Search results for: high-dimensional process control
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 23841

Search results for: high-dimensional process control

11691 Skin-to-Skin Contact Simulation: Improving Health Outcomes for Medically Fragile Newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Authors: Gabriella Zarlenga, Martha L. Hall

Abstract:

Introduction: Premature infants are at risk for neurodevelopmental deficits and hospital readmissions, which can increase the financial burden on the health care system and families. Kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact) is a practice that can improve preterm infant health outcomes. Preterm infants can acquire adequate body temperature, heartbeat, and breathing regulation through lying directly on the mother’s abdomen and in between her breasts. Due to some infant’s condition, kangaroo care is not a feasible intervention. The purpose of this proof-of-concept research project is to create a device which simulates skin-to-skin contact for pre-term infants not eligible for kangaroo care, with the aim of promoting baby’s health outcomes, reducing the incidence of serious neonatal and early childhood illnesses, and/or improving cognitive, social and emotional aspects of development. Methods: The study design is a proof-of-concept based on a three-phase approach; (1) observational study and data analysis of the standard of care for 2 groups of pre-term infants, (2) design and concept development of a novel device for pre-term infants not currently eligible for standard kangaroo care, and (3) prototyping, laboratory testing, and evaluation of the novel device in comparison to current assessment parameters of kangaroo care. A single center study will be conducted in an area hospital offering Level III neonatal intensive care. Eligible participants include newborns born premature (28-30 weeks of age) admitted to the NICU. The study design includes 2 groups: a control group receiving standard kangaroo care and an experimental group not eligible for kangaroo care. Based on behavioral analysis of observational video data collected in the NICU, the device will be created to simulate mother’s body using electrical components in a thermoplastic polymer housing covered in silicone. It will be designed with a microprocessor that controls simulated respiration, heartbeat, and body temperature of the 'simulated caregiver' by using a pneumatic lung, vibration sensors (heartbeat), pressure sensors (weight/position), and resistive film to measure temperature. A slight contour of the simulator surface may be integrated to help position the infant correctly. Control and monitoring of the skin-to-skin contact simulator would be performed locally by an integrated touchscreen. The unit would have built-in Wi-Fi connectivity as well as an optional Bluetooth connection in which the respiration and heart rate could be synced with a parent or caregiver. A camera would be integrated, allowing a video stream of the infant in the simulator to be streamed to a monitoring location. Findings: Expected outcomes are stabilization of respiratory and cardiac rates, thermoregulation of those infants not eligible for skin to skin contact with their mothers, and real time mother Bluetooth to the device to mimic the experience in the womb. Results of this study will benefit clinical practice by creating a new standard of care for premature neonates in the NICU that are deprived of skin to skin contact due to various health restrictions.

Keywords: kangaroo care, wearable technology, pre-term infants, medical design

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11690 Age-Stage, Two-Sex Life Table Characteristics of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus)) (Diptera: Culicidae) in Penang Island, Malaysia

Authors: A. H. Maimusa, A. Abu Hassan, Nur Faeza A. Kassim

Abstract:

In this study, we report on the main life table developmental attributes of laboratory colonies of wild strains Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti. The raw life history data of the two species were analyzed and compared based on the age-stage and two-sex life table. The total pre-adult development times were 9.47 days (Ae. albopictus) and 8.76 days (Ae. aegypti). The adult pre-oviposition periods (APOP) was 1.61 day for Ae. albopictus and 2.02 for Ae. aegypti. The total pre-oviposition period (TPOP) of Ae. albopictus is significantly longer (11.66 days) than (10.75 days) for Ae. aegypti. The mean intrinsic rate of increase (r) was 0.124 days (Ae. albopictus) and 1.151 days (Ae. aegypti) while the mean finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.13 day (Ae. albopictus) and (1.16 d) (Ae. aegypti). The net reproductive rates (Ro) were 8.10 and 10.75 for Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti, respectively. The mean generation time (T) for Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti, were 16.81 days and 15.77 days respectively. The mean development time for each stage insignificantly correlated with temperature (r = -0.208, p > 0.05) and (r = -0.312, p > 0.05) for Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti respectively. The life expectancy was 19.01 and 19.94 days for Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti respectively. Mortality occurred mostly during the adult stage and ranged between 0.01 and 0.07%. The population parameters suggest that Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti populations are r-strategist characterized by a high r, a large Ro, and short T. This kind of information is crucial in understanding mosquito population dynamics in disease transmission and control.

