Search results for: membrane process

Authors: M. Karaman, H. Catalkaya

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Due to the complex nature of cyber attacks and their effects ranging from personal to governmental level, it becomes one of the priority tasks for operation planners to take into account the risks, influences and effects of cyber attacks. However it can also be embedded or integrated technically with electronic warfare planning, cyber operation planning is needed to have a sole and broadened perspective. This perspective embodies itself firstly in operational design and then military decision making process. In order to find out the ill-structured problems, understand or visualize the operational environment and frame the problem, operational design can help support cyber operation planners and commanders. After having a broadened and conceptual startup with cyber operational design, military decision making process will follow the principles of design into more concrete elements like reaching results after risk management and center of gravity analysis of our and the enemy. In this paper we tried to emphasize the importance of cyber operational design, cyber operation planning and its integration to military decision making problem. In this foggy, uncertain and unaccountable cyber security environment, it is inevitable to stay away from cyber attacks. Therefore, a cyber operational design should be formed with line of operations, decisive points and end states in cyber then a tactical military decision making process should be followed with cyber security focus in order to support the whole operation.

Keywords: cyber operational design, military decision making process (MDMP), operation planning, end state

Procedia PDF Downloads 589

Authors: Pedro M. A. Vitoriano, Tito. G. Amaral

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Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) Systems are commonly used on Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) manufacturing. The use of this technology has been proven as highly efficient for process improvements and quality achievements. The correct extraction of the component for posterior analysis is a critical step of the AOI process. Nowadays, the Pattern Matching Algorithm is commonly used, although this algorithm requires extensive calculations and is time consuming. This paper will present an improved algorithm for the component localization process, with the capability of implementation in a parallel execution system.

Keywords: AOI, automated optical inspection, SMD, surface mounting devices, pattern matching, parallel execution

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: N. K. A. M. Galvão, A. Godoy Jr., A. L. J. Pereira, G. V. Martins, R. S. Pessoa, H. S. Maciel, M. A. Fraga

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Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide band-gap semiconductor material with very attractive properties, such as high breakdown voltage, chemical inertness, and high thermal and electrical stability, which makes it a promising candidate for several applications, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and electronic devices. In MEMS manufacturing, the etching process is an important step. It has been proved that wet etching of SiC is not feasible due to its high bond strength and high chemical inertness. In view of this difficulty, the plasma etching technique has been applied with paramount success. However, in most of these studies, only the determination of the etching rate and/or morphological characterization of SiC, as well as the analysis of the reactive ions present in the plasma, are lowly explored. There is a lack of results in the literature on the chemical and structural properties of SiC after the etching process [4]. In this work, we investigated the etching process of sputtered amorphous SiC thin films on Si substrates in a reactive ion etching (RIE) system using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas under different RF power. The results of the chemical and structural analyses of the etched films revealed that, for all conditions, a SiC crystallization occurred, in addition to fluoride contamination. In conclusion, we observed that SiC crystallization is a side effect promoted by structural, morphological and chemical changes caused by RIE SF6 etching process.

Keywords: plasma etching, plasma deposition, Silicon Carbide, microelectromechanical systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: M. Salvador, J. C. Martinez-Garcia, A. Moyano, M. C. Blanco-Lopez, M. Rivas

