Search results for: residual life prediction

Authors: Amir Mirzaei

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The powertrain system is one of the most basic and essential components in a machine. The occurrence of motion is practically impossible without the presence of this system. When power is generated by the engine, it is transmitted by the powertrain system to the wheels, which are the last parts of the system. Powertrain system has different components according to the type of use and design. When the force generated by the engine reaches to the wheels, the amount of frictional force between the tire and the ground determines the amount of traction and non-slip or the amount of slip. At various levels, such as icy, muddy, and snow-covered ground, the amount of friction coefficient between the tire and the ground decreases dramatically and considerably, which in turn increases the amount of force loss and the vehicle traction decreases drastically. This condition is caused by the phenomenon of slipping, which, in addition to the waste of energy produced, causes the premature wear of driving tires. It also causes the temperature of the transmission oil to rise too much, as a result, causes a reduction in the quality and become dirty to oil and also reduces the useful life of the clutches disk and plates inside the transmission. this issue is much more important in road construction and mining machinery than passenger vehicles and is always one of the most important and significant issues in the design discussion, in order to overcome. One of these methods is the automatic spin regulator system which is abbreviated as ASR. The importance of this method and its structure and function have solved one of the biggest challenges of the powertrain system in the field of construction and mining machinery. That this research is examined.

Keywords: automatic spin regulator, ASR, methods of reducing slipping, methods of preventing the reduction of the useful life of clutches disk and plate, methods of preventing the premature dirtiness of transmission oil, method of preventing the reduction of the useful life of tires

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Authors: Chi-Wen Huang, Hung-Chi Chen

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Total laryngectomy affects swallowing, speech functions and life quality in the head and neck cancer. Voice restoration plays an important role in social activities and communication. Several techniques have been developed for voice restoration and reported to improve the life quality. However, the rehabilitation program for voice reconstruction by using the ileocolon flap still unclear. A retrospective study was done, and the patients' data were drawn from the medical records between 2010 and 2016 who underwent voice reconstruction by ileocolon flap after laryngectomy. All of them were trained to swallow first; then, the voice rehabilitation was started. The outcome of voice was evaluated after 6 months using the 4-point scoring scale. In our result, 9.8% patients could give very clear voice so everyone could understand their speech, 61% patients could be understood well by families and friends, 20.2% patients could only talk with family, and 9% patients had difficulty to be understood. Moreover, the 57% patients did not need a second surgery, but in 43% patients voice was made clear by a second surgery. In this study, we demonstrated that the rehabilitation program after voice reconstruction with ileocolon flap for post-laryngectomy patients is important because the anatomical structure is different from the normal larynx.

Keywords: post-laryngectomy, ileocolon flap, rehabilitation, voice reconstruction

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Authors: Momoka Sunohara, Ashley J. Lemieux, Esther Yakobov, Andrew G. Ryder, Tomas Jurcik

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Immigration brings changes in many aspects of an individual's life, from social support dynamics, to housing and language, as well as difficulties with regards to discrimination, trauma, and loss. Past research has mostly emphasized individual differences in mental health and has neglected the impact of social-ecological context, such as acculturation and ethnic density. Purpose: The present study aimed to assess the relationship between variables associated with social integration such as perceived ethnic density and ways of coping, as well as psychological adjustment in a rapidly growing non-visible minority group of immigrants in Canada. Data: A small subset of an archival data from our previously published study was reanalyzed with additional variables. Data included information from 269 Russian-Speaking immigrants in Montreal, Canada. Method: Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) investigated the relationship between two sets of variables. SAS PROC CANCORR was used to conduct CCA on a set of social integration variables, including ethnic density, discrimination, social support, family functioning, and acculturation, and a set of psychological well-being variables, including distress, depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. In addition, canonical redundancy analysis was performed to calculate the proportion of variances of original variables explained by their own canonical variates. Results: Significance tests using Rao’s F statistics indicated that the first two canonical correlations (i.e., r1 = 0.64, r2 = 0.40) were statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001). Additionally, canonical redundancy analysis showed that the first two well-being canonical variates explained separately 62.9% and 12.8% variances of the standardized well-being variables, whereas the first two social integration canonical variates explained separately 14.7% and 16.7% variances of the standardized social integration variables. These results support the selection of the first two canonical correlations. Then, we interpreted the derived canonical variates based on their canonical structure (i.e., correlations with original variables). Two observations can be concluded. First, individuals who have adequate social support, and who, as a family, cope by acquiring social support, mobilizing others and reframing are more likely to have better self-esteem, greater life satisfaction and experience less feelings of depression or distress. Second, individuals who feel discriminated yet rate higher on a mainstream acculturation scale, and who, as a family, cope by acquiring social support, mobilizing others and using spirituality, while using less passive strategies are more likely to have better life satisfaction but also higher degree of depression. Implications: This model may serve to explain the complex interactions that exist between social and emotional adjustment and aid in facilitating the integration of individuals immigrating into new communities. The same group may experience greater depression but paradoxically improved life satisfaction associated with their coping process. Such findings need to be placed in the context of Russian cultural values. For instance, some Russian-speakers may value the expression of negative emotions with significant others during the integration process; this in turn may make negative emotions more salient, but also facilitate a greater sense of family and community connection, as well as life satisfaction.

