Search results for: Content based image retrieval (CBIR)

Authors: N.H. Abdurahman, Y. M. Rosli, N. H. Azhari, S. F. Tam

Abstract:

The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater causes serious environmental pollution due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Traditional ways for POME treatment have both economical and environmental disadvantages. In this study, a membrane anaerobic system (MAS) was used as an alternative, cost effective method for treating POME. Six steady states were attained as a part of a kinetic study that considered concentration ranges of 8,220 to 15,400 mg/l for mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and 6,329 to 13,244 mg/l for mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS). Kinetic equations from Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto were employed to describe the kinetics of POME treatment at organic loading rates ranging from 2 to 13 kg COD/m3/d. throughout the experiment, the removal efficiency of COD was from 94.8 to 96.5% with hydraulic retention time, HRT from 400.6 to 5.7 days. The growth yield coefficient, Y was found to be 0.62gVSS/g COD the specific microorganism decay rate was 0.21 d-1 and the methane gas yield production rate was between 0.25 l/g COD/d and 0.58 l/g COD/d. Steady state influent COD concentrations increased from 18,302 mg/l in the first steady state to 43,500 mg/l in the sixth steady state. The minimum solids retention time, which was obtained from the three kinetic models ranged from 5 to 12.3 days. The k values were in the range of 0.35 – 0.519 g COD/ g VSS • d and values were between 0.26 and 0.379 d-1. The solids retention time (SRT) decreased from 800 days to 11.6 days. The complete treatment reduced the COD content to 2279 mg/l equivalent to a reduction of 94.8% reduction from the original.

Keywords: COD reduction, POME, kinetics, membrane, anaerobic, monod, contois equation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2556

Authors: A. Kulprasutidilok

Abstract:

In order to address the social factors of elderly health care, researcher and community members have turned to more inclusive and participatory approaches to research and interventions. One such approach, community-based participatory research (CBPR) in public health, has received increased attention as the academic and public health communities struggle to address the persistent problems of disparities in the use of health care and health outcomes for several over the past decade. As Thailand becomes an ageing society, health services and proper care systems specifically for the elderly group need to be prepared and well established. The purpose of this assignment was to study the health problems and was to explore the process of community participation in elderly health care. Participants in this study were member of elderly group of Paisanee Ramintra 65 community in Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicated two important components of community participation process in elderly health care: 1) a process to develop community participation in elderly health care, and 2) outcomes resulting from such process. The development of community participation consisted of four processes. As for the outcomes of the community participation development process, they consisted of elderly in the community got jointly and formulated a group, which strengthened the project because of collaborative supervision among themselves. Moreover, inactive health care services have changed to being energetic and focus on health promotion rather than medical achievement and elderly association of community can perform health care activities for chronically illness through the achievement of this development; consequently, they increasingly gained access to physical, cognitive, and social activity.

Keywords: Community-based participatory research, elderly health care, Thailand.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1565

Authors: Min-Ah Woo, Min-Cheol Lim, Hyun-Joo Chang, Sung-Wook Choi

Abstract:

We developed a paper-based colorimetric sensor utilizing magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with aptamers (MNP-Apts) against E. coli O157:H7. The MNP-Apts were applied to a test sample solution containing the target cells, and the solution was simply dropped onto PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride) membrane. The membrane moves the sample radially to form the sample spots of different compounds as concentric rings, thus the MNP-Apts on the membrane enabled specific recognition of the target cells through a color ring generation by MNP-promoted colorimetric reaction of TMB (3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine) and H₂O₂. This method could be applied to rapidly and visually detect various bacterial pathogens in less than 1 h without cell culturing.

Keywords: Aptamer, colorimetric sensor, E. coli O157:H7, magnetic nanoparticle, polyvinylidene difluoride.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1338

Authors: Li Qiang, Yang Ze-Ming, Liu Bao-Xu, Jiang Zheng-Wei

Abstract:

With the increasing complexity of cyberspace security, the cyber-attack attribution has become an important challenge of the security protection systems. The difficult points of cyber-attack attribution were forced on the problems of huge data handling and key data missing. According to this situation, this paper presented a reasoning method of cyber-attack attribution based on threat intelligence. The method utilizes the intrusion kill chain model and Bayesian network to build attack chain and evidence chain of cyber-attack on threat intelligence platform through data calculation, analysis and reasoning. Then, we used a number of cyber-attack events which we have observed and analyzed to test the reasoning method and demo system, the result of testing indicates that the reasoning method can provide certain help in cyber-attack attribution.

