Search results for: death rate

Authors: Shalini Rankawat, Mansi Rankawat, Rahul Dubey, Mazad Zaveri

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Physiological signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) in the intensive care unit (ICU) are often seriously corrupted by noise, artifacts, and missing data, which lead to errors in the estimation of heart rate (HR) and incidences of false alarm from ICU monitors. Clinical support in ICU requires most reliable heart rate estimation. Cardiac activity, because of its relatively high electrical energy, may introduce artifacts in Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrooculogram (EOG), and Electromyogram (EMG) recordings. This paper presents a robust heart rate estimation method by detection of R-peaks of ECG artifacts in EEG, EMG & EOG signals, using energy-based function and a novel Signal Quality Index (SQI) assessment technique. SQIs of physiological signals (EEG, EMG, & EOG) were obtained by correlation of nonlinear energy operator (teager energy) of these signals with either ECG or ABP signal. HR is estimated from ECG, ABP, EEG, EMG, and EOG signals from separate Kalman filter based upon individual SQIs. Data fusion of each HR estimate was then performed by weighing each estimate by the Kalman filters’ SQI modified innovations. The fused signal HR estimate is more accurate and robust than any of the individual HR estimate. This method was evaluated on MIMIC II data base of PhysioNet from bedside monitors of ICU patients. The method provides an accurate HR estimate even in the presence of noise and artifacts.

Keywords: ECG, ABP, EEG, EMG, EOG, ECG artifacts, Teager-Kaiser energy, heart rate, signal quality index, Kalman filter, data fusion

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Authors: H. Tanyildizi, M. Abuqebitah, I. Cavdar, M. Demir, L. Kabasakal

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Aim: Whole liver radiation has the modest benefit in the treatment of unresectable hepatic metastases but the radiation doses must keep in control. Otherwise, RILD complications may arise. In this study, we aimed to calculate amount of maximum permissible activity (MPA) and critical organ absorbed doses with MIRD methodology, to evaluate tumour doses for treatment response and whole liver doses for RILD and to find optimal liver function test additionally. Materials and Methods: This study includes 29 patients who attended our nuclear medicine department suffering from Y-90 microspheres treatment. 10 mCi Tc-99m MAA was applied to the patients for dosimetry via IV. After the injection, whole body SPECT/CT images were taken in one hour. The minimum therapeutic tumour dose is on the point of being 120 Gy1, the amount of activities were calculated with MIRD methodology considering volumetric tumour/liver rate. A sub-working group was created with 11 patients randomly and liver clearance rate with Tc-99m-Mebrofenin was calculated according to Ekman formalism. Results: The volumetric tumour/liver rates were found between 33-66% (Maksimum Tolarable Dose (MTD) 48-52Gy3) for 4 patients, were found less than 33% (MTD 72Gy3) for 25 patients. According to these results the average amount of activity, mean liver dose and mean tumour dose were found 1793.9±1.46 MBq, 32.86±0.19 Gy, and 138.26±0.40 Gy. RILD was not observed in any patient. In sub-working group, the relationship between Bilirubin, Albumin, INR (which show presence of liver disease and its degree), liver clearance with Tc-99m-Mebrofenin and calculated activity amounts were found r=0.49, r=0.27, r=0.43, r=0.57, respectively. Discussions: The minimum tumour dose was found 120 Gy for positive dose-response relation. If volumetric tumour/liver rate was > 66%, dose 30 Gy; if volumetric tumour/liver rate 33-66%, dose escalation 48 Gy; if volumetric tumour/liver rate < 33%, dose 72 Gy. These dose limitations did not create RILD. Clearance measurement with Mebrofenin was concluded that the best method to determine the liver function. Therefore, liver clearance rate with Tc-99m-Mebrofenin should be considered in calculation of yttrium-90 microspheres dosimetry.

Keywords: clearance, dosimetry, liver, RILD

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Authors: Mohamed O. Babana

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In wireless channel multipath is the propagation phenomena where the transmitted signal arrive at the receiver side with many of paths, the signal at these paths arrive with different time delay the results is random signal fading due to intersymbols interference(ISI). This paper deals with identification of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology, and how it is used to overcome intersymbol interference due to multipath. Also investigates the effect of Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel (AWGN) on OFDM using multi-level modulation of Phase Shift Keying (PSK), computer simulation to calculate the bit error rate (BER) under AWGN channel is applied. A comparison study is carried out to obtain the Bit Error Rate performance for OFDM to identify the best multi-level modulation of PSK.

Keywords: intersymbol interference(ISI), bit error rate(BER), modulation, multiplexing, simulation

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Authors: Kanchan Mondal, Dasharath Koulage, Dattatray Manerikar, Asmita Ghate

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This paper presents an additive reliability model using warranty data and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) data. Warranty data for any product gives insight to its underlying issues. This is often used by Reliability Engineers to build prediction model to forecast failure rate of parts. But there is one major limitation in using warranty data for prediction. Warranty periods constitute only a small fraction of total lifetime of a product, most of the time it covers only the infant mortality and useful life zone of a bathtub curve. Predicting with warranty data alone in these cases is not generally provide results with desired accuracy. Failure rate of a mechanical part is driven by random issues initially and wear-out or usage related issues at later stages of the lifetime. For better predictability of failure rate, one need to explore the failure rate behavior at wear out zone of a bathtub curve. Due to cost and time constraints, it is not always possible to test samples till failure, but FEA-Fatigue analysis can provide the failure rate behavior of a part much beyond warranty period in a quicker time and at lesser cost. In this work, the authors proposed an Additive Weibull Model, which make use of both warranty and FEA fatigue analysis data for predicting failure rates. It involves modeling of two data sets of a part, one with existing warranty claims and other with fatigue life data. Hazard rate base Weibull estimation has been used for the modeling the warranty data whereas S-N curved based Weibull parameter estimation is used for FEA data. Two separate Weibull models’ parameters are estimated and combined to form the proposed Additive Weibull Model for prediction.