Keywords: acculturation, ethnic density, mental health, Russian-speaking

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Authors: Farida Naceur

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Algerian cities experienced after the independence of the country a rapid urbanisation process fostered by population growth. In order to deal with the severe housing shortage resulted, large social public housing programs totally financed by the government were launched across the country during the eighty. Unfortunately, the standardized multistory buildings produced underwent intense deterioration and turned very quickly after their occupancy into sources of nuisance and distress. The government adopted a new housing policy in 2000, which aims to diversify housing types according to household incomes and encourage access to housing property. The model of participatory social housing emerged; it was designed for the intermediate groups, allowing them to benefit from direct financial aid and to borrow credit from banks in order to purchase their dwellings. Twenty years afterward, no assessment to date has been established to evaluate the real impact of such a strategy. The aim of this paper is to examine whether this type of housing helped to stimulate a participative dynamism among its occupants to strengthen their commitment, their involvement in the maintenance and keeping of their surroundings. For the purpose of the study, we focus our attention on various participatory social housing settlements in Batna and Biskra, two medium-sized cities in eastern Algeria. The investigation is structured in various types of analysis: a spatial analysis, observations, interviews with public authorities representatives, chief planners, and experts. In addition to this, informal interviews with occupants of various participatory social housing settlements were arranged to collect qualitative data. Occupants were asked open questions focusing on their daily life and practices in order to examine their degree of involvement in their neighbourhood’s life.

Keywords: participatory social housing, rental social housing, involvement, maintenance, social interactions, community life

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Authors: Carolina Guatemala, Josefina Barrera

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A large number of soils highly polluted with recalcitrant hydrocarbons and the limitation of the current bioremediation methods continue being the drawback for an efficient recuperation of these under safe conditions. In this regard, soil washing by degradable surfactants is an alternative option knowing the capacity of surfactants to desorb oily organic compounds. The aim of this study was the establishment of the washing conditions of a soil polluted with diesel, using a nonionic surfactant. A soil polluted with diesel was used. This was collected near to a polluted railway station zone. The soil was dried at room temperature and sieved to a mesh size 10 for its physicochemical and biological characterization. Washing of the polluted soil was performed with surfactant solutions in a 1:5 ratio (5g of soil per 25 mL of the surfactant solution). This was carried out at 28±1 °C and 150 rpm for 72 hours. The factors tested were the Tween 80 surfactant concentration (1, 2, 5 and 10%) and the treatment time. Residual diesel concentration was determined every 24 h. The soil was of a sandy loam texture with a low concentration of organic matter (3.68%) and conductivity (0.016 dS.m- 1). The soil had a pH of 7.63 which was slightly alkaline and a Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon content (TPH) of 11,600 ± 1058.38 mg/kg. The high TPH content could explain the low microbial count of 1.1105 determined as UFC per gram of dried soil. Within the range of the surfactant concentration tested for washing the polluted soil under study, TPH removal increased proportionally with the surfactant concentration. 5080.8 ± 422.2 ppm (43.8 ± 3.64 %) was the maximal concentration of TPH removed after 72 h of contact with surfactant pollution at 10%. Despite the high percentage of hydrocarbons removed, it is assumed that a higher concentration of these could be removed if the washing process is extended or is carried out by stages. Soil washing through the use of surfactants as a desorbing agent was found to be a viable and effective technology for the rapid recovery of soils highly polluted with recalcitrant hydrocarbons.

Keywords: diesel, hydrocarbons, soil washing, tween 80

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Authors: Danila Zuffetti, Lorenzo Chiesa

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Background: A hospice narrative interview aims at putting the sick at the core of disease and treatment allowing them to explore their most intimate facets. The aim of this work is to favor authentic narration by leading towards awareness and acceptance of terminality and to face death with serenity. Narration in palliative care aims at helping to reduce the chaos generated by the disease and to elaborate interpretations on the course of reality, besides, the narration delivered to the doctor is fundamental and communicates the meaning given to symptoms. Methods: The narrative interview has become a regular activity in the Castellini Foundation since 2017. Patients take part every week, and for more days, in one hour sessions, in a welcoming and empathic setting and the interaction with the operator leads to a gradual awareness of their terminality. Patients are submitted with free answer questions with the purpose of facilitating and stimulating self-narration. Narration has not always been linear, but patients are left free to shift in time to revisit their disease process by making use of different tools, such as digital storytelling. Results: The answers provided by the patients show to which extent the narrative interview is an instrument allowing the analysis of the stories and gives the possibility to better understand and deepen the different implications of patient and caregiver’s background. Conclusion: The narration work in the hospice demonstrates that narrative medicine is an added value. This instrument has proven useful not only in the support of patients but also for the palliative doctor to identify wishes for accompanying them to the end with dignity and serenity. The narrative interview favors the construction of an authentic therapeutic relationship. The sick are taken wholly in charge, and they are guaranteed a high quality of life until their very last instant.

