Search results for: geodesic acoustic mode

Authors: Visvaganthie Moodley

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While rhetoric goes back as far as Aristotle who focalised its meaning as the “art of persuasion”, most scholars have focused on elocutio and dispositio canons, neglecting the rhetorical impact of multimodal texts, such as documentaries. Film documentaries are being increasingly rhetoric, often used by wildlife conservationists for influencing people to become more mindful about humanity’s connection with nature. This paper examines the award-winning film documentary, “My Octopus Teacher”, which depicts naturalist, Craig Foster’s unique discovery and relationship with a female octopus in the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Storms in South Africa. It is anchored in Leech and Short’s (2007) framework of linguistic and stylistic categories – comprising lexical items, grammatical features, figures of speech and other rhetoric features, and cohesiveness – with particular foci on diction, anthropomorphic language, metaphors and symbolism. It also draws on Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) multimodal analysis to show how verbal cues (the narrator’s commentary), visual images in motion, visual images as metaphors and symbolism, and aural sensory images such as music and sound synergise for rhetoric effect. In addition, the analysis of “My Octopus Teacher” is guided by Nichol’s (2010) narrative theory; features of a documentary which foregrounds the credibility of the narrative as a text that represents real events with real people; and its modes of construction, viz., the poetic mode, the expository mode, observational mode and participatory mode, and their integration – forging documentaries as multimodal texts. This paper presents a multimodal rhetoric discussion on the sequence of salient episodes captured in the slow moving one-and-a-half-hour documentary. These are: (i) The prologue: on the brink of something extraordinary; (ii) The day it all started; (iii) The narrator’s turmoil: getting back into the ocean; (iv) The incredible encounter with the octopus; (v) Establishing a relationship; (vi) Outwitting the predatory pyjama shark; (vii) The cycle of life; and (viii) The conclusion: lessons from an octopus. The paper argues that wildlife documentaries, characterized by plausibility and which provide researchers the lens to examine the ideologies about animals and humans, offer an assimilation of the various senses – vocal, visual and audial – for engaging viewers in stylized compelling way; they have the ability to persuade people to think and act in particular ways. As multimodal texts, with its use of lexical items; diction; anthropomorphic language; linguistic, visual and aural metaphors and symbolism; and depictions of anthropocentrism, wildlife documentaries are powerful resources for promoting wildlife conservation and conscientizing people of the need for establishing a harmonious relationship with nature and humans alike.

Keywords: documentaries, multimodality, rhetoric, style, wildlife, conservation

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Authors: A. Ghodbane, M. Saad, J. F. Boland, C. Thibeault

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Historically, actuators’ redundancy was used to deal with faults occurring suddenly in flight systems. This technique was generally expensive, time consuming and involves increased weight and space in the system. Therefore, nowadays, the on-line fault diagnosis of actuators and accommodation plays a major role in the design of avionic systems. These approaches, known as Fault Tolerant Flight Control systems (FTFCs) are able to adapt to such sudden faults while keeping avionics systems lighter and less expensive. In this paper, a (FTFC) system based on the Geometric Approach and a Reconfigurable Flight Control (RFC) are presented. The Geometric approach is used for cosmic ray fault reconstruction, while Sliding Mode Control (SMC) based on Lyapunov stability theory is designed for the reconfiguration of the controller in order to compensate the fault effect. Matlab®/Simulink® simulations are performed to illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed flight control system against actuators’ faulty signal caused by cosmic rays. The results demonstrate the successful real-time implementation of the proposed FTFC system on a non-linear 6 DOF aircraft model.

Keywords: actuators’ faults, fault detection and diagnosis, fault tolerant flight control, sliding mode control, geometric approach for fault reconstruction, Lyapunov stability

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Authors: M. Kucukali Ozturk, B. Nergis, C. Candan

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Air permeability plays an important role for applications such as filtration, thermal and acoustic insulation. The study discussed in this paper was conducted in an attempt to investigate air permeability property of various combinations of nonwovens. The PROWHITE air permeability tester was used for the measurement of the air permeability of the samples in accordance with the relevant standards and a comparative study of the results were made. It was found that the fabric mass per unit area was closely related to the air-permeability. The air permeability decreased with the increase in mass per unit area. Additionally, the air permeability of nonwoven fabrics decreased with the increase in thickness. Moreover, air permeability of multilayered SMS nonwoven structures was lower than those of single layered ones.

Keywords: air permeability, mass per unit area, nonwoven structure, polypropylene nonwoven, thickness

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Authors: A. Kamel Abd Elaziz Mohamed, B. Sameh Kamal el Maraghi

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Introduction: Adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is an improved closed-loop ventilation mode that provides both pressure-controlled ventilation and PSV according to the patient’s needs. Aim of the work: To compare the short-term effects of Adaptive support ventilation (ASV), with conventional Pressure support ventilation (PSV) in weaning of intubated COPD patients. Patients and methods: Fifty patients admitted in the intensive care with acute exacerbation of COPD and needing intubation were included in the study. All patients were initially ventilated with control/assist control mode, in a stepwise manner and were receiving standard medical therapy. Patients were randomized into two groups to receive either ASV or PSV. Results: Out of fifty patients included in the study forty one patients in both studied groups were weaned successfully according to their ABG data and weaning indices. APACHE II score showed no significant difference in both groups. There were statistically significant differences between the groups in term of, duration of mechanical ventilation, weaning hours and length of ICU stay being shorter in (group 1) weaned by ASV. Re-intubation and mortality rate were higher in (group 11) weaned by conventional PSV, however the differences were not significant. Conclusion: ASV can provide automated weaning and achieve shorter weaning time for COPD patients hence leading to reduction in the total duration of MV, length of stay, and hospital costs.

