Search results for: traffic measurement and modeling

Authors: Nuzhat Sultana M. B.

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Children are high-risk population in terms of food born illnesses. Food safety and security are the most important aspect of the success of midday meal programmes. Improper holding temperatures, cross-contamination and poor personal hygiene of food handlers are the main causes for the prevalence of pathogenic microbes in the food servicing areas. Two hundred and fifty preschool children in the age of 3 to 6 years from urban and rural anganwadies (pre school center) of Beed district were selected. Nutritional status of preschool children were assessed by anthropometrical and clinical measurement. The study assessed the food safety and security with the help of personal hygiene and other safety measures maintained by the food personnel working for midday meal programme, supplying mid meals to children in govt. anganwadies (pre school center). The hygiene level, sanitary condition and microbial quality of food and water, pathological health examination of food handlers were assessed with the help of checklist. A questionnaire was designed to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practices of food handlers. Results of the study show that the nutritional and health status of rural and urban preschool children was very poor. Many of the food handlers were not aware of general knowledge and hygiene practices to be followed during food preparation areas. An intervention programme of education and importing training at workplaces has shown a positive impact on the outcome of safety and security practices and safe, hygienic practices of food handlers at workplace.

Keywords: food, health, preschool children, safety, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: Kazushige Wada, Mayuko Ueda

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In the present study, we reanalyzed lapse errors in the last phase of a job, by re-counting near lapse errors and increasing the number of participants. We also examined the results of this study from the perspective of prospective memory (PM), which concerns future actions. This study was designed to investigate whether perceiving the importance of PM tasks caused lapse errors in the last phase of a job and to determine if such errors could be explained from the perspective of PM processing. Participants (N = 34) conducted a computerized clicking task, in which they clicked on 10 figures that they had learned in advance in 8 blocks of 10 trials. Participants were requested to click the check box in the start display of a block and to click the checking off box in the finishing display. This task was a PM task. As a measure of PM performance, we counted the number of omission errors caused by forgetting to check off in the finishing display, which was defined as a lapse error. The perceived importance was manipulated by different instructions. Half the participants in the highly important task condition were instructed that checking off was very important, because equipment would be overloaded if it were not done. The other half in the not important task condition was instructed only about the location and procedure for checking off. Furthermore, we controlled workload and the emotion of surprise to confirm the effect of demand capacity and attention. To manipulate emotions during the clicking task, we suddenly presented a photo of a traffic accident and the sound of a skidding car followed by an explosion. Workload was manipulated by requesting participants to press the 0 key in response to a beep. Results indicated too few forgetting induced lapse errors to be analyzed. However, there was a weak main effect of the perceived importance of the check task, in which the mouse moved to the “END” button before moving to the check box in the finishing display. Especially, the highly important task group showed more such near lapse errors, than the not important task group. Neither surprise, nor workload affected the occurrence of near lapse errors. These results imply that high perceived importance of PM tasks impair task performance. On the basis of the multiprocess framework of PM theory, we have suggested that PM task performance in this experiment relied not on monitoring PM tasks, but on spontaneous retrieving.

Keywords: prospective memory, perceived importance, lapse errors, multi process framework of prospective memory.

Procedia PDF Downloads 450

Authors: Faisal AlShammari, Abdulmajid Addali, Mosab Alrashed

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It is widely acknowledged that bearing failures are the primary reason for breakdowns in rotating machinery. These failures are extremely costly, particularly in terms of lost production. Roller bearings are widely used in industrial machinery and need to be maintained in good condition to ensure the continuing efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of the production process. The research presented here is an investigation of the use of acoustic emission (AE) to monitor bearing conditions at low speeds. Many machines, particularly large, expensive machines operate at speeds below 100 rpm, and such machines are important to the industry. However, the overwhelming proportion of studies have investigated the use of AE techniques for condition monitoring of higher-speed machines (typically several hundred rpm, or even higher). Few researchers have investigated the application of these techniques to low-speed machines ( < 100 rpm). This paper addressed this omission and has established which, of the available, AE techniques are suitable for the detection of incipient faults and measurement of fault growth in low-speed bearings. The first objective of this paper program was to assess the applicability of AE techniques to monitor low-speed bearings. It was found that the measured statistical parameters successfully monitored bearing conditions at low speeds (10-100 rpm). The second objective was to identify which commonly used statistical parameters derived from the AE signal (RMS, kurtosis, amplitude and counts) could identify the onset of a fault in the out race. It was found that these parameters effectually identify the presence of a small fault seeded into the outer races. Also, it is concluded that rotational speed has a strong influence on the measured AE parameters but that they are entirely independent of the load under such load and speed conditions.

