Search results for: mobility features

Authors: Avik Banerjee, Kavita Saggar

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Infections of the nervous system and adjacent structures are often life-threatening conditions. Despite the recent advances in neuroimaging evaluation, the diagnosis of unclear infectious CNS disease remains a challenge. Our aim is to evaluate the typical and atypical neuro-imaging features of the various routinely encountered CNS infected patients so as to form guidelines for their imaging recognition and differentiation from tumoral, vascular and other entities that warrant a different line of therapy.

Keywords: central nervous system (CNS), Cerebro Spinal Fluid (Csf), Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)

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Authors: Chithra A. V., Somoshree Datta, Sandeep Nithyanandan

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Sign Language Recognition (SLR) is the process of interpreting and translating sign language into spoken or written language using technological systems. It involves recognizing hand gestures, facial expressions, and body movements that makeup sign language communication. The primary goal of SLR is to facilitate communication between hearing- and speech-impaired communities and those who do not understand sign language. Due to the increased awareness and greater recognition of the rights and needs of the hearing- and speech-impaired community, sign language recognition has gained significant importance over the past 10 years. Technological advancements in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have made it more practical and feasible to create accurate SLR systems. This paper presents a distinct approach to SLR by framing it as a video classification problem using Deep Learning (DL), whereby a combination of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) has been used. This research targets the integration of sign language recognition into healthcare settings, aiming to improve communication between medical professionals and patients with hearing impairments. The spatial features from each video frame are extracted using a CNN, which captures essential elements such as hand shapes, movements, and facial expressions. These features are then fed into an RNN network that learns the temporal dependencies and patterns inherent in sign language sequences. The INCLUDE dataset has been enhanced with more videos from the healthcare domain and the model is evaluated on the same. Our model achieves 91% accuracy, representing state-of-the-art performance in this domain. The results highlight the effectiveness of treating SLR as a video classification task with the CNN-RNN architecture. This approach not only improves recognition accuracy but also offers a scalable solution for real-time SLR applications, significantly advancing the field of accessible communication technologies.

Keywords: sign language recognition, deep learning, convolution neural network, recurrent neural network

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Authors: Dimitris Varsamis, Christos Talagkozis, Alkiviadis Tsimpiris, Paris Mastorocostas

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The aim of this work is the parallel implementation of k-means in MATLAB, in order to reduce the execution time. Specifically, a new function in MATLAB for serial k-means algorithm is developed, which meets all the requirements for the conversion to a function in MATLAB with parallel computations. Additionally, two different variants for the definition of initial values are presented. In the sequel, the parallel approach is presented. Finally, the performance tests for the computation times respect to the numbers of features and classes are illustrated.

Keywords: K-means algorithm, clustering, parallel computations, Matlab

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Authors: K. S. Vedasingha, K. K. M. T. Perera, K. I. Hathurusinghe, H. W. I. Akalanka, Nelum Chathuranga Amarasena, Nalaka R. Dissanayake

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Railways provide the most convenient and economically beneficial mode of transportation, and it has been the most popular transportation method among all. According to the past analyzed data, it reveals a considerable number of accidents which occurred at railways and caused damages to not only precious lives but also to the economy of the countries. There are some major issues which need to be addressed in railways of South Asian countries since they fall under the developing category. The goal of this research is to minimize the influencing aspect of railway level crossing accidents by developing the “railway process automation system”, as there are high-risk areas that are prone to accidents, and safety at these places is of utmost significance. This paper describes the implementation methodology and the success of the study. The main purpose of the system is to ensure human safety by using the Internet of Things (IoT) and image processing techniques. The system can detect the current location of the train and close the railway gate automatically. And it is possible to do the above-mentioned process through a decision-making system by using past data. The specialty is both processes working parallel. As usual, if the system fails to close the railway gate due to technical or a network failure, the proposed system can identify the current location and close the railway gate through a decision-making system, which is a revolutionary feature. The proposed system introduces further two features to reduce the causes of railway accidents. Railway track crack detection and motion detection are those features which play a significant role in reducing the risk of railway accidents. Moreover, the system is capable of detecting rule violations at a level crossing by using sensors. The proposed system is implemented through a prototype, and it is tested with real-world scenarios to gain the above 90% of accuracy.

Keywords: crack detection, decision-making, image processing, Internet of Things, motion detection, prototype, sensors

