Search results for: structural health monitoring

Authors: Mircan Kaya

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A multi-disciplinary approach is required in any intervention project for historical monuments. Due to the complexity of their geometry, the variable and unpredictable characteristics of original materials used in their creation, heritage structures are peculiar. Their histories are often complex, and they require correct diagnoses to decide on the techniques of intervention. This approach should not only combine technical aspects but also historical research that may help discover phenomena involving structural issues, and acquire a knowledge of the structure on its concept, method of construction, previous interventions, process of damage, and its current state. In addition to the traditional techniques like bed joint reinforcement, the repairing, strengthening and restoration of historical buildings may require several other modern methods which may be described as innovative techniques like pre-stressing and post-tensioning, use of shape memory alloy devices and shock transmission units, shoring, drilling, and the use of stainless steel or titanium. Regardless of the method to be incorporated in the strengthening process, which can be traditional or innovative, it is crucial to recognize that structural strengthening is the process of upgrading the structural system of the existing building with the aim of improving its performance under existing and additional loads like seismic loads. This process is much more complex than dealing with a new construction, owing to the fact that there are several unknown factors associated with the structural system. Material properties, load paths, previous interventions, existing reinforcement are especially important matters to be considered. There are several examples of seismic strengthening with traditional and innovative techniques around the world, which will be discussed in this paper in detail, including their pros and cons. Ultimately, however, the main idea underlying the philosophy of a successful intervention with the most appropriate techniques of strengthening a historic monument should be decided by a proper assessment of the specific needs of the building.

Keywords: bed joint reinforcement, historical monuments, post-tensioning, pre-stressing, seismic strengthening, shape memory alloy devices, shock transmitters, tie rods

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Authors: Shaolan Zou, Kullapa Soratana

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Construction industry faces tremendous challenges in sustainability issue in recent years. Building materials, generally, are non-recyclable with short service life time, leading to economic loss. Building sites also cause social issues, e.g. noise, hazardous substances, and particulate matters. Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has been recognized as an appropriate method to balance three pillars of sustainability: environment, economy, and society. However, most of construction companies cannot successfully adopt SSCM due to numerous challenges. In this study, a list of challenges in implementing SSCM was collected from peer-reviewed literature on sustainable implementation. A building materials company in Thailand, which has successfully adopted SSCM for almost two decades and established the sustainable development committee since 1995, was used as a case study. Management-level representatives in sustainability department of the company were interviewed, mainly, to examine which challenges on the list complies with the company’s condition when adopting SSCM. The interview result was analyzed by interpretive structural model (ISM) with sustainability experts’ opinions to identify top 5 influential challenges. The results could assist a building construction company in assigning appropriate strategies to overcome most influential barriers, as well as in using as a reference or guidance for other construction companies adopting SSCM.

Keywords: sustainable supply chain management, challenges, construction industry, interpretive structural model

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Authors: Takuya Sumi, Syoko Nukaya, Takashi Kaburagi, Hiroshi Tanaka, Kajiro Watanabe, Yosuke Kurihara

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We propose an unconstrained measurement system for scratching motion based on mathematical model of unconstrained bed sensing method which could measure the bed vibrations due to the motion of the person on the bed. In this paper, we construct mathematical model of the unconstrained bed monitoring system, and we apply the unconstrained bed sensing method to the system for detecting scratching motion. The proposed sensors are placed under the three bed feet. When the person is lying on the bed, the output signals from the sensors are proportional to the magnitude of the vibration due to the scratching motion. Hence, we could detect the subject’s scratching motion from the output signals from ceramic sensors. We evaluated two scratching motions using the proposed system in the validity experiment as follows: First experiment is the subject’s scratching the right side cheek with his right hand, and; second experiment is the subject’s scratching the shin with another foot. As the results of the experiment, we recognized the scratching signals that enable the determination when the scratching occurred. Furthermore, the difference among the amplitudes of the output signals enabled us to estimate where the subject scratched.

Keywords: unconstrained bed sensing method, scratching, body movement, itchy, piezoceramics

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Authors: Mariola Głowacka

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The aim of the study was to determine the level of adaptation to the current health situation and its impact on the adherence state of people in the pre- and senior age. The work covers the results of the first of the fourteen parts of the study conducted in a group of 2,000 people aged 55 plus. This part of the project was carried out with the use of two standardized tools: the HLC adaptation scale (the health locus of control scale and The Adherence in Chronic DiseasesScale (ACDS). The obtained results showed the range of influence of particular areas of self-acceptance of the health state (health and disease) on their adherence, taking into account specific clinical conditions.

