Search results for: automatic assembly
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1413

Search results for: automatic assembly

303 Feature Selection Approach for the Classification of Hydraulic Leakages in Hydraulic Final Inspection using Machine Learning

Authors: Christian Neunzig, Simon Fahle, Jürgen Schulz, Matthias Möller, Bernd Kuhlenkötter

Abstract:

Manufacturing companies are facing global competition and enormous cost pressure. The use of machine learning applications can help reduce production costs and create added value. Predictive quality enables the securing of product quality through data-supported predictions using machine learning models as a basis for decisions on test results. Furthermore, machine learning methods are able to process large amounts of data, deal with unfavourable row-column ratios and detect dependencies between the covariates and the given target as well as assess the multidimensional influence of all input variables on the target. Real production data are often subject to highly fluctuating boundary conditions and unbalanced data sets. Changes in production data manifest themselves in trends, systematic shifts, and seasonal effects. Thus, Machine learning applications require intensive pre-processing and feature selection. Data preprocessing includes rule-based data cleaning, the application of dimensionality reduction techniques, and the identification of comparable data subsets. Within the used real data set of Bosch hydraulic valves, the comparability of the same production conditions in the production of hydraulic valves within certain time periods can be identified by applying the concept drift method. Furthermore, a classification model is developed to evaluate the feature importance in different subsets within the identified time periods. By selecting comparable and stable features, the number of features used can be significantly reduced without a strong decrease in predictive power. The use of cross-process production data along the value chain of hydraulic valves is a promising approach to predict the quality characteristics of workpieces. In this research, the ada boosting classifier is used to predict the leakage of hydraulic valves based on geometric gauge blocks from machining, mating data from the assembly, and hydraulic measurement data from end-of-line testing. In addition, the most suitable methods are selected and accurate quality predictions are achieved.

Keywords: classification, achine learning, predictive quality, feature selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 139
302 Development of Electronic Services in Georgia: Analysis of Current Situation

Authors: Dato Surmanidze, Dato Antadze, Tornike Partenadze

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Public online services in Georgia are concentrated on main target segments: public administration, business, population, non-governmental and other interested organizations. Therefore, the strategy of digital Georgia is focused on providing G2C, G2B/B2G, G2NGO and G2G services. In G2C framework sophisticated and high-technological online services have been developed in order to provide passports, identity cards, documentations concerning residence and civil acts (birth, marriage, divorce, child adoption, change of name and surname, death, etc) as well as other services. Websites like my.gov.ge and sda.gov.ge have distance services like electronic application, processing and decision making. In line with international standards automatic services like electronic tenders, product catalogues, invoices and payment have been developed. This creates better investment climate for foreign companies in Georgia in the framework of G2B politics. The website mybusiness.gov.ge creates better conditions for local business. Among electronic services is e-NRMS (electronic system for national resource management) which was introduced by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. The system was created in order to ensure management of national resources by state and business organizations. It is integrated with bank services and provides G2C, G2B and B2G representatives with electronic services. Also a portal meteo.gov.ge was created which gives electronic services concerning air, geological, environmental and pollution issues. Also worknet.gov.ge should be mentioned which is an electronic hub of information management for employers and employees. The information portal of labor market will facilitate receipt of information, its analysis and delivery to interested people like employers and employees. However, nowadays it’s been two years that only employees portal is activated. Therefore, awareness about the portal, its competitiveness and success is undermined.

Keywords: electronic services, public administration, information technology, information society

Procedia PDF Downloads 245
301 Application of Rapidly Exploring Random Tree Star-Smart and G2 Quintic Pythagorean Hodograph Curves to the UAV Path Planning Problem

Authors: Luiz G. Véras, Felipe L. Medeiros, Lamartine F. Guimarães

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This work approaches the automatic planning of paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) through the application of the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree Star-Smart (RRT*-Smart) algorithm. RRT*-Smart is a sampling process of positions of a navigation environment through a tree-type graph. The algorithm consists of randomly expanding a tree from an initial position (root node) until one of its branches reaches the final position of the path to be planned. The algorithm ensures the planning of the shortest path, considering the number of iterations tending to infinity. When a new node is inserted into the tree, each neighbor node of the new node is connected to it, if and only if the extension of the path between the root node and that neighbor node, with this new connection, is less than the current extension of the path between those two nodes. RRT*-smart uses an intelligent sampling strategy to plan less extensive routes by spending a smaller number of iterations. This strategy is based on the creation of samples/nodes near to the convex vertices of the navigation environment obstacles. The planned paths are smoothed through the application of the method called quintic pythagorean hodograph curves. The smoothing process converts a route into a dynamically-viable one based on the kinematic constraints of the vehicle. This smoothing method models the hodograph components of a curve with polynomials that obey the Pythagorean Theorem. Its advantage is that the obtained structure allows computation of the curve length in an exact way, without the need for quadratural techniques for the resolution of integrals.

Keywords: path planning, path smoothing, Pythagorean hodograph curve, RRT*-Smart

Procedia PDF Downloads 147
300 Comparison of the Results of a Parkinson’s Holter Monitor with Patient Diaries, in Real Conditions of Use: A Sub-Analysis of the MoMoPa-EC Clinical Trial

Authors: Alejandro Rodríguez-Molinero, Carlos Pérez-López, Jorge Hernández-Vara, Àngels Bayes-Rusiñol, Juan Carlos Martínez-Castrillo, David A. Pérez-Martínez

Abstract:

Background: Monitoring motor symptoms in Parkinson's patients is often a complex and time-consuming task for clinicians, as Hauser's diaries are often poorly completed by patients. Recently, new automatic devices (Parkinson's holter: STAT-ON®) have been developed capable of monitoring patients' motor fluctuations. The MoMoPa-EC clinical trial (NCT04176302) investigates which of the two methods produces better clinical results. In this sub-analysis, the concordance between both methods is analyzed. Methods: In the MoMoPa-EC clinical trial, 164 patients with moderate-severe Parkinson's disease and at least two hours a day of Off will be included. At the time of patient recruitment, all of them completed a seven-day motor fluctuation diary at home (Hauser’s diary) while wearing the Parkinson's holter. In this sub-analysis, 71 patients with complete data for the purpose of this comparison were included. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated between the patient diary entries and the Parkinson's holter data in terms of time On, Off, and time with dyskinesias. Results: The intra-class correlation coefficient of both methods was 0.57 (95% CI: 0.3-0.74) for daily time in Off (%), 0.48 (95% CI: 0.14-0.68) for daily time in On (%), and 0.37 (95% CI %: -0.04-0.62) for daily time with dyskinesias (%). Conclusions: Both methods have a moderate agreement with each other. We will have to wait for the results of the MoMoPa-EC project to estimate which of them has the greatest clinical benefits. Acknowledgment: This work is supported by AbbVie S.L.U, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [DTS17/00195], and the European Fund for Regional Development, 'A way to make Europe'.

