Search results for: recirculating aquaculture systems

Authors: Abdelkarim Mahdhi, Fdhila Kais, Faouzi Lamari, Zeineb Hmila, Fathi Kamoun, Maria Ángeles Esteban, Amina Bakhrouf

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Aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food-production sector. However, one of the most serious problems regarding the culture of marine fishes is the mortality associated with pathogenic bacteria that occurs in the critical phases of larval development. Conventional approaches, such as the use of antimicrobial drugs to control diseases, have had limited success in the prevention or cure of aquatic diseases. Promising alternatives to antibiotics are probiotics, which are food supplements consisting of live microorganisms that benefit the host organism. In the search for more effective and environmentally friendly treatments with probionts against pathogenic species in shrimp larval culture, the probiotic properties of Bacillus strains isolated from Artemia culture such as antibacterial activity, adhesion, pathogenicity, toxicity and the effect of marine stress on viability and survival were investigated, as well as the changes occurring in their properties. Analyses showed that these bacteria corresponded to the genus Bacillus sp. Antagonism and adherence assays revealed that these strains have an inhibitory effect against pathogenic bacteria in vitro and in vivo conditions and are fairly adherent. Challenge tests performed with Artemia larvae provided evidence that the tested Bacillus strains were neither pathogenic nor toxic to the host. The tested strains maintained their viability and their probiotic properties during the period of study. The results suggest that the tested strains have suffered changes allowing them to survive in seawater in the absence of nutrients and outside their natural host, identifying them as potential probiotic candidates for Artemia culture.

Keywords: bacillus, probiotic, cell viability, stress response

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Authors: Olokor O. Julius, Ngwu E. Onyebuchi, Ajani K. Emmanuel, Omitoyin O. Bamidele, Olokor O. Linda, Akomas Stella

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The study assessed the quality changes of Clarias gariepenus obtained from integrated culture systems (rice, poultry and fish) which were displayed at 31-33oC average daily temperature on the traditional market table used by local fish farmers to sell fish harvested from their ponds and those on an improved table designed for this study. Unlike the conventional table, the improved table was screened against flies and indiscriminate touch by customers. The fishes were displayed on both tables for 9 hours and quality attributes were monitored hourly by trained panelists. For C. gariepinus, the gills, and intestine recorded faster deterioration starting from the fourth and fifth hours while those on the improved table were prolonged by one hour. Scores for skin brightness and texture did not indicate quality deterioration throughout the display period. However, at the end of the storage time, samples on the improved table recorded 1.5 x 104 cfu/g while samples in unscreened table recorded 3.7 x 10 7 cfu/g. The study shows how simple modifications of a traditional practice can help extend keeping qualities of farmed fish, reduce health hazards in local communities where there is no electricity to preserve fish in whatever form despite a boom in aquaculture. Monai community has a fish farm estate of over 200 small holder farmers with annual output capacity of over $10 million dollars. The simple improvement made to farmers practice in this study is to ensure Community hygiene and boost income of peasant fish farmers by improving the market quality of their products.

Keywords: fish spoilage, improved handling, income generation, retail table

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Authors: Elke Mackensen

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Systems Engineering plays a key role during industrial product development of complex technical systems. The need for systems engineers in industry is growing. However, there is a gap between the industrial need and the academic education. Normally the academic education is focused on the domain specific design, implementation and testing of technical systems. Necessary systems engineering expertise like knowledge about requirements analysis, product cost estimation, management or social skills are poorly taught. Thus, there is the need of new academic concepts for teaching systems engineering skills. This paper presents a project-orientated training concept to prepare students from different technical degree programs for systems engineering activities. The training concept has been initially implemented and applied in the industrial engineering master program of the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg.

Keywords: educational systems engineering training, requirements analysis, system modelling, SysML

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Authors: Mojtaba Hakimi-Moghaddam

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Positive realness as the most important property of driving point impedance of passive electrical networks appears in the control systems stability theory in 1960’s. There are three important subsets of positive real (PR) systems are introduced by researchers, that is, loos-less positive real (LLPR) systems, weakly strictly positive real (WSPR) systems and strictly positive real (SPR) systems. In this paper, definitions, properties, lemmas, and theorems related to family of positive real systems are summarized. Properties in both frequency domain and state space representation of system are explained. Also, several illustrative examples are presented.

