Search results for: sensor monitoring

Authors: K. Alese Boniface, K. Adu Michael

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Cybercrime is now becoming a big challenge in Nigeria apart from the traditional crime. Inability to identify perpetrators is one of the reasons for the growing menace. This paper proposes a design for monitoring internet users’ activities in order to curbing cybercrime. It requires redefining the operations of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which will now mandate users to be authenticated before accessing the internet. In implementing this work which can be adapted to a larger scale, a virtual router application is developed and configured to mimic a real router device. A sign-up portal is developed to allow users to register with the ISP. The portal asks for identification information which will include bio-data and government issued identification data like National Identity Card number, et cetera. A unique username and password are chosen by the user to enable access to the internet which will be used to reference him to an Internet Protocol Address (IP Address) of any system he uses on the internet and thereby associating him to any criminal act related to that IP address at that particular time. Questions such as “What happen when another user knows the password and uses it to commit crime?” and other pertinent issues are addressed.

Keywords: cybercrime, sign-up portal, internet service provider (ISP), internet protocol address (IP address)

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Authors: Hala A. Hassan, Vasiliki K. Tsiouri, Konstantinos E. Konstantinos

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Fugitive particulate matter (PM) is a major source of airborne pollution in the Middle East countries. The meteorological conditions and topography of the area make it highly susceptible to wind-blown particles which raise many air quality concerns. Air quality tools such as field monitoring, emission factors, and dispersion modeling have been used in previous research studies to analyze the release and impacts of fugitive PM in the region. However, these tools have been originally developed based on experiments made for European and North American regions. In this work, an experimental campaign was conducted on April-May 2014 in a construction site in Doha city, Qatar. The ultimate goal is to evaluate the applicability of the existing emission factors for construction sites in dry and arid areas like the Middle East. This publication was made possible by a NPRP award [NPRP 7-649-2-241] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Keywords: particulate matter, emissions, fugitive, construction, air pollution

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Authors: Isabel Jones

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As adolescence is a formative time, experiences during adolescence often affect the rest of one’s life. Therefore, dating, specifically violence in dating, can have lasting effects on the rest of one’s life. In order to find sources, searches were conducted on PsycINFO, specifically EBSCO, and narrowed down under the criteria that the source contained information about adolescent dating violence rather than adult, and focused on causes, effects, or prevention methods. This literature review examines research regarding the effects and causes of TDV, and then what methods are effective in the prevention of TDV development. This will allow for a clear image of how these prevention methods are effective and why they are important. Effects of TDV extend beyond the physical, including psychological and sexual long-lasting effects. These are caused by a number of concepts, including learned behavior, inhibitory issues/substance abuse, and cultural factors. When both of these are taken into account, preventative measures such as school-based interventions, parental/adult monitoring, and the presence of positive family examples are more clear as to their effectiveness. This literature review may provide further awareness to this public health crisis and give the public a view of how adolescents are affected by TDV on their path from child to adult.

Keywords: adolescence, dating violence, risk factors, predictors, relationship

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Authors: Olokode Enitan Aishat

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People can perform to the best of their abilities and produce the highest-quality work most effectively and efficiently with the aid of performance management tools. The performance, goal-setting, activation, monitoring, measurement, and evaluation aspects of hospitality operations are key. The hospitality industry, the investors, and management would become irrelevant without performance since the industry would no longer be viable. The goal of this study is to elucidate the quandary for both management and investor, which derives from an intrinsic perspective in which both parties seek to reach and exceed goals while maximizing returns on investment. The desire for achievement and a return on investment is a major conundrum for all parties concerned. It is envisaged that there would be returns on the investments and expenses made in maintaining hospitality facilities with human resources. Secondary research was used to develop the theoretical framework. A random sample of respondents from hotels employee and investors within the city of Abuja was used to collect data, which was then analyzed using SPSS. This study confirms the validity of simple and straightforward common misunderstandings and provides tried and tested strategies for understanding and working together as a team among managers and owners in a business, as this would guarantee a return for business owners and management.

