Search results for: closed loop identification

Authors: M. A. Meslem

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For precise geoid determination, we use a reference field to subtract long and medium wavelength of the gravity field from observations data when we use the remove-compute-restore technique. Therefore, a comparison study between considered models should be made in order to select the optimal reference gravity field to be used. In this context, two recent global geopotential models have been selected to perform this comparison study over Northern Algeria. The Earth Gravitational Model (EGM2008) and the Global Gravity Model (GECO) conceived with a combination of the first model with anomalous potential derived from a GOCE satellite-only global model. Free air gravity anomalies in the area under study have been used to compute residual data using both gravity field models and a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) to subtract the residual terrain effect from the gravity observations. Residual data were used to generate local empirical covariance functions and their fitting to the closed form in order to compare their statistical behaviors according to both cases. Finally, height anomalies were computed from both geopotential models and compared to a set of GPS levelled points on benchmarks using least squares adjustment. The result described in details in this paper regarding these two models has pointed out a slight advantage of GECO global model globally through error degree variances comparison and ground-truth evaluation.

Keywords: quasigeoid, gravity aomalies, covariance, GGM

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Authors: Chong Zhang, Mu-Xuan Tao

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In several earthquakes, numerous reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to seismic excitation demonstrated a collapse pattern characterized by column hinges, though designed according to the Strong-Column-Weak-Beam (S-C-W-B) criteria. The effect of biaxial seismic excitation on the disparity between design and actual performance is carefully investigated in this article. First, a modified load contour method is proposed to derive a closed-form equation of biaxial bending moment strength, which is verified by numerical and experimental tests. Afterwards, a group of time history analyses of a simple frame modeled by fiber beam-column elements subjected to biaxial seismic excitation are conducted to verify that the current S-C-W-B criteria are not adequate to prevent the occurrence of column hinges. A biaxial over-strength factor is developed based on the proposed equation, and the reinforcement of columns is appropriately amplified with this factor to prevent the occurrence of column hinges under biaxial excitation, which is proved to be effective by another group of time history analyses.

Keywords: biaxial bending moment capacity, biaxial seismic excitation, fiber beam model, load contour method, strong-column-weak-beam

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Authors: Sungging Pintowantoro, Yuli Setiyorini, Rochman Rochim, Agung Purniawan

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The bacterial infections are frequent and undesired occurrences after bone fracture treatment. One approach to reduce the incidence of bone fracture infection is the additional of microbial agents into bone cement. In this study, the synthesis of bone cement from re-cycles biowaste was successfully conducted completed with anti-bacterial function. The re-cycle of biowaste using microwave assisted was done in our previous studies in order to produce some of powder (calcium carbonate, carbonated-hydroxyapatite and chitosan). The ratio of these powder combined with methylmethacrylate (MMA) as the matrix in bone cement were investigated using XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX, hardness test and anti-bacterial test, respectively. From the XRD, FTIR and EDX were resulted the formation of carbonated-hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and chitosan. The morphology was revealed porous structure both C2H3K1L and C2H1K3L, respectively. The antibacterial activity was tested against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) for 24 hours. The inhibition of S. aureus was clearly shown, the hollow zone was resulted in various distance 14.2mm, 7.5mm, and 7.7mm, respectively. The hardness test was depicted in various results, however, C2H1K3L can be achived 36.84HV which is closed to dry cancelous bone 35HV. In general, this study results was promising materials to use as bone cement materials.

Keywords: biomaterials, biowaste recycling, materials processing, microwave processing

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Authors: Guadalupe López-Bonilla

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Students of all educational levels participate in literacy practices that may involve print or digital media. Scholars from the New Literacy Studies distinguish practices that fulfill institutional purposes such as those established at schools from literate practices aimed at doing other kinds of activities, such as reading instructions in order to play a video game; the first are known as institutional practices while the latter are considered vernacular literacies. When students perform these kinds of activities they engage with print and digital media according to the demands of the task. In this paper, it is aimed to discuss the results of a research project focusing on literacy practices of high school students at 10 urban cybercafés in Mexico. The main objective was to analyze the literacy practices of students performing both school tasks and vernacular literacies. The methodology included a focused ethnography with online and face to face observations of 10 high school students (5 male and 5 female) and interviews after performing each task. In the results, it is presented how students treat texts as open, dynamic and relational artifacts when engaging in vernacular literacies; while texts are conceived as closed, authoritarian and fixed documents when performing school activities. Samples of each type of activity are shown followed by a discussion of the pedagogical implications for improving school literacy.