Keywords: bathtub curve, fatigue, FEA, reliability, warranty, Weibull

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Authors: Ram Dhani chauhan

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Tribology is a term that was developed from the Greek words ‘tribos’ (rubbing) and ‘logy’ (knowledge). In other words, a study of wear, friction and lubrication of material is known as Tribology. In groundwater irrigation, the life of submersible pump components like impeller, bush and wear ring will depend upon the wear and corrosion resistance of casted material. Leaded tin bronze (LTB) is an easily castable material with good mechanical properties and tribological behaviour and is utilised in submersible pumps at large. It has been investigated that, as Sn content increases from 4-8 wt. % in LTB alloys, the hardness of the alloys increases and the wear rate decreases. Similarly, a composite of copper with 3% wt. Graphite (threshold limit of mix) has a lower COF (coefficient of friction) and the lowest wear rate. In LTB alloys, in the initial low-speed range, wear increases and in the higher range, it was found that wear rate decreases.

Keywords: coefficent of friction, coefficient of wear, tribology, leaded tin bronze

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Authors: Ijaz Ahmad

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Weed competition is one of the major biotic constraints in wheat crop productivity. Avena fatua L. and Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. are among the worst weeds of wheat, greatly deteriorating wheat quality subsequently reducing its market value. In this connection, two-year experiments were conducted in 2018 & 2019. Different seeding rate wheat viz; 80, 100, 120 and 140 kg ha-1 and different weeds ratio (A. fatua: S. marianum ) sown at the rate 1:8, 2:7, 3:6, 4:5, 5:4, 6:3, 7:2, 8:1 and 0:0 respectively. The weeds ratio and wheat densities are indirectly proportional. However, the wheat seed at the rate of 140 kg ha-1 has minimal weeds interference. Yield losses were 17.5% at weeds density 1:8 while 7.2% at 8:1. However, in wheat density, the highest percent losses were computed on 80 kg ha-1 while the lowest was recorded on 140 kg ha-1. Since due to the large leaf canopy of S. marianum other species can't sustain their growth. Hence, it has been concluded that S. marianum is the hotspot that causes reduction to the yield-related parameters, followed by A. fatua and the other weeds. Due to the morphological mimicry of A. fatua with wheat crop during the vegetative growth stage, it cannot be easily distinguished. Therefore, managing A. fatua and S. marianum before seed setting is recommended for reducing the future weed problem. Based on current studies, it is suggested that sowing wheat seed at the rate of 140 kg ha-1 is recommended to better compete with all the field weeds.

Keywords: fat content, holly thistle, protein content, weed competition, wheat, wild oat

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Authors: Le-Quyen Nguyen, Hoang Van Bui, Ngoc Thi Tran, Binh Thanh Le, Linus Olson, Thanh Quang Le

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Objective: We compared of outcomes between infected and non-infected COVID-19 pregnant at the largest obstetrics and gynecology hospital in southern Vietnam. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at gestational age (GA) 28-42 weeks, who terminated pregnancy and had a real-time PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 at Tu Du Hospital. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological data were collected from hospital electronic-medical-records. Diagnosis and screening of SARS-CoV-2 used Real-time-PCR. Results: From July to October 2021, 9,246 pregnant with GA of 28-42 weeks were delivered, including 664 infected with COVID-19 and 8,582 non-infected. The cesarean section (CS) rates of pregnant with and without COVID-19 were 47.3% and 46.0%. At GA 32-34 weeks, the rate of CS with COVID-19 was 5.07 times higher than without. The rate of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and the Apgar score between these two groups were similar. The mortality rate of infected pregnants was 2.26%. Conclusions: COVID-19 infection increased the CS rate in the group of preterm pregnancies from 32 to less than 34 weeks. COVID-19 did not increase the risk of complications related to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as PPH, Apgar scores, the ratio of stillbirths, deaths due to malformation, and fetal deaths in labor.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, pregnancy, outcome, vietnam

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Authors: João Rato, Nuno Costa

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The human verbal communication is a two-way process which requires a mutual understanding that will result in some considerations. This kind of communication, also called dialogue, besides the supposed human agents it can also be performed between human agents and machines. The interaction between Men and Machines, by means of a natural language, has an important role concerning the improvement of the communication between each other. Aiming at knowing the performance of some speech recognition systems, this document shows the results of the accomplished tests according to the Word Error Rate evaluation method. Besides that, it is also given a set of information linked to the systems of Man-Machine communication. After this work has been made, conclusions were drawn regarding the Speech Recognition Systems, among which it can be mentioned their poor performance concerning the voice interpretation in noisy environments.

