Search results for: spatial sequence

Authors: Victor Prevost, Solene Landerneau, Michel Duhamel, Joel Sternheimer, Olivier Gallet, Pedro Ferrandiz, Marwa Mokni

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The search for homologous proteins is one of the ongoing challenges in biology and bioinformatics. Traditionally, a pair of proteins is thought to be homologous when they originate from the same ancestral protein. In such a case, their sequences share similarities, and advanced scientific research effort is spent to investigate this question. On this basis, we propose the Protein-Wave Alignment Tool (”P-WAT”) developed within the framework of the France Relance 2030 plan. Our work takes into consideration the mass-related wave aspect of protein biosynthesis, by associating specific frequencies to each amino acid according to its mass. Amino acids are then regrouped within their mass category. This way, our algorithm produces specific alignments in addition to those obtained with a common amino acid coding system. For this purpose, we develop the ”P-WAT” original algorithm, able to address large protein databases, with different attributes such as species, protein names, etc. that allow us to align user’s requests with a set of specific protein sequences. The primary intent of this algorithm is to achieve efficient alignments, in this specific conceptual frame, by minimizing execution costs and information loss. Our algorithm identifies sequence similarities by searching for matches of sub-sequences of different sizes, referred to as primers. Our algorithm relies on Boolean operations upon a dot plot matrix to identify primer amino acids common to both proteins which are likely to be part of a significant alignment of peptides. From those primers, dynamic programming-like traceback operations generate alignments and alignment scores based on an adjusted PAM250 matrix.

Keywords: protein, alignment, homologous, Genodic

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Authors: Yujiang Wu

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As electrical machine (e-machine) power density re-querulents become more stringent in vehicle electrification, mounting a temperature sensor for e-machine stator windings becomes increasingly difficult. This can lead to higher manufacturing costs, complicated harnesses, and reduced reliability. In this paper, we propose a deep-learning method for predicting electric machine winding temperature, which can either replace the sensor entirely or serve as a backup to the existing sensor. We compare the performance of our method, the stateful long short-term memory networks (LSTM) with truncated backpropagation through time (TBTT), with that of linear regression, as well as stateless LSTM with/without residual connection. Our results demonstrate the strength of combining stateful LSTM and TBTT in tackling nonlinear time series prediction problems with long sequence lengths. Additionally, in industrial applications, high-temperature region prediction accuracy is more important because winding temperature sensing is typically used for derating machine power when the temperature is high. To evaluate the performance of our algorithm, we developed a temperature-stratified MSE. We propose a simple but effective data preprocessing trick to improve the high-temperature region prediction accuracy. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method in accurately predicting winding temperature, particularly in high-temperature regions, while also reducing manufacturing costs and improving reliability.

Keywords: deep learning, electrical machine, functional safety, long short-term memory networks (LSTM), thermal management, time series prediction

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Authors: Mona Vijayaran, Gurleen Oberoi, Sanjay Mishra

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Introduction: p190 BCR‐ABL1 in CML is often associated with monocytosis. In the case described here, monocytosis is associated with coexisting p210 BCR‐ABL and CMML clones. Mutation analysis using next‐generation sequence (NGS) in our case showed TET2 and SRSF2 mutations. Aims & Objectives: A 75-year male was evaluated for monocytosis and thrombocytopenia. CBC showed Hb-11.8g/dl, TLC-12,060/cmm, Monocytes-35%, Platelets-39,000/cmm. Materials & Methods: Bone marrow examination showed a hypercellular marrow with myeloid series showing sequential maturation up to neutrophils with 30% monocytes. Immunophenotyping by flow cytometry from bone marrow had 3% blasts. Making chronic myelomonocytic leukemia as the likely diagnosis. NGS for myeloid mutation panel had TET2 (48.9%) and SRSF2 (32.5%) mutations. This report further supported the diagnosis of CMML. To fulfil the WHO diagnostic criteria for CMML, a BCR ABL1 by RQ-PCR was sent. The report came positive for p210 (B3A2, B2A2) Major Transcript (M-BCR) % IS of 38.418. Result: The patient was counselled regarding the unique presentation of the presence of 2 clones- P210 CML and CMML. After discussion with an international faculty with vast experience in CMML. It was decided to start this elderly gentleman on Imatinib 200mg and not on azacytidine, as ASXL1 was not present; hence, his chances of progressing to AML would be less and on the other end, if CML is left untreated then chances of progression to blast phase would always be a possibility. After 3 months on Imatinib his platelet count improved to 80,000 to 90,000/cmm, but his monocytosis persists. His 3rd month BCR-ABL1 IS% is 0.004%. Conclusion: After searching the literature, there were no case reports of a coexisting CML p210 with CMML. This case might be the first case report. p190 BCR ABL1 is often associated with monocytosis. There are few case reports of p210 BCR ABL1 positivity in patients with monocytosis but none with coexisting CMML. This case highlights the need for extensively evaluating patients with monocytosis with next-generation sequencing for myeloid mutation panel and BCR-ABL1 by RT-PCR to correctly diagnose and treat them.

