Search results for: genome scale model

Authors: Minttu Laukkanen, Janne Huiskonen

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This study investigates the sharing economy business models as examples of the sustainable business models. The aim is to contribute to the limited literature on sharing economy in connection with sustainable business models by explaining sharing economy business models value capturing. Specifically, this research answers the following question: How business model choices affect captured sustainable value? A multiple case study approach is applied in this study. Twenty different successful sharing economy business models focusing on consumer business and covering four main areas, accommodation, mobility, food, and consumer goods, are selected for analysis. The secondary data available on companies’ websites, previous research, reports, and other public documents are used. All twenty cases are analyzed through the sharing economy business model framework and sustainable value analysis framework using qualitative data analysis. This study represents general sharing economy business model value attributes and their specifications, i.e. sustainable value propositions for different stakeholders, and further explains the sustainability impacts of different sharing economy business models through captured and uncaptured value. In conclusion, this study represents how business model choices affect sustainable value capturing through eight business model attributes identified in this study. This paper contributes to the research on sustainable business models and sharing economy by examining how business model choices affect captured sustainable value. This study highlights the importance of careful business model and sustainability impacts analyses including the triple bottom line, multiple stakeholders and value captured and uncaptured perspectives as well as sustainability trade-offs. It is not self-evident that sharing economy business models advance sustainability, and business model choices does matter.

Keywords: sharing economy, sustainable business model innovation, sustainable value, value capturing

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Authors: Khabat Barkhordari, Ali Mohammad Arabzadeh

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Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a RNA virus that needs the function of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for its propagation and assembly. Infection by HDV can occur spontaneously with HBV infection and cause acute hepatitis or develop as secondary infection in HBV suffering patients. Based on genome sequence analysis, HDV has several genotypes which show broad geographic and diverse clinical features. The aim of current study is determine the prevalence of hepatitis delta virus genotype in patients with positive HBsAg in Kerman province of Iran. This cross-sectional study a total of 400 patients with HBV infection attending the clinic center of Besat from 2012 to 2014 were included. We carried out ELISA to detect anti-HDV antibodies. Those testing positive were analyzed further for HDV-RNA and for genotyping using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and RT-nested PCR- sequencing. Among 400 patients in this study, 67 cases (16.75 %) were containing anti-HDV antibody which we found HDV RNA in just 7 (1.75%) serum samples. Analysis of these 7 positive HDV showed that all of them have genotype I. According to current study the HDV prevalence in Kerman is higher than the reported prevalence of 6.6% for Iran as a whole and clade 1 (genotype 1) is the predominant clade of HDV in Kerman.

Keywords: genotyping, hepatitis delta virus, molecular epidemiology, Kerman, Iran

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Authors: Andreas Stollwitzer, Lara Bettinelli, Josef Fink

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The expansion of the high-speed rail network over the past decades has resulted in new challenges for engineers, including traffic-induced resonance vibrations of railway bridges. Excessive resonance-induced speed-dependent accelerations of railway bridges during high-speed traffic can lead to negative consequences such as fatigue symptoms, distortion of the track, destabilisation of the ballast bed, and potentially even derailment. A realistic prognosis of bridge vibrations during high-speed traffic must not only rely on the right choice of an adequate calculation model for both bridge and train but first and foremost on the use of dynamic model parameters which reflect reality appropriately. However, comparisons between measured and calculated bridge vibrations are often characterised by considerable discrepancies, whereas dynamic calculations overestimate the actual responses and therefore lead to uneconomical results. This gap between measurement and calculation constitutes a complex research issue and can be traced to several causes. One major cause is found in the dynamic properties of the ballasted track, more specifically in the persisting, substantial uncertainties regarding the consideration of the ballasted track (mechanical model and input parameters) in dynamic calculations. Furthermore, the discrepancy is particularly pronounced concerning the damping values of the bridge, as conservative values have to be used in the calculations due to normative specifications and lack of knowledge. By using a large-scale test facility, the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of ballasted track has been a major research topic at the Institute of Structural Engineering/Steel Construction at TU Wien in recent years. This highly specialised test facility is designed for isolated research of the ballasted track's dynamic stiffness and damping properties – independent of the bearing structure. Several mechanical models for the ballasted track consisting of one or more continuous spring-damper elements were developed based on the knowledge gained. These mechanical models can subsequently be integrated into bridge models for dynamic calculations. Furthermore, based on measurements at the test facility, model-dependent stiffness and damping parameters were determined for these mechanical models. As a result, realistic mechanical models of the railway bridge with different levels of detail and sufficiently precise characteristic values are available for bridge engineers. Besides that, this contribution also presents another practical application of such a bridge model: Based on the bridge model, determination equations for the damping factor (as Lehr's damping factor) can be derived. This approach constitutes a first-time method that makes the damping factor of a railway bridge calculable. A comparison of this mathematical approach with measured dynamic parameters of existing railway bridges illustrates, on the one hand, the apparent deviation between normatively prescribed and in-situ measured damping factors. On the other hand, it is also shown that a new approach, which makes it possible to calculate the damping factor, provides results that are close to reality and thus raises potentials for minimising the discrepancy between measurement and calculation.

