Search results for: Automated drug delivery systems
4707 Multi-Modal Visualization of Working Instructions for Assembly Operations
Authors: Josef Wolfartsberger, Michael Heiml, Georg Schwarz, Sabrina Egger
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Growing individualization and higher numbers of variants in industrial assembly products raise the complexity of manufacturing processes. Technical assistance systems considering both procedural and human factors allow for an increase in product quality and a decrease in required learning times by supporting workers with precise working instructions. Due to varying needs of workers, the presentation of working instructions leads to several challenges. This paper presents an approach for a multi-modal visualization application to support assembly work of complex parts. Our approach is integrated within an interconnected assistance system network and supports the presentation of cloud-streamed textual instructions, images, videos, 3D animations and audio files along with multi-modal user interaction, customizable UI, multi-platform support (e.g. tablet-PC, TV screen, smartphone or Augmented Reality devices), automated text translation and speech synthesis. The worker benefits from more accessible and up-to-date instructions presented in an easy-to-read way.Keywords: Assembly, assistive technologies, augmented reality, manufacturing, visualization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9054706 Parameter Estimation for Viewing Rank Distribution of Video-on-Demand
Authors: Hyoup-Sang Yoon
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Video-on-demand (VOD) is designed by using content delivery networks (CDN) to minimize the overall operational cost and to maximize scalability. Estimation of the viewing pattern (i.e., the relationship between the number of viewings and the ranking of VOD contents) plays an important role in minimizing the total operational cost and maximizing the performance of the VOD systems. In this paper, we have analyzed a large body of commercial VOD viewing data and found that the viewing rank distribution fits well with the parabolic fractal distribution. The weighted linear model fitting function is used to estimate the parameters (coefficients) of the parabolic fractal distribution. This paper presents an analytical basis for designing an optimal hierarchical VOD contents distribution system in terms of its cost and performance.
Keywords: VOD, CDN, parabolic fractal distribution, viewing rank, weighted linear model fitting
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17794705 Systems Engineering Management Using Transdisciplinary Quality System Development Lifecycle Model
Authors: Mohamed Asaad Abdelrazek, Amir Taher El-Sheikh, M. Zayan, A.M. Elhady
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The successful realization of complex systems is dependent not only on the technology issues and the process for implementing them, but on the management issues as well. Managing the systems development lifecycle requires technical management. Systems engineering management is the technical management. Systems engineering management is accomplished by incorporating many activities. The three major activities are development phasing, systems engineering process and lifecycle integration. Systems engineering management activities are performed across the system development lifecycle. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of systems as well the difficulty of managing and tracking the development activities, new ways to achieve systems engineering management activities are required. This paper presents a systematic approach used as a design management tool applied across systems engineering management roles. In this approach, Transdisciplinary System Development Lifecycle (TSDL) Model has been modified and integrated with Quality Function Deployment. Hereinafter, the name of the systematic approach is the Transdisciplinary Quality System Development Lifecycle (TQSDL) Model. The QFD translates the voice of customers (VOC) into measurable technical characteristics. The modified TSDL model is based on Axiomatic Design developed by Suh which is applicable to all designs: products, processes, systems and organizations. The TQSDL model aims to provide a robust structure and systematic thinking to support the implementation of systems engineering management roles. This approach ensures that the customer requirements are fulfilled as well as satisfies all the systems engineering manager roles and activities.Keywords: Axiomatic design, quality function deployment, systems engineering management, system development lifecycle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17444704 Optimization of Lean Methodologies in the Textile Industry Using Design of Experiments
Authors: Ahmad Yame, Ahad Ali, Badih Jawad, Daw Al-Werfalli Mohamed Nasser, Sabah Abro
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Industries in general have a lot of waste. Wool textile company, Baniwalid, Libya has many complex problems that led to enormous waste generated due to the lack of lean strategies, expertise, technical support and commitment. To successfully address waste at wool textile company, this study will attempt to develop a methodical approach that integrates lean manufacturing tools to optimize performance characteristics such as lead time and delivery. This methodology will utilize Value Stream Mapping (VSM) techniques to identify the process variables that affect production. Once these variables are identified, Design of Experiments (DOE) Methodology will be used to determine the significantly influential process variables, these variables are then controlled and set at their optimal to achieve optimal levels of productivity, quality, agility, efficiency and delivery to analyze the outputs of the simulation model for different lean configurations. The goal of this research is to investigate how the tools of lean manufacturing can be adapted from the discrete to the continuous manufacturing environment and to evaluate their benefits at a specific industrial.Keywords: Lean manufacturing, DOE, value stream mapping, textiles.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19294703 Human Tracking across Heterogeneous Systems Based On Mobile Agent Technologies
Authors: Tappei Yotsumoto, Atsushi Nomura, Kozo Tanigawa, Kenichi Takahashi, Takao Kawamura, Kazunori Sugahara
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In a human tracking system, expanding a monitoring range of one system is complicating the management of devices and increasing its cost. Therefore, we propose a method to realize a wide-range human tracking by connecting small systems. In this paper, we examined an agent deploy method and information contents across the heterogeneous human tracking systems. By implementing the proposed method, we can construct a human tracking system across heterogeneous systems, and the system can track a target continuously between systems.
