Search results for: incident
339 Volunteered Geographic Information Coupled with Wildfire Fire Progression Maps: A Spatial and Temporal Tool for Incident Storytelling
Authors: Cassandra Hansen, Paul Doherty, Chris Ferner, German Whitley, Holly Torpey
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Wildfire is a natural and inevitable occurrence, yet changing climatic conditions have increased the severity, frequency, and risk to human populations in the wildland/urban interface (WUI) of the Western United States. Rapid dissemination of accurate wildfire information is critical to both the Incident Management Team (IMT) and the affected community. With the advent of increasingly sophisticated information systems, GIS can now be used as a web platform for sharing geographic information in new and innovative ways, such as virtual story map applications. Crowdsourced information can be extraordinarily useful when coupled with authoritative information. Information abounds in the form of social media, emergency alerts, radio, and news outlets, yet many of these resources lack a spatial component when first distributed. In this study, we describe how twenty-eight volunteer GIS professionals across nine Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACC) sourced, curated, and distributed Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) from authoritative social media accounts focused on disseminating information about wildfires and public safety. The combination of fire progression maps with VGI incident information helps answer three critical questions about an incident, such as: where the first started. How and why the fire behaved in an extreme manner and how we can learn from the fire incident's story to respond and prepare for future fires in this area. By adding a spatial component to that shared information, this team has been able to visualize shared information about wildfire starts in an interactive map that answers three critical questions in a more intuitive way. Additionally, long-term social and technical impacts on communities are examined in relation to situational awareness of the disaster through map layers and agency links, the number of views in a particular region of a disaster, community involvement and sharing of this critical resource. Combined with a GIS platform and disaster VGI applications, this workflow and information become invaluable to communities within the WUI and bring spatial awareness for disaster preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery. This study highlights progression maps as the ultimate storytelling mechanism through incident case studies and demonstrates the impact of VGI and sophisticated applied cartographic methodology make this an indispensable resource for authoritative information sharing.Keywords: storytelling, wildfire progression maps, volunteered geographic information, spatial and temporal
Procedia PDF Downloads 168338 Modified Single-Folded Potentials for the Alpha-²⁴Mg and Alpha-²⁸Si Elastic Scattering
Authors: M. N. A. Abdullah, Pritha Roy, R. R. Shil, D. R. Sarker
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Alpha-nucleus interaction is obscured because it produces enhanced cross-sections at large scattering angles known as anomaly in large angle scattering (ALAS). ALAS is prominent in the elastic scattering of α-particles as well as in non-elastic processes involving α-particles for incident energies up to 50 MeV and for targets of mass A ≤ 50. The Woods-Saxon type of optical model potential fails to describe the processes in a consistent manner. Folded potential is a good candidate and often used to construct the potential which is derived from the microscopic as well as semi-microscopic folding calculations. The present work reports the analyses of the elastic scattering of α-particles from ²⁴Mg and ²⁸Si at Eα=22-100 MeV and 14.4-120 MeV incident energies respectively in terms of the modified single-folded (MSF) potential. To derive the MSF potential, we take the view that the nucleons in the target nuclei ²⁴Mg and ²⁸Si are primarily in α-like clusters and the rest of the time in unclustered nucleonic configuration. The MSF potential, found in this study, does not need any renormalization over the whole range of incident α energies, and the renormalization factor has been found to be exactly 1 for both the targets. The best-fit parameters yield 4Aα = 21 and AN = 3 for α-²⁴Mg potential, and 4Aα = 26 and AN = 2 for α-²⁸Si potential in time-average pictures. The root-mean-square radii of both ²⁴Mg and ²⁸Si are also deduced, and the results obtained from this work agree well with the outcomes of other studies.Keywords: elastic scattering, optical model, folded potential, renormalization
Procedia PDF Downloads 220337 Review on Implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Controlling Traffic and Avoiding Accidents
Authors: Neha Singh, Shristi Singh
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Accidents involving motor vehicles are more likely to cause serious injuries and fatalities. It also has a host of other perpetual issues, such as the regular loss of life and goods in accidents. To solve these issues, appropriate measures must be implemented, such as establishing an autonomous incident detection system that makes use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. In order to reduce traffic accidents, this article examines the overview of artificial intelligence and machine learning in autonomous event detection systems. The paper explores the major issues, prospective solutions, and use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in road transportation systems for minimising traffic accidents. There is a lot of discussion on additional, fresh, and developing approaches that less frequent accidents in the transportation industry. The study structured the following subtopics specifically: traffic management using machine learning and artificial intelligence and an incident detector with these two technologies. The internet of vehicles and vehicle ad hoc networks, as well as the use of wireless communication technologies like 5G wireless networks and the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence for the planning of road transportation systems, are elaborated. In addition, safety is the primary concern of road transportation. Route optimization, cargo volume forecasting, predictive fleet maintenance, real-time vehicle tracking, and traffic management, according to the review's key conclusions, are essential for ensuring the safety of road transportation networks. In addition to highlighting research trends, unanswered problems, and key research conclusions, the study also discusses the difficulties in applying artificial intelligence to road transport systems. Planning and managing the road transportation system might use the work as a resource.Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, incident detector, road transport systems, traffic management, automatic incident detection, deep learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 99336 Permanent Reduction of Arc Flash Energy to Safe Limit on Line Side of 480 Volt Switchgear Incomer Breaker
Authors: Abid Khan