Keywords: digital literacy, text, school literacy, vernacular practices

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Authors: Manohar Salla, Mark S. Butler, Ruby Pelingon, Geraldine Kaeslin, Daniel E. Croker, Janet C. Reid, Jong Min Baek, Paul V. Bernhardt, Elizabeth M. J. Gillam, Matthew A. Cooper, Avril A. B. Robertson

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MCC950 is a potent and selective inhibitor of the NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome that shows early promise for treatment of inflammatory diseases. The identification of major metabolites of lead molecule is an important step during drug development process. It provides an information about the metabolically labile sites in the molecule and thereby helping medicinal chemists to design metabolically stable molecules. To identify major metabolites of MCC950, the compound was incubated with human liver microsomes and subsequent analysis by (+)- and (−)-QTOF-ESI-MS/MS revealed a major metabolite formed due to hydroxylation on 1,2,3,5,6,7-hexahydro-s-indacene moiety of MCC950. This major metabolite can lose two water molecules and three possible regioisomers were synthesized. Co-elution of major metabolite with each of the synthesized compounds using HPLC-ESI-SRM-MS/MS revealed the structure of the metabolite (±) N-((1-hydroxy-1,2,3,5,6,7-hexahydro-s-indacen-4-yl)carbamoyl)-4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)furan-2-sulfonamide. Subsequent synthesis of individual enantiomers and coelution in HPLC-ESI-SRM-MS/MS using a chiral column revealed the metabolite was R-(+)- N-((1-hydroxy-1,2,3,5,6,7-hexahydro-s-indacen-4-yl)carbamoyl)-4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)furan-2-sulfonamide. To study the possible cytochrome P450 enzyme(s) responsible for the formation of major metabolite, MCC950 was incubated with a panel of cytochrome P450 enzymes. The result indicated that CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C18, CYP2C19, CYP2J2 and CYP3A4 are most likely responsible for the formation of the major metabolite. The biological activity of the major metabolite and the other synthesized regioisomers was also investigated by screening for for NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitory activity and cytotoxicity. The major metabolite had 170-fold less inhibitory activity (IC50-1238 nM) than MCC950 (IC50-7.5 nM). Interestingly, one regioisomer had shown nanomolar inhibitory activity (IC50-232 nM). However, no evidence of cytotoxicity was observed with any of these synthesized compounds when tested in human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK293) and human liver hepatocellular carcinoma G2 cells (HepG2). These key findings give an insight into the SAR of the hexahydroindacene moiety of MCC950 and reveal a metabolic soft spot which could be blocked by chemical modification.

Keywords: Cytochrome P450, inflammasome, MCC950, metabolite, microsome, NLRP3

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Authors: Setareh Gorji Ghalamestani, Lieven Vandevelde, Jan Melkebeek

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In this work, an experimental technique is applied for the measurements of the vibrations and deformation of a test transformer core. Since the grid voltage contains some higher harmonics, in addition to a purely sinusoidal magnetisation of the core the presence of third harmonic is also studied. The vibrations of the transformer core for points as well as the surface scan of the leg show more deformation in the corners of the leg than the middle of the leg. The influence of the higher harmonic of the magnetisation on the core deformation is also more significant in the corners of the leg. The core deformation shape under a sinusoidal magnetisation with a higher harmonic is more wavy and fluctuating than that under a purely sinusoidal magnetisation.

Keywords: vibrations and noise, transformer, vibration measurements, laser vibrometer, higher harmonic

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Authors: Arun Prasad

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Background: Robotic Bariatric Surgery is a good option for the super obese where laparoscopy demands challenging technical skills. Gastric bypass can be difficult due to inability of the robot to work in two quadrants at the same time. Lonroth technique of gastric bypass involves a totally supracolic surgery where all anastomosis are done in one quadrant only. Methods: We have done 78 robotic gastric bypass surgeries using the modified Lonroth technique. The robot is docked above the head of the patient in the midline. Camera port is placed supra umbilically. Two ports are placed on the left side of the patient and one port on the right side of the patient. An assistant port is placed between the camera port and right sided robotic port for use of stapler. Gastric pouch is made first followed by the gastrojejunostomy that is a four layered sutured anastomosis. Jejuno jejunostomy is then performed followed by a leak test and then the jejunum is divided. A 150 cm biliopancreatic limb and a 75 cm alimentary limb are finally obtained. Mesenteric and Petersen’s defects are then closed. Results: All patients had a successful robotic procedure. Mean time taken in the first 5 cases was 130 minutes. This reduced to a mean of 95 minutes in the last five cases. There were no intraoperative or post operative complications. Conclusions: While a hybrid technique of partly laparoscopic and partly robotic gastric bypass has been done at many centres, we feel using the modified Lonroth technique, a totally robotic gastric bypass surgery fully utilizes the potential of robotic bariatric surgery.

Keywords: robot, bariatric, totally robotic, gastric bypass

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Authors: Naomi Sakamoto, Eisuke Fukuma, Mika Nashimoto, Yoshitomo Koshida

