Search results for: low power embedded control SW.

Authors: Divya S., Jibin Joseph

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Alternative energy is any energy source that is an alternative to fossil fuel. These alternatives are intended to address concerns about such fossil fuels. Today, because of the variety of energy choices and differing goals of their advocates, defining some energy types as "alternative" is highly controversial. Most of the recent and existing alternative sources of energy are discussed below

Keywords: Athra Quinone Disulphonic Acid (AQDS), Renewable Methanol (RM), Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT).

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Authors: Rajneesh Sharma, M. Gopal

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Markov games are a generalization of Markov decision process to a multi-agent setting. Two-player zero-sum Markov game framework offers an effective platform for designing robust controllers. This paper presents two novel controller design algorithms that use ideas from game-theory literature to produce reliable controllers that are able to maintain performance in presence of noise and parameter variations. A more widely used approach for controller design is the H∞ optimal control, which suffers from high computational demand and at times, may be infeasible. Our approach generates an optimal control policy for the agent (controller) via a simple Linear Program enabling the controller to learn about the unknown environment. The controller is facing an unknown environment, and in our formulation this environment corresponds to the behavior rules of the noise modeled as the opponent. Proposed controller architectures attempt to improve controller reliability by a gradual mixing of algorithmic approaches drawn from the game theory literature and the Minimax-Q Markov game solution approach, in a reinforcement-learning framework. We test the proposed algorithms on a simulated Inverted Pendulum Swing-up task and compare its performance against standard Q learning.

Keywords: Reinforcement learning, Markov Decision Process, Matrix Games, Markov Games, Smooth Fictitious play, Controller, Inverted Pendulum.

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Authors: Anna Słupik, Anna Mosiołek, Sebastian Wójtowicz, Dariusz Białoszewski

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Introduction: Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) uses high frequency mechanical stimuli generated by a vibration plate and transmitted through bone, muscle and connective tissues to the whole body. Research has shown that long-term vibration-plate training improves neuromuscular facilitation, especially in afferent neural pathways, responsible for the conduction of vibration and proprioceptive stimuli, muscle function, balance and proprioception. Some researchers suggest that the vibration stimulus briefly inhibits the conduction of afferent signals from proprioceptors and can interfere with the maintenance of body balance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of a single set of exercises associated with whole-body vibration on the joint position sense and body balance. Material and methods: The study enrolled 55 people aged 19-24 years. These individuals were randomly divided into a test group (30 persons) and a control group (25 persons). Both groups performed the same set of exercises on a vibration plate. The following vibration parameters: frequency of 20Hz and amplitude of 3mm, were used in the test group. The control group performed exercises on the vibration plate while it was off. All participants were instructed to perform six dynamic exercises lasting 30 seconds each with a 60-second period of rest between them. The exercises involved large muscle groups of the trunk, pelvis and lower limbs. Measurements were carried out before and immediately after exercise. Joint position sense (JPS) was measured in the knee joint for the starting position at 45° in an open kinematic chain. JPS error was measured using a digital inclinometer. Balance was assessed in a standing position with both feet on the ground with the eyes open and closed (each test lasting 30 sec). Balance was assessed using Matscan with FootMat 7.0 SAM software. The surface of the ellipse of confidence and front-back as well as right-left swing were measured to assess balance. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 10.0 PL software. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups, both before and after the exercise (p> 0.05). JPS did not change in both the test (10.7° vs. 8.4°) and control groups (9.0° vs. 8.4°). No significant differences were shown in any of the test parameters during balance tests with the eyes open or closed in both the test and control groups (p> 0.05). Conclusions: 1. Deterioration in proprioception or balance was not observed immediately after the vibration stimulus. This suggests that vibrationinduced blockage of proprioceptive stimuli conduction can have only a short-lasting effect that occurs only as long as a vibration stimulus is present. 2. Short-term use of vibration in treatment does not impair proprioception and seems to be safe for patients with proprioceptive impairment. 3. These results need to be supplemented with an assessment of proprioception during the application of vibration stimuli. Additionally, the impact of vibration parameters used in the exercises should be evaluated.

Keywords: Balance, joint position sense, proprioception, whole body vibration.

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Authors: T. Wresdiyati, S. Sa’diah, A. Winarto

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease that can be indicated by the high level of blood glucose. The objective of this study was to observe the antidiabetic properties of ethanolic extract of Indonesian Swietenia mahagoni Jacq. seed on the profile of pancreatic superoxide dismutase and β-cells in the alloxan- experimental diabetic rats. The Swietenia mahagoni seed was obtained from Leuwiliang-Bogor, Indonesia. Extraction of Swietenia mahagoni was done by using ethanol with maceration methods. A total of 25 male Sprague dawley rats were divided into five groups; (a) negative control group, (b) positive control group (DM), (c) DM group that was treated with Swietenia mahagoni seed extract, (d) DM group that was treated with acarbose, and (e) non-DM group that was treated with Swietenia mahagoni seed extract. The DM groups were induced by alloxan (110 mg/kgBW). The extract was orally administrated to diabetic rats 500 mg/kg/BW/day for 28 days. The extract showed hypoglycemic effect, increased body weight, increased the content of superoxide dismutase in the pancreatic tissue, and delayed the rate of β-cells damage of experimental diabetic rats. These results suggested that the ethanolic extract of Indonesian Swietenia mahagoni Jacq. seed could be proposed as a potential anti-diabetic agent.