Keywords: Human tracking system, mobile agent, monitoring.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15094702 Security Model of a Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations System in the Health Sector Environment of Developing Countries: A Case of Uganda
Authors: Excellence Favor, Bakari M. M. Mwinyiwiwa
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Access to information holds the key to the empowerment of everybody despite where they are living. This research has been carried out in respect of the people living in developing countries, considering their plight and complex geographical, demographic, social-economic conditions surrounding the areas they live, which hinder access to information and of professionals providing services such as medical workers, which has led to high death rates and development stagnation. Research on Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations (UCIC) system in the health sector of developing countries aims at creating a possible solution of bridging the digital canyon among the communities. The system is meant to deliver services in a seamless manner to assist health workers situated anywhere to be accessed easily and access information which will enhance service delivery. The proposed UCIC provides the most immersive telepresence experience for one-to-one or many-to-many meetings. Extending to locations anywhere in the world, the transformative platform delivers Ultra-low operating costs through the use of general purpose networks and using special lenses and track systems. The essence of this study is to create a security model for the deployment of the UCIC system in the health sector of developing countries. The model approach used for building the UCIC system security carefully considers the specific requirements for the health sector environment organization such as data centre, national, regional and district hospitals, and health centers IV, III, II and I and then builds the single best possible secure network to meet their needs. The security model demonstrates on how the components of the UCIC system will be protected physically and logically in the health sector environment. The UCIC system once adopted and implemented correctly will bring enhancement to the speed and quality of services offered by health workers. The capacities of UCIC will help health workers shorten decision cycles, accelerate service delivery and save lives by speeding access to information and by making it possible for all health workers and patients to collaborate ubiquitously.
Keywords: Developing Countries, Health Sector Environment, Security, Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15154701 GIS-based Approach for Land-Use Analysis: A Case Study
Authors: M. Giannopoulou, I. Roukounis, A. Roukouni.