Keywords: COPD patients, ASV, PSV, mechanical ventilation (MV)

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Authors: Szymon Kowieski, Zygmunt Mikno

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The study involved the optimization of process parameters during resistance spot welding of Al-coated martensitic boron steel 22MnB5, applied in hot stamping, performed using a programme with a multiple current impulse mode and a programme with variable pressure force. The aim of this research work was to determine the possibilities of a growth in welded joint strength and to identify the expansion of a welding lobe. The process parameters were adjusted on the basis of welding process simulation and confronted with experimental data. 22MnB5 steel is known for its tendency to obtain high hardness values in weld nuggets, often leading to interfacial failures (observed in the study-related tests). In addition, during resistance spot welding, many production-related factors can affect process stability, e.g. welding lobe narrowing, and lead to the deterioration of quality. Resistance spot welding performed using the above-named welding programme featuring 3 levels of force made it possible to achieve 82% of welding lobe extension. Joints made using the multiple current impulse program, where the total welding time was below 1.4s, revealed a change in a peeling mode (to full plug) and an increase in weld tensile shear strength of 10%.

Keywords: 22MnB5, hot stamping, interfacial fracture, resistance spot welding, simulation, single lap joint, welding lobe

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Authors: Qiankun Zhong

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In a global cultural context, film festival awards become authorities to define the aesthetic value of films. To study which genres and producing countries are valued by different film festivals and how those evaluations interact with each other, this research explored the interactions between the film festivals through their selection of movies and the factors that lead to the tendency of film festivals to nominate the same movies. To do this, the author employed a two-mode network on the movies that won the highest awards at five international film festivals with the highest attendance in the past ten years (the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival) and the film festivals that nominated those movies. The title, genre, producing country and language of 50 movies, and the range (regional, national or international) and organizing country or area of 129 film festivals were collected. These created networks connected by nominating the same films and awarding the same movies. The author then assessed the density and centrality of these networks to answer the question: What are the film festivals that tend to have more shared values with other festivals? Based on the Eigenvector centrality of the two-mode network, Palm Springs, Robert Festival, Toronto, Chicago, and San Sebastian are the festivals that tend to nominate commonly appreciated movies. In contrast, Black Movie Film Festival has the unique value of generally not sharing nominations with other film festivals. A homophily test was applied to access the clustering effects of film and film festivals. The result showed that movie genres (E-I index=0.55) and geographic location (E-I index=0.35) are possible indicators of film festival clustering. A blockmodel was also created to examine the structural roles of the film festivals and their meaning in real-world context. By analyzing the same blocks with film festival attributes, it was identified that film festivals either organized in the same area, with the same history, or with the same attitude on independent films would occupy the same structural roles in the network. Through the interpretation of the blocks, language was identified as an indicator that contributes to the role position of a film festival. Comparing the result of blockmodeling in the different periods, it is seen that international film festivals contrast with the Hollywood industry’s dominant value. The structural role dynamics provide evidence for a multi-value film festival network.

Keywords: film festivals, film studies, media industry studies, network analysis

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Authors: Salahud Din, Saima Masood, Hafsa Zaneb, Habib Ur Rehman, Saima Ashraf, Imad Khan, Muqader Shah

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The objective of this study was (1) to study gross morphological, osteometric and clinical important landmarks in the skull of adult Chinkara to obtain baseline data and (2) to study sexual dimorphism in male and female adult Chinkara through osteometry. For this purpose, after performing postmortem examination, the carcass of adult Chinkara of known sex and age was buried in the locality of the Manglot Wildlife Park and Ungulate Breeding Centre, Nizampur, Pakistan; after a specific period of time, the bones were unearthed. Gross morphological features and various osteometric parameters of the skull were studied in the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. The shape of the Chinkara skull was elongated and had thirty-two bones. The skull was comprised of the cranial and the facial part. The facial region of the skull was formed by maxilla, incisive, palatine, vomar, pterygoid, frontal, parietal, nasal, incisive, turbinates, mandible and hyoid apparatus. The bony region of the cranium of Chinkara was comprised of occipital, ethmoid, sphenoid, interparietal, parietal, temporal, and frontal bone. The foramina identified in the facial region of the skull of Chinkara were infraorbital, supraorbital foramen, lacrimal, sphenopalatine, maxillary and caudal palatine foramina. The foramina of the cranium of the skull of the Chinkara were the internal acoustic meatus, external acoustic meatus, hypoglossal canal, transverse canal, sphenorbital fissure, carotid canal, foramen magnum, stylomastoid foramen, foramen rotundum, foramen ovale and jugular foramen, and the rostral and the caudal foramina that formed the pterygoid canal. The measured craniometric parameters did not show statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) between male and female adult Chinkara except Palatine bone, OI, DO, IOCDE, OCT, ICW, IPCW, and PCPL were significantly higher (p > 0.05) in male than female Chinkara and mean values of the mandibular parameters except b and h were significantly (p < 0.5) higher in male Chinkara than female Chinkara. Sexual dimorphism exists in some of the orbital and foramen magnum parameters, while high levels of sexual dimorphism identified in mandible. In conclusion, morphocraniometric studies of Chinkara skull made it possible to identify species-specific skull and use clinical measurements during practical application.