Keywords: CMML, NGS, p190 CML, Imatinib

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Authors: Adriana M. Duquette, Derek P. Bornath

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Reaction Time (RT) and Movement Time (MT) are important components of everyday life that have an effect on the way in which we move about our environment. These measures become even more crucial when an event can be caused (or avoided) in a fraction of a second, such as the RT and MT required while driving. The purpose of this study was to develop a more simple method of testing RT and MT during simulated driving with or without text messaging, in a university-aged population (n = 170). In the control condition, a randomly-delayed red light stimulus flashed on a computer interface after the participant began pressing the ‘gas’ pedal on a foot switch mat. Simple RT was defined as the time between the presentation of the light stimulus and the initiation of lifting the foot from the switch mat ‘gas’ pedal; while MT was defined as the time after the initiation of lifting the foot, to the initiation of depressing the switch mat ‘brake’ pedal. In the texting condition, upon pressing the ‘gas’ pedal, a ‘text message’ appeared on the computer interface in a dialog box that the participant typed on their cell phone while waiting for the light stimulus to turn red. In both conditions, the sequence was repeated 10 times, and an average RT (seconds) and average MT (seconds) were recorded. Condition significantly (p = .000) impacted overall RTs, as the texting condition (0.47 s) took longer than the no-texting (control) condition (0.34 s). Longer MTs were also recorded during the texting condition (0.28 s) than in the control condition (0.23 s), p = .001. Overall increases in Response Time (RT + MT) of 189 ms during the texting condition would equate to an additional 4.2 meters (to react to the stimulus and begin braking) if the participant had been driving an automobile at 80 km per hour. In conclusion, increasing task complexity due to the dual-task demand of text messaging during simulated driving caused significant increases in RT (41%), MT (23%) and Response Time (34%), thus further strengthening the mounting evidence against text messaging while driving.

Keywords: simulated driving, text messaging, reaction time, movement time

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Authors: Nor Mazlin Zahari, Lian Gan, Xuerui Mao

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The power production in wind farms and the mechanical loads on the turbines are strongly impacted by the wake of the wind turbine. Thus, there is a need for understanding and modelling the turbine wake dynamic in the wind farm and the layout optimization. Having a good wake model is important in predicting plant performance and understanding fatigue loads. In this paper, the Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) was applied to the simulation data generated by a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of flow around a turbine, perturbed by upstream inflow noise. This technique is useful in analyzing the wake flow, to predict its future states and to reflect flow dynamics associated with the coherent structures behind wind turbine wake flow. DMD was employed to describe the dynamic of the flow around turbine from the DNS data. Since the DNS data comes with the unstructured meshes and non-uniform grid, the interpolation of each occurring within each element in the data to obtain an evenly spaced mesh was performed before the DMD was applied. DMD analyses were able to tell us characteristics of the travelling waves behind the turbine, e.g. the dominant helical flow structures and the corresponding frequencies. As the result, the dominant frequency will be detected, and the associated spatial structure will be identified. The dynamic mode which represented the coherent structure will be presented.

Keywords: coherent structure, Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS), dominant frequency, Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD)

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Authors: G. V. Novikov, V. S. Sivozhelezov, S. S. Kolesnikov, K. V. Shaitan

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The study reports about the influence of binding of orthosteric ligands as well as point mutations on the conformational dynamics of β-2-adrenoreceptor. Using molecular dynamics simulation we found that there was a little fraction of active states of the receptor in its apo (ligand free) ensemble corresponded to its constitutive activity. Analysis of MD trajectories indicated that such spontaneous activation of the receptor is accompanied by the motion in intracellular part of its alpha-helices. Thus receptor’s constitutive activity directly results from its conformational dynamics. On the other hand the binding of a full agonist resulted in a significant shift of the initial equilibrium towards its active state. Finally, the binding of the inverse agonist stabilized the receptor in its inactive state. It is likely that the binding of inverse agonists might be a universal way of constitutive activity inhibition in vivo. Our results indicate that ligand binding redistribute pre-existing conformational degrees of freedom (in accordance to the Monod-Wyman-Changeux-Model) of the receptor rather than cause induced fit in it. Therefore, the ensemble of biologically relevant receptor conformations is encoded in its spatial structure, and individual conformations from that ensemble might be used by the cell in conformity with the physiological behaviour.

