Search results for: time series regression.

Authors: Cheng Zeng, George Michailidis, Hitoshi Iyatomi, Leo L Duan

Abstract:

The conditional density characterizes the distribution of a response variable y given other predictor x, and plays a key role in many statistical tasks, including classification and outlier detection. Although there has been abundant work on the problem of Conditional Density Estimation (CDE) for a low-dimensional response in the presence of a high-dimensional predictor, little work has been done for a high-dimensional response such as images. The promising performance of normalizing flow (NF) neural networks in unconditional density estimation acts a motivating starting point. In this work, we extend NF neural networks when external x is present. Specifically, they use the NF to parameterize a one-to-one transform between a high-dimensional y and a latent z that comprises two components [zP , zN]. The zP component is a low-dimensional subvector obtained from the posterior distribution of an elementary predictive model for x, such as logistic/linear regression. The zN component is a high-dimensional independent Gaussian vector, which explains the variations in y not or less related to x. Unlike existing CDE methods, the proposed approach, coined Augmented Posterior CDE (AP-CDE), only requires a simple modification on the common normalizing flow framework, while significantly improving the interpretation of the latent component, since zP represents a supervised dimension reduction. In image analytics applications, AP-CDE shows good separation of x-related variations due to factors such as lighting condition and subject id, from the other random variations. Further, the experiments show that an unconditional NF neural network, based on an unsupervised model of z, such as Gaussian mixture, fails to generate interpretable results.

Keywords: Conditional density estimation, image generation, normalizing flow, supervised dimension reduction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 109

Authors: J. Madureira, R. Lagido, I. Sousa

Abstract:

Surf is an increasingly popular sport and its performance evaluation is often qualitative. This work aims at using a smartphone to collect and analyze the GPS and inertial sensors data in order to obtain quantitative metrics of the surfing performance. Two approaches are compared for detection of wave rides, computing the number of waves rode in a surfing session, the starting time of each wave and its duration. The first approach is based on computing the velocity from the Global Positioning System (GPS) signal and finding the velocity thresholds that allow identifying the start and end of each wave ride. The second approach adds information from the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) of the smartphone, to the velocity thresholds obtained from the GPS unit, to determine the start and end of each wave ride. The two methods were evaluated using GPS and IMU data from two surfing sessions and validated with similar metrics extracted from video data collected from the beach. The second method, combining GPS and IMU data, was found to be more accurate in determining the number of waves, start time and duration. This paper shows that it is feasible to use smartphones for quantification of performance metrics during surfing. In particular, detection of the waves rode and their duration can be accurately determined using the smartphone GPS and IMU. 

Keywords: Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Global Positioning System (GPS), smartphone, surfing performance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1631

Authors: Teka Haile, Behailu Hawulte, Solomon Alemayehu

Abstract:

Background: HIV virological failure still remains a problem in HV/AIDS treatment and care. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and identify the factors associated with viral non-suppression among HIV-positive adult patients on antiretroviral therapy in Woliso Town, Oromia, Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 424 HIV-positive patient’s attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Woliso Town during the period from August 25, 2020 to August 30, 2020. Data collected from patient medical records were entered into Epi Info version 2.3.2.1 and exported to SPSS version 21.0 for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with viral load non-suppression, and statistical significance of odds ratios were declared using 95% confidence interval and p-value < 0.05. Results: A total of 424 patients were included in this study. The mean age (± SD) of the study participants was 39.88 (± 9.995) years. The prevalence of HIV viral load non-suppression was 55 (13.0%) with 95% CI (9.9-16.5). Second-line ART treatment regimen (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 8.98, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.64, 30.58) and routine viral load testing (AOR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.02) were significantly associated with virological non-suppression. Conclusion: Virological non-suppression was high, which hinders the achievement of the third global 95 target. The second-line regimen and routine viral load testing were significantly associated with virological non-suppression. It suggests the need to assess the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs for epidemic control. It also clearly shows the need to decentralize third-line ART treatment for those patients in need.

Keywords: Virological non-suppression, HIV-positive, ART, Woliso Town, Ethiopia.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 553

Authors: Chen-Fu Wang, Lin-Ya Kung

Abstract:

For traditional painting materials, the artisan used to combine the pigments with different binders to create colors. As time goes by, the materials used for painting evolved from natural to chemical materials. The vast variety of ingredients used in chemical materials has complicated restoration work; it makes conservation work more difficult. Conservation work also becomes harder when the materials cannot be easily identified; therefore, it is essential that we take a more scientific approach to assist in conservation work. Paintings materials are high molecular weight polymer, and their analysis is very complicated as well other contamination such as smoke and dirt can also interfere with the analysis of the material. The current methods of composition analysis of painting materials include Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), mass spectrometer, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), each of which has its own limitation. In this study, FT-IR was used to analyze the components of the paint coating. We have taken the most commonly seen materials as samples and deteriorated it. The aged information was then used for the database to exam the temple painting materials. By observing the FT-IR changes over time, we can tell all of the painting materials will be deteriorated by the UV light, but only the speed of its degradation had some difference. From the deterioration experiment, the acrylic resin resists better than the others. After collecting the painting materials aging information on FT-IR, we performed some test on the paintings on the temples. It was found that most of the artisan used tune-oil for painting materials, and some other paintings used chemical materials. This method is now working successfully on identifying the painting materials. However, the method is destructive and high cost. In the future, we will work on the how to know the painting materials more efficiently.