Keywords: construction of an authentic therapy relationship, gradual awareness of their terminality, narrative interview, reduce the chaos generated by the desease

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Authors: Yaling Gou, Sucai Yang, Pengwei Qiao

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Integrated chemical-biological treatment is an attractive alternative to remove polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from contaminated soil; wherein indigenous bacteria is the key factor for the biodegradation of residual PAHs concentrations after the application of chemical oxidation. However, the systematical study on the impact of persulfate (PS) oxidation on indigenous bacteria as well as PAHs removal is still scarce. In this study, the influences of different PS dosages (1%, 3%, 6%, and 10% [w/w]), as well as various activation methods (native iron, H2O2, alkaline, ferrous iron, and heat) on PAHs removal and indigenous bacteria in highly contaminated aged soil were investigated. Apparent degradation of PAHs in the soil treated with PS oxidation was observed, and the removal efficiency of total PAHs in the soil ranged from 38.28% to 79.97%. The removal efficiency of total PAHs in the soil increased with increasing consumption of PS. However, the bacterial abundance in soil was negatively affected following oxidation for all of the treatments added with PS, with bacterial abundance in the soil decreased by 0.89~2.88 orders of magnitude compared to the untreated soil. Moreover, the number of total bacteria in the soil decreased as PS consumption increased. Different PS activation methods and PS dosages exhibited different influences on the bacterial community composition. Bacteria capable of degrading PAHs under anoxic conditions were composed predominantly by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. The total amount of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes also decreased with increasing consumption of PS. The results of this study provide important insight into the design of PAHs contaminated soil remediation projects.

Keywords: activation method, chemical oxidation, indigenous bacteria, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

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Authors: Carine Platat, Fatima Qshadi, Ghofran Kayed, Nour Hussein, Amjad Jarrar, Habiba Ali

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Nowadays, smartphones are very popular. They are offering a variety of easy-to-use and free applications among which step counters and fitness tests. The number of users is huge making of such applications a potentially efficient new strategy to encourage people to become more active. Nonetheless, data on their reliability and validity are very scarce and when available, they are often negative and contradictory. Besides, weight status, which is likely to introduce a bias in the physical activity assessment, was not often considered. Hence, the use of these applications as motivational tool, assessment tool and in research is questionable. PACER is one of the free step counters application. Even though it is one of the best rated free application by users, it has never been tested for reliability and validity. Prior any use of PACER, this remains to be investigated. The objective of this work is to investigate the reliability and validity of the smartphone application PACER in measuring the number of steps and in assessing the cardiorespiratory fitness by the 6 minutes walking test. 20 overweight or obese students (10 male and 10 female) were recruited at the United Arab Emirate University, aged between 18 and 25 years old. Reliability and validity were tested in real life conditions and in controlled conditions by using a treadmill. Test-retest experiments were done with PACER on 2 days separated by a week in real life conditions (24 hours each time) and in controlled conditions (30 minutes on treadmill, 3km/h). Validity was tested against the pedometer OMRON in the same conditions. During treadmill test, video was recorded and steps numbers were compared between PACER, pedometer and video. The validity of PACER in estimating the cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) as part of the 6 minutes walking test (6MWT) was studied against the 20m shuttle running test. Reliability was studied by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), 95% confidence interval (95%CI) and by Bland-Altman plots. Validity was studied by calculating Spearman correlation coefficient (rho) and Bland-Altman plots. PACER reliability was good in both male and female in real life conditions (p≤10-3) but only in female in controlled conditions (p=0.01). PACER was valid against OMRON pedometer in male and female in real life conditions (rho=0.94, p≤10-3 ; rho=0.64, p=0.01, in male and female respectively). In controlled conditions, PACER was not valid against pedometer. But, PACER was valid against video in female (rho=0.72, p≤10-3). PACER was valid against the shuttle run test in male and female (rho-=0.66, p=0.01 ; rho=0.51, p=0.04) to estimate VO2max. This study provides data on the reliability and viability of PACER in overweight or obese male and female young adults. Globally, PACER was shown as reliable and valid in real life conditions in overweight or obese male and female to count steps and assess fitness. This supports the use of PACER to assess and promote physical activity in clinical follow-up and community interventions.

