Search results for: performance evaluation

Authors: Henri El Zakhem, Anthony Dahdah, Lara Frangieh, Jessica Koura

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Nowadays, the removal of whey produced in the dairy processes has been the most important problem in the dairy industry. Every year, about 47% of the 115 million tons of whey produced world-wide are disposed in the environment. Whey is a nutritious liquid, containing whey proteins (β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobulin-G, proteose pepton), lactose, vitamins (B5, B2, C, and B6), minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Chloride, and Sodium), and trace elements (Zinc, Iron, Iodine, and Copper). The first objective was to increase the economical and commercial value of whey which is considered as by-product. The second objective of this study was to formulate a new baby food with good nutritional, sensory and storage properties and acceptable to consumers using the cheese whey. The creation of the new product must pass through the following stages: idea stage, development stage which includes the business planning and the product development prototype, packaging stage, production stage, test marketing stage, quality control/sanitation. Three types of whey-based food were selected and prepared by mixing whey and apple, whey and banana as well as whey, apple, and banana.To compile with the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) and adequate intakes (AI) for vitamins and minerals, each sample is formed from 114g of sliced and smashed fruits mixed with 8 mL of whey. Mixtures are heated to 72oC for 15 seconds, and filled in pasteurized jars. Jars were conserved at 4oC. Following the experimental part, sensory evaluation made by an experienced panel took place. Hedonic tests results show that the mixture of whey, apple, and banana has the most delicious and sweetness taste followed by the mixture of whey and banana, and finally the mixture of whey and apple. This study was concluded with a managerial and engineering study that reveals that the project is economically profitable to be executed in Lebanon.

Keywords: baby food, by-product, cheese whey, formulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Tadayuki Kyoutani, Shigeyuki Haruyama, Ken Kaminishi, Zefry Darmawan

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Japan’s semiconductor industries have developed greatly in recent years. Many were started from a Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) that found at a good circumstance and now become the prosperous industries in the world. Sustainable growth factors that support the creation of spirit value inside the Japanese company were strongly embedded through performance. Those factors were not clearly defined among each company. A series of literature research conducted to explore quantitative text mining about the definition of sustainable growth factors. Sustainable criteria were developed from previous research to verify the definition of the factors. A typical frame work was proposed as a systematical approach to develop sustainable growth factor in a specific company. Result of approach was review in certain period shows that factors influenced in sustainable growth was importance for the company to achieve the goal.

Keywords: SME, manufacture, sustainable, growth factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Amal M. Alrayes, Hayat M. Ali

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Since the beginning of distance education with the rapid evolution of technology, the social network plays a vital role in the educational process to enforce the interaction been the learners and teachers. There are many Web 2.0 technologies, services and tools designed for educational purposes. This research aims to investigate instructors’ acceptance towards web-based learning systems in higher educational institutes in Kingdom of Bahrain. Questionnaire is used to investigate the instructors’ usage of Web 2.0 and the factors affecting their acceptance. The results confirm that instructors had high accessibility to such technologies. However, patterns of use were complex. Whilst most expressed interest in using online technologies to support learning activities, learners seemed cautious about other values associated with web-based system, such as the shared construction of knowledge in a public format. The research concludes that there are main factors that affect instructors’ adoption which are security, performance expectation, perceived benefits, subjective norm, and perceived usefulness.

Keywords: Web 2.0, higher education, acceptance, students' perception

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Hyojin Lim, Cuong Nguyen Khac, Ho-Youl Jung

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In this paper, we propose moving object detection method which is helpful for driver to safely take his/her car out of parking lot. When moving objects such as motorbikes, pedestrians, the other cars and some obstacles are detected at the rear-side of host vehicle, the proposed algorithm can provide to driver warning. We assume that the host vehicle is just before departure. Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based background subtraction is basically applied. Pre-processing such as smoothing and post-processing as morphological filtering are added.We examine “which color space has better performance for detection of moving objects?” Three color spaces including RGB, YCbCr, and Y are applied and compared, in terms of detection rate. Through simulation, we prove that RGB space is more suitable for moving object detection based on background subtraction.