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Geographical Information Systems are an integral part of planning in modern technical systems. Nowadays referred to as Spatial Decision Support Systems, as they allow synergy database management systems and models within a single user interface machine and they are important tools in spatial design for evaluating policies and programs at all levels of administration. This work refers to the creation of a Geographical Information System in the context of a broader research in the area of influence of an under construction station of the new metro in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, which included statistical and multivariate data analysis and diagrammatic representation, mapping and interpretation of the results.Keywords: Databases, Geographical information systems (GIS), Land-use planning, Metro stations
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15924700 Impacts of Rail Transportation Projects on Urban Areas in Izmir-Turkey
Authors: Y. Egercioglu, S. Yalciner
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With the development of technology, the growing trend of fast and safe passenger transport, air pollution, traffic congestion, increase in problems such as the increasing population and the high cost of private vehicle usage made many cities around the world with a population of more or less, start to build rail systems as a means of urban transport in order to ensure the economic and environmental sustainability and more efficient use of land in the city. The implementation phase of rail systems costs much more than other public transport systems. However, social and economic returns in the long term made these systems the most popular investment tool for planned and developing cities. In our country, the purpose, goals and policies of transportation plans are away from integrity, and the problems are not clearly detected. Also, not defined and incomplete assessment of transportation systems and insufficient financial analysis are the most important cause of failure. Rail systems and other transportation systems to be addressed as a whole is seen as the main factor in increasing efficiency in applications that are not integrated yet in our country to come to this point has led to the problem.Keywords: Urban Transportation Projects, Urban Light Rail Systems, Urbanization, Izmir.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26724699 Molecular Dynamic Simulation and Receptor-based Pharmacophore Modeling on Human Renin for Discovery of Novel Inhibitors
Authors: Chanin Park, Sundarapandian Thangapandian, Yuno Lee, Minky Son, Shalini John, Young-sik Sohn, Keun Woo Lee
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Hypertension is characterized with stress on the heart and blood vessels thus increasing the risk of heart attack and renal diseases. The Renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a major role in blood pressure control. Renin is the enzyme that controls the RAS at the rate-limiting step. Our aim is to develop new drug-like leads which can inhibit renin and thereby emerge as therapeutics for hypertension. To achieve this, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and receptor-based pharmacophore modeling were implemented, and three rennin-inhibitor complex structures were selected based on IC50 value and scaffolds of inhibitors. Three pharmacophore models were generated considering conformations induced by inhibitor. The compounds mapped to these models were selected and subjected to drug-like screening. The identified hits were docked into the active site of renin. Finally, hit1 satisfying the binding mode and interaction energy was selected as possible lead candidate to be used in novel renin inhibitors.
Keywords: Renin inhibitor, Molecular dynamics simulation, Structure-based pharmacophore modeling
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19594698 Development of a Telemedical Network Supporting an Automated Flow Cytometric Analysis for the Clinical Follow-up of Leukaemia
Authors: Claude Takenga, Rolf-Dietrich Berndt, Erling Si, Markus Diem, Guohui Qiao, Melanie Gau, Michael Brandstoetter, Martin Kampel, Michael Dworzak
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In patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), treatment response is increasingly evaluated with minimal residual disease (MRD) analyses. Flow Cytometry (FCM) is a fast and sensitive method to detect MRD. However, the interpretation of these multi-parametric data requires intensive operator training and experience. This paper presents a pipeline-software, as a ready-to-use FCM-based MRD-assessment tool for the daily clinical practice for patients with ALL. The new tool increases accuracy in assessment of FCM-MRD in samples which are difficult to analyse by conventional operator-based gating since computer-aided analysis potentially has a superior resolution due to utilization of the whole multi-parametric FCM-data space at once instead of step-wise, two-dimensional plot-based visualization. The system developed as a telemedical network reduces the work-load and lab-costs, staff-time needed for training, continuous quality control, operator-based data interpretation. It allows dissemination of automated FCM-MRD analysis to medical centres which have no established expertise for the benefit of an even larger community of diseased children worldwide. We established a telemedical network system for analysis and clinical follow-up and treatment monitoring of Leukaemia. The system is scalable and adapted to link several centres and laboratories worldwide.Keywords: Data security, flow cytometry, leukaemia, telematics platform, telemedicine.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15564697 Formulation and Characterization of Drug Loaded Niosomal Gel for Anti-Inflammatory Activity
Authors: Sunil Kamboj, Vipin Saini, Suman Bala, Gaurav Sharma
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The main aim of the present research was to encapsulate mefenamic acid in niosomes andincorporate the prepared niosomes in the carbopol gel base for sustained therapeutic action. Mefenamic acid loaded niosomes were prepared by thin film hydration technique and evaluated for entrapment efficiency, vesicular size and zeta potential. The entrapment efficiency of the prepared niosomes was found to increase with decreasing the HLB values of surfactants and vesicle size was found to increase with increasing the cholesterol concentration. Niosomal vesicles with good entrapment efficiencies were incorporated in carbopol gel base to form the niosomal gel. The prepared niosomal gel was evaluated for pH, viscosity, spreadability, extrudability and skin permeation study across the rat skin. The results of permeation study revealed that the gel formulated with span 60 niosomes sustained the drug release for 12h. Further the in vivo study showed the good inhibition of inflammation by the gel prepared with span 60 niosomes.