Keywords: automatic speech recognition, man-machine conversation, speech recognition, spoken dialogue systems, word error rate

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Authors: Jayeola Olabisi, T. Olawale Oladunjoye, Ademola A. Adewumi

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The study empirically examines the relationship that exists between the economic environment and entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire is administered on the study and data collected are analysed using Analysis of Variance and Regression. The following variables are indices of determination; Interest Rate (IR); Income Tax (IT). The results of the study show that there is a significant relationship between IR and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.5) with a positive correlation (r=0.526, r2=0.276). Also, there is a significant relationship between IT and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.05), with a positive association (r=0.546; r2=0.299). The study concludes that the emergence of the higher level of the stable economic environment is critical to entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. Therefore, government involvement in public private partnership for infrastructural development, enlargement of productive, judicious and transparent use of funds collected from income tax and affordable interest rate will galvanise the inward sourcing of raw materials that boost entrepreneurial development in Nigeria.

Keywords: interest rate, income tax, business environment and entrepreneurial development

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Authors: Nagasamy Venkatesh Dhandapani, Amged Awad El-Gied

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Cefixime, a BCS class II drug, is insoluble in water but freely soluble in acetone and in alcohol. The aqueous solubility of cefixime in water is poor and exhibits exceptionally slow and intrinsic dissolution rate. In the present study, cefixime and β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) solid dispersions were prepared with a view to study the effect and influence of β-CD on the solubility and dissolution rate of this poorly aqueous soluble drug. Phase solubility profile revealed that the solubility of cefixime was increased in the presence of β-CD and was classified as A_L-type. Effect of variable, such as drug:carrier ratio, was studied. Physical characterization of the solid dispersion was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). These studies revealed that a distinct loss of drug crystallinity in the solid molecular dispersions is ostensibly accounting for enhancement of dissolution rate in distilled water. The drug release from the prepared solid dispersion exhibited a first order kinetics. Solid dispersions of cefixime showed a 6.77 times fold increase in dissolution rate over the pure drug.

Keywords: β-cyclodextrin, cefixime, dissolution, Kneading method, solid dispersions, release kinetics

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Authors: Muhammad Kamran Hanif Khan, Fahad Mushtaq

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Globally, the death rate from cardiovascular disease has risen over the past 20 years, but especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICS), reports the World Health Organization (WHO). Around 17.5 million deaths, or 31% of all deaths worldwide in 2012, were attributed to CVD, 80% of which occurred in low- and middle-income nations, and eighty five percent of all worldwide disability is attributable to cardiovascular disease. This study assessed the dietary habit and Cardiovascular Risk factors among the patients of coronary artery disease against matched controls. The research was a case-control study. Sample size for this case-control study was 410 CAD cases and 410 healthy controls. The case-control ratio was 1:1. Patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease were recruited from the outpatient departments and emergency rooms of four hospitals in Pakistan. The ages of people who were diagnosed with coronary artery disease were not significantly different from (mean 57.97 7.39 years) the healthy controls (mean 57.12 6.73 years). In order to determine the relationship between food consumption and the two binary outcomes, logistic regression analysis was carried out. Chicken (0.340 (0.245-0.47), p-value 0.0001), beef (0.38 (0.254-0.56), p-value 0.0001), eggs (0.297 (0.208-0.426), p-value 0.0001), and junk food (0.249 (0.167-0.372), p-value 0.0001)) were protective, while yogurt consumption more than twice weekly was risk. Conclusion: In conclusion, poor dietary habits are closely linked to the risk of CAD. Investigations based on dietary trends offer vital and practical knowledge about societal patterns.

Keywords: dietary habbits, cardiovasculardisease, CVD risk factors, hypercholesterolemia

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Authors: Mohamed Hamza, Alex Ohoussou

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At JAWDA, our primary focus is on ensuring the satisfaction of our clients worldwide. We are committed to delivering new features on our SaaS platform as quickly as possible while maintaining high-quality standards. In this paper, we highlight two key aspects of testing that represent an evolution of current methods and a potential trend for the future, which have enabled us to uphold our commitment effectively. These aspects are: "One Sandbox per Pull Request" (dynamic test environments instead of static ones) and "QA for All.".

Keywords: QA for all, dynamic sandboxes, QAOPS, CICD, continuous testing, all testers, QA matters for all, 1 sandbox per PR, utilization rate, coverage rate

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Authors: Ahsan Ullah

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The aim of this study is to measure the relationship between sedentary behaviour and metabolic rate among adult professionals. An intervention (e-mobile) approach was used for gathered the information from the participants. A total of 40 participants (men = 30, and women = 10) with an average age of (36.53 years ± 8.85) were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n= 20) and control group (n= 20). All the participants completed the Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire (SBQ) and The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) at baseline and at the end of eight weeks. The participants in the intervention group were given physical activity guidelines targeted at increasing physical activity levels during daily activities. On the other side, the control group was advised to continue with their routine daily physical activity. Statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics and inferential analysis like mean, SD, T-tests, and ANOVA, were used to analyze the data and determine relationships between variables. After analyzing the data, the results showed that significant difference in pre and post metabolic rate scores (1488.31 ± 179.13 to 1468.44 ± 128.19) (f = 10.83, p < 0.000) were noted in the experimental group after eight week. The experimental group increased their walking (863.78 METs per week to 1625.55 METs per week), moderate activity (295 METs per week to 743 METs per week) and vigorous activity (362 METs per week to 1366 METs per week) physical activity (all p<0.001). There were no significant differences observed in any outcome measured before and after eight weeks in the control group. These findings suggest that engaging in physical activity can effectively improve metabolic rate and reduce sedentary behavior among physically active adults.