Keywords: performance management, hospitality industry, conflict, alignment of key performance indicator

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Authors: Mohamed E. Abdelrahamn, Mahmoud Aly Hassan, Mohamed Sarhan

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Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) is a common shoulder disorder. Patients often complain from a decrease in electromyography (EMG) activity of the rotator cuff muscles especially the supraspinatus muscle during glenohumeral elevation. Objective: The purpose of the study is to assess the effect of applying 50% of maximum voluntary contraction of hand grip strength on the EMG activity of the shoulder muscles in patients with SIS. Methods: Thirty male and female patients participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 25 to 40 years. EMG activity of supraspinatus muscle and middle deltoid muscle was assessed without and with applying 50% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Results: A significant difference was found for both supraspinatus and middle deltoid muscles, indicating that the gripping resulted in increasing muscle activity. Conclusion: Applying 50% MVC of hand grip strength could increase the supraspinatus and middle deltoid muscles activity in patients of SIS. This might be useful in the development and monitoring of shoulder rehabilitation strategies.

Keywords: electromyography, supraspinatus muscle, deltoid muscle, subacromial impingement syndrome

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Authors: Reem I. Altamimi, Geoff D. Skinner

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Extended periods engaged in sedentary behavior increases the risk of becoming overweight and/or obese which is linked to other health problems. Adding technology to the term ‘active living’ permits its inclusion in promoting and facilitating habitual physical activity. Technology can either act as a barrier to, or facilitate this lifestyle, depending on the chosen technology. Physical Activity Monitoring Technologies (PAMTs) are a popular example of such technologies. Different contemporary PAMTs have been evaluated based on customer reviews; however, there is a lack of published experimental research into the efficacy of PAMTs. This research aims to investigate the reliability of four PAMTs: two wristbands (Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP), a waist-clip (Fitbit One), and a mobile application (iPhone Health Application) for recording a specific distance walked on a treadmill (1.5km) at constant speed. Physical activity tracking technologies are varied in their recordings, even while performing the same activity. This research demonstrates that Jawbone UP band recorded the most accurate distance compared to Fitbit One, Fitbit Flex, and iPhone Health Application.

Keywords: Fitbit, jawbone up, mobile tracking applications, physical activity tracking technologies

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Authors: Pedro Gómez-del-Hoyo, Jose-Luis Bárcena-Humanes, Nerea del-Rey-Maestre, María-Pilar Jarabo-Amores, David Mata-Moya

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A study of achievable coverages using passive radar systems in terrestrial traffic monitoring applications is presented. The study includes the estimation of the bistatic radar cross section of different commercial vehicle models that provide challenging low values which make detection really difficult. A semi-urban scenario is selected to evaluate the impact of excess propagation losses generated by an irregular relief. A bistatic passive radar exploiting UHF frequencies radiated by digital video broadcasting transmitters is assumed. A general method of coverage estimation using electromagnetic simulators in combination with estimated car average bistatic radar cross section is applied. In order to reduce the computational cost, hybrid solution is implemented, assuming free space for the target-receiver path but estimating the excess propagation losses for the transmitter-target one.

Keywords: bistatic radar cross section, passive radar, propagation losses, radar coverage

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Authors: Sweta Das

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This case report is a 15-year-old male who presented with painless unilateral vision loss from left optic nerve compression due to juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. JNA is a rare, benign neoplasm that causes intracranial and intraorbital bone destruction and extends aggressively into surrounding soft tissues. It accounts for <1% of all head and neck tumors, is predominantly found in pediatric males and tends to affect indigenous population disproportionately. The most common presenting symptom for JNA is epistaxis and nasal obstruction. However, it can invade orbit, chiasm and pituitary gland, causing loss of vision and field. Visual acuity and function near normalized following surgical excision. Optometry plays an important role in the diagnosis and co-management of JNA with optic nerve compression by closely monitoring afferent optic nerve function and structure, and extraocular motility. Visual function and acuity in patients with short-term compressive neuropathy may drastically improve following surgical resection as this case demonstrates.

Keywords: orbital mass, painless monocular vision loss, compressive optic neuropathy, pediatric tumor

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Authors: Ali Ben Abbes, Imed Riadh Farah

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Due to the considerable advances in Multi-Temporal Satellite Images (MTSI), remote sensing application became more accurate. Recently, many advances in modeling MTSI are developed using various models. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of studies using Hidden Markov Model (HMM). First of all, we provide a background of using HMM and their applications in this context. A comparison of the different works is discussed, and possible areas and challenges are highlighted. Secondly, we discussed the difference on vegetation monitoring as well as urban growth. Nevertheless, most research efforts have been used only stationary data. From another point of view, in this paper, we describe a new non-stationarity HMM, that is defined with a set of parts of the time series e.g. seasonal, trend and random. In addition, a new approach giving more accurate results and improve the applicability of the HMM in modeling a non-stationary data series. In order to assess the performance of the HMM, different experiments are carried out using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI time series of the northwestern region of Tunisia and Landsat time series of tres Cantos-Madrid in Spain.

