Search results for: management system

Authors: Osama Shakeel

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The objective of the paper is to study the clinic-pathological factors, survival analyses, recurrence rate, metastatic rate, risk factors and the management of cutaneous malignant melanoma at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center. Methodology: From 2014 to 2017, all patients with a diagnosis of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) were included in the study. Demographic variables were collected. Short and long term oncological outcomes were recorded. All data were entered and analyzed in SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 28 patients were included in the study. Median age was 46.5 +/-15.9 years. There were 16 male and 12 female patients. The family history of melanoma was present in 7.1% (n=2) of the patients. All patients had a mean survival of 13.43+/- 9.09 months. Lower limb was the commonest site among all which constitutes 46.4%(n=13). On histopathological analyses, ulceration was seen in 53.6% (n=15) patients. Unclassified tumor type was present in 75%(n=21) of the patients followed by nodular 21.4% (n=6) and superficial spreading 3.5%(n=1). Clark level IV was the commonest presentation constituting 46.4%(n=13). Metastases were seen in 50%(n=14) of the patients. Local recurrence was observed in 60.7%(n=17). 64.3%(n=18) lived after one year of treatment. Conclusion: CMM is a fatal disease. Although its disease of fair skin individuals, however, the incidence of CMM is also rising in this part of the world. Management includes early diagnoses and prompt management. However, mortality associated with this disease is still not favorable.

Keywords: malignant cancer of skin, cutaneous malignant melanoma, skin cancer, survival analyses

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Authors: Lucian Stefanita Grigore, Damian Gorgoteanu, Cristian Molder, Amado Stefan, Daniel Constantin

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The purpose of this article is to present an analytical-numerical study on the structural behavior of a sunken autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for emergency intervention. The need for such a study was generated by the key objective of the ERL-Emergency project. The project aims to develop a system of collaborative robots for emergency response. The system consists of two robots: unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) on tracks and the second is an AUV. The system of collaborative robots, AUV and UGV, will be used to perform missions of monitoring, intervention, and rescue. The main mission of the AUV is to dive into the maritime space of an industrial port to detect possible leaks in a pipeline transporting petroleum products. Another mission is to close and open the valves with which the pipes are provided. Finally, you will need to be able to lift a manikin to the surface, which you can take to land. Numerical analysis was performed by the finite element method (FEM). The conditions for immersing the AUV at 100 m depth were simulated, and the calculations for different fluid flow rates were repeated. From a structural point of view, the stiffening areas and the enclosures in which the command-and-control elements and the accumulators are located have been especially analyzed. The conclusion of this research is that the AUV meets very well the established requirements.

Keywords: analytical-numerical, emergency, FEM, robotics, underwater

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Authors: Lior Davidovitch

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Traditional training based on static models and case studies is the backbone of most teaching and training programs of engineering education. However, project management learning is characterized by dynamics models that requires new and enhanced learning method. The results of empirical experiments evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of using cognitive simulator as a new training technique are reported. The empirical findings are focused on the impact of keeping and reviewing learning history in a dynamic and interactive simulation environment of engineering education. The cognitive simulator for engineering project management learning had two learning history keeping modes: manual (student-controlled), automatic (simulator-controlled) and a version with no history keeping. A group of industrial engineering students performed four simulation-runs divided into three identical simple scenarios and one complicated scenario. The performances of participants running the simulation with the manual history mode were significantly better than users running the simulation with the automatic history mode. Moreover, the effects of using the undo enhanced further the learning process. The findings indicate an enhancement of engineering students’ learning and decision making when they use the record functionality of the history during their engineering training process. Furthermore, the cognitive simulator as educational innovation improves students learning and training. The practical implications of using simulators in the field of engineering education are discussed.

Keywords: cognitive simulator, decision making, engineering learning, project management

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Authors: Tonny Ograh, Joshua Ayarkwa, Dickson Osei-Asibey, Alex Acheampong, Peter Amoah

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Theories are used to improve the conceptualization of research ideas. These theories enhance valuable elucidations that help us to grasp the meaning of research findings. Nevertheless, the use of theories to promote studies in green supplier selection in procurement decisions has attracted little attention. With the emergence of sustainable procurement, public procurement practitioners in Ghana are yet to achieve relevant knowledge on green supplier selections due to insufficient knowledge and inadequate appropriate frameworks. The flagrancy of the consequences of public procurers’ failure to integrate environmental considerations into supplier selection explains the adoption of a multi-theory approach for comprehension of the dynamics of green integration into supplier selection. In this paper, the practicality of three theories for improving the understanding of the influential factors enhancing the integration of environmental sustainability into supplier selection was reviewed. The three theories are Resource-Based Theory, Human Capital Theory and Absorptive Capacity Theory. This review uncovered knowledge management, top management commitment, and environmental management capabilities as important elements needed for the integration of environmental sustainability into supplier selection in public procurement. The theoretical review yielded a framework that conceptualizes knowledge and capabilities of practitioners relevant to the incorporation of environmental sustainability into supplier selection in public procurement.