Keywords: β-cell, diabetes mellitus, superoxide dismutase, Swietenia mahagoni.

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Authors: Chu-Ching Hsu

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This paper focuses on how the government-led language policies and the political changes in Taiwan manipulate the languages choice in translations and what translation strategies are employed by the translator to show his or her language ideology behind the power struggles and decision-making. Therefore, framed by Lefevere’s theoretical concept of translating as rewriting, and carried out a diachronic and chronological study, this paper specifically sets out to investigate the language ideology and translator’s idiolect of Chinese language translations of Anglo-American novels. The examples drawn to explore these issues were taken from different versions of Chinese renditions of Mark Twain’s English-language novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in which there are several different dialogues originally written in the colloquial language and dialect used in the American state of Mississippi and reproduced in Mark Twain’s works. Also, adapted corpus methodology, many examples are extracted as instances from the translated texts and source text, to illuminate how the translators in Taiwan deal with the dialectal features encoded in Twain’s works, and how different versions of Chinese translations are employed by Taiwanese translators to confirm the language polices and to express their language identity textually in different periods of the past five decades, from the 1960s onward. The finding of this study suggests that the use of Taiwanese dialect and language patterns in translations does relate to the movement of the mother-tongue language and language ideology of the translator as well as to the issue of language identity raised in the island of Taiwan. Furthermore, this study confirms that the change of political power in Taiwan does bring significantly impact in language policy-- assimilationism, pluralism or multiculturalism, which also makes Taiwan from a monolingual to multilingual society, where the language ideology and identity can be revealed not only in people’s daily communication but also in written translations.

Keywords: Language politics and policies, literary translation, mother-tongue, multiculturalism, translator’s ideology.

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Authors: Faris Elghaish, Sepehr Abrishami, Mark Gaterell, Richard Wise

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The collaboration and integration between all building information management (BIM) processes and tasks are necessary to ensure that all project objectives can be delivered. The literature review has been used to explore the state of the art BIM technologies to manage construction materials as well as the challenges which have faced the construction process using traditional methods. Thus, this paper aims to articulate a framework to integrate traditional material planning methods such as ABC analysis theory (Pareto principle) to analyse and categorise the project materials, as well as using independent material planning methods such as Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Fixed Order Point (FOP) into the BIM 4D, and 5D capabilities in order to articulate a dependent material planning cycle into BIM, which relies on the constructability method. Moreover, we build a model to connect between the material planning outputs and the BIM 4D and 5D data to ensure that all project information will be accurately presented throughout integrated and complementary BIM reporting formats. Furthermore, this paper will present a method to integrate between the risk management output and the material management process to ensure that all critical materials are monitored and managed under the all project stages. The paper includes browsers which are proposed to be embedded in any 4D BIM platform in order to predict the EOQ as well as FOP and alarm the user during the construction stage. This enables the planner to check the status of the materials on the site as well as to get alarm when the new order will be requested. Therefore, this will lead to manage all the project information in a single context and avoid missing any information at early design stage. Subsequently, the planner will be capable of building a more reliable 4D schedule by allocating the categorised material with the required EOQ to check the optimum locations for inventory and the temporary construction facilitates.

Keywords: Building information management, BIM, economic order quantity, fixed order point, BIM 4D, BIM 5D.

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Authors: Mannal Tariq

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Construction industry is making progress at a high pace. The trend of the world is getting more biased towards the high rise buildings. Deep beams are one of the most common elements in modern construction having small span to depth ratio. Deep beams are mostly used as transfer girders. This experimental study consists of 16 reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams. These beams were divided into two groups; A and B. Groups A and B consist of eight beams each, having 381 mm (15 in) and 457 mm (18 in) depth respectively. Each group was further subdivided into four sub groups each consisting of two identical beams. Each subgroup was comprised of solid/control beam (without opening), opening above neutral axis (NA), at NA and below NA. Except for control beams, all beams with openings were strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) vertical strips. These eight groups differ from each other based on depth and location of openings. For testing sake, all beams have been loaded with two symmetrical point loads. All beams have been designed based on strut and tie model concept. The outcome of experimental investigation elaborates the difference in the shear behaviour of deep beams based on depth and location of circular openings variation. 457 mm (18 in) deep beam with openings above NA show the highest strength and 381 mm (15 in) deep beam with openings below NA show the least strength. CFRP sheets played a vital role in increasing the shear capacity of beams.