Keywords: smartphone application, pacer, reliability, validity, steps, fitness, physical activity

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Authors: Gleda Kutrolli, Maksi Kutrolli, Etjon Meco

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SARS-CoV-2 virus is currently one of the most infectious pathogens for humans. It started in China at the end of 2019 and now it is spread in all over the world. The origin and diffusion of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, is analysed based on the discussion of viral phylogeny theory. With the aim of understanding the spread of infection in the affected countries, it is crucial to modelize the spread of the virus and simulate its activity. In this paper, the prediction of coronavirus outbreak is done by using SIR model without vital dynamics, applying different numerical technique solving ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We find out that ABM and MRT methods perform better than other techniques and that the activity of the virus will decrease in April but it never cease (for some time the activity will remain low) and the next cycle will start in the middle July 2020 for Norway and Denmark, and October 2020 for Sweden, and September for Finland.

Keywords: forecasting, ordinary differential equations, SARS-COV-2 epidemic, SIR model

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Authors: Muhamad Sahir Bin Ahmad Shatiry, Wan Normeza Wan Zakaria, Mohamad Zaki Hassan

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The pandemic Covid19 has significantly impacted the world; the spreading of the Covid19 virus initially from China has dramatically impacted the world's economy. Therefore, the world reacts with establishing the new way or norm in daily life. The rapid rise of the latest technology has been seen by introducing many technologies to ease human life to have a minor contract between humans and avoid spreading the virus Covid19. Digital twin technologies are one of the technologies created before the pandemic Covid19 but slow adoption in the industry. Throughout the Covid19, most of the companies in the world started to explore to use it. The digital twin technology provides the virtual platform to replicate the existing condition or setup for anything such as office, manufacturing line, factories' machine, building, and many more. This study investigates the effect on the economic perspective after the companies use the Digital Twin technology in the industry. To minimize the contact between humans and to have the ability to operate the system digitally remotely. In this study, the explanation of the digital twin technology impacts the world's microeconomic and macroeconomic.

Keywords: productivity, artificially intelligence, IoT, digital twin

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Authors: Faidon Kyriakou, William Dempster, David Nash

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Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a major life-threatening pathology for which modern approaches reduce the need for open surgery through the use of stenting. The success of stenting though is sometimes jeopardized by the final position of the stent graft inside the human artery which may result in migration, endoleaks or blood flow occlusion. Herein, a finite element (FE) model of the commercial medical device AnacondaTM (Vascutek, Terumo) has been developed and validated in order to create a numerical tool able to provide useful clinical insight before the surgical procedure takes place. The AnacondaTM device consists of a series of NiTi rings sewn onto woven polyester fabric, a structure that despite its column stiffness is flexible enough to be used in very tortuous geometries. For the purposes of this study, a FE model of the device was built in Abaqus® (version 6.13-2) with the combination of beam, shell and surface elements; the choice of these building blocks was made to keep the computational cost to a minimum. The validation of the numerical model was performed by comparing the deployed position of a full stent graft device inside a constructed AAA with a duplicate set-up in Abaqus®. Specifically, an AAA geometry was built in CAD software and included regions of both high and low tortuosity. Subsequently, the CAD model was 3D printed into a transparent aneurysm, and a stent was deployed in the lab following the steps of the clinical procedure. Images on the frontal and sagittal planes of the experiment allowed the comparison with the results of the numerical model. By overlapping the experimental and computational images, the mean and maximum distances between the rings of the two models were measured in the longitudinal, and the transverse direction and, a 5mm upper bound was set as a limit commonly used by clinicians when working with simulations. The two models showed very good agreement of their spatial positioning, especially in the less tortuous regions. As a result, and despite the inherent uncertainties of a surgical procedure, the FE model allows confidence that the final position of the stent graft, when deployed in vivo, can also be predicted with significant accuracy. Moreover, the numerical model run in just a few hours, an encouraging result for applications in the clinical routine. In conclusion, the efficient modelling of a complicated structure which combines thin scaffolding and fabric has been demonstrated to be feasible. Furthermore, the prediction capabilities of the location of each stent ring, as well as the global shape of the graft, has been shown. This can allow surgeons to better plan their procedures and medical device manufacturers to optimize their designs. The current model can further be used as a starting point for patient specific CFD analysis.

Keywords: AAA, efficiency, finite element analysis, stent deployment

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Authors: Abhinandan Singh Gill

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Paper mill sludge is one of the major economic and environmental problems for paper and board industry, million tonnes quantity of sludge is produced in the world. It is essential to dispose these wastes safely without affecting health of human being, environment, fertile land; sources of water bodies, economy as it adversely affect the strength, durability and other properties of building materials based on them. Moreover, in developing countries like India where there is low availability of non-renewable resources and large need of building material like cement therefore it is essential to develop eco-efficient utilization of paper sludge. Primarily in functional terms paper sludge comprises of cellulose fibers, calcium carbonate, china clay, low silica, residual chemical bonds with water. The material is sticky and full of moisture content which is hard to dry. The manufacturing of paper usually produce loads of solid waste. These paper fibers are recycled in paper mills to limited number of times till they become weak to produce high quality paper. Thereafter, these left out small and weak pieces called as low quality paper fibers are detached out to become paper sludge. The material is by-product of de-inking and re-pulping of paper. This hypo sludge includes all kinds of inks, dyes, coating etc inscribed on the paper. This paper presents an overview of the published work on the use of hypo sludge in M25 concrete formulations as a supplementary cementitious material exploring its properties such as compressive strength, splitting and parameters like modulus of elasticity, density, applications and most importantly investigation of low cost concrete by using hypo sludge are presented.

