Search results for: task space control

Authors: Atinkut Atinafu Yilma, Eyob Messele Sefene

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Anomaly detection is one of the essential mechanisms to control and reduce production loss, especially in today's smart manufacturing. Quick anomaly detection aids in reducing the cost of production by minimizing the possibility of producing defective products. However, developing an anomaly detection model that can rapidly detect a production change is challenging. This paper proposes Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) combined with Random Forest (RF) to detect anomalies in the production process in real-time quickly. The GRU is used as a feature detector, and RF as a classifier using the input features from GRU. The model was tested using various synthesis and real-world datasets against benchmark methods. The results show that the proposed GRU-RF outperforms the benchmark methods with the shortest time taken to detect anomalies in the production process. Based on the investigation from the study, this proposed model can eliminate or reduce unnecessary production costs and bring a competitive advantage to manufacturing industries.

Keywords: anomaly detection, multivariate time series data, smart manufacturing, gated recurrent unit network, random forest

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Authors: Yahya Lavafpour, Steve Sharples

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This study investigated the potential negative impacts of future UK climate change on dwellings. In particular, the risk of overheating was considered for a Passivhaus dwelling in London. The study used dynamic simulation modelling software to investigate the potential use of building geometry to control current and future overheating risks in the dwelling for London climate. Specifically, the focus was on the optimum inclination of a south façade to make use of the building’s shape to self-protect itself. A range of different inclined façades were examined to test their effectiveness in reducing the overheating risk. The research found that implementing a 115° tilted façade could completely eliminate the risk of overheating in current climate, but with some consequence for natural ventilation and daylighting. Future overheating was significantly reduced by the tilted façade. However, geometric considerations could not eradicate completely the risk of overheating particularly by the 2080s. The study also used CFD modelling and sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect of the façade geometry on the wind pressure distributions on and around the building surface. This was done to assess natural ventilation flows for alternative façade inclinations.

Keywords: climate change, tilt façade, thermal comfort, passivhaus, overheating

Procedia PDF Downloads 767

Authors: Harish Aryal, Thalia Balderas, Alondra Rodriguez

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Radioactivity present in nature possess a major challenge to public health and occupational concerns. Even at low doses, NORM can cause radiation-induced cancers, heritable diseases, genetic defects, etc. There have not been enough radiological studies and consequently, there is a lack of supportive data. In addition, there is no universal medical surveillance program for low-level doses and there is a need for NORM management guidelines for appropriate control. Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is present everywhere during oil/gas exploration. Currently, there is limited data available to quantify radioactivity. This research presents the study of radioactivity in different areas in the United States to be encouraged to be used for further study in Texas or similar areas within the oil and gas industry. Many materials that are found in the oil and gas industry are NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials). The NORM is made of various types of materials, including Radium 226, Radium 228, and Radon 222. Efforts to characterize the geographic distribution of NORM have been limited by poor statistical representation in this area of study. In addition, the fate of NORM in the environment has not been fully defined, and few human health risk assessments have been conducted. To further comprehend how to measure radioactivity in oil and gas, it will be essential to understand the amount and type of radioactivity that is wasted on the water and soil of the industry.

Keywords: NORM, radium 226, radon 222, radionuclides, geological formations

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Authors: Mauricio Gracia, Luis Leal, Bharat Verma

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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become nowadays an important tool in the process of hydrodynamic design of modern ships. CFD is used to model any phenomena related to fluid flow in a control volume like a ship or any offshore structure in the sea. In the present study, the current force drag coefficients for a Colombian Navy Frigate in deep and shallow water are estimated through the application of CFD. The study shows the process of simulating the ship current drag coefficients using the CFD simulations method, which is conducted using STAR-CCM+ software package. The Almirante Padilla class Frigate ship scale model is investigated. The results show the ship current drag coefficient calculated considering a current speed of 1 knot with a 90° drift angle for the full-scale ship. Predicted results were compared against the current drag coefficients published in the Lloyds register OCIMF report. It is shown that the simulation results agree fairly well with the published results and that STAR-CCM+ code can predict current drag coefficients.

Keywords: CFD, current draft coefficient, STAR-CCM+, OCIMF, Bollard pull

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Authors: A. Javadi, H. Asad Beygi

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In line with the increasing demand for high-quality and safe food products, the present study is intended to examine the crude extract and juice of the fruit of Cucumis melo var. dudaim on tenderization of meat. Cubic pieces were selected from the biceps fermoris muscle of a five year-old female water buffalo; then, they were cut two or three hours after the buffalo was slaughtered. The selected samples were superficially exposed to the resolution obtained from the powder of the extract of Cucumis melo var. dudaim. Distilled water as a control sample and the powder of fruit extract of the mentioned plant with 0.5, 1 and 1.5 percent concentrations were experimented in the study. These samples were kept for three time spans of 2 hours, 7 and 14 days. Then, some tests were conducted on the samples both before and after cooking them. In general, with regard to the results obtained from the experiments and the investigations of the impact of time and different concentrations on the tenderization of buffalo meat, it can be argued that the time span of 2 hours and the concentration of 1.5 % can be considered as the best time and concentration for obtaining the most desirable tenderness. Also, tenderness increased in the samples kept for 7 and 14 days; however, due to the extraordinary decomposition, the samples were rather doughy and pasty.