Keywords: acoustic emission, condition monitoring, NDT, statistical analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Ebrahim Safarian, Kadir Bilen, Akif Ceviz

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The turbocharger and turbocharging have been the inherent component of diesel engines, so that critical parameters of such engines, as BSFC(Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) or thermal efficiency, fuel consumption, BMEP(Brake Mean Effective Pressure), the power density output and emission level have been improved extensively. In general, the turbocharger can be considered as the most complex component of diesel engines, because it has closely interrelated turbomachinery concepts of the turbines and the compressors to thermodynamic fundamentals of internal combustion engines and stress analysis of all components. In this paper, a waste gate for a conventional single stage radial turbine is investigated by consideration of turbochargers operation constrains and engine operation conditions, without any detail designs in the turbine and the compressor. Amount of opening waste gate which extended between the ranges of full opened and closed valve, is demonstrated by limiting compressor boost pressure ratio. Obtaining of an optimum point by regard above mentioned items is surveyed by three linked meanline modeling programs together which consist of Turbomatch®, Compal®, Rital®madules in concepts NREC® respectively.

Keywords: turbocharger, wastegate, diesel engine, concept NREC programs

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Hu Ding, Kai Liu, Guoan Tang

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The Chinese Loess Plateau suffers from serious gully erosion induced by natural and human causes. Gully features detection including gully-affected area and its two dimension parameters (length, width, area et al.), is a significant task not only for researchers but also for policy-makers. This study aims at gully-affected area detection in three catchments of Chinese Loess Plateau, which were selected in Changwu, Ansai, and Suide by using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The methodology includes a sequence of UAV data generation, image segmentation, feature calculation and selection, and random forest classification. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of segmentation strategy and feature selection. Results showed that vertical and horizontal root-mean-square errors were below 0.5 and 0.2 m, respectively, which were ideal for the Loess Plateau region. The segmentation strategy adopted in this paper, which considers the topographic information, and optimal parameter combination can improve the segmentation results. Besides, the overall extraction accuracy in Changwu, Ansai, and Suide achieved was 84.62%, 86.46%, and 93.06%, respectively, which indicated that the proposed method for detecting gully-affected area is more objective and effective than traditional methods. This study demonstrated that UAV can bridge the gap between field measurement and satellite-based remote sensing, obtaining a balance in resolution and efficiency for catchment-scale gully erosion research.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), object-analysis image analysis, gully erosion, gully-affected area, Loess Plateau, random forest

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Authors: Robert Jacobsen

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Flood inundation maps (FIMs) are an essential tool in communicating flood threat scenarios to the public as well as in floodplain governance. With an increasing demand for online raster FIMs, the FIM State-of-the-Practice (SOP) is rapidly advancing to meet the dual requirements for high-resolution and high-accuracy—or High-Definition. Importantly, today’s technology also enables the resolution of problems of local—neighborhood-scale—bias errors that often occur in FIMs, even with the use of SOP two-dimensional flood modeling. To facilitate the development of HD-FIMs, a new GIS method--Raster Adjustment with Scenario Profiles, RASPTM—is described for adjusting kernel raster FIMs to match refined scenario profiles. With RASPTM, flood professionals can prepare HD-FIMs for a wide range of scenarios with available kernel rasters, including kernel rasters prepared from vector FIMs. The paper provides detailed procedures for RASPTM, along with an example of applying RASPTM to prepare an HD-FIM for the August 2016 Flood in Louisiana using both an SOP kernel raster and a kernel raster derived from an older vector-based flood insurance rate map. The accuracy of the HD-FIMs achieved with the application of RASPTM to the two kernel rasters is evaluated.

Keywords: hydrology, mapping, high-definition, inundation

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Authors: Libo Jiang, Huan Li, Rongling Wu

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Ordinary differentiation equations (ODE) have proven to be powerful for reconstructing precise and informative gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from dynamic gene expression data. However, joint modeling and analysis of all genes, essential for the systematical characterization of genetic interactions, are challenging due to high dimensionality and a complex pattern of genetic regulation including activation, repression, and antitermination. Here, we address these challenges by unifying variable selection and game theory through ODE. Each gene within a GRN is co-expressed with its partner genes in a way like a game of multiple players, each of which tends to choose an optimal strategy to maximize its “fitness” across the whole network. Based on this unifying theory, we designed and conducted a real experiment to infer salt tolerance-related GRNs for Euphrates poplar, a hero tree that can grow in the saline desert. The pattern and magnitude of interactions between several hub genes within these GRNs were found to determine the capacity of Euphrates poplar to resist to saline stress.

