Search results for: data structure

Authors: Sadia Munir, Diana White, Aya Albahri, Pratiwi Hastania, Eltahir Mohamed, Mahmood Khan, Fathima Mohamed, Ayat Kadhi, Haila Saleem

Abstract:

Preeclampsia is a major complication of pregnancy. Prediction and management of preeclampsia is a challenge for obstetricians. To our knowledge, no major progress has been achieved in the prevention and early detection of preeclampsia. There is very little known about the clear treatment path of this disorder. Preeclampsia puts both mother and baby at risk of several short term- and long term-health problems later in life. There is huge health service cost burden in the health care system associated with preeclampsia and its complications. Preeclampsia is divided into two different types. Early onset preeclampsia develops before 34 weeks of gestation, and late onset develops at or after 34 weeks of gestation. Different genetic and environmental factors, prognosis, heritability, biochemical and clinical features are associated with early and late onset preeclampsia. Prevalence of preeclampsia greatly varies all over the world and is dependent on ethnicity of the population and geographic region. To authors best knowledge, no published data on preeclampsia exist in Qatar. In this study, we are reporting the incidence of preeclampsia in Qatar. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence and risk factors of both early onset and late onset preeclampsia in Qatar. This retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted using data from the hospital record of Women’s Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), from May 2014-May 2016. Data collection tool, which was approved by HMC, was a researcher made extraction sheet that included information such as blood pressure during admission, socio demographic characteristics, delivery mode, and new born details. A total of 1929 patients’ files were identified by the hospital information management when they apply codes of preeclampsia. Out of 1929 files, 878 had significant gestational hypertension without proteinuria, 365 had preeclampsia, 364 had severe preeclampsia, and 188 had preexisting hypertension with superimposed proteinuria. In this study, 78% of the data was obtained by hospital electronic system (Cerner) and the remaining 22% was from patient’s paper records. We have gone through detail data extraction from 560 files. Initial data analysis has revealed that 15.02% of pregnancies were complicated with preeclampsia from May 2014-May 2016. We have analyzed difference in the two different disease entities in the ethnicity, maternal age, severity of hypertension, mode of delivery and infant birth weight. We have identified promising differences in the risk factors of early onset and late onset preeclampsia. The data from clinical findings of preeclampsia will contribute to increased knowledge about two different disease entities, their etiology, and similarities/differences. The findings of this study can also be used in predicting health challenges, improving health care system, setting up guidelines, and providing the best care for women suffering from preeclampsia.

Keywords: preeclampsia, incidence, risk factors, maternal

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Sandra Landy

Abstract:

Traumatic experiences in youth are a major risk factor for future suicidality. With suicide steadily increasing over the last 20 years as one of the top three leading causes of death in children and adolescents, it is essential to examine the aspects of trauma that contribute to suicidality. A quantitative secondary data analysis of a prospective, multicenter 24-month observational study of youth who have experienced traumatic experiences was utilized to determine the relationship between bullying and suicide attempts, cyberbullying and suicide attempts, and number of traumas and suicide attempts. Data was analyzed with the Spearman-rank correlation test to determine the relationships. Findings supported past research establishing a relationship between bulling, including cyberbullying, and suicide attempts, as well as increasing number of traumatic experiences and suicide attempts. Further large scale studies may be beneficial to support these findings.

Keywords: adolescent(s), suicide, trauma, bullying, cyberbullying

Procedia PDF Downloads 23

Authors: Maxim A. Kadatskiy, Konstantin V. Khishchenko

Abstract:

Iron alloys are widespread components in various types of structural materials which are exposed to intensive thermal and mechanical loads. Various quantum-statistical cell models with the approximation of self-consistent field can be used for the prediction of the behavior of these materials under extreme conditions. The application of these models is even more valid, the higher the temperature and the density of matter. Results of Hugoniot calculation for iron alloys in the framework of three quantum-statistical (the Thomas–Fermi, the Thomas–Fermi with quantum and exchange corrections and the Hartree–Fock–Slater) models are presented. Results of quantum-statistical calculations are compared with results from other reliable models and available experimental data. It is revealed a good agreement between results of calculation and experimental data for terra pascal pressures. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach are shown.