Keywords: environmental, sustainability, supplier selection, environmental procurement, sustainable procurement

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Authors: Samuel Bonato, Cineia Santos, Roberta Leite, Carla Ten Caten

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This paper aims to apply the A3 strategy deployment in a local department for healthcare. As a literature review, it was evaluated articles related to the period 2009 - 2018, considering the key-words A3, healthcare, public services and strategy deployment. The methodology used was action research, involving all the actors inside the secretary, beginning with the top management and deploying it through meetings and evaluation conferences with the participation of all secretary coordination. As main results, it is possible to highlight the development of 8 A3, one as the "mother A3" and 7 as "son A3", each one related to each coordination. In each A3, past results, new goals, new projects to achieve these goals and control deadlines were defined and implemented to a management strategy. In addition to this result, this paper is planning to present the use of this A3 during 6 months in 2019.

Keywords: A3 Strategy, strategy deployment, healthcare, Public services

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Authors: Alexander P. Eremeev, Ivan E. Kurilenko, Pavel R. Varshavskiy

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In this paper, the problem of the application of temporal reasoning and case-based reasoning in intelligent decision support systems is considered. The method of case-based reasoning with temporal dependences for the solution of problems of real-time diagnostics and forecasting in intelligent decision support systems is described. This paper demonstrates how the temporal case-based reasoning system can be used in intelligent decision support systems of the car access control. This work was supported by RFBR.

Keywords: analogous reasoning, case-based reasoning, intelligent decision support systems, temporal reasoning

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Authors: Mehdi Fuladipanah, Mehdi Jorabloo

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Water flow management is one of the most important parts of river engineering. Non-uniformity distribution of rainfall and various flow demand with unreasonable flow management will be caused destroyed of river ecosystem. Then, it is very serious to determine ecosystem flow requirement. In this paper, flow duration curve indices method which has hydrological based was used to evaluate environmental flow in Gharasou River, Ardabil, Iran. Using flow duration curve, Q90 and Q95 for different return periods were calculated. Their magnitude were determined as 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, and 30 day. According the second method, hydraulic alteration indices often had low and medium range. In order to maintain river at an acceptable ecological condition, minimum daily discharge of index Q95 is 0.7 m3.s-1.

Keywords: ardabil, environmental flow, flow duration curve, Gharasou river

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Authors: Mabtho Moreroa-Monyelo, Grace Ijoma, Rosina Nkuna, Tonderayi Matambo

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A moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was used for the bioremediation of high strength chemical oxygen demand (COD) Fisher-Tropsch (FT) wastewater. The aerobic MBBR system was operated over 60 days. For metagenomics profile assessment of the targeted 16S sequence of bacteria involved in the bioremediation of the chemical compounds, sludge samples were collected every second day of operation. Parameters such as pH and COD were measured daily to compare the system efficiency as the changedin microbial diversity progressed. The study revealed that pH was a contributing factor to microbial diversity, which further affected the efficiency of the MBBR system. The highest COD removal rate of 86.4% was achieved at pH 8.3. It was observed that when there was more, A higher bacterial diversity led to an improvement in the reduction of COD. Furthermore, an OTUof 4530 was obtained, which were divided into 12 phyla, 27 classes, 44 orders, 74 families, and 138 genera across all sludge samples from the MBBR. A determination of the relative abundance of microorganisms at phyla level indicates that the most abundant phylum on day it was Firmicutes (50%); thereafter, the most abundant phylum changed toProteobacteria.