Keywords: Chinkara, skull, morphology, morphometrics, sexual dimorphism

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Authors: Lior Davidovitch

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

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

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

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This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF)

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Authors: Nigar Kantarci Carsibasi

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Coarse-grained elastic network models, namely Gaussian network model (GNM) and Anisotropic network model (ANM), are utilized in order to investigate the fluctuation dynamics of Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2), which is the native inhibitor of p53. Conformational dynamics of MDM2 are elucidated in unbound, p53 bound, and non-peptide small molecule inhibitor bound forms. With this, it is aimed to gain insights about the alterations brought to global dynamics of MDM2 by native peptide inhibitor p53, and two small molecule inhibitors (HDM201 and NVP-CGM097) that are undergoing clinical stages in cancer studies. MDM2 undergoes significant conformational changes upon inhibitor binding, carrying pieces of evidence of induced-fit mechanism. Small molecule inhibitors examined in this work exhibit similar fluctuation dynamics and characteristic mode shapes with p53 when complexed with MDM2, which would shed light on the design of novel small molecule inhibitors for cancer therapy. The results showed that residues Phe 19, Trp 23, Leu 26 reside in the minima of slowest modes of p53, pointing to the accepted three-finger binding model. Pro 27 displays the most significant hinge present in p53 and comes out to be another functionally important residue. Three distinct regions are identified in MDM2, for which significant conformational changes are observed upon binding. Regions I (residues 50-77) and III (residues 90-105) correspond to the binding interface of MDM2, including (α2, L2, and α4), which are stabilized during complex formation. Region II (residues 77-90) exhibits a large amplitude motion, being highly flexible, both in the absence and presence of p53 or other inhibitors. MDM2 exhibits a scattered profile in the fastest modes of motion, while binding of p53 and inhibitors puts restraints on MDM2 domains, clearly distinguishing the kinetically hot regions. Mode shape analysis revealed that the α4 domain controls the size of the cleft by keeping the cleft narrow in unbound MDM2; and open in the bound states for proper penetration and binding of p53 and inhibitors, which points to the induced-fit mechanism of p53 binding. P53 interacts with α2 and α4 in a synchronized manner. Collective modes are shifted upon inhibitor binding, i.e., second mode characteristic motion in MDM2-p53 complex is observed in the first mode of apo MDM2; however, apo and bound MDM2 exhibits similar features in the softest modes pointing to pre-existing modes facilitating the ligand binding. Although much higher amplitude motions are attained in the presence of non-peptide small molecule inhibitor molecules as compared to p53, they demonstrate close similarity. Hence, NVP-CGM097 and HDM201 succeed in mimicking the p53 behavior well. Elucidating how drug candidates alter the MDM2 global and conformational dynamics would shed light on the rational design of novel anticancer drugs.

Keywords: cancer, drug design, elastic network model, MDM2

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Authors: Xinhuang Wu, Yousef Sardahi

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A hybrid and optimal multi-loop control structure combining linear and nonlinear control algorithms are introduced in this paper to regulate the position of a quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) driven by four brushless DC motors. To this end, a nonlinear mathematical model of the UAV is derived and then linearized around one of its operating points. Using the nonlinear version of the model, a sliding mode control is used to derive the control laws of the motor thrust forces required to drive the UAV to a certain position. The linear model is used to design two controllers, XG-controller and YG-controller, responsible for calculating the required roll and pitch to maneuver the vehicle to the desired X and Y position. Three attitude controllers are designed to calculate the desired angular rates of rotors, assuming that the Euler angles are minimal. After that, a many-objective optimization problem involving 20 design parameters and ten objective functions is formulated and solved by HypE (Hypervolume estimation algorithm), one of the widely used many-objective optimization algorithms approaches. Both stability and performance constraints are imposed on the optimization problem. The optimization results in terms of Pareto sets and fronts are obtained and show that some of the design objectives are competing. That is, when one objective goes down, the other goes up. Also, Numerical simulations conducted on the nonlinear UAV model show that the proposed optimization method is quite effective.