Keywords: alloy, Hugoniot, iron, terapascal pressure

Procedia PDF Downloads 330

Authors: S. K. Appiah, E. N. Aidoo, D. Asamoah Owusu, M. W. Nuonabuor

Abstract:

Urbanization remains one of the unique predominant factors which is linked to the destruction of urban environment and its associated cases of soil contamination by heavy metals through the natural and anthropogenic activities. These activities are important sources of toxic heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). Often, these heavy metals lead to increased levels in some areas due to the impact of atmospheric deposition caused by their proximity to industrial plants or the indiscriminately burning of substances. Information gathered on potentially hazardous levels of these heavy metals in soils leads to establish serious health and urban agriculture implications. However, characterization of spatial variations of soil contamination by heavy metals in Ghana is limited. Kumasi is a Metropolitan city in Ghana, West Africa and is challenged with the recent spate of deteriorating soil quality due to rapid economic development and other human activities such as “Galamsey”, illegal mining operations within the metropolis. The paper seeks to use both univariate and multivariate geostatistical techniques to assess the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soils and the potential risk associated with ingestion of sources of soil contamination in the Metropolis. Geostatistical tools have the ability to detect changes in correlation structure and how a good knowledge of the study area can help to explain the different scales of variation detected. To achieve this task, point referenced data on heavy metals measured from topsoil samples in a previous study, were collected at various locations. Linear models of regionalisation and coregionalisation were fitted to all experimental semivariograms to describe the spatial dependence between the topsoil heavy metals at different spatial scales, which led to ordinary kriging and cokriging at unsampled locations and production of risk maps of soil contamination by these heavy metals. Results obtained from both the univariate and multivariate semivariogram models showed strong spatial dependence with range of autocorrelations ranging from 100 to 300 meters. The risk maps produced show strong spatial heterogeneity for almost all the soil heavy metals with extremely risk of contamination found close to areas with commercial and industrial activities. Hence, ongoing pollution interventions should be geared towards these highly risk areas for efficient management of soil contamination to avert further pollution in the metropolis.

Keywords: coregionalization, heavy metals, multivariate geostatistical analysis, soil contamination, spatial distribution

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Sitti Nurani Sirajuddin, Ikrar Moh. Saleh, Kasmiyati Kasim

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to know the perception of livestock farmers on the use of liquid organic fertilizer from urine of cattle at Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi Province. The choice of location for a farmer group manufactures and markets liquid organic fertilizer from cattle urine. This research was conducted in May to July 2013.The population were all livestock farmers who use organic liquid fertilizer from cattle urine samples while livestock farmers who are directly involved in the manufacture of liquid organic fertilizer totaled 42 people. Data were collected through observation and interview. Data were analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the perception of livestock farmers of using liquid organic fertilizer from cattle urine provide additional revenue benefits, cost minimization farming, reducing environmental pollution which not contrary to the customs.

Keywords: liquid organic fertilizer, perceptions, farmers, beef cattle

Procedia PDF Downloads 451

Authors: Masoumeh Khosravi

Abstract:

Introduction: The complementary therapies and Qigong exercises is important in order to maintain physical and mental health. Objective: This study was done to compare and investigate well-being and mental health's state between practitioners of a Qigong practice (Falun Dafa) and non-practitioners. Method: It was a comparative study with 60 samples (30 practitioners of Falun Dafa, and 30 non-practitioners), who were selected by random sampling from Tehran city of Iran. Data were collected by mental health inventory (SCL90) and well-being questionnaire. Multivariate variance analyzing and t-test were used for analyzing data. Results: Results showed significant differences in most components of mental health including anxiety, aggressiveness, obsessive-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, somatization disorder, depression, phobia between practitioners and non-practitioners. Well-being was significantly higher in practitioners than non-practitioners. Conclusion: Accordingly, we concluded Falun Gong exercises have high impact on mental health and well-being in people.

Keywords: mental health, well-being, Qigong, Falun Dafa

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: M. R. Akbari , H. Yousefnia, E. Mirrezaei

Abstract:

Range uncertainties of protons are currently a topic of interest in proton therapy. Two of the parameters that are often used to specify proton range are water equivalent thickness (WET) and water equivalent ratio (WER). Since WER values for a specific material is nearly constant at different proton energies, it is a more useful parameter to compare. In this study, WER values were calculated for different proton energies in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS) and aluminum (Al) using FLUKA and TRIM codes. The results were compared with analytical, experimental and simulated SEICS code data obtained from the literature. In FLUKA simulation, a cylindrical phantom, 1000 mm in height and 300 mm in diameter, filled with the studied materials was simulated. A typical mono-energetic proton pencil beam in a wide range of incident energies usually applied in proton therapy (50 MeV to 225 MeV) impinges normally on the phantom. In order to obtain the WER values for the considered materials, cylindrical detectors, 1 mm in height and 20 mm in diameter, were also simulated along the beam trajectory in the phantom. In TRIM calculations, type of projectile, energy and angle of incidence, type of target material and thickness should be defined. The mode of 'detailed calculation with full damage cascades' was selected for proton transport in the target material. The biggest difference in WER values between the codes was 3.19%, 1.9% and 0.67% for Al, PMMA and PS, respectively. In Al and PMMA, the biggest difference between each code and experimental data was 1.08%, 1.26%, 2.55%, 0.94%, 0.77% and 0.95% for SEICS, FLUKA and SRIM, respectively. FLUKA and SEICS had the greatest agreement (≤0.77% difference in PMMA and ≤1.08% difference in Al, respectively) with the available experimental data in this study. It is concluded that, FLUKA and TRIM codes have capability for Bragg curves simulation and WER values calculation in the studied materials. They can also predict Bragg peak location and range of proton beams with acceptable accuracy.