Keywords: seven-transmembrane receptors, constitutive activity, activation, x-ray crystallography, principal component analysis, molecular dynamics simulation

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Authors: Jeelka Ray

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Survey of the papers revealed that there is no practical design available for packaging machine based on Embedded system, so the need arose for the development of the prototype model. In this paper, author has worked on the development of an ARM7 based Embedded Controller for controlling the sequence of packaging machine. The unit is made user friendly with TFT and Touch Screen implementing human machine interface (HMI). The different system components are briefly discussed, followed by a description of the overall design. The major functions which involve bag forming, sealing temperature control, fault detection, alarm, animated view on the home screen when the machine is working as per different parameters set makes the machine performance more successful. LPC2478 ARM 7 Embedded Microcontroller controls the coordination of individual control function modules. In back gone days, these machines were manufactured with mechanical fittings. Later on, the electronic system replaced them. With the help of ongoing technologies, these mechanical systems were controlled electronically using Microprocessors. These became the backbone of the system which became a cause for the updating technologies in which the control was handed over to the Microcontrollers with Servo drives for accurate positioning of the material. This helped to maintain the quality of the products. Including all, RS 485 MODBUS Communication technology is used for synchronizing AC Drive & Servo Drive. These all concepts are operated either manually or through a Graphical User Interface. Automatic tuning of heaters, sealers and their temperature is controlled using Proportional, Integral and Derivation loops. In the upcoming latest technological world, the practical implementation of the above mentioned concepts is really important to be in the user friendly environment. Real time model is implemented and tested on the actual machine and received fruitful results.

Keywords: packaging machine, embedded system, ARM 7, micro controller, HMI, TFT, touch screen, PID

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Authors: Elena M. Kopteva, Pavlina Jaluvkova, Zdenek Stuchlik

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The question of constructing a consistent model of the cosmological black hole remains to be unsolved and still attracts the interest of cosmologists as far as it is important in a wide set of research problems including the problem of the black hole horizon dynamics, the problem of interplay between cosmological expansion and local gravity, the problem of structure formation in the early universe etc. In this work, the model of the cosmological black hole is built on the basis of the exact solution of the Einstein equations for the spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust distribution in the approach of the mass function use. Possible trajectories for massive particles and photons near the black hole immersed in the nonstatic dust cosmological background are investigated in frame of the obtained model. The reference system of distant galaxy comoving to cosmological expansion combined with curvature coordinates is used, so that the resulting metric becomes nondiagonal and involves both proper ‘cosmological’ time and curvature spatial coordinates. For this metric the geodesic equations are analyzed for the test particles and photons, and the respective trajectories are built.

Keywords: exact solutions for Einstein equations, Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution, cosmological black holes, particle and photon trajectories

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Authors: Helen K. Buteme, Rebecca Axelsson-Robertson, Moses L. Joloba, Henry W. Boom, Gunilla Kallenius, Markus Maeurer

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Background: The Ugandan population is heavily affected by infectious diseases and Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) diversity plays a crucial role in the host-pathogen interaction and affects the rates of disease acquisition and outcome. The identification of HLA class 1 alleles and determining which alleles are associated with tuberculosis (TB) outcomes would help in screening individuals in TB endemic areas for susceptibility to TB and to predict resistance or progression to TB which would inevitably lead to better clinical management of TB. Aims: To be able to determine the HLA class 1 phenotype distribution in a Ugandan TB cohort and to establish the relationship between these phenotypes and active and latent TB. Methods: Blood samples were drawn from 32 HIV negative individuals with active TB and 45 HIV negative individuals with latent MTB infection. DNA was extracted from the blood samples and the DNA samples HLA typed by the polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer method. The allelic frequencies were determined by direct count. Results: HLA-A*02, A*01, A*74, A*30, B*15, B*58, C*07, C*03 and C*04 were the dominant phenotypes in this Ugandan cohort. There were differences in the distribution of HLA types between the individuals with active TB and the individuals with LTBI with only HLA-A*03 allele showing a statistically significant difference (p=0.0136). However, after FDR computation the corresponding q-value is above the expected proportion of false discoveries (q-value 0.2176). Key findings: We identified a number of HLA class I alleles in a population from Central Uganda which will enable us to carry out a functional characterization of CD8+ T-cell mediated immune responses to MTB. Our results also suggest that there may be a positive association between the HLA-A*03 allele and TB implying that individuals with the HLA-A*03 allele are at a higher risk of developing active TB.

Keywords: HLA, phenotype, tuberculosis, Uganda

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Authors: Jinliang Yuan, Jong-Sung Yu, Bengt Sundén

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A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed for rechargeable non-aqueous electrolyte lithium-air batteries with a partial opening for oxygen supply to the cathode. Multi-phase transport phenomena occurred in the battery are considered, including dissolved lithium ions and oxygen gas in the liquid electrolyte, solid-phase electron transfer in the porous functional materials and liquid-phase charge transport in the electrolyte. These transport processes are coupled with the electrochemical reactions at the active surfaces, and effects of discharge reaction-generated solid Li2O2 on the transport properties and the electrochemical reaction rate are evaluated and implemented in the model. The predicted results are discussed and analyzed in terms of the spatial and transient distribution of various parameters, such as local oxygen concentration, reaction rate, variable solid Li2O2 volume fraction and porosity, as well as the effective diffusion coefficients. It is found that the effect of the solid Li2O2 product deposited at the solid active surfaces is significant on the transport phenomena and the overall battery performance.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), modeling, multi-phase, transport phenomena, lithium-air battery

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Authors: Maryam Khalili, Fateme Ghanei