Keywords: Temple painting, painting material, conservation, FT-IR.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1255

Authors: Joel S. Akintayo, Ramat T. Salman

Abstract:

The stakeholders’ pressure on corporate managers to maintain firm’s profitability has created economic incentives for management to engage in earnings management practices. Therefore, this study examines the effects of audit quality and corporate governance on earnings management of quoted deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. This study specifically investigates the influence of audit tenure, audit fee, board independence, and board size on earnings management of DMBs. Explanatory research design was employed in carrying out the study while secondary data were sourced from the annual reports and accounts of all the 15 quoted DMBs in Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December 31, 2015 for a period of 10 years covering from 2006 to 2015. The data obtained for the study were analyzed using panel regression analysis approach. The findings reveal that board independence has a negative significant effect on earnings management at a 5% level of significance (p=0.002), while audit fee has a positive significant effect on earnings management at a 5% level of significance (p=0.013) and audit tenure has a negative significant effect on earnings management of DMBs at a 5% level of significance (p=0.003). Surprisingly, board size was statistically not significant at a 5% level of significance (p=0.086). The study concludes that high audit quality and sound corporate governance could improve the earnings quality of DMBs. Hence, the study recommends that the authorities saddled with the responsibility of banking supervision in Nigeria such the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CBN to advise the National Assembly in Nigeria to pass into law the three years professional requirement for audit tenure.

Keywords: Audit quality, audit tenure, audit fee, board independence, corporate governance, earnings management.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1310

Authors: Fernando Alonso, Rafael Fernandez, Sonia Frutos, Javier Soriano

Abstract:

CIM is the standard formalism for modeling management information developed by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) in the context of its WBEM proposal, designed to provide a conceptual view of the managed environment. In this paper, we propose the inclusion of formal knowledge representation techniques, based on Description Logics (DLs) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL), in CIM-based conceptual modeling, and then we examine the benefits of such a decision. The proposal is specified as a CIM metamodel level mapping to a highly expressive subset of DLs capable of capturing all the semantics of the models. The paper shows how the proposed mapping provides CIM diagrams with precise semantics and can be used for automatic reasoning about the management information models, as a design aid, by means of newgeneration CASE tools, thanks to the use of state-of-the-art automatic reasoning systems that support the proposed logic and use algorithms that are sound and complete with respect to the semantics. Such a CASE tool framework has been developed by the authors and its architecture is also introduced. The proposed formalization is not only useful at design time, but also at run time through the use of rational autonomous agents, in response to a need recently recognized by the DMTF.

Keywords: CIM, Knowledge-based Information Models, OntologyLanguages, OWL, Description Logics, Integrated Network Management, Intelligent Agents, Automatic Reasoning Techniques.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1536

Authors: H. M. N. L. Handagiripathira

Abstract:

The distributions of naturally occurring and anthropogenic radioactive materials were determined in surface sediments taken at 27 different locations along the bank of Negombo Lagoon in Sri Lanka. Hydrographic parameters of lagoon water and the grain size analyses of the sediment samples were also carried out for this study. The conductivity of the adjacent water was varied from 13.6 mS/cm to 55.4 mS/cm near to the southern end and the northern end of the lagoon, respectively, and equally salinity levels varied from 7.2 psu to 32.1 psu. The average pH in the water was 7.6 and average water temperature was 28.7 °C. The grain size analysis emphasized the mass fractions of the samples as sand (60.9%), fine sand (30.6%) and fine silt+clay (1.3%) in the sampling locations. The surface sediment samples of wet weight, 1 kg each from upper 5-10 cm layer, were oven dried at 105 °C for 24 hours to get a constant weight, homogenized and sieved through a 2 mm sieve (IAEA technical series no. 295). The radioactivity concentrations were determined using gamma spectrometry technique. Ultra Low Background Broad Energy High Purity Ge Detector, BEGe (Model BE5030, Canberra) was used for radioactivity measurement with Canberra Industries' Laboratory Source-less Calibration Software (LabSOCS) mathematical efficiency calibration approach and Geometry composer software. The mean activity concentration was found to be 24 ± 4, 67 ± 9, 181 ± 10, 59 ± 8, 3.5 ± 0.4 and 0.47 ± 0.08 Bq/kg for 238U, 232Th, 40K, 210Pb, 235U and 137Cs respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate in air, radium equivalent activity, external hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent and annual effective dose equivalent were 60.8 nGy/h, 137.3 Bq/kg, 0.4, 425.3 mSv/year and 74.6 mSv/year, respectively. The results of this study will provide baseline information on the natural and artificial radioactive isotopes and environmental pollution associated with information on radiological risk.