Keywords: Parkinson, sensor, motor fluctuations, dyskinesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 202
299 MRI Quality Control Using Texture Analysis and Spatial Metrics

Authors: Kumar Kanudkuri, A. Sandhya

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Typically, in a MRI clinical setting, there are several protocols run, each indicated for a specific anatomy and disease condition. However, these protocols or parameters within them can change over time due to changes to the recommendations by the physician groups or updates in the software or by the availability of new technologies. Most of the time, the changes are performed by the MRI technologist to account for either time, coverage, physiological, or Specific Absorbtion Rate (SAR ) reasons. However, giving properly guidelines to MRI technologist is important so that they do not change the parameters that negatively impact the image quality. Typically a standard American College of Radiology (ACR) MRI phantom is used for Quality Control (QC) in order to guarantee that the primary objectives of MRI are met. The visual evaluation of quality depends on the operator/reviewer and might change amongst operators as well as for the same operator at various times. Therefore, overcoming these constraints is essential for a more impartial evaluation of quality. This makes quantitative estimation of image quality (IQ) metrics for MRI quality control is very important. So in order to solve this problem, we proposed that there is a need for a robust, open-source, and automated MRI image control tool. The Designed and developed an automatic analysis tool for measuring MRI image quality (IQ) metrics like Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Signal to Noise Ratio Uniformity (SNRU), Visual Information Fidelity (VIF), Feature Similarity (FSIM), Gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), slice thickness accuracy, slice position accuracy, High contrast spatial resolution) provided good accuracy assessment. A standardized quality report has generated that incorporates metrics that impact diagnostic quality.

Keywords: ACR MRI phantom, MRI image quality metrics, SNRU, VIF, FSIM, GLCM, slice thickness accuracy, slice position accuracy

Procedia PDF Downloads 134
298 Bridge Members Segmentation Algorithm of Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds Using Fuzzy Clustering Method

Authors: Donghwan Lee, Gichun Cha, Jooyoung Park, Junkyeong Kim, Seunghee Park

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3D shape models of the existing structure are required for many purposes such as safety and operation management. The traditional 3D modeling methods are based on manual or semi-automatic reconstruction from close-range images. It occasions great expense and time consuming. The Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) is a common survey technique to measure quickly and accurately a 3D shape model. This TLS is used to a construction site and cultural heritage management. However there are many limits to process a TLS point cloud, because the raw point cloud is massive volume data. So the capability of carrying out useful analyses is also limited with unstructured 3-D point. Thus, segmentation becomes an essential step whenever grouping of points with common attributes is required. In this paper, members segmentation algorithm was presented to separate a raw point cloud which includes only 3D coordinates. This paper presents a clustering approach based on a fuzzy method for this objective. The Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) is reviewed and used in combination with a similarity-driven cluster merging method. It is applied to the point cloud acquired with Lecia Scan Station C10/C5 at the test bed. The test-bed was a bridge which connects between 1st and 2nd engineering building in Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. It is about 32m long and 2m wide. This bridge was used as pedestrian between two buildings. The 3D point cloud of the test-bed was constructed by a measurement of the TLS. This data was divided by segmentation algorithm for each member. Experimental analyses of the results from the proposed unsupervised segmentation process are shown to be promising. It can be processed to manage configuration each member, because of the segmentation process of point cloud.

Keywords: fuzzy c-means (FCM), point cloud, segmentation, terrestrial laser scanner (TLS)

Procedia PDF Downloads 208
297 Alignment and Antagonism in Flux: A Diachronic Sentiment Analysis of Attitudes towards the Chinese Mainland in the Hong Kong Press

Authors: William Feng, Qingyu Gao

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Despite the extensive discussions about Hong Kong’s sentiments towards the Chinese Mainland since the sovereignty transfer in 1997, there has been no large-scale empirical analysis of the changing attitudes in the mainstream media, which both reflect and shape sentiments in the society. To address this gap, the present study uses an optimised semantic-based automatic sentiment analysis method to examine a corpus of news about China from 1997 to 2020 in three main Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong, namely Apple Daily, Ming Pao, and Oriental Daily News. The analysis shows that although the Hong Kong press had a positive emotional tone toward China in general, the overall trend of sentiment was becoming increasingly negative. Meanwhile, the alignment and antagonism toward China have both increased, providing empirical evidence of attitudinal polarisation in the Hong Kong society. Specifically, Apple Daily’s depictions of China have become increasingly negative, though with some positive turns before 2008, whilst Oriental Daily News has consistently expressed more favourable sentiments. Ming Pao maintained an impartial stance toward China through an increased but balanced representation of positive and negative sentiments, with its subjectivity and sentiment intensity growing to an industry-standard level. The results provide new insights into the complexity of sentiments towards China in the Hong Kong press and media attitudes in general in terms of the “us” and “them” positioning by explicating the cross-newspaper and cross-period variations using an enhanced sentiment analysis method which incorporates sentiment-oriented and semantic role analysis techniques.

Keywords: media attitude, sentiment analysis, Hong Kong press, one country two systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 78
296 Parameters Identification and Sensitivity Study for Abrasive WaterJet Milling Model

Authors: Didier Auroux, Vladimir Groza

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This work is part of STEEP Marie-Curie ITN project, and it focuses on the identification of unknown parameters of the proposed generic Abrasive WaterJet Milling (AWJM) PDE model, that appears as an ill-posed inverse problem. The necessity of studying this problem comes from the industrial milling applications where the possibility to predict and model the final surface with high accuracy is one of the primary tasks in the absence of any knowledge of the model parameters that should be used. In this framework, we propose the identification of model parameters by minimizing a cost function, measuring the difference between experimental and numerical solutions. The adjoint approach based on corresponding Lagrangian gives the opportunity to find out the unknowns of the AWJM model and their optimal values that could be used to reproduce the required trench profile. Due to the complexity of the nonlinear problem and a large number of model parameters, we use an automatic differentiation software tool (TAPENADE) for the adjoint computations. By adding noise to the artificial data, we show that in fact the parameter identification problem is highly unstable and strictly depends on input measurements. Regularization terms could be effectively used to deal with the presence of data noise and to improve the identification correctness. Based on this approach we present results in 2D and 3D of the identification of the model parameters and of the surface prediction both with self-generated data and measurements obtained from the real production. Considering different types of model and measurement errors allows us to obtain acceptable results for manufacturing and to expect the proper identification of unknowns. This approach also gives us the ability to distribute the research on more complex cases and consider different types of model and measurement errors as well as 3D time-dependent model with variations of the jet feed speed.