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As one of the most significant phenomena of industrialized societies, tourism plays a key role in encouraging regional developments and enhancing higher standards of living for local communities in particular. Traveling is a formative experience endowed with lessons on various aspects of life. It allows us learning how to enhance the social position as well as the social relationships. However, people forget the need to travel and gain first-hand experiences as they have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of stress created by the disorders and routines of the urban dwelling style. In this paper, various spaces of such experiences were explored through a virtual tour with two underlying aims: 1) encouraging, informing, and educating the community in terms of tourism development, and 2) introducing a temporary release from the routines. This study enjoyed a practical-qualitative research methodology, and the required data were collected through observation and using a multiple-response questionnaire. The participants (19-48 years old) included 41 citizens of both genders (63.4% male and 36.6% female) from two regions in Tehran, selected by cluster-probability sampling. The results led to development of a spatial design for a virtual tour experience in Tehran where different areas are explored to both raise people’s awareness and educate them on their cultural heritage.

Keywords: ecotourism, education, gamification, social interaction, urban design, virtual tour

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Yixin Yan, Miao Yan, Irini Angelidaki, Ioannis Fotidis

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Ammonia, which derives from the degradation of urea and protein-substrates, is the major toxicant of the commercial anaerobic digestion reactors causing loses of up to 1/3 of their practical biogas production, which reflects directly on the overall revenue of the plants. The current experimental work is aiming to alleviate the ammonia inhibition in anaerobic digestion (AD) process by developing an innovative bioaugmentation method of ammonia tolerant methanogenic consortia. The ammonia tolerant consortia were cultured in batch reactors and immobilized together with biochar in agar (customized inocula). Three continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTR), fed with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste at a hydraulic retention time of 15 days and operated at thermophilic (55°C) conditions were assessed. After an ammonia shock of 4 g NH4+-N L-1, the customized inocula were bioaugmented into the CSTR reactors to alleviate ammonia toxicity effect on AD process. Recovery rate of methane production and methanogenic activity will be assessed to evaluate the bioaugmentation performance, while 16s rRNA gene sequence will be used to reveal the difference of microbial community changes through bioaugmentation. At the microbial level, the microbial community structures of the four reactors will be analysed to find the mechanism of bioaugmentation. Changes in hydrogen formation potential will be used to predict direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) between ammonia tolerant methanogens and syntrophic bacteria. This experimental work is expected to create bioaugmentation inocula that will be easy to obtain, transport, handled and bioaugment in AD reactors to efficiently alleviate the ammonia toxicity, without alternating any of the other operational parameters including the ammonia-rich feedstocks.

Keywords: artisanal fishing waste, acidogenesis, volatile fatty acids, pH, inoculum/substrate ratio

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Authors: Andrew R. Winters, Gregor J. Gassner

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A high-order numerical magentohydrodynamics (MHD) solver built upon a non-linear entropy stable numerical flux function that supports eight traveling wave solutions will be described. The method is designed to treat the divergence-free constraint on the magnetic field in a similar fashion to a hyperbolic divergence cleaning technique. The solver is especially well-suited for flows involving strong discontinuities due to its strong stability without the need to enforce artificial low density or energy limits. Furthermore, a new formulation of the numerical algorithm to guarantee positivity of the pressure during the simulation is described and presented. By construction, the solver conserves mass, momentum, and energy and is entropy stable. High spatial order is obtained through the use of a third order limiting technique. High temporal order is achieved by utilizing the family of strong stability preserving (SSP) Runge-Kutta methods. Main attributes of the solver are presented as well as details on an implementation of the new solver into the multi-physics, multi-scale simulation code FLASH. The accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency is demonstrated with a variety of numerical tests. Comparisons are also made between the new solver and existing methods already present in FLASH framework.

Keywords: entropy stability, finite volume scheme, magnetohydrodynamics, pressure positivity

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Authors: Kaushika Vinotheeswaran

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The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), located in Ontario, Canada, is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in North America. Rapid urbanization within the GTA has led to increased imperviousness and surface runoff, contributing to wetland loss. Wetland cover and land cover data from the Southern Ontario Land Resource Information System were analyzed to characterize wetland loss to built-up areas and land conversions between 2005 and 2015, evaluating the extent of urbanization-induced wetland loss. Spatial analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of wetlands lost from 2005 to 2011 compared to the period from 2011 to 2015, with these losses attributed to increased urban expansions within the GTA. Non-wetland conversions, such as agricultural and impervious built-up uses to support urban expansions, played a significant role in wetland loss. Current approaches to wetland policy implementation and land-use planning strategies do not effectively identify or mitigate damage to wetlands in advance of development, resulting in significant wetland loss. Therefore, wetland conservation policies must be re-evaluated to address gaps in policy practice and focus on minimizing wetland loss.