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A recognized engineering challenge is related to personnel protection from fatal arc flash incident energy in the line side of the 480-volt switchgear incomer breakers during maintenance activities. The incident energy is typically high due to slow fault clearance, and it can be higher than the available personnel protective equipment (PPE) ratings. A fault in this section of the switchgear is cleared by breakers or fuses in the upstream higher voltage system (4160 Volt or higher). The current reflection in the higher voltage upstream system for a fault in the 480-volt switchgear is low, the clearance time is slower, and the inversely proportional incident energy is hence higher. The installation of overcurrent protection at a 480-volt system upstream of the incomer breaker will operate fast enough and trips the upstream higher voltage breaker when a fault develops at the incomer breaker. Therefore, fault current reduction as reflected in the upstream higher voltage system is eliminated. Since the fast overcurrent protection is permanently installed, it is always functional, does not require human interventions, and eliminates exposure to human errors. It is installed at the maintenance activities location, and its operations can be locally monitored by craftsmen during maintenance activities.Keywords: arc flash, mitigation, maintenance switch, energy level
Procedia PDF Downloads 188335 A Text Classification Approach Based on Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Rim Messaoudi, Nogaye-Gueye Gning, François Azelart
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Automatic text classification applies mostly natural language processing (NLP) and other AI-guided techniques to automatically classify text in a faster and more accurate manner. This paper discusses the subject of using predictive maintenance to manage incident tickets inside the sociality. It focuses on proposing a tool that treats and analyses comments and notes written by administrators after resolving an incident ticket. The goal here is to increase the quality of these comments. Additionally, this tool is based on NLP and machine learning techniques to realize the textual analytics of the extracted data. This approach was tested using real data taken from the French National Railways (SNCF) company and was given a high-quality result.Keywords: machine learning, text classification, NLP techniques, semantic representation
Procedia PDF Downloads 90334 Theoretical Analysis of Photoassisted Field Emission near the Metal Surface Using Transfer Hamiltonian Method
Authors: Rosangliana Chawngthu, Ramkumar K. Thapa
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A model calculation of photoassisted field emission current (PFEC) by using transfer Hamiltonian method will be present here. When the photon energy is incident on the surface of the metals, such that the energy of a photon is usually less than the work function of the metal under investigation. The incident radiation photo excites the electrons to a final state which lies below the vacuum level; the electrons are confined within the metal surface. A strong static electric field is then applied to the surface of the metal which causes the photoexcited electrons to tunnel through the surface potential barrier into the vacuum region and constitutes the considerable current called photoassisted field emission current. The incident radiation is usually a laser beam, causes the transition of electrons from the initial state to the final state and the matrix element for this transition will be written. For the calculation of PFEC, transfer Hamiltonian method is used. The initial state wavefunction is calculated by using Kronig-Penney potential model. The effect of the matrix element will also be studied. An appropriate dielectric model for the surface region of the metal will be used for the evaluation of vector potential. FORTRAN programme is used for the calculation of PFEC. The results will be checked with experimental data and the theoretical results.Keywords: photoassisted field emission, transfer Hamiltonian, vector potential, wavefunction
Procedia PDF Downloads 216333 Implications of Creating a 3D Vignette as a Reflective Practice for Continuous Professional Development of Foreign Language Teachers
Authors: Samiah H. Ghounaim
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The topic of this paper is significant because of the increasing need for intercultural training for foreign language teachers due to the continuous challenges they face in their diverse classrooms. First, the structure of the intercultural training program designed will be briefly described, and the structure of a 3D vignette and its intended purposes will be elaborated on. This was the first stage where the program was designed and implemented on the period of three months with a group of local and expatriate foreign language teachers/practitioners at a university in the Middle East. After that, a set of primary data collected during the first stage of this research on the design and co-construction process of a 3D vignette will be reviewed and analysed in depth. Each practitioner designed a personal incident into a 3D vignette where each dimension of the vignette viewed the same incident from a totally different perspective. Finally, the results and the implications of having participant construct their personal incidents into a 3D vignette as a reflective practice will be discussed in detail as well as possible extensions for the research. This process proved itself to be an effective reflective practice where the participants were stimulated to view their incidents in a different light. Co-constructing one’s own critical incidents –be it a positive experience or not– into a structured 3D vignette encouraged participants to decentralise themselves from the incidents and, thus, creating a personal reflective space where they had the opportunity to see different potential outcomes for each incident, as well as prepare for the reflective discussion of their vignette with their peers. This provides implications for future developments in reflective writing practices and possibilities for educators’ continuous professional development (CPD).Keywords: 3D vignettes, intercultural competence training, reflective practice, teacher training
Procedia PDF Downloads 102332 Effectiveness of Variable Speed Limit Signs in Reducing Crash Rates on Roadway Construction Work Zones in Alaska
Authors: Osama Abaza, Tanay Datta Chowdhury