Keywords: meat, Cucumis melo var. dudaim, tenderization, water buffalo

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Authors: Taylan Kabbani, Ekrem Duman

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The design of adaptive systems that take advantage of financial markets while reducing the risk can bring more stagnant wealth into the global market. However, most efforts made to generate successful deals in trading financial assets rely on Supervised Learning (SL), which suffered from various limitations. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) offers to solve these drawbacks of SL approaches by combining the financial assets price "prediction" step and the "allocation" step of the portfolio in one unified process to produce fully autonomous systems capable of interacting with its environment to make optimal decisions through trial and error. In this paper, a continuous action space approach is adopted to give the trading agent the ability to gradually adjust the portfolio's positions with each time step (dynamically re-allocate investments), resulting in better agent-environment interaction and faster convergence of the learning process. In addition, the approach supports the managing of a portfolio with several assets instead of a single one. This work represents a novel DRL model to generate profitable trades in the stock market, effectively overcoming the limitations of supervised learning approaches. We formulate the trading problem, or what is referred to as The Agent Environment as Partially observed Markov Decision Process (POMDP) model, considering the constraints imposed by the stock market, such as liquidity and transaction costs. More specifically, we design an environment that simulates the real-world trading process by augmenting the state representation with ten different technical indicators and sentiment analysis of news articles for each stock. We then solve the formulated POMDP problem using the Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) algorithm, which can learn policies in high-dimensional and continuous action spaces like those typically found in the stock market environment. From the point of view of stock market forecasting and the intelligent decision-making mechanism, this paper demonstrates the superiority of deep reinforcement learning in financial markets over other types of machine learning such as supervised learning and proves its credibility and advantages of strategic decision-making.

Keywords: the stock market, deep reinforcement learning, MDP, twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient, sentiment analysis, technical indicators, autonomous agent

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Authors: Romisaa Ali

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This paper presents a comparison between twin-delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) and Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) reinforcement learning algorithms in the context of training robust navigation policies for Jackal robots. By leveraging an open-source framework and custom motion control environments, the study evaluates the performance, robustness, and transferability of the trained policies across a range of scenarios. The primary focus of the experiments is to assess the training process, the adaptability of the algorithms, and the robot’s ability to navigate in previously unseen environments. Moreover, the paper examines the influence of varying environmental complexities on the learning process and the generalization capabilities of the resulting policies. The results of this study aim to inform and guide the development of more efficient and practical reinforcement learning-based navigation policies for Jackal robots in real-world scenarios.

Keywords: Jackal robot environments, reinforcement learning, TD3, SAC, robust navigation, transferability, custom environment

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Authors: Mahmood Naghizadeh, Maryam Memarian, Hourshad Irvash

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Following the rise in the world population and the upward growth of urbanization, the design, planning, and management of the site scenery for the purpose of presentation and expansion of sustainable site scenery has turned to be the greatest concern to experts. Since the fundamental principles of the site scenery change more and less haphazardly over time, sustainable site scenery can be viewed as an ideal goal because both sustainability and dynamism come into view in urban site scenery and it wouldn’t be designed according to a set of pre-determined principles. Sustainable site scenery, as the ongoing interaction between idealism and pragmatism with sustainability factors, is a dynamic phenomenon created by bringing cultural, historical, social and natural scenery together. Such an interaction is not to subdue other factors but to reinforce the aforementioned factors. The sustainable site scenery is a persistently occurring event not only has attenuated over time but has gained strength. The sustainability of a site scenery or an event over time depends on its site identity which grows out of its continuous association with the past. The sustainability of a site scene or an event in a time frame intertwined with the identity of the place from past to present. This past history supports the present and future of the scene. The result of such a supportive role is the sustainability of site scenery. Isfahan Naqsh-e-Jahan Square is one of the most outstanding squares in the world and the best embodiment of Iranian site scenery architecture. This square is an arena that brings people together and a dynamic city center comprising various urban and religious complexes, spaces and facilities and is considered as one of the most favorable traditional urban space of Iran. Such a place can illustrate many factors related to sustainable site scenery. One the other hand, there are still no specific principles concerning sustainability in the architecture of site scenery. Meanwhile, sustainability is recognized as a rather modern view in architecture. The purpose of this research is to identify factors involved in sustainability in general and to examine their effects on site scenery architecture in particular. Finally, these factors will be studied with taking Naqsh-e-Jahan Square into account. This research adopts an analytic-descriptive approach that has benefited from the review of literature available in library studies and the documents related to sustainability and site scenery architecture. The statistical population used for the purpose of this research includes square constructed during the Safavid dynasty and Naqsh-e-Jahan Square was picked out as the case study. The purpose of this paper is to come up with a rough definition of sustainable site scenery and demonstrate this concept by analyzing it and recognizing the social, economic and ecological aspects of this project.

Keywords: Naqsh-e-Jahan Square, site scenery architecture, sustainability, sustainable site scenery

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Authors: Angad Arora

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In production operations/manufacturing, a cell or line is typically a bunch of similar machines (computer numerical control (CNCs), advanced cutting, 3D printing or special purpose machines. For qualifying a typical manufacturing line /cell / new process, Ideally, we need a sample of parts that can be flown through the process and then we make a judgment on the health of the line/cell. However, with huge volumes and mass production scope, such as in the mobile phone industry, for example, the actual cells or lines can go in thousands and to qualify each one of them with statistical confidence means utilizing samples that are very large and eventually add to product /manufacturing cost + huge waste if the parts are not intended to be customer shipped. To solve this, we come up with 2 steps statistical approach. We start with a small sample size and then objectively evaluate whether the process needs additional samples or not. For example, if a process is producing bad parts and we saw those samples early, then there is a high chance that the process will not meet the desired yield and there is no point in keeping adding more samples. We used this hypothesis and came up with 2 steps binomial testing approach. Further, we also prove through results that we can achieve an 18-25% reduction in samples while keeping the same statistical confidence.