Keywords: adaptation to the current health situation, adherence, senior, badania

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Authors: John Gaber, Youssef Ahmed, Hossam A. Gabbar, Jing Ren

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Accidents at Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) occur due to various factors, notable among them being poor safety management and poor safety culture. During abnormal situations, the likelihood of human error is many-fold higher due to the higher cognitive workload. The most common cause of human error and high cognitive workload is mental fatigue. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method of gathering the electromagnetic waves emitted by a human brain. We propose a safety system by monitoring brainwaves for signs of mental fatigue using an EEG system. This requires an analysis of the mental model of the NPP operator, changes in brain wave power in response to certain stimuli, and the risk factors on mental fatigue and attention that NPP operators face when performing their tasks. We analyzed these factors and developed an EEG-based monitoring system, which aims to alert NPP operators when levels of mental fatigue and attention hinders their ability to maintain safety.

Keywords: brain imaging, EEG, power plant operator, psychology

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Authors: Dewaram Abhiman Nagdeve

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The present paper examined the urban-rural differentials and the factors influencing net change in reproductive and child health input, its utilization, and its output during the National Family Health Survey conducted during 1992-93 and 2019-21 in India. The analysis of NFHS data has been done and variables have been grouped into health input regarding antenatal care, postnatal care, and child care, utilization regarding reproductive and child health care, and reproductive and child health outcomes. An analysis was done using bivariate analysis and the chi-square test. The study reveals that there was an increase in health input, utilization, and output during the intra-survey period. Urban-rural disparities in Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) indicators persist, highlighting the need for focused intervention by the Indian government. Key steps should include enhancing RCH programs through robust information and education campaigns and deploying dedicated health personnel to remote and inaccessible rural areas. These initiatives are crucial to reducing both maternal and child mortality rates and ensuring equitable healthcare access nationwide.

Keywords: urban, rural, differentials, reproductive and child health, India

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Authors: H. Katkhuda

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A time domain approach is used in this paper to identify unknown dynamic forces applied on two dimensional frames using the measured dynamic structural responses for a sub-structure in the two dimensional frame. In this paper a sub-structure finite element model with short length of measurement from only three or four accelerometers is required, and an iterative least-square algorithm is used to identify the unknown dynamic force applied on the structure. Validity of the method is demonstrated with numerical examples using noise-free and noise-contaminated structural responses. Both harmonic and impulsive forces are studied. The results show that the proposed approach can identify unknown dynamic forces within very limited iterations with high accuracy and shows its robustness even noise- polluted dynamic response measurements are utilized.

Keywords: dynamic force identification, dynamic responses, sub-structure, time domain

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Authors: Dilara Usta, Fatos Korkmaz

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Background: Individuals who utilise health services maintain relationships with health professionals, insurers and institutions. The nature of these relationships requires service receivers to have trust in the service providers because maintaining health services without reciprocal trust is very difficult. Therefore, individual evaluations of trust within the scope of health services have become increasingly important. Objective: To investigate patients’ trust in the health-care system and their relevant socio-demographical characteristics. Methods: This research was conducted using a descriptive design which included 493 literate patients aged 18-65 years who were hospitalised for a minimum of two days at public university and training&research hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. Patients’ trust in health-care professionals, insurers, and institutions were investigated. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Multidimensional Trust in Health-Care Systems Scale between September 2015 and April 2016. Results: The participants’ mean age was 47.7±13.1; 70% had a moderate income and 69% had a prior hospitalisation and 63.5% of the patients were satisfied with the health-care services. The mean Multidimensional Trust in Health-Care Systems Scale score for the sample was 61.5±8.3; the provider subscale had a mean of 38.1±5, the insurers subscale had a mean of 12.9±3.7, and institutions subscale had a mean of 10.6±1.9. Conclusion: Patients’ level of trust in the health-care system was above average and the trust level of the patients with higher educational and socio-economic levels was lower compared to the other patients. Health-care professionals should raise awareness about the significance of trust in the health-care system.