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Authors: Suresh Salla

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In this paper, author explores for most sustainable last mile transport mode addressing present problems of traffic congestion, jams, pollution and travel stress. Development of energy-efficient sustainable integrated transport system(s) is/are must to make our cities more livable. Emphasis on autonomous, connected, electric, sharing system for effective utilization of systems (vehicles and public infrastructure) is on the rise. Many surface mobility innovations like PBS, Ride hailing, ride sharing, etc. are, although workable but if we analyze holistically, add to the already congested roads, difficult to ride in hostile weather, causes pollution and poses commuter stress. Sustainability of transportation is evaluated with respect to public adoption, average speed, energy consumption, and pollution. Why public prefer certain mode over others? How commute time plays a role in mode selection or shift? What are the factors play-ing role in energy consumption and pollution? Based on the study, it is clear that public prefer a transport mode which is exhaustive (i.e., less need for interchange – network is widespread) and intensive (i.e., less waiting time - vehicles are available at frequent intervals) and convenient with latest technologies. Average speed is dependent on stops, number of intersections, signals, clear route availability, etc. It is clear from Physics that higher the kerb weight of a vehicle; higher is the operational energy consumption. Higher kerb weight also demands heavier infrastructure. Pollution is dependent on source of energy, efficiency of vehicle, average speed. Mode can be made exhaustive when the unit infrastructure cost is less and can be offered intensively when the vehicle cost is less. Reliable and seamless integrated mobility till last ¼ mile (Five Minute Walk-FMW) is a must to encourage sustainable public transportation. Study shows that average speed and reliability of dedicated modes (like Metro, PRT, BRT, etc.) is high compared to road vehicles. Electric vehicles and more so battery-less or 3rd rail vehicles reduce pollution. One potential mode can be Cycleloop PRT, where commuter rides e-cycle in a dedicated path – elevated, at grade or underground. e-Bike with kerb weight per rider at 15 kg being 1/50th of car or 1/10th of other PRT systems makes it sustainable mode. Cycleloop tube will be light, sleek and scalable and can be modular erected, either on modified street lamp-posts or can be hanged/suspended between the two stations. Embarking and dis-embarking points or offline stations can be at an interval which suits FMW to mass public transit. In terms of convenience, guided e-Bike can be made self-balancing thus encouraging driverless on-demand vehicles. e-Bike equipped with smart electronics and drive controls can intelligently respond to field sensors and autonomously move reacting to Central Controller. Smart switching allows travel from origin to destination without interchange of cycles. DC Powered Batteryless e-cycle with voluntary manual pedaling makes it sustainable and provides health benefits. Tandem e-bike, smart switching and Platoon operations algorithm options provide superior through-put of the Cycleloop. Thus Cycleloop PRT will be exhaustive, intensive, convenient, reliable, speedy, sustainable, safe, pollution-free and healthy alternative mode for last mile connectivity in cities.

Keywords: cycleloop PRT, five-minute walk, lean modular infrastructure, self-balanced intelligent e-cycle

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Authors: Sinan Bilgen, Bekir Ozer Ay, Nilay Sezer Uzol

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After decades of conventional shapes, irregular forms with complex geometries are getting more popular for form generation of tall buildings all over the world. This trend has recently brought out diverse building forms such as twisting tall buildings. This study investigates both the aerodynamic and design features of twisting tall buildings through comparative analyses. Since twisting a tall building give rise to additional complexities related with the form and structural system, lateral load effects become of greater importance on these buildings. The aim of this study is to analyze the inherent characteristics of these iconic forms by comparing the wind loads on twisting tall buildings with those on their prismatic twins. Through a case study research, aerodynamic analyses of an existing twisting tall building and its prismatic counterpart were performed and the results have been compared. The prismatic twin of the original building were generated by removing the progressive rotation of its floors with the same plan area and story height. Performance-based measures under investigation have been evaluated in conjunction with the architectural design. Aerodynamic effects have been analyzed by both wind tunnel tests and computational methods. High frequency base balance tests and pressure measurements on 3D models were performed to evaluate wind load effects on a global and local scale. Comparisons of flat and real surface models were conducted to further evaluate the effects of the twisting form without façade texture contribution. Comparisons highlighted that, the twisting form under investigation shows better aerodynamic behavior both for along wind but particularly for across wind direction. Compared to the prismatic counterpart; twisting model is superior on reducing vortex-shedding dynamic response by disorganizing the wind vortices. Consequently, despite the difficulties arisen from inherent complexity of twisted forms, they could still be feasible and viable with their attractive images in the realm of tall buildings.

Keywords: aerodynamic tests, motivation for twisting, tall buildings, twisted forms, wind excitation

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Authors: Meshari Al-Harbi

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A comparative area-season-elemental-wise time series analysis by Dust Track monitor (2012-2013) revealed high PM10 dispersion in the outdoor environment in the sequence of industrial> express highways>residential>open areas. Time series analysis from 7AM-6AM (until next day), 30d (monthly), 3600sec. (for any given period of a month), and 12 months (yearly) showed peak PM10 dispersion during 1AM-7AM, 1d-4d and 25d-31d of every month, 1500-3600 with the exception in PM10 dispersion in residential areas, and in the months-March to June, respectively. This time-bound PM10 dispersion suggests the primary influence of human activities (peak mobility and productivity period for a given time frame) besides the secondary influence of meteorological parameters (high temperature and wind action) and, occasional dust storms. Whereas, gravimetric analysis reveals the influence of precipitation, low temperature and low volatility resulting high trace metals in PM10 during winter than in summer and primarily attributes to the influence of nature besides, the secondary attributes of smoke stack emission from various industries and automobiles. Furthermore, our study recommends residents to limit outdoor air pollution exposures and take precautionary measures to inhale PM10 pollutants from the atmosphere.