Keywords: concrete, sludge waste, hypo sludge, supplementary cementitious material

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Authors: Hazem Abuorf

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From the perspective of viewing urban design as the architecture of public spaces, the latter has many advantages; for example, in achieving attractive and vibrant public spaces, ensuring safety and amenity, supporting a strong sense of place and local character. Besides all advantages, such spaces nevertheless trigger numerous dilemmas, how to design urban spaces preserving the quality of life in the long term while equally achieving cohesion between new urban developments and the already existing urban structure without causing a split in history through the cause of functional and aesthetic degradation. Analysis of this article seeks to propose a methodology deemed essential for assessing and stimulating design criteria of the public spaces when rehabilitating urban sites. The method’s utility is shown by analyzing rehabilitation projects in Gaza Strip, whose design of the public spaces has mainly focused on the physical aspect ignoring the place’s local identity, users’ needs, and history. The proposed methodology serves as a guide for municipal authorities and technical teams to deal with interventions that would rework the role of urban design towards making sense of place.

Keywords: urban design, public realm, rehabilitation projects, quality of life

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Authors: Slim Chokri

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Load forecasting is one of the central functions in power systems operations. Electricity cannot be stored, which means that for electric utility, the estimate of the future demand is necessary in managing the production and purchasing in an economically reasonable way. A majority of the recently reported approaches are based on neural network. The attraction of the methods lies in the assumption that neural networks are able to learn properties of the load. However, the development of the methods is not finished, and the lack of comparative results on different model variations is a problem. This paper presents a new approach in order to predict the Tunisia daily peak load. The proposed method employs a computational intelligence scheme based on the Fuzzy neural network (FNN) and support vector regression (SVR). Experimental results obtained indicate that our proposed FNN-SVR technique gives significantly good prediction accuracy compared to some classical techniques.

Keywords: neural network, load forecasting, fuzzy inference, machine learning, fuzzy modeling and rule extraction, support vector regression

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Authors: Jina Hong, Seongeun Ryu, Sungeun You

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Suicide rate among homeless people are much higher than one in the general population. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of PTSD and aggression in the relationship between childhood physical abuse and suicidal behavior among homeless people. One hundred one homeless were recruited from street and shelters in Korea. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by master’s level graduate students or facility employees of shelters. All participants completed the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), Life History of Aggression Questionnaire (LHAQ), Primary Care PTSD (PC-PTSD), and Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ). The average age of homeless people participated in the study was 55.2 years (SD = 10.7) with the age range of 30 to 87. Results indicated that PTSD symptoms and aggression fully mediated the relationship between childhood physical abuse and suicidal behavior among the homeless. These findings suggest the need for trauma-informed care for the homeless, and warrant the need for psychological services for PTSD and aggression in order to reduce suicide risk among homeless people.

Keywords: aggression, homeless, PTSD, suicidal behavior

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Authors: Sara Mostofian

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The nuclear industry is a technology that can fulfill future energy needs but requires special attention to ensure safety and reliability while minimizing any environmental impact. To meet these expectations, the nuclear industry is exploring different reactor technologies for power production. Several designs are under development and the technical viability of these new designs is the subject of many ongoing studies. One of these studies considers the radioactive emissions and radioactive waste generated during the life of a nuclear power production plant to allow a successful license process. For all the modern technologies, a good understanding of the radioactivity generated in the process systems of the plant is essential. Some of that understanding may be gleaned from the performance of some prototype reactors of similar design that operated decades ago. This paper presents how, with that understanding, a model can be developed to estimate the emissions as well as the radioactive waste during the normal operation of a nuclear power plant. The model would predict the radioactive material concentrations in different waste streams. Using this information, the radioactive emission and waste generated during the life of these new technologies can be estimated during the early stages of the design of the plant.