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As a driver's speed increases, so do the probability of an incident and likelihood of injury. The presence of equipment, personnel, and a changing landscape in construction zones create greater potential for incident. This is especially concerning in Alaska, where summer construction activity, coinciding with the peak annual traffic volumes, cannot be avoided. In order to reduce vehicular speeding in work zones, and therefore the probability of crash and incident occurrence, variable speed limit (VSL) systems can be implemented in the form of radar speed display trailers since the radar speed display trailers were shown to be effective at reducing vehicular speed in construction zones. Allocation of VSL not only help reduce the 85th percentile speed but also it will predominantly reduce mean speed as well. Total of 2147 incidents along with 385 crashes occurred only in one month around the construction zone in the Alaska which seriously requires proper attention. This research provided a thorough crash analysis to better understand the cause and provide proper countermeasures. Crashes were predominantly recoded as vehicle- object collision and sideswipe type and thus significant amount of crashes fall in the group of no injury to minor injury type in the severity class. But still, 35 major crashes with 7 fatal ones in a one month period require immediate action like the implementation of the VSL system as it proved to be a speed reducer in the construction zone on Alaskan roadways.Keywords: speed, construction zone, crash, severity
Procedia PDF Downloads 240331 Association of Alcohol Consumption with Active Tuberculosis in Taiwanese Adults: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study
Authors: Yung-Feng Yen, Yun-Ju Lai
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Background: Animal studies have shown that alcohol exposure may cause immunosuppression and increase the susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) infection. However, the temporality of alcohol consumption with subsequent TB development remains unclear. This nationwide population-based cohort study aimed to investigate the impact of alcohol exposure on TB development in Taiwanese adults. Methods: We included 46 196 adult participants from three rounds (2001, 2005, 2009) of the Taiwan National Health Interview Survey. Alcohol consumption was classified into heavy, regular, social, or never alcohol use. Heavy alcohol consumption was defined as intoxication at least once/week. Alcohol consumption and other covariates were collected by in-person interviews at baseline. Incident cases of active TB were identified from the National Health Insurance database. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the association between alcohol consumption and active TB, with adjustment for age, sex, smoking, socioeconomic status, and other covariates. Results: A total of 279 new cases of active TB occurred during the study follow-up period. Heavy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 5.21; 95% confident interval [CI], 2.41-11.26) and regular alcohol use (AOR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.26-2.38) were associated with higher risks of incident TB after adjusting for the subject demographics and comorbidities. Moreover, a strong dose-response effect was observed between increasing alcohol consumption and incident TB (AOR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.59-3.21; P <.001). Conclusion: Heavy and regular alcohol consumption were associated with higher risks of active TB. Future TB control programs should consider strategies to lower the overall level of alcohol consumption to reduce the TB disease burden.Keywords: alcohol consumption, tuberculosis, risk factor, cohort study
Procedia PDF Downloads 222330 Integrating a Security Operations Centre with an Organization’s Existing Procedures, Policies and Information Technology Systems
Authors: M. Mutemwa
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A Cybersecurity Operation Centre (SOC) is a centralized hub for network event monitoring and incident response. SOCs are critical when determining an organization’s cybersecurity posture because they can be used to detect, analyze and report on various malicious activities. For most organizations, a SOC is not part of the initial design and implementation of the Information Technology (IT) environment but rather an afterthought. As a result, it is not natively a plug and play component; therefore, there are integration challenges when a SOC is introduced into an organization. A SOC is an independent hub that needs to be integrated with existing procedures, policies and IT systems of an organization such as the service desk, ticket logging system, reporting, etc. This paper discussed the challenges of integrating a newly developed SOC to an organization’s existing IT environment. Firstly, the paper begins by looking at what data sources should be incorporated into the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) such as which host machines, servers, network end points, software, applications, web servers, etc. for security posture monitoring. That is which systems need to be monitored first and the order by which the rest of the systems follow. Secondly, the paper also describes how to integrate the organization’s ticket logging system with the SOC SIEM. That is how the cybersecurity related incidents should be logged by both analysts and non-technical employees of an organization. Also the priority matrix for incident types and notifications of incidents. Thirdly, the paper looks at how to communicate awareness campaigns from the SOC and also how to report on incidents that are found inside the SOC. Lastly, the paper looks at how to show value for the large investments that are poured into designing, building and running a SOC.Keywords: cybersecurity operation centre, incident response, priority matrix, procedures and policies
Procedia PDF Downloads 149329 Modeling Reflection and Transmission of Elastodiffussive Wave Sata Semiconductor Interface
Authors: Amit Sharma, J. N. Sharma
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This paper deals with the study of reflection and transmission characteristics of acoustic waves at the interface of a semiconductor halfspace and elastic solid. The amplitude ratios (reflection and transmission coefficients) of reflected and transmitted waves to that of incident wave varying with the incident angles have been examined for the case of quasi-longitudinal wave. The special cases of normal and grazing incidence have also been derived with the help of Gauss elimination method. The mathematical model consisting of governing partial differential equations of motion and charge carriers diffusion of n-type semiconductors and elastic solid has been solved both analytically and numerically in the study. The numerical computations of reflection and transmission coefficients has been carried out by using MATLAB programming software for silicon (Si) semiconductor and copper elastic solid. The computer simulated results have been plotted graphically for Si semiconductors. The study may be useful in semiconductors, geology, and seismology in addition to surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices.Keywords: quasilongitudinal, reflection and transmission, semiconductors, acoustics
Procedia PDF Downloads 386328 Effects of Incident Angle and Distance on Visible Light Communication
Authors: Taegyoo Woo, Jong Kang Park, Jong Tae Kim