Keywords: Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus, age-stage, life table, two-sex

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11689 Effect of Silicon in Mitigating Cadmium Toxicity in Maize

Authors: Ghulam Hasan Abbasi, Moazzam Jamil, M. Anwar-Ul-Haq

Abstract:

Heavy metals are significant pollutants in environment and their toxicity is a problem for survival of living things while Silicon (Si) is one of the most ubiquitous macroelements, performing an essential function in healing plants in response to environmental stresses. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate the role of exogenous application of silicon under cadmium stress in six different maize hybrids with five treatments comprising of control, 7.5 µM Cd + 5 mM Si, 7.5 µM Cd + 10 mM Si, 15 µM Cd + 5 mM Si and 15 µM Cd + 10 mM Si. Results revealed that treatments of plants with 10mM Si application under both 7.5µM Cd and 15 µM Cd stress resulted in maximum improvement in plant morphological attributes (root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight, leaf area and relative water contents) and antioxidant enzymes (POD and CAT) relative to 5 mM Si application in all maize hybrids. Results regarding Cd concentrations showed that Cd was more retained in roots followed by shoots and then leaves and maximum reduction in Cd uptake was observed at 10mM Si application. Maize hybrid 6525 showed maximum growth and least concentration of Cd whereas maize hybrid 1543 showed the minimum growth and maximum Cd concentration among all maize hybrids.

Keywords: antioxidant, cadmium, maize, silicon

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11688 Mechanical Properties of Diamond Reinforced Ni Nanocomposite Coatings Made by Co-Electrodeposition with Glycine as Additive

Authors: Yanheng Zhang, Lu Feng, Yilan Kang, Donghui Fu, Qian Zhang, Qiu Li, Wei Qiu

Abstract:

Diamond-reinforced Ni matrix composite has been widely applied in engineering for coating large-area structural parts owing to its high hardness, good wear resistance and corrosion resistance compared with those features of pure nickel. The mechanical properties of Ni-diamond composite coating can be promoted by the high incorporation and uniform distribution of diamond particles in the nickel matrix, while the distribution features of particles are affected by electrodeposition process parameters, especially the additives in the plating bath. Glycine has been utilized as an organic additive during the preparation of pure nickel coating, which can effectively increase the coating hardness. Nevertheless, to author’s best knowledge, no research about the effects of glycine on the Ni-diamond co-deposition has been reported. In this work, the diamond reinforced Ni nanocomposite coatings were fabricated by a co-electrodeposition technique from a modified Watt’s type bath in the presence of glycine. After preparation, the SEM morphology of the composite coatings was observed combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, and the diamond incorporation was analyzed. The surface morphology and roughness were obtained by a three-dimensional profile instrument. 3D-Debye rings formed by XRD were analyzed to characterize the nickel grain size and orientation in the coatings. The average coating thickness was measured by a digital micrometer to deduce the deposition rate. The microhardness was tested by automatic microhardness tester. The friction coefficient and wear volume were measured by reciprocating wear tester to characterize the coating wear resistance and cutting performance. The experimental results confirmed that the presence of glycine effectively improved the surface morphology and roughness of the composite coatings. By optimizing the glycine concentration, the incorporation of diamond particles was increased, while the nickel grain size decreased with increasing glycine. The hardness of the composite coatings was increased as the glycine concentration increased. The friction and wear properties were evaluated as the glycine concentration was optimized, showing a decrease in the wear volume. The wear resistance of the composite coatings increased as the glycine content was increased to an optimum value, beyond which the wear resistance decreased. Glycine complexation contributed to the nickel grain refinement and improved the diamond dispersion in the coatings, both of which made a positive contribution to the amount and uniformity of embedded diamond particles, thus enhancing the microhardness, reducing the friction coefficient, and hence increasing the wear resistance of the composite coatings. Therefore, additive glycine can be used during the co-deposition process to improve the mechanical properties of protective coatings.

Keywords: co-electrodeposition, glycine, mechanical properties, Ni-diamond nanocomposite coatings

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11687 Impact of Transgenic Adipose Derived Stem Cells in the Healing of Spinal Cord Injury of Dogs

Authors: Imdad Ullah Khan, Yongseok Yoon, Kyeung Uk Choi, Kwang Rae Jo, Namyul Kim, Eunbee Lee, Wan Hee Kim, Oh-Kyeong Kweon

Abstract:

The primary spinal cord injury (SCI) causes mechanical damage to the neurons and blood vessels. It leads to secondary SCI, which activates multiple pathological pathways, which expand neuronal damage at the injury site. It is characterized by vascular disruption, ischemia, excitotoxicity, oxidation, inflammation, and apoptotic cell death. It causes nerve demyelination and disruption of axons, which perpetuate a loss of impulse conduction through the injured spinal cord. It also leads to the production of myelin inhibitory molecules, which with a concomitant formation of an astroglial scar, impede axonal regeneration. The pivotal role regarding the neuronal necrosis is played by oxidation and inflammation. During an early stage of spinal cord injury, there occurs an abundant expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to defective mitochondrial metabolism and abundant migration of phagocytes (macrophages, neutrophils). ROS cause lipid peroxidation of the cell membrane, and cell death. Abundant migration of neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes collectively produce pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), matrix metalloproteinase, superoxide dismutase, and myeloperoxidases which synergize neuronal apoptosis. Therefore, it is crucial to control inflammation and oxidation injury to minimize the nerve cell death during secondary spinal cord injury. Therefore, in response to oxidation and inflammation, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced by the resident cells to ameliorate the milieu. In the meanwhile, neurotrophic factors are induced to promote neuroregeneration. However, it seems that anti-stress enzyme (HO-1) and neurotrophic factor (BDNF) do not significantly combat the pathological events during secondary spinal cord injury. Therefore, optimum healing can be induced if anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic factors are administered in a higher amount through an exogenous source. During the first experiment, the inflammation and neuroregeneration were selectively targeted. HO-1 expressing MSCs (HO-1 MSCs) and BDNF expressing MSCs (BDNF MSC) were co-transplanted in one group (combination group) of dogs with subacute spinal cord injury to selectively control the expression of inflammatory cytokines by HO-1 and induce neuroregeneration by BDNF. We compared the combination group with the HO-1 MSCs group, BDNF MSCs group, and GFP MSCs group. We found that the combination group showed significant improvement in functional recovery. It showed increased expression of neural markers and growth-associated proteins (GAP-43) than in other groups, which depicts enhanced neuroregeneration/neural sparing due to reduced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 and COX-2; and increased expression of anti-inflammatory markers such as IL-10 and HO-1. Histopathological study revealed reduced intra-parenchymal fibrosis in the injured spinal cord segment in the combination group than in other groups. Thus it was concluded that selectively targeting the inflammation and neuronal growth with the combined use of HO-1 MSCs and BDNF MSCs more favorably promote healing of the SCI. HO-1 MSCs play a role in controlling the inflammation, which favors the BDNF induced neuroregeneration at the injured spinal cord segment of dogs.

Keywords: HO-1 MSCs, BDNF MSCs, neuroregeneration, inflammation, anti-inflammation, spinal cord injury, dogs

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11686 Removal of Tartrazine Dye Form Aqueous Solutions by Adsorption on the Surface of Polyaniline/Iron Oxide Composite

Authors: Salem Ali Jebreil

Abstract:

In this work, a polyaniline/Iron oxide (PANI/Fe2O3) composite was chemically prepared by oxidative polymerization of aniline in acid medium, in presence of ammonium persulphate as an oxidant and amount of Fe2O3. The composite was characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared composite has been used as adsorbent to remove Tartrazine dye form aqueous solutions. The effects of initial dye concentration and temperature on the adsorption capacity of PANI/Fe2O3 for Tartrazine dye have been studied in this paper. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models have been used for the mathematical description of adsorption equilibrium data. The best fit is obtained using the Freundlich isotherm with an R2 value of 0.998. The change of Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy of adsorption has been also evaluated for the adsorption of Tartrazine onto PANI/ Fe2O3. It has been proved according the results that the adsorption process is endothermic in nature.

Keywords: adsorption, composite, dye, polyaniline, tartrazine

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11685 A Problem-Based Learning Approach in a Writing Classroom: Tutors’ Experiences and Perceptions

Authors: Muhammad Mukhtar Aliyu

Abstract:

This study investigated tutors’ experiences and perceptions of a problem-based learning approach (PBL) in a writing classroom. The study involved two Nigerian lecturers who facilitated an intact class of second-year students in an English composition course for the period of 12 weeks. Semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data of the study. The lecturers were interviewed before and after the implementation of the PBL process. The overall findings of the study show that the lecturers had positive perceptions of the use of PBL in a writing classroom. Specifically, the findings reveal the lecturers’ positive experiences and perception of the group activities. Finally, the paper gives some pedagogical implications which would give insight for better implementation of the PBL approach.

Keywords: experiences and perception, Nigeria, problem-based learning approach, writing classroom

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11684 Supply Chain Optimization through Vulnerability Control and Risk Prevention in Chicken Meat Use

Authors: Moise A. E., State G., Tudorache M., Custură I., Enea D. N., Osman (Defta) A., Drăgotoiu D.

Abstract:

This scientific paper explores risk management strategies in the food supply chain, with a focus on chicken raw materials, in the context of a company sourcing from the EU and non-EU. The aim of the paper is to adapt the requirements of international standards (IFS, BRC, QS, ITW, FSSC, ISO), proposing efficient methods to identify and remediate non-conformities and corrective and preventive actions. Defining the supply flow and acceptance steps promotes collaboration with suppliers to ensure the quality and safety of raw materials. To assess the risks of suppliers and raw materials, objective criteria are developed and vulnerabilities in the supply chain are analyzed, including the risk of fraud. Active monitoring of international alerts through RASFF helps to identify emerging risks quickly, and regular analysis of international trends and company performance enables continuous adaptation of risk management strategies. Implementing these measures strengthens food safety and consumer confidence in the final products supplied.