Keywords: ballasted track, bridge dynamics, damping, model design, railway bridges

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Authors: Salam Kodsi

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In this research, we sought to focus on constructive play and examine its components in the context of two different educational approaches: Waldorf and normative schools. When they are free to choose, construction is one of the forms of play most favored by children. Its short-term and long-term cognitive contributions are apparent in various areas of development. The lack of empirical studies about play in Waldorf schools, which addresses the possibility of this incidental learning inspired the need to enrich the body of existing knowledge. 90 children (4-6 yrs.old) four preschools ( two normative, two Waldorf) participated in a small homogeneous city. Naturalistic observations documented the time frame, physical space, and construction materials related to the freeform building; processes of construction among focal representative children and its products. The study’s main finding with respect to the construction output points to a connection between educational approach and level of construction sophistication. Higher levels of sophistication were found at the Waldorf preschools than at the mainstream preschools. This finding emerged due to the differences in the level of sophistication among the older children in the two types of preschools, while practically no differences emerged among the younger children. Discussion of the research findings considered the differences between the play environments in terms of time, physical space, and construction materials. The construction processes were characterized according to the design model stages. The construction output was characterized according to the sophistication scale dimensions and the connections between approach, age and gender, and sophistication level.

Keywords: constructive play, preschool, design process model, complexity

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Authors: Laidi Maamar, Hanini Salah

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The present work investigates the potential of artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the horizontal global solar radiation (HGSR). The ANN is developed and optimized using three years meteorological database from 2011 to 2013 available at the meteorological station of Blida (Blida 1 university, Algeria, Latitude 36.5°, Longitude 2.81° and 163 m above mean sea level). Optimal configuration of the ANN model has been determined by minimizing the Root Means Square Error (RMSE) and maximizing the correlation coefficient (R2) between observed and predicted data with the ANN model. To select the best ANN architecture, we have conducted several tests by using different combinations of parameters. A two-layer ANN model with six hidden neurons has been found as an optimal topology with (RMSE=4.036 W/m²) and (R²=0.999). A graphical user interface (GUI), was designed based on the best network structure and training algorithm, to enhance the users’ friendliness application of the model.

Keywords: artificial neural network, global solar radiation, solar energy, prediction, Algeria

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Authors: Krolo Paulina

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The seismic response of moment-resisting steel frames depends on the behavior of the joints, especially when they are considered as ductile zones. The aim of this research is to provide a realistic assessment of the moment-resisting steel frame behavior under seismic loading using nonlinear static pushover analysis (N2 method). The hysteresis behavior of the joints in the frame model was described using a new hysteresis envelope model. The obtained seismic response was compared with the results of the seismic analysis obtained for the same steel frame that takes into account the monotonic model of the joints.

Keywords: beam-to-column joints, hysteresis envelope model, moment-resisting frame, nonlinear static pushover analysis, N2 method

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Authors: A. G. Matveev

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The copyrights system is a combination of different elements. The number, content and the correlation of these elements are different for different legal orders. The models of copyrights systems display this system in terms of the interaction of economic and author's moral rights. Monistic and dualistic models are the most popular ones. The article deals with different points of view on the monism and dualism in copyright system. A specific model of the copyright in Switzerland in the XXth century is analyzed. The evolution of a French dualistic model of copyright is shown. The author believes that one should talk not about one, but rather about a number of dualism forms of copyright system.