Keywords: gaussian mixture model, background subtraction, moving object detection, color space, morphological filtering

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Authors: Fatemeh Jaferi, Moslem Parsa, Heshmatolah Shams Khorramabadi

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In this modern fluctuating world, organizations need to outsource some parts of their activities (project) to providers in order to show a quick response to their changing requirements. In fact, a number of companies and institutes have contractors do their projects and have some specific criteria in contractor selection. Therefore, a set of scientific tools is needed to select the best contractors to execute the project according to appropriate criteria. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) has been employed in the present study as a powerful tool in ranking and selecting the appropriate contractor. In this study, devolving second-source (civil) project to contractors in the National Gas Company of Lorestan Province (Iran) has been found and therefore, 5 civil companies have been evaluated. Evaluation criteria include executive experience, qualification of technical staff, good experience and company's rate, technical interview, affordability, equipment and machinery. Criteria's weights are found through experts' opinions along with AHP and contractors ranked through TOPSIS and AHP. The order of ranking contractors based on MCDM methods differs by changing the formula in the study. In the next phase, the number of criteria and their weights has been sensitivity analysed through using AHP. Adding each criterion changed contractors' ranking. Similarly, changing weights resulted in a change in ranking. Adopting the stated strategy resulted in the facts that not only is an appropriate scientific method available to select the most qualified contractors to execute gas project, but also a great attention is paid to picking needed criteria for selecting contractors. Consequently, executing such project is undertaken by most qualified contractors resulted in optimum use of limited resource, accelerating the implementation of project, increasing quality and finally boosting organizational efficiency.

Keywords: multi-criteria decision making, project, management, contractor selection, gas company

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Authors: Soltani Amir, Hu Jiaxin

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Determination of optimal parameters of a passive control system device is the primary objective of this study. Expanding upon the use of control devices in wind and earthquake hazard reduction has led to development of various control systems. The advantage of non-linearity characteristics in a passive control device and the optimal control method using LQR algorithm are explained in this study. Finally, this paper introduces a simple approach to determine optimum parameters of a nonlinear viscous damper for vibration control of structures. A MATLAB program is used to produce the dynamic motion of the structure considering the stiffness matrix of the SDOF frame and the non-linear damping effect. This study concluded that the proposed system (variable damping system) has better performance in system response control than a linear damping system. Also, according to the energy dissipation graph, the total energy loss is greater in non-linear damping system than other systems.

Keywords: passive control system, damping devices, viscous dampers, control algorithm

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Authors: Lu Zhao, Nadir Farhi, Yeltsin Valero, Zoi Christoforou, Nadia Haddadou

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In this paper, a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model is proposed to replicate simultaneously car-following and lane-changing behaviors in road networks. By combining two kinds of LSTM layers and three input designs of the neural network, six variants of the LSTM model have been created. These models were trained and tested on the NGSIM 101 dataset, and the results were evaluated in terms of longitudinal speed and lateral position, respectively. Then, we compared the LSTM model with a classical car-following model (the intelligent driving model (IDM)) in the part of speed decision. In addition, the LSTM model is compared with a model using classical neural networks. After the comparison, the LSTM model demonstrates higher accuracy than the physical model IDM in terms of car-following behavior and displays better performance with regard to both car-following and lane-changing behavior compared to the classical neural network model.

Keywords: traffic modeling, neural networks, LSTM, car-following, lane-change

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Authors: Amanda R. Teixeira, João H. S. Rego, Gabriel F. S. Brito, Fabricio M. Silva

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The use of superplasticizer additives has provided several advances for the civil construction industry, enabling gains in the rheological behavior and mechanical properties of cementitious matrices. These compounds act at the solid-liquid interface of colloidal suspensions of cement pastes, preventing agglomeration of the particles. Although the use in the concrete industry is wide, the mechanisms of dispersion of concrete admixtures composed of polycarboxylate in cement with supplementary cementitious materials have ample opportunity to be investigated, providing the attainment of increasingly compatible and efficient cement-addition-additive systems. The cements used in the research are Portland Cement CPV and two cements Portland Cement Composite (CPIV) with calcined clay contents of 20% and 28% and three commercial additives based on polycarboxylate. The performance of the additives and obtaining the optimal content was determined by the Marsh Cone test and spread by Mini-Slump.

Keywords: calcined clay, composite cements, superplasticizer additives, polycarboxylate

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Authors: Vanessa A. Segovia, Sonia E. Ruiz