Keywords: real rational matrix transfer functions, positive realness property, strictly positive realness property, Hermitian form asymptotic property, pole-zero properties

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Authors: Krishmali N. Ekanayake, Brendan J. Holland, Colin J. Barrow, Rick Wood

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Globally, more than one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted, equating to 1.3 billion tonnes per year. Around 31.2 million tonnes of food waste are generated across the production, supply, and consumption chain in Australia. Generally, the food waste management processes adopt environmental-friendly and more sustainable approaches such as composting, anerobic digestion and energy implemented technologies. However, unavoidable, and non-recyclable food waste ends up as landfilling and incineration that involve many undesirable impacts and challenges on the environment. A biorefinery approach contributes to a waste-minimising circular economy by converting food and other organic biomass waste into valuable outputs, including feeds, nutrition, fertilisers, and biomaterials. As a solution, Green Eco Technologies has developed a food waste treatment process using WasteMaster system. The system uses charged oxygen and moderate temperatures to convert food waste, without bacteria, additives, or water, into a virtually odour-free, much reduced quantity of reusable residual material. In the context of a biorefinery, the WasteMaster dries and mills food waste into a form suitable for storage or downstream extraction/separation/concentration to create products. The focus of the study is to determine the nutritional composition of WasteMaster processed residue to potential develop aquafeed ingredients. The global aquafeed industry is projected to reach a high value market in future, which has shown high demand for the aquafeed products. Therefore, food waste can be utilized for aquaculture feed development by reducing landfill. This framework will lessen the requirement of raw crops cultivation for aquafeed development and reduce the aquaculture footprint. In the present study, the nutritional elements of processed residue are consistent with the input food waste type, which has shown that the WasteMaster is not affecting the expected nutritional distribution. The macronutrient retention values of protein, lipid, and nitrogen free extract (NFE) are detected >85%, >80%, and >95% respectively. The sensitive food components including omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, amino acids, and phenolic compounds have been found intact in each residue material. Preliminary analysis suggests a price comparability with current aquafeed ingredient cost making the economic feasibility. The results suggest high potentiality of aquafeed development as 5 to 10% of the ingredients to replace/partially substitute other less sustainable ingredients across biorefinery setting. Our aim is to improve the sustainability of aquaculture and reduce the environmental impacts of food waste.

Keywords: biorefinery, ffood waste residue, input, wasteMaster

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Authors: Samuel Oludayo Alamu, Seong Lee

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The need for generating energy from biomass in an efficient way as well as maximizing the yield of total energy from the thermal conversion process has been a major concern for researchers. A holistic approach which involves the combination of First law of thermodynamics (FLT) and the second law of thermodynamics (SLT) is required for conducting an effective assessment of an energy plant since FLT analysis alone fails to identify the quality of the dissipated energy and how much work potential is available. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the exergy analysis of direct combustion of poultry waste being converted to energy with a handful of environmental assessment of the conversion processes in order to maximize thermal efficiency. The exergy analysis around the shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) was investigated primarily by varying the operating parameters for different tube shapes and flow direction, and an exergy model was obtained from estimations of the higher heating value and standard entropy of poultry waste from the elemental compositions. The STHE was designed and fabricated by Lee Research Group at Morgan State University. The analysis conducted on theSTHE using the flue gas temperature entering and exiting show that only about one-third of the energy input to the STHE was available to do work with an overall efficiency of 13.8%, while a huge amount was lost to the surrounding. By recirculating the flue gas, the exergy efficiency of the combustion system can be maximized with a greater reduction in the amount of exergy loss.

Keywords: exergy analysis, shell and tube heat exchanger, thermodynamics, combustion system, thermal efficiency

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Authors: Ana Hol

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Digital systems are in the cognitive wave of the eTransformations and are now extensively aimed at meeting the individuals’ demands, both those of customers requiring services and those of service providers. It is also apparent that successful future systems will not just simply open doors to the traditional owners/users to offer and receive services such as Uber for example does today, but will in the future require more customized and cognitively enabled infrastructures that will be responsive to the system user’s needs. To be able to identify what is required for such systems, this research reviews the historical and the current effects of the eTransformation process by studying: 1. eTransitions of company websites and mobile applications, 2. Emergence of new sheared economy business models as Uber and, 3. New requirements for demand driven, cognitive systems capable of learning and just in time decision making. Based on the analysis, this study proposes a Cognitive eTransformation Framework capable of guiding implementations of new responsive and user aware systems.