Keywords: copyright, exclusive copyright, economic rights, author's moral rights, rights of personality, monistic model, dualistic model

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Authors: Ho Young Son, Bu Seog Ju, Woo Young Jung

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This study presents the seismic safety evaluation of weir structure subjected to strong earthquake ground motions, as a flood defense structure in civil engineering structures. The seismic safety analysis procedure was illustrated through development of Finite Element (FE) and InFinite Element (IFE) method in ABAQUS platform. The IFE model was generated by CINPS4, 4-node linear one-way infinite model as a sold continuum infinite element in foundation areas of the weir structure and then nonlinear FE model using friction model for soil-structure interactions was applied in this study. In order to understand the complex behavior of weir structures, nonlinear time history analysis was carried out. Consequently, it was interesting to note that the compressive stress gave more vulnerability to the weir structure, in comparison to the tensile stress, during an earthquake. The stress concentration of the weir structure was shown at the connection area between the weir body and stilling basin area. The stress both tension and compression was reduced in IFE model rather than FE model of weir structures.

Keywords: seismic, numerical analysis, FEM, weir, boundary condition

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Authors: Nouby M. Ghazaly, Ahmed O. Moaaz, Mostafa Makrahy

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The main purpose of a car suspension system is to reduce the vibrations resulting from road roughness. The main objective of this research paper is to decrease vibration and improve passenger comfort through controlling car suspension system using sliding mode control techniques. The mathematical model for passive and active suspensions systems for quarter car model which subject to excitation from different road profiles is obtained. The active suspension system is synthesized based on sliding mode control for a quarter car model. The performance of the sliding mode control is determined through computer simulations using MATLAB and SIMULINK toolbox. The simulated results plotted in time domain, and root mean square values. It is found that active suspension system using sliding mode control improves the ride comfort and decrease vibration.

Keywords: quarter car model, active suspension system, sliding mode control, road profile

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Authors: Jae Woong Sull, Sun Ha Jee

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High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for HDL cholesterol levels have implicated cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) as possibly causal. We tested for the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CETP gene and HDL cholesterol levels in Korean population. Subjects were selected from the Korean Metabolic Syndrome Research Initiative study in the Bundang-Gu area. A total of 2,304 individuals from Bundang-Gu were recruited in 2008. Other subjects were selected from the Severance Hospital (N=4,294). SNP rs6499861 in the CETP gene was associated with mean HDL cholesterol levels (effect per allele -2.044 mg/dL, p=7.23×10-7). Subjects with the CG/GG genotype had a 1.46 -fold (range 1.24–1.72-fold) higher risk of having abnormal HDL cholesterol levels (<40 mg/dL) than subjects with the CC genotype. When analyzed by gender, the association of CETP was stronger in women than in men. When analyzed by physical activity behavior, the association with CETP was much stronger in male subjects with low physical activity (OR=1.54, 95% CI: 1.23-1.92, P=0.0001) than in male subjects with high physical activity. This study clearly demonstrates that genetic variants in CETP influence HDL cholesterol levels in Korean adults.

Keywords: CETP, HDL cholesterol, physical activity, polymorphisms

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Authors: John Faucett, Hao Wu, Bruce Moore, Sean Nadji

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The demands of the ministry often conflict with responsibilities at home, and clergy often experience domain ambiguity between the domains of work and family. However, the unique level of family involvement in the pastor’s profession might enrich the pastor’s ministry as well as the functioning of the family unit. Life in the church family might offer clergy family members a sense of meaning and purpose, social support, and a feeling of belonging. Church activities can offer enhanced opportunities for family interaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of work/family enrichment to clergy job satisfaction, burnout, engagement, and withdrawal. Method: Participants were clergy serving within a state conference of the United Methodist Church. A survey was administered electronically, with e-mails and the United Methodist Church (UMC) Facebook page used as access points to the survey. Usable responses for this portion of the survey were obtained from 132 clergy. Participants completed The Work-Family Enrichment Scales, The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, The Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry, The Satisfaction in Ministry Scale, and a scale of withdrawal developed for the present study. They also answered questions relating to how involved their spouses are in their ministry and the degree to which spouse involvement in church ministry strengthens church ministry. Findings: Higher scores for work to family enrichment correlated positively with job satisfaction (r = - .69, p < .01) and engagement (r = .50, p < .01), and negatively with burnout (r = -.48, p < .01) and withdrawal (r = -.46, p < .01). Higher scores for family to work enrichment correlated positively with job satisfaction (r = .29, p = .01) and engagement (.24, p < .05), and negatively with burnout (r = -.48, p < .01), and withdrawal (r = -.46, p < .01). Hierarchical regression analysis suggested that clergy perceptions concerning the degree to which spouse involvement in church ministry strengthens church ministry moderates the relationship between degree of spouse involvement in church activities and clergy withdrawal. To the degree that spouse involvement is believed to strengthen ministry, high spouse involvement is related to less clergy withdrawal (Multiple R-Squared = .068, Adj. R-Squared = .043, F = 2.69 on 3 & 110 DF, p = .05). Concluding Statement: Clergy job attitudes are related to work/family enrichment. Spouse involvement in parish ministry is associated with less clergy withdrawal, as long as clergy believe spouse involvement strengthens their ministry.