Keywords: multi-temporal satellite image, HMM , nonstationarity, vegetation, urban

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Authors: Mthiyane Pretty, Mitsui Toshiake, Aycan Murat, Nagano Hirohiko

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Methane (CH₄) is one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere by terrestrial ecosystems, with a global warming potential (GWP) 25-34 times that of CO2 on a centennial scale. Paddy rice cultivations are a major source of methane emission and is the major driving force for climate change. Thus, it is necessary to find out GHG emissions mitigation strategies from rice cultivation. A study was conducted at Niigata University. And the prime objective of this research was to determine the effects of rice varieties CH4 lowland (NU1, YNU, Nipponbare, Koshihikari) and upland (Norin 1, Norin 24, Hitachihatamochi) japonica rice varieties using different growth media which was paddy field soil and artificial soil. The treatments were laid out in a split plot design. The soil moisture was kept at 40-50% and 70%, respectively. The CH₄ emission rates were determined by collecting air samples using the closed chamber technique and measuring CH₄ concentrations using a gas chromatograph. CH₄ emission rates varied with the growth, growth media type and development of the rice varieties. The soil moisture was monitored at a soil depth of 5–10 cm with an HydraGO portable soil sensor system every three days for each pot, and temperatures were be recorded by a sensitive thermometer. The lowest cumulative CH4 emission rate was observed in Norin 24, particularly under 40 to 50% soil moisture. Across the rice genotypes, 40-50% significantly reduced the cumulative CH4 , followed by irrigation of 70% soil moisture. During the tillering stage, no significant variation in tillering and plant height was observed between and 70% soil moisture. This study suggests that the cultivation of Norin 24 and Norin 1 under 70% soil irrigation could be effective at reducing the CH4 in rice fields.

Keywords: methane, paddy fields, rice varieties, soil moisture

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Authors: Mansouri Ouarda, Adbdennour Cherif, Boukarma Ziad

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Environmental and biological monitoring are used for the evaluation of exposure to industrial chemicals, and provide a tool for assessing workers’ exposure to chemicals. The organs or tissues where the first biological effects can be observed with increasing amounts of lead toxicity. This study aims at evaluating the effect of the metal element-trace; lead, on the sex hormones in male workers, exposed to this metal on the level of the manufacturing plant of lead accumulators. The results indicate a significant reduction of the testosterone concentration in exposed workers compared to the control. However, the rate of LH was strongly increased at the individuals exposed to Pb. A significant difference concerning the rate of FSH, the hormone Prolactin and cortisol was recorded. The indicators of the lead poisoning indicate a very highly significant increase in the value of Pbs which vary between (142-796 µg/L) among which 50% of the workers present a high lead poisoning and the value of PPZ which vary between (43-554µg/L). The biochemical parameters show a significant increase in the rate of the créatinine, the urea and the acid urique. The hepatic results show no significant differentiation in the rate of TGO and TGP between both groups of study. However the rates of the enzyme phosphatase alkaline, triglyceride, and cholesterol a significant difference were registered.

Keywords: hormons, parameters, physilogical, Pbs, PPZ

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Authors: Wanyi Zhu, Xia Ming, Huafeng Wang, Junda Chen, Lu Liu, Jiangwei Jiang, Guohua Liu

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Anomaly detection is a first and imperative step needed to respond to unexpected problems and to assure high performance and security in large data center management. This paper presents an online anomaly detection system through an innovative approach of ensemble machine learning and adaptive differentiation algorithms, and applies them to performance data collected from a continuous monitoring system for multi-tier web applications running in Alibaba data centers. We evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of this algorithm with production traffic data and compare with the traditional anomaly detection approaches such as a static threshold and other deviation-based detection techniques. The experiment results show that our algorithm correctly identifies the unexpected performance variances of any running application, with an acceptable false positive rate. This proposed approach has already been deployed in real-time production environments to enhance the efficiency and stability in daily data center operations.