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Visible Light Communication (VLC) provides wireless communication features in illumination systems. One of the key applications is to recognize the user location by indoor illuminators such as light emitting diodes. For localization of individual receivers in these systems, we usually assume that receivers and transmitters are placed in parallel. However, it is difficult to satisfy this assumption because the receivers move randomly in real case. It is necessary to analyze the case when transmitter is not placed perfectly parallel to receiver. It is also important to identify changes on optical gain by the tilted angles and distances of them against the illuminators. In this paper, we simulate optical gain for various cases where the tilt of the receiver and the distance change. Then, we identified changing patterns of optical gains according to tilted angles of a receiver and distance. These results can help many VLC applications understand the extent of the location errors with regard to optical gains of the receivers and identify the root cause.Keywords: visible light communication, incident angle, optical gain, light emitting diode
Procedia PDF Downloads 330327 Inter-Departmental Survey to Check the Impact of Bio-Safety Training Sessions among Lab Employees
Authors: Noorulaine Maqsood, Saeed Khan
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Background: Concern regarding incident reporting and bio-safety training in clinical laboratories in Pakistan has increased remarkably in the last few years due to rapid increase in diagnosis and research on infectious organisms. In order to ensure the safety of employees, this issue needs to be addressed immediately. Bio-safety training sessions and lectures are necessary for the protection of laboratory workers in order to ensure safe practices and minimize the count of incident reporting in the lab. Objective: To carry out an inter-departmental survey in lab regarding the awareness of bio-safety practices among lab employees before and after conducting bio-safety training sessions. Methodology: We conducted a 30 questions survey of laboratory workers in June 2013 (before training session) to gather information related to bio-safety awareness. Afterwards, we conducted another survey after training sessions and workshops related to bio-safety. Result: The survey regarding bio-safety level showed that before the training session 32% of the participants were aware of bio-safety level being used in their lab whereas after the session this percentage increased to 72%. 48% of the participants had information about the proper usage of PPE which increased to 76%. Awareness regarding proper management of hazardous waste increased from 32% to 64%. The incident reporting practice, sample handling and hand hygiene awareness was previously reported to be 40%, 65%, and 52% that increased to 80%, 85% and 88% respectively after the training session was completed. Conclusion: The first survey results showed lack of awareness that suggest nearly all senior scientists, faculty, medical technologist, lab attendant and housekeeping staff working in laboratories are required to have bio-safety training, and required inspection at least twice a year by a bio-safety officer and also required to renew their bio-safety training. After the training session, significant changes in awareness level and attitude of the participants regarding biosafety practices were observed. Therefore, such bio-safety sessions should be carried out regularly in clinical laboratories.Keywords: biosafety practices, clinical laboratory, Pakistan, survey
Procedia PDF Downloads 423326 Case Study Analysis of 2017 European Railway Traffic Management Incident: The Application of System for Investigation of Railway Interfaces Methodology
Authors: Sanjeev Kumar Appicharla
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This paper presents the results of the modelling and analysis of the European Railway Traffic Management (ERTMS) safety-critical incident to raise awareness of biases in the systems engineering process on the Cambrian Railway in the UK using the RAIB 17/2019 as a primary input. The RAIB, the UK independent accident investigator, published the Report- RAIB 17/2019 giving the details of their investigation of the focal event in the form of immediate cause, causal factors, and underlying factors and recommendations to prevent a repeat of the safety-critical incident on the Cambrian Line. The Systems for Investigation of Railway Interfaces (SIRI) is the methodology used to model and analyze the safety-critical incident. The SIRI methodology uses the Swiss Cheese Model to model the incident and identify latent failure conditions (potentially less than adequate conditions) by means of the management oversight and risk tree technique. The benefits of the systems for investigation of railway interfaces methodology (SIRI) are threefold: first is that it incorporates the “Heuristics and Biases” approach advanced by 2002 Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences, Prof Daniel Kahneman, in the management oversight and risk tree technique to identify systematic errors. Civil engineering and programme management railway professionals are aware of the role “optimism bias” plays in programme cost overruns and are aware of bow tie (fault and event tree) model-based safety risk modelling techniques. However, the role of systematic errors due to “Heuristics and Biases” is not appreciated as yet. This overcomes the problems of omission of human and organizational factors from accident analysis. Second, the scope of the investigation includes all levels of the socio-technical system, including government, regulatory, railway safety bodies, duty holders, signaling firms and transport planners, and front-line staff such that lessons are learned at the decision making and implementation level as well. Third, the author’s past accident case studies are supplemented with research pieces of evidence drawn from the practitioner's and academic researchers’ publications as well. This is to discuss the role of system thinking to improve the decision-making and risk management processes and practices in the IEC 15288 systems engineering standard and in the industrial context such as the GB railways and artificial intelligence (AI) contexts as well.Keywords: accident analysis, AI algorithm internal audit, bounded rationality, Byzantine failures, heuristics and biases approach
Procedia PDF Downloads 188325 Wind Interference Effect on Tall Building
Authors: Atul K. Desai, Jigar K. Sevalia, Sandip A. Vasanwala
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When a building is located in an urban area, it is exposed to a wind of different characteristics then wind over an open terrain. This is development of turbulent wake region behind an upstream building. The interaction with upstream building can produce significant changes in the response of the tall building. Here, in this paper, an attempt has been made to study wind induced interference effects on tall building. In order to study wind induced interference effect (IF) on Tall Building, initially a tall building (which is termed as Principal Building now on wards) with square plan shape has been considered with different Height to Width Ratio and total drag force is obtained considering different terrain conditions as well as different incident wind direction. Then total drag force on Principal Building is obtained by considering adjacent building which is termed as Interfering Building now on wards with different terrain conditions and incident wind angle. To execute study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Code namely Fluent and Gambit have been used.Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, tall building, turbulent, wake region, wind