Keywords: CFRP, deep beams, openings in deep beams, strut and tie model, shear behaviour.

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Authors: T Rusu, P I Moraru, I Bogdan, A I Pop, M L Sopterean

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The paper presents the influence of the conventional ploughing tillage technology in comparison with the minimum tillage, upon the soil properties, weed control and yield in the case of maize (Zea mays L.), soya-bean (Glycine hispida L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in a three years crop rotation. A research has been conducted at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The use of minimum soil tillage systems within a three years rotation: maize, soya-bean, wheat favorites the rise of the aggregates hydro stability with 5.6-7.5% on a 0-20 cm depth and 5-11% on 20-30 cm depth. The minimum soil tillage systems – paraplow, chisel or rotary grape – are polyvalent alternatives for basic preparation, germination bed preparation and sowing, for fields and crops with moderate loose requirements being optimized technologies for: soil natural fertility activation and rationalization, reduction of erosion, increasing the accumulation capacity for water and realization of sowing in the optimal period. The soil tillage system influences the productivity elements of cultivated species and finally the productions thus obtained. Thus, related to conventional working system, the productions registered in minimum tillage working represented 89- 97% in maize, 103-112% in soya-bean, 93-99% in winter-wheat. The results of investigations showed that the yield is a conclusion soil tillage systems influence on soil properties, plant density assurance and on weed control. Under minimum tillage systems in the case of winter weat as an option for replacing classic ploughing, the best results in terms of quality indices were obtained from version worked with paraplow, followed by rotary harrow and chisel. At variants worked with paraplow were obtained quality indices close to those of the variant worked with plow, and protein and gluten content was even higher. At Ariesan variety, highest protein content, 12.50% and gluten, 28.6% was obtained for the variant paraplow.

Keywords: Minimum tillage, soil properties, yields quality.

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Authors: H. Ait Abderrahmane, M. Fayed, H. D. Ng, G. H. Vatistas

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The present paper expands details and confirms the transition mechanism between two subsequent polygonal patterns of the hollow-core vortex. Using power spectral analysis, we confirm in this work that the transition from any N-gon to (N+1)-gon pattern observed within a hollow-core vortex of shallow rotating flows occurs in two steps. The regime was quasi-periodic before the frequencies lock (synchronization). The ratios of locking frequencies were found to be equal to (N-1)/N.

Keywords: Patterns, quasi-periodic, swirling, synchronization, transition.

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Authors: E. Farshidi, N. Ahmadpoor

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In this paper, a alternative structure method for continuous time sigma delta modulator is presented. In this modulator for implementation of integrators in loop filter second generation current conveyors are employed. The modulator is designed in CMOS technology and features low power consumption (<2.8mW), low supply voltage (±1.65), wide dynamic range (>65db), and with 180khZ bandwidth. Simulation results confirm that this design is suitable for data converters.

Keywords: Current Conveyor, continuous, sigma delta, MOS, modulator

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Authors: Ajay V. Kolhe, R. E. Shelke, S. S. Khandare

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The use of biodiesel in conventional diesel engines results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and particulate matters. The performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a single cylinder four stroke variable compression ratio engine when fueled with Karanja (Pongamia) methyl ester and its 10-50 % blends with diesel (on a volume basis) are investigated and compared with standard diesel. The suitability of karanja methyl ester as a biofuel has been established in this study. The useful brake power obtained is similar to diesel fuel for all loads. Experiment has been conducted at a fixed engine speed of 1500 rpm, variable load and at compression ratios of 17.5:1 and 18.5:1. The impact of compression ratio on fuel consumption, combustion pressures and exhaust gas emissions has been investigated and presented. Optimum compression ratio which gives best performance has been identified. The results indicate longer ignition delay, maximum rate of pressure rise, lower heat release rate and higher mass fraction burnt at higher compression ratio for pongamia oil methyl ester when compared to that of diesel. The brake thermal efficiency for pongamia oil methyl ester blends and diesel has been calculated and the blend B20 is found to give maximum thermal efficiency. The blends when used as fuel results in reduction of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and increase in nitrogen oxides emissions. PME as an oxygenated fuel generated more complete combustion, which means increased torque and power. This is also supported with higher thermal efficiencies of the PME blends. NO_x is slightly increased due to the higher combustion temperature and the presence of fuel oxygen with the blend at full load. PME as a new Biodiesel and its blends can be used in diesel engines without any engine modification.

Keywords: Variable compression ratio CI engine, performance, combustion, emissions, biodiesel.