Keywords: statistics, data science, manufacturing process qualification, production planning

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Authors: Ifeanyi Adigwe, Thomas Van der Walt

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Digital media has been integrated into the social and entertainment life of young children, and as such, the impact of digital media appears to affect young people of all ages and it is believed that this will continue to shape the world of young children. Since, technological advancement of digital media presents adolescents with diverse contexts, platforms and avenues to engage with digital media outside the home environment and from parents' supervision, a wide range of new challenges has further complicated the already difficult tasks for parents and altered the landscape of parenting. Despite the fact that adolescents now have access to a wide range of digital media technologies both at home and in the learning environment, parenting practices such as active, restrictive, co-use, participatory and technical mediations are important in mitigating of online risks adolescents may encounter as a result of digital media use. However, these mediation practices only focus on the home environment including digital media present in the home and may not necessarily transcend outside the home and other learning environments where adolescents use digital media for school work and other activities. This poses the question of who mediates adolescent's digital media use outside the home environment. The learning environment could be a ''loose platform'' where an adolescent can maximise digital media use considering the fact that there is no restriction in terms of content and time allotted to using digital media during school hours. That is to say that an adolescent can play the ''bad boy'' online in school because there is little or no restriction of digital media use and be exposed to online risks and play the ''good boy'' at home because of ''heavy'' parental mediation. This is the reason why parent mediation practices have been ineffective because a parent may not be able to track adolescents digital media use considering the diversity of contexts, platforms and avenues adolescents use digital media. This study argues that due to the diverse nature of digital media technology, parents may not be able to monitor the 'whereabouts' of their children in the digital space. This is because adolescent digital media usage may not only be confined to the home environment but other learning environments like schools. This calls for urgent attention on the part of teachers to understand the intricacies of how digital media continue to shape the world in which young children are developing and learning. It is, therefore, imperative for parents to liaise with the schools of their children to mediate digital media use during school hours. The implication of parents- teachers mediation practices are discussed. The article concludes by suggesting that third party mediation by teachers in schools and other learning environments should be encouraged and future research needs to consider the emergent strategy of teacher-children mediation approach and the implication for policy for both the home and learning environments.

Keywords: digital media, digital age, parent mediation, third party mediation

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Authors: A. O. Glazkov, A. S. Krylova, G. G. Nadareishvili, A. S. Terenchenko, S. I. Yudin

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The topic of the presented materials concerns the design of the exhaust system for a certain internal combustion engine. The exhaust system can be divided into two parts. The first is the engine exhaust manifold, turbocharger, and catalytic converters, which are called “hot part.” The second part is the gas exhaust system, which contains elements exclusively for reducing exhaust noise (mufflers, resonators), the accepted designation of which is the "cold part." The design of the exhaust system from the point of view of acoustics, that is, reducing the exhaust noise to a predetermined level, consists of working on the second part. Modern computer technology and software make it possible to design "cold part" with high accuracy in a given frequency range but with the condition of accurately specifying the input parameters, namely, the amplitude spectrum of the input noise and the acoustic impedance of the noise source in the form of an engine with a "hot part". Getting this data is a difficult problem: high temperatures, high exhaust gas velocities (turbulent flows), and high sound pressure levels (non-linearity mode) do not allow the calculated results to be applied with sufficient accuracy. The aim of this work is to obtain the most reliable acoustic output parameters of an engine with a "hot part" based on a complex of computational and experimental studies. The presented methodology includes several parts. The first part is a finite element simulation of the "cold part" of the exhaust system (taking into account the acoustic impedance of radiation of outlet pipe into open space) with the result in the form of the input impedance of "cold part". The second part is a finite element simulation of the "hot part" of the exhaust system (taking into account acoustic characteristics of catalytic units and geometry of turbocharger) with the result in the form of the input impedance of the "hot part". The next third part of the technique consists of the mathematical processing of the results according to the proposed formula for the convergence of the mathematical series of summation of multiple reflections of the acoustic signal "cold part" - "hot part". This is followed by conducting a set of tests on an engine stand with two high-temperature pressure sensors measuring pulsations in the nozzle between "hot part" and "cold part" of the exhaust system and subsequent processing of test results according to a well-known technique in order to separate the "incident" and "reflected" waves. The final stage consists of the mathematical processing of all calculated and experimental data to obtain a result in the form of a spectrum of the amplitude of the engine noise and its acoustic impedance.

Keywords: acoustic impedance, engine exhaust system, FEM model, test stand

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Authors: Shakiera Sallie, Angela James

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Global concern about healthcare-associated infections through the transmission of microorganisms, resulting in outbreaks in overcrowded intensive care units (ICU), is current. Medical equipment and surfaces in the immediate patient zone, the high-touch objects, may become contaminated. A study was conducted across six intensive care units in a healthcare facility to determine the understanding and practice of the cleaning of high-touch objects (HTO), and an intervention program was undertaken. A mixed-method approach with the selection of ICUs, HTOs, and healthcare personnel was undertaken. Data collection included Ultra-Violet instruments, a questionnaire, and an intervention. In the pre-intervention, 41 (52.5%) of the healthcare personnel (n=78) rated their understanding of HTOs as “sufficient”; post-intervention, it was 67 (75%), (n=89), p=0.0015, indicates an improvement. The UV stamp percentage compliance to indicate whether cleaning of the HTOs had taken place across the six intensive care units before the intervention ranged from 0% compliance to 88% compliance, and after, it ranged from 67% to 91%. An intervention program on the cleaning of HTOs and the transmission cycle of microorganisms in the ICUs enhanced the healthcare personnel’s understanding and practices on the importance of environmental cleaning.