Procedia PDF Downloads 532324 Adequacy of Advanced Earthquake Intensity Measures for Estimation of Damage under Seismic Excitation with Arbitrary Orientation
Authors: Konstantinos G. Kostinakis, Manthos K. Papadopoulos, Asimina M. Athanatopoulou
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An important area of research in seismic risk analysis is the evaluation of expected seismic damage of structures under a specific earthquake ground motion. Several conventional intensity measures of ground motion have been used to estimate their damage potential to structures. Yet, none of them was proved to be able to predict adequately the seismic damage of any structural system. Therefore, alternative advanced intensity measures which take into account not only ground motion characteristics but also structural information have been proposed. The adequacy of a number of advanced earthquake intensity measures in prediction of structural damage of 3D R/C buildings under seismic excitation which attacks the building with arbitrary incident angle is investigated in the present paper. To achieve this purpose, a symmetric in plan and an asymmetric 5-story R/C building are studied. The two buildings are subjected to 20 bidirectional earthquake ground motions. The two horizontal accelerograms of each ground motion are applied along horizontal orthogonal axes forming 72 different angles with the structural axes. The response is computed by non-linear time history analysis. The structural damage is expressed in terms of the maximum interstory drift as well as the overall structural damage index. The values of the aforementioned seismic damage measures determined for incident angle 0° as well as their maximum values over all seismic incident angles are correlated with 9 structure-specific ground motion intensity measures. The research identified certain intensity measures which exhibited strong correlation with the seismic damage of the two buildings. However, their adequacy for estimation of the structural damage depends on the response parameter adopted. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the widely used spectral acceleration at the fundamental period of the structure is a good indicator of the expected earthquake damage level.Keywords: damage indices, non-linear response, seismic excitation angle, structure-specific intensity measures
Procedia PDF Downloads 490323 Stability Analysis of Modelling the Effect of Vaccination and Novel Quarantine-Adjusted Incidence on the Spread of Newcastle Disease
Authors: Nurudeen O. Lasisi, Sirajo Abdulrahman, Abdulkareem A. Ibrahim
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Newcastle disease is an infection of domestic poultry and other bird species with the virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV). In this paper, we study the dynamics of the modeling of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) using a novel quarantine-adjusted incidence. The comparison of Vaccination, linear incident rate and novel quarantine-adjusted incident rate in the models are discussed. The dynamics of the models yield disease-free and endemic equilibrium states.The effective reproduction numbers of the models are computed in order to measure the relative impact of an individual bird or combined intervention for effective disease control. We showed the local and global stability of endemic equilibrium states of the models and we found that the stability of endemic equilibrium states of models are globally asymptotically stable if the effective reproduction numbers of the models equations are greater than a unit.Keywords: effective reproduction number, Endemic state, Mathematical model, Newcastle disease virus, novel quarantine-adjusted incidence, stability analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 108322 Shock Response Analysis of Soil-Structure Systems Induced by Near-Fault Pulses
Authors: H. Masaeli, R. Ziaei, F. Khoshnoudian
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Shock response analysis of the soil–structure systems induced by near–fault pulses is investigated. Vibration transmissibility of the soil–structure systems is evaluated by Shock Response Spectra (SRS). Medium–to–high rise buildings with different aspect ratios located on different soil types as well as different foundations with respect to vertical load bearing safety factors are studied. Two types of mathematical near–fault pulses, i.e. forward directivity and fling step, with different pulse periods as well as pulse amplitudes are selected as incident ground shock. Linear versus nonlinear Soil–Structure Interaction (SSI) condition are considered alternatively and the corresponding results are compared. The results show that nonlinear SSI is likely to amplify the acceleration responses when subjected to long–period incident pulses with normalized period exceeding a threshold. It is also shown that this threshold correlates with soil type, so that increased shear–wave velocity of the underlying soil makes the threshold period decrease.Keywords: nonlinear soil–structure interaction, shock response spectrum, near–fault ground shock, rocking isolation
Procedia PDF Downloads 310321 Power, Values, Rules and Leader Decision Making: A Discourse Perspective
Authors: Cathryn Robinson, Bernard McKenna, David Rooney
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This paper argues that the application of values-based leadership increasingly challenges leaders in rules-based organisations, particularly in bureaucratic organisations such as the military, public service, police, and emergency services. Leaders are grappling to reconcile how to enact values-based leadership and decision-making when they are bound by rules, policies, and procedures. This interpretive study used a multi-faceted vignette (critical incident) as the basis of an interview with air force officers at three levels: executive, senior, and junior. In this way, practice is forced to intersect with discourse. The findings revealed a shared set of discourse themes (legal; rules; safety and risk; operational practice/theatre discourses), but also clear dialectical tensions. These tensions were evident in executive officers and senior leaders emphasizing rules and information themes, whereas junior officers emphasized decision making, collateral, and situation. These findings reveal discourse and practice incommensurability that could have grave implications in the conduct of war.Keywords: critical incident, discourse analysis, rules-based, values-based
Procedia PDF Downloads 173320 Stability Analysis of Endemic State of Modelling the Effect of Vaccination and Novel Quarantine-Adjusted Incidence on the Spread of Newcastle Disease Virus
Authors: Nurudeen Oluwasola Lasisi, Abdulkareem Afolabi Ibrahim