Keywords: optimal control, many-objective optimization, sliding mode control, linear control, cascade controllers, UAV, drones

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Authors: Abdelkarim M. Ertiame, D. W. Yu, D. L. Yu, J. B. Gomm

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In this paper, a new robust fault detection and isolation (FDI) scheme is developed to monitor a multivariable nonlinear chemical process called the Chylla-Haase polymerization reactor when it is under the cascade PI control. The scheme employs a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) in an independent mode to model the process dynamics and using the weighted sum-squared prediction error as the residual. The recursive orthogonal Least Squares algorithm (ROLS) is employed to train the model to overcome the training difficulty of the independent mode of the network. Then, another RBFNN is used as a fault classifier to isolate faults from different features involved in the residual vector. The several actuator and sensor faults are simulated in a nonlinear simulation of the reactor in Simulink. The scheme is used to detect and isolate the faults on-line. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the scheme even the process is subjected to disturbances and uncertainties including significant changes in the monomer feed rate, fouling factor, impurity factor, ambient temperature and measurement noise. The simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Robust fault detection, cascade control, independent RBF model, RBF neural networks, Chylla-Haase reactor, FDI under closed-loop control

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Authors: Kirill Trapezon, Alexandr Trapezon

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A problem is formulated for the natural oscillations of a circular plate of linearly variable thickness on the basis of the symmetry method. The equations of natural frequencies and forms for a plate are obtained, providing that it is rigidly fixed along the inner contour. The first three eigenfrequencies are calculated, and the eigenmodes of the oscillations of the acoustic element are constructed. An algorithm for applying the symmetry method and the factorization method for solving problems in the theory of oscillations for plates of variable thickness is shown. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on the basis of comparison of known results and those obtained in the article. It is shown that the results are more accurate and reliable.

Keywords: vibrations, plate, method of symmetries, differential equation, factorization, approximation

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Authors: Reda Mankbadi

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The current work explores the use of Synthetic Jet Actuators (SJAs) for control of the acoustic radiation of a low-speed transitioning airfoil in a uniform stream. In the adopted numerical procedure, the actuator is modeled without its resonator cavity through imposing a simple fluctuating-velocity boundary condition at the bottom of the actuator's orifice. The orifice cavity, with the properly defined boundary condition, is then embedded into the airfoil surface. High-accuracy viscous simulations are then conducted to study the effects of the actuation on sound radiated by the airfoil. Results show that SJA can considerably suppress the radiated sound of the airfoil in uniform incoming stream.

Keywords: simulations, aeroacoustics, wind turbine noise, synthetic jet actuators (SJAs)

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Authors: Kshanaprava Dhalsamant, Punyadarshini P. Tripathy, Shanker L. Shrivastava

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With present high global population, the need for rising food usage by minimizing food wastage and investment is highly necessary to achieve food security. The purpose of this study is to enlighten the effect of pre-drying treatment on rehydration, color, texture, nanohardness, microstructure and surface morphology of solar dried potato samples dried in the mixed-mode solar dryer. Locally bought potatoes were cleaned and cut into cylindrical pieces and pretreated with sodium metabisulfite (0.5%) for 10 min before placing them in natural convection solar dryer designed and developed in Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. Advanced quality characteristics were studied using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and nanoindentation method, along with color, texture and water activity. The rehydration indices of solar dried potatoes were significantly biased by pretreatment followed by rehydration temperature. A lower redness index (a*) with a higher value of yellowness index (b*), chroma (C*) and hue angle (h*) were obtained for pretreated samples. Also, the average nanohardness (H) of untreated samples exhibited substantial lower value (18.46%) compared to pretreated samples. Additionally, a creep displacement of 43.27 nm during 20 s dwell time under constant load of 200

Keywords: pretreatment, nanohardness, microstructure, surface morphology

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Authors: Jing Zhao, Dayong Liu, Shihao Wang, Xinghua Zhu, Delong Li

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Uhumanned Underwater Vehicles generally operate in the deep sea, which has its own unique working conditions. Lithium-ion power batteries should have the necessary stability and endurance for use as an underwater vehicle’s power source. Therefore, it is essential to accurately forecast how long lithium-ion batteries will last in order to maintain the system’s reliability and safety. In order to model and forecast lithium battery Remaining Useful Life (RUL), this research suggests a model based on Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive noise-Temporal Convolutional Net (CEEMDAN-TCN). In this study, two datasets, NASA and CALCE, which have a specific gap in capacity data fluctuation, are used to verify the model and examine the experimental results in order to demonstrate the generalizability of the concept. The experiments demonstrate the network structure’s strong universality and ability to achieve good fitting outcomes on the test set for various battery dataset types. The evaluation metrics reveal that the CEEMDAN-TCN prediction performance of TCN is 25% to 35% better than that of a single neural network, proving that feature expansion and modal decomposition can both enhance the model’s generalizability and be extremely useful in industrial settings.