Keywords: water equivalent ratio, dosimetric materials, proton therapy, Monte Carlo simulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: J. Erina, I. Erins

Abstract:

The goals of the present research are to estimate Six Sigma implementation in Latvian commercial banks and to identify the perceived benefits of its implementation. To achieve the goals, the authors used a sequential explanatory method. To obtain empirical data, the authors have developed the questionnaire and adapted it for the employees of Latvian commercial banks. The questions are related to Six Sigma implementation and its perceived benefits. The questionnaire mainly consists of closed questions, the evaluation of which is based on 5 point Likert scale. The obtained empirical data has shown that of the two hypotheses put forward in the present research Hypothesis 1 has to be rejected, while Hypothesis 2 has been partially confirmed. The authors have also faced some research limitations related to the fact that the participants in the questionnaire belong to different rank of the organization hierarchy.

Keywords: six sigma, quality, commercial banking sector, latvian

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Weitao Zhou, Qing Wang, Jianxin He, Shizhong Cui

Abstract:

Mesoporous Tussah silk fibroin (TSF) spheres were fabricated via the self-assembly of TSF molecules in aqueous solutions. The results showed that TSF particles were approximately three-dimensional spheres with the diameter ranging from 500nm to 6μm without adherence. More importantly, the surface morphology is mesoporous structure with nano-pores of 20nm - 200nm in size. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrated that mesoporous TSF spheres mainly contained beta-sheet conformation (44.1 %) as well as slight amounts of random coil (13.2 %). Drug release test was performed with 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) as a model drug and the result indicated the mesoporous TSF microspheres had a good capacity of sustained drug release. It is expected that these stable and high-crystallinity mesoporous TSF sphere produced without organic solvents, which have significantly improved drug release properties, is a very promising material for controlled gene medicines delivery.

Keywords: Tussah silk fibroin, porous materials, microsphere, drug release

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: Nureni O. Adeboye, Dawud A. Agunbiade

Abstract:

This research attempts to investigate the effects of heteroscedasticity and periodicity in a Panel Data Regression Model (PDRM) by extending previous works on balanced panel data estimation within the context of fitting PDRM for Banks audit fee. The estimation of such model was achieved through the derivation of Joint Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test for homoscedasticity and zero-serial correlation, a conditional LM test for zero serial correlation given heteroscedasticity of varying degrees as well as conditional LM test for homoscedasticity given first order positive serial correlation via a two-way error component model. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for 81 different variations, of which its design assumed a uniform distribution under a linear heteroscedasticity function. Each of the variation was iterated 1000 times and the assessment of the three estimators considered are based on Variance, Absolute bias (ABIAS), Mean square error (MSE) and the Root Mean Square (RMSE) of parameters estimates. Eighteen different models at different specified conditions were fitted, and the best-fitted model is that of within estimator when heteroscedasticity is severe at either zero or positive serial correlation value. LM test results showed that the tests have good size and power as all the three tests are significant at 5% for the specified linear form of heteroscedasticity function which established the facts that Banks operations are severely heteroscedastic in nature with little or no periodicity effects.

Keywords: audit fee lagrange multiplier test, heteroscedasticity, lagrange multiplier test, Monte-Carlo scheme, periodicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Öznur Özge Özcan, Canan Sercan, Hamza Kulaksız, Mesut Karahan, Korkut Ulucan

Abstract:

Genetic structure is very important to understand the brain dopamine system which is related to athletic performance. Hopefully, there will be enough studies about athletics performance in the terms of addiction-related genetic markers in the future. In the present study, we intended to investigate the Receptor-2 Gene (DRD2) rs1800497, which is related to brain dopaminergic system. 10 sprinter and 10 endurance athletes were enrolled in the study. Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction method was used for genotyping. According to results, A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 genotypes in athletes were 0 (%0), 3 (%15) and 17 (%85). A1A1 genotype was not found and A2 allele was counted as the dominating allele in our cohort. These findings show that dopaminergic mechanism effects on sport genetic may be explained by the polygenic and multifactorial view.