Keywords: system implementations, AI supported systems, cognitive systems, eTransformation

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Authors: L. Ngowi, N. H. Mvungi

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This paper critically examines the evolution of socio-technical systems theory, its practices, and challenges in system design and development. It examines concepts put forward by researchers focusing on the application of the theory in software engineering. There are various methods developed that use socio-technical concepts based on systems engineering without remarkable success. The main constraint is the large amount of data and inefficient techniques used in the application of the concepts in system engineering for developing time-bound systems and within a limited/controlled budget. This paper critically examines each of the methods, highlight bottlenecks and suggest the way forward. Since socio-technical systems theory only explains what to do, but not how doing it, hence engineers are not using the concept to save time, costs and reduce risks associated with new frameworks. Hence, a new framework, which can be considered as a practical approach is proposed that borrows concepts from soft systems method, agile systems development and object-oriented analysis and design to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The approach will enable the development of systems using socio-technical systems theory to attract/enable the system engineers/software developers to use socio-technical systems theory in building worthwhile information systems to avoid fragilities and hostilities in the work environment.

Keywords: socio-technical systems, human centered design, software engineering, cognitive engineering, soft systems, systems engineering

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Authors: Joanna Nieżurawska, Hanna Karaszewska, Anna Dziadkiewicz

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Contemporary conditions force companies to constantly implement changes and improvements, which is connected with plasticization of their activity in all spheres. Cafeteria systems are a good example of flexible remuneration systems. Cafeteria systems are well-known and often used in the United States, Great Britain and in Western Europe. In Poland, they are hardly ever used and greater flexibility in remuneration packages refers mainly to senior managers and executives. The main aim of this article is to research the attractiveness of the cafeteria system as viewed by generation Z. The additional aim of the article is to prioritize using the importance index of particular types of cafeteria systems from the generation Z’s perspective, as well as to identify the factors which determine the development of cafeteria systems in Poland. The research was conducted in June 2015 among 185 young employees (generation Z). The paper presents some of the results.

Keywords: cafeteria, generation X, generation Y, generation Z, flexible remuneration systems, plasticization of remuneration

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Authors: Wasiu Olaniyi, Ofelia Omitogun

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Hybridization has been of importance in both research and commercial aquaculture due to its benefits such as increased growth rate, sex ratio manipulation, production of sterile species and many other desirable economic traits. In this study, we successfully produced hybrids between crosses of Clariid catfish species of Clarias gariepinus and Heterobranchus bidorsalis for stock improvement. Milt and eggs from parent broodstock of C. gariepinus and H. bidorsalis were collected for both intrageneric and interspecific hybridization, viz: same parent species crosses (♀C. gariepinus ×♂C. gariepinus; ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂H. bidorsalis) and inter-specific crosses (♀H. bidorsalis × ♂C. gariepinus; ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis). These crosses were made in triplicates whereby the data on latency period, fertility, hatchability, deformity, and survival were recorded. A phenotypic form of distinction was registered in the hybrid ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis that was smooth-greyed while its reciprocal cross was marpatic. The parent species C. gariepinus had greyed-marpatic color while the H. bidorsalis was yellowish-brown. Fertility data revealed the significant difference (p < 0.05) between the hybrid cross ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis (88.00 ± 1.00%) compared to its reciprocal ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂C. gariepinus (71.67 ± 10.41%) which further had carried over effects to hatchability. The reciprocal ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂C. gariepinus recorded the highest deformity (11.67 ± 3.06%) that was significantly different (p < 0.05) from the rest of the crosses. Also, an outcome of equal sex ratio in the hybrids compared with the two parent species was shown. Specific growth rate (SGR) data revealed highest significant difference (p < 0.05) in the hybrid ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis (2.64 ± 0.09%), followed by the cross of ♀C. gariepinus × ♂ C. gariepinus (1.91 ± 0.02%) while there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the reciprocal hybrid ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂C. gariepinus (2.20 ± 0.57%) and ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂H. bidorsalis (2.19 ± 0.19%). The SGR analysis proved that the crosses ♀C. gariepinus × ♂C. gariepinus had slow growth performance compared to its hybrid ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis. Critical evaluation based on survival and specific growth performance showed the superiority of the hybrid ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis. The least survival in reciprocal hybrid ♀H. bidorsalis × ♂C. gariepinus (27.33%) can be explained by significant deformity (11.67%) recorded due to maternal effects. Hence, the survival of hybrid ♀C. gariepinus × ♂H. bidorsalis was better.