Keywords: food supply chain, international standards, quality and safety of raw materials, RASFF

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11683 A Nonlinear Approach for System Identification of a Li-Ion Battery Based on a Non-Linear Autoregressive Exogenous Model

Authors: Meriem Mossaddek, El Mehdi Laadissi, El Mehdi Loualid, Chouaib Ennawaoui, Sohaib Bouzaid, Abdelowahed Hajjaji

Abstract:

An electrochemical system is a subset of mechatronic systems that includes a wide variety of batteries and nickel-cadmium, lead-acid batteries, and lithium-ion. Those structures have several non-linear behaviors and uncertainties in their running range. This paper studies an effective technique for modeling Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries using a Nonlinear Auto-Regressive model with exogenous input (NARX). The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is trained to employ the data collected from the battery testing process. The proposed model is implemented on a Li-Ion battery cell. Simulation of this model in MATLAB shows good accuracy of the proposed model.

Keywords: lithium-ion battery, neural network, energy storage, battery model, nonlinear models

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11682 Decision Traps of Military Leaders

Authors: Ahmet Ali Turk, Muhterem Bayram

Abstract:

In this study, it is intended to determine that what kind of traps military leaders fall into during the decision making and how they make take a measure against them. In the study, the domestic and foreign literature on the military leadership has been reviewed and military decision-making process of the different countries has been introduced and study has been designed by making interviews as a sample with 50 people who had made military leadership. The issues resulting from the literature review that led to wrong decisions of military leaders and the points obtained as a result of interview have been evaluated by comparing. As a result, it has been emerged that the personnel who have made especially military leadership are in tendency of making the wrong decision due to decision traps such as excessive self-confidence, lack of experience, unplanned movement, hasty decision making and prohibitive conditions and also the need for increased situational awareness about this condition has been emerged.

Keywords: military leadership, decision making, military decision making, military decision making traps

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11681 The Major Challenge of the Health System Health Management Services in Kosovo and Impact on Satisfaction

Authors: Nevruz Zogu, Shpetim Rezniqi

Abstract:

In the framework of transformational economic development social pluralism and the free, market health systems operating in the countries of our region are naturally involved in a process of profound change and reform. Health systems actually represent complex ensembles centers and public and private institutions (domestic and foreign), who administer substantial amounts of human, technological, material, financial, information and scientific facts • The goal of health systems is much more than medical care. It includes the promotion, protection, treatment and rehabilitation of health of the population. • Meeting the needs of increasingly diverse broader health services efficient, secure the quality and affordability of their increasing cost of unstoppable, requires the necessary reform of health systems and implementing policies and new management methods, to ensure effectiveness and health benefits as higher population.

Keywords: health, management, economy, finance

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11680 Strategies for Building Resilience of 15-Minute Community Life Circles From the Perspective of Infectious Diseases

Authors: Siyuan Cai

Abstract:

COVID-19 has triggered the planning circles to think about how to improve the city's ability to respond to public health emergencies. From the perspective of the community, this article reviews the risk cases in Wuhan Chenjiadun Community and other communities under the epidemic, and analyzes the response to public health emergencies such as infectious disease outbreaks in the excellent cases of resilient epidemic prevention communities. Then, combined with the planning of the living circle, it demonstrates the necessity of integrating the concept of resilience into the 15-minute community living circle to make up for the shortcomings of infectious disease prevention. Finally, it is proposed to strictly control the source and tail of the epidemic in the layout of the living circle, daily health and epidemic emergency should be taken into account in planning, community medical resources should be decentralized in management, and the application of smart technologies in the planning of living circle should be fully emphasized, so as to improve the community's ability to respond to public health emergencies.

Keywords: pandemic, resilient cities, resilient community, 15-minute community life circle

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11679 Phenomenology of Contemporary Cities: Abandoned Sites as Waiting Places, Bucharest, a Case Study

Authors: Luigi Pintacuda

Abstract:

What characterize the phenomenology of Bucharest is that all operations of modernization have never been completed, creating a city made up of fragments. Understood this fragmented nature, the traces and fractures, the acceptance of their scars must represent the basis for the design of development for Bucharest. From this insight comes a new analysis of this city: a city of two million inhabitants that does not need a project on an urban scale (as all other major projects for the city have failed), but, starting from the study of all these interstitial spaces of public property, it must find its own strategy, a strategy on a large-scale that reflects on the sites on an architectural one. It is a city composed by fragments, not waste, but places for the project: ‘waiting spaces’ for a possible continuation of the process of genesis of a city which is often incomplete.