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Authors: Farhad H. Mustafa, Mohamad S. Jaafar , Asaad H. Ismail, Ahamad F. Omar, Zahra A. Timimi, Hend A. A. Houssein

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The process of laser absorption in the skin during laser irradiation was a critical point in medical application treatments. Delivery the correct amount of laser light is a critical element in photodynamic therapy (PDT). More amounts of laser light able to affect tissues in the skin and small amount not able to enhance PDT procedure in skin. The knowledge of the skin tone laser dependent distribution of 635 nm radiation and its penetration depth in skin is a very important precondition for the investigation of advantage laser induced effect in (PDT) in epidermis diseases (psoriasis). The aim of this work was to estimate an optimum effect of diode laser (635 nm) on the treatment of epidermis diseases in different color skin. Furthermore, it is to improve safety of laser in PDT in epidermis diseases treatment. Advanced system analytical program (ASAP) which is a new approach in investigating the PDT, dependent on optical properties of different skin color was used in present work. A two layered Realistic Skin Model (RSM); stratum corneum and epidermal with red laser (635 nm, 10 mW) were used for irradiative transfer to study fluence and absorbance in different penetration for various human skin colors. Several skin tones very fair, fair, light, medium and dark are used to irradiative transfer. This investigation involved the principles of laser tissue interaction when the skin optically injected by a red laser diode. The results demonstrated that the power characteristic of a laser diode (635 nm) can affect the treatment of epidermal disease in various color skins. Power absorption of the various human skins were recorded and analyzed in order to find the influence of the melanin in PDT treatment in epidermal disease. A two layered RSM show that the change in penetration depth in epidermal layer of the color skin has a larger effect on the distribution of absorbed laser in the skin; this is due to the variation of the melanin concentration for each color.

Keywords: Photodynamic therapy, Realistic skin model, Laser, Light penetration, simulation, Optical properties of skin, Melanin.

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Authors: Mohanad Alhabo, Li Zhang, Naveed Nawaz

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Small cell deployment in 5G networks is a promising technology to enhance the capacity and coverage. However, unplanned deployment may cause high interference levels and high number of unnecessary handovers, which in turn result in an increase in the signalling overhead. To guarantee service continuity, minimize unnecessary handovers and reduce signalling overhead in heterogeneous networks, it is essential to properly model the handover decision problem. In this paper, we model the handover decision problem using Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method, specifically Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and propose a hybrid TOPSIS method to control the handover in heterogeneous network. The proposed method adopts a hybrid weighting policy, which is a combination of entropy and standard deviation. A hybrid weighting control parameter is introduced to balance the impact of the standard deviation and entropy weighting on the network selection process and the overall performance. Our proposed method show better performance, in terms of the number of frequent handovers and the mean user throughput, compared to the existing methods.

Keywords: Handover, HetNets, interference, MADM, small cells, TOPSIS, weight.

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Authors: Guillaume Mullier, Jean François Chatelain

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Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRPs) are widely used for advanced applications, in particular in aerospace, automotive and wind energy industries. Once cured to near net shape, CFRP parts need several finishing operations such as trimming, milling or drilling in order to accommodate fastening hardware and meeting the final dimensions. The present research aims to study the effect of the cutting temperature in trimming on the mechanical strength of high performance CFRP laminates used for aeronautics applications. The cutting temperature is of great importance when dealing with trimming of CFRP. Temperatures higher than the glass-transition temperature (Tg) of the resin matrix are highly undesirable: they cause degradation of the matrix in the trimmed edges area, which can severely affect the mechanical performance of the entire component. In this study, a 9.50mm diameter CVD diamond coated carbide tool with six flutes was used to trim 24-plies CFRP laminates. A 300m/min cutting speed and 1140mm/min feed rate were used in the experiments. The tool was heated prior to trimming using a blowtorch, for temperatures ranging from 20°C to 300°C. The temperature at the cutting edge was measured using embedded KType thermocouples. Samples trimmed for different cutting temperatures, below and above Tg, were mechanically tested using three-points bending short-beam loading configurations. New cutting tools as well as worn cutting tools were utilized for the experiments. The experiments with the new tools could not prove any correlation between the length of cut, the cutting temperature and the mechanical performance. Thus mechanical strength was constant, regardless of the cutting temperature. However, for worn tools, producing a cutting temperature rising up to 450°C, thermal damage of the resin was observed. The mechanical tests showed a reduced mean resistance in short beam configuration, while the resistance in three point bending decreases with increase of the cutting temperature.

Keywords: Composites, Trimming, Thermal Damage, Surface Quality.

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Authors: M. Kubeitari, A. Alhusayn, M. Alnahar

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Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation SVPWM is one of the most used techniques to generate sinusoidal voltage and current due to its facility and efficiency with low harmonics distortion. This algorithm is specially used in power electronic applications. This paper describes simulation algorithm of SVPWM & SPWM using MatLab/simulink environment. It also implements a closed loop three phases DC-AC converter controlling its outputs voltages amplitude and frequency using MatLab. Also comparison between SVPWM & SPWM results is given.