Keywords: SMRs, activity transport, model, radioactive waste

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Authors: Laidi Maamar, Hanini Salah

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

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

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Authors: Omonov Jahongir Mahmatkulovic

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Purpose: To study the significance of D-dimer (DD), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), and fibrinogen coagulation parameters (Fg) in predicting the course, severity and prognosis of COVID-19. Source and method of research: From September 15, 2021, to November 5, 2021, 93 patients aged 25 to 60 with suspected COVID-19, who are under inpatient treatment at the multidisciplinary clinic of the Tashkent Medical Academy, were retrospectively examined. DD, PT, APTT, and Fg were studied in dynamics and studied changes. Results: Coagulation disorders occurred in the early stages of COVID-19 infection with an increase in DD in 54 (58%) patients and an increase in Fg in 93 (100%) patients. DD and Fg levels are associated with the clinical classification. Of the 33 patients who died, 21 had an increase in DD in the first laboratory study, 27 had an increase in DD in the second and third laboratory studies, and 15 had an increase in PT in the third test. The results of the ROC analysis of mortality showed that the AUC DD was three times 0.721, 0.801, and 0.844, respectively; PT was 0.703, 0.845, and 0.972. (P<0:01). Conclusion”: Coagulation dysfunction is more common in patients with severe and critical conditions. DD and PT can be used as important predictors of mortality from COVID-19.

Keywords: Covid19, DD, PT, Coagulogram analysis, APTT

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Authors: Ju-Young Hwang, Hyo-Gyoung Kwak

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This paper introduces a numerical analysis method for reinforced-concrete (RC) structures exposed to fire and compares the result with experimental results. The proposed analysis method for RC structure under the high temperature consists of two procedures. First step is to decide the temperature distribution across the section through the heat transfer analysis by using the time-temperature curve. After determination of the temperature distribution, the nonlinear analysis is followed. By considering material and geometrical nonlinearity with the temperature distribution, nonlinear analysis predicts the behavior of RC structure under the fire by the exposed time. The proposed method is validated by the comparison with the experimental results. Finally, prediction model to describe the status of after-cooling concrete can also be introduced based on the results of additional experiment. The product of this study is expected to be embedded for smart structure monitoring system against fire in u-City.

Keywords: RC, high temperature, after-cooling analysis, nonlinear analysis

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Authors: William Anderson, Kyle Kobold, Oleg Yakimenko

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Green microgrids using mostly renewable energy (RE) for generation, are complex systems with inherent nonlinear dynamics. Among a variety of different optimization tools there are only a few ones that adequately consider this complexity. This paper evaluates applicability of two somewhat similar optimization tools tailored for standalone RE microgrids and also assesses a machine learning tool for performance prediction that can enhance the reliability of any chosen optimization tool. It shows that one of these microgrid optimization tools has certain advantages over another and presents a detailed routine of preparing input data to simulate RE microgrid behavior. The paper also shows how neural-network-based predictive modeling can be used to validate and forecast solar power generation based on weather time series data, which improves the overall quality of standalone RE microgrid analysis.

Keywords: microgrid, renewable energy, complex systems, optimization, predictive modeling, neural networks

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Authors: G. K. Pandey, D. Ramadasu, I. Banerjee, V. Vinod, G. Padmakumar, V. Prakash, K. K. Rajan

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Detailed thermal hydraulic investigations are very essential for safe and reliable functioning of liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors. These investigations are further more important for components with complex profile, since there is no direct correlation available in literature to evaluate the hydraulic characteristics of such components directly. In those cases available correlations for similar profile or geometries may lead to significant uncertainty in the outcome. Hence experimental approach can be adopted to evaluate these hydraulic characteristics more precisely for better prediction in reactor core components. Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), a sodium cooled pool type reactor is under advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, India. Several components of this reactor core require hydraulic investigation before its usage in the reactor. These hydraulic investigations on full scale models, carried out by experimental approaches using water as simulant fluid are discussed in the paper.

Keywords: fast breeder reactor, cavitation, pressure drop, reactor components

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Authors: Rasmita Mishra, Chander Shekher

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Background: Population ageing is an inevitable outcome of demographic transition. Due to increased life expectancy, the old age population in India and worldwide has increased, and it will continue to grow more alarmingly in the near future. There are redundant austerity that has been bestowed upon the widows, thus, the life of widows is never been easy in India. The loss of spouse along with other disadvantaged socioeconomic intermediaries like illiteracy and poverty often make the life of widows more difficult to live. Methodology: Ethical statement: The study used secondary data available in the public domain for its wider use in social research. Thus, there was no requirement of ethical consent in the present study. Data source: Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India (BKPAI), 2011 dataset is used to fulfill the objectives of this study. It was carried out in seven states – Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal – having a higher percentage of the population in the age group 60 years and above compared to the national average. Statistical analysis: Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to understand the level of elderly widows and incidence of abuse against them in India and selected states. Bivariate and Trivariate analysis were carried out to check the pattern of abuse by selected covariates. Chi-Square test is used to verify the significance of the association. Further, Discriminant Analysis (DA) is carried out to understand which factor can separate out group of neglect and non-neglect elderly. Result: With the addition of 27 million from 2001 to 2011, the total elderly population in India is more than 100 million. Elderly females aged 60+ were more widows than their counterpart elderly males. This pattern was observed across selected states and at national level. At national level, more than one tenth (12 percent) of elderly experienced abuse in their lifetime. Incidence of abuse against elderly widows within family was considerably higher than the outside the family. This pattern was observed across the selected place and abuse in the study. In discriminant analysis, the significant difference between neglected and non-neglected elderly on each of the independent variables was examined using group mean and ANOVA. Discussion: The study is the first of its kind to assess the incidence of abuse against elderly widows using large-scale survey data. Another novelty of this study is that it has assessed for those states in India whereby the proportion of elderly is higher than the national average. Place and perpetrators involved in the abuse against elderly widows certainly envisaged the safeness in the present living arrangement of elderly widows. Conclusion: Due to the increasing life expectancy it is expected that the number of elderly will increase much faster than before. As biologically women live longer than men, there will be more women elderly than men. With respect to the living arrangement, after the demise of the spouse, elderly widows are more likely to live with their children who emerged as the main perpetrator of abuse.