Keywords: gene regulatory network, ordinary differential equation, game theory, LASSO, saline resistance

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Authors: Rakesh Namdeti

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Toxic dyes found in industrial effluent must be treated before being disposed of due to their harmful impact on human health and aquatic life. Thus, Musa acuminata (Banana Leaves) was employed in the role of a biosorbent in this work to get rid of methylene blue derived from a synthetic solution. The effects of five process parameters, such as temperature, pH, biosorbent dosage, and initial methylene blue concentration, using a central composite design (CCD), and the percentage of dye clearance were investigated. The response was modelled using a quadratic model based on the CCD. The analysis of variance revealed the most influential element on experimental design response (ANOVA). The temperature of 44.30C, pH of 7.1, biosorbent dose of 0.3 g, starting methylene blue concentration of 48.4 mg/L, and 84.26 percent dye removal were the best conditions for Musa acuminata (Banana leave powder). At these ideal conditions, the experimental percentage of biosorption was 76.93. The link between the estimated results of the developed ANN model and the experimental results defined the success of ANN modeling. As a result, the study's experimental results were found to be quite close to the model's predicted outcomes.

Keywords: Musa acuminata, central composite design, methylene blue, artificial neural network

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Authors: Padmini Raman

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The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is facing enormous technological and institutional changes and challenges including the information technology and appropriate application of sustainable practices. The engineer and architect must be able to handle with a rapid pace of technological change. BIM is a unique process of producing and managing a building by exploring a digital module before the actual project is constructed and later during its construction, facility operation and maintenance. BIM has been Adopted by construction contractors and architects in the western country mostly in US and UK to improve the planning and management of construction projects. In India, BIM is a basic stage of adoption only, several issues about data acquisition and management comes during the design formation and planning of a construction project due to the complexity, ambiguity, and fragmented nature of the Indian construction industry. This paper tells about the view a strategy for India’s AEC firms to successfully implement BIM in their current working processes. By surveying and collecting data about problems faced by these architectural firms, it will be analysed how to avoid those situations from rising and, thus, introducing BIM Capabilities in such firms in the most effective way. while this application is widely accepted throughout the industry in many countries for managing project information for cost control and facilities management.

Keywords: AEC industry, building information module, Indian industry, new technology, BIM implementation in India

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Authors: Ahmed A. M. Shoaib, Heba A. Esaily, Mahmoud M. Emara, Eman A. E. Badr, Amany S. Khalifa, Mayada M. M., Abdel-Raizk

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Background: DM is associated with metabolic bone diseases, osteoporosis, low-impact fractures and falls in geriatrics. Fetuin-A, which is a serum protein produced by the liver and promotes bone mineralization, is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Aim: Evaluation of fetuin-A level and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Egyptian female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and their correlation with each other & with other metabolic parameters. Patients and methods: Seventy postmenopausal female patients with type II diabetes and thirty postmenopausal female as control were included in this study. Measurement of Fetuin-A together with metabolic parameters and DXA in wrist, hip and spine, ALP, CBC, FBS, PP2H and HBA1c was done in all participants. Results: - Fetuin-A level was found to be highly significant (p< 0.001) between diabetic and nondiabetic groups and negatively correlated with BMD in spine. No difference in BMD was found between patients and control groups while significant negative correlation was found between FBS and hip BMD (<0.05) and between 2hpp and HBA1c with spine BMD in the diabetic group (<0.05). Osteoporosis represented 12.9% in spine area and 7.2% in hip and wrist areas in diabetic patients, while osteopenia were found in 58.5%, 57.1%, and 37.1% in diabetic patients in spine, wrist, and hip respectively. Conclusion: - type II diabetes cannot be considered as a risk factor for osteoporosis; while glycemic parameters (FBS, 2hpp & HBA1c) and serum Fetuin-A levels were correlated with BMD in diabetics. Good glycemic control can be protective against osteoporosis in diabetic elderly.

Keywords: fetuin-A, BMD, postmenopausal, DM type II

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Authors: Muhammad Noor Ul Ane, Dong-Soon Kim, Myron P. Zalucki

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Models can be useful to help understand population dynamics of insects under diverse environmental conditions and in developing strategies to manage pest species better. Adult longevity and fecundity of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) were evaluated against a wide range of constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 37.5ᵒC). The modified Sharpe and DeMichele model described adult aging rate and was used to estimate adult physiological age. Maximum fecundity of H. armigera was 973 egg/female at 25ᵒC decreasing to 72 eggs/female at 37.5ᵒC. The relationship between adult fecundity and temperature was well described by an extreme value function. Age-specific cumulative oviposition rate and age-specific survival rate were well described by a two-parameter Weibull function and sigmoid function, respectively. An oviposition model was developed using three temperature-dependent components: total fecundity, age-specific oviposition rate, and age-specific survival rate. The oviposition model was validated against independent field data and described the field occurrence pattern of egg population of H. armigera very well. Our model should be a useful component for population modeling of H. armigera and can be independently used for the timing of sprays in management programs of this key pest species.