Keywords: aerosol, pollution, respirable particulates, trace-metals

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Authors: Ting Lu, Ya-Ru Diao, Fei Fan, Ye Xue, Lei Shi, Xian-e Tang, Meng-jun Zhan, Zhen-hua Deng

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Accurate adult age estimation (AAE) is a significant and challenging task in forensic and archeology fields. Attempts have been made to explore optimal adult age metrics, and the rib is considered a potential age marker. The traditional way is to extract age-related features designed by experts from macroscopic or radiological images followed by classification or regression analysis. Those results still have not met the high-level requirements for practice, and the limitation of using feature design and manual extraction methods is loss of information since the features are likely not designed explicitly for extracting information relevant to age. Deep learning (DL) has recently garnered much interest in imaging learning and computer vision. It enables learning features that are important without a prior bias or hypothesis and could be supportive of AAE. This study aimed to develop DL models for AAE based on CT images and compare their performance to the manual visual scoring method. Chest CT data were reconstructed using volume rendering (VR). Retrospective data of 2500 patients aged 20.00-69.99 years were obtained between December 2019 and September 2021. Five-fold cross-validation was performed, and datasets were randomly split into training and validation sets in a 4:1 ratio for each fold. Before feeding the inputs into networks, all images were augmented with random rotation and vertical flip, normalized, and resized to 224×224 pixels. ResNeXt was chosen as the DL baseline due to its advantages of higher efficiency and accuracy in image classification. Mean absolute error (MAE) was the primary parameter. Independent data from 100 patients acquired between March and April 2022 were used as a test set. The manual method completely followed the prior study, which reported the lowest MAEs (5.31 in males and 6.72 in females) among similar studies. CT data and VR images were used. The radiation density of the first costal cartilage was recorded using CT data on the workstation. The osseous and calcified projections of the 1 to 7 costal cartilages were scored based on VR images using an eight-stage staging technique. According to the results of the prior study, the optimal models were the decision tree regression model in males and the stepwise multiple linear regression equation in females. Predicted ages of the test set were calculated separately using different models by sex. A total of 2600 patients (training and validation sets, mean age=45.19 years±14.20 [SD]; test set, mean age=46.57±9.66) were evaluated in this study. Of ResNeXt model training, MAEs were obtained with 3.95 in males and 3.65 in females. Based on the test set, DL achieved MAEs of 4.05 in males and 4.54 in females, which were far better than the MAEs of 8.90 and 6.42 respectively, for the manual method. Those results showed that the DL of the ResNeXt model outperformed the manual method in AAE based on CT reconstruction of the costal cartilage and the developed system may be a supportive tool for AAE.

Keywords: forensic anthropology, age determination by the skeleton, costal cartilage, CT, deep learning

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Authors: Wided Zerguine, Farid Habelhames

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The performance of photovoltaic devices with a light absorber consisting of a single-type conjugated polymer is poor, due to a low photo-generation yield of charge carriers, strong radiative recombination’s and low mobility of charge carriers. Recently, it has been shown that ultra-fast photoinduced charge transfer can also occur between a conjugated polymer and a metal oxide semiconductor such as SnO2, TiO2, ZnO, Nb2O5, etc. This has led to the fabrication of photovoltaic devices based on composites of oxide semiconductor nanoparticles embedded in a conjugated polymer matrix. In this work, Poly [2-methoxy-5-(20-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (n-type) were dissolved, mixed and deposited by physical methods (spin-coating) on indium tin-oxide (ITO) substrate. The incorporation of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles changed the morphology and increased the roughness of polymers film (MEH-PPV/PCBM), and the photocurrent density of the composite (MEH-PPV/PCBM +n-TiO2) was higher than that of single MEHPPV/ PCBM film. The study showed that the presence of n-TiO2 particles in the polymeric film improves the photoelectrochemical properties of MEH-PPV/PCBM composite.

Keywords: photocurrent density, organic nanostructures, hybrid coating, conducting polymer, titanium dioxide

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Authors: Ibrahim M. S. Shnawa, Naeem R. R. Algebory

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The procedure for the assessment of the urinary mucosal cryoglobulin (UMCG) is being reviewed, testified and evaluated. The major features of UMCG are rather similar to that of serum cryoglobulin. Such evident similarities are forming the reality for the existence of the UMCG. There were seven characterizing criteria useable for the identification for UMCG. Upon matching them to the Irish criteria for serum cryoglobulin, some modifications are being proposed to the 16th standards that has been formulated and built as an Irish criterion. The existence of UMCG is being reported for the first time in human chronic infectious bacterial disease.

Keywords: urinary, mucosal, cryoglubulin, standard immunofixation

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Authors: Jolie M. Martin

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Running experiments while logging detailed user actions has become the standard way of testing product features at Pinterest, as at many other Internet companies. While this technique offers plenty of statistical power to assess the effects of product changes on behavioral metrics, it does not often give us much insight into why users respond the way they do. By combining at-scale experiments with smaller surveys of users in each experimental condition, we have developed a unique approach for measuring the impact of our product and communication treatments on user sentiment, attitudes, and comprehension.

Keywords: experiments, methodology, surveys, user experience

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Authors: Jagul Huma Lashari, Arabella Bhutto

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Last few years have shown increased an interest of researchers in knowledge and technology transfer. However, facts show fewer types of knowledge transfer practices in the developing countries. This article focuses on assessment transfer channels of academic research produced by highly qualified academicians working in universities in Sindh offering degrees in field of an Environment in Sindh Pakistan. The academic field has been chosen because in field of the environment there is alarming need of research into practice for sustainable development. Using case study approach; in this research qualitative interviews have been conducted from PhD faculty members working in the universities offering degrees in field of environment. Obtained data is analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test with the help of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). Research explored 31 channels of academic knowledge transfer from detailed review of literature and exploratory interviews with participants. Identified knowledge transfer channels have been grouped together in 6 groups of knowledge transfer channels; As knowledge transfer through publications, networking, mobility of researchers, joint research, intellectual property and co-operations. Results revealed that academic knowledge have been transferred through publications, networking, and co-operation. However, less number of academic knowledge has been transferred through groups of knowledge transfer channels such as Intellectual Property and joint research.