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Biosensors play a crucial role in the detection of molecules nowadays due to their advantages of user-friendliness, high selectivity, the analysis in real time and in-situ applications. Among them, Lateral Flow Immunoassays (LFIAs) are presented among technologies for point-of-care bioassays with outstanding characteristics such as affordability, portability and low-cost. They have been widely used for the detection of a vast range of biomarkers, which do not only include proteins but also nucleic acids and even whole cells. Although the LFIA has traditionally been a positive/negative test, tremendous efforts are being done to add to the method the quantifying capability based on the combination of suitable labels and a proper sensor. One of the most successful approaches involves the use of magnetic sensors for detection of magnetic labels. Bringing together the required characteristics mentioned before, our research group has developed a biosensor to detect biomolecules. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPNPs) together with LFIAs play the fundamental roles. SPMNPs are detected by their interaction with a high-frequency current flowing on a printed micro track. By means of the instant and proportional variation of the impedance of this track provoked by the presence of the SPNPs, quantitative and rapid measurement of the number of particles can be obtained. This way of detection requires no external magnetic field application, which reduces the device complexity. On the other hand, the major limitations of LFIAs are that they are only qualitative or semiquantitative when traditional gold or latex nanoparticles are used as color labels. Moreover, the necessity of always-constant ambient conditions to get reproducible results, the exclusive detection of the nanoparticles on the surface of the membrane, and the short durability of the signal are drawbacks that can be advantageously overcome with the design of magnetically labeled LFIAs. The approach followed was to coat the SPIONs with a specific monoclonal antibody which targets the protein under consideration by chemical bonds. Then, a sandwich-type immunoassay was prepared by printing onto the nitrocellulose membrane strip a second antibody against a different epitope of the protein (test line) and an IgG antibody (control line). When the sample flows along the strip, the SPION-labeled proteins are immobilized at the test line, which provides magnetic signal as described before. Preliminary results using this practical combination for the detection and quantification of the Prostatic-Specific Antigen (PSA) shows the validity and consistency of the technique in the clinical range, where a PSA level of 4.0 ng/mL is the established upper normal limit. Moreover, a LOD of 0.25 ng/mL was calculated with a confident level of 3 according to the IUPAC Gold Book definition. Its versatility has also been proved with the detection of other biomolecules such as troponin I (cardiac injury biomarker) or histamine.

Keywords: biosensor, lateral flow immunoassays, point-of-care devices, superparamagnetic nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Muhammad Abdul Qyyum, Kinza Qadeer, Moonyong Lee

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Globally, liquefied natural gas (LNG) has drawn interest as a green energy source in comparison with other fossil fuels, mainly because of its ease of transport and low carbon dioxide emissions. It is expected that demand for LNG will grow steadily over the next few decades. In addition, because the demand for clean energy is increasing, LNG production facilities are expanding into new natural gas reserves across the globe. However, LNG production is an energy and cost intensive process because of the huge power requirements for compression and refrigeration. Therefore, one of the major challenges in the LNG industry is to improve the energy efficiency of existing LNG processes through economic and ecological strategies. The advancement in expansion devices such as two-phase cryogenic expander (TPE) and cryogenic hydraulic turbine (HT) were exploited for energy and cost benefits in natural gas liquefaction. Retrofitting the conventional Joule–Thompson (JT) valve with TPE and HT have the potential to improve the energy efficiency of LNG processes. This research investigated the potential feasibility of the retrofitting of a dual mixed refrigerant (DMR) process by replacing the isenthalpic expansion with isentropic expansion corresponding to energy efficient LNG production. To fully take the potential benefit of the proposed process retrofitting, the proposed DMR schemes were optimized by using a Coggins optimization approach, which was implemented in Microsoft Visual Studio (MVS) environment and linked to the rigorous HYSYS® model. The results showed that the required energy of the proposed isentropic expansion based DMR process could be saved up to 26.5% in comparison with the conventional isenthalpic based DMR process using the JT valves. Utilization of the recovered energy into boosting the natural gas feed pressure could further improve the energy efficiency of the LNG process up to 34% as compared to the base case. This work will help the process engineers to overcome the challenges relating to energy efficiency and safety concerns of LNG processes. Furthermore, the proposed retrofitting scheme can also be implemented to improve the energy efficiency of other isenthalpic expansion based energy intensive cryogenic processes.

Keywords: cryogenic liquid turbine, Coggins optimization, dual mixed refrigerant, energy efficient LNG process, two-phase expander

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Authors: Halil Ibrahim Demir, Tarık Cakar, Ibrahim Cil, Muharrem Dugenci, Caner Erden

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Conventionally, process planning, scheduling, and due-date assignment functions are performed separately and sequentially. The interdependence of these functions requires integration. Although integrated process planning and scheduling, and scheduling with due date assignment problems are popular research topics, only a few works address the integration of these three functions. This work focuses on the integration of process planning, WMS scheduling, and WPPW due date assignment. Another novelty of this work is the use of a weighted due date assignment. In the literature, due dates are generally assigned without considering the importance of customers. However, in this study, more important customers get closer due dates. Typically, only tardiness is punished, but the JIT philosophy punishes both earliness and tardiness. In this study, all weighted earliness, tardiness, and due date related costs are penalized. As no customer desires distant due dates, such distant due dates should be penalized. In this study, various levels of integration of these three functions are tested and genetic search and random search are compared both with each other and with ordinary solutions. Higher integration levels are superior, while search is always useful. Genetic searches outperformed random searches.

