Search results for: distribution function

Authors: Angela U. Makolo

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Protein-coding and Non-coding regions determine the biology of a sequenced transcriptome. Research advances have shown that Non-coding regions are important in disease progression and clinical diagnosis. Existing bioinformatics tools have been targeted towards Protein-coding regions alone. Therefore, there are challenges associated with gaining biological insights from transcriptome sequence data. These tools are also limited to computationally intensive sequence alignment, which is inadequate and less accurate to identify both Protein-coding and Non-coding regions. Alignment-free techniques can overcome the limitation of identifying both regions. Therefore, this study was designed to develop an efficient sequence alignment-free model for identifying both Protein-coding and Non-coding regions in sequenced transcriptomes. Feature grouping and randomization procedures were applied to the input transcriptomes (37,503 data points). Successive iterations were carried out to compute the gradient vector that converged the developed Protein-coding and Non-coding Region Identifier (PNRI) model to the approximate coefficient vector. The logistic regression algorithm was used with a sigmoid activation function. A parameter vector was estimated for every sample in 37,503 data points in a bid to reduce the generalization error and cost. Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) was used for parameter estimation by taking the log-likelihood of six features and combining them into a summation function. Dynamic thresholding was used to classify the Protein-coding and Non-coding regions, and the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was determined. The generalization performance of PNRI was determined in terms of F1 score, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The average generalization performance of PNRI was determined using a benchmark of multi-species organisms. The generalization error for identifying Protein-coding and Non-coding regions decreased from 0.514 to 0.508 and to 0.378, respectively, after three iterations. The cost (difference between the predicted and the actual outcome) also decreased from 1.446 to 0.842 and to 0.718, respectively, for the first, second and third iterations. The iterations terminated at the 390th epoch, having an error of 0.036 and a cost of 0.316. The computed elements of the parameter vector that maximized the objective function were 0.043, 0.519, 0.715, 0.878, 1.157, and 2.575. The PNRI gave an ROC of 0.97, indicating an improved predictive ability. The PNRI identified both Protein-coding and Non-coding regions with an F1 score of 0.970, accuracy (0.969), sensitivity (0.966), and specificity of 0.973. Using 13 non-human multi-species model organisms, the average generalization performance of the traditional method was 74.4%, while that of the developed model was 85.2%, thereby making the developed model better in the identification of Protein-coding and Non-coding regions in transcriptomes. The developed Protein-coding and Non-coding region identifier model efficiently identified the Protein-coding and Non-coding transcriptomic regions. It could be used in genome annotation and in the analysis of transcriptomes.

Keywords: sequence alignment-free model, dynamic thresholding classification, input randomization, genome annotation

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Authors: Xiaolei Hu, Enrico Ferrera, Riccardo Tomasi, Claudio Pastrone

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Load Forecasting plays a key role in making today's and future's Smart Energy Grids sustainable and reliable. Accurate power consumption prediction allows utilities to organize in advance their resources or to execute Demand Response strategies more effectively, which enables several features such as higher sustainability, better quality of service, and affordable electricity tariffs. It is easy yet effective to apply Load Forecasting at larger geographic scale, i.e. Smart Micro Grids, wherein the lower available grid flexibility makes accurate prediction more critical in Demand Response applications. This paper analyses the application of short-term load forecasting in a concrete scenario, proposed within the EU-funded GreenCom project, which collect load data from single loads and households belonging to a Smart Micro Grid. Three short-term load forecasting techniques, i.e. linear regression, artificial neural networks, and radial basis function network, are considered, compared, and evaluated through absolute forecast errors and training time. The influence of weather conditions in Load Forecasting is also evaluated. A new definition of Gain is introduced in this paper, which innovatively serves as an indicator of short-term prediction capabilities of time spam consistency. Two models, 24- and 1-hour-ahead forecasting, are built to comprehensively compare these three techniques.

Keywords: short-term load forecasting, smart micro grid, linear regression, artificial neural networks, radial basis function network, gain

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Authors: Jungkyun Im

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Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective for relieving pain and reducing inflammation. They are nonselective inhibitors of two isoforms of COX, cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and thereby inhibiting the production of hormone-like lipid compounds such as, prostaglandins and thromboxanes which cause inflammation, pain, fever, platelet aggregation, etc. In addition, recently there are many research articles reporting the neuroprotective effect of NSAIDs in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the clinical use of NSAIDs in these diseases is limited by low brain distribution. Therefore, in order to assist the in-depth investigation on the pharmaceutical mechanism of flurbiprofen in neuroprotection and to make flurbiprofen a more potent drug to prevent or alleviate neurodegenerative diseases, delivery of flurbiprofen to brain should be effective and sufficient amount of flurbiprofen must penetrate the BBB thus gaining access into the patient’s brain. We have recently developed several types of guanidine-rich molecular carriers with high molecular weights and good water solubility that readily cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and display efficient distributions in the mouse brain. The G8 (having eight guanidine groups) molecular carrier based on D-sorbitol was found to be very effective in delivering anticancer drugs to a mouse brain. In the present study, employing the same molecular carrier, we prepared the flurbiprofen conjugate and studied its BBB permeation by mouse tissue distribution study. Flurbiprofen was attached to a molecular carrier with a fluorescein probe and multiple terminal guanidiniums. The conjugate was found to internalize into live cells and readily cross the BBB to enter the mouse brain. Our novel synthetic flurbiprofen conjugate will hopefully delivery NSAIDs into brain, and is therefore applicable to the neurodegenerative diseases treatment or prevention.

Keywords: flurbiprofen, drug delivery, molecular carrier, organic synthesis

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Authors: Rajinikanth Siddalingam, Poonguzhali Subramanian

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The present study aims to prepare and evaluate the self-nano emulsifying drug delivery (SNEDDS) system to enhance the dissolution rate of a poorly soluble drug dutasteride. The formulation was prepared using capryol PGMC, Cremophor EL, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 as oil, surfactant and co-surfactant, respectively. The pseudo-ternary phase diagrams with presence and absence of drug were plotted to find out the nano emulsification range and also to evaluate the effect of dutasteride on the emulsification behavior of the phases. Prepared SNEDDS formulations were evaluated for its particle size distribution, nano emulsifying properties, robustness to dilution, self-emulsification time, turbidity measurement, drug content and in-vitro dissolution. The optimized formulations are further evaluated for heating cooling cycle, centrifugation studies, freeze-thaw cycling, particle size distribution and zeta potential were carried out to confirm the stability of the formed SNEDDS formulations. The particle size, zeta potential and polydispersity index of the optimized formulation found to be 35.45 nm, -15.45 and 0.19, respectively. The in vitro results are revealed that the prepared formulation enhanced the dissolution rate of dutasteride significantly as compared with pure drug. The in vivo studies in was conducted using rats and the results are revealed that SNEDDS formulation has enhanced the bioavailability of dutasteride drug significantly as compared with raw drug. Based the results, it was concluded that the dutasteride-loaded SNEDDS shows potential to enhance the dissolution of dutasteride, thus improving the bioavailability and therapeutic effects.

