: Lemoussi Somia, Ouali Mohammed, Zemirline Adel

Abstract:

In precision engineering, including precision positioning, micro-manipulation, robotic systems... a majority of these applications actuated by piezo stack used the compliant amplifier mechanism to amplifying motion and guiding it as needed utilize the flexibility of their components, in this paper, we present a novel approach introducing a symmetric structure comprising three stages, featuring rectangular flexure hinges with a compact size of 77mm×42mm×10mm. This design provides the capability for rotation, translation or a combination of both movements in both directions. The system allows for a displacement of 2107.5 μm when the input displacement of PZT is 50 μm while considering the material constraints of the aluminum alloy (7075 T6) which has a maximum admissible stress of 500 MPa However, our proposed design imposes additional constraints to ensure the stress remains below 361 MPa for optimal performance. These findings were obtained through finite element simulations conducted using ANSYS Workbench. Furthermore, our module facilitates precise control of various components within robotic systems, allowing for adjustable speeds based on specific requirements or desired outcomes.

Keywords: robotic, piezoelectric, compliant mechanism, flexure hinge

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Xiaoxiao Li, Shuangcheng Jia, Qian Li

Abstract:

Keypoint detection has always been a challenge in the field of image recognition. This paper proposes a novelty keypoint detection method which is called Multi-Scale Feature Fusion Convolutional Network with Attention (MFFCNA). We verified that the multi-scale features with the attention mechanism module have better feature expression capability. The feature fusion between different scales makes the information that the network model can express more abundant, and the network is easier to converge. On our self-made street sign corner dataset, we validate the MFFCNA model with an accuracy of 97.8% and a recall of 81%, which are 5 and 8 percentage points higher than the HRNet network, respectively. On the COCO dataset, the AP is 71.9%, and the AR is 75.3%, which are 3 points and 2 points higher than HRNet, respectively. Extensive experiments show that our method has a remarkable improvement in the keypoint recognition tasks, and the recognition effect is better than the existing methods. Moreover, our method can be applied not only to keypoint detection but also to image classification and semantic segmentation with good generality.

Keywords: keypoint detection, feature fusion, attention, semantic segmentation

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Sangdeok Lee, Sangwon Han, Changtaek Hyun

Abstract:

Construction defects are major components that result in negative impacts on project performance including schedule delays and cost overruns. Since construction defects generally occur when a few associated causes combine, a thorough understanding of defect causality is required in order to more systematically prevent construction defects. To address this issue, this paper uses association rule mining (ARM) to quantify the causality between defect causes, and social network analysis (SNA) to find indirect causality among them. The suggested approach is validated with 350 defect instances from concrete works in 32 projects in Korea. The results show that the interrelationships revealed by the approach reflect the characteristics of the concrete task and the important causes that should be prevented.

Keywords: causality, defect causes, social network analysis, association rule mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Moon-Soo Kim

Abstract:

In order to cope with the increasing demand for multidisciplinary learning between academy and industry, a collaborative teaching and learning model and related operational tools enabling applications to engineering education are essential. This study proposes a web-based collaborative framework for interactive teaching and learning between academy and industry as an initial step for the development of a web- and mobile-based integrated system for both engineering students and industrial practitioners. The proposed web-based collaborative teaching and learning framework defines several entities such as learner, solver and supporter or sponsor for industrial problems, and also has a systematic architecture to build information system including diverse functions enabling effective interaction among the defined entities regardless of time and places. Furthermore, the framework, which includes knowledge and information self-reinforcing mechanism, focuses on the previous problem-solving records as well as subsequent learners’ creative reusing in solving process of new problems.

Keywords: collaborative teaching and learning model, academy and industry, web-based collaborative framework, self-reinforcing mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Avantika Vats, Kushal Thakur

Abstract:

This paper displays the point at issue, improvement, and utilization of a Monarch Butterfly Optimization (MBO) rather than a Genetic Algorithm (GA) in cognitive radio for the channel portion. This approach offers a satisfactory approach to get the accessible range of both the users, i.e., primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs). The proposed enhancement procedure depends on a nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm. In MBO, all the monarch butterfly individuals are located in two distinct lands, viz. Southern Canada and the northern USA (land 1), and Mexico (Land 2). The positions of the monarch butterflies are modernizing in two ways. At first, the offsprings are generated (position updating) by the migration operator and can be adjusted by the migration ratio. It is trailed by tuning the positions for different butterflies by the methods for the butterfly adjusting operator. To keep the population unaltered and minimize fitness evaluations, the aggregate of the recently produced butterflies in these two ways stays equivalent to the first population. The outcomes obviously display the capacity of the MBO technique towards finding the upgraded work values on issues regarding the genetic algorithm.