Keywords: process planning, weighted scheduling, weighted due-date assignment, genetic algorithm, random search

Procedia PDF Downloads 394

Authors: Vinayambika S. Bhat, S. Shanmuga Priya, I. Thirunavukkarasu, Shreeranga Bhat

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An attempt has been made to design a decoupling controller for systems with more inputs more outputs with dead time in it. The de-coupler is designed for the chemical process industry 3×3 plant transfer function with dead time. The Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) based controller has also been designed here for the 2×2 distillation column transfer function. The developed control techniques were simulated using the MATLAB/Simulink. Also, the stability of the process was analyzed, together with the presence of various perturbations in it. Time domain specifications like setting time along with overshoot and oscillations were analyzed to prove the efficiency of the de-coupler method. The load disturbance rejection was tested along with its performance. The QFT control technique was synthesized based on the stability and performance specifications in the presence of uncertainty in time constant of the plant transfer function through sequential loop shaping technique. Further, the energy efficiency of the distillation column was improved by proper tuning of the controller. A distillation column consumes 3% of the total energy consumption of the world. A suitable control technique is very important from an economic point of view. The real time implementation of the process is under process in our laboratory.

Keywords: distillation, energy, MIMO process, time delay, robust stability

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Authors: M. Rajasekar, K. Suresh

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Diosmin is a flavonoid, most abundantly found in many citrus fruits. As a flavonoid, it possesses a multitude of biological activities including anti-hyperglycemic, anti-lipid peroxidative, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-mutagenic properties. At this point, we established the anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities of diosmin in Hep-2 and KB cells. Diosmin has cytotoxic effects through inhibiting cellular proliferation of Hep-2 and KB cells, which leads to the induction of apoptosis, as apparent by an increase in the fraction of cells in the sub-G1phase of the cell cycle. Results exposed that inhibition of cell proliferation is associated with regulation of the Interleukins/STAT pathway. In addition, Diosmin treatment with Hep-2 and KB cells actively stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. And also an imbalance in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio triggered the caspase cascade and shifting the balance in favor of apoptosis. These observations conclude that Diosmin induce apoptosis via Interleukins /STAT-mediated pathway.

Keywords: diosmin, apoptosis, antioxidant, STAT pathway

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Authors: Moaz H. Ali, Ahmed H. Al-Saadi

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Most of the materials used in the industry of aero-engine components generally consist of titanium alloys. Advanced materials, because of their excellent combination of high specific strength, lightweight, and general corrosion resistance. In fact, chemical wear resistance of aero-engine alloy provide a serious challenge for cutting tool material during the machining process. The reduction in cutting temperature distributions leads to an increase in tool life and a decrease in wear rate. Hence, the chip morphology and segmentation play a predominant role in determining machinability and tool wear during the machining process. The result of low thermal conductivity and diffusivity of this alloy in the concentration of high temperatures at the tool-work-piece and tool-chip interface. Consequently, the chip morphology is very important in the study of machinability of metals as well as the study of cutting tool wear. Otherwise, the result will be accelerating tool wear, increasing manufacturing cost and time consuming.

Keywords: machinability, titanium alloy (ti-6al-4v), chip formation, milling process

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Authors: Hamisu Idi

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The present study focuses on studying the impact of influencer recommendation in the quality of cement production. Exploratory research was done on monthly basis, where data were obtained from secondary source i.e. the record kept by an automated recompilation machine. The machine keeps all the records of the mills downtime which the process manager checks for validation and refer the fault (if any) to the department responsible for maintenance or measurement taking so as to prevent future occurrence. The findings indicated that the product of the Ashaka Cement Plc. were considered as qualitative, since all the production processes were found to be in control (preset specifications) with the exception of the natural cause of variation which is normal in the production process as it will not affect the outcome of the product. It is reduced to the bearest minimum since it cannot be totally eliminated. It is also hopeful that the findings of this study would be of great assistance to the management of Ashaka cement factory and the process manager in particular at various levels in the monitoring and implementation of statistical process control. This study is therefore of great contribution to the knowledge in this regard and it is hopeful that it would open more research in that direction.