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Background: Selective localization of the metastatic lymph node with clip and removal of clipped nodes with sentinel lymph node (SLN), known as targeted axillary dissection (TAD), reduced false-negative rates (FNR) of SLN biopsy (SLNB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). For the patients who achieved nodal pathologic complete response (pCR), accurate staging of axilla by TAD lead to omit axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), decreasing postoperative arm morbidity without a negative effect on overall survival. This study aimed to investigate the ultrasound (US) identification rate and success removal rate of two kinds of ultrasound-visible clips placed in metastatic lymph nodes during TAD procedure. Methods: This prospective study was conducted using patients with clinically T1-3, N1, 2, M0 breast cancer undergoing NAC followed by surgery. A US-visible clip was placed in the suspicious lymph node under US guidance before neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Before surgery, US examination was performed to evaluate the detection rate of clipped node. During the surgery, the clipped node was removed using several localization techniques, including hook-wire localization, dye-injection, or fluorescence technique, followed by a dual-technique SLNB and resection of palpable nodes if present. For the fluorescence technique, after injection of 0.1-0.2 mL of indocyanine green dye (ICG) into the clipped node, ICG fluorescent imaging was performed using the Photodynamic Eye infrared camera (Hamamatsu Photonics k. k., Shizuoka, Japan). For the dye injection method, 0.1-0.2 mL of pyoktanin blue dye was injected into the clipped node. Results: A total of 29 patients were enrolled. Hydromark™ breast biopsy site markers (Hydromark, T3 shape; Devicor Medical Japan, Tokyo, Japan) was used in 15patients, whereas a UltraCor™ Twirl™ breast marker (Twirl; C.R. Bard, Inc, NJ, USA) was placed in 14 patients. US identified the clipped node marked with the UltraCore Twirl in 100% (14/14) and with the Hydromark in 93.3% (14/15, p = ns). Success removal of clipped node marked with the UltraCore Twirl was achieved in 100% (14/14), whereas the node marked with the Hydromark was removed in 80% (12/15) (p = ns). Conclusions: The ultrasound identification rate differed between the two types of ultrasound-visible clips, which also affected the success removal rate of clipped nodes. Labelling the positive node with a US-highly-visible clip allowed successful TAD.

Keywords: breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, targeted axillary dissection, breast tissue marker, clip

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Authors: John Kong Shan Ho

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In June 2022, the Law Commission of England and Wales published an options paper to examine how the law on corporate criminal liability can be reformed under the English system. The paper merely details options for reform and does not seek to make recommendations. However, the paper has ruled out the “respondeat superior” approach of the US and “corporate culture” approach of Australia as reform options. On balance, the preferred reform option of the Law Commission is the “senior officer” approach as currently adopted in Canada. This article is written against such background and argues that due to similarities between the English and Canadian systems, the latter’s approach is more ideal to be adopted by the former as a model for reform in this area.

Keywords: corporate criminal liability, identification principle, directing mind and will, England, Canada

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Authors: M. Doudi, M. H. Pazandeh, L. Rahimzadeh Torabi

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Bedsores are pressure ulcers that occur on the skin or tissue due to being immobile and lying in bed for extended periods. Bedsores have the potential to progress into open ulcers, increasing the possibility of a variety of bacterial infections. Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen of considerable clinical importance, exhibited a significant correlation with Bedsores (pressure ulcers) infections, thereby manifesting a wide spectrum of antibiotic resistance. The emergence of drug resistance has led researchers to focus on alternative methods, particularly phage therapy, for tackling bacterial infections. Phage therapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic approach to regulate the activity of these agents. The management of bacterial infections greatly benefits from the clinical utilization of bacteriophages as a valuable antimicrobial intervention. The primary objective of this investigation consisted of isolating and discerning potent bacteriophage capable of targeting multi-drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) bacteria obtained from pressure ulcers. The present study analyzed and isolated A. baumannii strains obtained from a cohort of patients suffering from pressure ulcers at Taleghani Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. An approach that included biochemical and molecular identification techniques was used to determine the taxonomic classification of bacterial isolates at the genus and species levels. The molecular identification process was facilitated by using the 16S rRNA gene in combination with universal primers 27 F and 1492 R. Bacteriophage was obtained through the isolation process conducted on treatment plant sewage located in Isfahan, Iran. The main goal of this study was to evaluate different characteristics of phage, such as their appearance, the range of hosts they can infect, how quickly they can enter a host, their stability at varying temperatures and pH levels, their effectiveness in killing bacteria, the growth pattern of a single phage stage, mapping of enzymatic digestion, and identification of proteomics patterns. The findings demonstrated that an examination was conducted on a sample of 50 specimens, wherein 15 instances of A. baumannii were identified. These microorganisms are the predominant Gram-negative agents known to cause wound infections in individuals suffering from bedsores. The study's findings indicated a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the strains isolated from pressure ulcers, excluding the clinical strains that exhibited responsiveness to colistin. According to the findings obtained from assessments of host range and morphological characteristics of bacteriophage VbɸAB-1, it can be concluded that this phage possesses specificity towards A. Baumannii BAH_Glau1001 was classified as a member of the Podoviridae family. The bacteriophage mentioned earlier showed the strongest antibacterial effect at a temperature of 18 °C and a pH of 6.5. Through the utilization of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis on protein fragments, it was established that the bacteriophage VbɸAB-1 exhibited a size range between 50 and 75 kilodaltons (KDa). The numerous research findings on the effectiveness of phages and the safety studies conducted suggest that the phages studied in this research can be considered as a practical solution and recommended approach for controlling and treating stubborn pathogens in burn wounds among hospitalized patients. The findings of our research indicated that isolated phages could be an effective antimicrobial and an appreciate candidate for prophylaxis against pressure ulcers.