Keywords: addiction, athletic performance, genotype, sport genetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Theoktisti Makridou, Konstantinos Tsaprailis, George Arvanitakis, Charalampos Kontoes

Abstract:

In the literature, the data-driven approaches for mosquito abundance prediction relaying on supervised machine learning models that get trained with historical in-situ measurements. The counterpart of this approach is once the model gets trained on pointlevel (specific x,y coordinates) measurements, the predictions of the model refer again to point-level. These point-level predictions reduce the applicability of those solutions once a lot of early warning and mitigation actions applications need predictions for an area level, such as a municipality, village, etc... In this study, we apply a data-driven predictive model, which relies on public-open satellite Earth Observation and geospatial data and gets trained with historical point-level in-Situ measurements of mosquito abundance. Then we propose a methodology to extract information from a point-level predictive model to a broader area-level prediction. Our methodology relies on the randomly spatial sampling of the area of interest (similar to the Poisson hardcore process), obtaining the EO and geomorphological information for each sample, doing the point-wise prediction for each sample, and aggregating the predictions to represent the average mosquito abundance of the area. We quantify the performance of the transformation from the pointlevel to the area-level predictions, and we analyze it in order to understand which parameters have a positive or negative impact on it. The goal of this study is to propose a methodology that predicts the mosquito abundance of a given area by relying on point-level prediction and to provide qualitative insights regarding the expected performance of the area-level prediction. We applied our methodology to historical data (of Culex pipiens) of two areas of interest (Veneto region of Italy and Central Macedonia of Greece). In both cases, the results were consistent. The mean mosquito abundance of a given area can be estimated with similar accuracy to the point-level predictor, sometimes even better. The density of the samples that we use to represent one area has a positive effect on the performance in contrast to the actual number of sampling points which is not informative at all regarding the performance without the size of the area. Additionally, we saw that the distance between the sampling points and the real in-situ measurements that were used for training did not strongly affect the performance.

Keywords: mosquito abundance, supervised machine learning, culex pipiens, spatial sampling, west nile virus, earth observation data

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Shoroog Alraddadi

Abstract:

In this study, the effect of gamma irradiation on the structural and transport properties of Bismuth Telluride (Bi₂Te₃) thin films was investigated. Bi₂Te₃ thin films with thicknesses varying from 100 nm to 500 nm were grown using thermal evaporation in vacuum 10⁻⁵ Torr. The films were irradiated by Gamma radiation with different doses (50, 200, and 500 kGy). The crystal structure of Bi₂Te₃ thin films was studied by XRD diffraction. It was showed that the degree of crystallinity of films increases as the doses increase. Furthermore, it was found that the electrical conductivity of Bi₂Te₃ increase as the doses increase. From these results, it can be concluding that the effect of radiation on the structural and transport properties was positive at the levels of irradiation used.

Keywords: bismuth telluride, gamma irradiation, thin film, transport properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Yuting Wu, Faraz Choudhury, Daniel Benjamin, James Whalin, Joshua Blatz, Leon Shohet, Michael Sussman, Mark Richards

Abstract:

Plasma-Induced Modification of Biomolecules (PLIMB) has been developed as a technology, which, together with mass spectrometry, measures three-dimensional structural characteristics of proteins. This technique uses hydroxyl radicals generated by atmospheric-pressure plasma discharge to react with the solvent-accessible side chains of protein in an aqueous solution. In this work, we investigate the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin using PLIMB. Additional modifications to these proteins, such as oxidation, fragmentations, and conformational changes caused by PLIMB are also explored. These results show that PLIMB, coupled with mass spectrometry, is an effective way to determine solvent access to hemoproteins. Furthermore, we show that many factors, including pH and the electrical parameters used to generate the plasma, have a significant influence on solvent accessibility.

Keywords: plasma, hemoglobin, myoglobin, solvent access

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Ibrahim Khan, Waqas Khalid

Abstract:

The Healthcare sector is known to consume a higher proportion of total energy consumption in the HVAC market owing to an excessive cooling and heating requirement in maintaining human thermal comfort in indoor conditions, catering to patients undergoing treatment in hospital wards, rooms, and intensive care units. The indoor thermal comfort conditions in selected hospitals of Islamabad, Pakistan, were measured on a real-time basis with the collection of first-hand experimental data using calibrated sensors measuring Ambient Temperature, Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, Relative Humidity, Air Velocity, Light Intensity and CO2 levels. The Experimental data recorded was analyzed in conjunction with the Thermal Comfort Questionnaire Surveys, where the participants, including patients, doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, were assessed based on their thermal sensation, acceptability, preference, and comfort responses. The Recorded Dataset, including experimental and survey-based responses, was further analyzed in the development of a correlation between operative temperature, operative relative humidity, and other measured operative parameters with the predicted mean vote and adaptive predicted mean vote, with the adaptive temperature and adaptive relative humidity estimated using the seasonal data set gathered for both summer – hot and dry, and hot and humid as well as winter – cold and dry, and cold and humid climate conditions. The Machine Learning Logistic Regression Algorithm was incorporated to train the operative experimental data parameters and develop a correlation between patient sensations and the thermal environmental parameters for which a new ML-based adaptive thermal comfort model was proposed and developed in our study. Finally, the accuracy of our model was determined using the K-fold cross-validation.