Keywords: environment, research knowledge, transfer channels, universities

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Authors: Rena Upitis, Philip C. Abrami, Karen Boese

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The success of one-on-one music study relies heavily on the ability of the teacher to provide sufficient direction to students during weekly lessons so that they can successfully practice from one lesson to the next. Traditionally, these instructions are given in a paper notebook, where the teacher makes notes for the students after describing a task or demonstrating a technique. The ability of students to make sense of these notes varies according to their understanding of the teacher’s directions, their motivation to practice, their memory of the lesson, and their abilities to self-regulate. At best, the notes enable the student to progress successfully. At worst, the student is left rudderless until the next lesson takes place. Digital notebooks have the potential to provide a more interactive and effective bridge between music lessons than traditional pen-and-paper notebooks. One such digital notebook, Cadenza, was designed to streamline and improve teachers’ instruction, to enhance student practicing, and to provide the means for teachers and students to communicate between lessons. For example, Cadenza contains a video annotator, where teachers can offer real-time guidance on uploaded student performances. Using the checklist feature, teachers and students negotiate the frequency and type of practice during the lesson, which the student can then access during subsequent practice sessions. Following the tenets of self-regulated learning, goal setting and reflection are also featured. Accordingly, the present paper addressed the following research questions: (1) How does the use of the Cadenza digital music notebook engage students and their teachers?, (2) Which features of Cadenza are most successful?, (3) Which features could be improved?, and (4) Is student learning and motivation enhanced with the use of the Cadenza digital music notebook? The paper describes the results 10 months of field-testing of Cadenza, structured around the four research questions outlined. Six teachers and 65 students took part in the study. Data were collected through video-recorded lesson observations, digital screen captures, surveys, and interviews. Standard qualitative protocols for coding results and identifying themes were employed to analyze the results. The results consistently indicated that teachers and students embraced the digital platform offered by Cadenza. The practice log and timer, the real-time annotation tool, the checklists, the lesson summaries, and the commenting features were found to be the most valuable functions, by students and teachers alike. Teachers also reported that students progressed more quickly with Cadenza, and received higher results in examinations than those students who were not using Cadenza. Teachers identified modifications to Cadenza that would make it an even more powerful way to support student learning. These modifications, once implemented, will move the tool well past its traditional notebook uses to new ways of motivating students to practise between lessons and to communicate with teachers about their learning. Improvements to the tool called for by the teachers included the ability to duplicate archived lessons, allowing for split screen viewing, and adding goal setting to the teacher window. In the concluding section, proposed modifications and their implications for self-regulated learning are discussed.

Keywords: digital music technologies, electronic notebooks, self-regulated learning, studio music instruction

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Authors: Gil Yaron, Rebecca Gordon, John Best, Sunil Choudhary

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There have been a number of studies examining the impact of microfinance; however, the magnitude of impact varies across regions, and there has been mixed evidence due to the differences in the nature of interventions, context and the way in which microfinance is implemented. The Rojiroti approach to microfinance involves the creation of women's self-help groups (SHGs), rotated loans from savings and subsequent credit from a Bihar-based NGO. Rojiroti serves customers who are significantly poorer and more marginalised than those typically served by microfinance in India. In the data analysed, more than 90 percent of members are from scheduled caste and tribes (62 percent) or other disadvantaged castes. This paper analyses the impact of Rojiroti microfinance using panel data on 740 new SHG members and 340 women in matched control sites at baseline and after 18 months. We consider changes in assets, children's education, women's mobility and domestic violence among other indicators. These results show significant gains for Rojiroti borrowers relative to control sites for important, but not all, variables. Comparison with more longstanding SHGs (at least 36 months) helps to explain how the borrowing patterns of poor and marginalised SHG members evolve. The context of this intervention is also important; in this case, innovative microfinance is provided too much poorer and marginalised women than is typically the case, and so the results seen are in contrast to numerous studies that show little or no effect of microfinance on the lives of their clients.

Keywords: microfinance, gender, impact, pro-poor

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Authors: Burdin Louise, Brulez Anne-Catherine, Mazurcyk Radoslaw, Leclercq Jean-louis, Benayoun Stéphane

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By using a biomimetic approach, an investigation was conducted to determine the connections between morphology and wetting. The interest is focused on the Morpho peleides butterfly. This butterfly is already well-known among researchers for its brilliant iridescent color and has inspired numerous innovations. The intricate structure of its wings is responsible for such color. However, this multiscale structure exhibits a multitude of other features, such as hydrophobicity. Given the limited research on the wetting properties of Morpho butterfly, a detailed analysis of its wetting behavior is proposed. Multiscale surface topographies of the Morpho peleides butterfly were analyzed using scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy. To understand the relationship between morphology and wettability, a goniometer was employed to measured static and dynamic contact angle. Since several studies have consistently demonstrated that superhydrophobic surfaces can effectively delay freezing, icing delay time the Morpho’s wings was also measured. The results revealed contact angles close to 136°, indicating a high degree of hydrophobicity. Moreover, sliding angles (SA) were measured in different directions, including along and against the rolling-outward direction. The findings suggest anisotropic wetting. Specifically, when the wing was tilted along the rolling outward direction (i.e., away from the insect’s body) SA was about 7°. While, when the wing was tilted against the rolling outward direction, SA was about 29°. This phenomenon is directly linked to the butterfly’s survival strategy. To investigate the exclusive morphological impact on anti-icing properties, PDMS replicas of the Morpho butterfly were obtained. When compared to flat PDMS and microscale textured PDMS, Morpho replications exhibited a longer freezing time. Therefore, this could be a source of inspiration for designing superhydrophobic surfaces with anti-icing applications or functional surfaces with controlled wettability.