Keywords: self-emulsifying drug delivery system, dutasteride, enhancement of bioavailability, dissolution enhancement

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Authors: R. Whalley

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The heat transfer modelling for a diffusion process will be considered. Difficulties in computing the time-distance dynamics of the representation will be addressed. Incomplete and irrational Laplace function will be identified as the computational issue. Alternative approaches to the response evaluation process will be provided. An illustration application problem will be presented. Graphical results confirming the theoretical procedures employed will be provided.

Keywords: heat, transfer, diffusion, modelling, computation

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Authors: S. Rodosik, J. P. Poirot-Crouvezier, Y. Bultel

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With the expansion of the hydrogen economy, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are often presented as promising energy converters suitable for transport applications. However, reaching a durability of 5000 h recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy and decreasing system cost are still major hurdles to their development. In order to increase the system efficiency and simplify the system without affecting the fuel cell lifetime, an architecture called alternative fuel feeding has been developed. It consists in a fuel cell stack divided into two parts, alternatively fed, implemented on a 5-kW system for real scale testing. The operation strategy can be considered close to Dead End Anode (DEA) with specific modifications to avoid water and nitrogen accumulation in the cells. The two half-stacks are connected in series to enable each stack to be alternatively fed. Water and nitrogen accumulated can be shifted from one half-stack to the other one according to the alternative feeding frequency. Thanks to the homogenization of water vapor along the stack, water management was improved. The operating conditions obtained at system scale are close to recirculation without the need of a pump or an ejector. In a first part, a performance comparison with the DEA strategy has been performed. At high temperature and low pressure (80°C, 1.2 bar), performance of alternative fuel feeding was higher, and the system efficiency increased. In a second part, in order to highlight the benefits of the architecture on the fuel cell lifetime, two durability tests, lasting up to 1000h, have been conducted. A test on the 5-kW system has been compared to a reference test performed on a test bench with a shorter stack, conducted with well-controlled operating parameters and flow-through hydrogen strategy. The durability test is based upon the Fuel Cell Dynamic Load Cycle (FC-DLC) protocol but adapted to the system limitations: without OCV steps and a maximum current density of 0.4 A/cm². In situ local measurements with a segmented S++® plate performed all along the tests, showed a more homogeneous distribution of the current density with alternative fuel feeding than in flow-through strategy. Tests performed in this work enabled the understanding of this architecture advantages and drawbacks. Alternative fuel feeding architecture appeared to be a promising solution to ensure the humidification function at the anode side with a simplified fuel cell system.

Keywords: automotive conditions, durability, fuel cell system, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, stack architecture

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Authors: Huinan Zhang, Wenjie Jiang

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Accurate estimation of tropical cyclone intensity is of great importance for disaster prevention and mitigation. Existing techniques are largely based on satellite imagery data, and research and utilization of the inner thermal core structure characteristics of tropical cyclones still pose challenges. This paper presents a two-stage tropical cyclone intensity estimation network based on the fusion of coarse and fine-grained features from microwave brightness temperature data. The data used in this network are obtained from the thermal core structure of tropical cyclones through the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) inversion. Firstly, the thermal core information in the pressure direction is comprehensively expressed through the maximal intensity projection (MIP) method, constructing coarse-grained thermal core images that represent the tropical cyclone. These images provide a coarse-grained feature range wind speed estimation result in the first stage. Then, based on this result, fine-grained features are extracted by combining thermal core information from multiple view profiles with a distributed network and fused with coarse-grained features from the first stage to obtain the final two-stage network wind speed estimation. Furthermore, to better capture the long-tail distribution characteristics of tropical cyclones, focal loss is used in the coarse-grained loss function of the first stage, and ordinal regression loss is adopted in the second stage to replace traditional single-value regression. The selection of tropical cyclones spans from 2012 to 2021, distributed in the North Atlantic (NA) regions. The training set includes 2012 to 2017, the validation set includes 2018 to 2019, and the test set includes 2020 to 2021. Based on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHS), this paper categorizes tropical cyclone levels into three major categories: pre-hurricane, minor hurricane, and major hurricane, with a classification accuracy rate of 86.18% and an intensity estimation error of 4.01m/s for NA based on this accuracy. The results indicate that thermal core data can effectively represent the level and intensity of tropical cyclones, warranting further exploration of tropical cyclone attributes under this data.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, deep learning, data mining, remote sensing

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Authors: R. K. Saket

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This paper presents design aspects and probabilistic approach for generation reliability evaluation of an alternative resource: municipal waste water based micro hydro power generation system. Annual and daily flow duration curves have been obtained for design, installation, development, scientific analysis and reliability evaluation of the MHPP. The hydro potential of the waste water flowing through sewage system of the BHU campus has been determined to produce annual flow duration and daily flow duration curves by ordering the recorded water flows from maximum to minimum values. Design pressure, the roughness of the pipe’s interior surface, method of joining, weight, ease of installation, accessibility to the sewage system, design life, maintenance, weather conditions, availability of material, related cost and likelihood of structural damage have been considered for design of a particular penstock for reliable operation of the MHPP. A MHPGS based on MWW and SEIG is designed, developed, and practically implemented to provide reliable electric energy to suitable load in the campus of the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, (UP), India. Generation reliability evaluation of the developed MHPP using Gaussian distribution approach, safety factor concept, peak load consideration and Simpson 1/3rd rule has presented in this paper.