Keywords: predicted mean vote, thermal comfort, energy management, logistic regression, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Sphiwe Simelane, Daniel Madyira

Abstract:

The use of natural fibers requires that they should be treated in preparation for their use in Natural Fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This paper reports on the effects of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment on the surface of coconut fibers. The fibers were subjected to 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% NaOH concentrations and soaked for 4 hours and thoroughly rinsed and allowed to dry in the open air for seven days, after which time they were dried in an oven for 30 minutes. Untreated and treated coconut fibers were observed under the Scanning Electron Microscope and it was noted that the surface structure of the fibers was modified differently by the different NaOH concentrations, and the resultant colour of the treated fibers got darker as the solution concentration increased, and the texture felt rougher to the touch as a result of the erosion of the fiber surface. Further, the increase in alkali concentration striped the surface of more constituents, thus exposing “pits” and other surface components rendering the surface rough.

Keywords: coconut fiber, scanning electron microscope, sodium hydroxide, surface treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Ha Phuong Tran, Feng Wang, Jo Dewulf, Hai Trung Huynh, Thomas Schaubroeck

Abstract:

The fast increase and complex components have made waste of electrical and electronic equipment (or e-waste) one of the most problematic waste streams worldwide. Precise information on its size on national, regional and global level has therefore been highlighted as prerequisite to obtain a proper management system. However, this is a very challenging task, especially in developing countries where both formal e-waste management system and necessary statistical data for e-waste estimation, i.e. data on the production, sale and trade of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), are often lacking. Moreover, there is an inflow of non-registered electronic and electric equipment, which ‘invisibly’ enters the EEE domestic market and then is used for domestic consumption. The non-registration/invisibility and (in most of the case) illicit nature of this flow make it difficult or even impossible to be captured in any statistical system. The e-waste generated from it is thus often uncounted in current e-waste estimation based on statistical market data. Therefore, this study focuses on enhancing e-waste estimation in developing countries and proposing a calculation pathway to quantify the magnitude of the non-registered EEE inflow. An advanced Input-Out Analysis model (i.e. the Sale–Stock–Lifespan model) has been integrated in the calculation procedure. In general, Sale-Stock-Lifespan model assists to improve the quality of input data for modeling (i.e. perform data consolidation to create more accurate lifespan profile, model dynamic lifespan to take into account its changes over time), via which the quality of e-waste estimation can be improved. To demonstrate the above objectives, a case study on televisions (TVs) in Vietnam has been employed. The results show that the amount of waste TVs in Vietnam has increased four times since 2000 till now. This upward trend is expected to continue in the future. In 2035, a total of 9.51 million TVs are predicted to be discarded. Moreover, estimation of non-registered TV inflow shows that it might on average contribute about 15% to the total TVs sold on the Vietnamese market during the whole period of 2002 to 2013. To tackle potential uncertainties associated with estimation models and input data, sensitivity analysis has been applied. The results show that both estimations of waste and non-registered inflow depend on two parameters i.e. number of TVs used in household and the lifespan. Particularly, with a 1% increase in the TV in-use rate, the average market share of non-register inflow in the period 2002-2013 increases 0.95%. However, it decreases from 27% to 15% when the constant unadjusted lifespan is replaced by the dynamic adjusted lifespan. The effect of these two parameters on the amount of waste TV generation for each year is more complex and non-linear over time. To conclude, despite of remaining uncertainty, this study is the first attempt to apply the Sale-Stock-Lifespan model to improve the e-waste estimation in developing countries and to quantify the non-registered EEE inflow to domestic consumption. It therefore can be further improved in future with more knowledge and data.

Keywords: e-waste, non-registered electrical and electronic equipment, TVs, Vietnam

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Xiyue Wang, Shaoning Yan

Abstract:

Cities in China today is faced with an increasingly serious river ecological crisis accompanying with the development of urbanization: waterlogging on account of the fragmented urban natural hydrological system; the limited ecological function of the hydrological system caused by a destruction of water system and waterfront ecological environment. Additionally, the eco-hydrological processes of rivers are affected by various environmental factors, which are more complex in the context of urban environment. Therefore, efficient hydrological monitoring and analysis tools, accurate and visual hydrological and hydraulic models are becoming more important basis for decision-makers and an important way for landscape architects to solve urban hydrological problems, formulating sustainable and forward-looking schemes. The study mainly introduces the river and flood analysis model based on the platform of Autodesk Civil 3D. Taking the Luanhe River in Qian'an City of Hebei Province as an example, the 3D models of the landform, river, embankment, shoal, pond, underground stream and other land features were initially built, with which the water transfer simulation analysis, river floodplain analysis, and river ecology analysis were carried out, ultimately the real-time visualized simulation and analysis of rivers in various hypothetical scenarios were realized. Through the establishment of digital hydrological and hydraulic model, the hydraulic data can be accurately and intuitively simulated, which provides basis for rational water system and benign urban ecological system design. Though, the hydrological and hydraulic model based on Autodesk Civil3D own its boundedness: the interaction between the model and other data and software is unfavorable; the huge amount of 3D data and the lack of basic data restrict the accuracy and application range. The hydrological and hydraulic model based on Autodesk Civil3D platform provides more possibility to access convenient and intelligent tool for urban planning and monitoring, a solid basis for further urban research and design.