Keywords: sedentary behavior, metabolic rate, adult’s professionals, physical activity

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Authors: Ehsan Mehryaar

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The rate of penetration is (RoP) one of the vital factors in the cost and time of tunnel boring projects; therefore, predicting it can lead to a substantial increase in the efficiency of the project. RoP is heavily dependent geological properties of the project site and TBM properties. In this study, 151-point data from Queen’s water tunnel is collected, which includes unconfined compression strength, peak slope index, angle with weak planes, and distance between planes of weaknesses. Since the size of the data is small, it was observed that it is imbalanced. To solve that problem synthetic minority oversampling technique is utilized. The model based on the model tree is proposed, where each leaf consists of a support vector machine model. Proposed model performance is then compared to existing empirical equations in the literature.

Keywords: Model tree, SMOTE, rate of penetration, TBM(tunnel boring machine), SVM

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Vithya Veeramani, Karunanidhi Subbaiah

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Emotional problems were found to be the predominant cause of suicide and second leading cause of death among adolescents in India. Emotional problems seem to be the underlying cause for various other severe psycho-social problems experienced in adolescence and also in later years of life. The Corporation schools in Chennai city are named as Chennai High School or Chennai Higher Secondary School run by the Corporation of Chennai. These schools fulfill the educational needs of students who hail from lower socio-economic status living in slums of the Chennai city. Adolescent students of Chennai schools tend to lack basic needs like food, clothes, shelter, etc. Some of the other significant problems faced by them are broken family, lack of parental support, frequent quarrel between parents, alcoholic parents, drug abuse and substance abuse among parents and neighbors, extended family, illiterate parents, deprivation of love and care, and lack of sense of belongingness. This prevailing condition may affect them emotionally and could lead to maladaptive behaviour, aggressiveness, poor interpersonal relationship with others, school refusal behaviour, school drop-out, suicide, etc. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the emotional problems faced by the adolescent students studying in Chennai schools, Chennai. A cross-sectional survey design was used to find the prevalence of emotional problems among adolescent students. Cluster sampling technique was used to select the schools for the present study considering the school as a cluster. In total, there are 15 zones, under the control of Chennai Corporation, of which only 7 zones have Corporation Schools in Chennai city, comprising of 32 Chennai Higher Secondary Schools and 38 Chennai High Schools. Out of these 70 schools, 29 schools comprising of 17 high schools and 12 higher secondary schools were selected randomly using lottery method. A sample of 2594 adolescent students from 9th standard and 11th standard was chosen for the study. Percentage analysis was done to find out the prevalence rate of emotional problems among adolescents students studying in Chennai Schools. Results of the study revealed that, out of 2594 students surveyed, 21.04% adolescent students were found to have academic problems (n = 546), 15.99% adolescent students had social problems (n = 415), behaviour problems was found to be prevalent among 12.87% adolescent students (n = 334), depression was prevalent among 15.88% adolescent students (n = 412) and anxiety was prevalent among 14.42% adolescent students (n = 374). Prevalence of emotional problems among male and female revealed that academic problems were more prevalent compared to other problems. Behaviour problems were least prevalent among boys and anxiety was least prevalent among girls than other problems. The overall prevalence rate of emotional problems was found to be on an increasing trend among adolescent students of low socio-economic status in Chennai city. The findings indicated the need for intervention to prevent and rehabilitate these adolescent students.

Keywords: adolescents, corporation schools, emotional problems, prevalence

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Authors: Rajesh Kumar, Prabha Chand

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Fins and twisted tape inserts are widely used passive elements to enhance heat transfer rate in various engineering applications. The present paper describes the theoretical analysis of solar air heater fitted with fins and twisted tape inserts. Mathematical model is develop for this novel design of solar air heater and a MATLAB code is generated for the solution of the model. The effect of twist ratio, mass flow rate and inlet temperature on the thermal efficiency and exit air temperature has been investigated. The results are compared with the results of plane solar air heater. Results show a substantial enhancement in heat transfer rate, efficiency and exit air temperature.

Keywords: solar air heater, thermal efficiency, twisted tape, twist ratio

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Authors: Dawid Przystupski, Agata Gorska, Paulina Rozborska, Weronika Bartosik, Olga Michel, Joanna Rossowska, Anna Szewczyk, Malgorzata Drag-Zalesinska, Jedrzej Gorski, Julita Kulbacka

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Researchers are still looking for an answer to the question which has been fascinating the mankind for generations, specifically – is there life beyond Earth? As long as routine flights to other planets remain beyond our reach, there is a need to find alternative ways to conduct the astrobiological research. It is worth noticing that the part of the Earth’s atmosphere, stratosphere, has been found to show subcosmic environmental conditions, namely temperatures around -50°C, very rarefied air, increased cosmic radiation and the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. This phenomenon gives rise to the opportunity for the use of stratospheric environment as a research model for the space conditions. Therefore the idea of conducting astrobiological experiments during the stratospheric flights arose. Up to now, the preliminary work in this field included launching balloons containing solely microbiological samples into the stratosphere to figure out if they would be able to survive under the stratospheric conditions. In our study, we take this concept further, sending the human healthy and cancerous cells treated with various compounds to investigate whether these medicines are capable to protect the cells against stratospheric stress. Due to oxidative stress caused by ionizing radiation and temperature shock, we used natural compounds which display antioxidant properties. In this way, we were able to reduce the reactive oxygen species production affecting cells, which results in their death. After-flight laboratory tests of biological samples from the stratosphere have been performed and indicated the most active antioxidants as potential agents which can minimize the harmful impacts of stratospheric conditions, especially radiation and temperature.