Keywords: wetland loss, urbanization, impervious, pervious, wetland conservation

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Authors: Arthi Ganapathy, Rati Tandon, Saroj Kaler

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Introduction: A thorough knowledge of variations in lung anatomy is of prime significance during surgical procedures like lobectomy, pneumonectomy, and segmentectomy of lungs. The arrangement of structures in the lung hilum act as a guide in performing such procedures. The normal pattern of arrangement of hilar structures in the right lung is eparterial bronchus, pulmonary artery, hyparterial bronchus and pulmonary veins from above downwards. In the left lung, it is pulmonary artery, principal bronchus and pulmonary vein from above downwards. The arrangement of hilar structures from anterior to posterior in both the lungs is pulmonary vein, pulmonary artery, and principal bronchus. The bronchial arteries are very small and usually the posterior most structures in the hilum of lungs. Aim: The present study aims at reporting the variations in hilar anatomy (arrangement and number) of lungs. Methodology: 75 adult formalin fixed cadaveric lungs from the department of Anatomy AIIMS New Delhi were observed for variations in the lobar anatomy. Arrangement of pulmonary hilar structures was meticulously observed, and any deviation in the pattern of presentation was recorded. Results: Among the 75 adult lung specimens observed 36 specimens were of right lung and the rest of left lung. Seven right lung specimens showed only 2 lobes with an oblique fissure dividing them and one left lung showed 3 lobes. The normal pattern of arrangement of hilar structures was seen in 22 right lungs and 23 left lungs. Rest of the lung specimens (14 right and 16 left) showed a varied pattern of arrangement of hilar structures. Some of them showed alterations in the sequence of arrangement of pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins, bronchus, and others in the number of these structures. Conclusion: Alterations in the pattern of arrangement of structures in the lung hilum are quite frequent. A compromise in knowledge of such variations will result in inadvertent complications like intraoperative bleeding during surgical procedures.

Keywords: fissures, hilum, lobes, pulmonary

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Authors: Daniel Nieto, Ramiro Couceiro

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Microfluidic chips have demonstrated their significant application potentials in microbiological processing and chemical reactions, with the goal of developing monolithic and compact chip-sized multifunctional systems. Heat generation and thermal control are critical in some of the biochemical processes. The paper presents a laser direct-write technique for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of microheater chips and its applicability for perfusion cell culture outside a cell incubator. The aim of the microheater is to take the role of conventional incubators for cell culture for facilitating microscopic observation or other online monitoring activities during cell culture and provides portability of cell culture operation. Microheaters (5 mm × 5 mm) have been successfully fabricated on soda-lime glass substrates covered with aluminum layer of thickness 120 nm. Experimental results show that the microheaters exhibit good performance in temperature rise and decay characteristics, with localized heating at targeted spatial domains. These microheaters were suitable for a maximum long-term operation temperature of 120ºC and validated for long-time operation at 37ºC. for 24 hours. Results demonstrated that the physiology of the cultured SW480 adenocarcinoma of the colon cell line on the developed microheater chip was consistent with that of an incubator.

Keywords: laser microfabrication, microheater, bioengineering, cell culture

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Authors: Pragathi Gurumurthy, Christina Hagen, Patricia Ulloa, Martin A. Koch, Thorsten M. Buzug

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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder where the patient suffers a disturbed airflow during sleep due to partial or complete occlusion of the pharyngeal airway. Recently, numerical simulations have been used to better understand the mechanism of pharyngeal collapse. However, to gain confidence in the solutions so obtained, an experimental validation is required. Therefore, in this study an experimental validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) used for the study of human pharyngeal flow patterns during OSA is performed. A stationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equation solved using the finite element method was used to numerically study the flow patterns in a computed tomography-based human pharynx model. The inlet flow rate was set to 250 ml/s and such that a flat profile was maintained at the inlet. The outlet pressure was set to 0 Pa. The experimental technique used for the validation of CFD of fluid flow patterns is phase contrast-MRI (PC-MRI). Using the same computed tomography data of the human pharynx as in the simulations, a phantom for the experiment was 3 D printed. Glycerol (55.27% weight) in water was used as a test fluid at 25°C. Inflow conditions similar to the CFD study were simulated using an MRI compatible flow pump (CardioFlow-5000MR, Shelley Medical Imaging Technologies). The entire experiment was done on a 3 T MR system (Ingenia, Philips) with 108 channel body coil using an RF-spoiled, gradient echo sequence. A comparison of the axial velocity obtained in the pharynx from the numerical simulations and PC-MRI shows good agreement. The region of jet impingement and recirculation also coincide, therefore validating the numerical simulations. Hence, the experimental validation proves the reliability and correctness of the numerical simulations.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, experimental validation, phase contrast-MRI, obstructive sleep apnea