Keywords: Abrasive Waterjet Milling, inverse problem, model parameters identification, regularization

Procedia PDF Downloads 286
295 Jurisdiction of Military Court for Military Members Who Committed General Crimes in Indonesia's Military Justice System and Comparison with Another Countries

Authors: Dini Dewi Heniarti

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Military Court which is a judicial institution within the military institution has a heavy duty. Military court has to ensuring a fair legal process for military personnel (due process of law) and enforces military discipline. Military justice must also ensure protects the rights of military personnel. In Indonesia tren of military court changes in vision. The debate is happened on the jurisdiction of military court that allegedly has the potential existence of impunity. The Decree of People’s Consultative Assembly Number VII/MPR/2000 which states that the army general who committed the crime should not be tried in military court is one that underlies the proposed amendment limits the jurisdiction of military court. For the identify of the background in a specific format that is limited to juridical review. The goals this research is to gain knowledge, deep understanding and the concept of jurisdiction of military courts for military members who committed general crimes in adjudication procedure from the perspective of legal reform as alternative to establish independency of military judiciary. This research using Rule of Law as Grand Theory, Development Legal Theory as a Middle Theory and Criminal Justice System and concept of jurisdiction as supporting as Applied Theory. This study using a normative juridical approach, and equipped by primary data juridical approach of historical and comparative approach. The author uses descriptive analytical specifications. The main data used in this research is secondary data, which includes primary legal materials, secondary legal material and legal materials tertiary. Analysis primary data and qualitative data is done legally. Technique checking the validity of the data in this study used multiple methods with the research triangulation. This paper will demonstrate the problems concerning the jurisdiction of military courts for military personnel who committed general crimes in perspective of military justice reform Indonesia and adjudication procedures for military member who committed general crimes in the military justice system in Indonesia, as alternative to establish independency of judiciary in military justice in Indonesia. Comparative approached the military justice system from another countries is aimed to development military justice in Indonesia.

Keywords: jurisdiction, military courts, military justice, independency of judiciary

Procedia PDF Downloads 545
294 Comparative Analysis of a Self-Supporting Wall of Granite Slabs in a Multi-Leaves Enclosure System

Authors: Miguel Angel Calvo Salve

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Building enclosures and façades not only have an aesthetic component they must also ensure thermal comfort and improve the acoustics and air quality in buildings. The role of facades design, its assemblies, and construction are key in developing a greener future in architecture. This research and study focus on the design of a multi-leaves building envelope, with a self-supporting wall of granite slabs. The study will demonstrate the advantages of its use in compare with the hanging stone veneer in a vented cladding system. Using the Design of the School of Music and Theatre of the Atlantic Area in Spain as a case study where the multi-leaves enclosure system consists in a self-supported outer leaf of large granite slabs of 15cm. of thickness, a vent cavity with thermal isolation, a brick wall, and a series of internal layers. The methodology used were simulations and data collected in building. The advantages of the self-supporting wall of granite slabs in the outer leaf (15cm). compared with a hanging stone veneer in a vented cladding system can summarize the goals as follows: Using the stone in more natural way, by compression. The weight of the stone slabs goes directly to a strip-footing and don't overload the reinforced concrete structure of the building. The weight of the stone slabs provides an external aerial soundproofing, preventing the sound transmission to the structure. The thickness of the stone slabs is enough to provide the external waterproofing of the building envelope. The self-supporting system with minimum anchorages allows having a continuous and external thermal isolation without thermal bridges. The thickness of ashlars masonry provides a thermal inertia that balances the temperatures between day and night in the external thermal insulation layer. The absence of open joints gives the quality of a continuous envelope transmitting the sensations of the stone, the heaviness in the facade, the rhythm of the music and the sequence of the theatre. The main cost of stone due his bigger thickness is more than compensated with the reduction in assembly costs. Don´t need any substructure systems for hanging stone veneers.

Keywords: self-supporting wall, stone cladding systems, hanging veneer cladding systems, sustainability of facade systems

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293 Critical Evaluation of the Transformative Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Law: A Focus on the Judicial System

Authors: Abisha Isaac Mohanlal

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Amidst all suspicions and cynicism raised by the legal fraternity, Artificial Intelligence has found its way into the legal system and has revolutionized the conventional forms of legal services delivery. Be it legal argumentation and research or resolution of complex legal disputes; artificial intelligence has crept into all legs of modern day legal services. Its impact has been largely felt by way of big data, legal expert systems, prediction tools, e-lawyering, automated mediation, etc., and lawyers around the world are forced to upgrade themselves and their firms to stay in line with the growth of technology in law. Researchers predict that the future of legal services would belong to artificial intelligence and that the age of human lawyers will soon rust. But as far as the Judiciary is concerned, even in the developed countries, the system has not fully drifted away from the orthodoxy of preferring Natural Intelligence over Artificial Intelligence. Since Judicial decision-making involves a lot of unstructured and rather unprecedented situations which have no single correct answer, and looming questions of legal interpretation arise in most of the cases, discretion and Emotional Intelligence play an unavoidable role. Added to that, there are several ethical, moral and policy issues to be confronted before permitting the intrusion of Artificial Intelligence into the judicial system. As of today, the human judge is the unrivalled master of most of the judicial systems around the globe. Yet, scientists of Artificial Intelligence claim that robot judges can replace human judges irrespective of how daunting the complexity of issues is and how sophisticated the cognitive competence required is. They go on to contend that even if the system is too rigid to allow robot judges to substitute human judges in the recent future, Artificial Intelligence may still aid in other judicial tasks such as drafting judicial documents, intelligent document assembly, case retrieval, etc., and also promote overall flexibility, efficiency, and accuracy in the disposal of cases. By deconstructing the major challenges that Artificial Intelligence has to overcome in order to successfully invade the human- dominated judicial sphere, and critically evaluating the potential differences it would make in the system of justice delivery, the author tries to argue that penetration of Artificial Intelligence into the Judiciary could surely be enhancive and reparative, if not fully transformative.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, judicial decision making, judicial systems, legal services delivery