Keywords: antioxidants, stratosphere, balloon flight, oxidative stress, cell death, radiation

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Authors: Pushpendra S. Bharti, S. Maheshwari

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Electric discharge machining (EDM) is one of the most widely used non-conventional manufacturing process to shape difficult-to-cut materials. The process yield, in terms of material removal rate, surface roughness and tool wear rate, of EDM may considerably be improved by selecting the optimal combination(s) of process parameters. This paper employs Multi-response signal-to-noise (MRSN) ratio technique to find the optimal combination(s) of the process parameters during EDM of Inconel 718. Three cases v.i.z. high cutting efficiency, high surface finish, and normal machining have been taken and the optimal combinations of input parameters have been obtained for each case. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been employed to find the dominant parameter(s) in all three cases. The experimental verification of the obtained results has also been made. MRSN ratio technique found to be a simple and effective multi-objective optimization technique.

Keywords: electric discharge machining, material removal rate, surface roughness, too wear rate, multi-response signal-to-noise ratio, multi response signal-to-noise ratio, optimization

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Authors: Paul Narh Doku

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The relationship between parental HIV/AIDS status or death and child mental health is well known, although the role of child maltreatment as a confounder or mediator in this relationship remains uncertain. This study examined the potential path mechanism through child maltreatment mediating the link between HIV/AIDS family dysfunction trajectories and psychosocial problems. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Lower Manya Municipal Assembly of Ghana. A questionnaire which consisted of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) was completed by 291 adolescents. Controlling for relevant sociodemographic confounders, mediation analyses using linear regression were fitted to examine whether the association between family dysfunction and psychosocial problems is mediated by child maltreatment. The results indicate that, among adolescents, child maltreatment fully mediated the association between being orphaned by AIDS and self-esteem, delinquency and risky behaviours, and peer problems. Similarly, child maltreatment fully mediated the association between living with an HIV/AIDS-infected parent and self-esteem, delinquency and risky behaviours, depression/emotional problems, and peer problems. Partial mediation was found for hyperactivity. Child maltreatment mediates the association between the family dysfunction trajectories of parental HIV/AIDS or death and psychosocial problems among adolescents. This implies that efforts to address child maltreatment among families affected by HIV/AIDS may be helpful in the prevention of psychosocial problems among these children, thus enhancing their well-being. The findings, therefore, underscore the need for comprehensive psychosocial interventions that address both the unique negative exposures of HIV/AIDS and maltreatment for children affected by HIV.

Keywords: child maltreatment, child abuse, mental health, psychosocial problems, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, adolescents

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Authors: Sudhanshu Kumar

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Electrical discharge machining, also known as EDM, process is one of the most applicable machining process for removal of material in hard to machine materials like superalloy metals. EDM process utilizes electrical energy into sparks to erode the metals in presence of dielectric medium. In the present investigation, superalloy, Inconel 718 has been selected as workpiece and electrolytic copper as tool electrode. Attempt has been made to understand the effect of size of tool with varying cavity depth during drilling of hole through EDM process. In order to systematic investigate, tool size in terms of tool diameter and cavity depth along with other important electrical parameters namely, peak current, pulse-on time and servo voltage have been varied at three different values and the experiments has been designed using fractional factorial (Taguchi) method. Each experiment has been repeated twice under the same condition in order to understand the variability within the experiments. The effect of variations in parameters has been evaluated in terms of material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface roughness. Results revel that change in tool diameter during machining affects the response characteristics significantly. Larger tool diameter yielded 13% more material removal rate than smaller tool diameter. Analysis of the effect of variation in cavity depth is notable. There is no significant effect of cavity depth on material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface quality. This indicates that number of experiments can be performed to analyze other parameters effect even at smaller depth of cavity which can reduce the cost and time of experiments. Further, statistical analysis has been carried out to identify the interaction effect between parameters.

Keywords: EDM, Inconel 718, material removal rate, roughness, tool wear, tool size

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Authors: Hansraj Riteesh Bookun, Emily Maree Stevens, Jarryd Leigh Solomon, Anthony Chan

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Objective: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study evaluating the safety and efficacy of femoral endarterectomy using the eversion technique with transection as opposed to the conventional endarterectomy technique with either vein or synthetic patch arterioplasty. Methods: Between 2010 to mid 2017, 19 patients with mean age of 75.4 years, underwent eversion femoral endarterectomy with transection by a single surgeon. There were 13 males (68.4%), and the comorbid burden was as follows: ischaemic heart disease (53.3%), diabetes (43.8%), stage 4 kidney impairment (13.3%) and current or ex-smoking (73.3%). The indications were claudication (45.5%), rest pain (18.2%) and tissue loss (36.3%). Results: The technical success rate was 100%. One patient required a blood transfusion following bleeding from intraoperative losses. Two patients required blood transfusions from low post operative haemogloblin concentrations – one of them in the context of myelodysplastic syndrome. There were no unexpected returns to theatre. The mean length of stay was 11.5 days with two patients having inpatient stays of 36 and 50 days respectively due to the need for rehabilitation. There was one death unrelated to the operation. Conclusion: The eversion technique with transection is safe and effective with low complication rates and a normally expected length of stay. It poses the advantage of not requiring a synthetic patch. This technique features minimal extraneous dissection as there is no need to harvest vein for a patch. Additionally, future endovascular interventions can be performed by puncturing the native vessel. There is no change to the femoral bifurcation anatomy after this technique. We posit that this is a useful adjunct to the surgeon’s panoply of vascular surgical techniques.