Keywords: public spaces, traces fractures, urban design, urban development

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11678 Studies on Affecting Factors of Wheel Slip and Odometry Error on Real-Time of Wheeled Mobile Robots: A Review

Authors: D. Vidhyaprakash, A. Elango

Abstract:

In real-time applications, wheeled mobile robots are increasingly used and operated in extreme and diverse conditions traversing challenging surfaces such as a pitted, uneven terrain, natural flat, smooth terrain, as well as wet and dry surfaces. In order to accomplish such tasks, it is critical that the motion control functions without wheel slip and odometry error during the navigation of the two-wheeled mobile robot (WMR). Wheel slip and odometry error are disrupting factors on overall WMR performance in the form of deviation from desired trajectory, navigation, travel time and budgeted energy consumption. The wheeled mobile robot’s ability to operate at peak performance on various work surfaces without wheel slippage and odometry error is directly connected to four main parameters, which are the range of payload distribution, speed, wheel diameter, and wheel width. This paper analyses the effects of those parameters on overall performance and is concerned with determining the ideal range of parameters for optimum performance.

Keywords: wheeled mobile robot, terrain, wheel slippage, odometryerror, trajectory

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11677 Choice of Optimal Methods for Processing Phosphate Raw Materials into Complex Mineral Fertilizers

Authors: Andrey Norov

Abstract:

Based on the generalization of scientific and production experience and the latest developments of JSC “NIUIF”, the oldest (founded in September 1919) and the only Russian research institute for phosphorus-containing fertilizers, this paper shows the factors that determine the reasonable choice of a method for processing phosphate raw materials into complex fertilizers. These factors primarily include the composition of phosphate raw materials and the impurities contained in it, as well as some parameters of the process mode, wastelessness, ecofriendliness, energy saving, maximum use of the heat of chemical reactions, fire and explosion safety, efficiency, productive capacity, the required product range and the possibility of creating flexible technologies, compliance with BAT principles, etc. The presented data allow to choose the right technology for complex granular fertilizers, depending on the abovementioned factors.

Keywords: BAT, ecofriendliness, energy saving, phosphate raw materials, wastelessness

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11676 Testing the Impact of Formal Interpreting Training on Working Memory Capacity: Evidence from Turkish-English Student-Interpreters

Authors: Elena Antonova Unlu, Cigdem Sagin Simsek

Abstract:

The research presents two studies examining the impact of formal interpreting training (FIT) on Working Memory Capacity (WMC) of student-interpreters. In Study 1, the storage and processing capacities of the working memory (WM) of last-year student-interpreters were compared with those of last-year Foreign Language Education (FLE) students. In Study 2, the impact of FIT on the WMC of student-interpreters was examined via comparing their results on WM tasks at the beginning and the end of their FIT. In both studies, Digit Span Task (DST) and Reading Span Task (RST) were utilized for testing storage and processing capacities of WM. The results of Study 1 revealed that the last-year student-interpreters outperformed the control groups on the RST but not on the DST. The findings of Study 2 were consistent with Study 1 showing that after FIT, the student-interpreters performed better on the RST but not on the DST. Our findings can be considered as evidence supporting the view that FIT has a beneficial effect not only on the interpreting skills of student-interpreters but also on the central executive and processing capacity of their WM.

Keywords: working memory capacity, formal interpreting training, student-interpreters, cross-sectional and longitudinal data

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11675 SeCloudBPMN: A Lightweight Extension for BPMN Considering Security Threats in the Cloud

Authors: Somayeh Sobati Moghadam

Abstract:

Business processes are crucial for organizations and help businesses to evaluate and optimize their performance and processes against current and future-state business goals. Outsourcing business processes to the cloud becomes popular due to a wide varsity of benefits and cost-saving. However, cloud outsourcing raises enterprise data security concerns, which must be incorporated in Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). This paper, presents SeCloudBPMN, a lightweight extension for BPMN which extends the BPMN to explicitly support the security threats in the cloud as an outsourcing environment. SeCloudBPMN helps business’s security experts to outsource business processes to the cloud considering different threats from inside and outside the cloud. In this way, appropriate security countermeasures could be considered to preserve data security in business processes outsourcing to the cloud.