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292 The Enhancement of Target Localization Using Ship-Borne Electro-Optical Stabilized Platform

Authors: Jaehoon Ha, Byungmo Kang, Kilho Hong, Jungsoo Park

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Electro-optical (EO) stabilized platforms have been widely used for surveillance and reconnaissance on various types of vehicles, from surface ships to unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). EO stabilized platforms usually consist of an assembly of structure, bearings, and motors called gimbals in which a gyroscope is installed. EO elements such as a CCD camera and IR camera, are mounted to a gimbal, which has a range of motion in elevation and azimuth and can designate and track a target. In addition, a laser range finder (LRF) can be added to the gimbal in order to acquire the precise slant range from the platform to the target. Recently, a versatile functionality of target localization is needed in order to cooperate with the weapon systems that are mounted on the same platform. The target information, such as its location or velocity, needed to be more accurate. The accuracy of the target information depends on diverse component errors and alignment errors of each component. Specially, the type of moving platform can affect the accuracy of the target information. In the case of flying platforms, or UAVs, the target location error can be increased with altitude so it is important to measure altitude as precisely as possible. In the case of surface ships, target location error can be increased with obliqueness of the elevation angle of the gimbal since the altitude of the EO stabilized platform is supposed to be relatively low. The farther the slant ranges from the surface ship to the target, the more extreme the obliqueness of the elevation angle. This can hamper the precise acquisition of the target information. So far, there have been many studies on EO stabilized platforms of flying vehicles. However, few researchers have focused on ship-borne EO stabilized platforms of the surface ship. In this paper, we deal with a target localization method when an EO stabilized platform is located on the mast of a surface ship. Especially, we need to overcome the limitation caused by the obliqueness of the elevation angle of the gimbal. We introduce a well-known approach for target localization using Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and present the problem definition showing the above-mentioned limitation. Finally, we want to show the effectiveness of the approach that will be demonstrated through computer simulations.

Keywords: target localization, ship-borne electro-optical stabilized platform, unscented kalman filter

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291 Facilitating Written Biology Assessment in Large-Enrollment Courses Using Machine Learning

Authors: Luanna B. Prevost, Kelli Carter, Margaurete Romero, Kirsti Martinez

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Writing is an essential scientific practice, yet, in several countries, the increasing university science class-size limits the use of written assessments. Written assessments allow students to demonstrate their learning in their own words and permit the faculty to evaluate students’ understanding. However, the time and resources required to grade written assessments prohibit their use in large-enrollment science courses. This study examined the use of machine learning algorithms to automatically analyze student writing and provide timely feedback to the faculty about students' writing in biology. Written responses to questions about matter and energy transformation were collected from large-enrollment undergraduate introductory biology classrooms. Responses were analyzed using the LightSide text mining and classification software. Cohen’s Kappa was used to measure agreement between the LightSide models and human raters. Predictive models achieved agreement with human coding of 0.7 Cohen’s Kappa or greater. Models captured that when writing about matter-energy transformation at the ecosystem level, students focused on primarily on the concepts of heat loss, recycling of matter, and conservation of matter and energy. Models were also produced to capture writing about processes such as decomposition and biochemical cycling. The models created in this study can be used to provide automatic feedback about students understanding of these concepts to biology faculty who desire to use formative written assessments in larger enrollment biology classes, but do not have the time or personnel for manual grading.

Keywords: machine learning, written assessment, biology education, text mining

Procedia PDF Downloads 249
290 Close-Range Remote Sensing Techniques for Analyzing Rock Discontinuity Properties

Authors: Sina Fatolahzadeh, Sergio A. Sepúlveda

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This paper presents advanced developments in close-range, terrestrial remote sensing techniques to enhance the characterization of rock masses. The study integrates two state-of-the-art laser-scanning technologies, the HandySCAN and GeoSLAM laser scanners, to extract high-resolution geospatial data for rock mass analysis. These instruments offer high accuracy, precision, low acquisition time, and high efficiency in capturing intricate geological features in small to medium size outcrops and slope cuts. Using the HandySCAN and GeoSLAM laser scanners facilitates real-time, three-dimensional mapping of rock surfaces, enabling comprehensive assessments of rock mass characteristics. The collected data provide valuable insights into structural complexities, surface roughness, and discontinuity patterns, which are essential for geological and geotechnical analyses. The synergy of these advanced remote sensing technologies contributes to a more precise and straightforward understanding of rock mass behavior. In this case, the main parameters of RQD, joint spacing, persistence, aperture, roughness, infill, weathering, water condition, and joint orientation in a slope cut along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, BC, were remotely analyzed to calculate and evaluate the Rock Mass Rating (RMR) and Geological Strength Index (GSI) classification systems. Automatic and manual analyses of the acquired data are then compared with field measurements. The results show the usefulness of the proposed remote sensing methods and their appropriate conformity with the actual field data.

Keywords: remote sensing, rock mechanics, rock engineering, slope stability, discontinuity properties

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289 Development of an Autonomous Automated Guided Vehicle with Robot Manipulator under Robot Operation System Architecture

Authors: Jinsiang Shaw, Sheng-Xiang Xu

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This paper presents the development of an autonomous automated guided vehicle (AGV) with a robot arm attached on top of it within the framework of robot operation system (ROS). ROS can provide libraries and tools, including hardware abstraction, device drivers, libraries, visualizers, message-passing, package management, etc. For this reason, this AGV can provide automatic navigation and parts transportation and pick-and-place task using robot arm for typical industrial production line use. More specifically, this AGV will be controlled by an on-board host computer running ROS software. Command signals for vehicle and robot arm control and measurement signals from various sensors are transferred to respective microcontrollers. Users can operate the AGV remotely through the TCP / IP protocol and perform SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). An RGBD camera and LIDAR sensors are installed on the AGV, using these data to perceive the environment. For SLAM, Gmapping is used to construct the environment map by Rao-Blackwellized particle filter; and AMCL method (Adaptive Monte Carlo localization) is employed for mobile robot localization. In addition, current AGV position and orientation can be visualized by ROS toolkit. As for robot navigation and obstacle avoidance, A* for global path planning and dynamic window approach for local planning are implemented. The developed ROS AGV with a robot arm on it has been experimented in the university factory. A 2-D and 3-D map of the factory were successfully constructed by the SLAM method. Base on this map, robot navigation through the factory with and without dynamic obstacles are shown to perform well. Finally, pick-and-place of parts using robot arm and ensuing delivery in the factory by the mobile robot are also accomplished.