Keywords: high touch objects, infections, intensive care units, intervention program, microorganisms

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Zulhisyam Salleh, Fizatul Aini Patakor, Rosilah Wahab, Awangku Khairul Ridzwan Awangku Jaya

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Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. Most of these children have difficulty with fine motor skills which typically struggle with handwriting and fine activities in their routine life such as getting dressed and controlled use of the everyday tool. Because fine motor activities encompass so many routine functions, a fine motor delay can have a measurable negative impact on a person's ability to handle daily practical tasks. This project proposed a simple fine motor exercise aid plus the game (exergame) for autistic children who discover from fine motor difficulties. The proposed exergame will be blinking randomly and user needs to bend their finger accordingly. It will notify the user, whether they bend the right finger or not. The system is realized using Arduino, which is programmed to control all the operated circuit. The feasibility studies with six autistic children were conducted and found the child interested in using exergame and could quickly get used to it. This study provides important guidance for future investigations of the exergame potential for accessing and improving fine motor skill among autistic children.

Keywords: autism children, Arduino project, fine motor skill, finger exergame

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Authors: Ranjeeta Kumari, Makesh M, Gayatri Tripathi, K V Rajendran, Megha Bedekar

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A comparative study on DNA immunization with recombinant glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) construct of Edwardsiella tarda (pGPD group) and a bicistronic construct expressing GAPDH plus IFN-γ of Labeo rohita as adjuvant (pGPD+IFN group) was undertaken in Labeo rohita along with the control animals. Successful co-expression of two genes that is GAPDH and IFN-γ was confirmed in SSN-1 cells line by RT-qPCR and western blot. The protective immune response of host to DNA vaccine construct was determined by RPS and specific antibody production. Fishes immunized with plasmids via intramuscular injection (I/M) exhibited a considerable relative percentage survivability of 66.66% in pGPD+IFN immunized group and 53.34% in pGPD immunized group after challenge with E. tarda. Antibody response was also significantly high in pGPD+IFN group at all time points under study. This was analysed by competitive ELISA, using anti GAPDH monoclonal antibodies. The experiment revealed that the GAPDH gene of E. tarda is one of the ideal candidates for generating protective immune response in L. rohita. Further addition of Interferon gamma to DNA vaccine construct can enhance the immune response in host.

Keywords: DNA vaccine, Edwardsiella tarda, Labeo rohita, zoonosis, immune response

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Authors: Neusa Fernanda Torres, Buyisile Chibi, Lyn E. Middleton, Vernon P. Solomon, Tivani P. Mashamba-Thompson

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Background: Self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) is a global concern, with a higher incidence in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite intense world-wide efforts to control and promote the rational use of antibiotics, continuing practices of SMA systematically exposes individuals and communities to the risk of antibiotic resistance and other undesirable antibiotic side effects. Moreover, it increases the health systems costs of acquiring more powerful antibiotics to treat the resistant infection. This review thus maps evidence on the factors influencing self-medication with antibiotics in these settings. Methods: The search strategy for this review involved electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, EBSCOhost (PubMed, CINAHL with Full Text, Health Source - Consumer Edition, MEDLINE), Google Scholar, BioMed Central and World Health Organization library, using the search terms:’ Self-Medication’, ‘antibiotics’, ‘factors’ and ‘reasons’. Our search included studies published from 2007 to 2017. Thematic analysis was performed to identify the patterns of evidence on SMA in LMICs. The mixed method quality appraisal tool (MMAT) version 2011 was employed to assess the quality of the included primary studies. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies included population from the rural (46,4%), urban (33,6%) and combined (20%) settings, of the following LMICs: Guatemala (2 studies), India (2), Indonesia (2), Kenya (1), Laos (1), Nepal (1), Nigeria (2), Pakistan (2), Sri Lanka (1), and Yemen (1). The total sample size of all 15 included studies was 7676 participants. The findings of the review show a high prevalence of SMA ranging from 8,1% to 93%. Accessibility, affordability, conditions of health facilities (long waiting, quality of services and workers) as long well as poor health-seeking behavior and lack of information are factors that influence SMA in LMICs. Antibiotics such as amoxicillin, metronidazole, amoxicillin/clavulanic, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, penicillin, and tetracycline, were the most frequently used for SMA. The major sources of antibiotics included pharmacies, drug stores, leftover drugs, family/friends and old prescription. Sore throat, common cold, cough with mucus, headache, toothache, flu-like symptoms, pain relief, fever, running nose, toothache, upper respiratory tract infections, urinary symptoms, urinary tract infection were the common disease symptoms managed with SMA. Conclusion: Although the information on factors influencing SMA in LMICs is unevenly distributed, the available information revealed the existence of research evidence on antibiotic self-medication in some countries of LMICs. SMA practices are influenced by social-cultural determinants of health and frequently associated with poor dispensing and prescribing practices, deficient health-seeking behavior and consequently with inappropriate drug use. Therefore, there is still a need to conduct further studies (qualitative, quantitative and randomized control trial) on factors and reasons for SMA to correctly address the public health problem in LMICs.