Keywords: BPMN, security threats, cloud computing, business processes outsourcing, privacy

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11674 Shear Reinforcement of Stone Columns During Soil Liquefaction

Authors: Zeineb Ben Salem, Wissem Frikha, Mounir Bouassida

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The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of stone columns as a liquefaction countermeasure focusing on shear reinforcementbenefit. In fact, stone columns which have high shear modulus relative to the surrounding soils potentially can carry higher shear stress levels. Thus, stone columns provide shear reinforcement and decrease the Cyclic Shear Stress Ratio CSR to which the treated soils would be subjected during an earthquake. In order to quantify the level of shear stress reduction in reinforced soil, several approaches have been developed. Nevertheless, the available approaches do not take into account the improvement of the soil parameters, mainly the shear modulusdue to stone columns installation. Indeed, in situ control tests carried out before and after the installation of stone columns based upon the results of collected data derived from 24 case histories have given evidence of the improvement of the existing soil properties.In this paper, the assessment of shear reinforcement of stone columns that accounts such improvement of the soil parameters due to stone column installation is investigated. Comparative results indicate that considering the improvement effects considerably affect the assessment of shear reinforcement for liquefaction analysis of reinforced soil by stone columns.

Keywords: stone column, liquefaction, shear reinforcement, CSR, soil improvement

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11673 Stability Analysis of Modelling the Effect of Vaccination and Novel Quarantine-Adjusted Incidence on the Spread of Newcastle Disease

Authors: Nurudeen O. Lasisi, Sirajo Abdulrahman, Abdulkareem A. Ibrahim

Abstract:

Newcastle disease is an infection of domestic poultry and other bird species with the virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV). In this paper, we study the dynamics of the modeling of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) using a novel quarantine-adjusted incidence. The comparison of Vaccination, linear incident rate and novel quarantine-adjusted incident rate in the models are discussed. The dynamics of the models yield disease-free and endemic equilibrium states.The effective reproduction numbers of the models are computed in order to measure the relative impact of an individual bird or combined intervention for effective disease control. We showed the local and global stability of endemic equilibrium states of the models and we found that the stability of endemic equilibrium states of models are globally asymptotically stable if the effective reproduction numbers of the models equations are greater than a unit.

Keywords: effective reproduction number, Endemic state, Mathematical model, Newcastle disease virus, novel quarantine-adjusted incidence, stability analysis

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11672 Cloud Computing in Data Mining: A Technical Survey

Authors: Ghaemi Reza, Abdollahi Hamid, Dashti Elham

Abstract:

Cloud computing poses a diversity of challenges in data mining operation arising out of the dynamic structure of data distribution as against the use of typical database scenarios in conventional architecture. Due to immense number of users seeking data on daily basis, there is a serious security concerns to cloud providers as well as data providers who put their data on the cloud computing environment. Big data analytics use compute intensive data mining algorithms (Hidden markov, MapReduce parallel programming, Mahot Project, Hadoop distributed file system, K-Means and KMediod, Apriori) that require efficient high performance processors to produce timely results. Data mining algorithms to solve or optimize the model parameters. The challenges that operation has to encounter is the successful transactions to be established with the existing virtual machine environment and the databases to be kept under the control. Several factors have led to the distributed data mining from normal or centralized mining. The approach is as a SaaS which uses multi-agent systems for implementing the different tasks of system. There are still some problems of data mining based on cloud computing, including design and selection of data mining algorithms.

Keywords: cloud computing, data mining, computing models, cloud services

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11671 Garnet-based Bilayer Hybrid Solid Electrolyte for High-Voltage Cathode Material Modified with Composite Interface Enabler on Lithium-Metal Batteries

Authors: Kumlachew Zelalem Walle, Chun-Chen Yang

Abstract:

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) are considered promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices due to their superior energy density and excellent safety. However, recent findings have shown that the formation of lithium (Li) dendrites in SSLMBs still exhibits a terrible growth ability, which makes the development of SSLMBs have to face the challenges posed by the Li dendrite problem. In this work, an inorganic/organic mixture coating material (g-C3N4/ZIF-8/PVDF) was used to modify the surface of lithium metal anode (LMA). Then the modified LMA (denoted as g-C₃N₄@Li) was assembled with lithium nafion (LiNf) coated commercial NCM811 (LiNf@NCM811) using a bilayer hybrid solid electrolyte (Bi-HSE) that incorporated 20 wt.% (vs. polymer) LiNf coated Li6.05Ga0.25La3Zr2O11.8F0.2 ([email protected]) filler faced to the positive electrode and the other layer with 80 wt.% (vs. polymer) filler content faced to the g-C₃N₄@Li. The garnet-type Li6.05Ga0.25La3Zr2O11.8F0.2 (LG0.25LZOF) solid electrolyte was prepared via co-precipitation reaction process from Taylor flow reactor and modified using lithium nafion (LiNf), a Li-ion conducting polymer. The Bi-HSE exhibited high ionic conductivity of 6.8  10–4 S cm–1 at room temperature, and a wide electrochemical window (0–5.0 V vs. Li/Li+). The coin cell was charged between 2.8 to 4.5 V at 0.2C and delivered an initial specific discharge capacity of 194.3 mAh g–1 and after 100 cycles it maintained 81.8% of its initial capacity at room temperature. The presence of a nano-sheet g-C3N4/ZIF-8/PVDF as a composite coating material on the LMA surface suppress the dendrite growth and enhance the compatibility as well as the interfacial contact between anode/electrolyte membrane. The g-C3N4@Li symmetrical cells incorporating this hybrid electrolyte possessed excellent interfacial stability over 1000 h at 0.1 mA cm–2 and a high critical current density (1 mA cm–2). Moreover, the in-situ formation of Li3N on the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer as depicted from the XPS result also improves the ionic conductivity and interface contact during the charge/discharge process. Therefore, these novel multi-layered fabrication strategies of hybrid/composite solid electrolyte membranes and modification of the LMA surface using mixed coating materials have potential applications in the preparation of highly safe high-voltage cathodes for SSLMBs.