Keywords: biomimetic, anisotropic wetting, anti-icing, multiscale roughness

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Authors: Jürgen Keil, Frank Walther

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This article presents two innovative solutions for vertical vibration mitigation barriers including experimental and numerical investigations on the completed barriers. There is a continuing growth of exposure to noise and vibration in people´s daily lives due to the quest for more mobility and flexibility. In previous times neglected, immissions caused by vibrations can lead, for example, to secondary noise or damage in the adjacent buildings. Also people can feel very affected by vibrations. But unlike in new construction, in existing infrastructure and buildings action can be taken almost only on the transmission path of those vibrations. In the following two solutions were shown how vibrations on the transmission path can be mitigated. These are the jet grouting method and a new installation method (patent pending) by means of a prefabricated hollow box which is filled with vibration reducing mats and driven down to depth, are presented. The essential results of the numerical and experimental investigations on the completed wave barriers are included as well. This article is based on the results of a field test with the participation of Keller Holding, which was executed in the context of the European research project RIVAS (Railway Induced Vibration Abatement Solutions), and on a thesis done at the Technical University of Dresden with the involvement of BAUGRUND DRESDEN Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and the Keller Holding GmbH.

Keywords: jet grouting, rail way lines, vertical vibration mitigation, vibration reducing mats

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Authors: Rachel Karasenty Saltoun, Charlotte Roddick, Chelsea D. Christie, Frances Chen

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Moving has become an integral part of many people’s lives. This research explores whether relocating to a new city is associated with an increase in loneliness and cardiovascular disease risk and if this increased risk diminishes with continued residency. To test this, various psychosocial variables and three cardiovascular disease risk markers (C-reactive protein, albumin, blood pressure) were assessed on two groups of individuals: those who have moved to Vancouver, Canada in the previous 6 weeks (‘Movers’) and those who have lived in Vancouver for at least five years (‘Non-Movers’). It was hypothesized that individuals who had recently relocated would have heightened levels of loneliness, blood pressure (BP), albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) compared to those who had not recently relocated. Length of residency was hypothesized to moderate these effects, such that after a few months, loneliness levels and cardiovascular disease risk would decrease among those who had recently relocated. Correlational analysis indicated a trend between the change in CRP and albumin levels and loneliness overtime on an individual level. However, these results must be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. As Vancouver’s immigration rates continue to grow, this study has important implications regarding the social support resources offered to new immigrants, as well as bringing awareness at the healthcare level of the potential increase in cardiovascular disease risk among those who have recently relocated.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease risk, loneliness, moving, residential mobility

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Authors: Mehdi Behbahani, Sebastian Rible, Charles Moulinec, Yvan Fournier, Mike Nicolai, Paolo Crosetto

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Computational Fluid Dynamics blood-flow simulations are increasingly used to develop and validate blood-contacting medical devices. This study shows that numerical simulations can provide additional and accurate estimates of relevant hemodynamic indicators (e.g., recirculation zones or wall shear stresses), which may be difficult and expensive to obtain from in-vivo or in-vitro experiments. The most recent FDA (Food and Drug Administration) benchmark consisted of a simplified centrifugal blood pump model that contains fluid flow features as they are commonly found in these devices with a clear focus on highly turbulent phenomena. The FDA centrifugal blood pump study is composed of six test cases with different volumetric flow rates ranging from 2.5 to 7.0 liters per minute, pump speeds, and Reynolds numbers ranging from 210,000 to 293,000. Within the frame of this study different turbulence models were tested including RANS models, e.g. k-omega, k-epsilon and a Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) and, LES. The partitioners Hilbert, METIS, ParMETIS and SCOTCH were used to create an unstructured mesh of 76 million elements and compared in their efficiency. Computations were performed on the JUQUEEN BG/Q architecture applying the highly parallel flow solver Code SATURNE and typically using 32768 or more processors in parallel. Visualisations were performed by means of PARAVIEW. Different turbulence models including all six flow situations could be successfully analysed and validated against analytical considerations and from comparison to other data-bases. It showed that an RSM represents an appropriate choice with respect to modeling high-Reynolds number flow cases. Especially, the Rij-SSG (Speziale, Sarkar, Gatzki) variant turned out to be a good approach. Visualisation of complex flow features could be obtained and the flow situation inside the pump could be characterized.

Keywords: blood flow, centrifugal blood pump, high performance computing, scalability, turbulence

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Authors: Bo Hu, Mui-Choo Jong, João Frias, Irina Chubarenko, Gabriel Enrique De-la-Torre, Prabhu Kolandhasamy, Md. Jaker Hossain, Elena Esiukova, Lei Su, Hua Deng, Huahong Shi