Keywords: elderly abuse, emotional abuse physical abuse, material abuse, psychological abuse, quality of life

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Authors: Yasmine Salehy, Yann Leroy, Francois Cluzel, Hong-Minh Hoang, Laurence Fournaison, Anthony Delahaye, Bernard Yannou

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Taking into consideration all the life cycle of a product is now an important step in the eco-design of a product or a technology. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a standard tool to evaluate the environmental impacts of a system or a process. Despite the improvement in refrigerant regulation through protocols, the environmental damage of refrigeration systems remains important and needs to be improved. In this paper, the environmental impacts of refrigeration systems in a typical supermarket are compared using the LCA methodology under different conditions. The system is used to provide cold at two levels of temperature: medium and low temperature during a life period of 15 years. The most commonly used architectures of supermarket cold production systems are investigated: centralized direct expansion systems and indirect systems using a secondary loop to transport the cold. The variation of power needed during seasonal changes and during the daily opening/closure periods of the supermarket are considered. R134a as the primary refrigerant fluid and two types of secondary fluids are considered. The composition of each system and the leakage rate of the refrigerant through its life cycle are taken from the literature and industrial data. Twelve scenarios are examined. They are based on the variation of three parameters, 1. location: France (Paris), Spain (Toledo) and Sweden (Stockholm), 2. different sources of electric consumption: photovoltaic panels and low voltage electric network and 3. architecture: direct and indirect refrigeration systems. OpenLCA, SimaPro softwares, and different impact assessment methods were compared; CML method is used to evaluate the midpoint environmental indicators. This study highlights the significant contribution of electric consumption in environmental damages compared to the impacts of refrigerant leakage. The secondary loop allows lowering the refrigerant amount in the primary loop which results in a decrease in the climate change indicators compared to the centralized direct systems. However, an exhaustive cost evaluation (CAPEX and OPEX) of both systems shows more important costs related to the indirect systems. A significant difference between the countries has been noticed, mostly due to the difference in electric production. In Spain, using photovoltaic panels helps to reduce efficiently the environmental impacts and the related costs. This scenario is the best alternative compared to the other scenarios. Sweden is a country with less environmental impacts. For both France and Sweden, the use of photovoltaic panels does not bring a significant difference, due to a less sunlight exposition than in Spain. Alternative solutions exist to reduce the impact of refrigerating systems, and a brief introduction is presented.

Keywords: eco-design, industrial engineering, LCA, refrigeration system

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Authors: Jesus Ruano, Francesc Xavier Trias, Asensi Oliva

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A three-dimensional incompressible Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is performed to compute the hydrodynamic field around a pair of tandem cylinders. Symmetry-preserving schemes will be used during this simulation in conjunction with Finite Volume Method (FVM) to obtain the hydrodynamic field around the selected geometry. A set of results consisting of pressure and velocity and the combination of them will be stored at different surfaces near the cylinders as the initial input for the second part of the study. A post-processing of the obtained results based on Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH) equation with a Fourier Transform of the acoustic sources will be used to compute noise at several probes located far away from the region where the hydrodynamics are computed. Directivities as well as spectral profile of the obtained acoustic field will be analyzed.

Keywords: far-field noise, Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings, finite volume method, large eddy simulation, long-span bodies

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Authors: Jai Prakash Prasad, Suresh Chandra Mohan

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Modern wireless sensor networks (WSN) consist of small size, low cost devices which are networked through tight wireless communications. WSN fundamentally offers cooperation, coordination among sensor networks. Potential applications of wireless sensor networks are in healthcare, natural disaster prediction, data security, environmental monitoring, home appliances, entertainment etc. The design, development and deployment of WSN based on application requirements. The WSN design performance is optimized to improve network lifetime. The sensor node resources constrain such as energy and bandwidth imposes the limitation on efficient resource utilization and sensor node management. The proposed N-Tier GRID routing protocol focuses on the design of energy efficient large scale wireless sensor network for improved performance than the existing protocol.