Keywords: automated guided vehicle, navigation, robot operation system, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

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288 Auto Calibration and Optimization of Large-Scale Water Resources Systems

Authors: Arash Parehkar, S. Jamshid Mousavi, Shoubo Bayazidi, Vahid Karami, Laleh Shahidi, Arash Azaranfar, Ali Moridi, M. Shabakhti, Tayebeh Ariyan, Mitra Tofigh, Kaveh Masoumi, Alireza Motahari

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Water resource systems modelling have constantly been a challenge through history for human being. As the innovative methodological development is evolving alongside computer sciences on one hand, researches are likely to confront more complex and larger water resources systems due to new challenges regarding increased water demands, climate change and human interventions, socio-economic concerns, and environment protection and sustainability. In this research, an automatic calibration scheme has been applied on the Gilan’s large-scale water resource model using mathematical programming. The water resource model’s calibration is developed in order to attune unknown water return flows from demand sites in the complex Sefidroud irrigation network and other related areas. The calibration procedure is validated by comparing several gauged river outflows from the system in the past with model results. The calibration results are pleasantly reasonable presenting a rational insight of the system. Subsequently, the unknown optimized parameters were used in a basin-scale linear optimization model with the ability to evaluate the system’s performance against a reduced inflow scenario in future. Results showed an acceptable match between predicted and observed outflows from the system at selected hydrometric stations. Moreover, an efficient operating policy was determined for Sefidroud dam leading to a minimum water shortage in the reduced inflow scenario.

Keywords: auto-calibration, Gilan, large-scale water resources, simulation

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287 Transcriptional Response of Honey Bee to Differential Nutritional Status and Nosema Infection

Authors: Farida Azzouz-Olden, Arthur G. Hunt, Gloria Degrandi-Hoffman

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Bees are confronting several environmental challenges, including the intermingled effects of malnutrition and disease. Intuitively, pollen is the healthiest nutritional choice; however, commercial substitutes, such as BeePro and MegaBee, are widely used. Herein we examined how feeding natural and artificial diets shapes transcription in the abdomen of the honey bee, and how transcription shifts in combination with Nosema parasitism. Gene ontology enrichment revealed that, compared with poor diet (carbohydrates (C)), bees fed pollen (P > C), BeePro (B > C), and MegaBee (M > C) showed a broad upregulation of metabolic processes, especially lipids; however, pollen feeding promoted more functions and superior proteolysis. The superiority of the pollen diet was also evident through the remarkable overexpression of vitellogenin in bees fed pollen instead of MegaBee or BeePro. Upregulation of bioprocesses under carbohydrates feeding compared to pollen (C > P) provided a clear poor nutritional status, uncovering stark expression changes that were slight or absent relatively to BeePro (C > B) or MegaBee (C > M). Poor diet feeding (C > P) induced starvation response genes and hippo signaling pathway, while it repressed growth through different mechanisms. Carbohydrate feeding (C > P) also elicited ‘adult behavior’, and developmental processes suggesting transition to foraging. Finally, it altered the ‘circadian rhythm’, reflecting the role of this mechanism in the adaptation to nutritional stress in mammals. Nosema-infected bees fed pollen compared to carbohydrates (PN > CN) upheld certain bioprocesses of uninfected bees (P > C). Poor nutritional status was more apparent against pollen (CN > PN) than BeePro (CN > BN) or MegaBee (CN > MN). Nosema accentuated the effects of malnutrition since more starvation-response genes and stress response mechanisms were upregulated in CN > PN compared to C > P. The bioprocess ‘Macromolecular complex assembly’ was also enriched in CN > PN, and involved genes associated with human HIV and/or influenza, thus providing potential candidates for bee-Nosema interactions. Finally, the enzyme Duox emerged as essential for guts defense in bees, similarly to Drosophila. These results provide evidence of the superior nutritional status of bees fed pollen instead of artificial substitutes in terms of overall health, even in the presence of a pathogen.

Keywords: honeybee, immunity, Nosema, nutrition, RNA-seq

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286 The Comparison between Modelled and Measured Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations in Cold and Warm Seasons in Kaunas

Authors: A. Miškinytė, A. Dėdelė

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Road traffic is one of the main sources of air pollution in urban areas associated with adverse effects on human health and environment. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is considered as traffic-related air pollutant, which concentrations tend to be higher near highways, along busy roads and in city centres and exceedances are mainly observed in air quality monitoring stations located close to traffic. Atmospheric dispersion models can be used to examine emissions from many various sources and to predict the concentration of pollutants emitted from these sources into the atmosphere. The study aim was to compare modelled concentrations of nitrogen dioxide using ADMS-Urban dispersion model with air quality monitoring network in cold and warm seasons in Kaunas city. Modelled average seasonal concentrations of nitrogen dioxide for 2011 year have been verified with automatic air quality monitoring data from two stations in the city. Traffic station is located near high traffic street in industrial district and background station far away from the main sources of nitrogen dioxide pollution. The modelling results showed that the highest nitrogen dioxide concentration was modelled and measured in station located near intensive traffic street, both in cold and warm seasons. Modelled and measured nitrogen dioxide concentration was respectively 25.7 and 25.2 µg/m3 in cold season and 15.5 and 17.7 µg/m3 in warm season. While the lowest modelled and measured NO2 concentration was determined in background monitoring station, respectively 12.2 and 13.3 µg/m3 in cold season and 6.1 and 7.6 µg/m3 in warm season. The difference between monitoring station located near high traffic street and background monitoring station showed that better agreement between modelled and measured NO2 concentration was observed at traffic monitoring station.

Keywords: air pollution, nitrogen dioxide, modelling, ADMS-Urban model

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285 Analysis of Underground Logistics Transportation Technology and Planning Research: Based on Xiong'an New Area, China

Authors: Xia Luo, Cheng Zeng

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Under the promotion of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in 2017, Xiong'an New Area is the third crucial new area in China established after Shenzhen and Shanghai. Its constructions' significance lies in mitigating Beijing's non-capital functions and exploring a new mode of optimizing development in densely populated and economically intensive areas. For this purpose, developing underground logistics can assume the role of goods distribution in the capital, relieve the road transport pressure in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration, adjust and optimize the urban layout and spatial structure of it. Firstly, the construction planning of Xiong'an New Area and underground logistics development are summarized, especially the development status abroad, the development trend, and bottlenecks of underground logistics in China. This paper explores the technicality, feasibility, and necessity of four modes of transportation. There are pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP) technology, the CargoCap technology, cable hauled mule, and automatic guided vehicle (AGV). The above technical parameters and characteristics are introduced to relevant experts or scholars. Through establishing an indicator system, carrying out a questionnaire survey with the Delphi method, the final suggestion is obtained: China should develop logistics vehicles similar to CargoCap, adopting rail mode and driverless mode. Based on China's temporal and spatial logistics demand and the geographical pattern of Xiong'an New Area, the construction scale, technical parameters, node location, and other vital parameters of underground logistics are planned. In this way, we hope to speed up the new area's construction and the logistics industry's innovation.