Keywords: cognitive radio, channel allocation, monarch butterfly optimization, evolutionary, computation

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Michal Štros, Eva Polanská, Šárka Pospíšilová

Abstract:

HMGB1 is an architectural protein in chromatin, acting also as a signaling molecule outside the cell. Recent reports from several laboratories provided evidence that a number of both the intracellular and extracellular functions of HMGB1 may depend on redox-sensitive cysteine residues of the protein. MALDI-TOF analysis revealed that mild oxidization of HMGB1 resulted in a conformational change of the protein due to formation of an intramolecular disulphide bond by opposing Cys23 and Cys45 residues. We have demonstrated that redox state of HMGB1 could significantly modulate the ability of the protein to bind and bend DNA. We have also shown that reduced HMGB1 could easily displace histone H1 from DNA, while oxidized HMGB1 had limited capacity for H1 displacement. Using microscale thermophoresis (MST) we have further studied mechanism of HMGB1 interaction with histone H1 in free solution or when histone H1 was bound to DNA. Our MST analysis indicated that reduced HMGB1 exhibited in free solution > 1000 higher affinity of for H1 (KD ~ 4.5 nM) than oxidized HMGB1 (KD <10 M). Finally, we present a novel mechanism for the HMGB1-mediated modulation of histone H1 binding to DNA.

Keywords: HMGB1, histone H1, redox state, interaction, cross-linking, DNA bending, DNA end-joining, microscale thermophoresis

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Ksenija Milošević, Davor Lončarević, Tihana Mudrinić, Jasmina Dostanić

Abstract:

Heterogeneous photocatalytic processes have gained growing interest as an efficient method to generate hydrogen by using clean energy sources and degrading various organic pollutants. The main obstacles that restrict efficient photoactivity are narrow light-response range and high rates of charge carrier recombination. The formation of heterojunction by combining a semiconductor with low VB and a semiconductor with high CB and a suitable band gap was found to be an efficient method to prepare more sensible materials with improved charge separation, appropriate oxidation and reduction ability, and enhanced visible-light harvesting. In our research, various binary heterojunction systems based on the wide-band gap (TiO₂) and narrow bandgap (g-C₃N₄, CuO, and Co₂O₃) photocatalyst were studied. The morphology, optical, and electrochemical properties of the photocatalysts were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), N₂ physisorption, diffuse reflectance measurements (DRS), and Mott-Schottky analysis. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized catalysts was tested in single and simultaneous systems. The synthesized photocatalysts displayed good adsorption capacity and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance. The mutual interactions of pollutants on their adsorption and degradation efficiency were investigated. The interfacial connection between photocatalyst constituents and the mechanism of the transport pathway of photogenerated charge species was discussed. A radical scavenger study revealed the interaction mechanisms of the photocatalyst constituents in single and multiple pollutant systems under solar and visible light irradiation, indicating the type of heterojunction system (Z scheme or type II).

Keywords: bandgap alignment, heterojunction, photocatalysis, reaction mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Mohammad Reza Ghaani, Michele Catti

Abstract:

The reduction of CoO/Fe₂O₃ oxides supported on carbon xerogels was studied to elucidate the effect of nano-size distribution of the catalyst in carbon matrices. Resorcinol formaldehyde xerogels were synthesized, impregnated with iron and cobalt nitrates, and subsequently heated to obtain the oxides. The mechanism of oxide reduction to metal was investigated by in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction in dynamic, non-isothermal conditions. Kinetic profiles of the reactions were obtained by plotting the diffraction intensities of selected Bragg peaks vs. temperature. The extracted Temperature-Programmed-Reduction (TPR) diagrams were analyzed by appropriate kinetic models, leading to best results with the Avrami-Erofeev model for all reduction reactions considered. The activation energies for the two-step reduction of iron oxide were 65 and 37 kJmol⁻¹, respectively. The average value for the reduction of CoO to Co was found to be around 21 kJ mol⁻¹. Such results may contribute to develop efficient and inexpensive non-noble metal-based catalysts in element form, e.g., Fe, Co, via heterogenization of metal complexes on mesoporous supports.