Keywords: clergy, emotional exhaustion, job engagement, job satisfaction, work/family enrichment

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Authors: Eddegdag Nasser, Naamane Azzeddine, Radouani Mohammed, Ensam Meknes

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In this study, we are interested in the asymptotic modeling of the two-dimensional stationary supersonic flow of a viscous compressible fluid around wing airfoil. The aim of this article is to solve the partial differential equations of the flow far from the leading edge and near the wall using the triple-deck technique is what brought again in precision according to the principle of least degeneration. In order to validate our theoretical model, these obtained results will be compared with the experimental results. The comparison of the results of our model with experimentation has shown that they are quantitatively acceptable compared to the obtained experimental results. The experimental study was conducted using the AF300 supersonic wind tunnel and a NACA Reduced airfoil model with two pressure Taps on extrados. In this experiment, we have considered the incident upstream supersonic Mach number over a dissymmetric NACA airfoil wing. The validation and the accuracy of the results support our model.

Keywords: supersonic, viscous, triple deck technique, asymptotic methods, AF300 supersonic wind tunnel, reduced airfoil model

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Authors: Beata Jackowska-Zduniak

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We formulate and analyze a mathematical model describing dynamics of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid homoeostatic mechanism in endocrine system. We introduce to this system two types of couplings and delay. In our model, feedback controls the secretion of thyroid hormones and delay reflects time lags required for transportation of the hormones. The influence of delayed feedback on the stability behaviour of the system is discussed. Analytical results are illustrated by numerical examples of the model dynamics. This system of equations describes normal activity of the thyroid and also a couple of types of malfunctions (e.g. hyperthyroidism).

Keywords: mathematical modeling, ordinary differential equations, endocrine system, delay differential equation

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Authors: Ayse Berivan Bakan, Senay Karadag Arli, Ela Varol

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Objective: The present study aims to identify nursing students’ attitudes toward older people. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 166 nursing department students enrolled in a four-year undergraduate program in a university located in Eastern Turkey. The participants were chosen using convenience sampling method, and the data were collected through the Descriptive Characteristics Form and Turkish version of Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People Scale (KAOP). Results: It was found that the students participating in the study had positive attitudes toward old people, and the mean scores of those who wanted to work with old people after graduation were significantly high (p<0.05). Scale mean scores according to receiving Gerontology Nursing course showed that the score difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study found that nursing students’ attitudes toward older people were positive. Cultural features of the region where the study was conducted are considered to contribute to this result.

Keywords: older people, attitudes, gerontology, nursing students, Turkey

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Authors: Almutasim Billa A. Alanazi, Hal S. Tharp

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Safe performance and efficient energy consumption are essential factors for designing a control system. This paper presents a reinforcement learning (RL) model that can be applied to control applications to improve safety and reduce energy consumption. As hardware constraints and environmental disturbances are imprecise and unpredictable, conventional control methods may not always be effective in optimizing control designs. However, RL has demonstrated its value in several artificial intelligence (AI) applications, especially in the field of control systems. The proposed model intelligently monitors a system's success by observing the rewards from the environment, with positive rewards counting as a success when the controlled reference is within the desired operating zone. Thus, the model can determine whether the system is safe to continue operating based on the designer/user specifications, which can be adjusted as needed. Additionally, the controller keeps track of energy consumption to improve energy efficiency by enabling the idle mode when the controlled reference is within the desired operating zone, thus reducing the system energy consumption during the controlling operation. Water temperature control for a hydroponic system is taken as a case study for the RL model, adjusting the variance of disturbances to show the model’s robustness and efficiency. On average, the model showed safety improvement by up to 15% and energy efficiency improvements by 35%- 40% compared to a traditional RL model.