Keywords: Reasoning, Bayesian networks, cyber-attack attribution, kill chain, threat intelligence.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2662

Authors: A. Dashti, M. Eskandari, L. Farahmand, P. Parvin, A. Jafargholi

Abstract:

Breast Cancer is one of the most considerable diseases in the United States and other countries and is the second leading cause of death in women. Common breast cancer treatments would lead to adverse side effects such as loss of hair, nausea, and weakness. These complications arise because these cancer treatments damage some healthy cells while eliminating the cancer cells. In an effort to address these complications, laser radiation was utilized and tested as a targeted cancer treatment for breast cancer. In this regard, tissue engineering approaches are being employed by using an electrospun scaffold in order to facilitate the growth of breast cancer cells. Polycaprolacton (PCL) was used as a material for scaffold fabricating because of its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and supporting cell growth. The specific breast cancer cells have the ability to create a three-dimensional cell cluster due to the spontaneous accumulation of cells in the porosity of the scaffold under some specific conditions. Therefore, we are looking for a higher density of porosity and larger pore size. Fibers showed uniform diameter distribution and final scaffold had optimum characteristics with approximately 40% porosity. The images were taken by SEM and the density and the size of the porosity were determined with the Image. After scaffold preparation, it has cross-linked by glutaraldehyde. Then, it has been washed with glycine and phosphate buffer saline (PBS), in order to neutralize the residual glutaraldehyde. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromidefor (MTT) results have represented approximately 91.13% viability of the scaffolds for cancer cells. In order to create a cluster, Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7, breast cancer cell line) and Michigan Cancer Foundation-10A (MCF-10A, human mammary epithelial cell line) cells were cultured on the scaffold in 24 well plate for five days. Then, we have exposed the cluster to the laser diode 808 nm radiation to investigate the effect of laser on the tumor with different power and time. Under the same conditions, cancer cells lost their viability more than the healthy ones. In conclusion, laser therapy is a viable method to destroy the target cells and has a minimum effect on the healthy tissues and cells and it can improve the other method of cancer treatments limitations.

Keywords: Breast cancer, electrospun scaffold, polycaprolacton, laser diode, cancer treatment.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 808

Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Sandeep Khimta, Kiranpreet Kaur

Abstract:

The prediction of Software quality during development life cycle of software project helps the development organization to make efficient use of available resource to produce the product of highest quality. “Whether a module is faulty or not" approach can be used to predict quality of a software module. There are numbers of software quality prediction models described in the literature based upon genetic algorithms, artificial neural network and other data mining algorithms. One of the promising aspects for quality prediction is based on clustering techniques. Most quality prediction models that are based on clustering techniques make use of K-means, Mixture-of-Guassians, Self-Organizing Map, Neural Gas and fuzzy K-means algorithm for prediction. In all these techniques a predefined structure is required that is number of neurons or clusters should be known before we start clustering process. But in case of Growing Neural Gas there is no need of predetermining the quantity of neurons and the topology of the structure to be used and it starts with a minimal neurons structure that is incremented during training until it reaches a maximum number user defined limits for clusters. Hence, in this work we have used Growing Neural Gas as underlying cluster algorithm that produces the initial set of labeled cluster from training data set and thereafter this set of clusters is used to predict the quality of test data set of software modules. The best testing results shows 80% accuracy in evaluating the quality of software modules. Hence, the proposed technique can be used by programmers in evaluating the quality of modules during software development.

Keywords: Growing Neural Gas, data clustering, fault prediction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1857

Authors: Salvatore L., Pires B., Campos M. C. M., De Souza Jr M. B.

Abstract:

It is estimated that the total cost of abnormal conditions to US process industries is around $20 billion dollars in annual losses. The hydrotreatment (HDT) of diesel fuel in petroleum refineries is a conversion process that leads to high profitable economical returns. However, this is a difficult process to control because it is operated continuously, with high hydrogen pressures and it is also subject to disturbances in feed properties and catalyst performance. So, the automatic detection of fault and diagnosis plays an important role in this context. In this work, a hybrid approach based on neural networks together with a pos-processing classification algorithm is used to detect faults in a simulated HDT unit. Nine classes (8 faults and the normal operation) were correctly classified using the proposed approach in a maximum time of 5 minutes, based on on-line data process measurements.