Keywords: biodegradation, fischer-tropsch wastewater, metagenomics, moving bed biofilm reactor

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Authors: M. P. Sebastian

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Health for all is considered as a sign of well-being and inclusive growth. New healthcare technologies are contributing to the quality of human lives by promoting health education and awareness, leading to the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms of diseases. Healthcare technologies have now migrated from the medical and institutionalized settings to the home and everyday life. This paper explores these new technologies and investigates how they contribute to health education and awareness, promoting the objective of high-value health system for all. The methodology used for the research is literature review. The paper also discusses the opportunities and challenges with futuristic healthcare technologies. The combined advances in genomics medicine, wearables and the IoT with enhanced data collection in electronic health record (EHR) systems, environmental sensors, and mobile device applications can contribute in a big way to high-value health system for all. The promise by these technologies includes reduced total cost of healthcare, reduced incidence of medical diagnosis errors, and reduced treatment variability. The major barriers to adoption include concerns with security, privacy, and integrity of healthcare data, regulation and compliance issues, service reliability, interoperability and portability of data, and user friendliness and convenience of these technologies.

Keywords: big data, education, healthcare, information communication technologies (ICT), patients, technologies

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Authors: Mukisa Daphine Letisha

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Plea bargaining, a practice often associated with more developed legal systems, has emerged as a significant tool within Uganda's criminal justice system despite its absence in formal legal structures inherited from its colonial past. Initiated in 2013 with the aim of reducing case backlogs, expediting trials, and addressing prison congestion, plea bargaining reflects a pragmatic response to systemic challenges. While rooted in international statutes and domestic constitutional provisions, its implementation relies heavily on the Judicature (Plea Bargain) Rules of 2016, which outline procedural requirements and safeguards. Advocates argue that plea bargaining has yielded tangible benefits, including a reduction in case backlog and efficient allocation of resources, with notable support from judicial and prosecutorial authorities. Case examples demonstrate successful outcomes, with accused individuals benefitting from reduced sentences in exchange for guilty pleas. However, challenges persist, including procedural irregularities, inadequate statutory provisions, and concerns about coercion and imbalance of power between prosecutors and accused individuals. To enhance efficacy, recommendations focus on establishing monitoring mechanisms, stakeholder training, and public sensitization campaigns. In conclusion, while plea bargaining offers potential advantages in streamlining Uganda's criminal justice system, addressing its challenges requires careful consideration of procedural safeguards and stakeholder engagement to ensure fairness and integrity in the administration of justice.

Keywords: plea-bargaining, criminal-justice system, uganda, efficacy

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Authors: Supriya Majumder, Pabitra Banik

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Fates of Arsenic (As) on the soil-plant environment belong to the critical emerging issue, which in turn to appraises the threatening implications of a human health risk — assessing the dynamics of As in soil solid components are likely to impose its potential availability towards plant uptake. In the present context, we introduced an improved Sequential Extraction Procedure (SEP) questioning to identify solid-phase speciation of As in paddy soil under variable soil environmental conditions during two consecutive seasons of rice cultivation practices. We coupled gradients of water management practices with the addition of fertilizer amendments to assess the changes in a partition of As through a field experimental study during monsoon and post-monsoon season using two rice cultivars. Water management regimes were varied based on the methods of cultivation of rice by Conventional (waterlogged) vis-a-vis System of Rice Intensification-SRI (saturated). Fertilizer amendment through the nutrient treatment of absolute control, NPK-RD, NPK-RD + Calcium silicate, NPK-RD + Ferrous sulfate, Farmyard manure (FYM), FYM + Calcium silicate, FYM + Ferrous sulfate, Vermicompost (VC), VC + Calcium silicate, VC + Ferrous sulfate were selected to construct the study. After harvest, soil samples were sequentially extracted to estimate partition of As among the different fractions such as: exchangeable (F1), specifically sorbed (F2), As bound to amorphous Fe oxides (F3), crystalline Fe oxides (F4), organic matter (F5) and residual phase (F6). Results showed that the major proportions of As were found in F3, F4 and F6, whereas F1 exhibited the lowest proportion of total soil As. Among the nutrient treatment mediated changes on As fractions, the application of organic manure and ferrous sulfate were significantly found to restrict the release of As from exchangeable phase. Meanwhile, conventional practice produced much higher release of As from F1 as compared to SRI, which may substantially increase the environmental risk. In contrast, SRI practice was found to retain a significantly higher proportion of As in F2, F3, and F4 phase resulting restricted mobilization of As. This was critically reflected towards rice grain As bioavailability where the reduction in grain As concentration of 33% and 55% in SRI concerning conventional treatment (p <0.05) during monsoon and post-monsoon season respectively. Also, prediction assay for rice grain As bioavailability based on the linear regression model was performed. Results demonstrated that rice grain As concentration was positively correlated with As concentration in F1 and negatively correlated with F2, F3, and F4 with a satisfactory level of variation being explained (p <0.001). Finally, we conclude that F1, F2, F3 and F4 are the major soil. As fractions critically may govern the potential availability of As in soil and suggest that rice cultivation with the SRI treatment is particularly at less risk of As availability in soil. Such exhaustive information may be useful for adopting certain management practices for rice grown in contaminated soil concerning to the environmental issues in particular.