Keywords: Alibaba data centers, anomaly detection, big data computation, dynamic ensemble learning

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Authors: Caje F. Pinto, Jivan S. Parab, Gourish M. Naik

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This paper is about the development of non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation in human blood using Altera NIOS II soft-core processor system. In today's world, monitoring oxygen saturation and heart rate is very important in hospitals to keep track of low oxygen levels in blood. We have designed an Embedded System On Peripheral Chip (SOPC) reconfigurable system by interfacing two LED’s of different wavelengths (660 nm/940 nm) with a single photo-detector to measure the absorptions of hemoglobin species at different wavelengths. The implementation of the interface with Finger Probe and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) was carried out using NIOS II soft-core system running on Altera NANO DE0 board having target as Cyclone IVE. This designed system is used to monitor oxygen saturation in blood and heart rate for different test subjects. The designed NIOS II processor based non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation was verified with another Operon Pulse oximeter for 50 measurements on 10 different subjects. It was found that the readings taken were very close to the Operon Pulse oximeter.

Keywords: heart rate, NIOS II, oxygen saturation, photoplethysmography, soft-core, SOPC

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Authors: Deepak Raj Bhat, Kazushige Hayashi, Yorihiro Tanaka, Shigeru Ogita, Akihiko Wakai

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Slow-moving landslides are one of the major natural disasters in mountainous regions. Therefore, study of the creep displacement behaviour of a landslide and associated geological and geotechnical issues seem important. This study has addressed and evaluated the slow-moving behaviour of landslide using the 2D-FEM based Elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model. To our based knowledge, two new control constitutive parameters were incorporated in the numerical model for the first time to better understand the slow-moving behaviour of a landslide. First, the predicted time histories of horizontal displacement of the landslide are presented and discussed, which may be useful for landslide displacement prediction in the future. Then, the simulation results of deformation pattern and shear strain pattern is presented and discussed. Moreover, the possible failure mechanism along the slip surface of such landslide is discussed based on the simulation results. It is believed that this study will be useful to understand the slow-moving behaviour of landslides, and at the same time, long-term monitoring and management of the landslide disaster will be much easier.

Keywords: numerical simulation, ground water fluctuations, elasto-viscoplastic model, slow-moving behaviour

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Authors: Rafat Rob, Khaled Alotaibi, Dana Nour, Abdullah Albadrani, Abdulmohsen Mulhim

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Power systems digitization solutions provides a comprehensive smart, cohesive, interconnected network, extensive connectivity between digital assets, physical power plants, and resources to form digital economies. However, digitization has exposed the classical air gapped power plants to the rapid spread of cyber threats and attacks in the process delaying and forcing many organizations to rethink their cyber security policies and standards before they can augment their operation the new advanced digital devices. Cyber Security requirements for power systems (and industry control systems therein) demand a new approach, unique methodology, and design process that is completely different to Cyber Security measures designed for the IT systems. In practice, Cyber Security strategy, as applied to power systems, tends to be closely aligned to those measures applied for IT system purposes. The differentiator for Cyber Security in terms of power systems are the physical assets and applications used, alongside the ever-growing rate of expansion within the industry controls sector (in comparison to the relatively saturated growth observed for corporate IT systems). These factors increase the magnitude of the cyber security risk within such systems. The introduction of smart devices and sensors along the grid initiate vulnerable entry points to the systems. Every installed Smart Meter is a target; the way these devices communicate with each other may instigate a Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Attacking one sensor or meter has the potential to propagate itself throughout the power grid reaching the IT network, where it may manifest itself as a malware infiltration.

Keywords: supply chain, cybersecurity, maturity model, risk, smart grid

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Authors: Maryam Alimardani, Kazuo Hiraki

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This study presents a framework for development of a new generation of therapy robots that can interact with users by monitoring their physiological and mental states. Here, we focused on one of the controversial methods of therapy, hypnotherapy. Hypnosis has shown to be useful in treatment of many clinical conditions. But, even for healthy people, it can be used as an effective technique for relaxation or enhancement of memory and concentration. Our aim is to develop a robot that collects information about user’s mental and physical states using electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) signals and performs costeffective hypnosis at the comfort of user’s house. The presented framework consists of three main steps: (1) Find the EEG-correlates of mind state before, during, and after hypnosis and establish a cognitive model for state changes, (2) Develop a system that can track the changes in EEG and EMG activities in real time and determines if the user is ready for suggestion, and (3) Implement our system in a humanoid robot that will talk and conduct hypnosis on users based on their mental states. This paper presents a pilot study in regard to the first stage, detection of EEG and EMG features during hypnosis.