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Plastic debris in coastal environments undergoes a series of aging processes due to the diverse environmental conditions they are exposed to. Existing research to date lacks a thorough understanding of how these processes affect exposed and non-exposed sides of plastic fragments, leading to potentially biased conclusions on how degradation occurs. This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining surface aging characteristics on both sides (e.g., cracks, delaminations, pits, wrinkles and color residues) of 1573 plastic fragments collected from 15 coastal sites worldwide and conducting outdoor aging simulations. A clear contrast was observed between the two sides of the plastic fragments, where one of the sides often displayed more pronounced aging features. Three key indicators were introduced to quantify the aging characteristics of plastic fragments, with values ranging from 0.00 to 58.00 mm/mm2 (line density), 0.00 to 92.12% (surface loss) and 0.00 to 1.51 (texture index), respectively. Outdoor simulations revealed that sun-exposed sides of plastic sheets developed more cracks, pores, and bubbles, while the shaded sides remained smoother. The annual average solar radiation intensity of 4.47 kWh in the experimental area exacerbated the degradation of the sun-exposed side, as confirmed by a significant increase in carbonyl index, with PE rising from 0.50 to 1.70, PP from 0.18 to 1.10, and PVC from 0.45 to 1.57, indicating photoaging. These results highlight the uneven weathering patterns of plastic fragments on shorelines due to varying environmental stresses. In particular, the side facing the sun exhibited more pronounced signs of aging. Outdoor experiments confirmed that the fragments’ sun-exposed sides experienced significantly higher degrees of weathering compared to the shaded sides. This study demonstrated that the divergent weathering patterns on the two sides of beach plastic fragments were primarily driven by differences in light exposure, duration, and mechanical stress.

Keywords: plastic fragments, coastal environment, surface aging features, two-sided differences

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Authors: A. Brunel, A. Kernevez, F. Leclere, J. Trenteseaux

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Today, wine quality is only evaluated by wine experts with their own different personal tastes, even if they may agree on some common features. So producers do not have any unbiased way to independently assess the quality of their products. A tool is here proposed to evaluate wine quality by an objective ranking based upon the variables entering wine elaboration, and analysed through principal component analysis (PCA) method. Actual climatic data are compared by measuring the relative distance between each considered wine, out of which the general ranking is performed.

Keywords: wine, grape, weather conditions, rating, climate, principal component analysis, metric analysis

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Authors: Gulbakhyt Sultanova

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Business education institutions assess the progress of their students by giving them grades for courses completed and calculating a Grade Point Average (GPA). Whether the participation in these courses has led to the development of competences enabling graduates to successfully compete in the labor market should be measured using a new index: Employment Readiness Assessment (ERA). The higher the ERA, the higher the quality of education at a business school. This is applied, empirical research conducted by using a method of linear optimization. The aim of research is to identify factors which lead to the minimization of the deviation of GPA from ERA as well as to the maximization of ERA. ERA is composed of three components resulting from testing proficiency in Business English, testing work and personal skills, and job interview simulation. The quality of education is improving if GPA approximates ERA and ERA increases. Factors which have had a positive effect on quality enhancement are academic mobility of students and staff, practical-oriented courses taught by staff with work experience, and research-based courses taught by staff with research experience. ERA is a better index to measure the quality of business education than traditional indexes such as GPA due to its greater accuracy in assessing the level of graduates’ competences demanded in the labor market. Optimizing the educational process in pursuit of quality enhancement, ERA has to be used in parallel with GPA to find out which changes worked and resulted in improvement.

Keywords: assessment and evaluation, competence evaluation, education quality, employment readiness

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Authors: Monalisha Nayak, T. G. Sitharam

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Liquefaction is a major threat for sites consists of or on sandy soil. But this present study concentrates on the behavior of fine soil under cyclic loading. This paper presents the study of liquefaction susceptibility of marine silty clay to clayey silt for an offshore site near western Yemen. The submerged and loose sediment condition of marine soil of an offshore site can favour liquefaction during earthquakes. In this regard, the liquefaction susceptibility of the site was carried out based on both field test results and laboratory test results. From field test results of seismic cone penetration test (SCPT), liquefaction susceptibility was assessed considering normalized cone tip resistance, and normalized friction ratio and results give an idea regarding both cyclic mobility and flow liquefaction. Laboratory cyclic triaxial tests were also conducted on saturated undisturbed and remoulded sample to study the effect of cyclic loading on strength and strain characteristics. Liquefaction susceptibility of the marine soft soil was also carried out based on index properties like grain size distribution, natural moisture content and liquid limit of soil.

Keywords: index properties, liquefaction, marine soil, seismic cone penetration test (SCPT)

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Authors: Tingneyuc Sekac, Sujoy Kumar Jana, Indrajit Pal, Dilip Kumar Pal

Abstract:

Tectonism induced Tsunami, landslide, ground shaking leading to liquefaction, infrastructure collapse, conflagration are the common earthquake hazards that are experienced worldwide. Apart from human casualty, the damage to built-up infrastructures like roads, bridges, buildings and other properties are the collateral episodes. The appropriate planning must precede with a view to safeguarding people’s welfare, infrastructures and other properties at a site based on proper evaluation and assessments of the potential level of earthquake hazard. The information or output results can be used as a tool that can assist in minimizing risk from earthquakes and also can foster appropriate construction design and formulation of building codes at a particular site. Different disciplines adopt different approaches in assessing and monitoring earthquake hazard throughout the world. For the present study, GIS and Remote Sensing potentials were utilized to evaluate and assess earthquake hazards of the study region. Subsurface geology and geomorphology were the common features or factors that were assessed and integrated within GIS environment coupling with seismicity data layers like; Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), historical earthquake magnitude and earthquake depth to evaluate and prepare liquefaction potential zones (LPZ) culminating in earthquake hazard zonation of our study sites. The liquefaction can eventuate in the aftermath of severe ground shaking with amenable site soil condition, geology and geomorphology. The latter site conditions or the wave propagation media were assessed to identify the potential zones. The precept has been that during any earthquake event the seismic wave is generated and propagates from earthquake focus to the surface. As it propagates, it passes through certain geological or geomorphological and specific soil features, where these features according to their strength/stiffness/moisture content, aggravates or attenuates the strength of wave propagation to the surface. Accordingly, the resulting intensity of shaking may or may not culminate in the collapse of built-up infrastructures. For the case of earthquake hazard zonation, the overall assessment was carried out through integrating seismicity data layers with LPZ. Multi-criteria Evaluation (MCE) with Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was adopted for this study. It is a GIS technology that involves integration of several factors (thematic layers) that can have a potential contribution to liquefaction triggered by earthquake hazard. The factors are to be weighted and ranked in the order of their contribution to earthquake induced liquefaction. The weightage and ranking assigned to each factor are to be normalized with AHP technique. The spatial analysis tools i.e., Raster calculator, reclassify, overlay analysis in ArcGIS 10 software were mainly employed in the study. The final output of LPZ and Earthquake hazard zones were reclassified to ‘Very high’, ‘High’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Low’ and ‘Very Low’ to indicate levels of hazard within a study region.