Keywords: non-isothermal kinetics, carbon aerogel, in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, reduction mechanisms

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Maja Pandža, Sanjin Lovrić, Iva Čolak, Josipa Mandarić, Miro Klarić

Abstract:

This study explores the role of symptoms related to mood disorders salience on different types of defense mechanisms (mature, neurotic, immature) predominance. Total of 177 both clinical and non-clinical participants in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina, completed a battery of questionnaires associated with defense mechanisms and self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms. The sample was additionally divided into four groups, given the level of symptoms experienced: 1. minimal, 2. mild, 3. moderate, 4. severe depression/anxiety. Participants with minimal anxiety and depression symptoms use mature defense mechanisms more often than other three groups. Immature mechanisms are most commonly used by the group with severe depression/anxiety levels in comparison with other groups. These differences are discussed on the dynamic level of analysis to have a better understanding of the relationship between defense mechanisms' maturity and degree of mood disorders' symptom severity. Also, results given could serve as an implication for the psychotherapeutic treatment plans.

Keywords: anxiety/depression symptoms, clinical/non-clinical sample, defense mechanism maturity, dynamic approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 457

Authors: A.G. S. Aldajani, N. Smida, M. G. Althobaiti, B. Zaidi

Abstract:

In order to exploit the good electrical properties of anthracene and the excellent properties of fluorescein, new hybrid material has been synthesized (An-Fl). Current-voltage measurements were done on a new single-layer ITO/An-FL/Al device of typically 100 nm thickness. Atypical diode behavior is observed with a turn-on voltage of 4.4 V, a dynamic resistance of 74.07 KΩ and a rectification ratio of 2.02 due to unbalanced transport. Results show also that the current-voltage characteristics present three different regimes of the power-law (J~Vᵐ) for which the conduction mechanism is well described with space-charge-limited current conduction mechanism (SCLC) with a charge carrier mobility of 2.38.10⁻⁵cm2V⁻¹S⁻¹. Moreover, the electrical transport properties of this device have been carried out using a dependent frequency study in the range (50 Hz–1.4 MHz) for different applied biases (from 0 to 6 V). At lower frequency, the σdc values increase with bias voltage rising, supporting that the mobile ion can hop successfully to its nearest vacant site. From σac and impedance measurements, the equivalent electrical circuit is evidenced, where the conductivity process is coherent with an exponential trap distribution caused by structural defects and/or chemical impurities.

Keywords: semiconducting polymer, conductivity, SCLC, impedance spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Tarek Abdel Azim Ahmed, Eman Sarhan Shaker

Abstract:

This research aims to explore how well the extended model of internet commerce adoption (eMICA) model is often used to determine the extent of internet commerce adoption in the travel agencies sector in both Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The web content analysis method was used to analyze the level of adoption of Egyptian travel agencies and Saudi travel agencies according to data immensely available on their websites. Therefore, each site was categorized according to the phases and levels proposed. In order to achieve this, 120 websites were evaluated by the two authors over a three-month period, from August to October 2020, and then categorized according to the phases and levels of (eMICA). The results show that there are deficiencies in the application of the eMICA model by both KSA and Egyptian travel agencies, generally, updating their websites, the absence of quality certification, offering secure online payment, virtual tours, and videos using Flash animation. In general, the Egyptian companies slightly outperformed the KSA ones in applying eMICA model.

Keywords: e-commerce, internet marketing, eMICA, travel agencies, websites

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Wook-Won Kim, Je-Seok Shin, Jin-O Kim

Abstract:

This paper propose the method for optimal scheduling for battery energy storage system with reliability constraint of energy storage system in reliability aspect. The optimal scheduling problem is solved by dynamic programming with proposed transition matrix. Proposed optimal scheduling method guarantees the minimum fuel cost within specific reliability constraint. For evaluating proposed method, the timely capacity outage probability table (COPT) is used that is calculated by convolution of probability mass function of each generator. This study shows the result of optimal schedule of energy storage system.