Keywords: delivery of health care, health care system, nursing, patients, trust

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Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, N. Nakkaew

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Determination of low level ⁹⁰Sr in seawater has been widely developed for the purpose of environmental monitoring and radiological research because ⁹⁰Sr is one of the most hazardous radionuclides released from atmospheric during the testing of nuclear weapons, waste discharge from the generation nuclear energy and nuclear accident occurring at power plants. A liquid extraction technique using bis-2-etylhexyl-phosphoric acid to separate and purify yttrium followed by Cherenkov counting using a liquid scintillation counter to determine ⁹⁰Y in secular equilibrium to ⁹⁰Sr was developed to monitor ⁹⁰Sr in the Asia Pacific Ocean. The analytical performance was validated for the accuracy, precision, and trueness criteria. Sr-90 determination in seawater using various low concentrations in a range of 0.01 – 1 Bq/L of 30 liters spiked seawater samples and 0.5 liters of IAEA-RML-2015-01 proficiency test sample was performed for statistical evaluation. The results had a relative bias in the range from 3.41% to 12.28%, which is below accepted relative bias of ± 25% and passed the criteria confirming that our analytical approach for determination of low levels of ⁹⁰Sr in seawater was acceptable. Moreover, the approach is economical, non-laborious and fast.

Keywords: proficiency test, radiation monitoring, seawater, strontium determination

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Authors: Ben D. Atkins

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This study will examine the impact of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the organizational development of American federal law enforcement through focusing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Content analysis of discourse in a federal law enforcement practitioner publication along with official FBI statements will be used to gain a better understanding of FBI organizational changes that have taken place since the events of September 11, 2001. Analysis of content trends in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin and public discourse of FBI officials from 1999 to 2005 indicate that, in addition to structural changes, the bureau has also undergone a variety of cultural changes. The results offer some support for the institutional theoretical perspective, suggesting that post-9/11 organizational changes such as new mission priorities and the establishment of new branches were partially initiated due to a variety external pressures, which lends support for coercive isomorphism. Furthermore, structural changes are discussed in relation to the attainment and maintenance of organizational legitimacy.

Keywords: institutional theory, organizational theory, law enforcement, public administration

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Authors: Alpesh Adeshara, Rajendrasinh Jadeja, Praghnesh Bhatt

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Implementation of advanced technologies requires sophisticated instruments that deal with the operation, control, restoration and protection of rapidly growing power system network under normal and abnormal conditions. Presently, the applications of Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) are widely found in real time operation, monitoring, controlling and analysis of power system network as it eliminates the various limitations of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) conventionally used in power system. The use of PMU data is very rapidly increasing its importance for online and offline analysis. Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS) is developed as new technology by use of multiple PMUs in power system. The present paper proposes a model of MATLAB based PMU using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) algorithm and evaluation of its operation under different contingencies. In this paper, PMU based two bus system having WAMS network is presented as a case study.

Keywords: GPS global positioning system, PMU phasor measurement system, WAMS wide area monitoring system, DFT, PDC

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Authors: S. M. Ahuja

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There are about 12000 stone crusher units in India and are located in clusters around urban areas to the stone quarries. These crushers create lot of fugitive dust emissions and noise pollution which is a major health hazard for the people working in the crushers and also living in its vicinity. Ambient air monitoring was carried out near various stone crushers and it has been observed that fugitive emission varied from 300 to 8000 mg/Nm3. A number of stone crushers were thoroughly studied and their existing pollution control devices were examined. Limitations in the existing technology were also studied. A technology consisting of minimal effective spray nozzles to reduce the emissions at source followed by a containment cum control system having modular cyclones as air pollution control device has been conceived. Besides preliminary energy audit has also been carried out in some of the stone crushers which indicates substantial potential for energy saving.

Keywords: stone crushers, spray nozzles, energy audit

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Authors: Alessandra Panico, Francesco Bagordo, Tiziana Grassi, Adele Idolo, Marcello Guido, Francesca Serio, Mattia De Giorgi, Antonella De Donno