Keywords: the Xiong'an new area, underground logistics, contrastive analysis, CargoCap, logistics planning

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284 The Effects of “Never Pressure Injury” on the Incidence of Pressure Injuries in Critically Ill Patients

Authors: Nuchjaree Kidjawan, Orapan Thosingha, Pawinee Vaipatama, Prakrankiat Youngkong, Sirinapha Malangputhong, Kitti Thamrongaphichartkul, Phatcharaporn Phetcharat

Abstract:

NPI uses technology sensorization of things and processed by AI system. The main features are an individual interface pressure sensor system in contact with the mattress and a position management system where the sensor detects the determined pressure with automatic pressure reduction and distribution. The role of NPI is to monitor, identify the risk and manage the interface pressure automatically when the determined pressure is detected. This study aims to evaluate the effects of “Never Pressure Injury (NPI),” an innovative mattress, on the incidence of pressure injuries in critically ill patients. An observational case-control study was employed to compare the incidence of pressure injury between the case and the control group. The control group comprised 80 critically ill patients admitted to a critical care unit of Phyathai3 Hospital, receiving standard care with the use of memory foam according to intensive care unit guidelines. The case group comprised 80 critically ill patients receiving standard care and with the use of the Never Pressure Injury (NPI) innovation mattress. The patients who were over 20 years old and showed scores of less than 18 on the Risk Assessment Pressure Ulcer Scale – ICU and stayed in ICU for more than 24 hours were selected for the study. The patients’ skin was assessed for the occurrence of pressure injury once a day for five consecutive days or until the patients were discharged from ICU. The sample comprised 160 patients with ages ranging from 30-102 (mean = 70.1 years), and the Body Mass Index ranged from 13.69- 49.01 (mean = 24.63). The case and the control group were not different in their sex, age, Body Mass Index, Pressure Ulcer Risk Scores, and length of ICU stay. Twenty-two patients (27.5%) in the control group had pressure injuries, while no pressure injury was found in the case group.

Keywords: pressure injury, never pressure injury, innovation mattress, critically ill patients, prevent pressure injury

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283 TutorBot+: Automatic Programming Assistant with Positive Feedback based on LLMs

Authors: Claudia Martínez-Araneda, Mariella Gutiérrez, Pedro Gómez, Diego Maldonado, Alejandra Segura, Christian Vidal-Castro

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The purpose of this document is to showcase the preliminary work in developing an EduChatbot-type tool and measuring the effects of its use aimed at providing effective feedback to students in programming courses. This bot, hereinafter referred to as tutorBot+, was constructed based on chatGPT and is tasked with assisting and delivering timely positive feedback to students in the field of computer science at the Universidad Católica de Concepción. The proposed working method consists of four stages: (1) Immersion in the domain of Large Language Models (LLMs), (2) Development of the tutorBot+ prototype and integration, (3) Experiment design, and (4) Intervention. The first stage involves a literature review on the use of artificial intelligence in education and the evaluation of intelligent tutors, as well as research on types of feedback for learning and the domain of chatGPT. The second stage encompasses the development of tutorBot+, and the final stage involves a quasi-experimental study with students from the Programming and Database labs, where the learning outcome involves the development of computational thinking skills, enabling the use and measurement of the tool's effects. The preliminary results of this work are promising, as a functional chatBot prototype has been developed in both conversational and non-conversational versions integrated into an open-source online judge and programming contest platform system. There is also an exploration of the possibility of generating a custom model based on a pre-trained one tailored to the domain of programming. This includes the integration of the created tool and the design of the experiment to measure its utility.

Keywords: assessment, chatGPT, learning strategies, LLMs, timely feedback

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282 A Radiomics Approach to Predict the Evolution of Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Score 3/5 Prostate Areas in Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance

Authors: Natascha C. D'Amico, Enzo Grossi, Giovanni Valbusa, Ala Malasevschi, Gianpiero Cardone, Sergio Papa

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Purpose: To characterize, through a radiomic approach, the nature of areas classified PI-RADS (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System) 3/5, recognized in multiparametric prostate magnetic resonance with T2-weighted (T2w), diffusion and perfusion sequences with paramagnetic contrast. Methods and Materials: 24 cases undergoing multiparametric prostate MR and biopsy were admitted to this pilot study. Clinical outcome of the PI-RADS 3/5 was found through biopsy, finding 8 malignant tumours. The analysed images were acquired with a Philips achieva 1.5T machine with a CE- T2-weighted sequence in the axial plane. Semi-automatic tumour segmentation was carried out on MR images using 3DSlicer image analysis software. 45 shape-based, intensity-based and texture-based features were extracted and represented the input for preprocessing. An evolutionary algorithm (a TWIST system based on KNN algorithm) was used to subdivide the dataset into training and testing set and select features yielding the maximal amount of information. After this pre-processing 20 input variables were selected and different machine learning systems were used to develop a predictive model based on a training testing crossover procedure. Results: The best machine learning system (three-layers feed-forward neural network) obtained a global accuracy of 90% ( 80 % sensitivity and 100% specificity ) with a ROC of 0.82. Conclusion: Machine learning systems coupled with radiomics show a promising potential in distinguishing benign from malign tumours in PI-RADS 3/5 areas.