Keywords: acinetobacter baumannii, extremely drug-resistant, phage therapy, surgery wound

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Authors: Paola Villoria Saez, Mercedes Del Rio Merino, Jaime Santacruz Astorqui, Cesar Porras Amores

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In construction the Circular Economy covers the whole cycle of the building construction: from production and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials. The circular economy will definitely contribute to 'closing the loop' of construction product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use, helping to build a market for reused construction materials salvaged from demolition sites, boosting global competitiveness and fostering sustainable economic growth. In this context, this paper presents the latest research of 'Waste to resources (W2R)' project funded by the Spanish Government, which seeks new solutions to improve energy efficiency in buildings by developing new building materials and products that are less expensive, more durable, with higher quality and more environmentally friendly. This project differs from others as its main objective is to reduce to almost zero the Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) generated in building rehabilitation works. In order to achieve this objective, the group is looking for new ways of CDW recycling as raw materials for new conglomerate materials. With these new materials, construction elements reducing building energy consumption will be proposed. In this paper, the results obtained in the project are presented. Several tests were performed to gypsum samples containing different percentages of CDW waste generated in Spanish building retroffiting works. Results were further analyzed and one of the gypsum composites was highlighted and discussed. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the Spanish State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under 'Waste 2 Resources' Project (BIA2013-43061-R).

Keywords: building waste, CDW, gypsum, recycling, resources

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Authors: Chaithanya Pothuganti

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Open and semi-open spaces in educational buildings like corridors, mid landings, seating spaces, lobby, courtyards are traditionally have been the places of social communion and interaction which helps in promoting the knowledge, performance, activeness, and motivation in students. Factors like availability of land, commercialization, of educational facilities, especially in e-techno and smart schools, led to closed classrooms to accommodate students thereby lack quality open and semi-open spaces. This insufficient attention towards open space design which is a means of informal learning misses an opportunity to encourage the student’s skill development, behavior and learning skills. The core objective of this paper is to find the level of impact on student learning behavior and to identify the suitable proportions and configuration of spaces that shape the schools. In order to achieve this, different types of open spaces in schools and their impact on student’s performance in various existing models are analysed using case studies to draw some design principles. The study is limited to indoor open spaces like corridors, break out spaces and courtyards. The expected outcome of the paper is to suggest better design considerations for the development of semi-open and open spaces which functions as an element for informal learnings. Its focus is to provide further thinking on designing and development of open spaces in educational buildings.

Keywords: configuration of spaces and proportions, informal learning, open spaces, schools, student’s behavior

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Authors: Shadrack Mambo, Karim Djouani, Yskandar Hamam, Barend van Wyk, Patrick Siarry

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This paper discusses the current trends in medical image registration techniques and addresses the need to provide a solid theoretical foundation for research endeavours. Methodological analysis and synthesis of quality literature was done, providing a platform for developing a good foundation for research study in this field which is crucial in understanding the existing levels of knowledge. Research on medical image registration techniques assists clinical and medical practitioners in diagnosis of tumours and lesion in anatomical organs, thereby enhancing fast and accurate curative treatment of patients. Literature review aims to provide a solid theoretical foundation for research endeavours in image registration techniques. Developing a solid foundation for a research study is possible through a methodological analysis and synthesis of existing contributions. Out of these considerations, the aim of this paper is to enhance the scientific community’s understanding of the current status of research in medical image registration techniques and also communicate to them, the contribution of this research in the field of image processing. The gaps identified in current techniques can be closed by use of artificial neural networks that form learning systems designed to minimise error function. The paper also suggests several areas of future research in the image registration.

Keywords: image registration techniques, medical images, neural networks, optimisaztion, transformation

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Authors: Zhaozhang Sun

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Health communication is essential in promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing unhealthy behaviours, managing disease conditions, and eventually reducing health disparities. Nowadays, social media provides unprecedented opportunities for enhancing health communication for both healthcare providers and people with health conditions, including self-management of chronic conditions such as diabetes. Meanwhile, a special group of active social media users have started playing a pivotal role in providing health ‘solutions’. Such individuals are often referred to as ‘influencers’ because of their ‘central’ position in the online communication system and the persuasive effect their actions and advice may have on audiences' health-related knowledge, attitudes, confidence and behaviours. Work on social media influencers (SMIs) has gained much attention in a specific research field of “influencer marketing”, which mainly focuses on emphasising the use of SMIs to promote or endorse brands’ products and services in the business. Yet to date, a lack of well-studied and empirical evidence has been conducted to guide the exploration of health-related social media influencers. The failure to investigate health-related SMIs can significantly limit the effectiveness of communicating health on social media. Therefore, this article presents a study to identify key diabetes-related SMIs in the UK and the potential implications of information provided by identified social media influencers on their audiences’ diabetes-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to bridge the research gap that exists in linking work on influencers in marketing to health communication. The multidisciplinary theories and methods in social media, communication, marketing and diabetes have been adopted, seeking to provide a more practical and promising approach to investigate the potential of social media influencers in health communication. Twitter was chosen as the social media platform to initially identify health influencers and the Twitter API academic was used to extract all the qualitative data. Health-related Influencer Identification Model was developed based on social network analysis, analytic hierarchy process and other screening criteria. Meanwhile, a two-section English-version online questionnaire has been developed to explore the potential implications of social media influencers’ (SMI’s) diabetes-related narratives on the health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours (KAB) of their audience. The paper is organised as follows: first, the theoretical and research background of health communication and social media influencers was discussed. Second, the methodology was described by illustrating the model for the identification of health-related SMIs and the development process of the SMIKAB instrument, followed by the results and discussions. The limitations and contributions of this study were highlighted in the summary.