Keywords: DC-AC Converter, MatLab, SPWM, SVPWM, Vref - rotating frame.

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Authors: Anosh Arshad Sundhu, Francesco Giordano, Giacomo Della Croce, Maurizio Arnone

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Digital Twin (DT) is a technology that generates a virtual representation of a physical system or process, enabling real-time monitoring, analysis, and simulation. DT of an Electrical Distribution System (EDS) can perform online analysis by integrating the static and real-time data in order to show the current grid status and predictions about the future status to the Distribution System Operator (DSO), producers and consumers. DT technology for EDS also offers the opportunity to DSO to test hypothetical scenarios. This paper discusses the development of a DT of an EDS by Smart Grid Controller (SGC) application, which is developed using open-source libraries and languages. The developed application can be integrated with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) of any EDS for creating the DT. The paper shows the performance of developed tools inside the application, tested on real EDS for grid observability, Smart Recursive Load Flow (SRLF) calculation and state estimation of loads in MV feeders.

Keywords: Digital Twin, Distribution System Operator, Electrical Distribution System, Smart Grid Controller, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System, Smart Recursive Load Flow.

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Authors: Byung – wan Jo, Jung – hoon Park, Jang - wook Kim

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Recently, as information industry and mobile communication technology are developing, this study is conducted on the new concept of intelligent structures and maintenance techniques that applied wireless sensor network, USN (Ubiquitous Sensor Network), to social infrastructures such as civil and architectural structures on the basis of the concept of Ubiquitous Computing that invisibly provides human life with computing, along with mutually cooperating, compromising and connecting networks each other by having computers within all objects around us. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the capability of wireless communication of sensor node embedded in reinforced concrete structure with a basic experiment on an electric wave permeability of sensor node by fabricating molding with variables of concrete thickness and steel bars that are mostly used in constructing structures to determine the feasibility of application to constructing structures with USN. At this time, with putting the pitches of steel bars, the thickness of concrete placed, and the intensity of RF signal of a transmitter-receiver as variables and when wireless communication module was installed inside, the possible communication distance of plain concrete and the possible communication distance by the pitches of steel bars was measured in the horizontal and vertical direction respectively. Besides, for the precise measurement of diminution of an electric wave, the magnitude of an electric wave in the range of used frequencies was measured by using Spectrum Analyzer. The phenomenon of diminution of an electric wave was numerically analyzed and the effect of the length of wavelength of frequencies was analyzed by the properties of a frequency band area. As a result of studying the feasibility of an application to constructing structures with wireless sensor, in case of plain concrete, it shows 45cm for the depth of permeability and in case of reinforced concrete with the pitches of 5cm, it shows 37cm and 45cm for the pitches of 15cm.

Keywords: Ubiquitous, Concrete, Permeability, Wireless, Sensor

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Authors: Mohamed M. Elsherbiny

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Social Avoidance is one of the most important problems that face a good number of disabled students. It results from the negative attitudes of non-disabled students, teachers and others. Some of the past research has shown that non-disabled individuals hold negative attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The present study aims to alleviate Social Avoidance by applying the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention. 24 Blind students aged 19–24 (university students) were randomly chosen we compared an experimental group (consisted of 12 students) who went through the intervention program, with a control group (12 students also) who did not go through such intervention. We used the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS) to assess social anxiety and distress behavior. The author used many techniques of cognitive behavioral intervention such as modeling, cognitive restructuring, extension, contingency contracts, selfmonitoring, assertiveness training, role play, encouragement and others. Statistically, T-test was employed to test the research hypothesis. Result showed that there is a significance difference between the experimental group and the control group after the intervention and also at the follow up stages of the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale. Also for the experimental group, there is a significance difference before the intervention and the follow up stages for the scale. Results showed that, there is a decrease in social avoidance. Accordingly, cognitive behavioral intervention program was successful in decreasing social avoidance for blind students.

Keywords: Social avoidance, cognitive behavioral intervention, blind disability, disability.

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Authors: Fatih Özogul, Nurten Toy, Yesim Özogul

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The influences of cell-free solutions (CFSs) of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on cadaverine and other biogenic amines production by Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated in lysine decarboxylase broth (LDB) using HPLC. Cell free solutions were prepared from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Pediococcus acidilactici and Streptococcus thermophiles. Two different concentrations that were 50% and 25% CFS and the control without CFSs were prepared. Significant variations on biogenic amine production were observed in the presence of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus (P < 0.05). The function of CFS on biogenic amine production by foodborne pathogens varied depending on strains and specific amine. Cadaverine formation by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus in control were 500.9 and 948.1 mg/L, respectively while the CFSs of LAB induced 4-fold lower cadaverine production by L. monocytogenes and 7-fold lower cadaverine production by S. aureus. The CFSs resulted in strong decreases in cadaverine and putrescine production by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, although remarkable increases were observed for histamine, spermidine, spermine, serotonin, dopamine, tyramine and agmatine in the presence of LAB in lysine decarboxylase broth.