Keywords: machine learning, MR prostate, PI-Rads 3, radiomics

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281 Uniqueness of Fingerprint Biometrics to Human Dynasty: A Review

Authors: Siddharatha Sharma

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With the advent of technology and machines, the role of biometrics in society is taking an important place for secured living. Security issues are the major concern in today’s world and continue to grow in intensity and complexity. Biometrics based recognition, which involves precise measurement of the characteristics of living beings, is not a new method. Fingerprints are being used for several years by law enforcement and forensic agencies to identify the culprits and apprehend them. Biometrics is based on four basic principles i.e. (i) uniqueness, (ii) accuracy, (iii) permanency and (iv) peculiarity. In today’s world fingerprints are the most popular and unique biometrics method claiming a social benefit in the government sponsored programs. A remarkable example of the same is UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) in India. In case of fingerprint biometrics the matching accuracy is very high. It has been observed empirically that even the identical twins also do not have similar prints. With the passage of time there has been an immense progress in the techniques of sensing computational speed, operating environment and the storage capabilities and it has become more user convenient. Only a small fraction of the population may be unsuitable for automatic identification because of genetic factors, aging, environmental or occupational reasons for example workers who have cuts and bruises on their hands which keep fingerprints changing. Fingerprints are limited to human beings only because of the presence of volar skin with corrugated ridges which are unique to this species. Fingerprint biometrics has proved to be a high level authentication system for identification of the human beings. Though it has limitations, for example it may be inefficient and ineffective if ridges of finger(s) or palm are moist authentication becomes difficult. This paper would focus on uniqueness of fingerprints to the human beings in comparison to other living beings and review the advancement in emerging technologies and their limitations.

Keywords: fingerprinting, biometrics, human beings, authentication

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280 Blood Analysis of Diarrheal Calves Using Portable Blood Analyzer: Analysis of Calves by Age

Authors: Kwangman Park, Jinhee Kang, Suhee Kim, Dohyeon Yu, Kyoungseong Choi, Jinho Park

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Statement of the Problem: Diarrhea is a major cause of death in young calves. This causes great economic damage to the livestock industry. These diarrhea cause dehydration, decrease blood flow, lower the pH and degrade enzyme function. In the past, serum screening was not possible in the field. However, now with the spread of portable serum testing devices, it is now possible to conduct tests directly on field. Thus, accurate serological changes can be identified and used in the field of large animals. Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: The test groups were calves from 1 to 44 days old. The status of the feces was divided into four grade to determine the severity of diarrhea (grade 0,1,2,3). Grade 0, 1 is considered to have no diarrhea. Grade 2, 3 is considered to diarrhea positive group. One or more viruses were detected in this group. Diarrhea negasitive group consisted of 57 calves (Asan=30, Samrye=27). Diarrhea positive group consisted of 34 calves (Kimje=27, Geochang=7). The feces of all calves were analyzed by PCR Test. Blood sample was measured using an automatic blood analyzer(i-STAT, Abbott inc. Illinois, US). Calves were divided into 3 groups according to age. Group 1 is 1 to 14 days old. Group 2 is 15 to 28 days old. Group 3 is more than 28 days old. Findings: Diarrhea caused an increase in HCT due to dehydration. The difference from normal was highest in 15 to 28 days old (p < 0.01). At all ages, bicarbonate decreased compared to normal, and therefore pH decreased. Similar to HCT, the largest difference was observed between 15 and 28 days (p < 0.01). The pCO₂ decreases to compensate for the decrease in pH. Conclusion and Significance: At all ages, HCT increases, and bicarbonate, pH, and pCO₂ decrease in diarrhea calves. The calf from 15 days to 28 days shows the most difference from normal. Over 28 days of age, weight gain and homeostasis ability increase, diarrhea is seen in the stool, there are fewer hematologic changes than groups below 28 days of age.

Keywords: calves, diarrhea, hematological changes, i-STAT

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279 A Bayesian Classification System for Facilitating an Institutional Risk Profile Definition

Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

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This paper presents an approach for easy creation and classification of institutional risk profiles supporting endangerment analysis of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support set up of the most important risk factors. Subsequently, risk profiles employ risk factors classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with a semi-automatic estimation of endangerment group for file format risk profiles. Our goal is to make use of an expert knowledge base, accuired through a digital preservation survey in order to detect preservation risks for a particular institution. Another contribution is support for visualisation of risk factors for a requried dimension for analysis. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert the matching risk profile group for the previously selected institutional risk profile. The proposed methods improve the visibility of risk factor values and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is designed to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and values of file format risk profiles. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the risk factors is presented as a multidimensional vector. The goal is to visualise particular dimensions of this vector for analysis by an expert and to define its profile group. The sample risk profile calculation and the visualisation of some risk factor dimensions is presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: linked open data, information integration, digital libraries, data mining

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278 Prototype Development of ARM-7 Based Embedded Controller for Packaging Machine

Authors: Jeelka Ray

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

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

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277 An Assessment of the Performance of Local Government in Ondo State Nigeria: A Capital Budgeting Approach

Authors: Olurankinse Felix

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Local governments in Ondo State Nigeria are the third tier of government saddled with the responsibility of providing governance and economic services at the grassroots. To be able to do this, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided that a proportion of Federation Account be allocated to them in addition to their internally generated revenue. From the allocation and other incidental sources of revenue, the local governments are expected to provide basic infrastructures and other social amenities to better the lots of the rural dwellers. Nevertheless, local governments’ performances in terms of provision of social amenities are without questioning and quite not encouraging. Assessing the performance of local governments in this period of dearth and scarcity of resources is highly indispensable more so that the activities of local governments’ staff are bedeviled and characterized with fraud, corruption and mismanagement. Considering the direct impact of the consequences of their action on the living standard of the rural dwellers therefore calls for the need to evaluate their level of performances using capital budgeting approach. The paper being a time series study adopts the survey design. Data were obtained through secondary source mainly from the Annual financial statements and publication of approved budgets estimates covering the period of study (2008-2012). The use of ratio analysis was employed in analyzing the comparative level of performances of the local governments under study. The result of the study shows that less than 30% of the local governments were able to harness the budgetary allocation to provide amenities to the beneficiaries while majority of the local governments were involved in unethical conduct ranging from theft of fund, corruption, diversion of funds and extra-budgetary activities. Also, there is poor internally generated revenue to complement the statutory allocation and besides, the monthly withholding of larger portions of local government share by the state in the name of joint account were also seen as contributory factors. The study recommends the need for transparency and accountability in public fund management through the oversight function of the state house of assembly. Also local government should be made to be autonomous and independent of the state by jettisoning the idea of joint account.