Keywords: arsenic, fractionation, paddy soil, potential availability

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Authors: Hamed Qazanfari, Hamid Hassanpour, Kazem Qazanfari

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In this paper, a method is provided for content-based image retrieval. Content-based image retrieval system searches query an image based on its visual content in an image database to retrieve similar images. In this paper, with the aim of simulating the human visual system sensitivity to image's edges and color features, the concept of color difference histogram (CDH) is used. CDH includes the perceptually color difference between two neighboring pixels with regard to colors and edge orientations. Since the HSV color space is close to the human visual system, the CDH is calculated in this color space. In addition, to improve the color features, the color histogram in HSV color space is also used as a feature. Among the extracted features, efficient features are selected using entropy and correlation criteria. The final features extract the content of images most efficiently. The proposed method has been evaluated on three standard databases Corel 5k, Corel 10k and UKBench. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the proposed image retrieval method is significantly improved compared to the recently developed methods.

Keywords: content-based image retrieval, color difference histogram, efficient features selection, entropy, correlation

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Authors: Ziba Omidi, Min-Ki Kim

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This research presents the design, fabrication and application of a flavor sensor for an integrated electronic tongue and electronic nose that can allow rapid characterization of multi-component mixtures in a solution. The odor gas and liquid are separated using hydrophobic porous membrane in micro fluidic channel. The sensor uses an array composed of microbeads in micromachined cavities localized on silicon wafer. Sensing occurs via colorimetric and fluorescence changes to receptors and indicator molecules that are attached to termination sites on the polymeric microbeads. As a result, the sensor array system enables simultaneous and near-real-time analyses using small samples and reagent volumes with the capacity to incorporate significant redundancies. One of the key parts of the system is a passive pump driven only by capillary force. The hydrophilic surface of the fluidic structure draws the sample into the sensor array without any moving mechanical parts. Since there is no moving mechanical component in the structure, the size of the fluidic structure can be compact and the fabrication becomes simple when compared to the device including active microfluidic components. These factors should make the proposed system inexpensive to mass-produce, portable and compatible with biomedical applications.

Keywords: optical sensor, semiconductor manufacturing, smell sensor, taste sensor

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Authors: Leili Esmaeilani, Jafar Ghaisari, Mohsen Ahmadian

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Hammerstein–Wiener model is a block-oriented model where a linear dynamic system is surrounded by two static nonlinearities at its input and output and could be used to model various processes. This paper contains an optimization approach method for analysing the problem of Hammerstein–Wiener systems identification. The method relies on reformulate the identification problem; solve it as constraint quadratic problem and analysing its solutions. During the formulation of the problem, effects of adding noise to both input and output signals of nonlinear blocks and disturbance to linear block, in the emerged equations are discussed. Additionally, the possible parametric form of matrix operations to reduce the equation size is presented. To analyse the possible solutions to the mentioned system of equations, a method to reduce the difference between the number of equations and number of unknown variables by formulate and importing existing knowledge about nonlinear functions is presented. Obtained equations are applied to an instance H–W system to validate the results and illustrate the proposed method.

Keywords: identification, Hammerstein-Wiener, optimization, quantization

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Authors: Azhar Ulhaq, Zubair Yameen, Almas Anjum

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Frequency behaviour of self-excited induction generator (SEIG) wind turbines during control mode transition from grid connected to islanded mode is studied in detail. A robust control scheme for frequency regulation based on combined action of STATCOM, energy storage system (ESS) and pitch angle control for wind powered microgrid (MG) is proposed. Suggested STATCOM controller comprises a 3-phase voltage source converter (VSC) that contains insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) based pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters along with a capacitor bank. Energy storage system control consists of current controlled voltage source converter and battery bank. Both of them acting simultaneously after detection of island compensates for reactive and active power demands, thus regulating frequency at point of common coupling (PCC) and also improves load stability. STATCOM integrates at point of common coupling and ESS is connected to microgrids main bus. Results reveal that proposed control not only stabilizes frequency during transition duration but also minimizes sudden frequency imbalance caused by load variation or wind intermittencies in islanded operation. System is investigated with and without suggested control scheme. The efficacy of proposed strategy has been verified by simulation in MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: energy storage system, island, wind, STATCOM, self-excited induction generator, SEIG, transient