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Newcastle disease is an infection of domestic poultry and other bird species with virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV). In this paper, we study the dynamics of modeling the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) using a novel quarantine-adjusted incidence. We do a comparison of Vaccination, linear incident rate, and novel quarantine adjusted incident rate in the models. The dynamics of the models yield disease free and endemic equilibrium states. The effective reproduction numbers of the models are computed in order to measure the relative impact for the individual bird or combined intervention for effective disease control. We showed the local and global stability of endemic equilibrium states of the models, and we found that stability of endemic equilibrium states of models are globally asymptotically stable if the effective reproduction numbers of the models equations are greater than a unit.Keywords: effective reproduction number, endemic state, mathematical model, Newcastle disease virus, novel quarantine-adjusted incidence, stability analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 238319 Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy with Plasmonic Lens Focused Longitudinal Electric Field Excitation
Authors: Mingqian Zhang
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Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a scanning probe technique for individual objects and structured surfaces investigation that provides a wealth of enhanced spectral information with nanoscale spatial resolution and high detection sensitivity. It has become a powerful and promising chemical and physical information detection method in the nanometer scale. The TERS technique uses a sharp metallic tip regulated in the near-field of a sample surface, which is illuminated with a certain incident beam meeting the excitation conditions of the wave-vector matching. The local electric field, and, consequently, the Raman scattering, from the sample in the vicinity of the tip apex are both greatly tip-enhanced owning to the excitation of localized surface plasmons and the lightning-rod effect. Typically, a TERS setup is composed of a scanning probe microscope, excitation and collection optical configurations, and a Raman spectroscope. In the illumination configuration, an objective lens or a parabolic mirror is always used as the most important component, in order to focus the incident beam on the tip apex for excitation. In this research, a novel TERS setup was built up by introducing a plasmonic lens to the excitation optics as a focusing device. A plasmonic lens with symmetry breaking semi-annular slits corrugated on gold film was designed for the purpose of generating concentrated sub-wavelength light spots with strong longitudinal electric field. Compared to conventional far-field optical components, the designed plasmonic lens not only focuses an incident beam to a sub-wavelength light spot, but also realizes a strong z-component that dominants the electric field illumination, which is ideal for the excitation of tip-enhancement. Therefore, using a PL in the illumination configuration of TERS contributes to improve the detection sensitivity by both reducing the far-field background and effectively exciting the localized electric field enhancement. The FDTD method was employed to investigate the optical near-field distribution resulting from the light-nanostructure interaction. And the optical field distribution was characterized using an scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope to demonstrate the focusing performance of the lens. The experimental result is in agreement with the theoretically calculated one. It verifies the focusing performance of the plasmonic lens. The optical field distribution shows a bright elliptic spot in the lens center and several arc-like side-lobes on both sides. After the focusing performance was experimentally verified, the designed plasmonic lens was used as a focusing component in the excitation configuration of TERS setup to concentrate incident energy and generate a longitudinal optical field. A collimated linearly polarized laser beam, with along x-axis polarization, was incident from the bottom glass side on the plasmonic lens. The incident light focused by the plasmonic lens interacted with the silver-coated tip apex and enhanced the Raman signal of the sample locally. The scattered Raman signal was gathered by a parabolic mirror and detected with a Raman spectroscopy. Then, the plasmonic lens based setup was employed to investigate carbon nanotubes and TERS experiment was performed. Experimental results indicate that the Raman signal is considerably enhanced which proves that the novel TERS configuration is feasible and promising.Keywords: longitudinal electric field, plasmonics, raman spectroscopy, tip-enhancement
Procedia PDF Downloads 364318 Increasing Sexual Safety Awareness and Capacity for Mental Health Professionals
Authors: Tara Hunter, Kristine Concepcion, Wendy Cheng, Brianna Pike, Jane Estoesta, Anne Stuart
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In 2015, Family Planning NSW was contracted by the NSW Ministry of Health to design and deliver Sexual Safety Policy training (SSPT) to mental health professionals across NSW. The training was based on their current guidelines and developed in consultation with an expert reference group. From October 2015 to April 2017 it was delivered to over 2,400 mental health professionals with a view to supporting implementation of consistent prevention and intervention related to sexual safety in the mental health setting. An evaluation was undertaken to determine the knowledge and confidence of participants related to sexual safety before and after the training, and whether any improvements were translated into changes in practice. Participants were invited to complete a survey prior to the training, upon completion and three to six months thereafter. Telephone interviews were conducted among service managers and mental health champions six months post-training. Prior to training, the majority of mental health professionals reported being slightly to moderately confident in identifying a sexual safety incident. When asked on their understanding of sexual safety, gender sensitive practice and trauma informed care, they reported no confidence, slight confidence and moderate confidence. Immediately after the training, 54.5% reported being very confident and 10.9% extremely confident in identifying a sexual safety incident. More than half felt very confident or extremely confident in their understanding of sexual safety principles. The impact survey (six months later) found that the majority of participants (91%) were highly confident in identifying a sexual safety incident. Telephone interviewees reported a change in workplace culture and increased awareness after the training. Mental health professionals experienced increased knowledge and confidence about sexual safety principles following the training and were able to implement positive changes and concrete actions to better address sexual safety issues in their workplace.Keywords: sexual safety, mental health professionals, trauma informed care, policy training
Procedia PDF Downloads 298317 Analyzing Safety Incidents using the Fatigue Risk Index Calculator as an Indicator of Fatigue within a UK Rail Franchise
Authors: Michael Scott Evans, Andrew Smith