Keywords: aquaculture, hybridization, Clarias gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis

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Authors: Eric Sanchis

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Although there does not exist a definitive consensus on a precise definition of a complex system, it is generally considered that a system is complex by nature. The presented work illustrates a different point of view: a system becomes complex only with regard to the question posed to it, i.e., with regard to the problem which has to be solved. A complex system is a couple (question, object). Because the number of questions posed to a given object can be potentially substantial, complexity does not present a uniform face. Two types of complex systems are clearly identified: first-order complex systems and second-order complex systems. First-order complex systems physically exist. They are well-known because they have been studied by the scientific community for a long time. In second-order complex systems, complexity results from the system composition and its articulation that are partially unknown. For some of these systems, there is no evidence of their existence. Vagueness is the keyword characterizing this kind of systems. Autonomy and free will, two mental productions of the human cognitive system, can be identified as second-order complex systems. A classification based on the properties structure makes it possible to discriminate complex properties from the others and to model this kind of second order complex systems. The final outcome is an implementable synthetic property that distinguishes the solid aspects of the actual property from those that are uncertain.

Keywords: autonomy, free will, synthetic property, vaporous complex systems

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Authors: Tappei Yotsumoto, Atsushi Nomura, Kozo Tanigawa, Kenichi Takahashi, Takao Kawamura, Kazunori Sugahara

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In a human tracking system, expanding a monitoring range of one system is complicating the management of devices and increasing its cost. Therefore, we propose a method to realize a wide-range human tracking by connecting small systems. In this paper, we examined an agent deploy method and information contents across the heterogeneous human tracking systems. By implementing the proposed method, we can construct a human tracking system across heterogeneous systems, and the system can track a target continuously between systems.

Keywords: human tracking system, mobile agent, monitoring, heterogeneous systems

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Authors: Hassan Alhoujeiri, Angele Matrat, Sandra Beaufort, Claire joaniss Cassan, Jerome Silvester

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Aquaponics is a sustainable food production technology, and its transition to industrial-scale systems has created several challenges that require further investigation in order to make it a robust process. One of the critical concerns is the potential accumulation of compounds from veterinary treatments, phytosanitary agents, fish feed, or simply from contaminated water sources. The accumulation of these substances could negatively impact fish health, microbial biofilters, and plant growth, thereby disrupting the system’s overall balance and functionality. The lack of legislation and knowledge regarding the presence of such compounds in aquaponic systems raises concerns about their potential impact on both system balance and food safety. In this study, we focused on the effects of oxytetracycline (OTC), an antibiotic commonly used in aquaculture, on both the microbial biofilter and plant growth. Although OTC is rarely applied in aquaponics today, the fish compartment may need to be isolated from the system during treatment, as it inhibits specific bacterial populations, which could affect the microbial biofilter's efficiency. However, questions remain about the aquaponic system's tolerance threshold, particularly in cases of treatment or residual OTC traces post-treatment. This study results indicated a decline in microbial biofilter activity to 20% compared to the control, potentially corresponding to treatments of 41 mg/L of OTC. Analysis of microbial populations in the biofilter, using flow cytometry and microscopy (confocal and scanning electron microscopy), revealed an increase in bacterial mortality without disrupting the microbial biofilm. Additionally, OTC exposure led to noticeable changes in plant morphology (e.g., color) and growth, though it did not fully inhibit development. However, no significant effects were observed on seed germination at the tested concentrations despite a measurable impact on subsequent plant growth.

Keywords: aquaponic, oxytetracycline, nitrifying biofilter, plant, micropollutants, sustainability

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Authors: Shideh Mohseni Movahed, Mansoureh Safari

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Intelligent drug delivery systems (IDDS) are innovative technological innovations and clinical way to advance current treatments. These systems differ in technique of therapeutic administration, intricacy, materials and patient compliance to address numerous clinical conditions that require different pharmacological therapies. IDDS capable of releasing an active molecule at the proper site and at a amount that adjusts in response to the progression of the disease or to certain functions/biorhythms of the organism is particularly appealing. In this paper, we describe the most recent advances in the development of intelligent drug delivery systems.

Keywords: drug delivery systems, IDDS, medicine, health

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Authors: R. B. Ogunrinde, C. C. Jibunoh

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In this paper, a spectral decomposition method is developed for the direct integration of stiff and nonstiff homogeneous linear (ODE) systems with linear, constant, or zero right hand sides (RHSs). The method does not require iteration but obtains solutions at any random points of t, by direct evaluation, in the interval of integration. All the numerical solutions obtained for the class of systems coincide with the exact theoretical solutions. In particular, solutions of homogeneous linear systems, i.e. with zero RHS, conform to the exact analytical solutions of the systems in terms of t.