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The use of energy dissipation systems for seismic applications has increased worldwide, thus it is necessary to develop practical and modern criteria for their optimal design. Here, a direct displacement-based seismic design approach for frame buildings with hysteretic energy dissipation systems (HEDS) is applied. The building is constituted by two individual structural systems consisting of: 1) A main elastic structural frame designed for service loads and 2) A secondary system, corresponding to the HEDS, that controls the effects of lateral loads. The procedure implies to control two design parameters: A) The stiffness ratio (α=K_frame/K_(total system)), and B) The strength ratio (γ= V_damper / V_(total system)). The proposed damage-controlled approach contributes to the design of a more sustainable and resilient building because the structural damage is concentrated on the HEDS. The reduction of the design displacement spectrum is done by means of a damping factor (recently published) for elastic structural systems with HEDS, located in Mexico City. Two limit states are verified: Serviceability and near collapse. Instead of the traditional trial-error approach, a procedure that allows the designer to establish the preliminary sizes of the structural elements of both systems is proposed. The design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel building with buckling restrained braces, located in soft soil of Mexico City. With the aim of choosing the optimal design parameters, a parametric study is developed considering different values of α and γ. The simplified methodology is for preliminary sizing, design, and evaluation of the effectiveness of HEDS, and it constitutes a modern and practical tool that enables the structural designer to select the best design parameters.

Keywords: damage-controlled buildings, direct displacement-based seismic design, optimal hysteretic energy dissipation systems, hysteretic dampers

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Authors: Martin Georgiev, Milena Nanova, Damyan Damov

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Architects, engineers, and developers need to analyse and implement a wide spectrum of data in different formats, if they want to produce viable residential developments. Usually, this data comes from a number of different sources and is not well structured. The main objective of this research project is to provide parametric tools working with real geodesic data that can generate residential solutions. Various codes, regulations and design constraints are described by variables and prioritized. In this way, we establish a common workflow for architects, geodesists, and other professionals involved in the building and investment process. This collaborative medium ensures that the generated design variants conform to various requirements, contributing to a more streamlined and informed decision-making process. The quantification of distinctive characteristics inherent to typical residential structures allows a systematic evaluation of the generated variants, focusing on factors crucial to designers, such as daylight simulation, circulation analysis, space utilization, view orientation, etc. Integrating real geodesic data offers a holistic view of the built environment, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of the design solutions. The use of generative algorithms and parametric models offers high productivity and flexibility of the design variants. It can be implemented in more conventional CAD and BIM workflow. Experts from different specialties can join their efforts, sharing a common digital workspace. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that a generative parametric approach based on real geodesic data and collaborative decision-making could be introduced in the early phases of the design process. This gives the designers powerful tools to explore diverse design possibilities, significantly improving the qualities of the building investment during its entire lifecycle.

Keywords: architectural design, residential buildings, urban development, geodesic data, generative design, parametric models, workflow optimization

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Authors: Julia B. Kischkat, Charlie D. Waters

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This research aims to understand the factors that may affect the survival and productivity of Pacific salmonids through two components. The first component is lab-based and aims to improve high-performance liquid chromatography to better quantify vitamin deficiencies such as thiamine. The lab work is conducted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute in Juneau, Alaska. Deficiencies in thiamine have been shown to reduce the survival of salmonids at early life stages. The second component involves the analysis of a 22-year data set of migration timing of juvenile Coho Salmon, Dolly Varden, Steelhead, and returning adult Steelhead at Little Port Walter, Alaska. The statistical analysis quantifies their migration fluctuations and whether they correlate to various environmental conditions such as temperature, salinity, and precipitation.

Keywords: climate change, smolt timing, phenology, migration timing, salmon, time series analysis, ecology, chemistry, fisheries science

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Authors: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. Y. Li, H. T. Lin, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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The dry-storage systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Taiwan have become one of the major safety concerns. There are two steps considered in this study. The first step is the verification of the TRACE by using VSC-17 experimental data. The results of TRACE were similar to the VSC-17 data. It indicates that TRACE has the respectable accuracy in the simulation and analysis of the dry-storage systems. The next step is the application of TRACE in the dry-storage system of Kuosheng NPP (BWR/6). Kuosheng NPP is the second BWR NPP of Taiwan Power Company. In order to solve the storage of the spent fuels, Taiwan Power Company developed the new dry-storage system for Kuosheng NPP. In this step, the dry-storage system model of Kuosheng NPP was established by TRACE. Then, the steady state simulation of this model was performed and the results of TRACE were compared with the Kuosheng NPP data. Finally, this model was used to perform the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP dry-storage system. Besides, FRAPTRAN was used tocalculate the transient performance of fuel rods.