Keywords: hypnosis, EEG, robotherapy, brain-computer interface (BCI)

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Authors: Neha Verma, Manik Rakhra

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Statement of the Problem: Nowadays, a tremendous increase in population and advanced industrialization augment the problems related to air and water pollutions. Growing industries promoting environmental danger, which is an alarming threat to the ecosystem. For safeguard, the environment, detection of perilous gases and release of colored wastewater is required for eutrophication pollution. Researchers around the globe are trying their best efforts to save the environment. For this remediation advanced oxidation process is used for potential applications. ZnO is an important semiconductor photocatalyst with high photocatalytic and gas sensing activities. For efficient photocatalytic and gas sensing properties, it is necessary to prepare a doped/co-doped ZnO compound to decrease the electron-hole recombination rates. However, lanthanide doped and co-doped metal oxide is seldom studied for photocatalytic and gas sensing applications. The purpose of this study is to describe the best photocatalyst for the photodegradation of dyes and gas sensing properties. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Economical framework has to be used for the synthesis of ZnO. In the depth literature survey, a simple combustion method is utilized for gas sensing and photocatalytic activities. Findings: Rare earth doped and co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were the best photocatalysts for photodegradation of organic dyes and different gas sensing applications by varying various factors such as pH, aging time, and different concentrations of doping and codoping metals in ZnO. Complete degradation of dye was observed only in min. Gas sensing nanodevice showed a better response and quick recovery time for doped/co-doped ZnO. Conclusion & Significance: In order to prevent air and water pollution, well crystalline ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by rapid and economic method, which is used as photocatalyst for photodegradation of organic dyes and gas sensing applications to sense the release of hazardous gases from the environment.

Keywords: ZnO, photocatalyst, photodegradation of dye, gas sensor

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Authors: O. S. Ebrahim, K. O. Shawky, M. O. S. Ebrahim, P. K. Jain

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Induction Motor (IM) driving pump is the main consumer of electricity in a typical fluid transportation system (FTS). It was illustrated that changing the connection of the stator windings from delta to star at no load could achieve noticeable active and reactive energy savings. This paper proposes a supervisory hysteresis liquid-level control with three-state energy saving mode (ESM) for IM in FTS including storage tank. The IM pump drive comprises modified star/delta switch and hydromantic coupler. Three-state ESM is defined, along with the normal running, and named analog to computer ESMs as follows: Sleeping mode in which the motor runs at no load with delta stator connection, hibernate mode in which the motor runs at no load with a star connection, and motor shutdown is the third energy saver mode. A logic flow-chart is synthesized to select the motor state at no-load for best energetic cost reduction, considering the motor thermal capacity used. An artificial neural network (ANN) state estimator, based on the recurrent architecture, is constructed and learned in order to provide fault-tolerant capability for the supervisory controller. Sequential test of Wald is used for sensor fault detection. Theoretical analysis, preliminary experimental testing and, computer simulations are performed to show the effectiveness of the proposed control in terms of reliability, power quality and energy/coenergy cost reduction with the suggestion of power factor correction.

Keywords: ANN, ESM, IM, star/delta switch, supervisory control, FT, reliability, power quality

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Authors: Mishari Khajah, Mohd. Elmuntasir Ahmed, Abdullah Al-Matouq, Farah Al-Ajeel, Fatemah Dashti, Ahmed Shishter

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The overall aim of this study was to monitor and evaluate the effluent quality of a reverse osmosis (RO) reject wastewater from the biggest wastewater treatment plant in the world that is using RO and ultrafiltration membranes in their processes to reclaim water for indirect potable water reuse from municipal wastewaters. The RO reject wastewater or brine included various contaminants that could harm the human health and the environment such as trace organics, organic matters, heavy metals, nutrients and pathogens. Unfortunately, there are no legally binding regulatory guidelines for brine management in Kuwait as many countries around the world. This study monitors and evaluate the RO reject wastewater (brine) generated from the Sulaibiya Wastewater Treatment Plant. Samples were collected and analyzed about 37 parameters for one-year period, twice a month, and compare it to Kuwait Environment Public Authority, KEPA. Results showed that the heavy metals parameters were above KEPA standards, which needs to be treated.