Keywords: antibiotics, factors, reasons, self-medication, low and middle-income countries (LMICs)

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Authors: Moustafa Ibrahim Moustafa

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The purpose of this study was to determine the immediate and long term effects of a multimodal program, with the addition of cervical sagittal curve restoration and forward head correction, on severity of dizziness, disability, frequency of dizziness, and severity of cervical pain. 72 patients with cervicogenic dizziness, definite hypolordotic cervical spine, and forward head posture were randomized to experimental or a control group. Both groups received the multimodal program, additionally, the study group received the Denneroll cervical traction. All outcome measures were measured at three intervals. The general linear model indicated a significant group × time effects in favor of experimental group on measures of anterior head translation (F=329.4 P < .0005), cervical lordosis (F=293.7 P < .0005), severity of dizziness (F=262.1 P < .0005), disability (F=248.9 P < .0005), frequency of dizziness (F=53.9 P < .0005), and severity of cervical pain (F=350.1 P < .0005). The addition of Dennroll cervical traction to a multimodal program can positively affect dizziness management outcomes.

Keywords: randomized controlled trial, traction, dizziness, cervical

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Authors: Mohammad R. Jalali

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Movement of liquid with a free surface in a container is known as slosh. For instance, slosh occurs when water in a closed tank is set in motion by a free surface displacement, or when liquid natural gas in a container is vibrated by an external driving force, such as an earthquake or movement induced by transport. Slosh is also derived from resonant switching of a natural basin. During sloshing, different types of motion are produced by energy exchange between the liquid and its container. In present study, a numerical model is developed to simulate the nonlinear even harmonic oscillations of free surface sloshing of an initial disturbance to the free surface of a liquid in a closed square basin. The response of the liquid free surface is affected by amplitude and motion frequencies of its container; therefore, sloshing involves complex fluid-structure interactions. In the present study, nonlinear interaction of free surface sloshing of an initial Gaussian hump with its uneven container is predicted numerically. For this purpose, Green-Naghdi (GN) equations are applied as governing equation of fluid field to produce nonlinear second-order and higher-order wave interactions. These equations reduce the dimensions from three to two, yielding equations that can be solved efficiently. The GN approach assumes a particular flow kinematic structure in the vertical direction for shallow and deep-water problems. The fluid velocity profile is finite sum of coefficients depending on space and time multiplied by a weighting function. It should be noted that in GN theory, the flow is rotational. In this study, GN numerical simulations of initial Gaussian hump are compared with Fourier series semi-analytical solutions of the linearized shallow water equations. The comparison reveals that satisfactory agreement exists between the numerical simulation and the analytical solution of the overall free surface sloshing patterns. The resonant free surface motions driven by an initial Gaussian disturbance are obtained by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the free surface elevation time history components. Numerically predicted velocity vectors and magnitude contours for the free surface patterns indicate that interaction of Gaussian hump with its container has localized effect. The result of this sloshing is applicable to the design of stable liquefied oil containers in tankers and offshore platforms.

Keywords: fluid-structure interactions, free surface sloshing, Gaussian hump, Green-Naghdi equations, numerical predictions

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Authors: Mehrdad Abkenari, Mehmet Kunt, Mahdi Nourollahi

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Evaluating the environmental risk factors is a combination of analysis of transportation effects. Various definitions for risk can be found in different scientific sources. Each definition depends on a specific and particular perspective or dimension. The effects of potential risks present along the new proposed routes and existing infrastructures of large transportation projects like railways should be studied under comprehensive engineering frameworks. Despite various definitions provided for ‘risk’, all include a uniform concept. Two obvious aspects, loss and unreliability, have always been pointed in all definitions of this term. But, selection as the third aspect is usually implied and means how one notices it. Currently, conducting engineering studies on the environmental effects of railway projects have become obligatory according to the Environmental Assessment Act in developing countries. Considering the longitudinal nature of these projects and probable passage of railways through various ecosystems, scientific research on the environmental risk of these projects have become of great interest. Although many areas of expertise such as road construction in developing countries have not seriously committed to these studies yet, attention to these subjects in establishment or implementation of different systems have become an inseparable part of this wave of research. The present study used environmental risks identified and existing in previous studies and stations to use in next step. The second step proposes a new hybrid approach of analytical network process (ANP) and DEMATEL in fuzzy conditions for assessment of determined risks. Since evaluation of identified risks was not an easy touch, mesh structure was an appropriate approach for analyzing complex systems which were accordingly employed for problem description and modeling. Researchers faced the shortage of real space data and also due to the ambiguity of experts’ opinions and judgments, they were declared in language variables instead of numerical ones. Since fuzzy logic is appropriate for ambiguity and uncertainty, formulation of experts’ opinions in the form of fuzzy numbers seemed an appropriate approach. Fuzzy DEMATEL method was used to extract the relations between major and minor risk factors. Considering the internal relations of risk major factors and its sub-factors in the analysis of fuzzy network, the weight of risk’s main factors and sub-factors were determined. In general, findings of the present study, in which effective railway environmental risk indicators were theoretically identified and rated through the first usage of combined model of DEMATEL and fuzzy network analysis, indicate that environmental risks can be evaluated more accurately and also employed in railway projects.