Keywords: lithium-ion battery, remaining useful life, complete EEMD with adaptive noise, temporal convolutional net

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Authors: Chinmayee Choudhury

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Human Melanocortin 4 Receptor (HMC4R) is one of the most potential drug targets for the treatment of obesity which controls the appetite. A deletion of the residues 88-92 in HMC4R is sometimes the cause of severe obesity in the humans. In this study, two homology models are constructed for the normal as well as mutated HMC4Rs and some phytochemicals present in Green Tea, Honey and Cinnamon have been docked to them to study their differential binding to the normal and mutated HMC4R as compared to the natural agonist α- MSH. Two homology models have been constructed for the normal as well as mutated HMC4Rs using the Modeller9v7. Some of the phytochemicals present in Green Tea, Honey, and Cinnamon, which have appetite suppressant activities are constructed, minimized and docked to these normal and mutated HMC4R models using ArgusLab 4.0.1. The mode of binding of the phytochemicals with the Normal and Mutated HMC4Rs have been compared. Further, the mode of binding of these phytochemicals with that of the natural agonist α- Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone(α-MSH) to both normal and mutated HMC4Rs have also been studied. It is observed that the phytochemicals Kaempherol, Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) present in Green Tea and Honey, Isorhamnetin, Chlorogenic acid, Chrysin, Galangin, Pinocambrin present in Honey, Cinnamaldehyde, Cinnamyl acetate and Cinnamyl alcohol present in Cinnamon have capacity to form more stable complexes with the Mutated HMC4R as compared to α- MSH. So they may be potential agonists of HMC4R to suppress the appetite.

Keywords: HMC4R, α-MSH, docking, photochemical, appetite suppressant, homology modelling

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Authors: Alireza Gholami, Amir H. D. Markazi

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In this paper, an observer-based direct adaptive fuzzy sliding mode (OAFSM) algorithm is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, the zero-input dynamics of the plant could be unknown. The input connection matrix is used to combine the sliding surfaces of individual subsystems, and an adaptive fuzzy algorithm is used to estimate an equivalent sliding mode control input directly. The fuzzy membership functions, which were determined by time consuming try and error processes in previous works, are adjusted by adaptive algorithms. The other advantage of the proposed controller is that the input gain matrix is not limited to be diagonal, i.e. the plant could be over/under actuated provided that controllability and observability are preserved. An observer is constructed to directly estimate the state tracking error, and the nonlinear part of the observer is constructed by an adaptive fuzzy algorithm. The main advantage of the proposed observer is that, the measured outputs is not limited to the first entry of a canonical-form state vector. The closed-loop stability of the proposed method is proved using a Lyapunov-based approach. The proposed method is applied numerically on a multi-link robot manipulator, which verifies the performance of the closed-loop control. Moreover, the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with some conventional control algorithms.

Keywords: adaptive algorithm, fuzzy systems, membership functions, observer

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Authors: Saroj Bala Grover, Al Munther Alhasawi, Prem N. Sharma, P. S. N. Menon

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Background: Prisoners are considered one of the high-risk populations for the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Targeting this group is one of the strategies to reduce the incidence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the community. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among male inmates in Kuwait’s prison by administering three sets of questionnaires to assess the level of their knowledge and awareness about the mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS, their risky personal behavior that may lead to HIV infection, and the presence of any negative attitudes and stigmatization towards HIV infected individuals. Results: The study included 123 male inmates, with a mean ± SD age of 30.9 ± 8.4 years. Most participants had good general knowledge (90%) about the mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS, including sharing contaminated syringes, risky personal behaviors such as having unprotected sex and increased number of extramarital relationships (66%), and the avoidance of the regular use of condoms. The younger age group (< 35 years) had more extramarital relationships than those > 35 years (71.4% Vs. 46.4%; p=0.016). There was a perceived attitude of stigmatization among inmates towards HIV-infected persons. Conclusions: This vulnerable group of prisoners, especially young adults, need educational programs to improve knowledge about the transmission of HIV and to correct and change their risky personal behaviors to protect themselves and the community against HIV transmission.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Kuwait, prisoners, knowledge, awareness, personal behavior, extramarital relationships, safe sex, discrimination, stigmatization

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Authors: Waddah Abdelbagi Talha, Mohammed Abdullah Elmaleeh, John Ojur Dennis

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This paper focuses on the simulation and implementation of a resonator micro-sensor for low magnetic field sensing based on a U-shaped cantilever and piezoresistive configuration, which works based on Lorentz force physical phenomena. The resonance frequency is an important parameter that depends upon the highest response and sensitivity through the frequency domain (frequency response) of any vibrated micro-scale of an electromechanical system (MEMS) device. And it is important to determine the direction of the detected magnetic field. The deflection of the cantilever is considered for vibrated mode with different frequencies in the range of (0 Hz to 7000 Hz); for the purpose of observing the frequency response. A simple electronic circuit-based polysilicon piezoresistors in Wheatstone's bridge configuration are used to transduce the response of the cantilever to electrical measurements at various voltages. Microcontroller-based Arduino program and PROTEUS electronic software are used to analyze the output signals from the sensor. The highest output voltage amplitude of about 4.7 mV is spotted at about 3 kHz of the frequency domain, indicating the highest sensitivity, which can be called resonant sensitivity. Based on the resonant frequency value, the mode of vibration is determined (up-down vibration), and based on that, the vector of the magnetic field is also determined.