Keywords: self excited induction generator, annual and daily flow duration curve, sewage system, municipal waste water, reliability evaluation, Gaussian distribution, Simpson 1/3rd rule

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Authors: Giorgia Zotti

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This research comprehensively investigates the multifaceted interplay determining school performance, individual backgrounds, and regional disparities within the landscape of Italian secondary education. Leveraging data gleaned from the INVALSI 2021-2022 database, the analysis meticulously scrutinizes two fundamental distributions of educational achievements: the standardized Invalsi test scores and official grades in Italian and Mathematics, focusing specifically on final-year secondary school students in Italy. Applying a comprehensive methodology, the study initially employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess school performances. This methodology involves constructing a production function encompassing inputs (hours spent at school) and outputs (Invalsi scores in Italian and Mathematics, along with official grades in Italian and Math). The DEA approach is applied in both of its versions: traditional and conditional. The latter incorporates environmental variables such as school type, size, demographics, technological resources, and socio-economic indicators. Additionally, the analysis delves into regional disparities by leveraging the Theil Index, providing insights into disparities within and between regions. Moreover, in the frame of the inequality of opportunity theory, the study quantifies the inequality of opportunity in students' educational achievements. The methodology applied is the Parametric Approach in the ex-ante version, considering diverse circumstances like parental education and occupation, gender, school region, birthplace, and language spoken at home. Consequently, a Shapley decomposition is applied to understand how much each circumstance affects the outcomes. The outcomes of this comprehensive investigation unveil pivotal determinants of school performance, notably highlighting the influence of school type (Liceo) and socioeconomic status. The research unveils regional disparities, elucidating instances where specific schools outperform others in official grades compared to Invalsi scores, shedding light on the intricate nature of regional educational inequalities. Furthermore, it emphasizes a heightened inequality of opportunity within the distribution of Invalsi test scores in contrast to official grades, underscoring pronounced disparities at the student level. This analysis provides insights for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders, fostering a nuanced understanding of the complexities within Italian secondary education.

Keywords: inequality, education, efficiency, DEA approach

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Authors: Amandeep Kaur, N. S. Atri, Munruchi Kaur

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Herbivorous dung is a special substrate for the growth of fungi. Fungi growing thereon are known as coprophilous. These fungi are amongst the most abundant taxa in the ecosystem, which regulate the decomposition of dung organic matter, nutrient dynamics and maintenance of ecological balance on the earth. The coprophilous fungi represent a diverse group of saprobes, including taxa from most major fungal groups belonging to Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The present work, however, has been focused on the basidiomycetous coprophilous mushrooms belonging to the order Agaricales. The research work includes the results of eco-taxonomic studies of coprophilous mushrooms in Punjab, India, on the basis of a survey of dung localities of the state. The mushrooms were collected growing as saprobes on dung of various domesticated and wild herbivorous animals in pastures, grasslands, zoos, and on dung heaps in villages, etc. The present study observed the frequency of distribution of coprophilous mushrooms in different taxonomic categories in different regions of the state in various seasons on different dung types along with their growing habit. The paper also discusses their economic utility as edible, inedible, poisonous, medicinal and hallucinogenic species. The study has shown that animal dung is a good niche for the growth of mushrooms. However, the natural habitats with dung deposits are getting destroyed because of different developmental activities. Livestock in agriculture-based societies like Punjab state in India should be managed in a manner that favors their grazing in the wild places and thereby the growth of coprophilous mushrooms so that a significant role in ecological balance on the earth is established.

Keywords: herbivorous dung, psychoactive, seasonal availability, taxo-ecology

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Authors: Dina F. Mansour, Dalia O. Saleh, Rasha E. Mostafa

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Cyclophosphamide (CP), the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agent, was reported to cause many side effects including urotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, gonadotoxicity, and hepatotoxicity; this limits its clinical practice. In the present study, the protective effect of genistein (GEN), the major phytoestrogen in soy products that possesses various pharmacological activities, has been investigated against CP-induced acute liver damage in rats. Forty adult Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated into five groups. The first group received the vehicles and act as normal control. In the other groups, rats were injected with a single dose of CP (200 mg/kg, i.p). The last three groups were pretreated with subcutaneous GEN at doses of 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg/day, respectively, for 15 consecutive days prior CP injection. Forty-eight hours following CP injection, rats of all groups were investigated for the serum levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase, as well as the liver contents of reduced glutathione, malondialdehyde, nitrite, interleukin-1β, and myeloperoxidase. Histopathological examination of liver tissues was also conducted. CP resulted in acute liver damage in rats as evidenced by alteration of liver function biomarkers, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers; that was confirmed by the histopathological outcomes. Pretreatment of rats with GEN significantly protected against CP-induced deterioration of liver function and showed marked anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that were demonstrated by the biochemical and histopathological findings. In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated the protective effects of GEN against CP-induced liver damage and suggested role of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Keywords: cyclophosphamide, genistein, inflammation, interleukin-1β, liver, myeloperoxidase, oxidative stress

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Authors: Behrang Tavousi Tehrani, Mohammad-Zaman Kabir

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Shape memory alloys (SMA) are often implemented in smart structures as the active components. Their ability to recover large displacements has been used in many applications, including structural stability/response enhancement and active structural acoustic control. SMA wires or fibers can be embedded with composite cylinders to increase their critical buckling load, improve their load-deflection behavior, and reduce the radial deflections under various thermo-mechanical loadings. This paper presents a semi-analytical investigation on the non-linear load-deflection response of SMA-reinforced composite circular cylindrical shells. The cylinder shells are under uniform external pressure load. Based on first-order shear deformation shell theory (FSDT), the equilibrium equations of the structure are derived. One-dimensional simplified Brinson’s model is used for determining the SMA recovery force due to its simplicity and accuracy. Airy stress function and Galerkin technique are used to obtain non-linear load-deflection curves. The results are verified by comparing them with those in the literature. Several parametric studies are conducted in order to investigate the effect of SMA volume fraction, SMA pre-strain value, and SMA activation temperature on the response of the structure. It is shown that suitable usage of SMA wires results in a considerable enhancement in the load-deflection response of the shell due to the generation of the SMA tensile recovery force.

Keywords: airy stress function, cylindrical shell, Galerkin technique, load-deflection curve, recovery stress, shape memory alloy

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Authors: Sedef Şahin, Meral Huri

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Cerebral Palsy (CP) represents the most frequent cause of physical disability in children with a rate of 2,9 per 1000 live births. The activity-focused intervention is known to improve function and reduce activity limitations and barriers to participation of children with disabilities. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of occupational therapy on level of fatigue, activity performance and satisfaction in children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy. Twenty-two children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (mean age: 9,3 ± 2.1years; Gross Motor Function Classification System ( GMFCS) level from I to V (I = 54%, II = 23%, III = 14%, IV= 9%, V= 0%), Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) level from I to V (I = 40%, II = 32%, III = 14%, IV= 10%, V= 4%), were assigned to occupational therapy program for 6 weeks.Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used for intensity of the fatigue they experienced at the time on a 10 point Likert scale (1-10).Activity performance and satisfaction were measured with Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM).A client-centered occupational therapy intervention was designed according to results of COPM. The results were compared with nonparametric Wilcoxon test before and after the intervention. Thirteen of the children were right-handed, whereas nine of the children were left handed.Six weeks of intervention showed statistically significant differences in level of fatigue, compared to first assessment(p<0,05). The mean score of first and the second activity performance scores were 4.51 ± 1.70 and 7.35 ± 2.51 respectively. Statistically significant difference between performance scores were found (p<0.01). The mean scores of first and second activity satisfaction scores were of 2.30± 1.05 and 5.51 ± 2.26 respectively. Statistically significant difference between satisfaction assessments were found (p<0.01). Occupational therapy is an evidence-based approach and occupational therapy interventions implemented by therapists were clinically effective on severity of fatigue, activity performance and satisfaction if implemented individually during 6 weeks.