Keywords: spectral decomposition, linear RHS, homogeneous linear systems, eigenvalues of the Jacobian

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Authors: Salisu Ibrahim

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The paper studies the commutativity associated with fractional order linear time-varying systems (LTVSs), which is an important area of study in control systems engineering. In this paper, we explore the properties of these systems and their ability to commute. We proposed the necessary and sufficient condition for commutativity for fractional order LTVSs. Through a simulation and mathematical analysis, we demonstrate that these systems exhibit commutativity under certain conditions. Our findings have implications for the design and control of fractional order systems in practical applications, science, and engineering. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method which is been computed by Mathematica and validated by the use of Matlab (Simulink).

Keywords: fractional differential equation, physical systems, equivalent circuit, and analog control

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Authors: J. M. Hernández-Ontiveros, E. E. García-Guerrero, E. Inzunza-González, O. R. López-Bonilla

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This paper presents the implementation of an algorithm that identifies and accounts different fish species: Catfish, Sea bream, Sawfish, Tilapia, and Totoaba. The main contribution of the method is the fusion of the characteristics of invariance to the position, rotation and scale of the Hu moments, with the proper counting of fish. The identification and counting is performed, from an image under different noise conditions. From the experimental results obtained, it is inferred the potentiality of the proposed algorithm to be applied in different scenarios of aquaculture production.

Keywords: counting fish, digital image processing, invariant moments, pattern recognition

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Authors: Jone Ibarruri, Mikel Manso, Marta Cebrián

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A high amount of food is lost or discarded in the World every year. In addition, in the last decades, an increasing demand of new alternative and sustainable sources of proteins and other valuable compounds is being observed in the food and feeding sectors and, therefore, the use of food by-products as nutrients for these purposes sounds very interesting from the environmental and economical point of view. However, the direct use of discarded fruit and vegetables that present, in general, a low protein content is not interesting as feeding ingredient except if they are used as a source of fiber for ruminants. Especially in the case of aquaculture, several alternatives to the use of fish meal and other vegetable protein sources have been extensively explored due to the scarcity of fish stocks and the unsustainability of fishing for these purposes. Fish mortality is also of great concern in this sector as this problem highly reduces their economic feasibility. So, the development of new functional and natural ingredients that could reduce the need for vaccination is also of great interest. In this work, several fermentation tests were developed at lab scale using a selected mixture of fruit and vegetable discards from a wholesale market located in the Basque Country to increase their protein content and also to produce some bioactive extracts that could be used as additives in aquaculture. Fruit and vegetable mixtures (60/40 ww) were centrifugated for humidity reduction and crushed to 2-5 mm particle size. Samples were inoculated with a selected Rhizopus oryzae strain and fermented for 7 days in controlled conditions (humidity between 65 and 75% and 28ºC) in Petri plates (120 mm) by triplicate. Obtained results indicated that the final fermented product presented a twofold protein content (from 13 to 28% d.w). Fermented product was further processed to determine their possible functionality as a feed additive. Extraction tests were carried out to obtain an ethanolic extract (60:40 ethanol: water, v.v) and remaining biomass that also could present applications in food or feed sectors. The extract presented a polyphenol content of about 27 mg GAE/gr d.w with antioxidant activity of 8.4 mg TEAC/g d.w. Remining biomass is mainly composed of fiber (51%), protein (24%) and fat (10%). Extracts also presented antibacterial activity according to the results obtained in Agar Diffusion and to the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) tests determined against several food and fish pathogen strains. In vitro, digestibility was also assessed to obtain preliminary information about the expected effect of extraction procedure on fermented product digestibility. First results indicated that remaining biomass after extraction doesn´t seem to improve digestibility in comparison to the initial fermented product. These preliminary results show that fermented fruit and vegetables can be a useful source of functional ingredients for aquaculture applications and a substitute of other protein sources in the feeding sector. Further validation will be also carried out through “in vivo” tests with trout and bass.

Keywords: fungal solid state fermentation, protein increase, functional extracts, feed ingredients

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Authors: Edward B. Ssekulima, Amir Etemadi

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This paper presents a Systems Thinking and System of Systems (SoS) viewpoint for managing requirements complexity in the grid integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE). To achieve a SoS approach, it is often necessary to inculcate a Systems Thinking (ST) perspective in the planning and design of the attendant system. We show how this approach can support the enhanced integration of VRE (wind, solar small hydro) for which intermittency is a key inhibiting factor to their sustainable grid integration. The results indicate that a ST and SoS approach are a critical tool for decision makers in the planning, design and deployment of VRE Sources for their sustainable grid-integration in accordance with relevant techno-economic, social and environmental requirements.