Keywords: Cell-free solution, lactic acid bacteria, cadaverine, food borne-pathogen.

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Authors: Mohamed M. Ragab, Neveen A. Abdel Raoof, Reham H. Diab

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Background: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the most common symptom when ordinary individuals and athletes are exposed to unaccustomed physical activity, especially eccentric contraction which impairs athletic performance, ordinary people work ability and physical functioning. Multitudes of methods have been investigated to reduce DOMS. One of the valuable methods to control DOMS is repeated bout effect (RBE) as a prophylactic method. Purpose: To compare the repeated bout effect of submaximal eccentric with maximal isometric contraction on induced DOMS. Methods: Sixty normal male volunteers were assigned randomly into three equal groups: Group A (first study group): 20 subjects received submaximal eccentric contraction on non-dominant elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group B (second study group): 20 subjects received maximal isometric contraction on nondominant elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group C (control group): 20 subjects did not receive any prophylactic exercises. Maximal isometric peak torque of elbow flexors and patient related elbow evaluation (PREE) scale were measured for each subject 3 times before, immediately after, and 48 hours after induction of DOMS. Results: Post-hoc test for maximal isometric peak torque and PREE scale immediately and 48 hours after induction of DOMS revealed that group (A) and group (B) resulted in significant decrease in maximal isometric strength loss and elbow pain and disability rather than control group (C), but submaximal eccentric group (A) was more effective than maximal isometric group (B) as it showed more rapid recovery of functional strength and less degrees of elbow pain and disability. Conclusion: Both submaximal eccentric contraction and maximal isometric contraction were effective in prevention of DOMS but submaximal eccentric contraction produced a greater protective effect against muscle damage induced by maximal eccentric exercise performed 2 days later.

Keywords: Delayed onset muscle soreness, maximal isometric peak torque, patient related elbow evaluation scale, repeated bout effect.

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Authors: Radosveta Sokullu, Engin Karatepe

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In the last couple of years Bluetooth has gained a large share in the market of home and personal appliances. It is now a well established technology a short range supplement to the wireless world of 802.11. The two main trends of research that have sprung from these developments are directed towards the coexistence and performance issues of Bluetooth and 802.11 as well as the co-existence in the very short range of multiple Bluetooth devices. Our work aims at thoroughly investigating different aspects of co-channel interference and effects of transmission power, distance and 802.11 interference on Bluetooth connections.

Keywords: Bluetooth, co-channel interference, 802.11, performance analysis

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Authors: Κonstantinos Kalovrektis, Chryssanthi Palazi

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Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that computer technology can help support learning, implementation of various experiments or learning games, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, observation, comprehension, implementation, comparison, analysis and active attention to activities such as research, field work, simulations and scientific inquiry. The ICT in education supports the learning procedure by enabling it to be more flexible and effective, create a rich and attractive training environment and equip the students with knowledge and potential useful for the competitive social environment in which they live. This paper presents the design, the development, and the results of the evaluation analysis of an interactive educational game which using real electric vehicles - toys (material) on a toy race track. When the game starts each student selects a specific vehicle toy. Then students are answering questionnaires in the computer. The vehicles' speed is related to the percentage of right answers in a multiple choice questionnaire (software). Every question has its own significant value depending of the different level of questionnaire. Via the developed software, each right or wrong answers in questionnaire increase or decrease the real time speed of their vehicle toys. Moreover the rate of vehicle's speed increase or decrease depends on the difficulty level of each question. The aim of the work is to attract the student’s interest in a learning process and also to improve their scores. The developed real time game was tested using independent populations of students of age groups: 8-10, 11-14, 15-18 years. Standard educational and statistical analysis tools were used for the evaluation analysis of the game. Results reveal that students using the developed real time control game scored much higher (60%) than students using a traditional simulation game on the same questionnaire. Results further indicate that student's interest in repeating the developed real time control gaming was far higher (70%) than the interest of students using a traditional simulation game.