Keywords: control system, hydroponics, machine learning, reinforcement learning

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Authors: Elda Maraj, Shkelqim Kuka

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Coronary heart disease causes many deaths in the world. Unfortunately, this problem will continue to increase in the future. In this paper, a fuzzy logic model to predict coronary heart disease is presented. This model has been developed with seven input variables and one output variable that was implemented for 30 patients in Albania. Here fuzzy logic toolbox of MATLAB is used. Fuzzy model inputs are considered as cholesterol, blood pressure, physical activity, age, BMI, smoking, and diabetes, whereas the output is the disease classification. The fuzzy sets and membership functions are chosen in an appropriate manner. Centroid method is used for defuzzification. The database is taken from University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa" in Tirana, Albania.

Keywords: coronary heart disease, fuzzy logic toolbox, membership function, prediction model

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Authors: Md. Fazlul Karim, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismail, Mohammed Ashaque Meah

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This paper focuses on the development of a 2-D Boundary Fitted and Nested Grid (BFNG) model to compute the tsunami propagation of Indonesian tsunami 2004 along the coastal region of Penang in Peninsular Malaysia. In the presence of a curvilinear coastline, boundary fitted grids are suitable to represent the model boundaries accurately. On the other hand, when large gradient of velocity within a confined area is expected, the use of a nested grid system is appropriate to improve the numerical accuracy with the least grid numbers. This paper constructs a shallow water nested and orthogonal boundary fitted grid model and presents computational results of the tsunami impact on the Penang coast due to the Indonesian tsunami of 2004. The results of the numerical simulations are compared with available data.

Keywords: boundary fitted nested model, tsunami, Penang Island, 2004 Indonesian Tsunami

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Authors: M. Naveed Iqbal, Sheza Fatima, Noman Shabbir

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In the presence of energy crisis in Pakistan, off-grid remote areas are not on priority list. The use of new large scale coal fired power plants will also make this situation worst. Therefore, the greatest challenge in our society is to explore new ways to power off grid remote areas with renewable energy sources. It is time for a sustainable energy policy which puts consumers, the environment, human health, and peace first. The renewable energy is one of the biggest growing sectors of the energy industry. Therefore, the large scale use of micro grid is thus described here with modeling, simulation, planning and operating of the micro grid. The goal of this research paper is to go into detail of a library of major components of micro grid. The introduction will go through the detail view of micro grid definition. Then, the simulation of Micro Grid in MATLAB/ Simulink including the Photo Voltaic Cell will be described with the detailed modeling. The simulation with the design and modeling will be introduced too.

Keywords: micro grids, distribution generation, PV, off-grid operations

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Authors: Oleg Reva, Ilya Korotetskiy, Marina Lankina, Murat Kulmanov, Aleksandr Ilin