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Authors: Yu Chen, Xiaoguang Yang, Lin Lin

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Traffic engineering construction is an important infrastructure for economic and social development. In the process of construction and operation, the ability to make a correct evaluation of the project's environmental impact appears to be crucial to the rational operation of existing transportation projects, the correct development of transportation engineering construction and the adoption of corresponding measures to scientifically carry out environmental protection work. Most of the existing research work on ecological and environmental impact assessment is limited to individual aspects of the environment and less to the overall evaluation of the environmental system; in terms of research conclusions, there are more qualitative analyses from the technical and policy levels, and there is a lack of quantitative research results and quantitative and operable evaluation models. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the ecological and environmental impacts of transportation construction projects is conducted, and factors such as the accessibility of data and the reliability of calculation results are comprehensively considered to extract indicators that can reflect the essence and characteristics. The qualitative evaluation indicators were screened using the expert review method, the qualitative indicators were measured using the fuzzy statistics method, the quantitative indicators were screened using the principal component analysis method, and the quantitative indicators were measured by both literature search and calculation. An environmental impact evaluation index system with the general objective layer, sub-objective layer and indicator layer was established, dividing the environmental impact of the transportation construction project into two periods: the construction period and the operation period. On the basis of the evaluation index system, the index weights are determined using the hierarchical analysis method, and the individual indicators to be evaluated are dimensionless, eliminating the influence of the original background and meaning of the indicators. Finally, the thesis uses the above research results, combined with the actual engineering practice, to verify the correctness and operability of the evaluation method.

Keywords: transportation construction projects, ecological and environmental impact, analysis and evaluation, indicator evaluation system

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Authors: Giovanni Gonzalez Araujo, Michael Kyrilov, Angelo Kyrilov

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STEAMplug is a web-based innovative educational platform which makes teaching easier and learning more effective. It requires no setup, eliminating the barriers to entry, allowing students to focus on their learning throughreal-world development environments. The student-centric tools enable easy collaboration between peers and teachers. Analyzing user interactions with the system enables us to predict student performance and identify at-risk students, allowing early instructor intervention.

Keywords: plagiarism detection, identifying at-Risk Students, education technology, e-learning system, collaborative development, learning and teaching with technology

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Authors: Muhammad Afzal, Junaid Uzair Satti

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The noise emanating from the ducting of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is often attenuated by using the dissipative silencers. Such devices work well for the high-frequency noise but are less operative in the low-frequency noise range. The present study analyzes a reactive silencer comprising expansion chamber of the elastic membranes partitioned symmetrically by a rigid plate. The Mode-Matching scheme has been developed to solve the governing boundary value problem. The orthogonal and non-orthogonal duct modes of acoustic pressures and normal velocities are matched at interfaces. It enables to recast the differential system into the infinite system of linear algebraic of equations, which is, then truncated and inverted for the solution. The truncated solution is validated through the conservation of energy and reconstruction of matching conditions. The results for scattering energy flux and transmission loss are shown against frequency and the dimensions of the chamber. It is seen that the stop-band of the silencer can be shifted to the broadband by changing the dimensions of the chamber and the properties of the elastic membranes. The modeled reactive silencer is more efficient in low frequency regime where the passive devices are least effective.

Keywords: acoustic scattering, elastic membranes mode-matching, reactive silencer

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Authors: Abir Abdessalem, Sahbi Tamboura, J. Fitoussi, Hachmi Ben Daly, Abbas Tcharkhtchi

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Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is one of the most used experimental techniques to investigate the temperature and frequency dependence of the mechanical behavior of viscoelastic materials. The measured data are generally shifted by the application of the principle of the time– temperature superposition (TTS) to obtain the viscoelastic system’s master curve. The aim of this work is to show the methodology to define the horizontal shift factor to be applied to the storage modulus measured in order to indicate the validity of (TTS) principle for this material system. This principle was successfully used to determine the long-term properties of the Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) composites.