Keywords: performance, transparency and accountability, capital budgeting, joint account, local government autonomy

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276 Molecular Farming: Plants Producing Vaccine and Diagnostic Reagent

Authors: Katerina H. Takova, Ivan N. Minkov, Gergana G. Zahmanova

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Molecular farming is the production of recombinant proteins in plants with the aim to use the protein as a purified product, crude extract or directly in the planta. Plants gain more attention as expression systems compared to other ones due to the cost effective production of pharmaceutically important proteins, appropriate post-translational modifications, assembly of complex proteins, absence of human pathogens to name a few. In addition, transient expression in plant leaves enables production of recombinant proteins within few weeks. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a causative agent of acute hepatitis. HEV causes epidemics in developing countries and is primarily transmitted through the fecal-oral route. Presently, all efforts for development of Hepatitis E vaccine are focused on the Open Read Frame 2 (ORF2) capsid protein as it contains epitopes that can induce neutralizing antibodies. For our purpose, we used the CMPV-based vector-pEAQ-HT for transient expression of HEV ORF2 in Nicotiana benthamina. Different molecular analysis (Western blot and ELISA) showed that HEV ORF2 capsid protein was expressed in plant tissue in high-yield up to 1g/kg of fresh leaf tissue. Electron microscopy showed that the capsid protein spontaneously assembled in low abundance virus-like particles (VLPs), which are highly immunogenic structures and suitable for vaccine development. The expressed protein was recognized by both human and swine HEV positive sera and can be used as a diagnostic reagent for the detection of HEV infection. Production of HEV capsid protein in plants is a promising technology for further HEV vaccine investigations. Here, we reported for a rapid high-yield transient expression of a recombinant protein in plants suitable for vaccine production as well as a diagnostic reagent. Acknowledgments -The authors’ research on HEV is supported with grants from the Project PlantaSYST under the Widening Program, H2020 as well as under the UK Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Institute Strategic Programme Grant ‘Understanding and Exploiting Plant and Microbial Secondary Metabolism’ (BB/J004596/1). The authors want to thank Prof. George Lomonossoff (JIC, Norwich, UK) for his contribution.

Keywords: hepatitis E virus, plant molecular farming, transient expression, vaccines

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275 The First Transcriptome Assembly of Marama Bean: An African Orphan Crop

Authors: Ethel E. Phiri, Lionel Hartzenberg, Percy Chimwamuromba, Emmanuel Nepolo, Jens Kossmann, James R. Lloyd

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Orphan crops are underresearched and underutilized food plant species that have not been categorized as major food crops, but have the potential to be economically and agronomically significant. They have been documented to have the ability to tolerate extreme environmental conditions. However, limited research has been conducted to uncover their potential as food crop species. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has classified Marama bean, Tylosema esculentum, as an orphan crop. The plant is one of the 101 African orphan crops that must have their genomes sequenced, assembled, and annotated in the foreseeable future. Marama bean is a perennial leguminous plant that primarily grows in poor, arid soils in southern Africa. The plants produce large tubers that can weigh as much as 200kg. While the foliage provides fodder, the tuber is carbohydrate rich and is a staple food source for rural communities in Namibia. Also, the edible seeds are protein- and oil-rich. Marama Bean plants respond rapidly to increased temperatures and severe water scarcity without extreme consequences. Advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have made it possible to effectively transfer technologies between model- and major crops to orphan crops. In this research, the aim was to assemble the first transcriptomic analysis of Marama Bean RNA-sequence data. Many model plant species have had their genomes sequenced and their transcriptomes assembled. Therefore the availability of transcriptome data for a non-model crop plant species will allow for gene identification and comparisons between various species. The data has been sequenced using the Ilumina Hiseq 2500 sequencing platform. Data analysis is underway. In essence, this research will eventually evaluate the potential use of Marama Bean as a crop species to improve its value in agronomy. data for a non-model crop plant species will allow for gene identification and comparisons between various species. The data has been sequenced using the Ilumina Hiseq 2500 sequencing platform. Data analysis is underway. In essence, this researc will eventually evaluate the potential use of Marama bean as a crop species to improve its value in agronomy.

Keywords: 101 African orphan crops, RNA-Seq, Tylosema esculentum, underutilised crop plants

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274 Magnitude and Determinants of Overweight and Obesity among High School Adolescents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Authors: Mulugeta Shegaze, Mekitie Wondafrash, Alemayehu A. Alemayehu, Shikur Mohammed, Zewdu Shewangezaw, Mukerem Abdo, Gebresilasea Gendisha

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Background: The 2004 World Health Assembly called for specific actions to halt the overweight and obesity epidemic that is currently penetrating urban populations in the developing world. Adolescents require particular attention due to their vulnerability to develop obesity and the fact that adolescent weight tracks strongly into adulthood. However, there is scarcity of information on the modifiable risk factors to be targeted for primary intervention among urban adolescents in Ethiopia. This study was aimed at determining the magnitude and risk factors of overweight and obesity among high school adolescents in Addis Ababa. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in February and March 2014 on 456 randomly selected adolescents from 20 high schools in Addis Ababa city.  Demographic data and other risk factors of overweight and obesity were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire, whereas anthropometric measurements of weight and height were taken using calibrated equipment and standardized techniques. The WHO STEPS instrument for chronic disease risk was applied to assess dietary habit and physical activity. Overweight and obesity status was determined based on BMI-for-age percentiles of WHO 2007 reference population. Results: The prevalence rates of overweight, obesity, and overall overweight/ obesity among high school adolescents in Addis Ababa were 9.7% (95%CI = 6.9-12.4%), 4.2% (95%CI = 2.3-6.0%), and 13.9% (95%CI = 10.6-17.1%), respectively. Overweight/obesity prevalence was highest among female adolescents, in private schools, and in the higher wealth category. In multivariable regression model, being female [AOR(95%CI) = 5.4(2.5,12.1)], being from private school [AOR(95%CI) = 3.0(1.4,6.2)], having >3 regular meals [AOR(95%CI) = 4.0(1.3,13.0)], consumption of sweet foods [AOR(95%CI) = 5.0(2.4,10.3)] and spending >3 hours/day sitting [AOR(95%CI) = 3.5(1.7,7.2)] were found to increase overweight/ obesity risk, whereas high Total Physical Activity level [AOR(95%CI) = 0.21(0.08,0.57)] and better nutrition knowledge [AOR(95%CI) = 0.160.07,0.37)] were found protective. Conclusions: More than one in ten of the high school adolescents were affected by overweight/obesity with dietary habit and physical activity are important modifiable risk factors. Well-tailored nutrition education program targeting lifestyle change should be initiated with more emphasis to female adolescents and students in private schools.

Keywords: adolescents, NCDs, overweight, obesity

Procedia PDF Downloads 278