Keywords: cement, quality, variation, assignable cause, common cause

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Authors: Supriya Mahida, Sangita, Yogesh U. Shah, Shanta Kumar

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The global production of thermocol increasing day by day, due to vast applications of the use of thermocole in many sectors. Thermocol being non-biodegradable and more toxic than plastic leads towards a number of problems like its management into value-added products, environmental damage and landfill problems due to weight to volume ratio. Utilization of waste thermocol for modification of bitumen binders resulted in waste thermocol modified bitumen (WTMB) used in road construction and maintenance technology. Modification of bituminous mixes through incorporating thermocol into bituminous mixes through a dry process is one of the new options besides recycling process which consumes lots of waste thermocol. This process leads towards waste management and remedies against thermocol waste disposal. The present challenge is to dispose the thermocol waste under different forms in road infrastructure, either through the dry process or wet process to be developed in future. This paper focuses on the use of thermocol wastes which is mixed with VG 10 bitumen in proportions of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% by weight of bitumen. The physical properties of neat bitumen are evaluated and compared with modified VG 10 bitumen having thermocol. Empirical characterization like penetration, softening, and viscosity of bitumen has been carried out. Thermocol and waste thermocol modified bitumen (WTMB) were further analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR).

Keywords: DSR, FESEM, FT-IR, thermocol wastes

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Ilham Priadythama, Pringgo Widyo Laksono, Agung Pamungkas

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Myoelectric is prosthetic, flexible, and offered industrial application has been highly developed and widely used. Myoelectric hand use myoelectric signal from muscle to activate and control the membrane part of hand. Commonly myoelectric signal is detected on human arm from skin surface. So that it only small magnitude signal captured. Detecting myoelectric signal on the skin surface takes proper and consistent procedure. This paper provides preliminary study of electrodes position which gives best signal strength for five basic grasping. Two-position scenario used to place three channel electrodes set. A bi-potential amplifier based on AD620 used to amplify the signal. Finally, the signal was analyzed using DSSF3 software. From this study, we found that grasp type was stronger using first scenario electrode placement while the rest type better with another scenario.

Keywords: myoelectric signal, basic grasp, DSSF3, electrode, bi-potential amplifier

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Yousuf M. Al Suleimani, Robin Hiley

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The endogenous phospholipid lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) was recently identified as a novel ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) and an inducer of intracellular Ca2+ [Ca2+]i release. This study attempts to characterize Ca2+ signals provoked by LPI in HEK293 cells engineered to stably express human GPR55 and to test cannabinoid ligand activity at GPR55. The study shows that treatment with LPI stimulates a sustained, oscillatory Ca2+ release. The response is characterized by an initial rapid rise, which is mediated by the Gαq-PLC-IP3 pathway, and this is followed by prolonged oscillations that require RhoA activation. Ca2+ oscillations are initiated by intracellular mechanisms and extracellular Ca2+ is only required to replenish Ca2+ lost from the cytoplasm. Analysis of cannabinoid ligand activity at GPR55 revealed no clear effect of the endocannabinoid anandamide, however, rimonabant and the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 evoked GPR55-mediated [Ca2+]i. Thus, LPI is likely to be a key plasma membrane mediator of signaling events and changes in gene expression through GPR55 activation.

Keywords: lysophosphatidylinositol, calcium, GPR55, cannabinoid

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Yazhou Zhou, Yong Huang, Guoqin Ge

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In the process of human social development, the coupling and coordinated development among the ecological environment(E), production(P), and living functions(L) is of great significance for sustainable development. This study uses an improved coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) to discover the coordination conflict between E and human settlement environment. The main work of this study is as follows: (1) It is found that in the process of urbanization development of Ya 'an city from 2014 to 2018, the degree of coupling (DOC) value between E, P, and L is high, but the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the three is low, especially the DOC value of E and the other two has the biggest decline. (2) A more objective weight value is obtained, which can avoid the analysis error caused by subjective judgment weight value.

Keywords: ecological environment, coupling coordination degree, neural network, sustainable development

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Authors: Ekaterina Artiukhina, Panagiotis Grammelis

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Torrefaction of biomass pellets is considered as a useful pretreatment technology in order to convert them into a high quality solid biofuel that is more suitable for pyrolysis, gasification, combustion and co-firing applications. In the course of torrefaction the temperature varies across the pellet, and therefore chemical reactions proceed unevenly within the pellet. However, the uniformity of the thermal distribution along the pellet is generally assumed. The torrefaction process of a single cylindrical pellet is modeled here, accounting for heat transfer coupled with chemical kinetics. The drying sub-model was also introduced. The non-stationary process of wood pellet decomposition is described by the system of non-linear partial differential equations over the temperature and mass. The model captures well the main features of the experimental data.