Keywords: BWR, TRACE, FRAPTRAN, dry-storage

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Authors: Seyed Mahdi Rafiaei

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In this investigation, red emitting Eu³⁺ doped YVO₄ nano-phosphors have been synthesized via the facile combustion method using isobutyl nitrite and urea fuels, individually. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images, high resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra reveal that the mentioned fuels can be used successfully to synthesis YVO₄: Eu³⁺ nano-particles. Interestingly, the fuels have a large effect on the size and morphology of nano-phosphors as well as luminescence properties. Noteworthy the use of isobutyl nitrite provides an average particle size of 65 nm, while the employment of urea, results in the formation of larger particles and also provides higher photoluminescence emission intensity. The improved luminescence performance is attributed to the condition of chemical reaction via the combustion synthesis and the size of synthesized phosphors.

Keywords: phosphors, combustion, fuels, luminescence, nanostructure

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Authors: Rose Shayeghi, Pejman Hosseinioun

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The Multiple Intelligences theory characterizes human intelligence as a multifaceted entity that exists in all human beings with varying degrees. The most important contribution of this theory to the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) is its role in identifying individual differences and designing more learner-centered programs. The present study aims at investigating the relationship between different elements of multiple intelligence and grammar scores. To this end, 63 female Iranian EFL learner selected from among intermediate students participated in the study. The instruments employed were a Nelson English language test, Michigan Grammar Test, and Teele Inventory for Multiple Intelligences (TIMI). The results of Pearson Product-Moment Correlation revealed a significant positive correlation between grammatical accuracy and linguistic as well as interpersonal intelligence. The results of Stepwise Multiple Regression indicated that linguistic intelligence contributed to the prediction of grammatical accuracy.

Keywords: multiple intelligence, grammar, ELT, EFL, TIMI

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Authors: Jalindar R. Patil, Harish P. Gayakwad

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The increased economic growth across the globe as well as urbanization in developing countries have led into extensive construction activities that generate large amounts of wastes. Material wastage in construction projects resulted into huge financial setbacks to builders and contractors. In addition to this, it may also cause significant effects over aesthetics, health, and the general environment. However in many cities across the globe where construction wastes material management is still a problem. In this paper, the discussion is all about the method for the management of waste construction materials. The objectives of this seminar are to identify the significant source of construction waste globally, to improve the performance of by extracting the major barriers construction waste management and to determine the cost impact on the construction project. These wastes needs to be managed as well as their impacts needs to be ascertained to pave way for their proper management. The seminar includes the details of construction waste management with the reference to construction project. The application of construction waste management in the civil engineering projects is to describe the reduction in the construction wastes.

Keywords: civil engineering, construction materials, waste management, construction activities

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Authors: Degale Desta, Cheng Jian

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The most important factor in identifying a person is their face. Even identical twins have their own distinct faces. As a result, identification and face recognition are needed to tell one person from another. A face recognition system is a verification tool used to establish a person's identity using biometrics. Nowadays, face recognition is a common technique used in a variety of applications, including home security systems, criminal identification, and phone unlock systems. This system is more secure because it only requires a facial image instead of other dependencies like a key or card. Face detection and face identification are the two phases that typically make up a human recognition system.The idea behind designing and creating a face recognition system using deep learning with Azure ML Python's OpenCV is explained in this paper. Face recognition is a task that can be accomplished using deep learning, and given the accuracy of this method, it appears to be a suitable approach. To show how accurate the suggested face recognition system is, experimental results are given in 98.46% accuracy using Fast-RCNN Performance of algorithms under different training conditions.

Keywords: deep learning, face recognition, identification, fast-RCNN

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Authors: Mujahid Ali, Wasif Mohammed Ali, Meraj Ahmad

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Background: Perforation peritonitis is the most common surgical emergency encountered by surgeons all over the world as well as in India. The etiology of perforation peritonitis in India continues to be different from its western counterparts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the spectrum of cases of perforation peritonitis at our hospital. Methods: A prospective study conducted includes three hundred thirtysix patients of perforation peritonitis at J. N. Medical College from October 2015 to July 2017. The patients were admitted, resuscitated and underwent emergency laparotomy. Data were collected in terms of demographic profile, clinical presentations, site of perforations, causes and surgical outcomes. Results: In this study, the most common cause of perforation peritonitis was peptic ulcer disease (43%), followed by enteric perforation (12.8%), tubercular perforation (12.5%), traumatic perforation (11.9%), appendicular perforation (9.8%), amoebic caecal perforation (3%), malignant perforation (1.5%), etc. The sites of perforations were stomach in majority (38.3%), ileum (31%), appendix (8%), duodenum (5.%), caecum (4.4%) ,colon (3%), jejunum (8.5%) and gall bladder (2%). The overall mortality was 21% in our study. Age >50 years (p= <0.0001, OR= 3.9260, CI= 2.2 to 6.9), organ failure (p= <0.0001, OR= 29.2, CI= 14.8 to 57.6), shock (p=<0.0001, OR=20.20, CI= 10.56 to 38.6), diffuse peritonitis (p<0.0015, OR= 6.8810, CI= 2.09 to 22.57) and faecal exudates (p<0.0001) were found to be significant factors affecting mortality. The most common complication associated was superficial wound infection (40%), followed by burst abdomen seen in 21% cases, intra-abdominal sepsis in 18% cases, electrolyte imbalances in 15% cases, anastomotic leak in 6% cases. Conclusion: In this study, stomach is the most common site of perforation with peptic ulcer disease being the most common etiology. Older age, presence of shock, organ failure and faecal peritonitis were the risk factors affecting the mortality of the patients. Early recognition, adequate resuscitation and referral of patients can influence outcome and reduces mortality as well as morbidity.