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In the Province of Lecce (Southeastern Italy) an area with unusual high incidence of chronic respiratory diseases, including lung cancer, was recently identified. The causes of this health emergency are still not entirely clear. In order to determine the risk profile of children living in five municipalities included in this area an epidemiological-molecular study was performed in the years 2014-2016: the IMP.AIR. (Impact of air quality on health of residents in the Municipalities of Sternatia, Galatina, Cutrofiano, Sogliano Cavour and Soleto) study. 122 children aged 6-8 years attending primary school in the study area were enrolled to evaluate the frequency of micronuclei (MNs) in their buccal exfoliated cells. The samples were collected in May 2015 by rubbing the oral mucosa with a soft bristle disposable toothbrush. At the same time, a validated questionnaire was administered to parents to obtain information about health, lifestyle and eating habits of the children. In addition, information on airborne pollutants, routinely detected by the Regional Environmental Agency (ARPA Puglia) in the study area, was acquired. A multivariate analysis was performed to detect any significant association between frequency of MNs (dependent variable) and behavioral factors (independent variables). The presence of MNs was highlighted in the buccal exfoliated cells of about 42% of recruited children with a mean frequency of 0.49 MN/1000 cells, greater than in other areas of Salento. The survey on individual characteristics and lifestyles showed that one in three children was overweight and that most of them had unhealthy eating habits with frequent consumption of foods considered ‘risky’. Moreover many parents (40% of fathers and 12% of mothers) were smokers and about 20% of them admitted to smoking in the house where the children lived. Information regarding atmospheric contaminants was poor. Of the few substances routinely detected by the only one monitoring station located in the study area (PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, O3) only ozone showed high concentrations exceeding the limits set by the legislation for 67 times in the year 2015. The study showed that the level of early biological effect markers in children was not negligible. This critical condition could be related to some individual factors and lifestyles such as overweight, unhealthy eating habits and exposure to passive smoking. At present, no relationship with airborne pollutants can be established due to the lack of information on many substances. Therefore, it would be advisable to modify incorrect behaviors and to intensify the monitoring of airborne pollutants (e.g. including detection of PM10, heavy metals, aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons, benzene) given the epidemiology of chronic respiratory diseases registered in this area.

Keywords: chronic respiratory diseases, environmental pollution, lifestyle, micronuclei

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Authors: Mohd Khairezan Rahmat

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Since the impetus of becoming a develop country by the year 2020, the Malaysian government have been proactive in strengthening the integration of ICT into the national educational system. Teacher-education programs have the responsibility to prepare the nation future teachers by instilling in them the desire, confidence, and ability to fully utilized the potential of ICT into their instruction process. In an effort to fulfill this responsibility, teacher-education program are beginning to create alternatives means for preparing cutting-edge teachers. One of the alternatives is the student’s learning portal. In line with this mission, this study investigates the Faculty of Education, University Teknologi MARA (UiTM) pre-service teachers’ perception of usefulness, attitude, and ability toward the usage of the university learning portal, known as iLearn. The study also aimed to predict factors that might hinder the pre-service teachers’ decision to used iLearn as their platform in learning. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), was employed in analyzed the survey data. The suggested findings informed that pre-service teacher’s successful integration of the iLearn was highly influenced by their perception of usefulness of the system. The findings also suggested that the more familiar the pre-service teacher with the iLearn, the more possibility they will use the system. In light of similar study, the present findings hope to highlight the important to understand the user’s perception toward any proposed technology.

Keywords: e-learning, prediction factors, pre-service teacher, structural equation modeling (SEM)

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Authors: Beema Akbar, Varun P. Gopi, V. Suresh Babu

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Colon cancer causes the deaths of about half a million people every year. The common method of its detection is histopathological tissue analysis, it leads to tiredness and workload to the pathologist. A novel method is proposed that combines both structural and statistical pattern recognition used for the detection of colon cancer. This paper presents a comparison among the different classifiers such as Multilayer Perception (MLP), Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO), Bayesian Logistic Regression (BLR) and k-star by using classification accuracy and error rate based on the percentage split method. The result shows that the best algorithm in WEKA is MLP classifier with an accuracy of 83.333% and kappa statistics is 0.625. The MLP classifier which has a lower error rate, will be preferred as more powerful classification capability.

Keywords: colon cancer, histopathological image, structural and statistical pattern recognition, multilayer perception

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Authors: Omar Bobes, Abeer Al-Attar, Mohammad Hassan Kharita, Huda Al-Naemi

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The number of radiological examinations has increased steadily in recent years. As a result, the risk of possible radiation-induced consequential damage also increases through continuous, lifelong, and increasing exposure to ionizing radiation. Therefore, radiation dose monitoring in medicine became an essential element of medical practice. In this study, the occupational cumulative doses for radiation workers in Hamad medical corporation in Qatar have been assessed for a period of five years. The number of monitored workers selected for this study was 555 (out of a total of 1250 monitored workers) who have been working continuously -with no interruption- with ionizing radiation over the past five years from 2015 to 2019. The aim of this work is to examine the occupational groups and the activities where the higher radiation exposure occurred and in what order of magnitude. The most exposed group was the nuclear medicine technologist staff, with an average cumulative dose of 8.4 mSv. The highest individual cumulative dose was 9.8 mSv recorded for the PET-CT technologist category.