Keywords: cotton bollworm, life table, temperature-dependent adult development, temperature-dependent fecundity

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Rahmat Irawan, Mundhir Hanifsyam Harahap, Andar Ristabet Hesda

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As a public sector organization in Indonesia, Directorate General of State Asset Management (DGSAM) which is a unit under the Ministry of Finance of The Republic of Indonesia, has many constraints in managing its employees. While private organizations are able to conduct a human resource management as the best practice, DGSAM is limited by many regulations, especially about punishment and lay off policy for under-performance employees. Therefore, since 2015, DGSAM tries to implement a new and uncommon approach considering employees’ preference to encourage the motivation and performance of employees. DGSAM’s employees may propose the job places, and DGSAM considers them in deciding employees deployment. This study tries to determine the impact of preference-based approach toward employees’ satisfaction and organizational performance. This study uses quantitative approaches by regression analysis to measure the impact of deployment toward satisfaction of deployed employees and performance change of related units in DGSAM. The result of this study shows that preference-based approach significantly improves employees’ satisfaction and performance of related units as well. Based on the results of this study, it can be suggested that the approach is able to be implemented in the wider scope of the Ministry of Finance of The Republic of Indonesia and whole public sector organization in Indonesia. However, this study only focuses on short term measurement, so it is suggested to do further study to analyze the long-term impact.

Keywords: employee deployment, employee satisfaction, human resource management, organizational performance, preference-based approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Ejoke U. P., Smitha Dev., Madwuke Ann, DuPlessis E. D.

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The study examines the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and social well-being among international faculty members in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE has become a significant destination for global academic talent, yet challenges related to social integration, acceptance, and overall well-being persist among its international faculty. The study focuses on the predictive role of PsyCap, encompassing hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, in determining various dimensions of social well-being, including social integration, acceptance, contribution, actualization, and coherence. Additionally, the research investigates the potential moderating or mediating effects of institutional support and Faculty Job-Status position on the relationship between PsyCap and social well-being. Through structural equation modeling, we found that institutional support mediated the positive relationship between PsyCap and SWB and the permanent Faculty job-status position type strengthens the relationship between PsyCap and SWB. Our findings uncover the pathways through which PsyCap influences the social well-being outcomes of international faculty in the UAE. The findings will contribute to the development of tailored interventions and support systems aimed at enhancing the integration experiences and overall well-being of international faculty within the UAE academic community. Thus, fostering a more inclusive and thriving academic environment in the UAE.

Keywords: faculty job-status, institutional-faculty, psychological capital, social well-being, UAE

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Parisa Mansour

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common autosomal recessive diseases among whites. It mostly affects the lungs, causing infections and inflammation that account for 90% of deaths in CF patients. Because of this high variability in clinical presentation and organ involvement, investigating treatment responses and evaluating lung changes over time is critical to preventing CF progression. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) greatly facilitates the assessment of lung disease progression in CF patients. Recently, artificial intelligence was used to analyze chest CT scans of CF patients. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach to classify CF lung patterns in HRCT images. The proposed network consists of two convolutional layers with 3 × 3 kernels and maximally connected in each layer, followed by two dense layers with 1024 and 10 neurons, respectively. The softmax layer prepares a predicted output probability distribution between classes. This layer has three exits corresponding to the categories of normal (healthy), bronchitis and inflammation. To train and evaluate the network, we constructed a patch-based dataset extracted from more than 1100 lung HRCT slices obtained from 45 CF patients. Comparative evaluation showed the effectiveness of the proposed CNN compared to its close peers. Classification accuracy, average sensitivity and specificity of 93.64%, 93.47% and 96.61% were achieved, indicating the potential of CNNs in analyzing lung CF patterns and monitoring lung health. In addition, the visual features extracted by our proposed method can be useful for automatic measurement and finally evaluation of the severity of CF patterns in lung HRCT images.

Keywords: HRCT, CF, cystic fibrosis, chest CT, artificial intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Hyeona Kim, Kichang Lee, Seunghee Lee, Jeongsu An, Kyungjun Min

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Contrast videofluoroscopy is the diagnostic imaging technique for evaluating cat with dysphagia. Generally, videofluoroscopic studies have been done with the cat restrained in lateral recumbency. It is different from the neutral position such as standing or sternal recumbency which is actual swallowing posture. We hypothesized that measurement of esophageal transit and peristalsis would be affected by body position. This experimental study analyzed the imaging findings of barium esophagram in 5 cats. Each cat underwent videofluoroscopy during swallowing of liquid barium and barium-soaked kibble in standing position and lateral recumbency. Esophageal transit time and the number of esophageal peristaltic waves were compared among body positions. Transit time in the cervical esophagus (0.57s), cranial thoracic esophagus (2.5s), and caudal thoracic esophagus(1.10s) was delayed when cats were in lateral recumbency for liquid barium. For kibble, transit time was more delayed than that of liquid through the entire esophagus in lateral recumbency. Liquid and kibble frequently started to delay at thoracic inlet region, transit time in the thoracic esophagus was significantly delayed than the cervical esophagus. In standing position, 60.2% of liquid swallows stimulated primary esophageal peristalsis. In lateral recumbency, 50.5% of liquid swallows stimulated primary esophageal peristalsis. Other variables were not significantly different. Lateral body positioning increases entire esophageal transit time and thoracic esophageal transit time is most significantly delayed. Thus, lateral recumbency decreases the number of primary esophageal peristalsis.