Keywords: hazard micro-zonation, liquefaction, multi criteria evaluation, tectonism

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Authors: Nisha Gaur, K.Narasimhulu, Pydi Setty Yelamarthy

Abstract:

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have become a great concern due to their toxicity, transformation and bioaccumulation property. Therefore, this review highlights the types, sources, classification health hazards and mobility of organochlorine pesticides, industrial chemicals and their by-products. Moreover, with the signing of Aarhus and Stockholm convention on POPs there is an increased demand to identify and characterise such chemicals from industries and environment which are toxic in nature or to existing biota. Due to long life, persistent nature they enter into body through food and transfer to all tropic levels of ecological unit. In addition, POPs are lipophilic in nature and accumulate in lipid-containing tissues and organs which further indicates the adverse symptoms after the threshold limit. Though, several potential enzymes are reported from various categories of microorganism and their interaction with POPs may break down the complex compounds either through biodegradation, biostimulation or bioaugmentation process, however technological advancement and human activities have also indicated to explore the possibilities for the role of genetically modified organisms and metagenomics and metabolomics. Though many studies have been done to develop low cost, effective and reliable method for detection, determination and removal of ultra-trace concentration of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) but due to insufficient knowledge and non-feasibility of technique, the safe management of POPs is still a global challenge.

Keywords: persistent organic pollutants, bioaccumulation, biostimulation, microbial remediation

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Authors: Paulomi (Polly) Burey, Zoe Lynch

Abstract:

In STEM education, students often have difficulty linking static images and words from textbooks or online resources, to the underlying mechanisms of the topic of study. This can often dissuade some students from pursuing study in the physical and chemical sciences. A growing movement in current day students demonstrates that the YouTube generation feel they learn best from video or dynamic, interactive learning tools, and will seek these out as alternatives to their textbooks and the classroom learning environment. Chemistry, and in particular visualization of molecular structures in everyday materials, can prove difficult to comprehend without significant interaction with the teacher of the content and concepts, beyond the timeframe of a typical class. This can cause a learning hurdle for distance education students, and so it is necessary to provide strong electronic tools and resources to aid their learning. As one of the electronic resources, an animation design approach to link everyday materials to their underlying chemistry would be beneficial for student learning, with the focus here being on food. These animations were designed and storyboarded with a scaling approach and commence with a focus on the food material itself and its component parts. This is followed by animated transitions to its underlying microstructure and identifying features, and finally showing the molecules responsible for these microstructural features. The animation ends with a reverse transition back through the molecular structure, microstructure, all the way back to the original food material, and also animates some reactions that may occur during food processing to demonstrate the purpose of the underlying chemistry and how it affects the food we eat. Using this cyclical approach of linking students’ existing knowledge of food to help guide them to understanding more complex knowledge, and then reinforcing their learning by linking back to their prior knowledge again, enhances student understanding. Food is also an ideal material system for students to interact with, in a hands-on manner to further reinforce their learning. These animations were launched this year in a 2nd year University Food Chemistry course with improved learning outcomes for the cohort.

Keywords: chemistry, food science, future pedagogy, STEM Education

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Authors: Musarat Ishaq, Tara Karnezis, Ramin Shayan

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Lipedema, a poorly understood chronic disease of adipose hyper-deposition, is often mistaken for obesity and causes significant impairment to mobility and quality-of-life. To identify molecular mechanisms underpinning lipedema, we employed comprehensive omics-based comparative analyses of whole tissue, adipocyte precursors (adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs)), and adipocytes from patients with or without lipedema. Transcriptional profiling revealed significant differences in lipedema tissue, adipocytes, and ADSCs, with altered levels of mRNAs involved inproliferation and cell adhesion. One highly up-regulated gene in lipedema adipose tissue, adipocytes and ADSCs, ZIC4, encodes Zinc Finger Protein ZIC 4, a class of transcription factor which may be involved in regulating metabolism and adipogenesis. ZIC4 inhibition impaired the adipogenesis of ADSCs into mature adipocytes. Epigenetic regulation study revealed overexpression of ZIC4 is involved in decreased promoter DNA methylation and subsequent decrease in adipogenesis. These epigenetic modifications can alter adipocytes microenvironment and adipocytes differentiation. Our study show that epigenetic events regulate the ability of ADSCs to commit and differentiate into mature adipocytes by modulating ZIC4.