Keywords: DEMATEL, ANP, fuzzy, risk

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Authors: A. Bhattacharya, Sanjay Gupta, S. H. Bodakhe

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HbA1c is form of the haemoglobin that is used to measure the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time. It is formed in a non-enzymatic glycation pathway by hemoglobin's exposure to plasma glucose. In diabetes mellitus, higher amounts of glycated hemoglobin, indicating poorer control of blood glucose levels, have been associated with cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, and retinopathy. Guraku’s basic components are nicotine and jaggery, jaggery is made up of sugarcane so can have a diabetogenic potential which is exacerbated in presence of nicotine. This work had done with the aim to find correlation between Diabetic cataract, HbA1c and Guraku. Subjects were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In this study total 75 subjects were included. In the study it was found that people consuming Guraku had a high level of HbA1c thus are more prone to the development of diabetic cataract. Male subjects are the more than female subjects. Most of the subjects belong to the lower socioeconomical class and not very educated. It could be concluded that this type of study could be useful in indentifying number of subjects suffering from diabetic cataract whose condition get worse by use of nicotine product like Guraku and preventive measure to be taken in prevention of this type of diabetic complication.

Keywords: diabetic cataract, HbA1c, Guraku, diabetogenic potential

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Authors: Olia Kanevskaia

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Standardization has been in the limelight of numerous academic studies. Typically described as ‘any set of technical specifications that either provides or is intended to provide a common design for a product or process’, standards do not only set quality benchmarks for products and services, but also spur competition and innovation, resulting in advantages for manufacturers and consumers. Their contribution to globalization and technology advancement is especially crucial in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and telecommunications sector, which is also characterized by a weaker state-regulation and expert-based rule-making. Most of the standards developed in that area are interoperability standards, which allow technological devices to establish ‘invisible communications’ and to ensure their compatibility and proper functioning. This type of standard supports a large share of our daily activities, ranging from traffic coordination by traffic lights to the connection to Wi-Fi networks, transmission of data via Bluetooth or USB and building the network architecture for the Internet of Things (IoT). A large share of ICT standards is developed in the specialized voluntary platforms, commonly referred to as Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), which gather experts from various industry sectors, private enterprises, governmental agencies and academia. The institutional architecture of these bodies can vary from semi-public bodies, such as European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), to industry-driven consortia, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The past decades witnessed a significant shift of standard setting to those institutions: while operating independently from the states regulation, they offer a rather informal setting, which enables fast-paced standardization and places technical supremacy and flexibility of standards above other considerations. Although technical norms and specifications developed by such nongovernmental platforms are not binding, they appear to create significant regulatory impact. In the United States (US), private voluntary standards can be used by regulators to achieve their policy objectives; in the European Union (EU), compliance with harmonized standards developed by voluntary European Standards Organizations (ESOs) can grant a product a free-movement pass. Moreover, standards can de facto manage the functioning of the market when other regulative alternatives are not available. Hence, by establishing (potentially) mandatory norms, SDOs assume regulatory functions commonly exercised by States and shape their own legal order. The purpose of this paper is threefold: First, it attempts to shed some light on SDOs’ institutional architecture, focusing on private, industry-driven platforms and comparing their regulatory frameworks with those of formal organizations. Drawing upon the relevant scholarship, the paper then discusses the extent to which the formulation of technological standards within SDOs constitutes a private legal order, operating in the shadow of governmental regulation. Ultimately, this contribution seeks to advise whether a state-intervention in industry-driven standard setting is desirable, and whether the increasing regulatory importance of SDOs should be addressed in legislation on standardization.

Keywords: private order, standardization, standard-setting organizations, transnational law

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Hind O. Osman, Tilal Elsaman, Bashir A. Yousef, Esraa Elhadi, Aimun A. E. Ahmed, Eyman Mohamed Eltayib, Malik Suliman Mohamed, Magdi Awadalla Mohamed

Abstract:

Epilepsy is the most common neurological condition and cause of substantial morbidity and mortality. In the present study, the molecular hybridization tool was adopted to obtain six Schiff bases of isatin and adamantane-1-carbohydrazide (18–23). Then, their anticonvulsant activity was evaluated using a pentylenetetrazole- (PTZ-) induced seizure model using phenobarbitone as a positive control. Our findings showed that compounds 18–23 provided significant protection against PTZ-induced seizure, and maximum activities were associated with compound 23. Moreover, all investigated compounds increased the latency of induced convulsion and reduced the duration of epilepsy, with compound 23 being the best. Interestingly, most of the synthesized molecules showed a reduction in neurological symptoms and severity of the seizure. Molecular docking studies suggest GABA-A receptor as a potential target, and in silico ADME screening revealed that the pharmaceutical properties of compound 23 are within the specified limit. Thus, compound 23 was identified as a promising candidate that warrants further drug discovery processes.

Keywords: isatin and adamantane, anticonvulsant activity, PTZ-induced seizure, molecular docking

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Authors: Olivier Mesly

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This article examines the likelihood of deception on the part of borrowers wishing to obtain credit from institutional or private lenders. In our first study, we identify five explanatory variables that account for nearly forty percent of the propensity to act deceitfully: a poor credit history, debt, risky behavior, and to a much lesser degree, irrational behavior and disconnection from the bundle of needs, goals, and preferences. For the second study, we remodeled the initial questionnaire to adapt it to the needs of institutional bankers and borrowers, especially those that engage in money on-line peer-to-peer lending, a growing business fueled by the COVID pandemic. We find that the three key psychological variables that help to indirectly predict the likelihood of deceitful behaviors and possible default on loan reimbursement, i.e., risky behaviors, ir-rationality, and dis-connection, interact with each other to form a loop. This study presents two benefits: first, we provide evidence that it is to some degree possible to tighten control over lending practices. Second, we offer a pragmatic tool: a questionnaire, that lenders can use or adapt to gauge potential borrowers’ deceit, notably by combining their results with standard hard-data measures of risk.