Keywords: cumulative dose, effective dose, monitoring, occupational exposure, dosimetry

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Authors: Issam Derkaoui, Mohammed Khenfouch, Bakang M. Mothudi, Malik Maaza, Izeddine Zorkani, Anouar Jorio

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Transition metal oxides nanoparticles with different morphologies have attracted a lot of attention recently owning to their distinctive geometries, and demonstrated promising electrical properties for various applications. In this paper, we discuss the time and annealing effects on the structural and electrical properties of vanadium oxides nanoparticles (VO-NPs) prepared by microwave method. In this sense, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy, Ultraviolet-visible absorbance spectra (Uv-Vis) and electrical conductivity were investigated. Hence, the annealing state and the time are two crucial parameters for the improvement of the optoelectronic properties. The use of these nanostructures is promising way for the development of technological applications especially for energy storage devices.

Keywords: Vanadium oxide, Microwave, Electrical conductivity, Optoelectronic properties

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Authors: Arun Karoriya, Mrinal Agrawal

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Health is one of the basic requirements of human being. And today India is facing a major degradation of health at every age group. As society evolves and flourishes, there are different types of rules, norms, standards which are required to control the conduct of the human being for its well-being and growth. Right to health is one of those aspects that can be counted, discovered and examined under the purview of constitutional provisions of India. The condition of health is at downfall despite the fact that there are several policies framed by the government. There is an urgent call for rigid public health laws to ensure safe and disease free society. The effectiveness of health law has to be examined by keeping in mind that it is hampering growth and economy and society establishment. Health in any society is a main social aspect as it plays a major role for economic development. The multidimensional approach to determine it is by discussing i) rational selection and use of medicines ii) sustainable adequate financing iii) affordable prices iv)reliable health and supply systems.

Keywords: degradation, flourish, multidimensional, policies

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Authors: Rajoo Balaji, Omar Yaakob

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The Ballast Water Convention requires less than 5% of the world tonnage for ratification. Consequently, ships will have to comply with the requirements. Compliance evaluation and enforcement will become mandatory. Ship owners have to invest in treatment systems and shipboard personnel have to operate them and ensure compliance. The monitoring and enforcement will be the responsibilities of the Administrations. Herein, a review of the current status of the Ballast Water Management and the issues faced by these are projected. Issues range from efficacy and economics of the treatment systems to sampling and testing. Health issues of chemical systems, paucity of data for decision support etc., are other issues. It is emphasized that management of ballast water must be extended to ashore and sustainable solutions must be researched upon. An exemplar treatment system based on ship’s waste heat is also suggested.

Keywords: Ballast Water Management, compliance evaluation, compliance enforcement, sustainability

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Authors: B. X. Tchomeni, A. A. Alugongo, L. M. Masu

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This paper presents a 4-DOF nonlinear model of a cracked of Laval rotor established based on Energy Principles. The model has been used to simulate coupled torsional-lateral response of the cracked rotor stator-system with multiple parametric excitations, namely, rotor-stator-rub, a breathing transverse crack, unbalanced mass, and an axial force. Nonlinearity due to a “breathing” crack is incorporated by considering a simple hinge model which is suitable for small breathing crack. The vibration response of a cracked rotor passing through its critical speed with rotor-stator interaction is analyzed, and an attempt for crack detection and monitoring explored. Effects of unbalanced eccentricity with phase and acceleration are investigated. By solving the motion equations, steady-state vibration response is obtained in presence of several rotor faults. The presence of a crack is observable in the power spectrum despite the excitation by the axial force and rotor-stator rub impact. Presented results are consistent with existing literature and could be adopted into rotor condition monitoring strategies

Keywords: rotor, crack, rubbing, axial force, non linear

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Authors: H. Arzani, Z. Arzani