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Authors: Samar Alkindy

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Purpose: The BIM model has been used to support the planning of different construction projects in the industry by showing the different stages of the construction process. The model has been instrumental in identifying some of the common errors in the construction process through the spatial arrangement. The continuous use of the BIM model in the construction industry has resulted in various radical changes such as virtual prototyping. Construction virtual prototyping is a highly advanced technology that incorporates a BIM model with realistic graphical simulations, and facilitates the simulation of the project before a product is built in the factory. The paper presents virtual prototyping in the construction industry by examining its application, challenges and benefits to a construction project. Methodology approach: A case study was conducted for this study in four major construction projects, which incorporate virtual construction prototyping in several stages of the construction project. Furthermore, there was the administration of interviews with the project manager and engineer and the planning manager. Findings: Data collected from the methodological approach shows a positive response for virtual construction prototyping in construction, especially concerning communication and visualization. Furthermore, the use of virtual prototyping has increased collaboration and efficiency between construction experts handling a project. During the planning stage, virtual prototyping has increased accuracy, reduced planning time, and reduced the amount of rework during the implementation stage. Irrespective of virtual prototyping being a new concept in the construction industry, the findings outline that the approach will benefit the management of construction projects.

Keywords: construction operations, construction planning, process simulation, virtual prototyping

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Authors: Md. Imran H. Khan, T. Farrell, M. A. Karim

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Highly porous and hygroscopic characteristics of pear make it complex to understand the cellular level water distribution. In pear tissue, water is mainly distributed in three different spaces namely, intercellular water, intracellular water, and cell wall water. Understanding of these three types of water in pear tissue is crucial for predicting actual heat and mass transfer during drying. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the proportion of intercellular water, intracellular water, and cell wall water inside the pear tissue. During this study, Green Anjou Pear was taken for the investigation. The experiment was performed using 1H-NMR- T2 relaxometry. Various types of water component were calculated by using multi-component fits of the T2 relaxation curves. The experimental result showed that in pear tissue 78-82% water exist in intracellular space; 12-16% water in intercellular space and only 2-4% water exist in the cell wall space. The investigated results quantify different types of water in plant-based food tissue. The highest proportion of water exists in intracellular spaces. It was also investigated that the physical properties of pear and the proportion of the different types of water has a strong relationship. Cell wall water depends on the proportion of solid in the sample tissue whereas free water depends on the porosity of the material.

Keywords: intracellular water, intercellular water, cell wall water, physical property, pear

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Authors: Peter Joseph Basil Morris, Chhabi Nigam, S. Ramakrishnan, P. Radhakrishna

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This paper brings out the analysis of the airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data using the Range Migration Algorithm (RMA) for the spotlight mode of operation. Unlike in polar format algorithm (PFA), space-variant defocusing and geometric distortion effects are mitigated in RMA since it does not assume that the illuminating wave-fronts are planar. This facilitates the use of RMA for imaging scenarios involving severe differential range curvatures enabling the imaging of larger scenes at fine resolution and at shorter ranges with low center frequencies. The RMA algorithm for the spotlight mode of SAR is analyzed in this paper using the airborne data. Pre-processing operations viz: - range de-skew and motion compensation to a line are performed on the raw data before being fed to the RMA component. Various stages of the RMA viz:- 2D Matched Filtering, Along Track Fourier Transform and Slot Interpolation are analyzed to find the performance limits and the dependence of the imaging geometry on the resolution of the final image. The ability of RMA to compensate for severe differential range curvatures in the two-dimensional spatial frequency domain are also illustrated in this paper.

Keywords: range migration algorithm, spotlight SAR, synthetic aperture radar, matched filtering, slot interpolation

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Authors: Waqas Shafqat Chattha, Muhammad Iqbal, Amir Shakeel

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Transcriptional factors are proteins that play a vital role in regulating the transcription of target genes in different biological processes and are being widely studied in different plant species. In the current era of genomics, plant genomes sequencing has directed to the genome-wide identification, analyses and categorization of diverse transcription factor families and hence provide key insights into their structural as well as functional diversity. The DNA-binding with One Finger (DOF) proteins belongs to C2-C2-type zinc finger protein family. DOF proteins are plant-specific transcription factors implicated in diverse functions including seed maturation and germination, phytohormone signalling, light-mediated gene regulation, cotton-fiber elongation and responses of the plant to biotic as well as abiotic stresses. In this context, a genome-wide in-silico analysis of DOF TF family in diploid cotton species i.e. Gossypium raimondii has enabled us to identify 55 non-redundant genes encoding DOF proteins renamed as GrDofs (Gossypium raimondii Dof). Gene distribution studies have shown that all of the GrDof genes are unevenly distributed across 12 out of 13 G. raimondii chromosomes. The gene structure analysis illustrated that 34 out of 55 GrDof genes are intron-less while remaining 21 genes have a single intron. Protein sequence-based phylogenetic analysis of putative 55 GrDOFs has divided these proteins into 5 major groups with various paralogous gene pairs. Molecular evolutionary studies aided with the conserved domain as well as gene structure analysis suggested that segmental duplications were the principal contributors for the expansion of Dof genes in G. raimondii.