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The feeling of fatigue at work could potentially have devastating consequences. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the well-established objective indicator of fatigue – the Fatigue Risk Index (FRI) calculator used by the rail industry is an effective indicator to the number of safety incidents, in which fatigue could have been a contributing factor. The study received ethics approval from Cardiff University’s Ethics Committee (EC.16.06.14.4547). A total of 901 safety incidents were recorded from a single British rail franchise between 1st June 2010 – 31st December 2016, into the Safety Management Information System (SMIS). The safety incident types identified that fatigue could have been a contributing factor were: Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) activation, Automatic Warning System (AWS) slow to cancel, failed to call, and station overrun. From the 901 recorded safety incidents, the scheduling system CrewPlan was used to extract the Fatigue Index (FI) score and Risk Index (RI) score of all train drivers on the day of the safety incident. Only the working rosters of 64.2% (N = 578) (550 men and 28 female) ranging in age from 24 – 65 years old (M = 47.13, SD = 7.30) were accessible for analyses. Analysis from all 578 train drivers who were involved in safety incidents revealed that 99.8% (N = 577) of Fatigue Index (FI) scores fell within or below the identified guideline threshold of 45 as well as 97.9% (N = 566) of Risk Index (RI) scores falling below the 1.6 threshold range. Their scores represent good practice within the rail industry. These findings seem to indicate that the current objective indicator, i.e. the FRI calculator used in this study by the British rail franchise was not an effective predictor of train driver’s FI scores and RI scores, as safety incidents in which fatigue could have been a contributing factor represented only 0.2% of FI scores and 2.1% of RI scores. Further research is needed to determine whether there are other contributing factors that could provide a better indication as to why there is such a significantly large proportion of train drivers who are involved in safety incidents, in which fatigue could have been a contributing factor have such low FI and RI scores.Keywords: fatigue risk index calculator, objective indicator of fatigue, rail industry, safety incident
Procedia PDF Downloads 177316 Determination of Safety Distance Around Gas Pipelines Using Numerical Methods
Authors: Omid Adibi, Nategheh Najafpour, Bijan Farhanieh, Hossein Afshin
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Energy transmission pipelines are one of the most vital parts of each country which several strict laws have been conducted to enhance the safety of these lines and their vicinity. One of these laws is the safety distance around high pressure gas pipelines. Safety distance refers to the minimum distance from the pipeline where people and equipment do not confront with serious damages. In the present study, safety distance around high pressure gas transmission pipelines were determined by using numerical methods. For this purpose, gas leakages from cracked pipeline and created jet fires were simulated as continuous ignition, three dimensional, unsteady and turbulent cases. Numerical simulations were based on finite volume method and turbulence of flow was considered using k-ω SST model. Also, the combustion of natural gas and air mixture was applied using the eddy dissipation method. The results show that, due to the high pressure difference between pipeline and environment, flow chocks in the cracked area and velocity of the exhausted gas reaches to sound speed. Also, analysis of the incident radiation results shows that safety distances around 42 inches high pressure natural gas pipeline based on 5 and 15 kW/m2 criteria are 205 and 272 meters, respectively.Keywords: gas pipelines, incident radiation, numerical simulation, safety distance
Procedia PDF Downloads 327315 Total Chromatic Number of Δ-Claw-Free 3-Degenerated Graphs
Authors: Wongsakorn Charoenpanitseri
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The total chromatic number χ"(G) of a graph G is the minimum number of colors needed to color the elements (vertices and edges) of G such that no incident or adjacent pair of elements receive the same color Let G be a graph with maximum degree Δ(G). Considering a total coloring of G and focusing on a vertex with maximum degree. A vertex with maximum degree needs a color and all Δ(G) edges incident to this vertex need more Δ(G) + 1 distinct colors. To color all vertices and all edges of G, it requires at least Δ(G) + 1 colors. That is, χ"(G) is at least Δ(G) + 1. However, no one can find a graph G with the total chromatic number which is greater than Δ(G) + 2. The Total Coloring Conjecture states that for every graph G, χ"(G) is at most Δ(G) + 2. In this paper, we prove that the Total Coloring Conjectur for a Δ-claw-free 3-degenerated graph. That is, we prove that the total chromatic number of every Δ-claw-free 3-degenerated graph is at most Δ(G) + 2.Keywords: total colorings, the total chromatic number, 3-degenerated, CLAW-FREE
Procedia PDF Downloads 169314 Investigation of Oscillation Mechanism of a Large-scale Solar Photovoltaic and Wind Hybrid Power Plant
Authors: Ting Kai Chia, Ruifeng Yan, Feifei Bai, Tapan Saha
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This research presents a real-world power system oscillation incident in 2022 originated by a hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind renewable energy farm with a rated capacity of approximately 300MW in Australia. The voltage and reactive power outputs recorded at the point of common coupling (PCC) oscillated at a sub-synchronous frequency region, which sustained for approximately five hours in the network. The reactive power oscillation gradually increased over time and reached a recorded maximum of approximately 250MVar peak-to-peak (from inductive to capacitive). The network service provider was not able to quickly identify the location of the oscillation source because the issue was widespread across the network. After the incident, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) concluded that the oscillation problem was caused by the incorrect setting recovery of the hybrid power plant controller (HPPC) in the voltage and reactive power control loop after a loss of communication event. The voltage controller normally outputs a reactive (Q) reference value to the Q controller which controls the Q dispatch setpoint of PV and wind plants in the hybrid farm. Meanwhile, a feed-forward (FF) configuration is used to bypass the Q controller in case there is a loss of communication. Further study found that the FF control mode was still engaged when communication was re-established, which ultimately resulted in the oscillation event. However, there was no detailed explanation of why the FF control mode can cause instability in the hybrid farm. Also, there was no duplication of the event in the simulation to analyze the root cause of the oscillation. Therefore, this research aims to model and replicate the oscillation event in a simulation environment and investigate the underlying behavior of the HPPC and the consequent oscillation mechanism during the incident. The outcome of this research will provide significant benefits to the safe operation of large-scale renewable energy generators and power networks.Keywords: PV, oscillation, modelling, wind