Keywords: composite material, dynamic mechanical analysis, SMC composites, viscoelastic behavior, modeling

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Authors: O. A. Akinsanya

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This paper presents the emerging trends in household energy usage in Nigeria for sustainable development. The paper relied on a direct appraisal of energy use in the residential sector and the use of a structured questionnaire to establish the usage pattern, energy management measures and emerging advances. The use of efficient appliances, retrofitting, smart building and smart attitude are some of the benefitting measures. The paper also identified smart building, prosumer activities, hybrid energy use, improved awareness, and solar stand-alone street/security lights as the trend and concluded that energy management strategies would result in a significant reduction in the monthly bills and peak loads as well as the total electricity consumption in Nigeria and therefore it is good for sustainable development.

Keywords: household, energy, trends, strategy, sustainable, Nigeria

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Authors: Amberly Brigden, Ali Heawood, Emma C. Anderson, Richard Morris, Esther Crawley

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Background: Paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is characterised by persistent, disabling fatigue. Health services see patients below the age of 12. This age group experience high levels of disability, with low levels of school attendance, high levels of fatigue, anxiety, functional disability and pain. CFS/ME interventions have been developed for adolescents, but the developmental needs of younger children suggest treatment should be tailored to this age group. Little is known about how intervention should be delivered to this age group, and further work is needed to explore this. Qualitative research aids patient-centered design of health intervention. Methods: Five to 11-year-olds and their parents were recruited from a specialist CFS/ME service. Semi-structured interviews explored the families’ experience of the condition and perspectives on treatment. Interactive and arts-based methods were used. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Qualitative Results: 14 parents and 7 children were interviewed. Early analysis of the interviews revealed the importance of the social-ecological setting of the child, which led to themes being developed in the context of Systems Theory. Theme one relates to the level of the child, theme two the family system, theme three the organisational and societal systems, and theme four cuts-across all levels. Theme1: The child’s capacity to describe, understand and manage their condition. Younger children struggled to describe their internal experiences, such as physical symptoms. Parents felt younger children did not understand some concepts of CFS/ME and did not have the capabilities to monitor and self-regulate their behaviour, as required by treatment. A spectrum of abilities was described; older children (10-11-year-olds) were more involved in clinical sessions and had more responsibility for self-management. Theme2: Parents’ responsibility for managing their child’s condition. Parents took responsibility for regulating their child’s behaviour in accordance with the treatment programme. They structured their child’s environment, gave direct instructions to their child, and communicated the needs of their child to others involved in care. Parents wanted their child to experience a 'normal' childhood and took steps to shield their child from medicalization, including diagnostic labels and clinical discussions. Theme3: Parental isolation and the role of organisational and societal systems. Parents felt unsupported in their role of managing the condition and felt negative responses from primary care health services and schools were underpinned by a lack of awareness and knowledge about CFS/ME in younger children. This sometimes led to a protracted time to diagnosis. Parents felt that schools have the potential important role in managing the child’s condition. Theme4: Complexity and uncertainty. Many parents valued specialist treatment (which included activity management, physiotherapy, sleep management, dietary advice, medical management and psychological support), but felt it needed to account for the complexity of the condition in younger children. Some parents expressed uncertainty about the diagnosis and the treatment programme. Conclusions: Interventions for younger children need to consider the 'systems' (family, organisational and societal) involved in the child’s care. Future research will include interviews with clinicians and schools supporting younger children with CFS/ME.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), pediatric, qualitative, treatment

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Authors: Melisa Yazdan Panahi

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Since, today in most countries around the world much attention is paid to planning the smallest unit in the city i.e. the residential neighborhoods to achieve sustainable urban development goals, a variety of assessment tools have been developed to assess and monitor the sustainability of new developments. One of the most reliable and widely used assessment tools is LEED-ND rating system. This paper whit the aim of assessing sustainability level of Roshdieh neighborhood in Tabriz, has introduced this rating system and applied it in the study area. The results indicate that Roshdieh has the potential of achieving the standards of sustainable neighborhoods, but the present situation is far from the ideal point.

Keywords: LEED-ND, sustainable neighborhood, new developments, Tabriz

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Authors: Maher Agi, Hardik Soni

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This paper presents a deterministic model for optimized control of the inventory of a perishable product subject to both physical deterioration and degradation of its freshness condition. The demand for the product depends on its current inventory level and freshness condition. Our model allows for any positive amount of end of cycle inventory. Some useful conditions that characterize the optimal solution of the model are derived and an algorithm is presented for finding the optimal values of the price, the inventory cycle, the end of cycle inventory level and the order quantity. Numerical examples are then given. Our work shows how the product freshness in conjunction with the inventory deterioration affects the inventory management decisions.