Keywords: resonant frequency, sensitivity, Wheatstone bridge, UNO-microcontroller

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Authors: Zi-Gui Huang, Shen-Hsien Hu

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This study proposes a fabrication of phononic-crystal acoustic wave device. A graphene-like atomic structure was adopted as the main research subject, and a graphene-like structure was designed using piezoelectric material zinc oxide and its periodic boundary conditions were defined using the finite element method. The effects of a hexagonal honeycomb structure were investigated regarding the band gap phenomenon. The use of micro-electromechanical systems process technology to make the film etched micron graphics, designed to produce four kinds of different piezoelectric structure (plat, periodic, single defect and double defects). Frequency response signals and phase change were also measured in this paper.

Keywords: MEMS, phononic crystal, piezoelectric material, Zinc oxide

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Authors: Sidong Zhao, Xingping Wang

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Recently, the government of China has provided strong support the developments of overseas industrial parks. The global distribution of China overseas industrial parks has gradually moved from the 'sparks of fire' to the 'prairie fires.' The support and distribution have promoted developing overseas industrial parks to a strategy of constructing a China's new open economic system and a typical representative of the 'Chinese wisdom' and the 'China's plans' that China has contributed to the globalization of the new era under the initiative of the Belt and Road. As the industrial parks are the basis of 'work/employment', a basic function of a city (Athens Constitution), planning for developments of industrial parks has become a long-term focus of urban planning. Based on the research of the planning and the analysis of the present developments of some typical China overseas industrial parks, we found some interesting rules: First, large numbers of the China overseas industrial parks are located in less developed countries. These industrial parks have become significant drives of the developments of the host cities and even the regions in those countries, especially in investment, employment and paid tax fee for the local, etc. so, the planning and development of overseas industrial parks have received extensive attention. Second, there are some problems in the small part of the overseas Park, such as the planning of the park not following the planning of the host city and lack of implementation of the park planning, etc. These problems have led to the difficulties of the implementation of the planning and the sustainable developments of the parks. Third, a unique pattern of space development has been formed. in the dimension of the patterns of regional spatial distribution, there are five characteristics - along with the coast, along the river, along with the main traffic lines and hubs, along with the central urban area and along the connections of regions economic. In the dimension of the spatial relationships between the industrial park and the city, there is a growing and evolving trend as 'separation – integration - union'. In the dimension of spatial mode of the industrial parks, there are different patterns of development, such as a specialized industrial park, complex industrial park, characteristic town and new urban area of industry, etc. From the perspective of the trends of the developments and spatial modes, in the future, the planning of China overseas industrial parks should emphasize the idea of 'building a city based on the industrial park'. In other words, it's making the developments of China overseas industrial parks move from 'driven by policy' to 'driven by the functions of the city', accelerating forming the system of China overseas industrial parks and integrating the industrial parks and the cities.

Keywords: overseas industrial park, spatial mode, planning, China

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Authors: Dalia Salem, Detlef Schulz

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As Germany pursues its ambitious plan towards a power system based on renewable energy sources, the necessity to establish steady, robust microgrids becomes more evident. Inside the microgrid, there is at least one grid-forming inverter responsible for generating the coupling voltage and stabilizing the system frequency within the standardized accepted limits when the microgrid is forced to operate as a stand-alone power system. Grid-forming control for distributed inverters is required to enable steady control of a low-inertia power system. In this paper, a designed droop control technique is tested at the controller of an inverter as a component of a hardware test bed to understand the microgrid behavior in two modes of operation: i) grid-connected and ii) operating in islanding mode. This droop technique includes many current and voltage inner control loops, where the Q-V and P-f droop provide the required terminal output voltage and frequency. The technique is tested first in a simulation model of the inverter in MATLAB/SIMULINK, and the results are compared to the results of the hardware laboratory test. The results of this experiment illuminate the pivotal role of the grid-forming inverter in facilitating microgrid resilience during grid disconnection events and how microgrids could provide the functionality formerly provided by synchronous machinery, such as the black start process.

Keywords: microgrid, grid-forming inverters, droop-control, islanding-operation

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Authors: Intan Purnama Sari, Fitri Damayanti, Nabiila Yumna Ghina

Abstract:

Kliwonan, Sragen is a famous central batik industry village. In the process of the industry, women are placed into the central role but marginalized in economic mode. Women have the double burden on domestic sector and public sector (work as craftsmen batik). The existence of the batik industry bring on issues related to the pollution of water resources as a result of waste water with the marginalized of women. This research aims to examine the relevance of the pollution of the water from the well in Kliwonan with women as the biggest role holders through ecofeminism perspective. To examine these aspects then made observations, documentation, and interview against women batik craftsmen. The results of the study showed that the wells as sources of water to the inhabitants of contaminated because the liquid waste water batik industry. The impact of women must buy clean water each month to meet the needs of the household water with the reward that is obtained from the result of labor as much as Rp 12,000 per day. It proves the marginalized women on economic mode. Based on the results of research done, it can be concluded that the required environmental planning to promote how women do the rescue environment. The implementation requires kelor (Moringa oleifera seeds) as such as natural coagulants of sources of water-saving and easy to use.