Keywords: barium esophagram, body positioning, cat, videofluoroscopy

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Authors: B. Kurbanova, M. Karibayev, N. Almas, K. Ospanov, K. Aimaganbetov, T. Kuanyshbekov, K. Akatan, S. Kabdrakhmanova

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Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) operating at high temperatures above 100 °C with the excellent mechanical, chemical and thermochemical stability have been received much attention, because of their practical application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Nowadays, a huge number of polymers and polymer-mixed various membranes have been investigated for this application, all of which offer both pros and cons. However, PEMFCs are still lack of ideal membranes with unique properties. In this work, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) based membranes with dispersive graphene oxide (GO) sheets were fabricated and investigated for PEMFCs application. These membranes and pristine GO were studied by a combination of XRD, XPS, Raman, Brillouin, FTIR, thermo-mechanical analysis (TGA and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) and SEM microscopy, while substantial studies on the proton transport properties were provided by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. It was revealed that the addition of CMC to the GO boosts proton conductivity of the whole membrane, while GO provides good mechanical and thermomechanical stability to the membrane. Further, the continuous and ordered nanochannels with well-tailored chemical structures were obtained by irradiation of heavy ions Kr⁺¹⁷ with an energy of 1.75 MeV/nucleon on the heavy ion accelerator. The formation of these nanochannels led to the significant increase of proton conductivity at 50% Relative Humidity. Also, FTIR and XPS measurement results show that ion irradiation eliminated the GO’s surface oxygen chemical bonds (C=O, C-O), and led to the formation of C = C, C – C bonds, whereas these changes connected with an increase in conductivity.

Keywords: proton exchange membranes, graphene oxide, fuel cells, carboxymethylcellulose, ion irradiation

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Authors: Hamidoddin Yousife

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Drilling optimization requires a prediction of drilling rate of penetration (ROP) since it provides a significant reduction in drilling costs. There are several factors that can have an impact on the ROP, both controllable and uncontrollable. Numerous drilling penetration rate models have been considered based on drilling parameters. This papers considered the effect of proper drilling parameter selection such as bit, Mud Type, applied weight on bit (WOB), Revolution per minutes (RPM), and flow rate on drilling optimization and drilling cost reduction. A predicted analysis is used in real-time drilling performance to determine the optimal drilling operation. As a result of these modeling studies, the real data collected from three directional wells at Azadegan oil fields, Iran, was verified and adjusted to determine the drillability of a specific formation. Simulation results and actual drilling results show significant improvements in inaccuracy. Once simulations had been validated, optimum drilling parameters and equipment specifications were determined by varying weight on bit (WOB), rotary speed (RPM), hydraulics (hydraulic pressure), and bit specification for each well until the highest drilling rate was achieved. To evaluate the potential operational and economic benefits of optimizing results, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data was performed.

Keywords: drlling, cost, optimization, parameters

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Saeid Mehvari, Yolanda Sanchez-Vicente, Sergio González Sánchez, Khalid Lafdi

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Abstract- Materials with a combination of transparency, electrical conductivity, and flexibility are required in the ‎growing electronic sector. In this research, electrically conductive and flexible films have been prepared. These ‎composite films consist of dispersing micro-copper particles into polyurethane (PU) matrix. Two sets of samples were ‎made using both spin coating technique (sample thickness lower than 30 μm) and materials casting (sample thickness ‎lower than 100 μm). Copper concentrations in the PU matrix varied from 0.5 to 20% by volume. The dispersion of ‎micro-copper particles into polyurethane (PU) matrix were characterised using optical microscope and scanning electron ‎microscope. The electrical conductivity measurement was carried out using home-made multimeter set up under ‎pressures from 1 to 20 kPa through thickness and in plane direction. It seems that samples made by casting were not ‎conductive. However, the sample made by spin coating shows through-thickness conductivity when they are under ‎pressure. The results showed that spin-coated films with higher concentration of 2 vol. % of copper displayed a ‎significant increase in the conductivity value, known as percolation threshold. The maximum conductivity of 7.2 × 10-1 ‎S∙m-1 was reached at concentrations of filler with 20 vol. % at 20kPa. A semi-empirical model with adjustable ‎coefficients was used to fit and predict the electrical behaviour of composites. For the first time, the finite element ‎method based on the representative volume element (FE-RVE) was successfully used to predict their electrical ‎behaviour under applied pressures. ‎

Keywords: electrical conductivity, micro copper, numerical simulation, percolation threshold, polyurethane, RVE model

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Authors: Toufik Bensana, Slimane Mekhilef, Kamel Tadjine