Keywords: diploid cotton , G. raimondii, phylogenetic analysis, transcription factor

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Authors: Jayati Das

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Kolkata, one of the fastest-growing metropolises in India, has been suffering from air pollution for many decades. Mismanagement of government and an increase in automobiles have been fuelling this problem. The study aims to portray the quality of air along with the influence of traffic flow and vehicular growth and the effects on human health. It further shows the correlation between the emission of pollution during weekdays and weekends with the help of a scatter diagram and trend line. An assessment of Kolkata air quality is done where the listed pollutants’ (RPM, SPM, NO2, and SO2) annual average concentrations are classified into four different categories. Our observed association between childhood Acute Respiratory disorder and early life exposure to traffic-related air pollutants is biologically plausible. The period of in utero and the first year of life is critical in the development of the immune and respiratory systems and potentially harmful effects of toxic pollutants during this period might result in the long-lasting impaired capacity to fight infections and increased risk of allergic manifestations. Up-to-date knowledge about the seasonal and spatial variation of asthma and studying the air quality of the area is done through Geographical Information System (GIS). Steps are taken by the government to control air pollution by alternative public transport like the metro and compulsory certification of period-driven vehicles which test for Carbon mono oxide.

Keywords: air pollution, asthma, GIS, hotspots, governance

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Authors: Mohammed Bakhit Kashoob, Mohammed Salim Al-Maashani, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Marhoon

Abstract:

The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools in the analysis of traffic crash data can help to identify locations or hotspots with high instances or risk of traffic crashes. The identification of traffic crash hotspots can effectively improve road safety measures. Mapping of road traffic crash hotspots can help the concerned authorities to give priority and take targeted measures and improvements to the road structure at these locations to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities. In Oman, there are countless rural roads that have more risks for traveling vehicles compared to urban roads. The likelihood of traffic crashes as well as fatality rate may increase with the presence of risks that are associated with the rural type of community. In this paper, the traffic crash hotspots on rural roads in Oman are specified using spatial analysis methods in GIS and traffic crash data. These hotspots are ranked based on the frequency of traffic crash occurrence (i.e., number of traffic crashes) and the rate of fatalities. The result of this study presents a map visualization of locations on rural roads with high traffic crashes and high fatalities rates.

Keywords: road safety, rural roads, traffic crash, GIS tools

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Authors: S. Ilakkiya, A. Merline

Abstract:

A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems use modulated waveforms and directive antennas to transmit electromagnetic energy into a specific volume in space to search for targets. This paper deals with the design of transmit beamspace matrix and DOA estimation for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar with collocated antennas.The design of transmit beamspace matrix is based on minimizing the difference between a desired transmit beampattern and the actual one while enforcing the constraint of uniform power distribution across the transmit array elements. Rotational invariance property is established at the transmit array by imposing a specific structure on the beamspace matrix. Semidefinite programming and spatial-division based design (SDD) are also designed separately. In MIMO radar systems, DOA estimation is an essential process to determine the direction of incoming signals and thus to direct the beam of the antenna array towards the estimated direction. This estimation deals with non-adaptive spectral estimation and adaptive spectral estimation techniques. The design of the transmit beamspace matrix and spectral estimation techniques are studied through simulation.

Keywords: adaptive and non-adaptive spectral estimation, direction of arrival estimation, MIMO radar, rotational invariance property, transmit, receive beamforming

Procedia PDF Downloads 501

Authors: Panwasn Mahalawalert

Abstract:

The purposes of this research were analyzed differential item functioning and differential test functioning of SWUSAT aptitude test classification by sex variable. The data used in this research is the secondary data from Srinakharinwirot University Scholastic Aptitude Test 2013 (SWUSAT). SWUSAT test consists of four subjects. There are verbal ability test, number ability test, reasoning ability test and spatial ability test. The data analysis was analyzed in 2 steps. The first step was analyzing descriptive statistics. In the second step were analyzed differential item functioning (DIF) and differential test functioning (DTF) by using the DIFAS program. The research results were as follows: The results of DIF and DTF analysis for all 10 tests in year 2013. Gender was the characteristic that found DIF all 10 tests. The percentage of item number that found DIF is between 6.67% - 60%. There are 5 tests that most of items favors female group and 2 tests that most of items favors male group. There are 3 tests that the number of items favors female group equal favors male group. For Differential test functioning (DTF), there are 8 tests that have small level.

Keywords: aptitude test, differential item functioning, differential test functioning, educational measurement

Procedia PDF Downloads 389

Authors: Elizabeta Krstić Vukelja

Abstract:

Digitization of personal data is a consequence of the development of information and communication technologies that create a new work environment with many advantages and challenges, but also potential threats to privacy and personal data protection. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council is becoming a law and obligation that should address the issues of personal data protection and information security. The existence of the Regulation leads to the conclusion that national legislation in the field of virtual environment, protection of the rights of EU citizens and processing of their personal data is insufficiently effective. In the health system, special emphasis is placed on the processing of special categories of personal data, such as health data. The healthcare industry is recognized as a particularly sensitive area in which a large amount of medical data is processed, the digitization of which enables quick access and quick identification of the health insured. The protection of the individual requires quality IT solutions that guarantee the technical protection of personal categories. However, the real problems are the technical and human nature and the spatial limitations of the application of the Regulation. Some conclusions will be drawn by analyzing the implementation of the basic principles of the Regulation on the example of the Croatian health care system and comparing it with similar activities in other EU member states.