Keywords: energy efficient, network lifetime, sensor networks, wireless communication

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Authors: Pegah Eshraghi, Zahra Sadat Zomorodian, Mohammad Tahsildoost

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Over the past decade, energy consumption in educational buildings has steadily increased. The purpose of this research is to provide a method to quickly predict the energy consumption of buildings using separate evaluation of zones and decomposing the building to eliminate the complexity of geometry at the early design stage. To produce this framework, machine learning algorithms such as Support vector regression (SVR) and Artificial neural network (ANN) are used to predict energy consumption and thermal comfort metrics in a school as a case. The database consists of more than 55000 samples in three climates of Iran. Cross-validation evaluation and unseen data have been used for validation. In a specific label, cooling energy, it can be said the accuracy of prediction is at least 84% and 89% in SVR and ANN, respectively. The results show that the SVR performed much better than the ANN.

Keywords: early stage of design, energy, thermal comfort, validation, machine learning

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Authors: Hafsa Raheel

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Objectives: Secondary school girls, ages 15–19 years old were surveyed to find out the coping strategies they used when stressed. Adolescents, who are affected with stress and depression early in life, suffer from depression throughout their lives, especially if they are utilizing improper ways to cope with it. Methods: A cross-sectional school-based survey among 1028 adolescent girls was conducted among the secondary schools in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Results: About 25% stated that they cry, 19% listen to music, 15% start eating a lot, 12% sit alone/isolate themselves, 11% pray/read the Quran, 10% get into a verbal argument or a fight. Only a few, 3% exercise, and 2% stated that they find someone to discuss and talk to. Conclusion: The majority of the adolescent girls in our survey rely on emotion-related coping mechanisms rather than problem-solving mechanisms. This can cause long-term implications in these adolescents as there is an increased probability to develop depression later on in life. Policy makers need to implement strategies for early identification of stress and depression. Talking to friends and family can serve as an effective way to cope with stress.

Keywords: adolescents, stress, Saudi Arabia, mental health

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Authors: S. A. Naeini, A. Khalili

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Nowadays, tunnels with different applications are developed, and most of them are related to subway tunnels. The excavation of shallow tunnels that pass under municipal utilities is very important, and the surface settlement control is an important factor in the design. The study sought to analyze the settlement and also to find an appropriate model in order to predict the behavior of the tunnel in Tehran subway line-3. The displacement in these sections is also determined by using numerical analyses and numerical modeling. In addition, the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) method is utilized by Hybrid training algorithm. The database pertinent to the optimum network was obtained from 46 subway tunnels in Iran and Turkey which have been constructed by the new Austrian tunneling method (NATM) with similar parameters based on type of their soil. The surface settlement was measured, and the acquired results were compared to the predicted values. The results disclosed that computing intelligence is a good substitute for numerical modeling.

Keywords: settlement, Subway Line, FLAC3D, ANFIS Method

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Authors: Aslı Taş, Şebnem Ertaş

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Culture consists of material and spiritual values adopted by the emerging societies during the historical and social processes and continues to exist from past to present by being transferred through generations. Culture and cultural sustainability are interdependent concepts. Cultural sustainability exists when the requirements established cultural expression are added to the social life as lifestyle and habits. However, sustainability renders change inevitable. Changes that take place in the culture of a society also shows the impact in the daily life places. Functional changes occur in the spaces in order to adapt particularly to cultural change that appear in the aftermath of the user change, to modern technology and living standards. In this context, in this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of the time-dependent functional changes that took place in the housing where non-Muslim population who was subject to population exchange and Muslim population lived after the population exchange in the vacated housing in Sille. Therefore, the changed and newly added venues in the house belonging to Ali Oğuz in Hacı Ali Ağa Street were investigated over the generated graphic in order to clearly perceive the cultural exchange on the housing and settlement and the functional changes were demonstrated.

Keywords: culture, house, spatial changes, sustainability

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Authors: N. Alhazmi

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Knowing the thermodynamics properties of hydrocarbons is vital when it comes to analyzing the related chemical reaction outcomes and understanding the reaction process, especially in terms of petrochemical industrial applications, combustions, and catalytic reactions. However, measuring the thermodynamics properties experimentally is time-consuming and costly. In this paper, Gaussian process regression (GPR) has been used to directly predict the main thermodynamic properties - standard enthalpy of formation, standard entropy, and heat capacity -for more than 360 cyclic and non-cyclic alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes. A simple workflow has been proposed that can be applied to directly predict the main properties of any hydrocarbon by knowing its descriptors and chemical structure and can be generalized to predict the main properties of any material. The model was evaluated by calculating the statistical error R², which was more than 0.9794 for all the predicted properties.

Keywords: thermodynamic, Gaussian process regression, hydrocarbons, regression, supervised learning, entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 214