Keywords: torrefaction, biomass pellets, model, heat, mass transfer

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: Dongkyu Lee, Doan-Quoc Hoan, Soomi Shin

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The purpose of this study is to suggest the Value Innovation type Breakthrough Innovation which is a Big Thinking Process that realizes a creative idea for the next generation innovation Master Plan of a company. The BI based on the PVI methodology is believed to contribute to the launching of a new business, the acquisition of new markets, and the development of an innovative management process.

Keywords: value, innovation, breakthrough innovation, Korean firm

Procedia PDF Downloads 600

Authors: Misganaw Abebe Baye, Ji-Woo Park, Beom-Soo Kang

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The product quality of multi-point dieless forming (MDF) is identified to be dependent on the process parameters. Moreover, a certain variation of friction and material properties may have a substantially worse influence on the final product quality. This study proposed on how to compensate the MDF product defects by minimizing the sensitivity of noise parameter variations. This can be attained by reliability-based robust optimization (RRO) technique to obtain the optimal process setting of the controllable parameters. Initially two MDF Finite Element (FE) simulations of AA3003-H14 saddle shape showed a substantial amount of dimpling, wrinkling, and shape error. FE analyses are consequently applied on ABAQUS commercial software to obtain the correlation between the control process setting and noise variation with regard to the product defects. The best prediction models are chosen from the family of metamodels to swap the computational expensive FE simulation. Genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to determine the optimal process settings of the control parameters. Monte Carlo Analysis (MCA) is executed to determine how the noise parameter variation affects the final product quality. Finally, the RRO FE simulation and the experimental result show that the amendment of the control parameters in the final forming process leads to a considerably better-quality product.

Keywords: dimpling, multi-point dieless forming, reliability-based robust optimization, shape error, variation, wrinkling

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Alexandre Bédard, Caroline Coulombe, Jonathan Harvey

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Envisioning process (EP) in medium enterprises is treated equally in very small enterprises. Building on the concept of social construction, this study aims to explore how envisioning is constructed in a medium enterprise in which stakeholders are involved and how it is influenced. We use a unique case method based on qualitative data collected through 11 interviews representing various members of the organization. Through the discussion of the findings, we were able to confirm the social construction of the EP and to identify three main stakeholders responsible for the construction of the vision, mainly political and social powers, actors of the organization, and financial providers. Moreover, EP is influenced by external factors; in this case, the history of the organization and the value and importance of the art and the culture for Cambodians.

Keywords: envisioning process, social constructivism, medium enterprise, legitimacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Chiang-Ho Cheng, An-Shik Yang, Chih-Jer Lin, Chun-Ying Lee

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This paper aims to present the design, fabrication and test of a novel piezoelectric actuated, check-valves embedded micropump having the advantages of miniature size, light weight and low power consumption. This device is designed to pump gases and liquids with the capability of performing the self-priming and bubble-tolerant work mode by maximizing the stroke volume of the membrane as well as the compression ratio via minimization of the dead volume of the micropump chamber and channel. By experiment apparatus setup, we can get the real-time values of the flow rate of micropump, the displacement of the piezoelectric actuator and the deformation of the check valve, simultaneously. The micropump with check valve 0.4 mm in thickness obtained higher output performance under the sinusoidal waveform of 120 Vpp. The micropump achieved the maximum pumping rates of 42.2 ml/min and back pressure of 14.0 kPa at the corresponding frequency of 28 and 20 Hz. The presented micropump is able to pump gases with a pumping rate of 196 ml/min at operating frequencies of 280 Hz under the sinusoidal waveform of 120 Vpp.

Keywords: actuator, check-valve, micropump, piezoelectric

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Authors: Archana Thangavelu, Han-Ik Park, Young-Chul Park, Joon-Hong Park

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In this numerical study, we have proposed a method for evaluation of backward extrusion process of pressure vessel made up of steel. Demand for lighter and stiffer products have been increasing in the last years especially in automobile engineering. Through detailed finite element analysis, effective stress, strain and velocity profile have been obtained with optimal range. The process design of a forward and backward extrusion axe-symmetric part has been studied. Forging is mainly carried out because forged products are highly reliable and possess superior mechanical properties when compared to normal products. Performing computational simulations of 3D hot forging with various dimensions of billet and optimization of weight is carried out using Taguchi Orthogonal Array (OA) Optimization technique. The technique used in this study can be used for newly developed materials to investigate its forgeability for much complicated shapes in closed hot die forging process.