Keywords: activity performance, cerebral palsy, fatigue, occupational therapy

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Authors: Verónica Díaz

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A Cartesian graph, as a mathematical object, becomes a tool for configuration of change. Its best comprehension is done through everyday life problem-solving associated with its representation. Despite this, the current educational framework favors general graphs, without consideration of their argumentation. Students are required to find the mathematical function without associating it to the development of graphical language. This research describes the use made by students of configurations made prior to Cartesian graphs with regards to an everyday life problem related to a time and distance variation phenomenon. The theoretical framework describes the function conditions of study and their modeling. This is a qualitative, descriptive study involving six undergraduate case studies that were carried out during the first term in 2016 at University of Los Lagos. The research problem concerned the graphic modeling of a real person’s movement phenomenon, and two levels of analysis were identified. The first level aims to identify local and global graph interpretations; a second level describes the iconicity and referentiality degree of an image. According to the results, students were able to draw no figures before the Cartesian graph, highlighting the need for students to represent the context and the movement of which causes the phenomenon change. From this, they managed Cartesian graphs representing changes in position, therefore, achieved an overall view of the graph. However, the local view only indicates specific events in the problem situation, using graphic and verbal expressions to represent movement. This view does not enable us to identify what happens on the graph when the movement characteristics change based on possible paths in the person’s walking speed.

Keywords: cartesian graphs, higher education, movement modeling, problem solving

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Authors: Majed Al Otaibi, Melissa Lessard-Beaudoin, Amel Loudghi, Raphael Chouinard-Watkins, Melanie Plourde, Frederic Calon, C. Alexandre Castellano, Stephen Cunnane, Helene Payette, Pierrette Gaudreau, Denis Gris, Rona K. Graham

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Introduction: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a chronic disorder that affects millions of individuals worldwide. Symptoms include memory dysfunction, and also alterations in attention, planning, language and overall cognitive function. Olfactory dysfunction is a common symptom of several neurological disorders including AD. Studying the mechanisms underlying the olfactory dysfunction may therefore lead to the discovery of potential biomarkers and/or treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Objectives: To determine if olfactory dysfunction predicts future cognitive impairment in the aging population and to characterize the olfactory system in a murine model expressing a genetic factor of AD. Method: For the human study, quantitative olfactory tests (UPSIT and OMT) have been done on 93 subjects (aged 80 to 94 years) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge) cohort accepting to participate in the ORCA secondary study. The telephone Modified Mini Mental State examination (t-MMSE) was used to assess cognition levels, and an olfactory self-report was also collected. In a separate cohort, olfactory cortical volume was calculated using MRI results from healthy old adults (n=25) and patients with AD (n=18) using the AAL single-subject atlas and performed with the PNEURO tool (PMOD 3.7). For the murine study, we are using Western blotting, RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Result: Human Study: Based on the self-report, 81% of the participants claimed to not suffer from any problem with olfaction. However, based on the UPSIT, 94% of those subjects showed a poor olfactory performance and different forms of microsmia. Moreover, the results confirm that olfactory function declines with age. We also detected a significant decrease in olfactory cortical volume in AD individuals compared to controls. Murine study: Preliminary data demonstrate there is a significant decrease in expression levels of the proform of caspase-3 and the caspase substrate STK3, in the olfactory bulb of mice expressing human APOE4 compared with controls. In addition, there is a significant decrease in the expression level of the caspase-9 proform and caspase-8 active fragment. Analysis of the mature neuron marker, NeuN, shows decreased expression levels of both isoforms. The data also suggest that Iba-1 immunostaining is increased in the olfactory bulb of APOE4 mice compared to wild type mice. Conclusions: The activation of caspase-3 may be the cause of the decreased levels of STK3 through caspase cleavage and may play role in the inflammation observed. In the clinical study, our results suggest that seniors are unaware of their olfactory function status and therefore it is not sufficient to measure olfaction using the self-report in the elderly. Studying olfactory function and cognitive performance in the aging population will help to discover biomarkers in the early stage of the AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, APOE4, cognition, caspase, brain atrophy, neurodegenerative, olfactory dysfunction

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Authors: Ali E. Abbas

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Industrial Engineering is a broad multidisciplinary field with intersections and applications in numerous areas. When designing a product, it is important to determine the appropriate attributes of value and the preference function for which the product is optimized. This paper provides some guidelines on appropriate selection of attributes for preference and value functions for engineering design.

Keywords: decision analysis, industrial engineering, direct vs. indirect values, engineering management

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Authors: Seyed Ali Mahdipour, Maryam Shafeei Sarvestani

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Radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) and target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) are the most important methods of Laser-accelerated proton beams (LAP) planning systems.LAP has inspired novel applications that can benefit from proton bunch properties different from conventionally accelerated proton beams. The secondary neutron and photon produced in the collision of protons with beamline components are of the important concern in proton therapy. Various published Monte Carlo researches evaluated the beamline and shielding considerations for TNSA method, but there is no studies directly address secondary neutron and photon production from RPA method in LAP. The purpose of this study is to calculate the flux distribution of neutron and photon secondary radiations on the first area ofLAP and to determine the optimize thickness and radius of the energyselector in a LAP planning system based on RPA method. Also, we present the Monte Carlo calculations to determine the appropriate beam pipe for shielding a LAP planning system. The GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit has been used to simulate a secondary radiation production in LAP. A section of new multifunctional LAP beamlinehas been proposed, based on the pulsed power solenoid scheme as a GEANT4 toolkit. The results show that the energy selector is the most important source of neutron and photon secondary particles in LAP beamline. According to the calculations, the pure Tungsten energy selector not be the proper case, and using of Tungsten+Polyethylene or Tungsten+Graphitecomposite selectors will reduce the production of neutron and photon intensities by approximately ~10% and ~25%, respectively. Also the optimal radiuses of energy selectors were found to be ~4 cm and ~6 cm for a 3 degree and 5 degree proton deviation angles, respectively.