Keywords: endarterectomy, eversion, femoral, vascular

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Authors: Yubo Bi, Xiao Chen, Shouxiang Lu

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A kind of gas-fueled burner, named Burning Rate Emulator, was proposed for the purpose of the emulation of condensed fuel recently. The gaseous fuel can be pure combustible fuel gas or blends of gaseous fuel or inert gas. However, this concept was recently proposed without detailed study on the combustion characteristic of fuel blends. In this study, two kinds of common gaseous fuels were selected, propane and acetylene, to provide the combustion heat as well as a large amount of smoke, which widely exists in liquid and solid fuel burning process. A set of experiments were carried out using a gas-fueled burner with a diameter of 8 cm. The total volume flow rate of propane and acetylene was kept at 3 liters per minute. The volume fraction of propane varied from 0% to 100% at interval of 10%. It is found that the flame height increases with propane volume fraction, which may be caused by the increase of heat release rate, as the energy density of propane is larger than that of acetylene. The dimensionless flame height is correlated against dimensionless heat release rate, which shows a power function relationship. The radiation fraction of the flame does not show a monotonic relationship with propane volume fraction. With the increase of propane volume fraction from 0% to 100%, the value of radiation fraction increases first and reach a maximum value around 0.46 at a propane volume fraction of 10%, and then decreases continuously to a value of 0.25 at the propane volume fraction of 100%. The flame radiation is related to the soot in the flame. The trend of the radiation fraction reflects that there may be a synergistic effect of soot formation between propane and acetylene which can be guessed from the significantly high radiation fraction at a propane volume fraction of 10%. This work provides data for combustion of gaseous fuel blends pool fire and also give reference on the design of Burning Rate Emulator.

Keywords: Burning Rate Emulator, fuel blends pool fire, flame height, radiation fraction

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Authors: Auliya Adzillatin Uzhma, Ismu Rini Dwi Ari, I. Nyoman Suluh Wijaya

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in Pantai Harapan Jaya village is cultivation of mangrove and fishery capital distribution, to achieve the goal the CSR programme needed participation from the society in it. Moeliono in Fahrudin (2011) mentioned that participation from society is based by intrinsic reason from inside people it self and extrinsic reason from the other who related to him or from connection with other people. The fundamental connection who caused more boundaries from action which the organization can do called the social structure. The purpose of this research is to know the form of public participation and the density of the villager and people who is participated in CSR programme. This research use Social Network Analysis method by knew the Rate of Participation and Density. The result of the research is people who is involved in the programme is lived in Dusun Pondok Dua and they work in fisheries field. Rate of Participation is 11,61 and that means people involved in 11 or 12 activites of CSR Programme. The rate of participation of CSR Programme is categorized as high rate participation. The density value from the participant is 0.516 it’s mean that 51.6% of the people that participated is involved in the same step of CSR programme.

Keywords: community participation, social network analysis, corporate social responsibility, urban and regional studies

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Authors: Azim Khodadadi, Sahar Sadaat Vakili, Ebrahim Babaei

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This study presents a numerical method to optimize the failure rate and repair time of a typical radial distribution system. Failure rate and repair time are effective parameters in customer and energy based indices of reliability. Decrease of these parameters improves reliability indices. Thus, system stability will be boost. The penalty functions indirectly reflect the cost of investment which spent to improve these indices. Constraints on customer and energy based indices, i.e. SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI and AENS have been considered by using a new method which reduces optimization algorithm controlling parameters. Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) used as main optimization technique and particle swarm optimization (PSO), simulated annealing (SA) and differential evolution (DE) has been applied for further investigation. These algorithms have been implemented on a test system by MATLAB. Obtained results have been compared with each other. The optimized values of repair time and failure rate are much lower than current values which this achievement reduced investment cost and also ICA gives better answer than the other used algorithms.

Keywords: imperialist competitive algorithm, failure rate, repair time, radial distribution network

Procedia PDF Downloads 669

Authors: Vitaliy Petrov, Natalia Shusharina, Vitaliy Kasymov, Maksim Patrushev, Evgeny Bogdanov