Keywords: high-voltage cathodes, hybrid solid electrolytes, garnet, graphitic-carbon nitride (g-C3N4), ZIF-8 MOF

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11670 Effect of Family-Based DOTS Support Program on Adherence to Health Behaviors among Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Bandung, Indonesia

Authors: D. I. Yani, S. Isaramalai, C. Kritpracha

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Adherence to health behaviors is essential to achieve successful TB treatment. This study aimed to examine the effect of a family-based DOTS support program on adherence to health behaviors in patients with pulmonary TB. Sixty TB patients and their families were selected using cluster randomization of community health centers. The subjects were assigned into a control group, who received the routine care, and an experimental group, who received both routine care and care from the family-based DOTS support program. Paired t-test and the independent t-test were applied. The total score of adherence to health behaviors in the experimental group was significantly higher after receiving care from the family-based DOTS support program than the pretest score (t = -10.34, p < .001). Suggestions were made to expand the application of this program in various contexts and to extend knowledge for nursing practices and research.

Keywords: self-care deficit nursing theory, family-based DOTS program, pulmonary tuberculosis, adherence, health behaviors

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11669 Working Women and Leave in India

Authors: Ankita Verma

Abstract:

Women transform the group of people into a family and a house into a home. When a woman embraces motherhood, she undergoes several stresses – both physical and mental. Therefore, to be supportive of women during this critical stage is a societal responsibility. India is in the league of many developed nations in formulating women-friendly policies. One such initiative is the Maternity Benefits Act; first passed in 1961 and later amended from time to time with the latest amended Act of 2017. This review paper critically analyzes provisions of the Act, its implementation, and the legal issues arising out of implementation of the Act. The review suggests that the Act has made a positive impact and the judiciary also has played its role in streamlining the process of implementation of the Act. However, at the same time, it is also felt that employers often hesitate in hiring a mother or an expectant mother.

Keywords: maternity benefits, maternity benefits act 1961 & 2017, motherhood, maternity and paternity leave, medical bonus, work environment

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11668 Free Convection in a Darcy Thermally Stratified Porous Medium That Embeds a Vertical Wall of Constant Heat Flux and Concentration

Authors: Maria Neagu

Abstract:

This paper presents the heat and mass driven natural convection succession in a Darcy thermally stratified porous medium that embeds a vertical semi-infinite impermeable wall of constant heat flux and concentration. The scale analysis of the system determines the two possible maps of the heat and mass driven natural convection sequence along the wall as a function of the process parameters. These results are verified using the finite differences method applied to the conservation equations.

Keywords: finite difference method, natural convection, porous medium, scale analysis, thermal stratification

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11667 Seismic Fragility for Sliding Failure of Weir Structure Considering the Process of Concrete Aging

Authors: HoYoung Son, Ki Young Kim, Woo Young Jung

Abstract:

This study investigated the change of weir structure performances when durability of concrete, which is the main material of weir structure, decreased due to their aging by mean of seismic fragility analysis. In the analysis, it was assumed that the elastic modulus of concrete was reduced by 10% in order to account for their aged deterioration. Additionally, the analysis of seismic fragility was based on Monte Carlo Simulation method combined with a 2D nonlinear finite element in ABAQUS platform with the consideration of deterioration of concrete. Finally, the comparison of seismic fragility of model pre- and post-deterioration was made to study the performance of weir. Results show that the probability of failure in moderate damage for deteriorated model was found to be larger than pre-deterioration model when peak ground acceleration (PGA) passed 0.4 g.