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The use of vibration analysis has been established as the most common and reliable method of analysis in the field of condition monitoring and diagnostics of rotating machinery. Rolling bearings cover a broad range of rotary machines and plays a crucial role in the modern manufacturing industry. Unfortunately, the vibration signals collected from a faulty bearing are generally non-stationary, nonlinear and with strong noise interference, so it is essential to obtain the fault features correctly. In this paper, a novel numerical analysis method based on local mean decomposition (LMD) is proposed. LMD decompose the signal into a series of product functions (PFs), each of which is the product of an envelope signal and a purely frequency modulated FM signal. The envelope of a PF is the instantaneous amplitude (IA) and the derivative of the unwrapped phase of a purely flat frequency demodulated (FM) signal is the IF. After that, the fault characteristic frequency of the roller bearing can be extracted by performing spectrum analysis to the instantaneous amplitude of PF component containing dominant fault information. the results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique in fault detection and diagnosis of rolling element bearing.

Keywords: fault diagnosis, local mean decomposition, rolling element bearing, vibration analysis

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Authors: S. S. Adamu, H. S. Muhammad, D. S. Shuaibu

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Poor power quality in electrical power systems can lead to medical equipment at healthcare centres to malfunction and present wrong medical diagnosis. Equipment such as X-rays, computerized axial tomography, etc. can pollute the system due to their high level of harmonics production, which may cause a number of undesirable effects like heating, equipment damages and electromagnetic interferences. The conventional approach of mitigation uses passive inductor/capacitor (LC) filters, which has some drawbacks such as, large sizes, resonance problems and fixed compensation behaviours. The current trends of solutions generally employ active power filters using suitable control algorithms. This work focuses on assessing the level of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) on medical facilities and various ways of mitigation, using radiology unit of an existing hospital as a case study. The measurement of the harmonics is conducted with a power quality analyzer at the point of common coupling (PCC). The levels of measured THD are found to be higher than the IEEE 519-1992 standard limits. The system is then modelled as a harmonic current source using MATLAB/SIMULINK. To mitigate the unwanted harmonic currents a shunt active filter is developed using synchronous detection algorithm to extract the fundamental component of the source currents. Fuzzy logic controller is then developed to control the filter. The THD without the active power filter are validated using the measured values. The THD with the developed filter show that the harmonics are now within the recommended limits.

Keywords: power quality, total harmonics distortion, shunt active filters, fuzzy logic

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Authors: Paola Pannuzzo, Tak-Ming Chan

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In seismic applications, hollow steel sections show, beyond undeniable esthetical appeal, promising structural advantages since, unlike open section counterparts, they are not susceptible to weak-axis and lateral-torsional buckling. In particular, hot-finished hollow steel sections have homogeneous material properties and favorable ductility but have been underutilized for cyclic bending. The main reason is that the parameters affecting their hysteretic behaviors are not yet well understood and, consequently, are not well exploited in existing codes of practice. Therefore, experimental investigations have been conducted on a wide range of hot-finished rectangular hollow section beams with the aim to providing basic knowledge for evaluating their seismic performance. The section geometry (width-to-thickness and depth-to-thickness ratios) and the type of loading (monotonic and cyclic) have been chosen as the key parameters to investigate the cyclic effect on the rotational capacity and to highlight the differences between monotonic and cyclic load conditions. The test results provide information on the parameters that affect the cyclic performance of hot-finished hollow steel beams and can be used to assess the design provisions stipulated in the current seismic codes of practice.

Keywords: bending, cyclic test, finite element modeling, hollow sections, hot-finished sections

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Ravinder Singh, C Rajesh, Saroj Badhan, Shailendra Mishra, Ranjit Singh Kataria

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Heat shock protein 60 and 70 are crucial chaperones that guide appropriate folding of denatured proteins under heat stress conditions. HSP60 and HSP70 provide assistance in correct folding of a multitude of denatured proteins. The heat shock factors are the family of some transcription factors which controls the regulation of gene expression of proteins involved in folding of damaged or improper folded proteins during stress conditions. Under normal condition heat shock proteins bind with HSF-1 and act as its repressor as well as aids in maintaining the HSF-1’s nonactive and monomeric confirmation. The experimental protein structure for all these proteins in Bubalus bubalis is not known till date. Therefore computational approach was explored to identify three-dimensional structure analysis of all these proteins. In this study, an extensive in silico analysis has been performed including sequence comparison among species to comparative modeling of Bubalus bubalis HSP60, HSP70 and HSF-1 protein. The stereochemical properties of proteins were assessed by utilizing several scrutiny bioinformatics tools to ensure model accuracy. Further docking approach was used to study interactions between Heat shock proteins and HSF-1.