Keywords: inventory management, lot sizing, perishable products, deteriorating inventory, age-dependent demand, stock-dependent demand

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Authors: Gwi Hyun Lee, Mun Soo Na

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Solar energy has many advantages of infinite and clean source, and also it can be used for reduction of greenhouse gases and environment pollution. Concentrated solar system is a very useful to achieve reasonably high thermal efficiency. Different types of solar concentrating systems have been developed such as parabolic trough and parabolic dish. Conical solar concentrator is one of the most reliable and promising renewable energy systems for higher temperature applications. The objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of flow rate affecting the thermal efficiency of a conical solar collector, which has a double tube absorber placed at focal axis for collecting solar radiation. A conical solar concentrator consists of a conical reflector, which reflects direct solar radiation into an absorber. A double tube absorber was placed at the center of focal axis for collecting the solar radiation reflected from a conical reflector. A dual tracking system consists of a linear actuator and slew drive with driving cycle of 6 seconds. Water was used as circulating fluid, which flows from inlet to outlet of an absorber for collecting solar radiation. Three identical conical solar concentrator systems were installed side by side at the same place for the accurate performance analysis under the same environmental conditions. Performance evaluations were carried out with different volumetric flow rate of 2, 4 and 6 L/min to find the influence of flow rate affecting on thermal efficiency. The results indicated that average thermal efficiency was 73.24%, 81.96%, and 79.78% for each flow rate of 2 L/min, 4 L/min, and 6 L/min. It shows that the flow rate of circulating water has a significant effect on the thermal efficiency of the conical solar concentrator. It is concluded that an optimum flow rate of conical solar concentrator is 6 L/min.

Keywords: conical solar concentrator, performance evaluation, solar energy, solar energy system

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Authors: Sriraman Kothuri, Komal Teja Mattupalli

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In this paper we proposed a novel algorithm for recognizing hulls in a hand written digits. This is an extension to the work on “Digit Recognition Using Freeman Chain code”. In order to find out the hulls in a user given digit it is necessary to follow three steps. Those are pre-processing, Boundary Extraction and at last apply the Hull Detection system in a way to attain the better results. The detection of Hull Regions is mainly intended to increase the machine learning capability in detection of characters or digits. This can also extend this in order to get the hull regions and their intensities in Black Holes in Space Exploration.

Keywords: chain code, machine learning, hull regions, hull recognition system, SASK algorithm

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Authors: Ali Oveysi Sarabi

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In this paper, controller design for the attitude and altitude dynamics of an outdoor quadrotor, which is constructed with low cost actuators and drivers, is aimed. Before designing the controller, the quadrotor is modeled mathematically in Matlab-Simulink environment. To control attitude dynamics, linear quadratic regulator (LQR) based controllers are designed, simulated and applied to the system. Two different proportional-integral-derivative action (PID) controllers are designed to control yaw and altitude dynamics. During the implementation of the designed controllers, different test setups are used. Designed controllers are implemented and tuned on the real system using xPC Target. Tests show that these basic control structures are successful to control the attitude and altitude dynamics.

Keywords: helicopter balance, flight dynamics, autonomous landing, control robotics

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Authors: Dina Magdy Abdo, Ayat N. El-Shazly, E. A. Abdel-Aal

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Forward osmosis (FO) is one of the important processes during the wastewater treatment system for environmental remediation and fresh water regeneration. Both Egypt and China are troubled by over millions of tons of wastewater every year, including domestic and industrial wastewater. However, the traditional FO process in wastewater treatment usually suffers low efficiency and high energy consumption because of the continuously diluted draw solution. An additional concentration process is necessary to keep running of FO separation, causing energy waste. Based on the previous study on photothermal membrane, a sun-driven evaporation process is integrated into the draw solution side of FO system. During the sun-driven evaporation, not only the draw solution can be concentrated to maintain a stable and sustainable FO system, but fresh water can be directly separated for regeneration. Solar energy is the ultimate energy source of everything we have on Earth and is, without any doubt, the most renewable and sustainable energy source available to us. Additionally, the FO membrane process is rationally designed to limit the concentration polarization and fouling. The FO membrane’s structure and surface property will be further optimized by the adjustment of doping ratio of controllable nano-materials, membrane formation conditions, and selection of functional groups. A novel kind of nano-composite functional separation membrane with bi-interception layers and high hydrophilicity will be developed for the application in wastewater treatment. So, herein we aim to design a new wastewater treatment system include forward osmosis with high-efficiency energy recovery via the integration of photothermal membrane.