Keywords: Mefenamic acid, niosomal gel, nonionic surfactants, sustained release.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37294696 E-Government, China Internet Plus, and the One Belt One Road Initiative: The Africa Connection
Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah, Mi Jianing
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The lack of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure in African countries is hampering the successful adoption, development and implementation of e-government in Africa. Electronic government is the use of ICTs to modernize government public administration processes and to provide government services to citizens with a purpose to enhance efficiency, accountability, and transparency in government’s interaction with the citizenry. ICT application in public administration has the potential to modernize and create smarter government and improvement in public service delivery. China’s Internet Plus policy and One Belt One Road strategy present a golden opportunity for countries in Africa to attract the huge financial investment through Chinese IT companies to develop and close Africa’s ICT infrastructure gap. This study recommends the establishment of One Belt One Road ICT Infrastructure Fund for Africa (OBOR ICT Fund for Africa) to enable countries in Africa to source solely for the purpose of ICT infrastructure development in the public sector/government machinery which would in turn promote the adoption and development of e-government in the public sectors of respective countries in Africa.Keywords: E-government, public service delivery, internet plus, one belt one road initiative, China, Africa.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 34394695 Genetic Algorithm for In-Theatre Military Logistics Search-and-Delivery Path Planning
Authors: Jean Berger, Mohamed Barkaoui
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Discrete search path planning in time-constrained uncertain environment relying upon imperfect sensors is known to be hard, and current problem-solving techniques proposed so far to compute near real-time efficient path plans are mainly bounded to provide a few move solutions. A new information-theoretic –based open-loop decision model explicitly incorporating false alarm sensor readings, to solve a single agent military logistics search-and-delivery path planning problem with anticipated feedback is presented. The decision model consists in minimizing expected entropy considering anticipated possible observation outcomes over a given time horizon. The model captures uncertainty associated with observation events for all possible scenarios. Entropy represents a measure of uncertainty about the searched target location. Feedback information resulting from possible sensor observations outcomes along the projected path plan is exploited to update anticipated unit target occupancy beliefs. For the first time, a compact belief update formulation is generalized to explicitly include false positive observation events that may occur during plan execution. A novel genetic algorithm is then proposed to efficiently solve search path planning, providing near-optimal solutions for practical realistic problem instances. Given the run-time performance of the algorithm, natural extension to a closed-loop environment to progressively integrate real visit outcomes on a rolling time horizon can be easily envisioned. Computational results show the value of the approach in comparison to alternate heuristics.
Keywords: Search path planning, false alarm, search-and-delivery, entropy, genetic algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19564694 Identification of Flexographic-printed Newspapers with NIR Spectral Imaging
Authors: Raimund Leitner, Susanne Rosskopf
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Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a widely used method for material identification for laboratory and industrial applications. While standard spectrometers only allow measurements at one sampling point at a time, NIR Spectral Imaging techniques can measure, in real-time, both the size and shape of an object as well as identify the material the object is made of. The online classification and sorting of recovered paper with NIR Spectral Imaging (SI) is used with success in the paper recycling industry throughout Europe. Recently, the globalisation of the recycling material streams caused that water-based flexographic-printed newspapers mainly from UK and Italy appear also in central Europe. These flexo-printed newspapers are not sufficiently de-inkable with the standard de-inking process originally developed for offset-printed paper. This de-inking process removes the ink from recovered paper and is the fundamental processing step to produce high-quality paper from recovered paper. Thus, the flexo-printed newspapers are a growing problem for the recycling industry as they reduce the quality of the produced paper if their amount exceeds a certain limit within the recovered paper material. This paper presents the results of a research project for the development of an automated entry inspection system for recovered paper that was jointly conducted by CTR AG (Austria) and PTS Papiertechnische Stiftung (Germany). Within the project an NIR SI prototype for the identification of flexo-printed newspaper has been developed. The prototype can identify and sort out flexoprinted newspapers in real-time and achieves a detection accuracy for flexo-printed newspaper of over 95%. NIR SI, the technology the prototype is based on, allows the development of inspection systems for incoming goods in a paper production facility as well as industrial sorting systems for recovered paper in the recycling industry in the near future.Keywords: spectral imaging, imaging spectroscopy, NIR, waterbasedflexographic, flexo-printed, recovered paper, real-time classification.