Keywords: Gamma spectrometry, lagoon, radioactivity, sediments.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Siti Aisyah Zakaria, Nor Azrita Mohd Amin, Noor Fadhilah Ahmad Radi, Nasrul Hamidin

Abstract:

Higher ground-level ozone (GLO) concentration adversely affects human health, vegetations as well as activities in the ecosystem. In Malaysia, most of the analysis on GLO concentration are carried out using the average value of GLO concentration, which refers to the centre of distribution to make a prediction or estimation. However, analysis which focuses on the higher value or extreme value in GLO concentration is rarely explored. Hence, the objective of this study is to classify the tail behaviour of GLO using generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution estimation the return level using the corresponding modelling (Gumbel, Weibull, and Frechet) of GEV distribution. The results show that Weibull distribution which is also known as short tail distribution and considered as having less extreme behaviour is the best-fitted distribution for four selected air monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia, namely Larkin, Pelabuhan Kelang, Shah Alam, and Tanjung Malim; while Gumbel distribution which is considered as a medium tail distribution is the best-fitted distribution for Nilai station. The return level of GLO concentration in Shah Alam station is comparatively higher than other stations. Overall, return levels increase with increasing return periods but the increment depends on the type of the tail of GEV distribution’s tail. We conduct this study by using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method to estimate the parameters at four selected stations in Peninsular Malaysia. Next, the validation for the fitted block maxima series to GEV distribution is performed using probability plot, quantile plot and likelihood ratio test. Profile likelihood confidence interval is tested to verify the type of GEV distribution. These results are important as a guide for early notification on future extreme ozone events.

Keywords: Extreme value theory, generalized extreme value distribution, ground-level ozone, return level.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 485

Authors: Sri Lakshmi Kanniah, Mohd Naz’ri Mahrin

Abstract:

More and more businesses and services are depending on software to run their daily operations and business services. At the same time, cyber-attacks are becoming more covert and sophisticated, posing threats to software. Vulnerabilities exist in the software due to the lack of security practices during the phases of software development. Implementation of secure software development practices can improve the resistance to attacks. Many methods, models and standards for secure software development have been developed. However, despite the efforts, they still come up against difficulties in their deployment and the processes are not institutionalized. There is a set of factors that influence the successful deployment of secure software development processes. In this study, the methodology and results from a systematic literature review of factors influencing the implementation of secure software development practices is described. A total of 44 primary studies were analysed as a result of the systematic review. As a result of the study, a list of twenty factors has been identified. Some of factors that affect implementation of secure software development practices are: Involvement of the security expert, integration between security and development team, developer’s skill and expertise, development time and communication between stakeholders. The factors were further classified into four categories which are institutional context, people and action, project content and system development process. The results obtained show that it is important to take into account organizational, technical and people issues in order to implement secure software development initiatives.

Keywords: Secure software development, software development, software security, systematic literature review.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2451

Authors: A. Chowdhury, P. Egodawatta, J. M. McGree, A. Goonetilleke

Abstract:

Hydrologic models are increasingly used as tools to predict stormwater quantity and quality from urban catchments. However, due to a range of practical issues, most models produce gross errors in simulating complex hydraulic and hydrologic systems. Difficulty in finding a robust approach for model calibration is one of the main issues. Though automatic calibration techniques are available, they are rarely used in common commercial hydraulic and hydrologic modelling software e.g. MIKE URBAN. This is partly due to the need for a large number of parameters and large datasets in the calibration process. To overcome this practical issue, a framework for automatic calibration of a hydrologic model was developed in R platform and presented in this paper. The model was developed based on the time-area conceptualization. Four calibration parameters, including initial loss, reduction factor, time of concentration and time-lag were considered as the primary set of parameters. Using these parameters, automatic calibration was performed using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). ABC is a simulation-based technique for performing Bayesian inference when the likelihood is intractable or computationally expensive to compute. To test the performance and usefulness, the technique was used to simulate three small catchments in Gold Coast. For comparison, simulation outcomes from the same three catchments using commercial modelling software, MIKE URBAN were used. The graphical comparison shows strong agreement of MIKE URBAN result within the upper and lower 95% credible intervals of posterior predictions as obtained via ABC. Statistical validation for posterior predictions of runoff result using coefficient of determination (CD), root mean square error (RMSE) and maximum error (ME) was found reasonable for three study catchments. The main benefit of using ABC over MIKE URBAN is that ABC provides a posterior distribution for runoff flow prediction, and therefore associated uncertainty in predictions can be obtained. In contrast, MIKE URBAN just provides a point estimate. Based on the results of the analysis, it appears as though ABC the developed framework performs well for automatic calibration.

Keywords: Automatic calibration framework, approximate Bayesian computation, hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, MIKE URBAN software, R platform.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1708

Authors: E. L. Suarez, D. E. Meeroff, Y. Yong

Abstract:

Current flooding risk modeling focuses on resilience, defined as the probability of recovery from a severe flooding event. However, the long-term damage to property and well-being by nuisance flooding and its long-term effects on communities are not typically included in risk assessments. An approach was developed to address the probability of recovering from a severe flooding event combined with the probability of community performance during a nuisance event. A consolidated model, namely the conflation flooding recovery (&FR) model, evaluates risk-coping mitigation strategies for communities based on the recovery time from catastrophic events, such as hurricanes or extreme surges, and from everyday nuisance flooding events. The &FR model assesses the variation contribution of each independent input and generates a weighted output that favors the distribution with minimum variation. This approach is especially useful if the input distributions have dissimilar variances. The &FR is defined as a single distribution resulting from the product of the individual probability density functions. The resulting conflated distribution resides between the parent distributions, and it infers the recovery time required by a community to return to basic functions, such as power, utilities, transportation, and civil order, after a flooding event. The &FR model is more accurate than averaging individual observations before calculating the mean and variance or averaging the probabilities evaluated at the input values, which assigns the same weighted variation to each input distribution. The main disadvantage of these traditional methods is that the resulting measure of central tendency is exactly equal to the average of the input distribution’s means without the additional information provided by each individual distribution variance. When dealing with exponential distributions, such as resilience from severe flooding events and from nuisance flooding events, conflation results are equivalent to the weighted least squares method or best linear unbiased estimation. The combination of severe flooding risk with nuisance flooding improves flood risk management for highly populated coastal communities, such as in South Florida, USA, and provides a method to estimate community flood recovery time more accurately from two different sources, severe flooding events and nuisance flooding events.

Keywords: Community resilience, conflation, flood risk, nuisance flooding.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Alisha Khanal, Gokhan Saygili

Abstract:

It is commonly observed that aftershocks follow the mainshock. Aftershocks continue over a period of time with a decreasing frequency and typically there is not sufficient time for repair and retrofit between a mainshock–aftershock sequence. Usually, aftershocks are smaller in magnitude; however, aftershock ground motion characteristics such as the intensity and duration can be greater than the mainshock due to the changes in the earthquake mechanism and location with respect to the site. The seismic performance of slopes is typically evaluated based on the sliding displacement predicted to occur along a critical sliding surface. Various empirical models are available that predict sliding displacement as a function of seismic loading parameters, ground motion parameters, and site parameters but these models do not include the aftershocks. The seismic risks associated with the post-mainshock slopes ('damaged slopes') subjected to aftershocks is significant. This paper extends the empirical sliding displacement models for flexible slopes subjected to earthquake mainshock-aftershock sequences (a multi hazard approach). A dataset was developed using 144 pairs of as-recorded mainshock-aftershock sequences using the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) database. The results reveal that the combination of mainshock and aftershock increases the seismic demand on slopes relative to the mainshock alone; thus, seismic risks are underestimated if aftershocks are neglected.

Keywords: Seismic slope stability, sliding displacement, mainshock, aftershock, landslide, earthquake.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 873

Authors: Faramarz Khosravi, Gokhan Izbirak

Abstract:

A weighted statistical stochastic based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model for modeling the potential barriers and enablers of sustainability for measuring and assessing the sustainability level is proposed. For context-dependent potential barriers and enablers, the proposed model takes the basis of the properties of the variables describing the sustainability functions and was developed into a realistic analytical model for the sustainable behavior of an organization. This thus serves as a means for measuring the sustainability of the organization. The main focus of this paper was the application of the AHP tool in a statistically-based model for measuring sustainability. Hence a strong weighted stochastic AHP based procedure was achieved. A case study scenario of a widely reported major Canadian electric utility was adopted to demonstrate the applicability of the developed model and comparatively examined its results with those of an equal-weighted model method. Variations in the sustainability of a company, as fluctuations, were figured out during the time. In the results obtained, sustainability index for successive years changed form 73.12%, 79.02%, 74.31%, 76.65%, 80.49%, 79.81%, 79.83% to more exact values 73.32%, 77.72%, 76.76%, 79.41%, 81.93%, 79.72%, and 80,45% according to priorities of factors that have found by expert views, respectively. By obtaining relatively necessary informative measurement indicators, the model can practically and effectively evaluate the sustainability extent of any organization and also to determine fluctuations in the organization over time.

Keywords: AHP, sustainability fluctuation, environmental indicators, performance measurement, environmental sustainability.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 893

Authors: Muhamad Sani Buang, Shahrul Azam Abdullah, Juri Saedon

Abstract:

There is not much effective guideline on development of design parameters selection on spring back for advanced high strength steel sheet metal in U-channel process during cold forming process. This paper presents the development of predictive model for spring back in U-channel process on advanced high strength steel sheet employing Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The experimental was performed on dual phase steel sheet, DP590 in Uchannel forming process while design of experiment (DoE) approach was used to investigates the effects of four factors namely blank holder force (BHF), clearance (C) and punch travel (Tp) and rolling direction (R) were used as input parameters using two level values by applying Full Factorial design (24 ). From a statistical analysis of variant (ANOVA), result showed that blank holder force (BHF), clearance (C) and punch travel (Tp) displayed significant effect on spring back of flange angle (β2 ) and wall opening angle (β1 ), while rolling direction (R) factor is insignificant. The significant parameters are optimized in order to reduce the spring back behavior using Central Composite Design (CCD) in RSM and the optimum parameters were determined. A regression model for spring back was developed. The effect of individual parameters and their response was also evaluated. The results obtained from optimum model are in agreement with the experimental values.  