Keywords: health communication, Interdisciplinary research, social media influencers, diabetes management

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Authors: Masoud Shahmanzari

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The aim of this paper is to present a Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) with Tabu Search (TS) conditions for the Roaming Salesman Problem (RSP). The RSP is a special case of the well-known traveling salesman problem (TSP) where a set of cities with time-dependent rewards and a set of campaign days are given. Each city can be visited on any day and a subset of cities can be visited multiple times. The goal is to determine an optimal campaign schedule consist of daily open/closed tours that visit some cities and maximizes the total net benefit while respecting daily maximum tour duration constraints and the necessity to return campaign base frequently. This problem arises in several real-life applications and particularly in election logistics where depots are not fixed. We formulate the problem as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP), in which we capture as many real-world aspects of the RSP as possible. We also present a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm based on a VNS with TS conditions. The initial feasible solution is constructed via a new matheuristc approach based on the decomposition of the original problem. Next, this solution is improved in terms of the collected rewards using the proposed local search procedure. We consider a set of 81 cities in Turkey and a campaign of 30 days as our largest instance. Computational results on real-world instances show that the developed algorithm could find near-optimal solutions effectively.

Keywords: optimization, routing, election logistics, heuristics

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Authors: Mohammed Nadir Djedid, Abdallah Chouarfia

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Transparency of the system and its integration into the natural environment of the user are some of the important features of pervasive computing. But these characteristics that are considered as the strongest points of pervasive systems are also their weak points in terms of the user’s privacy. The privacy in pervasive systems involves more than the confidentiality of communications and concealing the identity of virtual users. The physical presence and behavior of the user in the pervasive space cannot be completely hidden and can reveal the secret of his/her identity and affect his/her privacy. This paper shows that the application of major techniques for protecting the user’s privacy still insufficient. A new solution named Shadow Protocol is proposed, which allows the users to authenticate and interact with the surrounding devices within an ubiquitous computing environment while preserving their privacy.

Keywords: pervasive systems, identification, authentication, privacy

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Authors: Mario Winkelhaus, Franz Vallée

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Many companies see horizontal cooperation as a promising possibility to increase their efficiency in outbound logistics. The selection of suitable partners has particular importance in the formation of horizontal cooperation. Up until now, literature mainly focused on general applicable methods for the identification of cooperation partners without a closer examination of the specific area where the cooperation takes place. Thus, specific criteria as a basis for the partner selection in the field of logistics cooperation are missing. To close this scientific gap, an explorative research approach is used to answer the open question of the article. To collect the needed criteria, a qualitative experiment with 20 participants from 16 companies was done. Within this workshop, general criteria, as well as sector-specific requirements, have been identified which were integrated in a partner selection model.

Keywords: horizontal cooperation, logistics cooperation partnering criteria, partner selection

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Authors: Aparna Gulhane

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Biometrics is the science and technology of measuring and analyzing biological data form the basis of research in biological measuring techniques for the purpose of people identification and recognition. In information technology, biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as DNA, fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements. Biometric systems are used to authenticate the person's identity. The idea is to use the special characteristics of a person to identify him. These papers present a biometric authentication techniques and actual deployment of potential by overall invocation of biometrics recognition, with an independent testing of various biometric authentication products and technology.

Keywords: types of biometrics, importance of biometric, review for biometrics and getting a new implementation, biometric authentication technique

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Authors: Magda Posani, Maria Do Rosario Veiga, Vasco Peixoto De Freitas

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The presented research considers the hygrothermal data acquired in the municipal library of Porto. The library is housed in an XVIII century convent and, among all the rooms in the construction, one, in particular, was chosen for the monitoring campaign because of the presence of a great number of historic books. Temperature and relative humidity, as well as CO₂ concentration, were measured for six consecutive months, in the period December 24th - June 24th. The indoor environment of the building is controlled with a heating and cooling system that is turned on only during the opening hours of the library. The ventilation rate is low because the windows are kept closed, and there is no forced ventilation. The micro-climate is analyzed in terms of users’ comfort and degradation risks for historic books and valuable building surfaces. Through a comparison between indoor and outdoor measured hygrothermal data, indoor relative humidity appears very stable. The influence of the hygroscopicity of books on the stabilization of indoor relative humidity is therefore investigated in detail. The paper finally discusses the benefits given by the presence of historic books in libraries with intermittent heating and cooling. The possibility of obtaining a comfortable and stable indoor climate with low use of HVAC systems in these conditions, while avoiding degradation risks for books and historic building components, is further debated.

Keywords: books, historic buildings, hygroscopicity, relative humidity

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Authors: Lavanya Annadi, Fahimeh Jafari

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Transportation brings immense benefits to society, but it also has its costs. Costs include such as the cost of infrastructure, personnel and equipment, but also the loss of life and property in traffic accidents on the road, delays in travel due to traffic congestion and various indirect costs in terms of air transport. More research has been done to identify the various factors that affect road accidents, such as road infrastructure, traffic, sociodemographic characteristics, land use, and the environment. The aim of this research is to predict the probabilistic crash prediction of vehicles using machine learning due to natural and structural reasons by excluding spontaneous reasons like overspeeding etc., in the United States. These factors range from weather factors, like weather conditions, precipitation, visibility, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, pressure, and humidity to human made structures like road structure factors like bump, roundabout, no exit, turning loop, give away, etc. Probabilities are dissected into ten different classes. All the predictions are based on multiclass classification techniques, which are supervised learning. This study considers all crashes that happened in all states collected by the US government. To calculate the probability, multinomial expected value was used and assigned a classification label as the crash probability. We applied three different classification models, including multiclass Logistic Regression, Random Forest and XGBoost. The numerical results show that XGBoost achieved a 75.2% accuracy rate which indicates the part that is being played by natural and structural reasons for the crash. The paper has provided in-deep insights through exploratory data analysis.