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15354693 Automated Fact-Checking By Incorporating Contextual Knowledge and Multi-Faceted Search
Authors: Wenbo Wang, Yi-fang Brook Wu
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The spread of misinformation and disinformation has become a major concern, particularly with the rise of social media as a primary source of information for many people. As a means to address this phenomenon, automated fact-checking has emerged as a safeguard against the spread of misinformation and disinformation. Existing fact-checking approaches aim to determine whether a news claim is true or false, and they have achieved decent veracity prediction accuracy. However, the state of the art methods rely on manually verified external information to assist the checking model in making judgments, which requires significant human resources. This study presents a framework, SAC, which focuses on 1) augmenting the representation of a claim by incorporating additional context using general-purpose, comprehensive and authoritative data; 2) developing a search function to automatically select relevant, new and credible references; 3) focusing on the important parts of the representations of a claim and its reference that are most relevant to the fact-checking task. The experimental results demonstrate that: 1) Augmenting the representations of claims and references through the use of a knowledge base, combined with the multi-head attention technique, contributes to improved performance of fact-checking. 2) SAC with auto-selected references outperforms existing fact-checking approaches with manual selected references. Future directions of this study include I) exploring knowledge graph in Wikidata to dynamically augment the representations of claims and references without introducing too much noises; II) exploring semantic relations in claims and references to further enhance fact-checking.
Keywords: Fact checking, claim verification, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 364692 Synthesis of PVA/γ-Fe2O3 Used in Cancer Treatment by Hyperthermia
Authors: Sajjad Seifi Mofarah, S. K. Sadrnezhaad, Shokooh Moghadam, Javad Tavakoli
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In recent years a new method of combination treatment for cancer has been developed and studied that has led to significant advancements in the field of cancer therapy. Hyperthermia is a traditional therapy that, along with a creation of a medically approved level of heat with the help of an alternating magnetic AC current, results in the destruction of cancer cells by heat. This paper gives details regarding the production of the spherical nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in order to be used for medical purposes such as tumor treatment by hyperthermia. To reach a suitable and evenly distributed temperature, the nanocomposite with core-shell morphology and spherical form within a 100 to 200 nanometer size was created using phase separation emulsion, in which the magnetic nano-particles γ- Fe2O3 with an average particle size of 20 nano-meters and with different percentages of 0.2, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 were covered by polyvinyl alcohol. The main concern in hyperthermia and heat treatment is achieving desirable specific absorption rate (SAR) and one of the most critical factors in SAR is particle size. In this project all attempts has been done to reach minimal size and consequently maximum SAR. The morphological analysis of the spherical structure of the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 was achieved by SEM analyses and the study of the chemical bonds created was made possible by FTIR analysis. To investigate the manner of magnetic nanocomposite particle size distribution a DLS experiment was conducted. Moreover, to determine the magnetic behavior of the γ- Fe2O3 particle and the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in different concentrations a VSM test was conducted. To sum up, creating magnetic nanocomposites with a spherical morphology that would be employed for drug loading opens doors to new approaches in developing nanocomposites that provide efficient heat and a controlled release of drug simultaneously inside the magnetic field, which are among their positive characteristics that could significantly improve the recovery process in patients.