Keywords: Advance high strength steel, U-channel process, Springback, Design of Experiment, Optimization, Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2279

Authors: Wayan F. Mahmudy, Romeo M. Marian, Lee H. S. Luong

Abstract:

This paper presents modeling and optimization of two NP-hard problems in flexible manufacturing system (FMS), part type selection problem and loading problem. Due to the complexity and extent of the problems, the paper was split into two parts. The first part of the papers has discussed the modeling of the problems and showed how the real coded genetic algorithms (RCGA) can be applied to solve the problems. This second part discusses the effectiveness of the RCGA which uses an array of real numbers as chromosome representation. The novel proposed chromosome representation produces only feasible solutions which minimize a computational time needed by GA to push its population toward feasible search space or repair infeasible chromosomes. The proposed RCGA improves the FMS performance by considering two objectives, maximizing system throughput and maintaining the balance of the system (minimizing system unbalance). The resulted objective values are compared to the optimum values produced by branch-and-bound method. The experiments show that the proposed RCGA could reach near optimum solutions in a reasonable amount of time.

Keywords: Flexible manufacturing system, production planning, part type selection problem, loading problem, real-coded genetic algorithm

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1947

Authors: Shin-Jer Yang, Kai-Tai Yang

Abstract:

In response to a changing world and the fast growth of the Internet, more and more enterprises are replacing web-based services with cloud-based ones. Multi-tenancy technology is becoming more important especially with Software as a Service (SaaS). This in turn leads to a greater focus on the application of Identity and Access Management (IAM). Conventional Near-Field Communication (NFC) based verification relies on a computer browser and a card reader to access an NFC tag. This type of verification does not support mobile device login and user-based access management functions. This study designs an NFC-based third-party cloud identity and access management scheme (NFC-IAM) addressing this shortcoming. Data from simulation tests analyzed with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) suggest that the NFC-IAM not only takes less time in identity identification but also cuts time by 80% in terms of two-factor authentication and improves verification accuracy to 99.9% or better. In functional performance analyses, NFC-IAM performed better in salability and portability. The NFC-IAM App (Application Software) and back-end system to be developed and deployed in mobile device are to support IAM features and also offers users a more user-friendly experience and stronger security protection. In the future, our NFC-IAM can be employed to different environments including identification for mobile payment systems, permission management for remote equipment monitoring, among other applications.

Keywords: Cloud service, multi-tenancy, NFC, IAM, mobile device.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1102

Authors: E. Batista, R. Mendes, A. Furtado, M. C. Ferreira, I. Godinho, J. A. Sousa, M. Alvares, R. Martins

Abstract:

Syringe pumps are commonly used for drug delivery in hospitals and clinical environments. These instruments are critical in neonatology and oncology, where any variation in the flow rate and drug dosing quantity can lead to severe incidents and even death of the patient. Therefore it is very important to determine the accuracy and precision of these devices using the suitable calibration methods. The Volume Laboratory of the Portuguese Institute for Quality (LVC/IPQ) uses two different methods to calibrate syringe pumps from 16 nL/min up to 20 mL/min. The Interferometric method uses an interferometer to monitor the distance travelled by a pusher block of the syringe pump in order to determine the flow rate. Therefore, knowing the internal diameter of the syringe with very high precision, the travelled distance, and the time needed for that travelled distance, it was possible to calculate the flow rate of the fluid inside the syringe and its uncertainty. As an alternative to the gravimetric and the interferometric method, a methodology based on the application of optical technology was also developed to measure flow rates. Mainly this method relies on measuring the increase of volume of a drop over time. The objective of this work is to compare the results of the calibration of two syringe pumps using the different methodologies described above. The obtained results were consistent for the three methods used. The uncertainties values were very similar for all the three methods, being higher for the optical drop method due to setup limitations.

Keywords: Calibration, interferometry, syringe pump, optical method, uncertainty.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 747

Authors: Musaab Salman Sultan

Abstract:

The surface and bulk magnetization behavior of template released isolated ferromagnetic Ni₆₀Fe₄₀ nanowires of relatively thick diameters (~200 nm), deposited from a dilute suspension onto pre-patterned insulating chips have been investigated experimentally, using a highly sensitive Magneto-Optical Ker Effect (MOKE) magnetometry and Magneto-Resistance (MR) measurements, respectively. The MR data were consistent with the theoretical predictions of the anisotropic magneto-resistance (AMR) effect. The MR measurements, in all the angles of investigations, showed large features and a series of nonmonotonic "continuous small features" in the resistance profiles. The extracted switching fields from these features and from MOKE loops were compared with each other and with the switching fields reported in the literature that adopted the same analytical techniques on the similar compositions and dimensions of nanowires. A large difference between MOKE and MR measurments was noticed. The disparate between MOKE and MR results is attributed to the variance in the micro-magnetic structure of the surface and the bulk of such ferromagnetic nanowires. This result was ascertained using micro-magnetic simulations on an individual: cylindrical and rectangular cross sections NiFe nanowires, with the same diameter/thickness of the experimental wires, using the Object Oriented Micro-magnetic Framework (OOMMF) package where the simulated loops showed different switching events, indicating that such wires have different magnetic states in the reversal process and the micro-magnetic spin structures during switching behavior was complicated. These results further supported the difference between surface and bulk magnetization behavior in these nanowires. This work suggests that a combination of MOKE and MR measurements is required to fully understand the magnetization behavior of such relatively thick isolated cylindrical ferromagnetic nanowires.