Keywords: visualization, hydrological and hydraulic model, Autodesk Civil 3D, urban river

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Wudneh Asegedech Ayele

Abstract:

Background: Dietary diversity is strongly related with non-communicable disease (NCDs). Diet plays a key role as a risk factor for hypertension. Diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products that include whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts, that contain only small amounts of red meat, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages, and that contain decreased amounts of total and saturated fat and cholesterol have been found to have a protective effect against hypertension. Methods: hospital based Cross-sectional study design was employed from June 1-June 25, 2021. Sampling technique was Systematic random sampling and data were collected using an interview method. Data were entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for processed and analysis respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression will employed to determine dietary diversity among hypertension patients. Results: Adequate dietary diversity score were 96 (24.68%). Most of them cereal, white roots and tubers, dark green leafy vegetables, Vitamin A rich fruits ,meat, egg and coffee or tea more intakes. Hypertensive patients who didn’t consume cereals four times less likely adequate dietary diversity than who consumed cereals [AOR= 4.083, 95%: CI (2.096 -7.352)]. Hypertensive patients who didn’t consume white roots and tubers 14 times less likely adequate dietary diversity than who consumed white roots and tubers [AOR= 13.733, 95% CI: (5.388-34.946)]. Conclusion and recommendation the study showed one of fourth part reported adequate dietary diversity score. Cereals, fruits, vegetables and milk and milk products were statistically associated with dietary diversity practice. Health education about dietary modifications and behavioral change to dietary diversity

Keywords: dietary diversity practice and associated facrors among hypertension patients at tirunesh beijing hospital, hypertension, dietary, diversity and tirunesh beijing hospital, associated facrors among hypertension patient, at tirunesh beijing hospita

Procedia PDF Downloads 14

Authors: Sophia Fry, Mahir Irtiza, Alexa Hoffman, Yousef Sardahi

Abstract:

This study presents an intelligent control algorithm for a flexible robotic arm. Fuzzy control is used to control the motion of the arm to maintain the arm tip at the desired position while reducing vibration and increasing the system speed of response. The Fuzzy controller (FC) is based on adding the tip angular position to the arm deflection angle and using their sum as a feedback signal to the control algorithm. This reduces the complexity of the FC in terms of the input variables, number of membership functions, fuzzy rules, and control structure. Also, the design of the fuzzy controller is model-free and uses only our knowledge about the system. To show the efficacy of the FC, the control algorithm is implemented on the flexible joint manipulator (FJM) developed by Quanser. The results show that the proposed control method is effective in terms of response time, overshoot, and vibration amplitude.

Keywords: fuzzy logic control, model-free control, flexible joint manipulators, nonlinear control

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Iva Ariani, Mohammad Alvi Pratama

Abstract:

Currently, the world of communication experiences a rapid development. There are many ways of communication utilized in line with the development of science which creates many technologies that encourage a rapid development of communication system. However, despite giving convenience for the society, the development of communication system is not accompanied by the development of applicable values and regulations. Therefore, it raises many issues regarding false information or hoax which can influence the society’s mindset. This research aims to know the role of social media towards the reputation of an institution using a communication ethics study. It is a qualitative research using interview, observation, and literature study for collecting data. Then, the data will be analyzed using philosophical methods which are hermeneutic and deduction methods. This research is expected to show the role of social media in developing an institutional reputation in ethical review.

Keywords: social media, ethics, communication, reputation

Procedia PDF Downloads 193

Authors: Jin Sup Kim, Min Seo

Abstract:

An improved cross-shaped hall plate with high sensitivity is described in this paper. Among different geometries that have been simulated and measured using Helmholtz coil. The paper describes the physical hall plate design and implementation in a 0.18-µm CMOS technology. In this paper, the biasing is a constant voltage mode. In the voltage mode, magnetic field is converted into an output voltage. The output voltage is typically in the order of micro- to millivolt and therefore, it must be amplified before being transmitted to the outside world. The study, design and performance optimization of hall plate has been carried out with the COMSOL Multiphysics. It is used to estimate the voltage distribution in the hall plate with and without magnetic field and to optimize the geometry. The simulation uses the nominal bias current of 1mA. The applied magnetic field is in the range from 0 mT to 20 mT. Measured results of the one structure over the 10 available samples show for the best sensitivity of 2.5 %/T at 20mT.