Keywords: sustainable grid-integration, system of systems, systems thinking, variable energy resources

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Authors: C. Nathanailides, P. Logothetis, G. Kanlis S. Anastasiou, L. Kokokiris, P. Mpeza

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Farmed Red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) is one of the “new candidate fish species” for the diversification of Mediterranean aquaculture which is predomintly based on the cultivation of the European sea bass, (Dicenfrarchus labrax), and the gilthead sea bream, (Sparus aurata). The quality of farmed red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) was investigated with samples obtained from the local fish market in the region of Igoumenitsa, NW Greece. Sample of the fish (ungutted and with scales) were purchased from three local fish mongers and transported to the laboratory within few minutes in foamed polystyrene boxes in ice. The average weight of whole fish ranged between 271-289g. A sample of the fish flesh taken from the upper epaxial region was transferred aseptically to a stomacher bag containing sterile Buffered Peptone Water solution (0.1%) and homogenized. After serial dilutions in 0.1% peptone water, the homogenates were spread on the surface of agar plates. Total viable counts (TVC) were determined using plate count agar after incubation at 30 oC for 3 days. The quality attributes monitored during the present work included bacterial load (total mesophilic) and the pH of the flesh. There was a marginal increase in the price of fresh red porgy sold during the summer time, with prices ranging, over a period of four seasons, from 5.85 to 7.5 per kilo. The results of the microbiological analysis indicate that with the exception of summer samples (which exhibited 5.23 (±0.13) log cfu/g), the bacterial load remained well below the legal limits and was around 3.1 log cfu/g. The pH values varied between 6.54 and 6.69. The results indicate a possible influence of season on the bacterial load of fish sold in the market. Nevertheless, the parameters investigated in the present work indicate that the bacteria load was well below the legal limit and that fish were sold within few days after harvesting. The peak of bacterial load in the summer samples may be a result of a post-harvesting contamination of the farmed fish and temperature fluctuations during handling and transportation.

Keywords: fish quality, marketing, aquaculture, Pagrus pagrus

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Authors: B. N. Asare, O. A. Ajigini

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Information systems (IS) are highly important in the operation of private and public organisations in developing and developed countries. Developing countries are saddled with many project failures during the implementation of information systems. However, successful information systems are greatly needed in developing countries in order to enhance their economies. This paper is highly important in view of the high failure rate of information systems in developing countries which needs to be reduced to minimum acceptable levels by means of recommended interventions. This paper centres on a review of IS development in developing countries. The paper presents evidences of the IS successes and failures in developing countries and posits a model to address the IS failures. The proposed model can then be utilised by developing countries to reduce their IS project implementation failure rate. A comparison is drawn between IS development in developing countries and developed countries. The paper provides valuable information to assist in reducing IS failure, and developing IS models and theories on IS development for developing countries.

Keywords: developing countries, information systems, IS development, information systems failure, information systems success, information systems success model

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Authors: Haitham S. Hamza, Mohamed Maher, Shourok Alaa, Aya Khattab, Hadeal Ismail, Kamilia Hosny

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has become a key technology in the margining concept of Internet of Things (IoT). Naturally, business applications would require the deployment of various RFID systems that are developed by different vendors and use various data formats. This heterogeneity poses a real challenge in developing large-scale IoT systems with RFID as integration is becoming very complex and challenging. Semantic integration is a key approach to deal with this challenge. To do so, ontology for RFID systems need to be developed in order to annotated semantically RFID systems, and hence, facilitate their integration. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose ontology for RFID systems. The proposed ontology can be used to semantically enrich RFID systems, and hence, improve their usage and reasoning. The usage of the proposed ontology is explained through a simple scenario in the health care domain.

Keywords: RFID, semantic technology, ontology, sparql query language, heterogeneity

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Authors: Doaa M. Atia, Faten H. Fahmy, Ninet M. A. El-Rahman, Hassan T. Dorra

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In this paper, the optimum design for renewable energy system powered an aquaculture pond was determined. Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software program, which is developed by U.S National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is used for analyzing the feasibility of the stand-alone and hybrid system in this study. HOMER program determines whether renewable energy resources satisfy hourly electric demand or not. The program calculates energy balance for every 8760 hours in a year to simulate operation of the system. This optimization compares the demand for the electrical energy for each hour of the year with the energy supplied by the system for that hour and calculates the relevant energy flow for each component in the model. The essential principle is to minimize the total system cost while HOMER ensures control of the system. Moreover the feasibility analysis of the energy system is also studied. Wind speed, solar irradiance, interest rate and capacity shortage are the parameters which are taken into consideration. The simulation results indicate that the hybrid system is the best choice in this study, yielding lower net present cost. Thus, it provides higher system performance than PV or wind stand-alone systems.