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The leading worldwide death reasons are ischemic heart disease and other cardiovascular illnesses. Generally, the common symptom is high blood pressure. Long-time blood pressure control is very important for the prophylaxis, correct diagnosis and timely therapy. Non-invasive methods which are based on Korotkoff sounds are impossible to apply often and for a long time. Implantable devices can combine longtime monitoring with high accuracy of measurements. The main purpose of this work is to create a real-time monitoring system for decreasing the death rate from cardiovascular diseases. These days implantable electronic devices began to play an important role in medicine. Usually implantable devices consist of a transmitter, powering which could be wireless with a special made battery and measurement circuit. Common problems in making implantable devices are short lifetime of the battery, big size and biocompatibility. In these work, blood pressure measure will be the focus because it’s one of the main symptoms of cardiovascular diseases. Our device will consist of three parts: the implantable pressure sensor, external transmitter and automated workstation in a hospital. The Implantable part of pressure sensors could be based on piezoresistive or capacitive technologies. Both sensors have some advantages and some limitations. The Developed circuit is based on a small capacitive sensor which is made of the technology of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The Capacitive sensor can provide high sensitivity, low power consumption and minimum hysteresis compared to the piezoresistive sensor. For this device, it was selected the oscillator-based circuit where frequency depends from the capacitance of sensor hence from capacitance one can calculate pressure. The external device (transmitter) used for wireless charging and signal transmission. Some implant devices for these applications are passive, the external device sends radio wave signal on internal LC circuit device. The external device gets reflected the signal from the implant and from a change of frequency is possible to calculate changing of capacitance and then blood pressure. However, this method has some disadvantages, such as the patient position dependence and static using. Developed implantable device doesn’t have these disadvantages and sends blood pressure data to the external part in real-time. The external device continuously sends information about blood pressure to hospital cloud service for analysis by a physician. Doctor’s automated workstation at the hospital also acts as a dashboard, which displays actual medical data of patients (which require attention) and stores it in cloud service. Usually, critical heart conditions occur few hours before heart attack but the device is able to send an alarm signal to the hospital for an early action of medical service. The system was tested with wireless charging and data transmission. These results can be used for ASIC design for MEMS pressure sensor.

Keywords: MEMS sensor, RF power, wireless data, oscillator-based circuit

Procedia PDF Downloads 590

Authors: Mansur Agzamov, Valery Bersnev, Natalia Ivanova, Istam Agzamov, Timur Khayrullaev, Yulduz Agzamova

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Objectives. Treatment of hypertensive intracerebral hematoma (ICH) is controversial. Advantage of one surgical method on other has not been established. Recent reports suggest a favorable effect of minimally invasive surgery. We conducted a small comparative study of different surgical methods. Methods. We analyzed the result of surgical treatment of 176 patients with intracerebral hematomas at the age from 41 to 78 years. Men were been113 (64.2%), women - 63 (35.8%). Level of consciousness: conscious -18, lethargy -63, stupor –55, moderate coma - 40. All patients on admission and in the dynamics underwent computer tomography (CT) of the brain. ICH was located in the putamen in 87 cases, thalamus in 19, in the mix area in 50, in the lobar area in 20. Ninety seven patients of them had an intraventricular hemorrhage component. The baseline volume of the ICH was measured according to a bedside method of measuring CT intracerebral hematomas volume. Depending on the intervention of the patients were divided into three groups. Group 1 patients, 90 patients, operated open craniotomy. Level of consciousness: conscious-11, lethargy-33, stupor–18, moderate coma -18. The hemorrhage was located in the putamen in 51, thalamus in 3, in the mix area in 25, in the lobar area in 11. Group 2 patients, 22 patients, underwent smaller craniotomy with endoscopic-assisted evacuation. Level of consciousness: conscious-4, lethargy-9, stupor–5, moderate coma -4. The hemorrhage was located in the putamen in 5, thalamus in 15, in the mix area in 2. Group 3 patients, 64 patients, was conducted minimally invasive removal of intracerebral hematomas using the original device (patent of Russian Federation № 65382). The device - funnel cannula - which after the special markings introduced into the hematoma cavity. Level of consciousness: conscious-3, lethargy-21, stupor–22, moderate coma -18. The hemorrhage was located in the putamen in 31, in the mix area in 23, thalamus in 1, in the lobar area in 9. Results of treatment were evaluated by Glasgow outcome scale. Results. The study showed that the results of surgical treatment in three groups depending on the degree of consciousness, the volume and localization of hematoma. In group 1, good recovery observed in 8 cases (8.9%), moderate disability in 22 (24.4%), severe disability - 17 (18.9%), death-43 (47.8%). In group 2, good recovery observed in 7 cases (31.8%), moderate disability in 7 (31.8%), severe disability - 5 (29.7%), death-7 (31.8%). In group 3, good recovery was observed in 9 cases (14.1%), moderate disability-17 (26.5%), severe disability-19 (29.7%), death-19 (29.7%). Conclusions. The method of using cannulae allowed to abandon from open craniotomy of the majority of patients with putaminal hematomas. Minimally invasive technique reduced the postoperative mortality and improves treatment outcomes of these patients.

Keywords: nontraumatic intracerebral hematoma, minimal invasive surgical technique, funnel canula, differentiated surcical treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: R. Simutis, V. Galvanauskas, D. Levisauskas, J. Repsyte, V. Grincas

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This paper deals with advanced state estimation algorithms for estimation of biomass concentration and specific growth rate in a typical fed-batch biotechnological process. This biotechnological process was represented by a nonlinear mass-balance based process model. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Particle Filter (PF) was used to estimate the unmeasured state variables from oxygen uptake rate (OUR) and base consumption (BC) measurements. To obtain more general results, a simplified process model was involved in EKF and PF estimation algorithms. This model doesn’t require any special growth kinetic equations and could be applied for state estimation in various bioprocesses. The focus of this investigation was concentrated on the comparison of the estimation quality of the EKF and PF estimators by applying different measurement noises. The simulation results show that Particle Filter algorithm requires significantly more computation time for state estimation but gives lower estimation errors both for biomass concentration and specific growth rate. Also the tuning procedure for Particle Filter is simpler than for EKF. Consequently, Particle Filter should be preferred in real applications, especially for monitoring of industrial bioprocesses where the simplified implementation procedures are always desirable.