Keywords: backward extrusion, hot forging, optimization, finite element analysis, Taguchi method

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Authors: S. Ping Ho, R. Dahal

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The global economy has drastically changed how firms operate and compete. Although the construction industry is ‘local’ by its nature, the internationalization of the construction industry has become an inevitable reality. As a result of global competition, staying domestic is no longer safe from competition and, on the contrary, to grow and become an MNE (multi-national enterprise) becomes one of the important strategies for a firm to survive in the global competition. For the successful entrance into competing markets, the firms need to re-define their competitive advantages and re-identify the sources of the competitive advantages. A firm’s initiation of internationalization is not necessarily a result of strategic planning but also involves certain idiosyncratic events that pave the path leading to a firm’s internationalization. For example, a local firm’s incidental or unintentional collaboration with an MNE can become the initiating point of its internationalization process. However, because of the intensive competition in today’s global movement, many firms were compelled to initiate their internationalization as a strategic response to the competition. Understandingly stepping in in the process of internationalization and appropriately implementing the strategies (in the process) at different stages lead the construction firms to a successful internationalization journey. This study is carried out to develop a model of the internationalization process, which derives appropriate strategies that the construction firms can implement at each stage. The proposed model integrates two major and complementary views of internationalization and expresses the dynamic process of internationalization in three stages, which are the pre-international (PRE) stage, the foreign direct investment (FDI) stage, and the multi-national enterprise (MNE) stage. The strategies implied in the proposed model are derived, focusing on capability building, market locations, and entry modes based on the resource-based views: value, rareness, imitability, and substitutability (VRIN). With the proposed dynamic process model the potential construction firms which are willing to expand their business market area can be benefitted. Strategies for internationalization, such as core competence strategy, market selection, partner selection, and entry mode strategy, can be derived from the proposed model. The internationalization process is expressed in two different forms. First, we discuss the construction internationalization process, identify the driving factor/s of the process, and explain the strategy formation in the process. Second, we define the stages of internationalization along the process and the corresponding strategies in each stage. The strategies may include how to exploit existing advantages for the competition at the current stage and develop or explore additional advantages appropriate for the next stage. Particularly, the additionally developed advantages will then be accumulated and drive forward the firm’s stage of internationalization, which will further determine the subsequent strategies, and so on and so forth, spiraling up the stages of a higher degree of internationalization. However, the formation of additional strategies for the next stage does not happen automatically, and the strategy evolution is based on the firm’s dynamic capabilities.

Keywords: construction industry, dynamic capabilities, internationalization process, internationalization strategies, strategic management

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Authors: Omnia Saidani Neffati, Rim Samia Kaabi, Naoufel Kraiem

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In this paper, we propose an approach aiming at (i) representing services at two levels: the intentional level and the organizational level, and (ii) establishing mechanisms allowing to make a transition from the first level to the second one in order to execute intentional services. An example is used to validate our approach.

Keywords: intentional service, business process, BPMN, MDE, intentional service execution

Procedia PDF Downloads 395

Authors: K. V. Kalinichenko, G. N. Nikovskaya

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The efficiency of heavy metals removal from sewage sludge in bioleaching with heterotrophic, chemoautotrophic (sulphur-oxidizing) sludge cenoses and chemical leaching (in distilled water, weakly acidic or alkaline medium) was compared. The efficacy of heavy metals removal from sewage sludge varied from 83 % (Zn) up to 14 % (Cr) and followed the order: Zn > Mn > Cu > Ni > Co > Pb > Cr. The advantages of metals bioleaching process at heterotrophic metabolism was shown. A new process for bioconversation of sewage sludge into fertilizer at middle temperature after partial heavy metals removal was developed. This process is based on enhancing vital ability of heterotrophic microorganisms by adding easily metabolized nutrients and synthesis of metabolites by growing sludge cenoses. These metabolites possess the properties of heavy metals extractants and flocculants which provide sludge flocks sedimentation and concentration. The process results in biomineral fertilizer with immobilized sludge bioelements with prolonged action. The fertilizer obtained satisfied the EU limits for the sewage sludge of agricultural utilization. High efficiency of the biomineral fertilizers obtained has been demonstrated in vegetation experiments.