Keywords: well water pollution, ecofeminism, environmental planning, Moringa oleifera

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Authors: Odigie Veronica

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The paper focused on the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in effective service delivery in view of the ongoing COVID-19 experience. It adopted the exploratory research method with three research objectives captured. Consequently, the objectives were to ascertain the meaning of online education, understand the concept of COVID-19 and to determine the relevance of online education in effective service delivery in institutions of learning. It is evident from the findings that through ICT, online mode of learning can be adopted in schools which helps greatly in promoting continual education. Online mode of education is practiced online; it brings both the teacher and learners from different places together, without any physical boundary/contact (at least 75%); and has helped greatly in human development in countries where it has been practiced. It is also a welcome development owing to its many benefits such as exposure to digital learning, having access to works of great teachers and educationists such as Socrates, Plato, Dewey, R.S. Peters, J. J. Rosseau, Nnamdi Azikwe, Carol Gilligan, J. I. Omoregbe, Jane Roland Martin, Jean Piaget, among others; and the facilitation of uninterrupted learning for class promotion and graduation of students. Developing the learners all round is part of human development which helps in developing a nation. These and many more are some benefits online education offers which make ICT very relevant in our contemporary society

Keywords: online education, COVID-19 pandemic, effective service delivery, human development

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Authors: Aamna Tufail, Catherine Anyanwu

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Introduction/Aims: Neurosensory deficits following third molar removal affect the quality of life markedly. The purpose of this audit was to evaluate the incidence of IDN and LN damage and to compare departmental rates to an established standard. A secondary objective was to provide a descriptive summary of identified cases for clinical learning. Materials and Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted by a telephone survey of 101 patients who had third molar extractions performed under LA, IVS, or GA from January 2019 to June 2020 at a District General Hospital. The results were compared to a clinical standard identified as Cheng et al1. Data collection included mode of surgery, mode of anaesthesia, grade of clinician, assessment of difficulty, severity, and duration of symptoms. Results/Statistics: A total of 101 patients had 136 third molars extracted. Age range was 18-84 years. 44% extractions were under LA, 52% under GA, and 4% under IV sedation. 30% were simple extractions, 68% were surgical removals, 2% were unspecified. 89% extractions were performed by an Associate Specialist, 5% by a consultant, and 6% by unspecified grade of clinician. The rate of IDN injuries was 2.9% (n=4), higher than standard (0.3%). The rate of LN injuries was 0.7% (n=1), same as standard (0.7%). The 5 cases of neurosensory deficits are discussed in detail. Conclusions/Clinical Relevance: The rate of ID nerve injuries was higher than the standard. The rate of LN complications was lower than the standard.

Keywords: inferior dental nerve, lingual nerve, nerve injuries, third molars

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Authors: Jitendra Pratap, Jonathan Sivyer

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Introduction: Dual energy/Spectral CT scanning permits simultaneous acquisition of two x-ray spectra datasets and can complement radiological diagnosis by allowing tissue characterisation (e.g., uric acid vs. non-uric acid renal stones), enhancing structures (e.g. boost iodine signal to improve contrast resolution), and quantifying substances (e.g. iodine density). However, the latter showed inconsistent results between the 2 main modes of dual energy scanning (i.e. dual source vs. dual layer). Therefore, the present study aimed to determine which technology is more accurate in quantifying iodine density. Methods: Twenty vials with known concentrations of iodine solutions were made using Optiray 350 contrast media diluted in sterile water. The concentration of iodine utilised ranged from 0.1 mg/ml to 1.0mg/ml in 0.1mg/ml increments, 1.5 mg/ml to 4.5 mg/ml in 0.5mg/ml increments followed by further concentrations at 5.0 mg/ml, 7mg/ml, 10 mg/ml and 15mg/ml. The vials were scanned using Dual Energy scan mode on a Siemens Somatom Force at 80kV/Sn150kV and 100kV/Sn150kV kilovoltage pairing. The same vials were scanned using Spectral scan mode on a Philips iQon at 120kVp and 140kVp. The images were reconstructed at 5mm thickness and 5mm increment using Br40 kernel on the Siemens Force and B Filter on Philips iQon. Post-processing of the Dual Energy data was performed on vendor-specific Siemens Syngo VIA (VB40) and Philips Intellispace Portal (Ver. 12) for the Spectral data. For each vial and scan mode, the iodine concentration was measured by placing an ROI in the coronal plane. Intraclass correlation analysis was performed on both datasets. Results: The iodine concentrations were reproduced with a high degree of accuracy for Dual Layer CT scanner. Although the Dual Source images showed a greater degree of deviation in measured iodine density for all vials, the dataset acquired at 80kV/Sn150kV had a higher accuracy. Conclusion: Spectral CT scanning by the dual layer technique has higher accuracy for quantitative measurements of iodine density compared to the dual source technique.

Keywords: CT, iodine density, spectral, dual-energy

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Authors: Punnoose A. K.