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Molecular docking approaches are widely used for design of new antibiotics and modeling of antibacterial activities of numerous ligands which bind specifically to active centers of indispensable enzymes and/or key signaling proteins of pathogens. Widespread drug resistance among pathogenic microorganisms calls for development of new antibiotics specifically targeting important metabolic and information pathways. A generally recognized problem is that almost all molecular targets have been identified already and it is getting more and more difficult to design innovative antibacterial compounds to combat the drug resistance. A promising way to overcome the drug resistance problem is an induction of reversion of drug resistance by supplementary medicines to improve the efficacy of the conventional antibiotics. In contrast to well established computer-based drug design, modeling of drug resistance reversion still is in its infancy. In this work, we proposed an approach to identification of compensatory genetic variants reducing the fitness cost associated with the acquisition of drug resistance by pathogenic bacteria. The approach was based on an analysis of the population genetic of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and on results of experimental modeling of the drug resistance reversion induced by a new anti-tuberculosis drug FS-1. The latter drug is an iodine-containing nanomolecular complex that passed clinical trials and was admitted as a new medicine against MDR-TB in Kazakhstan. Isolates of M. tuberculosis obtained on different stages of the clinical trials and also from laboratory animals infected with MDR-TB strain were characterized by antibiotic resistance, and their genomes were sequenced by the paired-end Illumina HiSeq 2000 technology. A steady increase in sensitivity to conventional anti-tuberculosis antibiotics in series of isolated treated with FS-1 was registered despite the fact that the canonical drug resistance mutations identified in the genomes of these isolates remained intact. It was hypothesized that the drug resistance phenotype in M. tuberculosis requires an adjustment of activities of many genes to compensate the fitness cost of the drug resistance mutations. FS-1 cased an aggravation of the fitness cost and removal of the drug-resistant variants of M. tuberculosis from the population. This process caused a significant increase in genetic heterogeneity of the Mtb population that was not observed in the positive and negative controls (infected laboratory animals left untreated and treated solely with the antibiotics). A large-scale search for linkage disequilibrium associations between the drug resistance mutations and genetic variants in other genomic loci allowed identification of target proteins, which could be influenced by supplementary drugs to increase the fitness cost of the drug resistance and deprive the drug-resistant bacterial variants of their competitiveness in the population. The approach will be used to improve the efficacy of FS-1 and also for computer-based design of new drugs to combat drug-resistant infections.

Keywords: complete genome sequencing, computational modeling, drug resistance reversion, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

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Authors: Wooyoung Jung, Ghang Lee

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This paper paper reports the worldwide status of building information modeling (BIM) adoption from the perspectives of the engagement level, the Hype Cycle model, the technology diffusion model, and BIM-uses. An online survey was distributed, and 156 experts from six continents responded. Overall, North America was the most advanced continent, followed by Oceania and Europe. Countries in Asia perceived their phase mainly as slope of enlightenment (mature) in the Hype Cycle model. In the technology diffusion model, the main BIM-users worldwide were “early majority” (third phase), but those in the Middle East/Africa and South America were “early adopters” (second phase). In addition, the more advanced the country, the more number of BIM services employed in general. In summary, North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia were advancing rapidly toward the mature stage of BIM, whereas the Middle East/Africa and South America were still in the early phase. The simple indexes used in this study may be used to track the worldwide status of BIM adoption in long-term surveys.

Keywords: BIM adoption, BIM services, hype cycle model, technology diffusion model

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Authors: Hicham Gourgue, Ahmed Aharoune, Ahmed Ihlal

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We present in this work our model of road traffic emissions (line sources) and dispersion of these emissions, named DISPOLSPEM (Dispersion of Poly Sources and Pollutants Emission Model). In its emission part, this model was designed to keep the consistent bottom-up and top-down approaches. It also allows to generate emission inventories from reduced input parameters being adapted to existing conditions in Morocco and in the other developing countries. While several simplifications are made, all the performance of the model results are kept. A further important advantage of the model is that it allows the uncertainty calculation and emission rate uncertainty according to each of the input parameters. In the dispersion part of the model, an improved line source model has been developed, implemented and tested against a reference solution. It provides improvement in accuracy over previous formulas of line source Gaussian plume model, without being too demanding in terms of computational resources. In the case study presented here, the biggest errors were associated with the ends of line source sections; these errors will be canceled by adjacent sections of line sources during the simulation of a road network. In cases where the wind is parallel to the source line, the use of the combination discretized source and analytical line source formulas minimizes remarkably the error. Because this combination is applied only for a small number of wind directions, it should not excessively increase the calculation time.

Keywords: air pollution, dispersion, emissions, line sources, road traffic, urban transport

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Authors: Lynndee Kemmet

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The U.S. military plays an increasing role in supporting political stability efforts, and this includes efforts to prevent the food insecurity that can trigger political and social instability. This paper presents a model that assists military commanders in identifying variables that impact food production and distribution in their areas of operation (AO), in identifying connections between variables and in assessing the impacts of those variables on food production and distribution. Through use of the model, military units can better target their data collection efforts and can categorize and analyze data within the data categorization framework most widely-used by military forces—PMESII-PT (Political, Military, Economic, Infrastructure, Information, Physical Environment and Time). The model provides flexibility of analysis in that commanders can target analysis to be highly focused on a specific PMESII-PT domain or variable or conduct analysis across multiple PMESII-PT domains. The model is also designed to assist commanders in mapping food systems in their AOs and then identifying components of those systems that must be strengthened or protected.