Keywords: domestic wastewater, management, potable water, RO reject wastewater, Sulaibiya wastewater treatment plant

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Authors: Sakchai Satienperakul, Manoch Thanomwat, Jutiporn Seedasama

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A paper based analytical devices (PADs) for the analysis of Fe (III) ion in natural water samples is developed, using reagent from guava leaf extract. The extraction is simply performed in deionized water pH 7, where tannin extract is obtained and used as an alternative natural reagent. The PADs are fabricated by ink-jet printing using alkenyl ketene dimer (AKD) wax. The quantitation of Fe (III) is carried out using reagent from guava leaf extract prepared in acetate buffer at the ratio of 1:1. A color change to gray-purple is observed by naked eye when dropping sample contained Fe (III) ion on PADs channel. The reflective absorption measurement is performed for creating a standard curve. The linear calibration range is observed over the concentration range of 2-10 mg L-1. Detection limited of Fe (III) is observed at 2 mg L-1. In its optimum form, the PADs is stable for up to 30 days under oxygen free conditions. The small dimensions, low volume requirement and alternative natural reagent make the proposed PADs attractive for on-site environmental monitoring and analysis.

Keywords: green chemical analysis, guava leaf extract, lab on a chip, paper based analytical device

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Authors: Ragy Raafat Gaber Attaalla

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PIP: This review, based on 2 large-scale studies, discusses the pharmacology and physiology of oral steroid contraceptives (OCs). The pharmacological distinction between synthetic and naturally occurring steroids centers on changes in biological activity dependent on compound formulation and an individual's metabolism. OC mechanism of action is explained as the main prevention of ovulation by interference with gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Since some 52 metabolic alterations have been reported in OC users, these phenomena are dealt with in 3 categories: 1) effects on the primary target organs of the female reproductive tract (ovary, myometrium, endometrium, cervix, vagina, breasts, and hypothalamus), 2) general metabolic effects (serum proteins, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, water and electrolyte metabolism, body weight, tryptophan metabolism, and vitamins and minerals), and 3) effects on other organ systems (liver, central nervous system, skin, genitourinary, gastrointestinal tract, eye, immune phenomena, and effect on subsequent fertility). The choice of the proper OC formulation and use of OCs by adolescents are discussed. Assessment of OC safety, contraindications, and patient monitoring are provided.

Keywords: steroid oral contraceptives, ovulation, female reproductive tract, metabolic effects

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Authors: Alireza Vafaei Sadr, Vida Abedi, Jiang Li, Ramin Zand

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Missing data is a common challenge in medical research and can lead to biased or incomplete results. When the data bias leaks into models, it further exacerbates health disparities; biased algorithms can lead to misclassification and reduced resource allocation and monitoring as part of prevention strategies for certain minorities and vulnerable segments of patient populations, which in turn further reduce data footprint from the same population – thus, a vicious cycle. This study compares the performance of six imputation techniques grouped into Linear and Non-Linear models on two different realworld electronic health records (EHRs) datasets, representing 17864 patient records. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) are used as performance metrics, and the results show that the Linear models outperformed the Non-Linear models in terms of both metrics. These results suggest that sometimes Linear models might be an optimal choice for imputation in laboratory variables in terms of imputation efficiency and uncertainty of predicted values.

Keywords: EHR, machine learning, imputation, laboratory variables, algorithmic bias

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Authors: Hoda Dehghani, Zahra Dehghani

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Considering the obvious growth and variety of veterinary biological product and increase consumption and also the price, it is necessary to establish the rules and serious monitoring of this products which are less expensive than the original products. The scope of this research is the study of comparing the registration criteria and procedures of veterinary biological drugs in the world's leading agencies such as EMA, FDA, and WHO. For this, purpose the rules and regulations for registration of these drugs in prestigious organizations such as the FDA, EMA and WHO were examined and compared with the existing legislation in Iran. Studies show that EMA is the forefront of the compilation and registration of drugs in the world. China is a one of the greatest country in the development of drugs and establishes very closely guidelines with creditable global guidelines, and Now, is the first country to implement the rules codified in the Far East and followed by china, India and, South Korea and Taiwan have taken incorporate the industry's top ranking in Asia. At now, Asia by creating appropriate indicators not only as a powerful center in the field of drug delivery but also as a competitor to the United States is a major source of drug discovery and creation of innovation. the activities such as clinical trials and pharmaceutical investment is the speed of technology on the continent.

Keywords: veterinary biological product, regulation of registration, biological products, regularity authorities

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Authors: Mmapula Petunia Tsweleng

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This qualitative study presents an exploration and findings thereof the quality of primary caregiving relationships between adolescents orphaned through Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and their grandmothers. This exploration was based on in-depth narratives of 6 stakeholders who provided community-based psychosocial support services to children and families affected by AIDS. The narratives show that grandmothers provided high-quality parental care and support to the orphans. Furthermore, stakeholders categorised grandmother caregiving as genuine. Findings also show that the orphans thrived emotionally, socially, and cognitively and performed well academically. However, it was also identified that grandmothers’ caregiving had elements of overprotectiveness as well as susceptibility to manipulation -which appeared to be a threat to the positive development of the orphans. Relevant interventions, with a special focus on strengthening grandmother caregiving, are needed. Special attention should be on equipping grandmothers with a better understanding of adolescent behaviours and abilities to provide appropriate monitoring and supervision.