Keywords: etiology, mortality, perforation, spectrum

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Adeniran K. Ademuwagun, Alastair Allen

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The relationship dependence between RSS and distance in an enclosed environment is an important consideration because it is a factor that can influence the reliability of any localization algorithm founded on RSS. Several algorithms effectively reduce the variance of RSS to improve localization or accuracy performance. Our proposed algorithm essentially avoids this pitfall and consequently, its high adaptability in the face of erratic radio signal. Using 3 anchors in close proximity of each other, we are able to establish that RSS can be used as reliable indicator for localization with an acceptable degree of accuracy. Inherent in this concept, is the ability for each prospective anchor to validate (guarantee) the position or the proximity of the other 2 anchors involved in the localization and vice versa. This procedure ensures that the uncertainties of radio signals due to multipath effects in enclosed environments are minimized. A major driver of this idea is the implicit topological relationship among sensors due to raw radio signal strength. The algorithm is an area based algorithm; however, it does not trade accuracy for precision (i.e the size of the returned area).

Keywords: anchor nodes, centroid algorithm, communication graph, radio signal strength

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Authors: Amirhossein Moghanian, Morteza Elsa, Mehrnaz Aminitabar

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Modified bioactive glass has been considered as a promising multifunctional candidate in bone repair and regeneration due to its attractive properties. The present study mainly aims to evaluate how the individual substitution of lithium (L-BG) and magnesium (M-BG) for calcium can affect the in vitro bioactivity of sol-gel derived substituted 58S bioactive glass (BG); and to present one composition in both of the 60SiO2–(36-x)CaO–4P₂O₅–(x)Li₂O and 60SiO₂ –(36-x)CaO–4P₂O₅–(x)MgO quaternary systems (where x= 0, 5, 10 mol.%) with improved biocompatibility, enhanced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and the most efficient antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus bacteria. To address these aims, and study the effect of CaO/Li₂O and CaO/MgO substitution up to 10 mol % in 58S-BGs, the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy after immersion in simulated body fluid up to 14 days. Results indicated that substitution of either CaO/ Li₂O and CaO/ MgO had a retarding effect on in vitro hydroxyapatite (HA) formation due to the lower supersaturation degree for nucleation of HA compared with 58s-BG. Meanwhile, magnesium had a more pronounced effect. The 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assays showed that both substitutions of CaO/ Li₂O and CaO/ MgO up to 5mol % in 58s-BGs led to increased biocompatibility and stimulated proliferation of the pre-osteoblast MC3T3 cells with respect to the control. On the other hand, the substitution of either Li or Mg for Ca in the 58s BG composition resulted in improved bactericidal efficiency against MRSA bacteria. Taken together, sample 58s-BG with 5 mol % CaO/Li₂O substitution (BG-5L) was considered as a multifunctional biomaterial in bone repair/regeneration with improved biocompatibility, enhanced ALP activity as well as significant antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.

Keywords: alkaline, alkaline earth, bioactivity, biomedical applications, sol-gel processes

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Authors: Nishtha Madaan, Prateek Chaudhury, Nishant Kumar, Srikanta Bedathur

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In modern NLP applications, word embeddings are a crucial backbone that can be readily shared across a number of tasks. However, as the text distributions change and word semantics evolve over time, the downstream applications using the embeddings can suffer if the word representations do not conform to the data drift. Thus, maintaining word embeddings to be consistent with the underlying data distribution is a key problem. In this work, we tackle this problem and propose TransDrift, a transformer-based prediction model for word embeddings. Leveraging the flexibility of the transformer, our model accurately learns the dynamics of the embedding drift and predicts future embedding. In experiments, we compare with existing methods and show that our model makes significantly more accurate predictions of the word embedding than the baselines. Crucially, by applying the predicted embeddings as a backbone for downstream classification tasks, we show that our embeddings lead to superior performance compared to the previous methods.