Keywords: neutron, photon, flux distribution, energy selector, GEANT4 toolkit

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Authors: Makhdoom Saad Wasim Ghouri, Muneeba Butt, Mohammad Ashraf Tahir, Rashid Bhatti, Akbar Ali, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Basit, Muzzamel Rehman, Shahbaz Aslam, Farakh Mansoor, Ahmad Fayyaz, Hadia Siddiqui

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Lip print analysis (Cheiloscopy) is the new emerging technique that might be the guardian angel in establishing the personal identity. Cheiloscopy is basically the study of elevations and depressions present on the external surface of the lips. In our study, 600 lip prints samples were taken (300 males and 300 females). Lip prints of each individual were divided into four quadrants and the upper middle portion. For general classification, middle part of the lower lip almost 10 mm wide would be taken into consideration. After analysis of lip-prints, our results show that lip prints are the unique and permanent character of every individual. No two lip print was matched with each other even of the identical twins. Our study reveals that there is equal distribution of lip print patterns among all the four quadrants of lips and the upper middle portion; these distributions were statistically analyzed by applying chi-square test which shows the significant results. In general classification, 5 lip print types/patterns were studied, Type 1 (Vertical lines), Type 2 (Branched pattern), Type 3 (Intersected pattern), Type 4 (Reticular pattern) and Type 5 (Undetermined). Type 1 and Type 2 were found to be the most frequent patterns in female population, while Type 3 and Type 4 most commonly found in male population. These results were also analyzed by applying Chi-square test, and the results show significance statistically. Thus, establishing sex determination on the basis of lip print types among the gender. Type 5 was the least common pattern among genders.

Keywords: cheiloscopy, distribution, quadrants, sex determination

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Authors: Habib Khodaverdiloo, Fatemeh Afrasiabi, Farrokh Asadzadeh, Martinus Th. Van Genuchten

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The soil particle-size distribution (PSD) is known to affect a broad range of soil physical, mechanical and hydraulic properties. Complete descriptions of a PSD curve should provide more information about these properties as opposed to having only information about soil textural class or the soil sand, silt and clay (SSC) fractions. We compared the accuracy of 19 different models of the cumulative PSD in terms of fitting observed data from a large number of Iranian soils. Parameters of the six most promising models were correlated with measured values of the field saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs), the mean weight diameter of soil aggregates (MWD), bulk density (ρb), and porosity (∅). These same soil properties were correlated also with conventional PSD parameters (SSC fractions), selected geometric PSD parameters (notably the mean diameter dg and its standard deviation σg), and several other PSD parameters (D50 and D60). The objective was to find the best predictions of several soil physical quality indices and the soil hydraulic properties. Neither SSC nor dg, σg, D50 and D60 were found to have a significant correlation with both Kfs or logKfs, However, the parameters of several cumulative PSD models showed statistically significant correlation with Kfs and/or logKfs (|r| = 0.42 to 0.65; p ≤ 0.05). The correlation between MWD and the model parameters was generally also higher than either with SSC fraction and dg, or with D50 and D60. Porosity (∅) and the bulk density (ρb) also showed significant correlation with several PSD model parameters, with ρb additionally correlating significantly with various geometric (dg), mechanical (D50 and D60), and agronomic (clay and sand) representations of the PSD. The fitted parameters of selected PSD models furthermore showed statistically significant correlations with Kfs,, MWD and soil porosity, which may be viewed as soil quality indices. Results of this study are promising for developing more accurate pedotransfer functions.

Keywords: particle size distribution, soil texture, hydraulic conductivity, pedotransfer functions

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Authors: Jill Round

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In the economic system, the financial sector plays a crucial role as an intermediary between market participants, other financial institutions, and customers. Financial institutions such as banks have to make decisions to satisfy the demands of all the participants by keeping abreast of regulatory change. In recent years, progress has been made regarding frameworks, development of rules, standards, and processes to manage risks in the banking sector. The increasing focus of regulators and policymakers placed on risk management, corporate governance, and the organization’s culture is of special interest as it requires a well-resourced risk controlling function, compliance function, and internal audit function. In the past years, the relevance of these functions that make up the so-called Three Lines of Defense has moved from the backroom to the boardroom. The approach of the model can vary based on the various organizational characteristics. Due to the intense regulatory requirements, organizations operating in the financial sector have more mature models. In less regulated industries there is more cloudiness about what tasks are allocated where. All parties strive to achieve their objectives through the effective management of risks and serve the identical stakeholders. Today, the Three Lines of Defense model is used throughout the world. The research looks at trends and emerging issues in the professions of the Three Lines of Defense within the banking sector. The answers are believed to helping to explain the increasing regulatory requirements for the banking sector. While the number of supervisory practices increases the risk management requirements intensify and demand more regulatory compliance at the same time. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is applied by making use of conducted surveys in the research field. It aims to describe (i) the theoretical model regarding the applicable linearity relationships, (ii) the causal relationship between multiple predictors (exogenous) and multiple dependent variables (endogenous), (iii) taking into consideration the unobservable variables and (iv) the measurement errors. The surveys conducted on the research field suggest that the observable variables are caused by various latent variables. The SEM consists of the 1) measurement model and the 2) structural model. There is a detectable correlation regarding the cause-effect relationship among the performed supervisory practices and the increasing scope of regulation. Supervisory practices reinforce the regulatory density. In the past, controls were placed after supervisory practices were conducted or incidents occurred. In further research, it is of interest to examine, whether risk management is proactive, reactive to incidents and supervisory practices or can be both at the same time.