Keywords: MOKE magnetometry, MR measurements, OOMMF package, micro-magnetic simulations, ferromagnetic nanowires, surface magnetic properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 739

Authors: W. Phanwanich, O. Kumdee, P. Ritthipravat, Y. Wongsawat

Abstract:

In order to alleviate the mental and physical problems of persons with disabilities, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is one of the possible modalities that employs the merit of the human-animal interaction. Nevertheless, to achieve the purpose of AAT for persons with severe disabilities (e.g. spinal cord injury, stroke, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), real-time animal language interpretation is desirable. Since canine behaviors can be visually notable from its tail, this paper proposes the automatic real-time interpretation of canine tail language for human-canine interaction in the case of persons with severe disabilities. Canine tail language is captured via two 3-axis accelerometers. Directions and frequencies are selected as our features of interests. The novel fuzzy rules based on Gaussian-Trapezoidal model and center of gravity (COG)-based defuzzification method are proposed in order to interpret the features into four canine emotional behaviors, i.e., agitate, happy, scare and neutral as well as its blended emotional behaviors. The emotional behavior model is performed in the simulated dog and has also been evaluated in the real dog with the perfect recognition rate.

Keywords: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), Persons with disabilities, Canine tail language, Fuzzy emotional behavior model

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1990

Authors: Erfan Asghari Fesaghandis, Reza Ghaffari Adli, Abbas Kianvash, Hossein Aghajani, Homa Homaie

Abstract:

NiTi alloys possess magnificent superelastic, shape memory, high strength and biocompatible properties. For improving mechanical properties, foremost, superelasticity behavior, heat treatment process is carried out. In this paper, two different heat treatment methods were undertaken: (1) solid solution, and (2) aging. The effect of each treatment in a constant time is investigated. Five samples were prepared to study the structure and optimize mechanical properties under different time and temperature. For measuring the upper plateau stress, lower plateau stress and residual strain, tensile test is carried out. The samples were aged at two different temperatures to see difference between aging temperatures. The sample aged at 500 °C has a bigger crystallite size and lower amount of Ni which causes the mentioned sample to possess poor pseudo elasticity behaviour than the other aged sample. The sample aged at 460 °C has shown remarkable superelastic properties. The mentioned sample’s higher plateau is 580 MPa with the lowest residual strain (0.17%) while other samples have possessed higher residual strains. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the produced phases.

Keywords: Heat treatment, phase transformation, superelasticity, NiTi alloy.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 675

Authors: Anthropometric, Physical Fitness Ability Profile of Elite, Non-Elite Boxers of Manipur

Abstract:

Background: Boxing is one of the oldest combat sports where different anthropological and fitness ability parameters determine performance. It is characterized by short duration, high intensity bursts of activity. The purpose of this research was to determine anthropometric and physical fitness profile of male elite and non-elite boxers of Manipur and to compare the two groups. Materials and Methods: Nineteen subjects were selected as elite boxers and twenty-four were non-elite boxers of Manipur. A cross-sectional study was conducted on anthropometric measurements and physical fitness ability tests on 33 subjects (elite and non-elite boxers). Statistical analysis was done using descriptive statistics, t-test and logistic regression with the help of SPSS version 15 software. Results: Results showed elite boxers have significantly reduced neck girth and calf girth as compare to non-elite boxers. Elite boxers have significantly lower sub scapular skin fold (SSF) and supra iliac skin fold (SISF) than their counterparts. Higher stature, larger BTB and lower percent fat are associated with higher performance in boxing. Sit ups (SU), standing Broad Jump (SBJ), Plat taping (PT), Sit and reach (SAR) and Harvard Step Test (HST) are predicted as most contributing factors enhancing performance level among the physical fitness components. Elite boxers are found to have more functional strength (sit ups), higher explosive strength (SBJ), more agility (PT), cardio-vascular endurance and flexibility (SAR) than non-elite boxers. Conclusion: In conclusion, lower fat, higher lean body mass, larger bi-trochantric breadth, high explosive strength, agility and flexibility are significantly associated with higher performance and chance of becoming elite boxers.

Keywords: Anthropometry, elite and non-elite boxers, Manipur, physical fitness.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1572

Authors: Amina M. Bishr, Ahmed B. Magdub, Abdul-Baset R. Abuzweda

Abstract:

A major challenge in camel productivity is the high mortality rate of camel calves in the early stage due to the lack of colostrums. This study investigates the time required for the calves to obtain the optimum amount of the immunoglobulin (IgG). Eleven pregnant female camels (Camelus Dromedarus) were selected randomly and variant in age and gestation. After delivery, 7 calves were obtained and used for this investigation. Colostrum samples were collected from mothers immediately after parturition. Blood samples were obtained from the calves as follow: 0 day (before suckling), 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 hours, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th weeks post suckling. Blood serum and colostrums whey were separated and used to determine IgG concentration, total protein and concentration of Cortisol and Thyroxin. The results showed high levels of IgG in camel colostrums (328.8 ± 4.5 mg / ml). The IgG concentration in serum of calves was the highest within 1st 24 h after suckling (140.75 mg /ml), and then declined gradually reached lower level at 144 h (41.97 mg / ml). The average turnover rate (t 1/2) of serum IgG in the all cases was 3.22 days. The turnover of ranged from 2.56 days for calves have values of IgG more than average and 7.7 days for those with values below average. In spite of very high levels of thyroxin in sera of new born the results showed no correlation between cortisol and thyroxin with IgG levels.