Keywords: NLP applications, transformers, Word2vec, drift, word embeddings

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Authors: Çiğdem Sezer, Aksem Aksoy, Leyla Vatansever

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This study has been done for the purpose of evaluation of public health and identifying of enterotoxigenic Staphyloccocus aureus in kitchen of catering. In the kitchen of catering, samples have been taken by swabs from surface of equipments which are in the salad section, meat section and bakery section. Samples have been investigated with classical cultural methods in terms of Staphyloccocus aureus. Therefore, as a 10x10 cm area was identified (salad, cutting and chopping surfaces, knives, meat grinder, meat chopping surface) samples have been taken with sterile swabs with helping FTS from this area. In total, 50 samples were obtained. In aseptic conditions, Baird-Parker agar (with egg yolk tellurite) surface was seeded with swabs. After 24-48 hours of incubation at 37°C, the black colonies with 1-1.5 mm diameter and which are surrounded by a zone indicating lecithinase activity were identified as S. aureus after applying Gram staining, catalase, coagulase, glucose and mannitol fermentation and termonuclease tests. Genotypic characterization (Staphylococcus genus and S.aureus species spesific) of isolates was performed by PCR. The ELISA test was applied to the isolates for the identification of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SET) A, B, C, D, E in bacterial cultures. Measurements were taken at 450 nm in an ELISA reader using an Ridascreen-Total set ELISA test kit (r-biopharm R4105-Enterotoxin A, B, C, D, E). The results were calculated according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A total of 50 samples of 97 S. aureus was isolated. This number has been identified as 60 with PCR analysis. According to ELISA test, only 1 of 60 isolates were found to be enterotoxigenic. Enterotoxigenic strains were identified from the surface of salad chopping and cutting. In the kitchen of catering, S. aureus identification indicates a significant source of contamination. Especially, in raw consumed salad preparation phase of contamination is very important. This food can be a potential source of food-borne poisoning their terms, and they pose a significant risk to consumers have been identified.

Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, enterotoxin, catering, kitchen, health

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Authors: Tian-Wei Huang, Wei-Ting Bai, Yu-Tung Cheng, Jeng-Han Tsai

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In this paper, a 1-stage 6-section conventional distributed amplifier (CDA) structure distributed power amplifier (DPA) fabricated in a 28-nm HPC+ 1P9M CMOS process is proposed. The transistor size selection is introduced to achieve broadband power matching and thus remains a high flatness output power and power added efficiency (PAE) within the bandwidth. With the inductive peaking technique, the high-frequency pole appears and the high-frequency gain is increased; the gain flatness becomes better as well. The inductive elements used to form an artificial transmission line are built up with a floating ground coplanar waveguide plane (CPWFG) rather than a microstrip line, coplanar waveguide (CPW), or spiral inductor to get better performance. The DPA achieves 12.6 dB peak gain at 52.5 GHz with 2.9 to 64.9 GHz 3-dB bandwidth. The Psat is 11.4 dBm with PAEMAX of 10.6 % at 25 GHz. The output 1-dB compression point power is 9.8 dBm.

Keywords: distributed power amplifier (DPA), gain bandwidth (GBW), floating ground CPW, inductive peaking, 28-nm, CMOS, 5G.

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Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan

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The present study was aimed in assessing the heavy metal pollution of the soils around Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex and related environmental risks. This mine complex is located in the south-east part of Armenia, and the present study was conducted in 2013. The soils of the five riskiest sites of this region were studied: surroundings of the open mine, the sites adjacent to processing plant of Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, surroundings of Darazam active tailing dump, the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 2”, and the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 3”. The mountain cambisol was the main soil type in the study sites. The level of soil contamination by heavy metals was assessed by Contamination factors (Cf), Degree of contamination (Cd), Geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and Enrichment factor (EF). The distribution pattern of trace metals in the soil profile according to Cf, Cd, I-geo and EF values shows that the soil is much polluted. Almost in all studied sites, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Cd were the main polluting heavy metals, and this was conditioned by Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex activity. It is necessary to state that the pollution problem becomes pressing as some parts of these highly polluted region are inhabited by population, and agriculture is highly developed there; therefore, heavy metals can be transferred into human bodies through food chains and have direct influence on public health. Since the induced pollution can pose serious threats to public health, further investigations on soil and vegetation pollution are recommended. Finally, Cf calculating based on distance from the pollution source and the wind direction can provide more reasonable results.