Keywords: risk management, structural equation model, supervisory practice, three lines of defense

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Hetvi Trivedi

Abstract:

Technological escalation cannot be negated. The same is true for the benefits of technology. However, such escalation has interfered with the traditional theories of protection under Intellectual Property Rights. Out of the many trends that have disrupted the old-school understanding of Intellectual Property Rights, one is hashtags. What began modestly in the year 2007 has now earned a remarkable status, and coupled with the unprecedented rise in social media the hashtag culture has witnessed a monstrous growth. A tiny symbol on the keypad of phones or computers is now a major trend which also serves companies as a critical investment measure in establishing their brand in the market. Due to this a section of the Intellectual Property Rights- Trademarks is undergoing a humungous transformation with hashtags like #icebucket, #tbt or #smilewithacoke, getting trademark protection. So, as the traditional theories of IP take on the modern trends, it is necessary to understand the change and challenge at a theoretical and proportional level and where need be, question the change. Traditionally, Intellectual Property Rights serves the societal need for intellectual productions that ensure its holistic development as well as cultural, economic, social and technological progress. In a two-pronged effort at ensuring continuity of creativity, IPRs recognize the investment of individual efforts that go into creation by way of offering protection. Commonly placed under two major theories- Utilitarian and Natural, IPRs aim to accord protection and recognition to an individual’s creation or invention which serve as an incentive for further creations or inventions, thus fully protecting the creative, inventive or commercial labour invested in the same. In return, the creator by lending the public the access to the creation reaps various benefits. This way Intellectual Property Rights form a ‘social contract’ between the author and society. IPRs are similarly attached to a social function, whereby individual rights must be weighed against competing rights and to the farthest limit possible, both sets of rights must be treated in a balanced manner. To put it differently, both the society and the creator must be put on an equal footing with neither party’s rights subservient to the other. A close look through doctrinal research, at the recent trend of trademark protection, makes the social function of IPRs seem to be moving far from the basic philosophy. Thus, where technology interferes with the philosophies of law, it is important to check and allow such growth only in moderation, for none is superior than the other. The human expansionist nature may need everything under the sky that can be tweaked slightly to be counted and protected as Intellectual Property- like a common parlance word transformed into a hashtag, however IP in order to survive on its philosophies needs to strike a balance. A unanimous global decision on the judicious use of IPR recognition and protection is the need of the hour.

Keywords: hashtag trademarks, intellectual property, social function, technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Divya SY. Ang, Mark B. Tan, Nicholas EM. Yeo, Siti RB. Sudirman, Khong Yik Chew

Abstract:

Introduction: The importance of the amalgamation of technological and engineering advances with surgical principles of reconstruction cannot be overemphasized. With earlier detection of cancer, consequences of high-speed living and neglect, like traumatic injuries and infection, resulting in increasingly younger patients with bone defects. This may result in malformations and suboptimal function that is more noticeable and palpable in the younger, active demographic. Our team proposes a technique that encapsulates a mesh of multidisciplinary effort, tissue engineering and reconstructive principles. Methods/Materials: Our patient was a young competitive footballer in his early 30s who was diagnosed with submandibular adenoid cystic carcinoma with bony involvement. He was thus counselled for a right hemi mandibulectomy, the floor of mouth resection, right selective neck dissection, tracheostomy, and free fibular flap reconstruction of his mandible and required post-operative radiotherapy. Being young and in his prime sportsman years, he was unable to accept the morbidities associated with using his fibula to reconstruct his mandible despite it being the gold standard reconstructive option. The fibula is an ideal vascularized bone flap because it’s reliable and easily shaped with relatively minimal impact on functional outcomes. The fibula contributes to 30% of weightbearing and is the attachment for the lateral compartment muscles; it is stronger in footballers concerning lateral bending. When harvesting the fibula, the distal 6-8cm and up to 10% of the total length is preserved to maintain the ankle’s stability, thus, minimizing the impact on daily activities. There are studies that have noted gait variability post-operatively. Therefore, returning to a premorbid competitive level may be doubtful. To improve his functional outcomes, the decision was made to try and restore the fibula's form and function. Using the concept of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), our team comprising of Plastics, Otolaryngology, Orthopedics and Radiology, worked with Osteopore to design a 3D bioresorbable implant to regenerate the fibula defect (14.5cm). Bone marrow was harvested via reaming the contralateral hip prior to the wide resection. 30mls of his blood was obtained for extracting platelet rich plasma. These were packed into the Osteopore 3D-printed bone scaffold. This was then secured into the fibula defect with titanium plates and screws. The flexor hallucis longus and soleus were anchored along the construct and intraosseous membrane, done in a single setting. Results: He was reviewed closely as an outpatient over 10 months post operatively. He reported no discernable loss or difference in ankle function. He is satisfied and back in training and our team has video and photographs that substantiate his progress. Conclusion: FDM allows regeneration of long bone defects. However, we aimed to also restore his eversion and inversion that is imperative for footballers and hence reattached his previously dissected muscles along the length of the Osteopore implant. We believe that the reattachment of the muscle stabilizes not only the construct but allows optimum muscle tensioning when moving his ankle. This is a simple but effective technique in restoring complete function and form in a young patient whose minute muscle control is imperative to life.

Keywords: fused deposition modelling, functional reconstruction, lower limb bony defects, regenerative surgery, 3D printing, tissue engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Ingrid R. Avanzi, Marcela dos P. G. Baltazar, Louise H. Gracioso, Luciana J. Gimenes, Bruno Karolski, Elen A. Perpetuo, Claudio Auguto Oller do Nascimento

Abstract:

In this study was developed a natural process using a biological system for the uptake of Copper and possible removal of copper from wastewater by dead biomass of the strain Burkholderia cenocepacia. Dead and live biomass of Burkholderia cenocepacia was used to analyze the equilibrium and kinetics of copper biosorption by this strain in function of the pH. Living biomass exhibited the highest biosorption capacity of copper, 50 mg g−1, which was achieved within 5 hours of contact, at pH 7.0, temperature of 30°C, and agitation speed of 150 rpm. The dead biomass of Burkholderia cenocepacia may be considered an efficiently bioprocess, being fast and low-cost to production of copper and also a probably nano-adsorbent of this metal ion in wastewater in bioremediation process. In this study was developed a natural process using a biological system for the uptake of Copper and possible removal of copper from wastewater by dead biomass of the strain Burkholderia cenocepacia. Dead and live biomass of Burkholderia cenocepacia was used to analyze the equilibrium and kinetics of copper biosorption by this strain in function of the pH. Living biomass exhibited the highest biosorption capacity of copper, 50 mg g−1, which was achieved within 5 hours of contact, at pH 7.0, temperature of 30°C, and agitation speed of 150 rpm. The dead biomass of Burkholderia cenocepacia may be considered an efficiently bioprocess, being fast and low-cost to production of copper and also a probably nano-adsorbent of this metal ion in wastewater in bioremediation process.