Keywords: weir, FEM, concrete, fragility, aging

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11666 Robust Design of Electroosmosis Driven Self-Circulating Micromixer for Biological Applications

Authors: Bahram Talebjedi, Emily Earl, Mina Hoorfar

Abstract:

One of the issues that arises with microscale lab-on-a-chip technology is that the laminar flow within the microchannels limits the mixing of fluids. To combat this, micromixers have been introduced as a means to try and incorporate turbulence into the flow to better aid the mixing process. This study presents an electroosmotic micromixer that balances vortex generation and degeneration with the inlet flow velocity to greatly increase the mixing efficiency. A comprehensive parametric study was performed to evaluate the role of the relevant parameters on the mixing efficiency. It was observed that the suggested micromixer is perfectly suited for biological applications due to its low pressure drop (below 10 Pa) and low shear rate. The proposed micromixer with optimized working parameters is able to attain a mixing efficiency of 95% in a span of 0.5 seconds using a frequency of 10 Hz, a voltage of 0.7 V, and an inlet velocity of 0.366 mm/s.

Keywords: microfluidics, active mixer, pulsed AC electroosmosis flow, micromixer

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11665 A Sequential Approach for Random-Effects Meta-Analysis

Authors: Samson Henry Dogo, Allan Clark, Elena Kulinskaya

Abstract:

The objective in meta-analysis is to combine results from several independent studies in order to create generalization and provide evidence based for decision making. But recent studies show that the magnitude of effect size estimates reported in many areas of research finding changed with year publication and this can impair the results and conclusions of meta-analysis. A number of sequential methods have been proposed for monitoring the effect size estimates in meta-analysis. However they are based on statistical theory applicable to fixed effect model (FEM). For random-effects model (REM), the analysis incorporates the heterogeneity variance, tau-squared and its estimation create complications. In this paper proposed the use of Gombay and Serbian (2005) truncated CUSUM-type test with asymptotically valid critical values for sequential monitoring of REM. Simulation results show that the test does not control the Type I error well, and is not recommended. Further work required to derive an appropriate test in this important area of application.

Keywords: meta-analysis, random-effects model, sequential test, temporal changes in effect sizes

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11664 Multiple Winding Multiphase Motor for Electric Drive System

Authors: Zhao Tianxu, Cui Shumei

Abstract:

This paper proposes a novel multiphase motor structure. The armature winding consists of several independent multiphase windings that have different rating rotate speed and power. Compared to conventional motor, the novel motor structure has more operation mode and fault tolerance mode, which makes it adapt to high-reliability requirement situation such as electric vehicle, aircraft and ship. Performance of novel motor structure varies with winding match. In order to find optimum control strategy, motor torque character, efficiency performance and fault tolerance ability under different operation mode are analyzed in this paper, and torque distribution strategy for efficiency optimization is proposed. Simulation analyze is taken and the result shows that proposed structure has the same efficiency on heavy load and higher efficiency on light load operation points, which expands high efficiency area of motor and cruise range of vehicle. The proposed structure can improve motor highest speed.

Keywords: multiphase motor, armature winding match, torque distribution strategy, efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 349
11663 An Ontology Model for Systems Engineering Derived from ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015: Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes

Authors: Lan Yang, Kathryn Cormican, Ming Yu

Abstract:

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015, Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes is an international standard that provides generic top-level process descriptions to support systems engineering (SE). However, the processes defined in the standard needs improvement to lift integrity and consistency. The goal of this research is to explore the way by building an ontology model for the SE standard to manage the knowledge of SE. The ontology model gives a whole picture of the SE knowledge domain by building connections between SE concepts. Moreover, it creates a hierarchical classification of the concepts to fulfil different requirements of displaying and analysing SE knowledge.

Keywords: knowledge management, model-based systems engineering, ontology modelling, systems engineering ontology

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11662 Partially Fluorinated Electrolyte for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Authors: Gebregziabher Brhane Berhe, Bing Joe Hwange, Wei-Nien Su

Abstract:

For a high-voltage cell, severe capacity fading is usually observed when the commercially carbonate-based electrolyte is employed due to the oxidative decomposition of solvents. To mitigate this capacity fading, an advanced electrolyte of fluoroethylene carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and 1,1,2,2-Tetrafluoroetyle-2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl ether (TTE) (in vol. ratio of 3:2:5) is dissolved with oxidative stability. A high-voltage lithium-ion battery was designed by coupling sulfured carbon anode from polyacrylonitrile (S-C(PAN)) and LiN0.5Mn1.5 O4 (LNMO) cathode. The discharged capacity of the cell made with modified electrolyte reaches 688 mAhg-1S a rate of 2 C, while only 19 mAhg-1S for the control electrolyte. The adopted electrolyte can effectively stabilize the sulfurized carbon anode and LNMO cathode surfaces, as the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed. The developed robust high-voltage lithium-ion battery enjoys wider oxidative stability, high rate capability, and good cyclic performance, which can be attributed to the partially fluorinated electrolyte formulations with balanced viscosity and conductivity.

Keywords: high voltage, LNMO, fluorinated electrolyte, lithium-ion batteries

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