Keywords: Nanocomposite, hyperthermia, cancer therapy, drug release.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 47354691 An Intelligent Scheme Switching for MIMO Systems Using Fuzzy Logic Technique
Authors: Robert O. Abolade, Olumide O. Ajayi, Zacheaus K. Adeyemo, Solomon A. Adeniran
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Link adaptation is an important strategy for achieving robust wireless multimedia communications based on quality of service (QoS) demand. Scheme switching in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems is an aspect of link adaptation, and it involves selecting among different MIMO transmission schemes or modes so as to adapt to the varying radio channel conditions for the purpose of achieving QoS delivery. However, finding the most appropriate switching method in MIMO links is still a challenge as existing methods are either computationally complex or not always accurate. This paper presents an intelligent switching method for the MIMO system consisting of two schemes - transmit diversity (TD) and spatial multiplexing (SM) - using fuzzy logic technique. In this method, two channel quality indicators (CQI) namely average received signal-to-noise ratio (RSNR) and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) are measured and are passed as inputs to the fuzzy logic system which then gives a decision – an inference. The switching decision of the fuzzy logic system is fed back to the transmitter to switch between the TD and SM schemes. Simulation results show that the proposed fuzzy logic – based switching technique outperforms conventional static switching technique in terms of bit error rate and spectral efficiency.Keywords: Channel quality indicator, fuzzy logic, link adaptation, MIMO, spatial multiplexing, transmit diversity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7194690 An Ontology Model for Systems Engineering Derived from ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015: Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes
Authors: Lan Yang, Kathryn Cormican, Ming Yu
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ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015, Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes is an international standard that provides generic top-level process descriptions to support systems engineering (SE). However, the processes defined in the standard needs improvement to lift integrity and consistency. The goal of this research is to explore the way by building an ontology model for the SE standard to manage the knowledge of SE. The ontology model gives a whole picture of the SE knowledge domain by building connections between SE concepts. Moreover, it creates a hierarchical classification of the concepts to fulfil different requirements of displaying and analysing SE knowledge.Keywords: Knowledge management, model-based systems engineering, ontology modelling, systems engineering ontology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18504689 Simulation of Online Communities Using MAS Social and Spatial Organisations
Authors: Maya Rupert, Salima Hassas, Carlos Li, John Sherwood
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Online Communities are an example of sociallyaware, self-organising, complex adaptive computing systems. The multi-agent systems (MAS) paradigm coordinated by self-organisation mechanisms has been used as an effective way for the simulation and modeling of such systems. In this paper, we propose a model for simulating an online health community using a situated multi-agent system approach, governed by the co-evolution of the social and spatial organisations of the agents.Keywords: multi-agent systems, organizations, online communities.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13564688 Information Systems Outsourcing Reasons and Risks: An Empirical Study
Authors: Reyes Gonzalez, Jose Gasco, Juan Llopis
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Outsourcing, a management practice strongly consolidated within the area of Information Systems, is currently going through a stage of unstoppable growth. This paper makes a proposal about the main reasons which may lead firms to adopt Information Systems Outsourcing. It will equally analyse the potential risks that IS clients are likely to face. An additional objective is to assess these reasons and risks in the case of large Spanish firms, while simultaneously examining their evolution over time.Keywords: Information Systems, Information Technologies, Outsourcing, Reasons, Risks, Survey.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32614687 Statistics over Lyapunov Exponents for Feature Extraction: Electroencephalographic Changes Detection Case
Authors: Elif Derya UBEYLI, Inan GULER
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A new approach based on the consideration that electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are chaotic signals was presented for automated diagnosis of electroencephalographic changes. This consideration was tested successfully using the nonlinear dynamics tools, like the computation of Lyapunov exponents. This paper presented the usage of statistics over the set of the Lyapunov exponents in order to reduce the dimensionality of the extracted feature vectors. Since classification is more accurate when the pattern is simplified through representation by important features, feature extraction and selection play an important role in classifying systems such as neural networks. Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) architectures were formulated and used as basis for detection of electroencephalographic changes. Three types of EEG signals (EEG signals recorded from healthy volunteers with eyes open, epilepsy patients in the epileptogenic zone during a seizure-free interval, and epilepsy patients during epileptic seizures) were classified. The selected Lyapunov exponents of the EEG signals were used as inputs of the MLPNN trained with Levenberg- Marquardt algorithm. The classification results confirmed that the proposed MLPNN has potential in detecting the electroencephalographic changes.