Keywords: fertilizer, heavy metals, leaching, sewage sludge

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Authors: Vrushali Guhe, Shailza Singh

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Cutaneous leishmaniasis is neglected tropical disease present worldwide caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania major, the therapeutic armamentarium for leishmaniasis are showing several limitations as drugs are showing toxic effects with increasing resistance by a parasite. Thus identification of novel therapeutic targets is of paramount importance. Previous studies have shown that autophagy, a cellular process, can either facilitate infection or aid in the elimination of the parasite, depending on the specific parasite species and host background in leishmaniasis. In the present study, our objective was to target the essential autophagy protein ATG8, which plays a crucial role in the survival, infection dynamics, and differentiation of the Leishmania parasite. ATG8 in Leishmania major and its homologue, LC3, in Homo sapiens, act as autophagic markers. Present study manifested the crucial role of ATG8 protein as a potential target for combating Leishmania major infection. Through bioinformatics analysis, we identified non-conserved motifs within the ATG8 protein of Leishmania major, which are not present in LC3 of Homo sapiens. Against these two non-conserved motifs, we generated a peptide library of 60 peptides on the basis of physicochemical properties. These peptides underwent a filtering process based on various parameters, including feasibility of synthesis and purification, compatibility with Selective Reaction Monitoring (SRM)/Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), hydrophobicity, hydropathy index, average molecular weight (Mw average), monoisotopic molecular weight (Mw monoisotopic), theoretical isoelectric point (pI), and half-life. Further filtering criterion shortlisted three peptides by using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. The direct interaction between ATG8 and the shortlisted peptides was confirmed through Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) experiments. Notably, these peptides exhibited the remarkable ability to penetrate the parasite membrane and exert profound effects on Leishmania major. The treatment with these peptides significantly impacted parasite survival, leading to alterations in the cell cycle and morphology. Furthermore, the peptides were found to modulate autophagosome formation, particularly under starved conditions, suggesting their involvement in disrupting the regulation of autophagy within Leishmania major. In vitro, studies demonstrated that the selected peptides effectively reduced the parasite load within infected host cells. Encouragingly, these findings were corroborated by in vivo experiments, which showed a reduction in parasite burden upon peptide administration. Additionally, the peptides were observed to affect the levels of LC3II within host cells. In conclusion, our findings highlight the efficacy of these novel peptides in targeting Leishmania major’s ATG8 and disrupting parasite survival. These results provide valuable insights into the development of innovative therapeutic strategies against leishmaniasis via targeting autophagy protein ATG8 of Leishmania major.

Keywords: ATG8, leishmaniasis, surface plasmon resonance, MD simulation, molecular docking, peptide designing, therapeutics

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Authors: Hiroaki Fukuda

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This paper shows a concurrent development process for modern web application, called Rich Internet Application (RIA), and describes its effect using a non-trivial application development. In the last years, RIAs such as Ajax and Flex have become popular based mainly on high-speed network. RIA provides sophisticated interfaces and user experiences, therefore, the development of RIA requires two kinds of engineer: a developer who implements business logic, and a designer who designs interface and experiences. Although collaborative works are becoming important for the development of RIAs, shared resources such as source code make it difficult. For example, if a design of interface is modified after developers have finished business logic implementations, they need to repeat the same implementations, and also tests to verify application’s behavior. MVC architecture and Object-oriented programming (OOP) enables to dividing an application into modules such as interfaces and logic, however, developers and/or designers have to write pieces of code (e.g., event handlers) that make these modules work as an application. On the other hand, Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is ex- pected to solve complexity of application software development nowadays. AOP provides methods to separate crosscutting concerns that are scattered pieces of code from primary concerns. In this paper, we provide a concurrent development process for RIAs by introducing AOP concept. This process makes it possible to reduce shared resources between developers and designers, therefore they can perform their tasks concurrently. In addition, we describe experiences of development for a practical application using our proposed development process to show its availability.