Keywords: food security, food system model, political stability, US Military

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Authors: Suparman

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This paper addresses the problem of the signal segmentation within a Bayesian framework by using reversible jump MCMC algorithm. The signal is modelled by piecewise constant Moving-Average (MA) model where the numbers of segments, the position of change-point, the order and the coefficient of the MA model for each segment are unknown. The reversible jump MCMC algorithm is then used to generate samples distributed according to the joint posterior distribution of the unknown parameters. These samples allow calculating some interesting features of the posterior distribution. The performance of the methodology is illustrated via several simulation results.

Keywords: piecewise, moving-average model, reversible jump MCMC, signal segmentation

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Authors: Se-Han Lee, Kwang-Woo Go, Gwang-Hyun Ahn, Hee-Sung Park, Cheol-Kyu Han, Jun-Bo Shim, Geun-Chul Kang, Hyun-Jung Lee

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In recent years, with the advent of smart cars and the expansion of the market, the announcement of 'Adventures in Automotive Networks and Control Units' at the DEFCON21 conference in 2013 revealed that cars are not safe from hacking. As a result, the HEAVENS model considering not only the functional safety of the vehicle but also the security has been suggested. However, the HEAVENS model only presents a simple process, and there are no detailed procedures and activities for each process, making it difficult to apply it to the actual vehicle security vulnerability check. In this paper, we propose an automated attack database that systematically summarizes attack vectors, attack types, and vulnerable vehicle models to prepare for various car hacking attacks, and data flow diagrams that can detect various vulnerabilities and suggest a way to materialize the HEAVENS model.

Keywords: automotive security, HEAVENS, car hacking, security model, information security

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Authors: Jian Li

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The uncertainty quantification and inversion problems of subsurface oil-water phase flow usually require extensive repeated forward calculations for new runs with changed conditions. To reduce the computational time, various forms of surrogate models have been built. Related research shows that deep learning has emerged as an effective surrogate model, while most surrogate models with deep learning are purely data-driven, which always leads to poor robustness and abnormal results. To guarantee the model more consistent with the physical laws, a coupled theory-guided convolutional neural network (TgCNN) based surrogate model is built to facilitate computation efficiency under the premise of satisfactory accuracy. The model is a convolutional neural network based on multi-well reservoir simulation. The core notion of this proposed method is to bridge two separate blocks on top of an overall network. They underlie the TgCNN model in a coupled form, which reflects the coupling nature of pressure and water saturation in the two-phase flow equation. The model is driven by not only labeled data but also scientific theories, including governing equations, stochastic parameterization, boundary, and initial conditions, well conditions, and expert knowledge. The results show that the TgCNN-based surrogate model exhibits satisfactory accuracy and efficiency in subsurface oil-water phase flow under multi-well conditions.

Keywords: coupled theory-guided convolutional neural network, multi-well conditions, surrogate model, subsurface oil-water phase

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Authors: Linlin Guo, Baofeng Li

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Zhengzhou is a typical plain city with a high population density and a permanent population of 10 million, located in central China. The scale of this city is constantly expanding, and the urban form has changed dramatically by the accelerating process of urbanization, which makes a great effect on the urban microclimate. In order to study the influence of block morphology on urban micro-climate, air temperature, humidity, wind velocity and so on in three typical types of blocks in the center of Zhengzhou were collected, which was chosen to perform the fixed and mobile observation. After data handling and analysis, a series of graphs and diagrams were obtained to reflect the differences in the influence of different types of block morphology on the urban microclimate. These can provide targeted strategies for urban design to improve and regulate urban micro-climate.

Keywords: urban micro-climate, block morphology, fixed and mobile observation, urban design

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Authors: J. Ritonja, B. Grcar