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Every piece of rangeland has a different set of physical and biological characteristics. This requires the manager to synthesis various information for regular monitoring to define changes trend to get wright decision for sustainable management. So range managers need to use computerized technologies to monitor rangeland, and select. The best management practices. There are four examples of computerized technologies that can benefit sustainable management: (1) Photographic method for cover measurement: The method was tested in different vegetation communities in semi humid and arid regions. Interpretation of pictures of quadrats was done using Arc View software. Data analysis was done by SPSS software using paired t test. Based on the results, generally, photographic method can be used to measure ground cover in most vegetation communities. (2) GPS application for corresponding ground samples and satellite pixels: In two provinces of Tehran and Markazi, six reference points were selected and in each point, eight GPS models were tested. Significant relation among GPS model, time and location with accuracy of estimated coordinates was found. After selection of suitable method, in Markazi province coordinates of plots along four transects in each 6 sites of rangelands was recorded. The best time of GPS application was in the morning hours, Etrex Vista had less error than other models, and a significant relation among GPS model, time and location with accuracy of estimated coordinates was found. (3) Application of satellite data for rangeland monitoring: Focusing on the long term variation of vegetation parameters such as vegetation cover and production is essential. Our study in grass and shrub lands showed that there were significant correlations between quantitative vegetation characteristics and satellite data. So it is possible to monitor rangeland vegetation using digital data for sustainable utilization. (4) Rangeland suitability classification with GIS: Range suitability assessment can facilitate sustainable management planning. Three sub-models of sensitivity to erosion, water suitability and forage production out puts were entered to final range suitability classification model. GIS was facilitate classification of range suitability and produced suitability maps for sheep grazing. Generally digital computers assist range managers to interpret, modify, calibrate or integrating information for correct management.

Keywords: computer, GPS, GIS, remote sensing, photographic method, monitoring, rangeland ecosystem, management, suitability, sheep grazing

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Authors: Lubowa Samuel

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Health information systems, often known as HIS, are critical components of the healthcare system to improve health policies and promote global health development. In a broader sense, HIS as a system integrates data collecting, processing, reporting, and making use of various types of data to improve healthcare efficacy and efficiency through better management at all levels of healthcare delivery. The aim of this study is to assess the adoption of health information systems (HIS) in a resource-constrained country drawing from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The results indicate that the user's perception of the technology and the poor information technology infrastructures contribute a lot to the low adoption of HIS in resource-constrained countries.

Keywords: health information systems, resource-constrained countries, health information systems

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Authors: Niladri Roy, M. Longshithung Patton

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This paper is aimed at studying the structural response of circular hollow steel tubular (HST), concrete filled steel tubular (CFST), and reinforced cement concrete (RCC) stub columns when subjected to only axial compressive forces and also examining their comparative nature using finite element (FE) models. These results are further compared with the respective experimental results. FE software package ABAQUS 6.14 has been used for further parametric studies where a total of 108 FE models were modelled. The diameters of the HST, CFST, and RCC stub columns are kept as 100, 140, 180, and 220, with length to diameter ratio fixed at 3 to avoid end effects and flexural failure. To keep the same percentage of steel (by volume), the thicknesses of steel tubes in HST and CFST columns were varied in response to the change in diameter of the main reinforcement bar in RCC columns. M25 grade of concrete was used throughout. The objective is to compare the structural behaviour of HST, CFST, and RCC stub columns on the basis of their axial compressive load carrying capacity and failure modes. The studies show that filling the circular HST columns with concrete increases the Pu of the CCFST columns by 2.97 times. It was also observed that the Pu (HST) is about 0.72 times Pu (RCC) on average, and the Pu (CFST) is about 2.08 times Pu (RCC) on average. After the analysis and comparison, it has been proved that CFST has much more load carrying capacity than HST and RCC and also provides the same strength at a very less sectional size.

Keywords: HST columns, stub columns, CFST columns, RCC columns, finite element modeling, ABAQUS

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Authors: Hajar Hajmohammadi, Paul Pfeffer, Anna De Simoni, Jim Cole, Chris Griffiths, Sally Hull, Benjamin Heydecker

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Background: There is strong interest in the relationship between short-term air pollution exposure and human health. Most studies in this field focus on serious health effects such as death or hospital admission, but air pollution exposure affects many people with less severe impacts, such as exacerbations of respiratory conditions. A lack of quantitative analysis and inconsistent findings suggest improved methodology is needed to understand these effectsmore fully. Method: We developed a time series regression model to quantify the relationship between daily NOₓ concentration and Asthma exacerbations requiring oral steroids from primary care settings. Explanatory variables include daily NOₓ concentration measurements extracted from 8 available background and roadside monitoring stations in east London and daily ambient temperature extracted for London City Airport, located in east London. Lags of NOx concentrations up to 21 days (3 weeks) were used in the model. The dependent variable was the daily number of oral steroid courses prescribed for GP registered patients with asthma in east London. A mixed distribution model was then fitted to the significant lags of the regression model. Result: Results of the time series modelling showed a significant relationship between NOₓconcentrations on each day and the number of oral steroid courses prescribed in the following three weeks. In addition, the model using only roadside stations performs better than the model with a mixture of roadside and background stations.