Keywords: Fault detection, hydrotreatment, hybrid systems, neural networks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1637

Authors: Pulak Swain, A. K. Ojha

Abstract:

Portfolio optimization is based on dealing with the problems of efficient asset allocation. Risk and Expected return are two conflicting criteria in such problems, where the investor prefers the return to be high and the risk to be low. Using multi-objective approach we can solve those type of problems. However the information which we have for the input parameters are generally ambiguous and the input values can fluctuate around some nominal values. We can not ignore the uncertainty in input values, as they can affect the asset allocation drastically. So we use Robust Optimization approach to the problems where the input parameters comes under box uncertainty. In this paper, we solve the multi criteria robust problem with the help of  E- constraint method.

Keywords: Portfolio optimization, multi-objective optimization, E-constraint method, box uncertainty, robust optimization.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 606

Authors: Perumal Siddhuraju, Arumugam Abirami, Gunasekaran Nagarani, Marimuthu Sangeethapriya

Abstract:

Aqueous ethanol and aqueous acetone extracts of Moringa oleifera (outer pericarp of immature fruit and flower) and Sesbania grandiflora white variety (flower and leaf) were examined for radical scavenging capacities and antioxidant activities. Ethanol extract of S. grandiflora (flower and leaf) and acetone extract of M. oleifera (outer pericarp of immature fruit and flower) contained relatively higher levels of total dietary phenolics than the other extracts. The antioxidant potential of the extracts were assessed by employing different in vitro assays such as reducing power assay, DPPH˙, ABTS˙+ and ˙OH radical scavenging capacities, antihemolytic assay by hydrogen peroxide induced method and metal chelating ability. Though all the extracts exhibited dose dependent reducing power activity, acetone extract of all the samples were found to have more hydrogen donating ability in DPPH˙ (2.3% - 65.03%) and hydroxyl radical scavenging systems (21.6% - 77.4%) than the ethanol extracts. The potential of multiple antioxidant activity was evident as it possessed antihemolytic activity (43.2 % to 68.0 %) and metal ion chelating potency (45.16 - 104.26 mg EDTA/g sample). The result indicate that acetone extract of M. oleifera (OPIF and flower) and S. grandiflora (flower and leaf) endowed with polyphenols, could be utilized as natural antioxidants/nutraceuticals.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, Moringa oleifera, Polyphenolics, Sesbania grandiflora, Underutilized vegetables.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2404

Authors: Farnaz Motamediyan Dehkordi, Anthony Thompson, Tobias Larsson

Abstract:

Market competition and a desire to gain advantages on globalized market, drives companies towards innovation efforts. Project overload is an unpleasant phenomenon, which is happening for employees inside those organizations trying to make the most efficient use of their resources to be innovative. But what are the impacts of project overload on organization-s innovation capabilities? Advanced engineering teams (AE) inside a major heavy equipment manufacturer are suffering from project overload in their quest for innovation. In this paper, Agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to examine the current reality of the company context, and of the AE team, where the opportunities and challenges for reducing the risk of project overload and moving towards innovation were identified. Project overload is more likely to stifle innovation and creativity inside teams. On the other hand, motivations on proper challenging goals are more likely to help individual to alleviate the negative aspects of low level of project overload.

Keywords: Innovation, Creativity, Project overload, Agentbased modelling.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1831

Authors: Ch.V.Rama Rao, Gowthami., Harsha., Rajkumar., M.B.Rama Murthy, K.Srinivasa Rao, K.AnithaSheela

Abstract:

This paper presents a new method for estimating the nonstationary noise power spectral density given a noisy signal. The method is based on averaging the noisy speech power spectrum using time and frequency dependent smoothing factors. These factors are adjusted based on signal-presence probability in individual frequency bins. Signal presence is determined by computing the ratio of the noisy speech power spectrum to its local minimum, which is updated continuously by averaging past values of the noisy speech power spectra with a look-ahead factor. This method adapts very quickly to highly non-stationary noise environments. The proposed method achieves significant improvements over a system that uses voice activity detector (VAD) in noise estimation.