Abstract:

This paper presents an approach for identifying noisy speech recording using a multi-layer perception (MLP) trained to predict phonemes from acoustic features. Characteristics of the MLP posteriors are explored for clean speech and noisy speech at the frame level. Appropriate density functions are used to fit the softmax probability of the clean and noisy speech. A function that takes into account the ratio of the softmax probability density of noisy speech to clean speech is formulated. These phoneme independent scoring is weighted using a phoneme-specific weightage to make the scoring more robust. Simple thresholding is used to identify the noisy speech recording from the clean speech recordings. The approach is benchmarked on standard databases, with a focus on precision.

Keywords: noisy speech identification, speech pre-processing, noise robustness, feature engineering

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Authors: Misa Nakao, Yuta Kurashina, Chikahiro Imashiro, Kenjiro Takemura

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The Research Goal: With the growing demand for regenerative medicine, an effective mass cell culture process is required. In a repetitive subculture process for proliferating cells, preparing single cell suspension which does not contain any cell aggregates is highly required because cell aggregates often raise various undesirable phenomena, e.g., apoptosis and decrease of cell proliferation. Since cell aggregates often occur in cell suspension during conventional subculture processes, this study proposes a single cell sorter driven by a resonance vibration of a cell culture substrate. The Method and the Result: The single cell sorter is simply composed of a cell culture substrate and a glass pipe vertically placed against the cell culture substrate with a certain gap corresponding to a cell diameter. The cell culture substrate is made of biocompatible stainless steel with a piezoelectric ceramic disk glued to the bottom side. Applying AC voltage to the piezoelectric ceramic disk, an out-of-plane resonance vibration with a single nodal circle of the cell culture substrate can be excited at 5.5 kHz. By doing so, acoustic radiation force is emitted, and then cell suspension containing only single cells is pumped into the pipe and collected. This single cell sorter is effective to collect single cells selectively in spite of its quite simple structure. We collected C2C12 myoblast cell suspension by the single cell sorter with the vibration amplitude of 12 µmp-p and evaluated the ratio of single cells in number against the entire cells in the suspension. Additionally, we cultured the collected cells for 72 hrs and measured the number of cells after the cultivation in order to evaluate their proliferation. As a control sample, we also collected cell suspension by conventional pipetting, and evaluated the ratio of single cells and the number of cells after the 72-hour cultivation. The ratio of single cells in the cell suspension collected by the single cell sorter was 98.2%. This ratio was 9.6% higher than that collected by conventional pipetting (statistically significant). Moreover, the number of cells cultured for 72 hrs after the collection by the single cell sorter yielded statistically more cells than that collected by pipetting, resulting in a 13.6% increase in proliferated cells. These results suggest that the cell suspension collected by the single cell sorter driven by the resonance vibration hardly contains cell aggregates whose diameter is larger than the gap between the cell culture substrate and the pipe. Consequently, the cell suspension collected by the single cell sorter maintains high cell proliferation. Conclusions: In this study, we developed a single cell sorter capable of sorting and pumping single cells by a resonance vibration of a cell culture substrate. The experimental results show the single cell sorter collects single cell suspension which hardly contains cell aggregates. Furthermore, the collected cells show higher proliferation than that of cells collected by conventional pipetting. This means the resonance vibration of the cell culture substrate can benefit us with the increase in efficiency of mass cell culture process for clinical applications.

Keywords: acoustic radiation force, cell proliferation, regenerative medicine, resonance vibration, single cell sorter

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Authors: Stig H. Jørgensen, Trond Nordfjærn, Øyvind Teige Hedenstrøm, Torbjørn Rundmo

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The aim of the paper is to estimate and forecast road traffic injuries in the coming 10-15 years given new targets in urban transport policy and shifts of mode of transport, including injury cross-effects of mode changes. The paper discusses possibilities and limitations in measuring and quantifying possible injury reductions. Injury data (killed and seriously injured road users) from six urban areas in Norway from 1998-2012 (N= 4709 casualties) form the basis for estimates of changing injury patterns. For the coming period calculation of number of injuries and injury rates by type of road user (categories of motorized versus non-motorized) by sex, age and type of road are made. A prognosticated population increase (25 %) in total population within 2025 in the six urban areas will curb the proceeded fall in injury figures. However, policy strategies and measures geared towards a stronger modal shift from use of private vehicles to safer public transport (bus, train) will modify this effect. On the other side will door to door transport (pedestrians on their way to/from public transport nodes) imply a higher exposure for pedestrians (bikers) converting from private vehicle use (including fall accidents not registered as traffic accidents). The overall effect is the sum of these modal shifts in the increasing urban population and in addition diminishing return to the majority of road safety countermeasures has also to be taken into account. The paper demonstrates how uncertainties in the various estimates (prediction factors) on increasing injuries as well as decreasing injury figures may partly offset each other. The paper discusses road safety policy and welfare consequences of transport mode shift, including reduced use of private vehicles, and further environmental impacts. In this regard, safety and environmental issues will as a rule concur. However pursuing environmental goals (e.g. improved air quality, reduced co2 emissions) encouraging more biking may generate more biking injuries. The study was given financial grants from the Norwegian Research Council’s Transport Safety Program.

Keywords: road injuries, forecasting, reduced private care use, urban, Norway

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