Keywords: Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, heavy metals, soil contamination, enrichment factor (EF), Armenia

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Authors: Aliasghar Baziar, Hassan Masoumi, Alireza Ale Saadi

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The control of the response of electric motors plays a significant role in the damping of transient responses. In this regard, this paper presents a static VAR compensator (SVC) based on a fuzzy logic which is applied to an industrial power network consisting of three phase synchronous, asynchronous and DC motor loads. The speed and acceleration variations of a specific machine are the inputs of the proposed fuzzy logic controller (FLC). In order to verify the effectiveness and proficiency of the proposed Fuzzy Logic based SVC (FLSVC), several non-linear time-domain digital simulation tests are performed. The proposed fuzzy model can properly control the response of electric motors. The results show that the FLSVC is successful to improve the voltage profile significantly over a wide range of operating conditions and disturbances thus improving the overall dynamic performance of the network.

Keywords: fuzzy logic controller, VAR compensator, single cage asynchronous motor, DC motor

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Authors: Ali Kadivar, Kaveh Niayesh

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The integration of green energy resources is a major focus, and the role of Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) systems is exponentially expanding. However, the protection of MVDC systems against DC faults is a challenge that can have consequences on reliable and safe grid operation. This challenge reveals the need for MVDC circuit breakers (MVDC CB), which are in infancies of their improvement. Therefore will be a lack of MVDC CBs standards, including thresholds for acceptable power losses and operation speed. To establish a baseline for comparison purposes, a benchmark system for testing future MVDC CBs is vital. The literatures just give the timing sequence of each switch and the emphasis is on the topology, without in-depth study on the control algorithm of DCCB, as the circuit breaker control system is not yet systematic. A digital testing benchmark is designed for the Proof-of-concept of simulation studies using software models. It can validate studies based on real-time digital simulators and Transient Network Analyzer (TNA) models. The proposed experimental setup utilizes data accusation from the accurate sensors installed on the tested MVDC CB and through general purpose input/outputs (GPIO) from the microcontroller and PC Prototype studies in the laboratory-based models utilizing Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) equipment connected to real-time digital simulators is achieved. The improved control algorithm of the circuit breaker can reduce the peak fault current and avoid arc resignation, helping the coordination of DCCB in relay protection. Moreover, several research gaps are identified regarding case studies and evaluation approaches.

Keywords: DC circuit breaker, hardware-in-the-loop, real time digital simulation, testing benchmark

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Authors: Sandesh Achar

Abstract:

The cloud computing industry has set new goals for better service delivery and deployment, so anyone can access services such as computation, application, and storage anytime. Cloud computing promises new possibilities for approaching sustainable solutions to deploy and advance their services in this distributed environment. This work explores energy-efficient approaches and how cloud-based architecture can reduce energy consumption levels amongst enterprises leveraging cloud computing services. Adopting cloud-based networking, database, and server machines provide a comprehensive means of achieving the potential gains in energy efficiency that cloud computing offers. In energy-efficient cloud computing, virtualization is one aspect that can integrate several technologies to achieve consolidation and better resource utilization. Moreover, the Green Cloud Architecture for cloud data centers is discussed in terms of cost, performance, and energy consumption, and appropriate solutions for various application areas are provided.

Keywords: greener cloud, cloud computing, energy efficiency, energy consumption, metadata tags, green cloud advisor

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Authors: A. Adetutu, T. M. Awodugba, O. A. Owoade

Abstract:

The development of resistance to currently known conventional anti-typhoid drugs has necessitated search into cheap, more potent and less toxic anti-typhoid drugs of plant origin. Therefore, this study investigated the anti-typhoid activity of fractions of A. indica in Salmonella typhi infected rats. Leaves of A. indica were extracted in methanol and fractionated into n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl-acetate, and aqueous fractions. The anti-salmonella potentials of fractions of A. indica were assessed via in-vitro inhibition of S. typhi using agar well diffusion, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) and biofilm assays. The biochemical and haematological parameters were determined by spectrophotometric methods. The histological analysis was performed using Haematoxylin and Eosin staining methods. Data analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA. Results of this study showed that S. typhi was sensitive to aqueous and chloroform fractions of A. indica, and the fractions showed biofilm inhibition at concentrations of 12.50, 1.562, and 0.39 mg/mL. In the in-vivo study, the extract and chloroform fraction had significant (p < 0.05) effects on the number of viable S. typhi recovered from the blood and stopped salmonellosis after 6 days of treatment of rats at 500 mg/kg b.w. Treatments of infected rats with chloroform and aqueous fractions of A. indica normalized the haematological parameters in the animals. Similarly, treatment with fractions of the plants sustained a normal antioxidant status when compared with the normal control group. Chloroform and ethyl-acetate fractions of A. indica reversed the liver and intestinal degeneration induced by S. typhi infection in rats. The present investigation indicated that the aqueous and chloroform fractions of A. indica showed the potential to provide an effective treatment for salmonellosis, including typhoid fever. The results of the study may justify the ethno-medicinal use of the extract in traditional medicine for the treatment of typhoid and salmonella infections.