Keywords: energy storage system (ESS), optimal scheduling, dynamic programming, reliability constraints

Procedia PDF Downloads 406

Authors: A. Bahar Ganiyeva, M. Sabuhi Tanriverdiyev

Abstract:

The article analyzes state support and policy mechanisms aimed at driving tourism as one of the vibrant and rapidly developing economies. State programs and long-range strategic roadmaps and previous programs execution, results and their impact on the particular countries economy have been raised during the research. This theme provides a useful framework for discussions with a wider range of stakeholders as the implications arising are of importance both for academics and practitioners engaged in hospitality and tourism development and research. The impact that tourism has on sustainable regional development in emerging markets is highly substantial. For Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, and Russia, with their rich natural resources and cultural heritage, tourism can be an important basis for economic expansion, and a way to form an acceptable image of the countries as safe, open, hospitable, and complex.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism, hospitality, destination, strategic roadmap, tourism, economy, growth, state support, mechanism, policy formation, state program

Procedia PDF Downloads 158

Authors: Ahmed Noor Al-Qayyim

Abstract:

During the past decades, the bridge structures are considered very important portions of transportation networks, due to the fast urban sprawling. With the failure of bridges that under operating conditions lead to focus on updating the default bridge inspection methodology. The structures health monitoring (SHM) using the vibration response appeared as a promising method to evaluate the condition of structures. The rapid development in the sensors technology and the condition assessment techniques based on the vibration-based damage detection made the SHM an efficient and economical ways to assess the bridges. SHM is set to assess state and expects probable failures of designated bridges. In this paper, a presentation for Frequency Response function method that uses the captured vibration test information of structures to evaluate the structure condition. Furthermore, the main steps of the assessment of bridge using the vibration information are presented. The Frequency Response function method is applied to the experimental data of a full-scale bridge.

Keywords: bridge assessment, health monitoring, damage detection, frequency response function (FRF), signal processing, structure identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Anita Kushwaha

Abstract:

We propose a new evolutionary computational model called Artificial Reproduction System which is based on the complex process of meiotic reproduction occurring between male and female cells of the living organisms. Artificial Reproduction System is an attempt towards a new computational intelligence approach inspired by the theoretical reproduction mechanism, observed reproduction functions, principles and mechanisms. A reproductive organism is programmed by genes and can be viewed as an automaton, mapping and reducing so as to create copies of those genes in its off springs. In Artificial Reproduction System, the binding mechanism between male and female cells is studied, parameters are chosen and a network is constructed also a feedback system for self regularization is established. The model then applies Mendel’s law of inheritance, allele-allele associations and can be used to perform data analysis of imbalanced data, multivariate, multiclass and big data. In the experimental study Artificial Reproduction System is compared with other state of the art classifiers like SVM, Radial Basis Function, neural networks, K-Nearest Neighbor for some benchmark datasets and comparison results indicates a good performance.

Keywords: bio-inspired computation, nature- inspired computation, natural computing, data mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Elysia Barker, Jian Guo Zhou, Ling Qian, Steve Decent

Abstract:

A method of modelling topography used in the simulation of riverbeds is proposed in this paper, which removes the need for datapoints and measurements of physical terrain. While complex scans of the contours of a surface can be achieved with other methods, this requires specialised tools, which the proposed method overcomes by using fractional Brownian motion (FBM) as a basis to estimate the real surface within a 15% margin of error while attempting to optimise algorithmic efficiency. This removes the need for complex, expensive equipment and reduces resources spent modelling bed topography. This method also accounts for the change in topography over time due to erosion, sediment transport, and other external factors which could affect the topography of the ground by updating its parameters and generating a new bed. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to simulate both stationary and steady flow cases in a side-by-side comparison over the generated bed topography using the proposed method and a test case taken from an external source. The method, if successful, will be incorporated into the current LBM program used in the testing phase, which will allow an automatic generation of topography for the given situation in future research, removing the need for bed data to be specified.

Keywords: bed topography, FBM, LBM, shallow water, simulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Vishant Gahlaut, A Mercy Latha, Sanjay Kumar Ghosh

Abstract:

Multi-stage depressed collectors (MDC) are used as an efficiency enhancement technique in traveling wave tubes the high-energy electron beam, after its interaction with the RF signal, gets velocity sorted and collected at various depressed electrodes of the MDC. The ultimate goal is to identify an optimum thermal management scheme (cooling mechanism) that could extract the heat efficiently from the electrodes. Careful thermal analysis, incorporating the cooling mechanism is required to ensure that the maximum temperature does not exceed the safe limits. A simple analytical model for quick prediction of the thermal has been developed. The model has been developed for the worst-case un-modulated DC condition, where all the thermal power is dissipated in the last electrode (typically, fourth electrode in the case of the four-stage depressed collector). It considers the thermal contact resistances at various braze joints accounting for the practical non-uniformities. Analytical results obtained from the model have been validated with simulated and experimental results.