Keywords: road safety, crash prediction, exploratory analysis, machine learning

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Authors: Zachary Muthii Rukenya, James Mbaria, Peter Mbaabu, Kiama Stephen Gitahi, Ronald Onzago

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Aloe turkanensis is one of the widely used medicinal shrub and in Kenya the plant is mainly found in Baringo, Isiolo, Laikipia, Turkana and West Pokot Counties where it is used in ethno-medicine and ethno-veterinary medicine. The Turkana community uses the plant products to manage malaria, wounds, stomach ache, constipation, pain, skin infection, poultry diseases and retained afterbirth in cows. This evaluated the efficacy and safety of the plant obtained from Turkana County, Kenya. Preliminary data on the use of the plant in the county was collected through observation, photographing and interviews. A sample of the whole plant was harvested in Natira sublocation, in ex-Turkana west district in February 2012 after identification by Aloe-working group herbalists who voluntarily provided information on its medicinal uses. Botanical identification was done at Kenya Forest Research Centre in Karura where voucher specimen was deposited. Cold maceration using 70% methanol and distilled water was used for extraction. Bioassays were to determine the effects of the plant extracts on brine shrimp and selected bacterial and fungal cultures. The extracts were tested in-vitro activity against standard cultures of B. cereus (ATCC 11778), S. aureus (ATCC25923), P. aeroginosa (ATCC 27853), E. coli (ATCC 25922) and a human infections clinical isolate of C. albicans. The extracts of Aloe turkanensis inhibited the growth B. cereus (100-200 mg/ml), S. aureus (50-100 mg/ml), P. aeroginosa (200mg/ml), E. coli (400mg/ml) while C. albicans was not affected. The extracts also inhibited the growth of S. aureus and B. cereus with mean diameters of inhibition zones being 19.75±1 mm and 18.5±05 mm reapectively. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, tarpenoids, steroids, quinones, saponins and tannins in the plant extracts. The extract was found to be non-toxic at a concentration of 1000µg/ml with a 100% survival of Brine Shrimp larva. It was concluded that Aloe turkanensis growing the study area has metabolites that inhibit the growth of microorganisms and is however, there is need for further studies to validate the in-vivo bioactivity of the plant and more generate adequate toxicological data.to support conservation, value chain addition of its products and widespread use as a herbal remedy.

Keywords: Aloe turkanensis, bioactivity, cultivated, human infections

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Authors: Emanuele Bonamente, Andrea Aquino

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This study presents an innovative design for geothermal heat pumps with the goal of maximizing the system efficiency (COP - Coefficient of Performance), reducing the soil use (e.g. length/depth of geothermal boreholes) and initial investment costs. Based on experimental data obtained from a two-year monitoring of a working prototype implemented for a commercial building in the city of Perugia, Italy, an upgrade of the system is proposed and the performance is evaluated via CFD simulations. The prototype was designed to include a thermal heat storage (i.e. water), positioned between the boreholes and the heat pump, acting as a flywheel. Results from the monitoring campaign show that the system is still capable of providing the required heating and cooling energy with a reduced geothermal installation (approx. 30% of the standard length). In this paper, an optimization of the system is proposed, re-designing the heat storage to include phase change materials (PCMs). Two stacks of PCMs, characterized by melting temperatures equal to those needed to maximize the system COP for heating and cooling, are disposed within the storage. During the working cycle, the latent heat of the PCMs is used to heat (cool) the water used by the heat pump while the boreholes independently cool (heat) the storage. The new storage is approximately 10 times smaller and can be easily placed close to the heat pump in the technical room. First, a validation of the CFD simulation of the storage is performed against experimental data. The simulation is then used to test possible alternatives of the original design and it is finally exploited to evaluate the PCM-storage performance for two different configurations (i.e. single- and double-loop systems).

Keywords: geothermal heat pump, phase change materials (PCM), energy storage, renewable energies

Procedia PDF Downloads 307

Authors: Virupakshi Hiremata, Ratnakar M. Shet, Raghavendra Gunnaiah, Prashantha A.