Keywords: Camel, cortisol, IgG, thyroxin, turn-over rate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1999

Authors: Md. Ashikur Rahman Khan, M. M. Rahman, K. Kadirgama

Abstract:

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are used in distinct researching fields and professions, and are prepared by cooperation of scientists in different fields such as computer engineering, electronic, structure, biology and so many different branches of science. Many models are built correlating the parameters and the outputs in electrical discharge machining (EDM) concern for different types of materials. Up till now model for Ti-5Al-2.5Sn alloy in the case of electrical discharge machining performance characteristics has not been developed. Therefore, in the present work, it is attempted to generate a model of material removal rate (MRR) for Ti-5Al-2.5Sn material by means of Artificial Neural Network. The experimentation is performed according to the design of experiment (DOE) of response surface methodology (RSM). To generate the DOE four parameters such as peak current, pulse on time, pulse off time and servo voltage and one output as MRR are considered. Ti-5Al-2.5Sn alloy is machined with positive polarity of copper electrode. Finally the developed model is tested with confirmation test. The confirmation test yields an error as within the agreeable limit. To investigate the effect of the parameters on performance sensitivity analysis is also carried out which reveals that the peak current having more effect on EDM performance.

Keywords: Ti-5Al-2.5Sn, material removal rate, copper tungsten, positive polarity, artificial neural network, multi-layer perceptron.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2375

Authors: Nabil A. Ibrahim, Nabil M. Abdel Moneim, Mohamed A. Ramadan, Marwa M. Hosni

Abstract:

As the Textile Industry is the second largest industry in Egypt and as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a great portion of this industry therein it is essential to apply the concept of Cleaner Production for the purpose of reducing pollution. In order to achieve this goal, a case study concerned with ecofriendly stone-washing of jeans-garments was investigated. A raw material-substitution option was adopted whereby the toxic potassium permanganate and sodium sulfide were replaced by the environmentally compatible hydrogen peroxide and glucose respectively where the concentrations of both replaced chemicals together with the operating time were optimized. In addition, a process-rationalization option involving four additional processes was investigated. By means of criteria such as product quality, effluent analysis, mass and heat balance; and cost analysis with the aid of a statistical model, a process optimization treatment revealed that the superior process optima were 50%, 0.15% and 50min for H2O2 concentration, glucose concentration and time, respectively. With these values the superior process ought to reduce the annual cost by about EGP 105 relative to the currently used conventional method.

Keywords: Cleaner Production, Eco-friendly of jeans garments, Stone washing, Textile Industry, Textile Wet Processing.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2055

Authors: Chong Zhang, Mu-Xuan Tao

Abstract:

In several earthquakes, numerous reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to seismic excitation demonstrated a collapse pattern characterized by column hinges, though designed according to the Strong-Column-Weak-Beam (S-C-W-B) criteria. The effect of biaxial seismic excitation on the disparity between design and actual performance is carefully investigated in this article. First, a modified load contour method is proposed to derive a closed-form equation of biaxial bending moment strength, which is verified by numerical and experimental tests. Afterwards, a group of time history analyses of a simple frame modeled by fiber beam-column elements subjected to biaxial seismic excitation are conducted to verify that the current S-C-W-B criteria are not adequate to prevent the occurrence of column hinges. A biaxial over-strength factor is developed based on the proposed equation, and the reinforcement of columns is appropriately amplified with this factor to prevent the occurrence of column hinges under biaxial excitation, which is proved to be effective by another group of time history analyses.

Keywords: Biaxial bending moment strength, biaxial seismic excitation, fiber beam-column model, load contour method, strong-column-weak-beam.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 595

Authors: Kelly Grani Yuen

Abstract:

Accounting scandals and auditing frauds are perceived to be driven by aggressive companies and misrepresentation of audit reports. However, local legal systems and law enforcements may affect the services auditors provide to their ‘important’ clients. Under the civil law and common law jurisdictions, the standard setters, the government, and the regulatory bodies treat cases differently. As such, whether or not different forms of legal systems and extent of law enforcement plays an important role in auditor’s Audit Quality is a question this paper attempts to explore. The paper focuses on the investigation in Asia, where Hong Kong represents the common-law jurisdiction, while Taiwan and China represent the civil law jurisdiction. Only the ten reputable accounting firms are used in this study due to the differences in rankings and establishments of some of the small local audit firms. This will also contribute to the data collected between the years 2007-2013. By focusing on the use of multiple regression based on the dependent (Audit Quality) and independent variables (Client Importance, Law Enforcement, and Press Freedom), six different models are established. Results demonstrate that since different jurisdictions have different legal systems and market regulations, auditor’s treatment on ‘important’ clients will vary. However, with the moderators in place (law enforcement and press freedom), the relationship between client importance and audit quality may be smoothed out. With that in mind, this study contributes to local governments and standard setters’ consideration on legal reform and proper law enforcement in the market. Perhaps, with such modifications on the economic systems, collusion between companies and auditors can finally be put to a halt.