Keywords: Noise estimation, Non-stationary noise, Speechenhancement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2332

Authors: Francisco J. Lopez-Jaquez, Sandra E. Ramirez-Jara

Abstract:

This paper presents an implementation and performance test of a distributed motion control system based on a master-slave configuration used to move a plasma-cutting torch over a predefined trajectory. The master is a general-purpose computer running on an open source operating system platform and software developer. Software running in the master computer generates commands on real time and we measure performance based on a selected set of differences between expected and observed distances. We are testing the null hypothesis that the outcome trajectory is identical to the input against the alternative hypothesis that there is a shift to the right or left of the input one. We used the Wilcoxon signed ranks test method for the hypothesis test.

Keywords: Distributed, motion, control, real-time, contouring.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1483

Authors: Mahdi Zolfaghari, Seyed Hossein Hosseinian, Hossein Askarian Abyaneh, Mehrdad Abedi

Abstract:

This paper presents a virtual active power filter (VAPF) using vehicle to grid (V2G) technology to maintain power quality requirements. The optimal discrete operation of the power converter of electric vehicle (EV) is based on recognizing desired switching states using the model predictive control (MPC) algorithm. A fast dynamic response, lower total harmonic distortion (THD) and good reference tracking performance are realized through the presented control strategy. The simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink validate the effectiveness of the scheme in improving power quality as well as good dynamic response in power transferring capability.

Keywords: Virtual active power filter, V2G technology, model predictive control, electric vehicle, power quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 994

Authors: Ashok Kumar, Vinod Kumar

Abstract:

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are used to monitor/observe vast inaccessible regions through deployment of large number of sensor nodes in the sensing area. For majority of WSN applications, the collected data needs to be combined with geographic information of its origin to make it useful for the user; information received from remote Sensor Nodes (SNs) that are several hops away from base station/sink is meaningless without knowledge of its source. In addition to this, location information of SNs can also be used to propose/develop new network protocols for WSNs to improve their energy efficiency and lifetime. In this paper, range free localization protocols for WSNs have been proposed. The proposed protocols are based on weighted centroid localization technique, where the edge weights of SNs are decided by utilizing fuzzy logic inference for received signal strength and link quality between the nodes. The fuzzification is carried out using (i) Mamdani, (ii) Sugeno, and (iii) Combined Mamdani Sugeno fuzzy logic inference. Simulation results demonstrate that proposed protocols provide better accuracy in node localization compared to conventional centroid based localization protocols despite presence of unintentional radio frequency interference from radio frequency (RF) sources operating in same frequency band.

Keywords: localization, range free, received signal strength, link quality indicator, Mamdani fuzzy logic inference, Sugeno fuzzy logic inference.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2625

Authors: A. A. Hossam-Eldin, E. N. Abdallah, M. S. El-Nozahy

Abstract:

Power system state estimation is the process of calculating a reliable estimate of the power system state vector composed of bus voltages' angles and magnitudes from telemetered measurements on the system. This estimate of the state vector provides the description of the system necessary for the operation and security monitoring. Many methods are described in the literature for solving the state estimation problem, the most important of which are the classical weighted least squares method and the nondeterministic genetic based method; however both showed drawbacks. In this paper a modified version of the genetic algorithm power system state estimation is introduced, Sensitivity of the proposed algorithm to genetic operators is discussed, the algorithm is applied to case studies and finally it is compared with the classical weighted least squares method formulation.

Keywords: Genetic algorithms, ill-conditioning, state estimation, weighted least squares.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1707

Authors: A. V. Goncharova, T. A. Karpenyuk, Y. S. Tsurkan, R. U. Beisembaeva, A. M. Kalbaeva, T. D. Mukasheva, L. V. Ignatova

Abstract:

Microorganisms isolated from water and soil of Kazakhstan to identify potential high-effective producers of the arachidonic acid, exhibiting a wide range of physiological activity and having practical applications were screened. Based on the results of two independent tests (the test on the sensitivity of the growth processes of microorganisms to acetylsalicylic acid - an irreversible inhibitor of PGH-synthase involved in the metabolism of arachidonic acid and its derivatives, the test for inhibition of peroxidase activity of membrane-bounding fraction of PGH - synthase by acetylsalicylic acid) were selected microbial cultures which are potential highproducer of arachidonic acid. They are characterized by a stable strong growth in the laboratory conditions. Identification of microorganism cultures based on morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular genetic characteristics was performed.