Keywords: air pollution, time series modeling, public health, road transport

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Authors: Yaser S. Kishawi, Sadi R. Ali

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Part of Palestine, Gaza Strip (365 km2 and 1.8 million inhabitants) is considered a semi-arid zone relies solely on the Coastal Aquifer. The coastal aquifer is only source of water with only 5-10% suitable for human use. This barely cover the domestic and agricultural needs of Gaza Strip. Palestinian Water Authority Strategy is finding non-conventional water resource from treated wastewater to cover agricultural requirements and serve the population. A new WWTP project is to replace the old-overloaded Biet Lahia WWTP. The project consists of three parts; phase A (pressure line & infiltration basins - IBs), phase B (a new WWTP) and phase C (Recovery and Reuse Scheme – RRS – to capture the spreading plume). Currently, only phase A is functioning. Nearly 23 Mm3 of partially treated wastewater were infiltrated into the aquifer. Phase B and phase C witnessed many delays and this forced a reassessment of the RRS original design. An Environmental Management Plan was conducted from Jul 2013 to Jun 2014 on 13 existing monitoring wells surrounding the project location. This is to measure the efficiency of the SAT system and the spread of the contamination plume with relation to the efficiency of the proposed RRS. Along with the proposed location of the 27 recovery wells as part of the proposed RRS. The results of monitored wells were assessed compared with PWA baseline data. This was put into a groundwater model to simulate the plume to propose the best suitable solution to the delays. The redesign mainly manipulated the pumping rate of wells, proposed locations and functioning schedules (including wells groupings). The proposed simulations were examined using visual MODFLOW V4.2 to simulate the results. The results of monitored wells were assessed based on the location of the monitoring wells related to the proposed recovery wells locations (200m, 500m and 750m away from the IBs). Near the 500m line (the first row of proposed recovery wells), an increase of nitrate (from 30 to 70mg/L) compare to a decrease in Chloride (1500 to below 900mg/L) was found during the monitoring period which indicated an expansion of plume to this distance. On this rate with the required time to construct the recovery scheme, keeping the original design the RRS will fail to capture the plume. Based on that many simulations were conducted leading into three main scenarios. The scenarios manipulated the starting dates, the pumping rate and the locations of recovery wells. A simulation of plume expansion and path-lines were extracted from the model monitoring how to prevent the expansion towards the nearby municipal wells. It was concluded that the location is the most important factor in determining the RRS efficiency. Scenario III was adopted and showed an effective results even with a reduced pumping rates. This scenario proposed adding two additional recovery wells in a location beyond the 750m line to compensate the delays and effectively capture the plume. A continuous monitoring program for current and future monitoring wells should be in place to support the proposed scenario and ensure maximum protection.

Keywords: soil aquifer treatment, recovery and reuse scheme, infiltration basins, north gaza

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Authors: Afroza Khatun, Masuma, Md. Younus Mia, Kamal Kanta Das

Abstract:

Analysis of the microbial status and physicochemical parameters of some branded and street vended ice cream showed that total viable bacteria in branded ice cream ranged from 4.8×10³ to 1.10×10⁵ cfu/ml, and in street vended ice-cream ranged from 7.5×10⁴ to 1.6×10⁸ cfu/ml. Total coliform bacteria present up to 9.20×10³ cfu/ml in branded ice cream and 5.3×10³ to 9.6×10⁶ cfu/ml observed in street vended ice cream. Total E. coli were found to be present within a range from 0 to 4.5×10³ cfu/ml in branded and 4.1×10² to 7.5×10⁴ cfu/ml in street ice cream. The ranges of Staphylococcus aureus count were 1.8×10² to 2.9×10⁴ cfu/ml (branded) and 3.9×10⁴ to 7.9×10⁶ cfu/ml (street). The pH of both types of ice cream showed acidic to neutral conditions where the concentration of pH for branded ice cream was 5.5 to 6.9, as well as the value of pH in street ice cream, was 6.2 to 7.0. The range of Total soluble solids in several branded ice creams was 26 to 29%, and the value of TSS obtained in street-vended ice-creams ranged from 5 to 10%. The overall results of this research demonstrated that the microbial quality in all street ice creams exceeded the BSTI standard and exhibited lower quality than the industrially produced branded ice creams due to comparatively faulty manufacturing processes and poor hygiene practices. The presence of pathogenic microbes was also observed in branded ice creams which was quite alarming for public health. So it is suggested that the government authorized organization should conduct the proper monitoring system to ensure that both branded and street vended ice-creams are microbiologically safe to prevent public health hazards.