Keywords: Audit quality, client importance, jurisdiction, modified audit opinions.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1082

Authors: Joseph C. Chen, Joshua Cox

Abstract:

This research focuses on the use of the Taguchi method to reduce the surface roughness and improve dimensional accuracy of parts machined by Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) with S7 heat treated steel material. Due to its high impact toughness, the material is a candidate for a wide variety of tooling applications which require high precision in dimension and desired surface roughness. This paper demonstrates that Taguchi Parameter Design methodology is able to optimize both dimensioning and surface roughness successfully by investigating seven wire-EDM controllable parameters: pulse on time (ON), pulse off time (OFF), servo voltage (SV), voltage (V), servo feed (SF), wire tension (WT), and wire speed (WS). The temperature of the water in the Wire EDM process is investigated as the noise factor in this research. Experimental design and analysis based on L₁₈ Taguchi orthogonal arrays are conducted. This paper demonstrates that the Taguchi-based system enables the wire EDM process to produce (1) high precision parts with an average of 0.6601 inches dimension, while the desired dimension is 0.6600 inches; and (2) surface roughness of 1.7322 microns which is significantly improved from 2.8160 microns.

Keywords: Taguchi parameter design, surface roughness, dimensional accuracy, Wire EDM.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1061

Authors: V.S.Kale, S.R.Bhide, P.P.Bedekar, G.V.K.Mohan

Abstract:

The protection of parallel transmission lines has been a challenging task due to mutual coupling between the adjacent circuits of the line. This paper presents a novel scheme for detection and classification of faults on parallel transmission lines. The proposed approach uses combination of wavelet transform and neural network, to solve the problem. While wavelet transform is a powerful mathematical tool which can be employed as a fast and very effective means of analyzing power system transient signals, artificial neural network has a ability to classify non-linear relationship between measured signals by identifying different patterns of the associated signals. The proposed algorithm consists of time-frequency analysis of fault generated transients using wavelet transform, followed by pattern recognition using artificial neural network to identify the type of the fault. MATLAB/Simulink is used to generate fault signals and verify the correctness of the algorithm. The adaptive discrimination scheme is tested by simulating different types of fault and varying fault resistance, fault location and fault inception time, on a given power system model. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme for fault diagnosis is able to classify all the faults on the parallel transmission line rapidly and correctly.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, fault detection and classification, parallel transmission lines, wavelet transform.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2984

Authors: A. Rezazadeh, N. Omidvar, H. Eini-Zinab

Abstract:

Food insecurity (FI) influences may result in poor physical and mental health outcomes. Minor ethnic group may experience higher level of FI, and this situation may be related with higher depression prevalence. The aim of this study was to determine the association of depression with food security status in major (Azeri) and minor (Kurdish) ethnicity living in Urmia, West Azerbaijan, north of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 723 participants (427 women and 296 men) aged 20–64 years old, from two ethnic groups (445 Azeri and 278 Kurdish), were selected through a multi stage cluster systematic sampling. Depression rate was assessed by “Beck” short form questionnaire (validated in Iranians) through interviews. Household FI status (HFIS) was measured using adapted HFI access scale through face-to-face interviews at homes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) of depression across HFIS. Higher percent of Kurds had moderate and severe depression in comparison with Azeri group (73 [17.3%] vs. 86 [27.9%]). There were not any significant differences between the two ethnicities in mild depression. Also, of all the subjects, moderate-to-sever FI was more prevalent in Kurds (28.5%), compared to Azeri group (17.3%) [P < 0.01]. Kurdish ethnic group living in food security or mild FI households had lower chance to have symptom of severe depression in comparison to those with sever FI (OR=0.097; 95% CI: 0.02-0.47). However, there was no significant association between depression and HFI in Azeri group. Findings revealed that the severity of HFI was related with severity depression in minor studied ethnic groups. However, in Azeri ethnicity as a major group, other confounders may have influence on the relation with depression and FI, that were not studied in the present study.

Keywords: Depression, ethnicity, food security status, Iran.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 979

Authors: Amira Kheriji Abbes, Faouzi Bouani, Mekki Ksouri

Abstract:

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is an established control technique in a wide range of process industries. The reason for this success is its ability to handle multivariable systems and systems having input, output or state constraints. Neverthless comparing to PID controller, the implementation of the MPC in miniaturized devices like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and microcontrollers has historically been very small scale due to its complexity in implementation and its computation time requirement. At the same time, such embedded technologies have become an enabler for future manufacturing enterprisers as well as a transformer of organizations and markets. In this work, we take advantage of these recent advances in this area in the deployment of one of the most studied and applied control technique in the industrial engineering. In this paper, we propose an efficient firmware for the implementation of constrained MPC in the performed STM32 microcontroller using interior point method. Indeed, performances study shows good execution speed and low computational burden. These results encourage to develop predictive control algorithms to be programmed in industrial standard processes. The PID anti windup controller was also implemented in the STM32 in order to make a performance comparison with the MPC. The main features of the proposed constrained MPC framework are illustrated through two examples.

Keywords: Embedded software, microcontroller, constrainedModel Predictive Control, interior point method, PID antiwindup, Keil tool, C/Cµ language.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2775