Keywords: Chaotic signal, Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, Feature extraction/selection, Lyapunov exponents
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24974686 FEM and Experimental Modal Analysis of Computer Mount
Authors: Vishwajit M. Ghatge, David Looper
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Over the last few decades, oilfield service rolling equipment has significantly increased in weight, primarily because of emissions regulations, which require larger/heavier engines, larger cooling systems, and emissions after-treatment systems, in some cases, etc. Larger engines cause more vibration and shock loads, leading to failure of electronics and control systems. If the vibrating frequency of the engine matches the system frequency, high resonance is observed on structural parts and mounts. One such existing automated control equipment system comprising wire rope mounts used for mounting computers was designed approximately 12 years ago. This includes the use of an industrialgrade computer to control the system operation. The original computer had a smaller, lighter enclosure. After a few years, a newer computer version was introduced, which was 10 lbm heavier. Some failures of internal computer parts have been documented for cases in which the old mounts were used. Because of the added weight, there is a possibility of having the two brackets impact each other under off-road conditions, which causes a high shock input to the computer parts. This added failure mode requires validating the existing mount design to suit the new heavy-weight computer. This paper discusses the modal finite element method (FEM) analysis and experimental modal analysis conducted to study the effects of vibration on the wire rope mounts and the computer. The existing mount was modelled in ANSYS software, and resultant mode shapes and frequencies were obtained. The experimental modal analysis was conducted, and actual frequency responses were observed and recorded. Results clearly revealed that at resonance frequency, the brackets were colliding and potentially causing damage to computer parts. To solve this issue, spring mounts of different stiffness were modeled in ANSYS software, and the resonant frequency was determined. Increasing the stiffness of the system increased the resonant frequency zone away from the frequency window at which the engine showed heavy vibrations or resonance. After multiple iterations in ANSYS software, the stiffness of the spring mount was finalized, which was again experimentally validated.
Keywords: Experimental Modal Analysis, FEM Modal Analysis, Frequency, Modal Analysis, Resonance, Vibration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31794685 Finite Time Symplectic Synchronization between Two Different Chaotic Systems
Authors: Chunming Xu
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In this paper, the finite-time symplectic synchronization between two different chaotic systems is investigated. Based on the finite-time stability theory, a simple adaptive feedback scheme is proposed to realize finite-time symplectic synchronization for the Lorenz and L¨u systems. Numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.Keywords: Chaotic systems, symplectic synchronization, finite-time synchronization, adaptive controller.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9494684 Flexibility in Modular Furniture Systems in Open Offices, Famagusta, North Cyprus
Authors: E. Farjami, La. Mohammadzadeh Afshar, Li. Mohammadzade Afshar, A. Taran
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Nowadays, flexibility introduced as a modern technology in furniture systems especially in interior planning design. According to results, the most important impact of these systems can be seen on open plan design that makes workspaces comfortable and increases the productivity of employees besides making good relationship between them. Briefly, there are some factors along with new systems in furniture design help create inappropriate space to make working better and easier while it has modular planning organization. It brings about some approaches to have a successful space for open offices with modular design and flexible furniture systems. These approaches have been investigated in open and close offices at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Famagusta, Cyprus, using information extracted from questionnaires.
Keywords: Flexibility, Flexible Furniture, Modular design, Open offices, Modular furniture systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26984683 A Functional Framework for Large Scale Application Software Systems
Authors: Han-hua Lu, Shun-yi Zhang, Yong Zheng, Ya-shi Wang, Li-juan Min
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From the perspective of system of systems (SoS) and emergent behaviors, this paper describes large scale application software systems, and proposes framework methods to further depict systems- functional and non-functional characteristics. Besides, this paper also specifically discusses some functional frameworks. In the end, the framework-s applications in system disintegrations, system architecture and stable intermediate forms are additionally dealt with in this in building, deployment and maintenance of large scale software applications.Keywords: application software system, framework methods, system of systems, emergent behaviors
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13824682 Finite-Horizon Tracking Control for Repetitive Systems with Uncertain Initial Conditions
Authors: Sung Wook Yun, Yun Jong Choi, Kyong-min Lee, Poogyeon Park*