Keywords: regulation, healthcare system, personal dana protection, quality data assurance

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Authors: Zhenming Wang, Jun Zhu, Yuchen Yang, Ning Zhao

Abstract:

In the present paper, an alternative framework is proposed to construct a class of finite difference multi-resolution nested weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes with an increasingly higher order of accuracy for solving inviscid Euler equations. These WENO schemes firstly obtain a set of reconstruction polynomials by a hierarchy of nested central spatial stencils, and then recursively achieve a higher order approximation through the lower-order precision WENO schemes. The linear weights of such WENO schemes can be set as any positive numbers with a requirement that their sum equals one and they will not pollute the optimal order of accuracy in smooth regions and could simultaneously suppress spurious oscillations near discontinuities. Numerical results obtained indicate that these alternative finite-difference multi-resolution nested WENO schemes with different accuracies are very robust with low dissipation and use as few reconstruction stencils as possible while maintaining the same efficiency, achieving the high-resolution property without any equivalent multi-resolution representation. Besides, its finite volume form is easier to implement in unstructured grids.

Keywords: finite-difference, WENO schemes, high order, inviscid Euler equations, multi-resolution

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Ruangdech Sirikit

Abstract:

The purposes of this study were analyzed differential item functioning and differential test functioning of SWUSAT aptitude test classification by sex variable. The data used in this research is the secondary data from Srinakharinwirot University Scholastic Aptitude Test 2011 (SWUSAT 2011) SWUSAT test consists of four subjects. There are verbal ability test, number ability test, reasoning ability test and spatial ability test. The data analysis was carried out in 2 steps. The first step was analyzing descriptive statistics. In the second step were analyzed differential item functioning (DIF) and differential test functioning (DTF) by using the DIFAS program. The research results were as follows: The results of data analysis for all 10 tests in year 2011. Sex was the characteristic that found DIF all 10 tests. The percentage of item number that found DIF was between 10% - 46.67%. There are 4 tests that most of items favors female group. There are 3 tests that most of items favors male group and there are 3 tests that the number of items favors female group equal favors male group. For Differential test functioning (DTF), there are 8 tests that have small DIF effect variance.

Keywords: differential item functioning, differential test functioning, SWUSAT, aptitude test

Procedia PDF Downloads 593

Authors: Ebru Dural, M. Zulfu Asık

Abstract:

Laminated glass is a kind of safety glass, which is made by 'sandwiching' two glass sheets and a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer in between them. When the glass is broken, the interlayer in between the glass sheets can stick them together. Because of this property, the hazards of sharp projectiles during natural and man-made disasters reduces. They can be widely applied in building, architecture, automotive, transport industries. Laminated glass can easily undergo large displacements even under their own weight. In order to explain their true behavior, they should be analyzed by using large deflection theory to represent nonlinear behavior. In this study, a nonlinear mathematical model is developed for the analysis of laminated glass cylindrical shell which is free in radial directions and restrained in axial directions. The results will be verified by using the results of the experiment, carried out on laminated glass cylindrical shells. The behavior of laminated composite cylindrical shell can be represented by five partial differential equations. Four of the five equations are used to represent axial displacements and radial displacements and the fifth one for the transverse deflection of the unit. Governing partial differential equations are derived by employing variational principles and minimum potential energy concept. Finite difference method is employed to solve the coupled differential equations. First, they are converted into a system of matrix equations and then iterative procedure is employed. Iterative procedure is necessary since equations are coupled. Problems occurred in getting convergent sequence generated by the employed procedure are overcome by employing variable underrelaxation factor. The procedure developed to solve the differential equations provides not only less storage but also less calculation time, which is a substantial advantage in computational mechanics problems.

Keywords: laminated glass, mathematical model, nonlinear behavior, PVB

Procedia PDF Downloads 305

Authors: Rana Zeina

Abstract:

Objective: The association between Sensory problems and cognitive abilities has been studied in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In this study, we used a neuropsychological test to evaluate memory and attention in ASDs children with sensory problems compared to the ASDs children without sensory problems. Methods: Four visual memory tests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including Big/Little Circle (BLC), Simple Reaction Time (SRT), Intra/Extra Dimensional Set Shift (IED), Spatial Recognition Memory (SRM), were administered to 14 ASDs children with sensory problems compared to 13 ASDs without sensory problems aged 3 to 12 with IQ of above 70. Results: ASDs Individuals with sensory problems performed worse than the ASDs group without sensory problems on comprehension, learning, reversal and simple reaction time tasks, and no significant difference between the two groups was recorded in terms of the visual memory and visual comprehension tasks. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that ASDs children with sensory problems are facing deficits in learning, comprehension, reversal, and speed of response to stimuli.

Keywords: visual memory, attention, autism spectrum disorders, CANTAB eclipse

Procedia PDF Downloads 440