Keywords: biosorption, dead biomass, biotechnology, copper recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Sara Bahariderakhshan, Morteza Ahmadifar

Abstract:

Leakage is one of the most important problems that water distribution networks face which first reason is high-pressure existence. There are many approaches to control this excess pressure, which using pressure reducing valves (PRVs) or reducing pipe diameter are ones. In the other hand, Pumps are using electricity or fossil fuels to supply needed pressure in distribution networks but excess pressure are made in some branches due to topology problems and water networks’ variables therefore using pressure valves will be inevitable. Although using PRVs is inevitable but it leads to waste electricity or fuels used by pumps because PRVs just waste excess hydraulic pressure to lower it. Pumps working in reverse or Pumps as Turbine (called PaT in this article) are easily available and also effective sources of reducing the equipment cost in small hydropower plants. Urban areas of developing countries are facing increasing in area and maybe water scarcity in near future. These cities need wider water networks which make it hard to predict, control and have a better operation in the urban water cycle. Using more energy and, therefore, more pollution, slower repairing services, more user dissatisfaction and more leakage are these networks’ serious problems. Therefore, more effective systems are needed to monitor and act in these complicated networks than what is used now. In this article a new approach is proposed and evaluated: Using PAT to produce enough energy for remote valves and sensors in the water network. These sensors can be used to determine the discharge, pressure, water quality and other important network characteristics. With the help of remote valves pipeline discharge can be controlled so Instead of wasting excess hydraulic pressure which may be destructive in some cases, obtaining extra pressure from pipeline and producing clean electricity used by remote instruments is this articles’ goal. Furthermore due to increasing the area of the network there is unwanted high pressure in some critical points which is not destructive but lowering the pressure results to longer lifetime for pipeline networks without users’ dissatisfaction. This strategy proposed in this article, leads to use PaT widely for pressure containment and producing energy needed for remote valves and sensors like what happens in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems which make it easy for us to monitor, receive data from urban water cycle and make any needed changes in discharge and pressure of pipelines easily and remotely. This is a clean project of energy production without significant environmental impacts and can be used in urban drinking water networks, without any problem for consumers which leads to a stable and dynamic network which lowers leakage and pollution.

Keywords: new energies, pump as turbine, drinking water, distribution network, remote control equipments

Procedia PDF Downloads 429

Authors: Mohammad Rahim Rahnama, Lia Shaddel

Abstract:

Today, along with the development of urbanism, its negative consequences on the health of citizens are emerging. Mental disorders are common in the big cities, while mental health enables individuals to become active citizens. Meanwhile, women have a larger share of mental problems. Depression and anxiety disorders have a higher prevalence rate among women and these disorders affect the health of future generations, too. Therefore, improving women’s mental health through the potentials offered by urban spaces are of paramount importance. The present study aims to first, evaluate the spatial autocorrelation of women’s mental health and walkable spaces and then present solutions, based on the findings, to improve the walkability index. To determine the spatial distribution of women’s mental health in Mashhad, Moran's I was used and 1000 questionnaire were handed out in various sub-districts of Mashhad. Moran's I was calculated to be 0.18 which indicates a cluster distribution pattern. The walkability index was calculated using the four variables pertaining to the length of walkable routes, mixed land use, retail floor area ratio, and household density. To determine spatial autocorrelation of mental health and the walkability index, bivariate Moran’s I was calculated. Moran's I was determined to be 0.37 which shows a direct spatial relationship between variables; 4 clusters in 9 sub-districts of Mashhad were created. In High-Low cluster, there was a negative spatial relationship and hence, to identify factors affecting walkability in urban spaces semi-structures interviews were conducted with 21 women in this cluster. The findings revealed that security is the major factor influencing women’s walking behavior in this cluster. In accordance with the findings, some suggestions are offered to improve the presence of women in this sub-district.

Keywords: Mashhad, spatial autocorrelation, women’s mental health, walkability index

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: Hui-Ling Yang, Kuei-Ru Chou

Abstract:

Background: Studies show that cognitive training can effectively delay cognitive failure. However, there are several gaps in the previous studies of cognitive training in mild cognitive impairment: 1) previous studies enrolled mostly healthy older adults, with few recruiting older adults with cognitive impairment; 2) they also had limited generalizability and lacked long-term follow-up data and measurements of the activities of daily living functional impact. Moreover, only 37% were randomized controlled trials (RCT). 3) Limited cognitive training has been specifically developed for mild cognitive impairment. Objective: This study sought to investigate the changes in cognitive function, activities of daily living and degree of depressive symptoms in older adults with mild cognitive impairment after cognitive training. Methods: This double-blind randomized controlled study has a 2-arm parallel group design. Study subjects are older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in residential care facilities. 124 subjects will be randomized by the permuted block randomization, into intervention group (Cognitive training, CT), or active control group (Passive information activities, PIA). Therapeutic adherence, sample attrition rate, medication compliance and adverse events will be monitored during the study period, and missing data analyzed using intent-to-treat analysis (ITT). Results: Training sessions of the CT group are 45 minutes/day, 3 days/week, for 12 weeks (36 sessions each). The training of active control group is the same as CT group (45min/day, 3days/week, for 12 weeks, for a total of 36 sessions). The primary outcome is cognitive function, using the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE); the secondary outcome indicators are: 1) activities of daily living, using the Lawton’s Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) and 2) degree of depressive symptoms, using the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short form (GDS-SF). Latent growth curve modeling will be used in the repeated measures statistical analysis to estimate the trajectory of improvement by examining the rate and pattern of change in cognitive functions, activities of daily living and degree of depressive symptoms for intervention efficacy over time, and the effects will be evaluated immediate post-test, 3 months, 6 months and one year after the last session. Conclusions: We constructed a rigorous CT program adhering to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) reporting guidelines. We expect to determine the improvement in cognitive function, activities of daily living and degree of depressive symptoms of older adults with mild cognitive impairment after using the CT.

Keywords: mild cognitive impairment, cognitive training, randomized controlled study

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Takuya Suzuki, Atsushi Shirai, Takashi Seki

Abstract:

Acupuncture therapy is one of the treatments in traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, some reports have shown the effectiveness of acupuncture. However, its full acceptance has been hindered by the lack of understanding on mechanism of the therapy. Acupuncture applied to Zusanli (ST-36) enhances blood flow volume in superior mesenteric artery (SMA), yielding peripheral vascular resistance – regulated blood flow of SMA dominated by the parasympathetic system and inhibition of sympathetic system. In this study, a lumped-parameter approximation model of blood flow in the systemic arteries was developed. This model was extremely simple, consisting of the aorta, carotid arteries, arteries of the four limbs and SMA, and their peripheral vascular resistances. Here, the individual artery was simplified to a tapered tube and the resistances were modelled by a linear resistance. We numerically investigated contribution of the peripheral vascular resistance of SMA to the systemic blood distribution using this model. In addition to the upstream end of the model, which correlates with the left ventricle, two types of boundary condition were applied; mean left ventricular pressure which correlates with blood pressure (BP) and mean cardiac output which corresponds to cardiac index (CI). We examined it to reproduce the experimentally obtained hemodynamic change, in terms of the ratio of the aforementioned hemodynamic parameters from their initial values before the acupuncture, by regulating the peripheral vascular resistances and the upstream boundary condition. First, only the peripheral vascular resistance of SMA was changed to show contribution of the resistance to the change in blood flow volume in SMA, expecting reproduction of the experimentally obtained change. It was found, however, this was not enough to reproduce the experimental result. Then, we also changed the resistances of the other arteries together with the value given at upstream boundary. Here, the resistances of the other arteries were changed simultaneously in the same amount. Consequently, we successfully reproduced the hemodynamic change to find that regulation of the upstream boundary condition to the value experimentally obtained after the stimulation is necessary for the reproduction, though statistically significant changes in BP and CI were not observed in the experiment. It is generally known that sympathetic and parasympathetic tones take part in regulation of whole the systemic circulation including the cardiac function. The present result indicates that stimulation to ST-36 could induce vasodilation of peripheral circulation of SMA and vasoconstriction of that of other arteries. In addition, it implies that experimentally obtained small changes in BP and CI induced by the acupuncture may be involved in the therapeutic response.

Keywords: acupuncture, hemodynamics, lumped-parameter approximation, modeling, systemic vascular resistance

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Morteza Ahmadifar, Sarah Bahari Derakhshan

Abstract:

Leakage is one of the most important problems that water distribution networks face which first reason is high-pressure existence. There are many approaches to control this excess pressure, which using pressure reducing valves (PRVs) or reducing pipe diameter are ones. On the other hand, Pumps are using electricity or fossil fuels to supply needed pressure in distribution networks but excess pressure are made in some branches due to topology problems and water networks’ variables, therefore using pressure valves will be inevitable. Although using PRVs is inevitable but it leads to waste electricity or fuels used by pumps because PRVs just waste excess hydraulic pressure to lower it. Pumps working in reverse or Pumps as Turbine (called PAT in this article) are easily available and also effective sources of reducing the equipment cost in small hydropower plants. Urban areas of developing countries are facing increasing in area and maybe water scarcity in near future. These cities need wider water networks which make it hard to predict, control and have a better operation in the urban water cycle. Using more energy and therefore more pollution, slower repairing services, more user dissatisfaction and more leakage are these networks’ serious problems. Therefore, more effective systems are needed to monitor and act in these complicated networks than what is used now. In this article a new approach is proposed and evaluated: Using PAT to produce enough energy for remote valves and sensors in the water network. These sensors can be used to determine the discharge, pressure, water quality and other important network characteristics. With the help of remote valves pipeline discharge can be controlled so Instead of wasting excess hydraulic pressure which may be destructive in some cases, obtaining extra pressure from pipeline and producing clean electricity used by remote instruments is this articles’ goal. Furthermore, due to increasing the area of network there is unwanted high pressure in some critical points which is not destructive but lowering the pressure results to longer lifetime for pipeline networks without users’ dissatisfaction. This strategy proposed in this article, leads to use PAT widely for pressure containment and producing energy needed for remote valves and sensors like what happens in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems which make it easy for us to monitor, receive data from urban water cycle and make any needed changes in discharge and pressure of pipelines easily and remotely. This is a clean project of energy production without significant environmental impacts and can be used in urban drinking water networks, without any problem for consumers which leads to a stable and dynamic network which lowers leakage and pollution.

Keywords: clean energies, pump as turbine, remote control, urban water distribution network

Procedia PDF Downloads 365

Authors: Nikoletta G. Karytsioti

Abstract:

The European Union’s function and effectiveness are still an issue that minds, bringing about division even in the member-states interior. Recently, more serious issues have been added in the Union’s malfunction, which affects not only the Union’s function but also their residents’ safety. One of these issues is the migration crisis, which frustrates the European Union’s balances and the stability. The present paper’s aim to frame and interpret the Greek public opinion in basic migration matters, throughout the political philosophy and specifically via John Rawls ‘Theory of Justice’. The theory is deployed to examine if it may be used in a practical way, on a tangible issue and in a specific area. In order to obtain a real frame of the public opinion about the matter of migration, a questionnaire was addressed to Greek people. The sample was chosen for three main reasons: a) Greeks are experienced in the migration as they had migrated in the past, b) many young people migrated the recent years after the debt crisis, c) Greece is a reception state. Being based in the Theory of Justice and specifically in the ‘veil of ignorance’, is tried to overcome the obstacles of human nature’s subjectivity, while examining the variations in the responses per social group. The questionnaire will have demographic questions and special interest questions, related with the crisis, before and after ‘the veil of ignorance’. The paper’s originality comes from the fact that it is the first time that a philosophical theory is used to examine the migration issue in a practical manner. The main goals of the paper are three: - To examine the differences/similarities in the responses before and after the veil of ignorance, - to reveal opinions on migration crisis from E.U. citizens and - to confirm or not the practical usefulness of the Political Philosophy as a highlighting tool

Keywords: European Union, immigrants, migration crisis, political philosophy, theory of justice, veil of ignorance

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Yu Zhang, Ye Tian, Fang Ye Yixuan Kang

Abstract:

The capacity of conventional cellular networks has reached its upper bound and it can be well handled by introducing femtocells with low-cost and easy-to-deploy. Spectrum interference issue becomes more critical in peace with the value-added multimedia services growing up increasingly in two-tier cellular networks. Spectrum allocation is one of effective methods in interference mitigation technology. This paper proposes a game-theory-based on OFDMA downlink spectrum allocation aiming at reducing co-channel interference in two-tier femtocell networks. The framework is formulated as a non-cooperative game, wherein the femto base stations are players and frequency channels available are strategies. The scheme takes full account of competitive behavior and fairness among stations. In addition, the utility function reflects the interference from the standpoint of channels essentially. This work focuses on co-channel interference and puts forward a negative logarithm interference function on distance weight ratio aiming at suppressing co-channel interference in the same layer network. This scenario is more suitable for actual network deployment and the system possesses high robustness. According to the proposed mechanism, interference exists only when players employ the same channel for data communication. This paper focuses on implementing spectrum allocation in a distributed fashion. Numerical results show that signal to interference and noise ratio can be obviously improved through the spectrum allocation scheme and the users quality of service in downlink can be satisfied. Besides, the average spectrum efficiency in cellular network can be significantly promoted as simulations results shown.

Keywords: femtocell networks, game theory, interference mitigation, spectrum allocation

Procedia PDF Downloads 130