Keywords: Bubalus bubalis, comparative modelling, docking, heat shock protein

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Authors: A. Soria-Verdugo, A. Morato-Godino, L. M. García-Gutiérrez, N. García-Hernando

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The evolution of the pyrolysis of sewage sludge in a fixed and a fluidized bed was analyzed using a novel measuring technique. This original measuring technique consists of installing the whole reactor over a precision scale, capable of measuring the mass of the complete reactor with enough precision to detect the mass released by the sewage sludge sample during its pyrolysis. The inert conditions required for the pyrolysis process were obtained supplying the bed with a nitrogen flowrate, and the bed temperature was adjusted to either 500 ºC or 600 ºC using a group of three electric resistors. The sewage sludge sample was supplied through the top of the bed in a batch of 10 g. The measurement of the mass released by the sewage sludge sample was employed to determine the evolution of the reaction rate during the pyrolysis, the total amount of volatile matter released, and the pyrolysis time. The pyrolysis tests of sewage sludge in the fluidized bed were conducted using two different bed materials of the same size but different densities: silica sand and sepiolite particles. The higher density of silica sand particles induces a flotsam behavior for the sewage sludge particles which move close to the bed surface. In contrast, the lower density of sepiolite produces a neutrally-buoyant behavior for the sewage sludge particles, which shows a proper circulation throughout the whole bed in this case. The analysis of the evolution of the pyrolysis process in both fluidized beds show that the pyrolysis is faster when buoyancy effects are negligible, i.e. in the bed conformed by sepiolite particles. Moreover, sepiolite was found to show an absorbent capability for the volatile matter released during the pyrolysis of sewage sludge.

Keywords: bubbling fluidized bed, pyrolysis, reaction rate, segregation effects, sewage sludge

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Authors: M. S. Mousavi-Daramoroudi, H. Yousefnia, S. Zolghadri, F. Abbasi-Davani

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Dosimetry is an indispensable and precious factor in patient treatment planning; to minimize the absorbed dose in vital tissues. In this study, In accordance with the proper characteristics of DOTATOC and ¹⁷⁷Lu, after preparing ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATOC at the optimal conditions for the first time in Iran, radionuclidic and radiochemical purity of the solution was investigated using an HPGe spectrometer and ITLC method, respectively. The biodistribution of the compound was assayed for treatment of adenocarcinoma breast cancer in bearing BALB/c mice. The results have demonstrated that ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATOC is a profitable selection for therapy of the tumors. Because of the vital role of internal dosimetry before and during therapy, the effort to improve the accuracy and rapidity of dosimetric calculations is necessary. For this reason, a new method was accomplished to calculate the absorbed dose through mixing between compartmental model, animal dosimetry and extrapolated data from animal to human and using MIRD method. Despite utilization of compartmental model based on the experimental data, it seems this approach may increase the accuracy of dosimetric data, confidently.

Keywords: ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATOC, biodistribution modeling, compartmental model, internal dosimetry

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Authors: Timothy L. Porter, T. Randy Dillingham

Abstract:

Vegetation growth and decomposition, along with soil microbial activity play a complex role in the production of greenhouse gases originating in forest soils. The absorption or emission (respiration) of these gases is a function of many factors relating to the soils themselves, the plants, and the environment in which the plants are growing. For this study, we have constructed a battery-powered, portable field mass spectrometer for use in analyzing gases in the soils surrounding trees, plants, and other areas. We have used the instrument to sample in real-time the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in soils where plant life may be contributing to the production of gases such as methane. Gases such as isoprene, which may help correlate gas respiration to microbial activity have also been measured. The instrument is composed of a quadrupole mass spectrometer with part per billion or better sensitivity, coupled to battery-powered turbo and diaphragm pumps. A unique ambient air pressure differentially pumped intake apparatus allows for the real-time sampling of gases in the soils from the surface to several inches below the surface. Results show that this instrument is capable of instant, part-per-billion sensitivity measurement of carbon dioxide and methane in the near surface region of various forest soils. We have measured differences in soil respiration resulting from forest thinning, forest burning, and forest logging as compared to pristine, untouched forests. Further studies will include measurements of greenhouse gas respiration as a function of temperature, microbial activity as measured by isoprene production, and forest restoration after fire.

Keywords: forest, soil, greenhouse, quadrupole

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Authors: Agus Masrukhin

Abstract:

This research aims to find and analyze the model of character building in the Police Headquarters in Bali with a case study of Muslim members in improving the quality of the morality of its members. The formation of patterns of thinking, behavior, mentality, and police officers noble character, later can be used as a solution to reduce the hedonistic nature of the challenges in the era of globalization. The benefit of this study is expected to be a positive recommendation to find a constructive character building models of police officers in the Republic of Indonesia, especially Bali Police. For the long term, the discovery of the character building models can be developed for the entire police force in Indonesia. The type of research that would apply in this study researchers mix the qualitative research methods based on the narrative between the subject and the concrete experience of field research and quantitative research methods with 92 respondents from the police regional police Bali. This research used a descriptive analysis and SWOT analysis then it is presented in the FGD (focus group discussion). The results of this research indicate that the variable modeling the leadership of the police and variable police offices culture have significant influence on the implementation of spiritual development.