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Muskmelon is a health-beneficial and refreshing dessert vegetable with a low shelf life. Mangalore melon, a genetic homeologue of muskmelon, has a shelf life of more than six months and is mostly used for culinary purposes. Understanding the genetics of shelf life, yield and yield-related traits and identification of markers linked to such traits is helpful in transfer of extended shelf life from Mangalore melon to the muskmelon through intra-specific hybridization. For QTL mapping, 276 F2 mapping population derived from the cross Arka Siri × SS-17 was genotyped with 40 polymorphic markers distributed across 12 chromosomes. The same population was also phenotyped for yield, shelf life and fruit quality traits. One major QTL (R2 >10) and fourteen minor QTLs (R2 <10) localized on four linkage groups, governing different traits were mapped in F2 mapping population developed from the intraspecific cross with a LOD > 5.5. The phenotypic varience explained by each locus varied from 3.63 to 10.97 %. One QTL was linked to shelf-life (qSHL-3-1), five QTLs were linked to TSS (qTSS-1-1, qTSS-3-3, qTSS-3-1, qTSS-3-2 and qTSS-1-2), two QTLs for flesh thickness (qFT-3-1, and qFT-3-2) and seven QTLs for fruit yield per vine (qFYV-3-1, qFYV-1-1, qFYV-3-1, qFYV1-1, qFYV-1-3, qFYV2-1 and qFYV6-1). QTL flanking markers may be used for marker assisted introgression of shelf life into muskmelon. Important QTL will be further fine-mapped for identifying candidate genes by QTLseq and RNAseq analysis. Fine-mapping of Important Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) holds immense promise in elucidating the genetic basis of complex traits. Leveraging advanced techniques like QTLseq and RNA sequencing (RNA seq) is crucial for this endeavor. QTLseq combines next-generation sequencing with traditional QTL mapping, enabling precise identification of genomic regions associated with traits of interest. Through high-throughput sequencing, QTLseq provides a detailed map of genetic variations linked to phenotypic variations, facilitating targeted investigations. Moreover, RNA seq analysis offers a comprehensive view of gene expression patterns in response to specific traits or conditions. By comparing transcriptomes between contrasting phenotypes, RNA seq aids in pinpointing candidate genes underlying QTL regions. Integrating QTLseq with RNA seq allows for a multi-dimensional approach, coupling genetic variation with gene expression dynamics.

Keywords: QTL, shelf life, TSS, muskmelon and Mangalore melon

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Authors: Yousef I. Salamin

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Theoretical investigations, analytical as well as numerical, have shown that electrons can be accelerated to GeV energies by the process of cyclotron auto-resonance acceleration (CARA). In CARA, the particle would be injected along the lines of a uniform magnetic field aligned parallel to the direction of propagation of a plane-wave radiation field. Unfortunately, an accelerator based on CARA would be prohibitively too long and too expensive to build and maintain. However, the process stands a better chance of success near the polar cap of a compact object (such as a neutron star, a black hole or a magnetar) or in an environment created in the wake of a binary neutron-star or blackhole merger. Dynamics of the nuclides ₁H¹, ₂He⁴, ₂₆Fe⁵⁶, and ₂₈Ni⁶², in such astrophysical conditions, have been investigated by single-particle calculations and many-particle simulations. The investigations show that these nuclides can reach ZeV energies (1 ZeV = 10²¹ eV) due to interaction with super-intense radiation of wavelengths = 1 and 10 m and = 50 pm and magnetic fields of strengths at the mega- and giga-tesla levels. Examples employing radiation intensities in the range 10³²-10⁴² W/m² have been used. Employing a two-parameter model for representing the radiation field, CARA is analytically generalized to include any state of polarization, and the basic working equations are derived rigorously and in closed analytic form.

Keywords: compact objects, cosmic-ray acceleration, cyclotron auto-resonance, polarization effects, zevatron

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Authors: Takashi Kaminagayoshi, Shigeyuki Haruyama

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To improve the manufacturing efficiency of biologics, such as antibody drugs, a quality engineering framework was designed. Within this framework, critical steps and parameters in the manufacturing process were studied. Identification of these critical steps and critical parameters allows a deeper understanding of manufacturing capabilities, and suggests to process development department process control standards based on actual manufacturing capabilities as part of a PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle. This cycle can be applied to each manufacturing process so that it can be standardized, reducing the time needed to establish each new process.

Keywords: antibody drugs, biologics, manufacturing efficiency, PDCA cycle, quality engineering

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Authors: G. M. Cappucci, C. Losi, P. Neri, M. Pini, A. M. Ferrari

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Waste treatment and many production processes cause significant emissions of odors, thus typically leading to intense debate. The introduction of odorimetric units and their units of measurement, i.e., U.O. / m3, with the European regulation UE 13725 of 2003 designates the dynamic olfactometry as the official method for odorimetric analysis. Italy has filled the pre-existing legislative gap on the regulation of odorous emissions only recently, by introducing the Legislative Decree n°183 in 2017. The concentration of the odor to which a perceptive response occurs to 50% of the panel corresponds to the odorimetric unit of the sample under examination (1 U.O. / m3) and is equal to the threshold of perceptibility of the substance (O.T.). In particular, the treatment of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) by Mechanical-Biological Treatment (MBT) plants produces odorous emissions, typically generated by aerobic procedures, potentially leading to significant environmental burdens. The quantification of odorous emissions represents a challenge within a LCA study since primary data are often missing. The aim of this study is to present the preliminary findings of an ongoing study whose aim is to identify and quantify odor emissions from the Tre Monti MBT plant, located in Imola (Bologna, Italy). Particularly, the issues faced with odor emissions in the present work are: i) the identification of the components of the gaseous mixture, whose total quantification in terms of odorimetric units is known, ii) the distribution of the total odorimetric units among the single substances identified and iii) the quantification of the mass emitted for each substance. The environmental analysis was carried out on the basis of the amount of emitted substance. The calculation method IMPact Assessment of Chemical Toxics (IMPACT) 2002+ has been modified since the original one does not take into account indoor emissions. Characterization factors were obtained by adopting a preliminary method in order to calculate indoor human effects. The impact and damage assessments were performed without the identification of new categories, thus in accordance with the categories of the selected calculation method. The results show that the damage associated to odorous emissions is the 0.24% of the total damage, and the most affected damage category is Human Health, mainly as a consequence of ammonia emission (86.06%). In conclusion, this preliminary approach allowed identifying and quantifying the substances responsible for the odour impact, in order to attribute them the relative damage on human health as well as ecosystem quality.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, municipal solid waste, odorous emissions, waste treatment