Keywords: Real time game, sensor, learning games, LabVIEW

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Authors: Masoume Pourmohamadreza-Tajrishi, Parviz Azadfallah

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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) involve myriad aberrant perceptual, cognitive, linguistic, and social behaviors. The term spectrum emphasizes that the disabilities associated with ASD fall on a continuum from relatively mild to severe. People with ASD may display stereotyped behaviors such as twirling, spinning objects, flapping the hands, and rocking. The individuals with ASD exhibit communication problems due to repetitive/restricted behaviors. Children with ASD who lack the motivation to learn, who do not enjoy physical challenges, or whose sensory perception results in confusing or unpleasant feedback from movement may not become sufficiently motivated to practice motor activities. As a result, they may show both a delay in developing certain motor skills. Additionally, attention is an important component of learning. As far as children with ASD have problems in joint attention, many education-based programs are needed to consider some aspects of attention and motor activities development for students with ASD. These programs focus on the basic movement skills that are crucial for the future development of the more complex skills needed in games, dance, sports, gymnastics, active play, and recreational physical activities. The purpose of the present research was to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic exercise on motor skills and attention of male students with ASD. This was an experimental study with a control group. The population consisted of 8-10 year-old male students with ASD and 30 subjects were selected randomly from an available center suitable for the children with ASD. They were evaluated by the Basic Motor Ability Test (BMAT) and Persian version of computerized Stroop color-word test and randomly assigned to an experimental and control group (15 students in per group). The experimental group participated in 16 therapeutic exercise sessions and received therapeutic exercise program (twice a week; each lasting for 45 minutes) designed based on the Spark motor program while the control group did not. All subjects were evaluated by BMAT and Stroop color-word test after the last session again. The collected data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results of MANCOVA showed that experimental and control groups had a significant difference in motor skills and at least one of the components of attention (correct responses, incorrect responses, no responses, the reaction time of congruent words and reaction time of incongruent words in the Stroop test). The findings showed that the therapeutic exercise had a significant effect on motor skills and all components of attention in students with ASD. We can conclude that the therapeutic exercise led to promote the motor skills and attention of students with ASD, so it is necessary to design or plan such programs for ASD students to prevent their communication or academic problems.

Keywords: Attention, autism spectrum disorder, motor skills, therapeutic exercise.

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Authors: Ravichandra R., Srithar Rajoo, Tan Lit Wen

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In recent years Li-Ion batteries getting more attention among the Electrical Vehicles (EV) and Hybrid Electrical Vehicles (HEV) energy storage. Li-Ion has shown extended power density and light weight compared to other batteries readily available in the market. One of the major drawbacks in Li-Ion batteries is their sensitivity to the temperature. If the working temperature is beyond the limit, that could affect seriously on the durability and performance of Li-Ion battery. Thus Battery Thermal Management (BTM) is the most essential in adapting Li-Ion battery to the EVs and HEVs.

Keywords: Li-Ion battery, HEV/EV, battery thermal management, heat generation rate.

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Authors: Khan Farhan Rafat, Riaz Ahmed

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Renowned offshore organizations are drifting towards collaborative exertion to win and implement international projects for business gains. However, devoid of financial constraints, with the availability of skilled professionals, and despite improved project management practices through state-of-the-art tools and techniques, project delays have become a norm these days. This situation calls for exploring the factor(s) affecting the bonding between project management performance and project success. In the context of the well-known 3M’s of project management (that is, manpower, machinery, and materials), machinery and materials are dependent upon manpower. Because the body of knowledge inveterate on the influence of national culture on men, hence, the realization of the impact on the link between project management performance and project success need to be investigated in detail to arrive at the possible cause(s) of project delays. This research initiative was, therefore, undertaken to fill the research gap. The unit of analysis for the proposed research excretion was the individuals who had worked on skyscraper construction projects. In reverent studies, project management is best described using construction examples. It is due to this reason that the project oriented city of Dubai was chosen to reconnoiter on causes of project delays. A structured questionnaire survey was disseminated online with the courtesy of the Project Management Institute local chapter to carry out the cross-sectional study. The Construction Industry Institute, Austin, of the United States of America along with 23 high-rise builders in Dubai were also contacted by email requesting for their contribution to the study and providing them with the online link to the survey questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument was warranted using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.70. The appropriateness of sampling adequacy and homogeneity in variance was ensured by keeping Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity in the range ≥ 0.60 and < 0.05, respectively. Factor analysis was used to verify construct validity. During exploratory factor analysis, all items were loaded using a threshold of 0.4. Four hundred and seventeen respondents, including members from top management, project managers, and project staff, contributed to the study. The link between project management performance and project success was significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed), and 0.05 level (2-tailed) for Pearson’s correlation. Before initiating the moderator analysis test for linearity, multicollinearity, outliers, leverage points and influential cases, test for homoscedasticity and normality were carried out which are prerequisites for conducting moderator review. The moderator analysis, using a macro named PROCESS, was performed to verify the hypothesis that national culture has an influence on the said link. The empirical findings, when compared with Hofstede's results, showed high power distance as the cause of construction project delays in Dubai. The research outcome calls for the project sponsors and top management to reshape their project management strategy and allow for low power distance between management and project personnel for timely completion of projects.

Keywords: Causes of construction project delays, construction industry, construction management, power distance.