Keywords: positive constructive, hedonistic, character models, morality

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Authors: V. B. Bastos, M. P. Lima, P. R. G. Kurka

Abstract:

This paper applies to the creation of virtual 3D environments for the study and development of mobile robot image based navigation algorithms and techniques, which need to operate robustly and efficiently. The test of these algorithms can be performed in a physical way, from conducting experiments on a prototype, or by numerical simulations. Current simulation platforms for robotic applications do not have flexible and updated models for image rendering, being unable to reproduce complex light effects and materials. Thus, it is necessary to create a test platform that integrates sophisticated simulated applications of real environments for navigation, with data and image processing. This work proposes the development of a high-level platform for building 3D model’s environments and the test of image-based navigation algorithms for mobile robots. Techniques were used for applying texture and lighting effects in order to accurately represent the generation of rendered images regarding the real world version. The application will integrate image processing scripts, trajectory control, dynamic modeling and simulation techniques for physics representation and picture rendering with the open source 3D creation suite - Blender.

Keywords: simulation, visual navigation, mobile robot, data visualization

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Authors: Saeed Ghali, Hoda El-Faramawy, Mamdouh Eissa, Michael Mishreky

Abstract:

Scale-resistant austenitic stainless steel, X45CrNiW 18-9, has been developed, and modified steels produced through partial and total nickel replacement by nitrogen. These modified steels were produced in a 10 kg induction furnace under different nitrogen pressures and were cast into ingots. The produced modified stainless steels were forged, followed by air cooling. The phases of modified stainless steels have been investigated using the Schaeffler diagram, dilatometer, and microstructure observations. Both partial and total replacement of nickel using 0.33-0.50% nitrogen are effective in producing fully austenitic stainless steels. The nitrogen contents were determined and compared with those calculated using the Institute of Metal Science (IMS) equation. The results showed great deviations between the actual nitrogen contents and predicted values through IMS equation. So, an equation has been derived based on chemical composition, pressure, and temperature at 1600oC. [N%] = 0.0078 + 0.0406*X, where X is a function of chemical composition and nitrogen pressure. The derived equation has been used to calculate the nitrogen content of different steels using published data. The results reveal the difficulty of deriving a general equation for the prediction of nitrogen content covering different steel compositions. So, it is necessary to use a narrow composition range.

Keywords: solubility, nitrogen, stainless steel, Schaeffler

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Authors: Niya Chen, Jennifer Chan

Abstract:

In the financial market, risk management helps to minimize potential loss and maximize profit. There are two ways to assess risks; the first way is to calculate the risk directly based on the volatility. The most common risk measurements are Value at Risk (VaR), sharp ratio, and beta. Alternatively, we could look at the quantile of the return to assess the risk. Popular return models such as GARCH and stochastic volatility (SV) focus on modeling the mean of the return distribution via capturing the volatility dynamics; however, the quantile/expectile method will give us an idea of the distribution with the extreme return value. It will allow us to forecast VaR using return which is direct information. The advantage of using these non-parametric methods is that it is not bounded by the distribution assumptions from the parametric method. But the difference between them is that expectile uses a second-order loss function while quantile regression uses a first-order loss function. We consider several quantile functions, different volatility measures, and estimates from some volatility models. To estimate the expectile of the model, we use Realized Conditional Autoregressive Expectile (CARE) model with the bayesian method to achieve this. We would like to see if our proposed models outperform existing models in cryptocurrency, and we will test it by using Bitcoin mainly as well as Ethereum.

Keywords: expectile, CARE Model, CARR Model, quantile, cryptocurrency, Value at Risk

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Authors: Khaled M. Alqahtani

Abstract:

Copy number alterations (CNA) are variations in the structure of the genome, where certain regions deviate from the typical two chromosomal copies. These alterations are pivotal in understanding tumor progression and are indicative of patients' survival outcomes. However, effectively modeling patients' survival based on their genomic CNA profiles while identifying relevant genomic regions remains a statistical challenge. Various methods, such as the Cox proportional hazard (PH) model with ridge, lasso, or elastic net penalties, have been proposed but often overlook the inherent dependencies between genomic regions, leading to results that are hard to interpret. In this study, we enhance the elastic net penalty by incorporating an additional penalty that accounts for these dependencies. This approach yields smooth parameter estimates and facilitates variable selection, resulting in a sparse solution. Our findings demonstrate that this method outperforms other models in predicting survival outcomes, as evidenced by our simulation study. Moreover, it allows for a more meaningful interpretation of genomic regions associated with patients' survival. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach using both real data from a lung cancer cohort and simulated datasets.

Keywords: copy number alterations, cox proportional hazard, lung cancer, regression, sparse solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 50