Keywords: bundle of needs, default, debt, deception, risk, peer-to-peer lending

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: M. A. Hassan, M. H. Sakinah, K. Kadirgama, D. Ramasamy, M. M. Noor, M. M. Rahman

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Tribological properties that include nanoparticles are an alternative to improve the tribological behaviour of lubricating oil, which has been investigated by many researchers for the past few decades. Various nanostructures can be used as additives for tribological improvement. However, this also depends on the characteristics of the nanoparticles. In this study, tribological investigation was performed to examine the effect of CuO nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of Syntium 800 SL 10W−30. Three parameters used in the analysis using the wear tester (piston ring) were load, revolutions per minute (rpm), and concentration. The specifications of the nanoparticles, such as size, concentration, hardness, and shape, can affect the tribological behaviour of the lubricant. The friction and wear experiment was conducted using a tribo-tester and the Response Surface Methodology method was used to analyse any improvement of the performance. Therefore, two concentrations of 40 nm nanoparticles were used to conduct the experiments, namely, 0.005 wt % and 0.01 wt % and compared with base oil 0 wt % (control). A water bath sonicator was used to disperse the nanoparticles in base oil, while a tribo-tester was used to measure the coefficient of friction and wear rate. In addition, the thermal properties of the nanolubricant were also measured. The results have shown that the thermal conductivity of the nanolubricant was increased when compared with the base oil. Therefore, the results indicated that CuO nanoparticles had improved the tribological behaviour as well as the thermal properties of the nanolubricant oil.

Keywords: concentration, improvement, tribological, copper (II) oxide, nano lubricant

Procedia PDF Downloads 440

Authors: S. M. Mahbobur Rahman

Abstract:

Whole building energy simulation models are widely used for predicting future energy consumption, performance diagnosis and optimum control.  Black box building energy modeling approach has been heavily studied in the past decade. The thermal response of a building can also be modeled using a network of interconnected resistors (R) and capacitors (C) at each node called R-C network. In this study, a model building, Case 600, as described in the “Standard Method of Test for the Evaluation of Building Energy Analysis Computer Program”, ASHRAE standard 140, is studied along with a 3R2C thermal network model and the ASHRAE clear sky solar radiation model. Although building an energy model involves two important parts of building component i.e., the envelope and internal mass, the effect of building internal mass is not considered in this study. All the characteristic parameters of the building envelope are evaluated as on Case 600. Finally, monthly building energy consumption from the thermal network model is compared with a simple-box energy model within reasonable accuracy. From the results, 0.6-9.4% variation of monthly energy consumption is observed because of the south-facing windows.

Keywords: ASHRAE case study, clear sky solar radiation model, energy modeling, thermal network model

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Babak Forouraghi

Abstract:

A genetic circuit is a collection of interacting genes and proteins that enable individual cells to implement and perform vital biological functions such as cell division, growth, death, and signaling. In cell engineering, synthetic gene circuits are engineered networks of genes specifically designed to implement functionalities that are not evolved by nature. These engineered networks enable scientists to tackle complex problems such as engineering cells to produce therapeutics within the patient's body, altering T cells to target cancer-related antigens for treatment, improving antibody production using engineered cells, tissue engineering, and production of genetically modified plants and livestock. Construction of computational models to realize genetic circuits is an especially challenging task since it requires the discovery of the flow of genetic information in complex biological systems. Building synthetic biological models is also a time-consuming process with relatively low prediction accuracy for highly complex genetic circuits. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the utility of a pre-trained bidirectional encoder transformer that can accurately predict gene expressions in genetic circuit designs. The main reason behind using transformers is their innate ability (attention mechanism) to take account of the semantic context present in long DNA chains that are heavily dependent on the spatial representation of their constituent genes. Previous approaches to gene circuit design, such as CNN and RNN architectures, are unable to capture semantic dependencies in long contexts, as required in most real-world applications of synthetic biology. For instance, RNN models (LSTM, GRU), although able to learn long-term dependencies, greatly suffer from vanishing gradient and low-efficiency problem when they sequentially process past states and compresses contextual information into a bottleneck with long input sequences. In other words, these architectures are not equipped with the necessary attention mechanisms to follow a long chain of genes with thousands of tokens. To address the above-mentioned limitations, a transformer model was built in this work as a variation to the existing DNA Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (DNABERT) model. It is shown that the proposed transformer is capable of capturing contextual information from long input sequences with an attention mechanism. In previous works on genetic circuit design, the traditional approaches to classification and regression, such as Random Forrest, Support Vector Machine, and Artificial Neural Networks, were able to achieve reasonably high R2 accuracy levels of 0.95 to 0.97. However, the transformer model utilized in this work, with its attention-based mechanism, was able to achieve a perfect accuracy level of 100%. Further, it is demonstrated that the efficiency of the transformer-based gene expression classifier is not dependent on the presence of large amounts of training examples, which may be difficult to compile in many real-world gene circuit designs.