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Authors: Ameer A. Jebur, William Atherton, Rafid M. Alkhaddar, Edward Loffill

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Superstructures like offshore platforms, tall buildings, transition towers, skyscrapers and bridges are normally designed to resist compression, uplift and lateral forces from wind waves, negative skin friction, ship impact and other applied loads. Better understanding and the precise simulation of the response of batter piles under the action of independent uplift loads is a vital topic and an area of active research in the field of geotechnical engineering. This paper investigates the use of finite element code (FEC) to examine the behaviour of model batter piles penetrated in dense sand, subjected to pull-out pressure by means of numerical modelling. The concept of the Winkler Model (beam on elastic foundation) has been used in which the interaction between the pile embedded depth and adjacent soil in the bearing zone is simulated by nonlinear p-y curves. The analysis was conducted on different pile slenderness ratios (lc⁄d) ranging from 7.5, 15.22 and 30 respectively. In addition, the optimum batter angle for a model steel pile penetrated in dense sand has been chosen to be 20° as this is the best angle for this simulation as demonstrated by other researcher published in literature. In this numerical analysis, the soil response is idealized as elasto-plastic and the model piles are described as elastic materials for the purpose of simulation. The results revealed that the applied loads affect the pullout pile capacity as well as the lateral pile response for dense sand together with varying shear strength parameters linked to the pile critical depth. Furthermore, the pile pull-out capacity increases with increasing the pile aspect ratios.

Keywords: Slenderness ratio, soil-pile interaction, winkler model (beam on elastic foundation), pull-out capacity.

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Authors: Jiaqi Yan, Sherry Sun, Huaiqing Wang, Zhongsheng Hua

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In the highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace, independent organizations and enterprises often come together and form a temporary alignment of virtual enterprise in a supply chain to better provide products or service. As firms adopt the systems approach implicit in supply chain management, they must manage the quality from both internal process control and external control of supplier quality and customer requirements. How to incorporate quality management of upstream and downstream supply chain partners into their own quality management system has recently received a great deal of attention from both academic and practice. This paper investigate the collaborative feature and the entities- relationship in a supply chain, and presents an ontology of collaborative supply chain from an approach of aligning service-oriented framework with service-dominant logic. This perspective facilitates the segregation of material flow management from manufacturing capability management, which provides a foundation for the coordination and integration of the business process to measure, analyze, and continually improve the quality of products, services, and process. Further, this approach characterizes the different interests of supply chain partners, providing an innovative approach to analyze the collaborative features of supply chain. Furthermore, this ontology is the foundation to develop quality management system which internalizes the quality management in upstream and downstream supply chain partners and manages the quality in supply chain systematically.

Keywords: Ontology, supply chain quality management, service-oriented architecture, service-dominant logic.

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Authors: Syed M. Shahid, Rozeena Shaikh, Syeda N. Nawab, Shah A. Qader, Abid Azhar, Tabassum Mahboob

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This study was designed to investigate the role of serum nitric oxide and sialic acid in the development of diabetic nephropathy as disease marker. Total 210 diabetic patients (age and sex matched) were selected followed by informed consent and divided into four groups (70 each) as I: control; II: diabetic; III: diabetic hypertensive; IV: diabetic nephropathy. The blood samples of all subjects were collected and analyzed for serum nitric oxide, sialic acid, fasting blood glucose, serum urea, creatinine, HbA1c and GFR. The BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, blood glucose, HbA1c and serum sialic acid levels were high (p<0.01) in group II as compared to control subjects. The higher levels (p<0.01) of BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, blood glucose, HbA1c, serum urea, creatinine and sialic acid were observed in group III and IV as compared to controls. Significantly low levels of GFR and serum nitric oxide (p<0.01) were observed in group III and IV as compared to controls. Results indicated that serum nitric oxide and sialic acid are the major biochemical indicators for micro and macrovascular complications of diabetes such as hypertension and nephropathy. These should be taken into account during screening procedures regarding identifications of the diabetic patients to get them rid of progressive renal impairment to ESRD.

Keywords: Diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, nitric oxide, sialic acid.

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Authors: G.Hariharan, K.Kannan

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In this paper, we develop an accurate and efficient Haar wavelet method for well-known FitzHugh-Nagumo equation. The proposed scheme can be used to a wide class of nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations. The power of this manageable method is confirmed. Moreover the use of Haar wavelets is found to be accurate, simple, fast, flexible, convenient, small computation costs and computationally attractive.

Keywords: FitzHugh-Nagumo equation, Haar wavelet method, adomain decomposition method, computationally attractive.

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Authors: Kongsheng Zhang, Li Ge

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It is a one-sided hypothesis testing process for assessing bioequivalence. Bootstrap and modified large-sample(MLS) methods are considered to study individual bioequivalence(IBE), type I error and power of hypothesis tests are simulated and compared with FDA(2001). The results show that modified large-sample method is equivalent to the method of FDA(2001) .

Keywords: Individual bioequivalence, bootstrap, Bayesian bootstrap, modified large-sample.

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