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Repetitive systems stand for a kind of systems that perform a simple task on a fixed pattern repetitively, which are widely spread in industrial fields. Hence, many researchers have been interested in those systems, especially in the field of iterative learning control (ILC). In this paper, we propose a finite-horizon tracking control scheme for linear time-varying repetitive systems with uncertain initial conditions. The scheme is derived both analytically and numerically for state-feedback systems and only numerically for output-feedback systems. Then, it is extended to stable systems with input constraints. All numerical schemes are developed in the forms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A distinguished feature of the proposed scheme from the existing iterative learning control is that the scheme guarantees the tracking performance exactly even under uncertain initial conditions. The simulation results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed scheme.Keywords: Finite time horizon, linear matrix inequality (LMI), repetitive system, uncertain initial condition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18794681 Stability of Discrete Linear Systems with Periodic Coefficients under Parametric Perturbations
Authors: Adam Czornik, Aleksander Nawrat
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This paper studies the problem of exponential stability of perturbed discrete linear systems with periodic coefficients. Assuming that the unperturbed system is exponentially stable we obtain conditions on the perturbations under which the perturbed system is exponentially stable.Keywords: Exponential stability, time-varying linear systems, periodic systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13974680 Assertion-Driven Test Repair Based on Priority Criteria
Authors: Ruilian Zhao, Shukai Zhang, Yan Wang, Weiwei Wang
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Repairing broken test cases is an expensive and challenging task in evolving software systems. Although an automated repair technique with intent-preservation has been proposed, it does not take into account the association between test repairs and assertions, leading a large number of irrelevant candidates and decreasing the repair capability. This paper proposes a assertion-driven test repair approach. Furthermore, a intent-oriented priority criterion is raised to guide the repair candidate generation, making the repairs closer to the intent of the test. In more detail, repair targets are determined through post-dominance relations between assertions and the methods that directly cause compilation errors. Then, test repairs are generated from the target in a bottom-up way, guided by the the intent-oriented priority criteria. Finally, the generated repair candidates are prioritized to match the original test intent. The approach is implemented and evaluated on the benchmark of 4 open-source programs and 91 broken test cases. The result shows that the approach can fix 89% (81/91) broken test cases, which are more effective than the existing intent-preserved test repair approach, and our intent-oriented priority criteria work well.
Keywords: Test repair, test intent, software test, test case evolution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1254679 Mathematical Modeling on Capturing of Magnetic Nanoparticles in an Implant Assisted Channel for Magnetic Drug Targeting
Authors: Shashi Sharma, V. K. Katiyar, Uaday Singh
Abstract:
In IA-MDT, the magnetic implants are placed strategically at the target site to greatly and locally increase the magnetic force on MDCPs and help to attract and retain the MDCPs at the targeted region. In the present work, we develop a mathematical model to study the capturing of magnetic nanoparticles flowing within a fluid in an implant assisted cylindrical channel under magnetic field. A coil of ferromagnetic SS-430 has been implanted inside the cylindrical channel to enhance the capturing of magnetic nanoparticles under magnetic field. The dominant magnetic and drag forces, which significantly affect the capturing of nanoparticles, are incorporated in the model. It is observed through model results that capture efficiency increases as we increase the magnetic field from 0.1 to 0.5 T, respectively. The increase in capture efficiency by increase in magnetic field is because as the magnetic field increases, the magnetization force, which is attractive in nature and responsible to attract or capture the magnetic particles, increases and results the capturing of large number of magnetic particles due to high strength of attractive magnetic force.Keywords: Capture efficiency, Implant assisted-Magnetic drug targeting (IA-MDT), Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17874678 Contribution of On-Site and Off-Site Processes to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions by Wastewater Treatment Plants
Authors: Laleh Yerushalmi, Fariborz Haghighat, Maziar Bani Shahabadi
Abstract:
The estimation of overall on-site and off-site greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by wastewater treatment plants revealed that in anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems greater emissions result from off-site processes compared to on-site processes. However, in aerobic treatment systems, onsite processes make a higher contribution to the overall GHG emissions. The total GHG emissions were estimated to be 1.6, 3.3 and 3.8 kg CO2-e/kg BOD in the aerobic, anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively. In the aerobic treatment system without the recovery and use of the generated biogas, the off-site GHG emissions were 0.65 kg CO2-e/kg BOD, accounting for 40.2% of the overall GHG emissions. This value changed to 2.3 and 2.6 kg CO2-e/kg BOD, and accounted for 69.9% and 68.1% of the overall GHG emissions in the anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively. The increased off-site GHG emissions in the anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems are mainly due to material usage and energy demand in these systems. The anaerobic digester can contribute up to 100%, 55% and 60% of the overall energy needs of plants in the aerobic, anaerobic and hybrid treatment systems, respectively.
Keywords: On-site and off-site greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions, wastewater treatment plants, biogas recovery
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2150