Keywords: machine learning, classification and regression, gene circuit design, bidirectional transformers

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Cangul Altundas Akcay

Abstract:

With the beginning of the mass movement called as the Arab Uprising, Middle Eastern politics has demonstrated an influential shift which has been threatening the existence of the ruling regimes. In this environment, in particular, regional powers have desired to control regional politics, and to expand their regional influence. Bearing that in mind, Turkey and Iran, two significant regional powers, have engaged in competition so as to affect the shifted regional geopolitics. In this context, this paper aims to investigate how regional powers, especially non-Arab ones, have viewed each other in the Arab Uprising, whereby focusing on Turkish perspectives towards Iran. In other words, it will shed light on how Turkey has conducted foreign policy towards Iran during the Arab Uprising. To analyse this, Turkey’s ideological and identity politics towards Iran will be examined as one of its foreign policy approaches. The question is thus that how ideological and identity politics have determined Turkish foreign policy towards Iran in the Arab Uprising. To answer that, the Syrian civil war will be analysed as the case study in this qualitative study, hypothesising that Turkey, which has both Turkish identity and Sunni sect, has competed with Iran, which has both Farsi identity and Shia sect, over the Syrian civil war.

Keywords: Arab uprising, ideological and identity politics, Iran, Turkey, Syrian civil war

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Authors: Nguyen Thi Loan, Phan Ngoc Thanh Tra

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Container is one of the techniques used in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) Therapy. This paper presents the positive results of applying Container technique to “high risk children”. The sample for this research is composed of 60 “high risk children” whose ages range from 11 to 18 years old, housed in Ho Chi Minh City Youth Center. They have been under the program of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation since August 2015 for various reasons such as, loss of parents, anti-social behaviors, homelessness, child labor among others. These “high risk children” are under high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. The subjects were divided into two groups: the control and the experimental with 30 members each. The experimental group was applied Container Technique and the instruments used to measure their levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are DASS-42 and ASEBA. Results show that after applying the Container Technique to the experimental group, there are significant differences between the two groups’ levels of stress, anxiety and depression. The experimental group’s levels of stress, anxiety and depression decreased significantly. The results serve as a basis for the researchers to make an appeal to psychologists to apply Container Technique in doing psychological treatment in a suitable context.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, container technique, EMDR

Procedia PDF Downloads 305

Authors: Ali Seirafi

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect and application of starch nanocrystals on physicochemical and microbial properties in the industrial production of probiotic yogurt. In this study, probiotic yoghurt was manufactured by industrial method with the optimization and control of the technological factors affecting the probabilistic biomass, using probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum with commonly used yogurt primers. Afterwards, the effects of different levels of fat (1.3%, 2.5 and 4%), as well as the effects of various perbiotic compounds include starch nanocrystals (0.5%, 1 and 1.5%), galactolegalosaccharide (0.5% 1 and 1.5%) and fructooligosaccharide (0.5%, 1 and 1.5%) were evaluated. In addition, the effect of packaging (polyethylene and glass) was studied, while the effect of pH changes and final acidity were studied at each stage. In this research, all experiments were performed in 3 replications and the results were analyzed in a completely randomized design with SAS version 9.1 software. The results of this study showed that the addition of starch nanocrystal compounds as well as the use of glass packaging had the most positive effects on the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria and the addition of nano-crystals and the increase in the cooling rate of the product, had the most positive effects on the survival of bacteria Bifidobacterium bifidum.

Keywords: Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, prebiotics, probiotic yogurt

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: M. Ebrahimi, E. Maroufyan, M. Shakeri, E. Oskoueian, A. F Soleimani, Y. M. Goh

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Lipid peroxidation is a main reason of low quality in meat and meat products. The free radical chain reaction is the major process of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radical and hydroperoxyl radical are the main starter of the chain reaction. Papaya leaf contains several secondary metabolites which can be used as a potential antioxidant in broiler feed. Hence, this research was carried out to evaluate the potential of papaya leaf to prevent lipid peroxidation and enhance the antioxidant activity of breast meat of broiler chicken. The results showed that supplementation of papaya leaf at 5%, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the lipid peroxidation compared to control group. The supplementation of papaya leaf prevented from lipid peroxidation and enhanced the antioxidant activity of the broiler breast meat significantly (p < 0.05) after different storage periods. Papaya leaf reduced the lipid oxidation of meat during storage with strong free radical-scavenging ability. In conclusion, supplementation of papaya leaf in broiler diet to have high quality meat is recommended.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, papaya leaf, breast meat, lipid peroxidation

Procedia PDF Downloads 607

Authors: Shubham Bhonde, Nekzad Doctor, Shashwat Gawande

Abstract:

For the use and the import of Keys and ID Transmitter as well as Body Control Modules with radio transmission in a lot of countries, homologation is required. Final deliverables in homologation of the product are certificates. In considering the world of homologation, there are approximately 200 certificates per product, with most of the certificates in local languages. It is challenging to manually investigate each certificate and extract relevant data from the certificate, such as expiry date, approval date, etc. It is most important to get accurate data from the certificate as inaccuracy may lead to missing re-homologation of certificates that will result in an incompliance situation. There is a scope of automation in reading the certificate data in the field of homologation. We are using deep learning as a tool for automation. We have first trained a model using machine learning by providing all country's basic data. We have trained this model only once. We trained the model by feeding pdf and jpg files using the ETL process. Eventually, that trained model will give more accurate results later. As an outcome, we will get the expiry date and approval date of the certificate with a single click. This will eventually help to implement automation features on a broader level in the database where certificates are stored. This automation will help to minimize human error to almost negligible.

Keywords: homologation, re-homologation, data science, deep learning, machine learning, ETL (extract transform loading)

Procedia PDF Downloads 165