Keywords: Azadirachta indica L, salmonella, typhoid, leave fractions

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Hamed Saremi, Suzan Taghavy, Shahla Saremi

Abstract:

In today's competitive world, organizations are expected to surpass the competitors and benefit from the resources and benefits. Therefore, organizations need to improve the current performance is felt more than ever that this requires to identify organizational optimal strategies, and consider all strategies simultaneously. In this study, to enhance competitive advantage and according to customer requirements, alignment between business, production and marketing strategies, House of Quality (QFD) approach has been used and zero-one linear programming model has been studied. First, the alignment between production and marketing strategies with business strategy, independent weights of these strategies is calculated. Then with using QFD approach the aligned weights of optimal strategies in each production and marketing field will be obtained and finally the aligned marketing strategies selection with the purpose of allocating budget and specialist human resource to marketing functions will be done that lead to increasing competitive advantage and benefit.

Keywords: strategy alignment, house of quality deployment, production strategy, marketing strategy, business strategy

Procedia PDF Downloads 419

Authors: Chidiebere C. Agoha, Chukwuebuka N. Onwubuariri, Collins U.amasike, Tochukwu I. Mgbeojedo, Joy O. Njoku, Lawson J. Osaki, Ifeyinwa J. Ofoh, Francis B. Akiang, Dominic N. Anuforo

Abstract:

In order to interpret the airborne magnetic data and evaluate the approximate location, depth, and geometry of the magnetic sources within Obudu area using the standard Euler deconvolution method, very high-resolution aeromagnetic data over the area was acquired, processed digitally and analyzed using Oasis Montaj 8.5 software. Data analysis and enhancement techniques, including reduction to the equator, horizontal derivative, first and second vertical derivatives, upward continuation and regional-residual separation, were carried out for the purpose of detailed data Interpretation. Standard Euler deconvolution for structural indices of 0, 1, 2, and 3 was also carried out and respective maps were obtained using the Euler deconvolution algorithm. Results show that the total magnetic intensity ranges from -122.9nT to 147.0nT, regional intensity varies between -106.9nT to 137.0nT, while residual intensity ranges between -51.5nT to 44.9nT clearly indicating the masking effect of deep-seated structures over surface and shallow subsurface magnetic materials. Results also indicated that the positive residual anomalies have an NE-SW orientation, which coincides with the trend of major geologic structures in the area. Euler deconvolution for all the considered structural indices has depth to magnetic sources ranging from the surface to more than 2000m. Interpretation of the various structural indices revealed the locations and depths of the source bodies and the existence of geologic models, including sills, dykes, pipes, and spherical structures. This area is characterized by intrusive and very shallow basement materials and represents an excellent prospect for solid mineral exploration and development.

Keywords: Euler deconvolution, horizontal derivative, Obudu, structural indices

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Krisada Lekdee, Sunee Sammatat, Nittaya Boonsit

Abstract:

This paper proposes a GLMM with spatial and temporal effects for malaria data in Thailand. A Bayesian method is used for parameter estimation via Gibbs sampling MCMC. A conditional autoregressive (CAR) model is assumed to present the spatial effects. The temporal correlation is presented through the covariance matrix of the random effects. The malaria quarterly data have been extracted from the Bureau of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. The factors considered are rainfall and temperature. The result shows that rainfall and temperature are positively related to the malaria morbidity rate. The posterior means of the estimated morbidity rates are used to construct the malaria maps. The top 5 highest morbidity rates (per 100,000 population) are in Trat (Q3, 111.70), Chiang Mai (Q3, 104.70), Narathiwat (Q4, 97.69), Chiang Mai (Q2, 88.51), and Chanthaburi (Q3, 86.82). According to the DIC criterion, the proposed model has a better performance than the GLMM with spatial effects but without temporal terms.

Keywords: Bayesian method, generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), malaria, spatial effects, temporal correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 437