Keywords: adolescent orphans, AIDS, caregiving relationships, grandmothers

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Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Nassr Almaflehi, Ayman Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Aayah Al Yaari, Adham Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari

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Background: Measuring hearing functional capabilities by Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR) may contribute to better treatment and possible differences in this process may have important clinical implications. Objectives: To measure the validity and reliability of ABR through screening, estimating, and intraoperative monitoring of auditory capabilities of Arab infants and children and the degree of their seriousness. Design: Pre-and-posttest was administered to measure the validity and reliability of ABR. Participants: The subjects of the present study are sixty (60) individuals. The study classified them into two groups: Infants (N=30, ages range between 0-40 weeks) and children (N=30, ages range between 10 months and -3 years) diagnosed with auditory problems. Procedures: The ABR pre- and posttest measurement was administered over two weeks. The outcomes were neuropsycholinguistically and statistically analyzed. Results: The results of the pre-and-posttest for both infants and children did not vary significantly. Also consistent with expectations, higher scores were not registered for the infants’ measurements due to age factors. The findings from this study largely indicate that ABR is valid and reliable.

Keywords: auditory, brainstem, response, children, measurement, function, experimental study

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Authors: Francesca Crivellari, Nicholas Mavrogiannis, Zachary Gagnon

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Portable diagnostic methods have become increasingly important for a number of different purposes: point-of-care screening in developing nations, environmental contamination studies, bio/chemical warfare agent detection, and end-user use for commercial health monitoring. The cheapest and most portable methods currently available are paper-based – lateral flow and dipstick methods are widely available in drug stores for use in pregnancy detection and blood glucose monitoring. These tests are successful because they are cheap to produce, easy to use, and require minimally invasive sampling. While adequate for their intended uses, in the realm of blood-borne pathogens and numerous cancers, these paper-based methods become unreliable, as they lack the nM/pM sensitivity currently achieved by clinical diagnostic methods. Clinical diagnostics, however, utilize techniques involving surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), which are expensive and unfeasible in terms of portability. To develop a better, competitive biosensor, we must reduce the cost of one, or increase the sensitivity of the other. Electric fields are commonly utilized in microfluidic devices to manipulate particles, biomolecules, and cells. Applications in this area, however, are primarily limited to interfaces formed between immiscible interfaces. Miscible, liquid-liquid interfaces are common in microfluidic devices, and are easily reproduced with simple geometries. Here, we demonstrate the use of electrical fields at liquid-liquid electrical interfaces, known as fluidic dielectrophoresis, (fDEP) for biodetection in a microfluidic device. In this work, we apply an AC electric field across concurrent laminar streams with differing conductivities and permittivities to polarize the interface and induce a discernible, near-immediate, frequency-dependent interfacial tilt. We design this aqueous electrical interface, which becomes the biosensing “substrate,” to be intelligent – it “moves” only when a target of interest is present. This motion requires neither labels nor expensive electrical equipment, so the biosensor is inexpensive and portable, yet still capable of sensitive detection. Nanoparticles, due to their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, are often incorporated to enhance detection capabilities of schemes like SPR and fluorimetric assays. Most studies currently investigate binding at an immobilized solid-liquid or solid-gas interface, where particles are adsorbed onto a planar surface, functionalized with a receptor to create a reactive substrate, and subsequently flushed with a fluid or gas with the relevant analyte. These typically involve many preparation and rinsing steps, and are susceptible to surface fouling. Our microfluidic device is continuously flowing and renewing the “substrate,” and is thus not subject to fouling. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to electrokinetically detect biomolecules binding to functionalized nanoparticles at liquid-liquid interfaces using fDEP. In biotin-streptavidin experiments, we report binding detection limits on the order of 1-10 pM, without amplifying signals or concentrating samples. We also demonstrate the ability to detect this interfacial motion, and thus the presence of binding, using impedance spectroscopy, allowing this scheme to become non-optical, in addition to being label-free.