Keywords: lipedema, adipose-derived stem cells, adipose tisue, adipocytes, zinc finger protein, epigenetic

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Authors: Victor Jeifets, Liliia Khadorich

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The paper describes the OAS role in dispute resolution. The authors make an attempt to identify a general pattern of the OAS activities within the peaceful settlement of interstate conflicts, in the beginning of 21st century, as well as to analyze some features of Honduras–Belize, Nicaragua–Honduras, Honduras–El Salvador, Costa-Rica–Nicaragua, Colombia–Ecuador cases.

Keywords: OAS, peace maintenance, border dispute, dispute resolution, peaceful settlement

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Authors: Oentoeng Wahjoe

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Liberalisation of air transportation practically is known as open sky policy. In the practice, the liberalisation of air transportation is divided into two group of services, i.e.: air transportation services, for passengers and goods (air service) which is categorized as hard rights and supporting services of the air transportation services (ancillary services) which is categorized as soft rights. The research in this paper focused in air transportation services for passengers and goods, consists of nine freedom of the air. The impact of the policy such as the Agreement regarding ASEAN open sky policy, is the readiness of Indonesian air transportation companies to compete with foreign air transportation companies. The goverment of Indonesia has to regulate the implementation of ASEAN Open Sky Policy to be projected in order to comply with national development, i.e. the function of air law in national development. The policy has been implemented by enact or amend the existing law as air law that regulate flight lines, the following provisions: To regulate flight line for foreign airlines to open flight lines in Indonesia region which may not or have not land and sea transportation. The regulation is intended to supprot mobility of humans, goods and services that may fulfil the needs of the people of Indonesia, which materially and spiritually and the development of the region. The regulation of flight lines of foreign air transportation for region of tourism, industrial and trade centre. The regulation is intended to support the national economic development of Indonesia.

Keywords: transport, liberalization, impact, Indonesian air service

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Nabil A. A. Mohamed, Alaa A. A. Balbaa, Khaled E. Ayad

Abstract:

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is the most common form of arthritis and leads to more activity limitations (e.g., disability in walking and stair climbing) than any other disease, especially in the elderly. Recently, impaired proprioceptive accuracy of the knee has been proposed as a local factor in the onset and progression of radiographic knee OA (ROA). Purpose: To compare the clinical and radiological findings in healthy with that of knee OA. Also, to determine if there is a correlation between the clinical and radiological findings in patients with knee OA. Subjects: Fifty one patients diagnosed as unilateral or bilateral knee OA with age ranged between 35-70 years, from both gender without any previous history of knee trauma or surgery, and twenty one normal subjects with age ranged from 35 - 68 years. METHODS: peak torque/body weight (PT/BW) was recorded from knee extensors at isokinetic isometric mode at angle of 45 degree. Also, the Absolute Angular Error was recorded at 45O and 30O to measure joint position sense (JPS). They made anteroposterior (AP) plain X-rays from standing semiflexed knee position and their average score of Timed Up and Go test(TUG) and WOMAC were recorded as a measure of knee pain, stiffness and function. Comparison between the mean values of different variables in the two groups was performed using unpaired student t test. The P value less or equal to 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were significant differences between the studied variables between the experimental and control groups except the values of AAE at 30O. Also, there were no significant correlation between the clinical findings (pain, function, muscle strength and proprioception) and the severity of arthritic changes in X-rays. CONCLUSION: From the finding of the current study we can conclude that there were a significant difference between the both groups in all studied parameters (the WOMAC, functional level, quadriceps muscle strength and the joint proprioception). Also this study did not support the dependency on radiological findings in management of knee OA as the radiological features did not necessarily indicate the level of structural damage of patients with knee OA and we should consider the clinical features in our treatment plan.

Keywords: joint position sense, peak torque, proprioception, radiological knee osteoarthritis

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Authors: Tyler T. Procko, Steve Collins

Abstract:

New features in .NET (6 and above) permit streamlined access to information residing in JSON-capable relational databases, such as SQL Server (2016 and above). Traditional methods of data access now comparatively involve unnecessary steps which compromise system performance. This work posits that the established ORM (Object Relational Mapping) based methods of data access in applications and APIs result in common issues, e.g., object-relational impedance mismatch. Recent developments in C# and .NET Core combined with a framework of modern SQL Server coding conventions have allowed better technical solutions to the problem. As an amelioration, this work details the language features and coding conventions which enable this streamlined approach, resulting in an open-source .NET library implementation called Codeless Data Access (CODA). Canonical approaches rely on ad-hoc mapping code to perform type conversions between the client and back-end database; with CODA, no mapping code is needed, as JSON is freely mapped to SQL and vice versa. CODA streamlines API data access by improving on three aspects of immediate concern to web developers, database engineers and cybersecurity professionals: Simplicity, Speed and Security. Simplicity is engendered by cutting out the “middleman” steps, effectively making API data access a whitebox, whereas traditional methods are blackbox. Speed is improved because of the fewer translational steps taken, and security is improved as attack surfaces are minimized. An empirical evaluation of the speed of the CODA approach in comparison to ORM approaches ] is provided and demonstrates that the CODA approach is significantly faster. CODA presents substantial benefits for API developer workflows by simplifying data access, resulting in better speed and security and allowing developers to focus on productive development rather than being mired in data access code. Future considerations include a generalization of the CODA method and extension outside of the .NET ecosystem to other programming languages.

Keywords: API data access, database, JSON, .NET core, SQL server

Procedia PDF Downloads 66