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For the synchronous generator simulation and analysis and for the power system stabilizer design and synthesis a mathematical model of synchronous generator is needed. The model has to accurately describe dynamics of oscillations, while at the same time has to be transparent enough for an analysis and sufficiently simplified for design of control system. To study the oscillations of the synchronous generator against to the rest of the power system, the model of the synchronous machine connected to an infinite bus through a transmission line having resistance and inductance is needed. In this paper, the linearized reduced order dynamic model of the synchronous generator connected to the infinite bus is presented and analysed in details. This model accurately describes dynamics of the synchronous generator only in a small vicinity of an equilibrium state. With the digression from the selected equilibrium point the accuracy of this model is decreasing considerably. In this paper, the equations’ descriptions and the parameters’ determinations for the linearized reduced order mathematical model of the synchronous generator are explained and summarized and represent the useful origin for works in the areas of synchronous generators’ dynamic behaviour analysis and synchronous generator’s control systems design and synthesis. The main contribution of this paper represents the detailed analysis of the accuracy of the linearized reduced order dynamic model in the entire synchronous generator’s operating range. Borders of the areas where the linearized reduced order mathematical model represents accurate description of the synchronous generator’s dynamics are determined with the systemic numerical analysis. The thorough eigenvalue analysis of the linearized models in the entire operating range is performed. In the paper, the parameters of the linearized reduced order dynamic model of the laboratory salient poles synchronous generator were determined and used for the analysis. The theoretical conclusions were confirmed with the agreement of experimental and simulation results.

Keywords: eigenvalue analysis, mathematical model, power system stability, synchronous generator

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Authors: Han Bing, Yin Zhenjie

Abstract:

In order to analyze the status of a diesel engine, as well as conduct fault prediction, a new prediction model based on a gray system is proposed in this paper, which takes advantage of the neural network and the genetic algorithm. The proposed GBPGA prediction model builds on the GM (1.5) model and uses a neural network, which is optimized by a genetic algorithm to construct the error compensator. We verify our proposed model on the diesel faulty simulation data and the experimental results show that GBPGA has the potential to employ fault prediction on diesel.

Keywords: fault prediction, neural network, GM(1, 5) genetic algorithm, GBPGA

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Authors: Sh. Hamada

Abstract:

The current work aims to study the rainbow like-structure observed in the elastic scattering of alpha particles on both ¹²C and ¹⁶O nuclei. We reanalyzed the experimental elastic scattering angular distributions data for α+¹²C and α+¹⁶O nuclear systems at different energies using both optical model and double folding potential of different interaction models such as: CDM3Y1, DDM3Y1, CDM3Y6 and BDM3Y1. Potential created by BDM3Y1 interaction model has the shallowest depth which reflects the necessity to use higher renormalization factor (N_r). Both optical model and double folding potential of different interaction models fairly reproduce the experimental data.

Keywords: density distribution, double folding, elastic scattering, nuclear rainbow, optical model

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Authors: Khalid Al Saleh, Najlaa AlSayed

Abstract:

Background: Palliative care is changing from just ‘end of life care’ to care delivered earlier in the disease course. Metanalysis showed that Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) is associated with increased length of survival. The Palliative Care Center (PCC) in Kuwait is the only stand-alone center in Eastern Mediterranean Region with a capacity of 92 beds. We compared clinical characteristics between patients referred from the Specialized Cancer Center and general hospitals in Kuwait to PCC. Method: A cross Sectional survey was conducted since the opening of PCC in January 2011 to June 2013. Patients’ data on demographics, type of the cancer, PPS score and referring hospital were collected and analyzed. Results: Total number of the patients was 142. Mean age was 61.05±14.79 years, 66 patients (47.1%) were males and 74 (52.9%) were females. The most common cancers in males were lung (n=18, 27.3%) followed by head and neck cancers (n=8, 12.1%) and brain tumors (n=7, 10.6%) while in females, the most common cancers were breast cancer (n=12, 16.7%) followed by ovarian cancer (n=10, 13.9%) and Cancer Colon (n=8, 11.1%). Patients with PPS score 30% were 27.9% (n=39), 40% in 40.7% (n=57), and 50% in 17.1% (n=24) respectively. Patients referred from the Specialized Cancer Center had significantly higher portion of patients with PPS score > 30% (73.4%, n=94), compared to patients coming from general hospitals (33.3%, n=4), P value= 0.007. Conclusion: There is significant difference in PPS scores between patients referred from the Specialized Cancer Center compared to patients referred from general hospitals. We encourage that all cancer patients should be treated in Specialized Cancer Centers and earlier involvement of Palliative Care Centers to achieve better survival. Training workshops are needed for health care professionals working in general hospitals to raise awareness about earlier referral of patients to palliative care services.

Keywords: palliative care, kuwait, performance scale differences, pps score, specialized hospitals

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