Keywords: food safety, microbiological analysis, physicochemical, ice-cream, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Eric Chabrol, Sidonia B.G. Eckle, Renate de Boer, James McCluskey, Jamie Rossjohn, Mirjam H.M. Heemskerk, Stephanie Gras

Abstract:

αβ and γδ T-cells are disparate T-cell lineages that, via their use of either αβ or γδ T-cell antigen receptors (TCRs) respectively, can respond to distinct antigens. Here we characterise a new population of human T-cells, term δβ T-cells, that express TCRs comprising a TCR-δ variable gene fused to a Joining-α/Constant-α domain, paired with an array of TCR-β chains. We characterised the cellular, functional, biophysical and structural characteristic feature of this new T-cells population that reveal some new insight into TCR diversity. We provide molecular bases of how δβ T-cells can recognise viral peptide presented by Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) molecule. Our findings highlight how components from αβ and γδTCR gene loci can recombine to confer antigen specificity thus expanding our understanding of T-cell biology and TCR diversity.

Keywords: new delta-beta TCR, HLA, viral peptide, structural immunology

Procedia PDF Downloads 425

Authors: Brahim Bahloul, Khatir Babesse, Azzedine Dkhira, Yacine Bahloul, Dalila Hammoutene

Abstract:

In this paper, we investigate with ab initio calculations some structural and optoelectronic properties of Li₂S compound. The structural and electronic properties of the Li₂S antifluorite structure have been studied by first-principles calculations within the density functional theory (DFT), whereas the optical properties have been obtained using empirical relationships such as the modified Moss relation. Our calculated lattice parameters are in good agreement with the experimental data and other theoretical calculations. The electronic band structures and density of states were obtained. The anti-fluorite Li₂S present an indirect band gap of 3.388 eV at equilibrium. The top of the valence bands reflects the p electronic character for both structures. The calculated energy gaps and optical constants are in good agreement with experimental measurements.

Keywords: Ab initio calculations, antifluorite, electronic properties, optical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Antti Nurminen, Avleen Malhi

Abstract:

Significant progress in intelligent systems in combination with exceedingly wide application domains having machine learning as the core technology are usually opaque, non-intuitive, and commonly complex for human users. We use innovative IoT technology which monitors and analyzes moisture, humidity, luminosity and temperature levels to assist end users for optimization of environmental conditions for their houseplants. For plant health monitoring, we construct a system yielding the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), supported by visual validation by users. We run the system for a selected plant, basil, in varying environmental conditions to cater for typical home conditions, and bootstrap our AI with the acquired data. For end users, we implement a web based user interface which provides both instructions and explanations.

Keywords: explainable artificial intelligence, intelligent agent, IoT, NDVI

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Toufik Bensana, Slimane Mekhilef, Kamel Tadjine

Abstract:

Vibration analysis has been frequently applied in the condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings. Unfortunately, the vibration signals collected from a faulty bearing are generally non stationary, nonlinear and with strong noise interference, so it is essential to obtain the fault features correctly. In this paper, a novel numerical analysis method based on local mean decomposition (LMD) is proposed. LMD decompose the signal into a series of product functions (PFs), each of which is the product of an envelope signal and a purely frequency modulated FM signal. The envelope of a PF is the instantaneous amplitude (IA) and the derivative of the unwrapped phase of a purely flat frequency demodulated (FM) signal is the IF. After that the fault characteristic frequency of the roller bearing can be extracted by performing spectrum analysis to the instantaneous amplitude of PF component containing dominant fault information. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique in fault detection and diagnosis of rolling element bearing.

Keywords: fault diagnosis, condition monitoring, local mean decomposition, rolling element bearing, vibration analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 397