Keywords: biomass concentration, extended Kalman filter, particle filter, state estimation, specific growth rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 430

Authors: Pawthawala Nancy Manish, Syed Alay Hashim

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A hybrid rocket is a rocket engine which uses propellants in two different states of matter- one is in solid and the other either gas or liquid. A hybrid rocket exhibit advantages over both liquid rockets and solid rockets especially in terms of simplicity, stop-start-restart capabilities, safety and cost. This paper deals the design and development of a hybrid rocket having paraffin wax as solid fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. Due to variation of pressure in combustion chamber there is significantly change in mass flow rate, burning rate and uneven regression along the length of the grain. This project describes the working model of a hybrid propellant rocket motor. We have designed a hybrid rocket thrust chamber based on the predetermined combustion chamber pressure and the properties of hybrid propellant. This project is all ready in working condition with normal oxygen injector. Now we have planned to modify the injector design to improve the combustion property. We will use spray type injector for injecting the oxidizer. This idea will increase the performance followed by the regression rate of the solid fuel. By employing mass conservation law, oxygen mass flux, oxidizer/fuel ratio and regression rate the thrust coefficient can be obtained for our current design. CATIA V5 R20 is our design software for the complete setup. This project is fully based on experimental evaluation and the collection of combustion and flow parameters. The thrust chamber is made of stainless steel and the duration of test is around 15-20 seconds (Maximum). These experiments indicates that paraffin based fuel provides the opportunity to satisfy a broad range of mission requirements for the next generation of the hybrid rocket system.

Keywords: burning rate, liquid oxygen, mass flow rate, paraffin wax and sugar

Procedia PDF Downloads 336

Authors: Stanley Ibuchukwu Onwukwe

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Most reservoir in mature oil fields are vulnerable to challenges of water and/or gas coning as the size of their oil column reduces due to long period of oil production. These often result to low oil production and excessive water and/or gas production. Since over 50 years of oil production in the Niger delta, it is apparent that most of the oil fields in the region have reached their mature stages, thereby susceptible to coning tendencies. As a result of these, a good number of wells have been shut-in and abandoned, with significant amount of oil left unproduced. Analysis of the movement of fluid contacts in the reservoir is a significant aspect of reservoir studies and can assist in the management of coning tendencies and production performance of reservoirs in a mature field. This study, therefore, seeks to evaluate the occurrence of coning through the movement of fluid contacts (GOC and OWC) and determine the critical rate for controlling coning tendencies in mature oil field. This study applies the principle of Nodal analysis to calibrate the thin oil column of a reservoir of a mature field, and was graphically evaluated using the Joshi’s equation of critical rate for gas-oil system and oil-water system respectively. A representative Proxy equation was developed and sensitivity analysis carried out to determine the trend of critical rate as the oil column is been depleted. The result shows the trend in the movement of the GOC and OWC, and the critical rate, beyond which will result in excessive water and gas production, resulting to decreasing oil production from the reservoir. This result of this study can be used as a first pass assessment in the development of mature oil field reservoirs anticipated to experience water and/or gas coning during production.

Keywords: coning, fluid contact movement, mature oil field, oil production

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Louise Bernier

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Under some jurisdictions (including Canada), eligible patients can request and receive medical assistance in dying (MAiD) through lethal injections, inducing their cardiocirculatory death. Those same patients can also wish to donate their organs in the process. If they qualify as organ donors, a clinical and ethical rule called the 'dead donor rule' (DDR) requires the transplant teams to wait after cardiocirculatory death is confirmed, followed by a 'no touch' period (5 minutes in Canada) before they can proceed with organ removal. The medical procedures (lethal injections) as well as the delays associated with the DDR can damage organs (mostly thoracic organs) due to prolonged anoxia. Yet, strong scientific evidences demonstrate that operating differently and reconsidering the DDR would result in more organs of better quality available for transplant. This idea generates discomfort and resistance, but it is also worth considering, especially in a context of chronic shortage of available organs. One option that could be examined for MAiD’ patients who wish and can be organ donors would be to remove vital organs while patients are still alive (and under sedation). This would imply accepting that patient’s death would occur through organ donation instead of lethal injections required under MAiD’ legal rules. It would also mean that patients requesting MAiD and wishing to be organ donors could aspire to donate better quality organs, including their heart, an altruistic gesture that carries important symbolic value for many donors and their families. Following a patient centered approach, our hypothesis is that preventing vital organ donation from a living donor in all circumstance is neither perfectly coherent with how legal mentalities have evolved lately in the field of fundamental rights nor compatible with the clinical and ethical frameworks that shape the landscape in which those complex medical decisions unfold. Through a study of the legal, ethical, and clinical rules in place, both at the national and international levels, this analysis raises questions on the numerous inconsistencies associated with respecting the DDR with patients who have chosen to die through MAiD. We will begin with an assessment of the erosion of certain national legal frameworks that pertain to the sacred nature of the right to life which now also includes the right to choose how one wishes to die. We will then study recent innovative clinical protocols tested in different countries to help address acute organ shortage problems in creative ways. We will conclude this analysis with an ethical assessment of the situation, referring to principles such as justice, autonomy, altruism, beneficence, and non-malfeasance. This study will build a strong argument in favor of starting to allow vital organ donations from living donors in countries where MAiD is already permitted.

Keywords: altruism, autonomy, dead donor rule, medical assistance in dying, non-malfeasance, organ donation

Procedia PDF Downloads 178