Keywords: aspect-oriented programming, concurrent, development process, rich internet application

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Authors: Edokpa Idemudia Waziri, Salisu S. Umar

Abstract:

The Hotellng’s T^2 is a well-known statistic for detecting a shift in the mean vector of a multivariate normal distribution. Control charts based on T have been widely used in statistical process control for monitoring a multivariate process. Although it is a powerful tool, the T statistic is deficient when the shift to be detected in the mean vector of a multivariate process is small and consistent. The Multivariate Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (MEWMA) control chart is one of the control statistics used to overcome the drawback of the Hotellng’s T statistic. In this paper, the probability distribution of the Average Run Length (ARL) of the MEWMA control chart when the quality characteristics exhibit substantial cross correlation and when the process is in-control and out-of-control was derived using the Markov Chain algorithm. The derivation of the probability functions and the moments of the run length distribution were also obtained and they were consistent with some existing results for the in-control and out-of-control situation. By simulation process, the procedure identified a class of ARL for the MEWMA control when the process is in-control and out-of-control. From our study, it was observed that the MEWMA scheme is quite adequate for detecting a small shift and a good way to improve the quality of goods and services in a multivariate situation. It was also observed that as the in-control average run length ARL0¬ or the number of variables (p) increases, the optimum value of the ARL0pt increases asymptotically and as the magnitude of the shift σ increases, the optimal ARLopt decreases. Finally, we use the example from the literature to illustrate our method and demonstrate its efficiency.

Keywords: average run length, markov chain, multivariate exponentially weighted moving average, optimal smoothing parameter

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Authors: Naureen Akhtar

Abstract:

The stability of the protein in detergent-containing solution is the key for its successful crystallisation. Fluorescence-detection size-exclusion chromatography (FSEC) is a potential approach for screening monodispersity as well as the stability of protein in a detergent-containing-solution. In this present study, covalently linked Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) to bacterial nitrate transporter, NarU from Escherichia coli was studied for pre-crystallisation trials by FSEC. Immobilised metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) and gel filtration were employed for their purification. The main objectives of this study were over-expression, detergent screening and crystallisation of nitrate transporter proteins. This study could not produce enough proteins that could realistically be taken forward to achieve the objectives set for this particular research. In future work, different combinations of variables like vectors, tags, creation of mutant proteins, host cells, position of GFP (N- or C-terminal) and/or membrane proteins would be tried to determine the best combination as the principle of technique is still promising.

Keywords: transporters, detergents, over-expression, crystallography

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Authors: Chen Zhang, Nan Chen

Abstract:

High-dimensional process monitoring becomes increasingly important in many application domains, where usually the process distribution is unknown and much more complicated than the normal distribution, and the between-stream correlation can not be neglected. However, since the process dimension is generally much bigger than the reference sample size, most traditional nonparametric multivariate control charts fail in high-dimensional cases due to the curse of dimensionality. Furthermore, when the process goes out of control, the influenced variables are quite sparse compared with the whole dimension, which increases the detection difficulty. Targeting at these issues, this paper proposes a new nonparametric monitoring scheme for high-dimensional processes. This scheme first projects the high-dimensional process into several subprocesses using random projections for dimension reduction. Then, for every subprocess with the dimension much smaller than the reference sample size, a local nonparametric control chart is constructed based on the spatial rank test to detect changes in this subprocess. Finally, the results of all the local charts are fused together for decision. Furthermore, after an out-of-control (OC) alarm is triggered, a diagnostic framework is proposed. using the square-root LASSO. Numerical studies demonstrate that the chart has satisfactory detection power for sparse OC changes and robust performance for non-normally distributed data, The diagnostic framework is also effective to identify truly changed variables. Finally, a real-data example is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed method.

Keywords: random projection, high-dimensional process control, spatial rank, sequential change detection

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Authors: Yi-Ting Liu, Pei-Ying Wen

Abstract:

In order to improve the overall safety of chemotherapy, safety-protecting net was established for the whole process from prescribing by physicians, transcribing by nurses, dispensing by pharmacists to administering by nurses. The information system was used to check and monitor whole process of administration and related sheets were computerized to simplify the paper work.

Keywords: chemotherapy, bar code medication administration, medication safety

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Authors: Mazyar Taghavi

Abstract:

This research examines middle-level managers’ involvement in strategy process in 15 manufacturing and service companies in Iran. We considered two dominant theoretical arguments for expecting a positive association. According to the first direction involvement improves organizational performance by improving the quality of strategic decisions. According to the second track, middle managers contribute to increased levels of performance through strategic consensus among them. Results indicate that involvement in the strategy is related to organizational performance. Involvement is associated with consensus (i.e. strategic understanding and commitment) among middle-level managers. However, findings indicate that consensus is not related to the organizational performance.

Keywords: middle-level management, strategy process, organizational performance, strategy consensus

Procedia PDF Downloads 439