Keywords: forward osmosis, membrane, solar, water treatement

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Authors: Ekpeti Bukola Grace, Mahmoudi Sabar Esmail, Chaer Issa

Abstract:

Global energy consumption has been increasing steadily over the last half - century, and this trend is projected to continue. As energy demand rises in many countries throughout the world due to population growth, natural ventilation in buildings has been identified as a viable option for lowering these demands, saving costs, and also lowering CO2 emissions. However, natural ventilation is driven by forces that are generally unpredictable in nature thus, it is important to manage the resulting airflow in order to maintain pleasant indoor conditions, making it a complex system that necessitates specific control approaches. The effective application of fuzzy logic technique amidst other intelligent systems is one of the best ways to bridge this gap, as its control dynamics relates more to human reasoning and linguistic descriptions. This article reviewed existing literature and presented practical solutions by applying fuzzy logic control with optimized techniques, selected input parameters, and expert rules to design a more effective control system. The control monitors used indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, carbon-dioxide levels, wind velocity, and rain as input variables to the system, while the output variable remains the control of window opening. This is achieved through the use of fuzzy logic control tool box in MATLAB and running simulations on SIMULINK to validate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Comparison analysis model via simulation is carried out, and with the data obtained, an improvement in control actions and energy savings was recorded.

Keywords: fuzzy logic, intelligent control systems, natural ventilation, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Vedat Uyak

Abstract:

Seasonal variations of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) concentrations were investigated within three distribution systems of a coastal city of Istanbul, Turkey. Moreover, total trihalomethanes and other organics concentration were also analyzed. The investigation was based on an intensive 16 month (2009-2010) sampling program, undertaken during the spring, summer, fall and winter seasons. Four THM (chloroform, dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane, bromoform), and nine HAA (the most commonly occurring one being dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA); other compounds are monochloroacetic acid (MCAA), monobromoacetic acid (MBAA), dibromoacetic acid (DBAA), tribromoacetic acid (TBAA), bromochloroacetic acid (BCAA), bromodichloroacetic acid (BDCAA) and chlorodibromoacetic acid (CDBAA)) species and other water quality and operational parameters were monitored at points along the distribution system between the treatment plant and the system’s extremity. The effects of coastal water sources, seasonal variation and spatial variation were examined. The results showed that THMs and HAAs concentrations vary significantly between treated waters and water at the distribution networks. When water temperature exceeds 26°C in summer, the THMs and HAAs levels are 0.8 – 1.1, and 0.4 – 0.9 times higher than treated water, respectively. While when water temperature is below 12°C in the winter, the measured THMs and HAAs concentrations at the system’s extremity were very rarely higher than 100 μg/L, and 60 μg/L, respectively. The highest THM concentrations occurred in the Buyukcekmece distribution system, with an average total HAA concentration of 92 μg/L. Moreover, the lowest THM levels were observed in the Omerli distribution network, with a mean concentration of 7 μg/L. For HAA levels, the maximum concentrations again were observed in the Buyukcekmece distribution system, with an average total HAA concentration of 57 μg/l. High spatial and seasonal variation of disinfection by-products in the drinking water of Istanbul was attributed of illegal wastewater discharges to water supplies of Istanbul city.

Keywords: disinfection byproducts, drinking water, trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, seasonal variation

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Preeda Sansakorn, Min An

Abstract:

In order to be capable of dealing with uncertainties, subjectivities, including vagueness arising in building construction projects, the application of fuzzy reasoning technique based on fuzzy set theory is proposed. This study contributes significantly to the development of a fuzzy reasoning safety risk assessment model for building construction projects that could be employed to assess the risk magnitude of each hazardous event identified during construction, and a third parameter of probability of consequence is incorporated in the model. By using the proposed safety risk analysis methodology, more reliable and less ambiguities, which provide the safety risk management project team for decision-making purposes.

Keywords: safety risk assessment, building construction safety, fuzzy reasoning, construction risk assessment model, building construction projects

Procedia PDF Downloads 480