Keywords: cross-shaped hall plate, sensitivity, CMOS technology, Helmholtz coil

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Javid Zarei

Abstract:

International buyback contracts are a type of contract service. These kinds of contracts are the most important instrument for attracting foreign investors in accordance with Iran's laws. These contracts have been the basis of commercial and economic relations between Iran and foreign companies for about 30 years. The legal structure of this type of contract has gradually evolved, so today, an advanced generation of it under the title of Iran Petroleum Contract is being used in the industry of Iran. This article has analytically examined the issue of Iran's commercial contracts in the oil industry and contracting services and allocated sections to examine the strengths and weaknesses of these oil contracts. Also, this research is an attempt to examine and compare the Concession regime with the Buyback contracts, each of which is derived from the common law legal system and the Islamic legal system, respectively.

Keywords: buyback contracts, concession regime, ownership, common law legal system, Islamic legal system of Iran

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Ch. Sridevi, S. P. Shailender Kumar, B. Gurudayal, A. Chalapathi Rao, K. Koteswara Rao, P. Srinivasulu

Abstract:

System reliability and system availability evaluation plays a crucial role in ensuring the seamless operation of complex satellite data reception system with consistent performance for longer periods. This paper presents a novel approach for the same using a case study on one of the antenna systems at satellite data reception ground station in India. The methodology involves analyzing system's components, their failure rates, system's architecture, generation of logical reliability block diagram model and estimating the reliability of the system using the component level mean time between failures considering exponential distribution to derive a baseline estimate of the system's reliability. The model is then validated with collected system level field failure data from the operational satellite data reception systems that includes failure occurred, failure time, criticality of the failure and repair times by using statistical techniques like median rank, regression and Weibull analysis to extract meaningful insights regarding failure patterns and practical reliability of the system and to assess the accuracy of the developed reliability model. The study mainly focused on identification of critical units within the system, which are prone to failures and have a significant impact on overall performance and brought out a reliability model of the identified critical unit. This model takes into account the interdependencies among system components and their impact on overall system reliability and provides valuable insights into the performance of the system to understand the Improvement or degradation of the system over a period of time and will be the vital input to arrive at the optimized design for future development. It also provides a plug and play framework to understand the effect on performance of the system in case of any up gradations or new designs of the unit. It helps in effective planning and formulating contingency plans to address potential system failures, ensuring the continuity of operations. Furthermore, to instill confidence in system users, the duration for which the system can operate continuously with the desired level of 3 sigma reliability was estimated that turned out to be a vital input to maintenance plan. System availability and station availability was also assessed by considering scenarios of clash and non-clash to determine the overall system performance and potential bottlenecks. Overall, this paper establishes a comprehensive methodology for reliability and availability analysis of complex satellite data reception systems. The results derived from this approach facilitate effective planning contingency measures, and provide users with confidence in system performance and enables decision-makers to make informed choices about system maintenance, upgrades and replacements. It also aids in identifying critical units and assessing system availability in various scenarios and helps in minimizing downtime and optimizing resource allocation.

Keywords: exponential distribution, reliability modeling, reliability block diagram, satellite data reception system, system availability, weibull analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Heungwook Son, Sungjoo Lee

Abstract:

Recently, due to intensifying competition in several industries, the importance of meeting customer requirements has increased. The role that service plays in satisfying customer‘s requirements is key area of focus. Thus, the concept of using product development-research in the service system has been actively practiced. As strategic decision making tool, various types of the technology roadmap were suggested in the product-service system (PSS). However, the technology roadmap was configured a top-down form around the technologies of the elements. The limitation is that it hard for it to indicate a variety of interrelations. In response, this paper suggests using the planning support tool of PSS for a DSM for the technology roadmap; it consists of the relationship of product-service-technology as a bottom-up form. Therefore, nine types of the technology roadmap of PSS exist. The first defines the relationship of product-service-technology. The second phase identifies output when of the technology roadmaps are adapted to the DSM process. Finally, the DSM-based forms of each type of technology roadmap are presented through case studies.

Keywords: DSM, technology roadmap, PSS, product-service system, bottom-up

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: İbrahim Hakkı Erkan, Özcan Tan

Abstract:

The performance of jet grout columns was affected by many controlled and uncontrolled parameters. The leading parameters for the controlled ones can be listed as injection pressure, rod pulling speed, rod rotation speed, number of nozzles, nozzle diameter and Water/Cement ratio. And the uncontrolled parameters are soil type, soil structure, soil layering condition, underground water level, the changes in strength parameters and the rheologic properties of cement in time. In this study, the performance of jet grout columns and the effects of pulling speed and rotation speed were investigated experimentally. For this purpose, a laboratory type jet grouting system was designed for the experiments. Through this system, jet grout columns were produced in three different conditions. The results of the study showed that the grout pressure and the lifting speed significantly affect the performance of the jet grouting columns.