Keywords: biodetection, dielectrophoresis, microfluidics, nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour

Abstract:

The present study provides information about the nature of adverse effects on fish and the ecological impact that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutant are having in the northern coast of Hormuz Strait. The glucose and cholesterol levels were higher in fish from the St3 than in Walton's mudskipper from other stations however St3 samples had lowest total proteins levels. There was a significant positive correlation between glucose and cholesterol with PAHs concentrations in sediment and tissue samples (P<0.05). However, total proteins had adverse significant correlation with PAHs concentrations (P>0.05). The adverse correlation was seen between length and body weight of fish samples with PAHs concentrations. According to the results of this study, the monitoring of contaminants bioaccumulation in the northern part of Hormuz Strait is necessary, because this will give an indication of the temporal and spatial extent of the process, as well as an assessment of the potential impact on aquatic organisms health.

Keywords: PAHs, blood metabolic factors, Periophthalmus waltoni, Hormuz Strait

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Sultan Alharby, Nick Harris, Alex Weddell, Jeff Reeve

Abstract:

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has received much attention over the last five years. It is predicted that the IoT will influence every aspect of our lifestyles in the near future. Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the key enablers of the operation of IoTs, allowing data to be collected from the surrounding environment. However, due to limited resources, nature of deployment and unattended operation, a WSN is vulnerable to various types of attack. Security is paramount for reliable and safe communication between IoT embedded devices, but it does, however, come at a cost to resources. Nodes are usually equipped with small batteries, which makes energy conservation crucial to IoT devices. Nevertheless, security cost in terms of energy consumption has not been studied sufficiently. Previous research has used a security specification of 802.15.4 for IoT applications, but the energy cost of each security level and the impact on quality of services (QoS) parameters remain unknown. This research focuses on the cost of security at the IoT media access control (MAC) layer. It begins by studying the energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 security levels, which is followed by an evaluation for the impact of security on data latency and throughput, and then presents the impact of transmission power on security overhead, and finally shows the effects of security on memory footprint. The results show that security overhead in terms of energy consumption with a payload of 24 bytes fluctuates between 31.5% at minimum level over non-secure packets and 60.4% at the top security level of 802.15.4 security specification. Also, it shows that security cost has less impact at longer packet lengths, and more with smaller packet size. In addition, the results depicts a significant impact on data latency and throughput. Overall, maximum authentication length decreases throughput by almost 53%, and encryption and authentication together by almost 62%.

Keywords: energy consumption, IEEE 802.15.4, IoT security, security cost evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Han-Wei Shih, Yao-Nan Wang, Ko-Tung Chang, Lung-Ming Fu

Abstract:

A multi-channel cell growth real-time monitor and evaluation system using charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors with 40X lens integrating a NI LabVIEW image processing program is proposed and demonstrated. The LED light source control of monitor system is utilizing 8051 microprocessor integrated with NI LabVIEW software. In this study, the same concentration RAW264.7 cells growth rate and morphology in four different culture conditions (DMEM, LPS, G1, G2) were demonstrated. The real-time cells growth image was captured and analyzed by NI Vision Assistant every 10 minutes in the incubator. The image binarization technique was applied for calculating cell doubling time and cell division index. The cells doubling time and cells division index of four group with DMEM, LPS, LPS+G1, LPS+G2 are 12.3 hr,10.8 hr,14.0 hr,15.2 hr and 74.20%, 78.63%, 69.53%, 66.49%. The image magnification of multi-channel CCDs cell real-time monitoring system is about 100X~200X which compares with the traditional microscope.

Keywords: charge-coupled device (CCD), RAW264.7, doubling time, division index

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Monday Dickson

Abstract:

Shortly before the end of the second world war, allied leaders and other western powers designed an economic regime that would foster, among other things, global economic reconstruction, prosperity and overall development of countries of the world. They founded both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with a general consensus that while the latter should specialize in monitoring global and national economies and acting as a lender of last resort, the former should focus on fighting poverty and promoting development. In setting the rules for world trade, the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) evolved into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This paper, therefore, examines the impact of the activities of these institutions on the transformation and development aspirations of countries of the Third World. The study adopts the descriptive and analytical methods of investigation and derived relevant secondary data from books, journal articles, encyclopedia as well as reports from countries of the Third World. Findings show that rather than fostering poverty reduction and overall development as envisaged, the activities of global economy system leads to the “development of underdevelopment” of the Third World Countries. The strategic options that are available to countries of the Third World derived from the ability of the national governments to develop programmes of systematic exploration and exploitation of vital indices of relations with strategic countries to advance their development agenda.

Keywords: development, global economic system, prosperity, third world

Procedia PDF Downloads 432