Keywords: wind stand-alone system, photovoltaic stand-alone system, hybrid system, optimum system sizing, feasibility, cost analysis

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Authors: Aouiche Abdelaziz, Soudani Mouhamed Salah, Aouiche El Moundhe

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The present paper addresses the utilization of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Fuzzy Inference Systems (FISs) for the identification and control of dynamical systems with some degree of uncertainty. Because ANNs and FISs have an inherent ability to approximate functions and to adapt to changes in input and parameters, they can be used to control systems too complex for linear controllers. In this work, we show how ANNs and FISs can be put in order to form nets that can learn from external data. In sequence, it is presented structures of inputs that can be used along with ANNs and FISs to model non-linear systems. Four systems were used to test the identification and control of the structures proposed. The results show the ANNs and FISs (Back Propagation Algorithm) used were efficient in modeling and controlling the non-linear plants.

Keywords: non-linear systems, fuzzy set Models, neural network, control law

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Authors: R. J. Pontawe, R. C. Martinez, N. T. Asuncion, R. V. Villacorte

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Drying of high moisture paddy remains a major problem in the Philippines, especially during inclement weather condition. To alleviate the problem, mechanical dryers were used like a flat bed and recirculating batch-type dryers. However, drying to 14% (wet basis) final moisture content is long which takes 10-12 hours and tedious which is not the ideal for handling high moisture paddy. Fully-automated pilot-scale fluidized bed drying system with 500 kilograms per hour capacity was evaluated using a high moisture paddy. The developed fluidized bed dryer was evaluated using four drying temperatures and two variations in fluidization time at a constant airflow, static pressure and tempering period. Complete drying of paddy with ≥28% (w.b.) initial MC was attained after 2 passes of fluidized-bed drying at 2 minutes exposure to 70 °C drying temperature and 4.9 m/s superficial air velocity, followed by 60 min ambient air tempering period (30 min without ventilation and 30 min with air ventilation) for a total drying time of 2.07 h. Around 82% from normal mechanical drying time was saved at 70 °C drying temperature. The drying cost was calculated to be P0.63 per kilogram of wet paddy. Specific heat energy consumption was only 2.84 MJ/kg of water removed. The Head Rice Yield recovery of the dried paddy passed the Philippine Agricultural Engineering Standards. Sensory evaluation showed that the color and taste of the samples dried in the fluidized bed dryer were comparable to air dried paddy. The optimum drying parameters of using fluidized bed dryer is 70 oC drying temperature at 2 min fluidization time, 4.9 m/s superficial air velocity, 10.16 cm grain depth and 60 min ambient air tempering period.

Keywords: drying, fluidized bed dryer, head rice yield, paddy

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Authors: Sumeet Rai, Anuj Tyagi, B. T. Naveen Kumar, Shubhkaramjeet Kaur, Niraj K. Singh

Abstract:

Since their discovery, indiscriminate use of antibiotics in human, veterinary and aquaculture systems has resulted in global emergence/spread of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Thus, the need for alternative approaches to control bacterial infections has become utmost important. High selectivity/specificity of bacteriophages (phages) permits the targeting of specific bacteria without affecting the desirable flora. In this study, a lytic phage (Ahp1) specific to Aeromonas hydrophila subsp. hydrophila was isolated from finfish aquaculture pond. The host range of Ahp1 range was tested against 10 isolates of A. hydrophila, 7 isolates of A. veronii, 25 Vibrio cholerae isolates, 4 V. parahaemolyticus isolates and one isolate each of V. harveyi and Salmonella enterica collected previously. Except the host A. hydrophila subsp. hydrophila strain, no lytic activity against any other bacterial was detected. During the adsorption rate and one-step growth curve analysis, 69.7% of phage particles were able to get adsorbed on host cell followed by the release of 93 ± 6 phage progenies per host cell after a latent period of ~30 min. Phage nucleic acid was extracted by column purification methods. After determining the nature of phage nucleic acid as dsDNA, phage genome was subjected to next-generation sequencing by generating paired-end (PE, 2 x 300bp) reads on Illumina MiSeq system. De novo assembly of sequencing reads generated circular phage genome of 42,439 bp with G+C content of 58.95%. During open read frame (ORF) prediction and annotation, 22 ORFs (out of 49 total predicted ORFs) were functionally annotated and rest encoded for hypothetical proteins. Proteins involved in major functions such as phage structure formation and packaging, DNA replication and repair, DNA transcription and host cell lysis were encoded by the phage genome. The complete genome sequence of Ahp1 along with gene annotation was submitted to NCBI GenBank (accession number MF683623). Stability of Ahp1 preparations at storage temperatures of 4 °C, 30 °C, and 40 °C was studied over a period of 9 months. At 40 °C storage, phage counts declined by 4 log units within one month; with a total loss of viability after 2 months. At 30 °C temperature, phage preparation was stable for < 5 months. On the other hand, phage counts decreased by only 2 log units over a period of 9 during storage at 4 °C. As some of the phages have also been reported as glycerol sensitive, the stability of Ahp1 preparations in (0%, 15%, 30% and 45%) glycerol stocks were also studied during storage at -80 °C over a period of 9 months. The phage counts decreased only by 2 log units during storage, and no significant difference in phage counts was observed at different concentrations of glycerol. The Ahp1 phage discovered in our study had a very narrow host range and it may be useful for phage typing applications. Moreover, the endolysin and holin genes in Ahp1 genome could be ideal candidates for recombinant cloning and expression of antimicrobial proteins.

Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila, endolysin, phage, narrow host range

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Authors: Arcady Ponosov

Abstract:

A novel mathematical approach is suggested, which facilitates a compressed representation and efficient validation of parameter-rich ordinary differential equation models describing the dynamics of complex, especially biology-related, systems and which is based on identification of the system's latent variables. In particular, an efficient parameter estimation method for the compressed non-linear dynamical systems is developed. The method is applied to the so-called 'power-law systems' being non-linear differential equations typically used in Biochemical System Theory.

Keywords: generalized law of mass action, metamodels, principal components, synergetic systems

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Authors: Ali E. Abbas

Abstract:

This paper summarizes some of the discussions that occurred in a workshop in West Virginia, U.S.A which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in February 2016. The goal of the workshop was to explore the opportunities and challenges for applying systems engineering in large enterprises, and some of the issues that still persist. The main topics of the discussion included challenges with elaboration and abstraction in large systems, interfacing physical and social systems, and the need for axiomatic frameworks for large enterprises. We summarize these main points of discussion drawing parallels with decision making in organizations to instigate research in these discussion areas.

Keywords: decision analysis, systems engineering, framing, value creation

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Authors: Takashi Shimizu, Tomoaki Hashimoto

Abstract:

A class of implicit systems is known as a more generalized class of systems than a class of explicit systems. To establish a control method for such a generalized class of systems, we adopt model predictive control method which is a kind of optimal feedback control with a performance index that has a moving initial time and terminal time. However, model predictive control method is inapplicable to systems whose all state variables are not exactly known. In other words, model predictive control method is inapplicable to systems with limited measurable states. In fact, it is usual that the state variables of systems are measured through outputs, hence, only limited parts of them can be used directly. It is also usual that output signals are disturbed by process and sensor noises. Hence, it is important to establish a state estimation method for nonlinear implicit systems with taking the process noise and sensor noise into consideration. To this purpose, we apply the model predictive control method and unscented Kalman filter for solving the optimization and estimation problems of nonlinear implicit systems, respectively. The objective of this study is to establish a model predictive control with unscented Kalman filter for nonlinear implicit systems.

Keywords: optimal control, nonlinear systems, state estimation, Kalman filter

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Authors: Inas S. Khayal, Weiping Zhou, Jonathan Skinner

Abstract:

Healthcare delivery systems around the world are in crisis. The need to improve health outcomes while decreasing healthcare costs have led to an imminent call to action to transform the healthcare delivery system. While Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering have primarily focused on biological level data and biomedical technology, there is clear evidence of the importance of the delivery of care on patient outcomes. Classic singular decomposition approaches from reductionist science are not capable of explaining complex systems. Approaches and methods from systems science and systems engineering are utilized to structure healthcare delivery system data. Specifically, systems architecture is used to develop a multi-scale and multi-dimensional characterization of the healthcare delivery system, defined here as the Healthcare Delivery System Knowledge Base. This paper is the first to contribute a new method of structuring and visualizing a multi-dimensional and multi-scale healthcare delivery system using systems architecture in order to better understand healthcare delivery.

Keywords: health informatics, systems thinking, systems architecture, healthcare delivery system, data analytics

Procedia PDF Downloads 350