Procedia PDF Downloads 31313 Montelukast Doesn’t Decrease the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Asthma Patients in Taiwan
Authors: Sheng Yu Chen, Shi-Heng Wang
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Aim: Based on human, animal experiments, and genetic studies, cysteinyl leukotrienes, LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4, are inflammatory substances that are metabolized by 5-lipooxygenase from arachidonic acid, and these substances trigger asthma. In addition, the synthetic pathway of cysteinyl leukotriene is relevant to the increase in cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial ischemia and stroke. Given the situation, we aim to investigate whether cysteinyl leukotrienes receptor antagonist (LTRA), montelukast which cures those who have asthma has potential protective effects on cardiovascular diseases. Method: We conducted a cohort study, and enrolled participants which are newly diagnosed with asthma (ICD-9 CM code 493. X) between 2002 to 2011. The data source is from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database Patients with a previous history of myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke were excluded. Among the remaining participants, every montelukast user was matched with two randomly non-users by sex, and age. The incident cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, were regarded as outcomes. We followed the participants until outcomes come first or the end of the following period. To explore the protective effect of montelukast on the risk of cardiovascular disease, we use multivariable Cox regression to estimate the hazard ratio with adjustment for potential confounding factors. Result: There are 55876 newly diagnosed asthma patients who had at least one claim of inpatient admission or at least three claims of outpatient records. We enrolled 5350 montelukast users and 10700 non-users in this cohort study. The following mean (±SD) time of the Montelukast group is 5 (±2.19 )years, and the non-users group is 6.2 5.47 (± 2.641) years. By using multivariable Cox regression, our analysis indicated that the risk of incident cardiovascular diseases between montelukast users (n=43, 0.8%) and non-users (n=111, 1.04%) is approximately equal. [adjusted hazard ratio 0.992; P-value:0.9643] Conclusion: In this population-based study, we found that the use of montelukast is not associated with a decrease in incident MI or IS.Keywords: asthma, inflammation, montelukast, insurance research database, cardiovascular diseases
Procedia PDF Downloads 77312 Investigating a Modern Accident Analysis Model for Textile Building Fires through Numerical Reconstruction
Authors: Mohsin Ali Shaikh, Weiguo Song, Rehmat Karim, Muhammad Kashan Surahio, Muhammad Usman Shahid
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Fire investigations face challenges due to the complexity of fire development, and real-world accidents lack repeatability, making it difficult to apply standardized approaches. The unpredictable nature of fires and the unique conditions of each incident contribute to the complexity, requiring innovative methods and tools for effective analysis and reconstruction. This study proposes to provide the modern accident analysis model through numerical reconstruction for fire investigation in textile buildings. This method employs computer simulation to enhance the overall effectiveness of textile-building investigations. The materials and evidence collected from past incidents reconstruct fire occurrences, progressions, and catastrophic processes. The approach is demonstrated through a case study involving a tragic textile factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan, which claimed 257 lives. The reconstruction method proves invaluable for determining fire origins, assessing losses, establishing accountability, and, significantly, providing preventive insights for complex fire incidents.Keywords: fire investigation, numerical simulation, fire safety, fire incident, textile building
Procedia PDF Downloads 61311 Development of Quality Assessment Tool to Gauge Fire Response Activities of Emergency Personnel in Denmark
Authors: Jennifer E. Lynette
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The purpose of this study is to develop a nation-wide assessment tool to gauge the quality and efficiency of response activities by emergency personnel to fires in Denmark. Current fire incident reports lack detailed information that can lead to breakthroughs in research and improve emergency response efforts. Information generated from the report database is analyzed and assessed for efficiency and quality. By utilizing information collection gaps in the incident reports, an improved, indepth, and streamlined quality gauging system is developed for use by fire brigades. This study pinpoints previously unrecorded factors involved in the response phases of a fire. Variables are recorded and ranked based on their influence to event outcome. By assessing and measuring these data points, quality standards are developed. These quality standards include details of the response phase previously overlooked which individually and cumulatively impact the overall success of a fire response effort. Through the application of this tool and implementation of associated quality standards at Denmark’s fire brigades, there is potential to increase efficiency and quality in the preparedness and response phases, thereby saving additional lives, property, and resources.Keywords: emergency management, fire, preparedness, quality standards, response
Procedia PDF Downloads 318310 Solving Transient Conduction and Radiation using Finite Volume Method
Authors: Ashok K. Satapathy, Prerana Nashine
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Radiative heat transfer in participating medium was anticipated using the finite volume method. The radiative transfer equations are formulated for absorbing and anisotropically scattering and emitting medium. The solution strategy is discussed and the conditions for computational stability are conferred. The equations have been solved for transient radiative medium and transient radiation incorporated with transient conduction. Results have been obtained for irradiation and corresponding heat fluxes for both the cases. The solutions can be used to conclude incident energy and surface heat flux. Transient solutions were obtained for a slab of heat conducting in slab by thermal radiation. The effect of heat conduction during the transient phase is to partially equalize the internal temperature distribution. The solution procedure provides accurate temperature distributions in these regions. A finite volume procedure with variable space and time increments is used to solve the transient energy equation. The medium in the enclosure absorbs, emits, and anisotropically scatters radiative energy. The incident radiations and the radiative heat fluxes are presented in graphical forms. The phase function anisotropy plays a significant role in the radiation heat transfer when the boundary condition is non-symmetric.Keywords: participating media, finite volume method, radiation coupled with conduction, heat transfer
Procedia PDF Downloads 374