Keywords: jet grout, sandy soils, soil improvement, soilcreate

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Chidozie C. Nwobi-Okoye, Basil Q. Ochieze, Stanley Okiy

Abstract:

This research reports on the modeling of age hardening process using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The age hardening output (Hardness) was predicted using ANFIS. The input parameters were ageing time, temperature and percentage composition of cow horn particles (CHp%). The results show the correlation coefficient (R) of the predicted hardness values versus the measured values was of 0.9985. Subsequently, values outside the experimental data points were predicted. When the temperature was kept constant, and other input parameters were varied, the average relative error of the predicted values was 0.0931%. When the temperature was varied, and other input parameters kept constant, the average relative error of the hardness values predictions was 80%. The results show that ANFIS with coarse experimental data points for learning is not very effective in predicting process outputs in the age hardening operation of A356 alloy/CHp particulate composite. The fine experimental data requirements by ANFIS make it more expensive in modeling and optimization of age hardening operations of A356 alloy/CHp particulate composite.

Keywords: adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), age hardening, aluminum alloy, metal matrix composite

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: P. Dubcek, B. Pivac, J. Dasovic, V. Janicki, S. Bernstorff

Abstract:

When grown only to nanometric sizes, metallic particles (e.g. Ag, Au and Cu) exhibit specific optical properties caused by the presence of plasmon band. The plasmon band represents collective oscillation of the conduction electrons, and causes a narrow band absorption of light in the visible range. When the nanoparticles are embedded in a dielectric, they also cause modifications of dielectrics optical properties. This can be fine-tuned by tuning the particle size. We investigated Cu nanoparticle growth with and without surrounding dielectric (SiO2 capping layer). The morphology and crystallinity were investigated by GISAXS and GIWAXS, respectively. Samples were produced by high vacuum thermal evaporation of Cu onto monocrystalline silicon substrate held at room temperature, 100°C or 180°C. One series was in situ capped by 10nm SiO2 layer. Additionally, samples were annealed at different temperatures up to 550°C, also in high vacuum. The room temperature deposited samples annealed at lower temperatures exhibit continuous film structure: strong oscillations in the GISAXS intensity are present especially in the capped samples. At higher temperatures enhanced surface dewetting and Cu nanoparticles (nanoislands) formation partially destroy the flatness of the interface. Therefore the particle type of scattering is enhanced, while the film fringes are depleted. However, capping layer hinders particle formation, and continuous film structure is preserved up to higher annealing temperatures (visible as strong and persistent fringes in GISAXS), compared to the non- capped samples. According to GISAXS, lateral particle sizes are reduced at higher temperatures, while particle height is increasing. This is ascribed to close packing of the formed particles at lower temperatures, and GISAXS deduced sizes are partially the result of the particle agglomerate dimensions. Lateral maxima in GISAXS are an indication of good positional correlation, and the particle to particle distance is increased as the particles grow with temperature elevation. This coordination is much stronger in the capped and lower temperature deposited samples. The dewetting is much more vigorous in the non-capped sample, and since nanoparticles are formed in a range of sizes, correlation is receding both with deposition and annealing temperature. Surface topology was checked by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Capped sample's surfaces were smoother and lateral size of the surface features were larger compared to the non-capped samples. Altogether, AFM results suggest somewhat larger particles and wider size distribution, and this can be attributed to the difference in probe size. Finally, the plasmonic effect was monitored by UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopy, and relative weak plasmonic effect could be explained by uncomplete dewetting or partial interconnection of the formed particles.

Keywords: coper, GISAXS, nanoparticles, plasmonics

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Zhaojun Wang, Zongdi Sun, Zhiyuan Liu

Abstract:

First of all, the carbon trading price and trading volume in Shanghai are transformed by Fourier transform, and the frequency response diagram is obtained. Then, the frequency response diagram is analyzed and the Blackman filter is designed. The Blackman filter is used to filter, and the carbon trading time domain and frequency response diagram are obtained. After wavelet analysis, the carbon trading data were processed; respectively, we got the average value for each 5 days, 10 days, 20 days, 30 days, and 60 days. Finally, the data are used as input of the Back Propagation Neural Network model for prediction.

Keywords: Shanghai carbon trading, carbon trading price, carbon trading volume, wavelet analysis, BP neural network model

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Abimbola A. Adebayo, Kikelomo I. Adebayo

Abstract:

Green buildings provide serious challenges for governments all over the world with regard to achieving energy efficiency in buildings. Energy efficient buildings are needed to keep up with minimal impacts on the environment throughout their cycle and to enhance sustainable development. The lack of awareness and benefits of energy efficient buildings have given rise to NGO’s playing important role in filling data gaps, publicizing information, and undertaking awareness raising and policy engagement activities. However, these roles are countered by concerns about subsidies for evaluations, incentives to facilitate data-sharing, and incentives to finance independent research. On the basis of literature review on experiences with NGO’s involvement in energy efficient buildings, this article identifies governance strategies that stimulate the harmonization of NGO’s roles in green buildings with the objective to increase energy efficiency in buildings.

Keywords: energy efficiency, green buildings, NGOs, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 220