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Authors: Benniche Omar

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We are concerned with abstract fully nonlinear differential equations having the form y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)) where A is an m—dissipative operator (possibly multi—valued) defined on a subset D(A) of a Banach space X with values in X and f is a given function defined on I×X with values in X. We consider a graph K in I×X. We recall that K is said to be viable with respect to the above abstract differential equation if for each initial data in K there exists at least one trajectory starting from that initial data and remaining in K at least for a short time. The viability problem has been studied by many authors by using various techniques and frames. If K is closed, it is shown that a tangency condition, which is mainly linked to the dynamic, is crucial for viability. In the case when X is infinite dimensional, compactness and convexity assumptions are needed. In this paper, we are concerned with the notion of near viability for a given graph K with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)). Roughly speaking, the graph K is said to be near viable with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)), if for each initial data in K there exists at least one trajectory remaining arbitrary close to K at least for short time. It is interesting to note that the near viability is equivalent to an appropriate tangency condition under mild assumptions on the dynamic. Adding natural convexity and compactness assumptions on the dynamic, we may recover the (exact) viability. Here we investigate near viability for a graph K in I×X with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)) where A and f are as above. We emphasis that the t—dependence on the perturbation f leads us to introduce a new tangency concept. In the base of a tangency conditions expressed in terms of that tangency concept, we formulate criteria for K to be near viable with respect to y’(t)=Ay(t)+f(t,y(t)). As application, an abstract null—controllability theorem is given.

Keywords: abstract differential equation, graph, tangency condition, viability

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Authors: Sahar Mobeen, Anam Rafique, Irum Baig

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Acoustic echo cancellation in multichannel is a system identification application. In real time environment, signal changes very rapidly which required adaptive algorithms such as Least Mean Square (LMS), Leaky Least Mean Square (LLMS), Normalized Least Mean square (NLMS) and average (AFA) having high convergence rate and stable. LMS and NLMS are widely used adaptive algorithm due to less computational complexity and AFA used of its high convergence rate. This research is based on comparison of acoustic echo (generated in a room) cancellation thorough LMS, LLMS, NLMS, AFA and newly proposed average normalized leaky least mean square (ANLLMS) adaptive filters.

Keywords: LMS, LLMS, NLMS, AFA, ANLLMS

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Authors: Carlos Tarmeño Noriega, Igor Aguilar Alonso

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Fungal diseases are common in vineyards; they cause a decrease in the quality of the products that can be sold, generating distrust of the customer towards the seller when buying fruit. Currently, technology allows the classification of fruits according to their characteristics thanks to artificial intelligence. This study proposes the implementation of a control system that allows the identification of the main fungal diseases present in the Italia grape, making use of a convolutional neural network (CNN), OpenCV, and TensorFlow. The methodology used was based on a collection of 20 articles referring to the proposed research on quality control, classification, and recognition of fruits through artificial vision techniques.

Keywords: computer vision, convolutional neural networks, quality control, fruit market, OpenCV, TensorFlow

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Leiya Ho Yin Lee

Abstract:

Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993) may seemingly be a fairly unremarkable Hollywood comedy film in the 90s, it is argued that the film, with its protagonist Phil (Bill Murray), inadvertently, but perfectly, demonstrates an important aspect in filmmaking, film spectatorship and film research: repetition. Very rarely does a narrative film use one, and only one, take in its shooting. The multiple ‘repeats’ of Phil’s various endeavours due to his being trapped in a perpetual loop of the same day — from stealing money and tricking a woman into a casual relationship, to his multiple suicides, to eventually helping people in need — make the process of doing multiple ‘takes’ in filmmaking explicit. But perhaps more significantly, Phil represents a perfect model for the spectator/cinephile who has seen their favourite film for multiple times that they can remember every single detail. Crucially, their favourite film never changes, as it is a recording, but the cinephile’s experience of that very same film is most likely different each time they watch it again, just as Phil’s character and personality has completely transformed, from selfish and egotistic, to depressed and nihilistic, and ultimately to sympathetic and caring, even though he is living the exact same day. Furthermore, the author did not come up with this stimulating juxtaposition of film spectatorship and Groundhog Day the first time the author saw the film; it took the author a few casual re-viewings to notice the film’s self-reflexivity. And then, when working on it in the author’s research, the author had to re-view the film for more times, and have subsequently noticed even more things previously unnoticed. In this way, Groundhog Day not only stands for a model for filmmaking and film spectatorship, it also illustrates the act of academic research, especially in Film Studies where repeatedly viewing the same films is a prerequisite before new ideas and concepts are discovered from old material. This also recalls Deleuze’s thesis on difference and repetition in that repetition creates difference and it is difference that creates thought.

Keywords: narrative comprehension, repeated viewing, repetition, spectatorship

Procedia PDF Downloads 316