Keywords: multi-stage depressed collector, TWTs, thermal contact resistance, thermal management

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Mohsen Padervand

Abstract:

Functionalized magnetic core-zeolitic shell nanostructures were prepared by the hydrothermal and coprecipitation methods. The products were characterized by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The growth of mordenite nanoparticles on the surface of silica coated nickel ferrite nanoparticles at the presence of organic templates was well approved. The antibacterial activity of prepared samples was investigated by the inactivation of E.coli as a gram negative bacterium. A new mechanism was proposed to inactivate the bacterium over the prepared samples. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and reuse ability were studied too. TEM images of the destroyed microorganism after the treatment time were applied to illustrate the inactivation mechanism. The interaction of the noble metals with organic components on the surface of nanostructures studied theoretically and the results were used to interpret the experimental results.

Keywords: nickel ferrite nanoparticles, magnetic core-zeolitic shell, antibacterial activity, E. coli

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Jian-Xiu Wan, Yao Yin

Abstract:

In complex terrain and poor geological conditions areas, Railway, highway and other transportation constructions are still strongly developing. However, various geological disasters happened such as landslide, rock heap and so on. According to the results of geological investigation, the form of skirt (trapezoidal), semicircle and triangle rock heaps are mainly due to complex internal force and external force, in a certain extent, which is related to the terrain, the nature of the rock mass, the supply area and the surface shape of rock heap. Combined with the above factors, discrete element numerical simulation of rock mass is established under different terrain conditions based on 3DEC, and accelerated formation process of rock heap under seismic action is simulated. The fragmentation structure supply area is calculated, in which the most dangerous area is located. At the same time, the formation mechanism and development process are studied in different terrain conditions, and the structure of rock heap is judged by section, which can provide a strong theoretical and technical support for the prevention and control of geological disasters.

Keywords: 3DEC, fragmentation structure, rock heap, slope, seismic action

Procedia PDF Downloads 296

Authors: I-En Lin, Feng-Jung Yang

Abstract:

In addition to kidney transplant, renal replacement therapy involves hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD). PD possesses advantages such as maintaining stable physiological blood status and blood pressure, alleviating anemia, and improving mobility, which make it an ideal method for at-home dialysis treatment. However, potential danger still exists despite the numerous advantages of PD, particularly when patients require dialysis exchange four to five times a day, during which improper operation can easily lead to peritonitis. The process of draining and filling is called an exchange and takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Connecting the transfer set requires sterile technique. Transfer set may require a new cap each time that it disconnects from the bag after an exchange. There are many chances to get infection due to unsafe behavior (ex: hand tremor, poor eyesight and weakness, cap fall-down). The proposed semi-automatic connection mechanism used in the PD can greatly reduce infection chances. This light-weight connection device is portable. The device also does not require using throughout the entire process. It is capable of significantly improving quality of life. Therefore, it is very promising to adopt in home care application.

Keywords: automatic connection, catheter, glomerulonephritis, peritoneal dialysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Valeria Butera, Norihisa Fukaya, Jun-Chu Choi, Kazuhiko Sato, Yoong-Kee Choe

Abstract:

Several silicon dioxide sources can react with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) in presence of alkali bases catalysts to ultimately produce tetramethoxysilane (TMOS). Experimental findings suggested that the reaction proceeds through several steps in which the first molecule of DMC is converted to dimethylsilyloxide (DMOS) and CO₂. Following the same mechanistic steps, a second molecule of DMC reacts with the DMOS to afford the final product TMOS. Using a cluster model approach, a quantum-mechanical investigation of the first part of the reaction leading to DMOS formation is reported with a twofold purpose: (1) verify the viability of the reaction mechanism proposed on the basis of experimental evidences .(2) compare the behaviors of three different alkali hydroxides MOH, where M=Li, K and Cs, to determine whether diverse ionic radius and charge density can be considered responsible for the observed differences in reactivity. Our findings confirm the observed experimental trend and furnish important information about the effective role of the alkali hydroxides giving an explanation of the different catalytic activity of the three metal cations.

Keywords: Alcoxysilanes production, cluster model approach, DFT, DMC conversion

Procedia PDF Downloads 274