Keywords: Arachidonic acid, aspirin-sensitive culture, bacteria, producers, screening.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2097

Authors: O. O. Obe, V. Balanica, E. Neagoe

Abstract:

The effects of hypertension are often lethal thus its early detection and prevention is very important for everybody. In this paper, a neural network (NN) model was developed and trained based on a dataset of hypertension causative parameters in order to forecast the likelihood of occurrence of hypertension in patients. Our research goal was to analyze the potential of the presented NN to predict, for a period of time, the risk of hypertension or the risk of developing this disease for patients that are or not currently hypertensive. The results of the analysis for a given patient can support doctors in taking pro-active measures for averting the occurrence of hypertension such as recommendations regarding the patient behavior in order to lower his hypertension risk. Moreover, the paper envisages a set of three example scenarios in order to determine the age when the patient becomes hypertensive, i.e. determine the threshold for hypertensive age, to analyze what happens if the threshold hypertensive age is set to a certain age and the weight of the patient if being varied, and, to set the ideal weight for the patient and analyze what happens with the threshold of hypertensive age.

Keywords: Neural Network, hypertension, data set, training set, supervised learning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1658

Authors: E. Kharaishvili, G. Erkomaishvili, M. Chavleishvili

Abstract:

The importance of agribusiness development is proved in accordance with the trends in the agricultural sector of Georgia. Agribusiness environment and the consequences of the agricultural reforms are evaluated. The factors hindering the development of agribusiness are revealed and the ways for overcoming these problems are suggested. SWOT analysis is done in order to identify the needs of agribusiness. The needs of agribusiness development in Georgia are evaluated by priorities: prevention of diseases and reduction of the harm caused by these diseases, accessibility of long-term agricultural loans with low interest rates, improving qualification of farmers, the level of education and usage of modern technologies, changes in legislation, accessibility to high quality agricultural machinery, and the development of infrastructure. Based on the outcomes of the research, agribusiness development strategies in Georgia are suggested and appropriate priorities of economic policy are determined. Conclusions are made and based on these conclusions, some recommendations are suggested.

Keywords: Agricultural sector, agribusiness development, agribusiness strategy, agribusiness in Georgia.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4355

Authors: Shu-Lu Hsu, Jeffrey C. F. Tai, Yi-Han Wang

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to understand how consumers react to a company's promotional offers with mobile applications (APP) as premiums. This paper presents the results of an experimental study where five features of APP were involved: the cost (free/discounted) for earning APP, the relationship between APP and the promoted product, the perceived usefulness, the perceived ease of use, and the perceived playfulness of APP in the context of light foods purchase. The results support that the above features, except perceived ease of use, have substantial influences on consumers' intention to adopt the APP. Among the five features, the cost for earning APP has the most impact on the adopting intention of APP. The study also found a positive influence of adopting intention of APP on the consumer's purchase intention of the promoted product. Thus, APP-based premiums may enhance the consumer's purchase intention of a company's promoted products.

Keywords: Mobile Application, Premium, Sales Promotion, TAM.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2474

Authors: Selvakumar Dhanasingh, Shunmuga Kumar Nallaperumal

Abstract:

Microparticles carrier systems made from naturally occurring polymers based on chitosan/casein system appears to be a promising carrier for the sustained release of orally and parenteral administered drugs. In the current study we followed a microencapsulation technique based aqueous coacervation method to prepare chitosan/casein microparticles of compositions 1:1, 1:2 and 1:5 incorporated with chloramphenicol. Glutaraldehyde was used as a chemical cross-linking agent. The microparticles were prepared by aerosol method and studied by optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis, swelling studies and drug release studies at various pH. The percentage swelling of the polymers are found to be in the order pH 4 > pH 10 > pH 7 and the increase in casein composition decrease the swelling percentage. The drug release studies also follow the above order.

Keywords: Chitosan/casein micro particles, chloramphenicol, drug release, microencapsulation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3194

Authors: Elena Krelja Kurelović, Jasminka Tomljanović, Vlatka Davidović

Abstract:

The development of web technologies and mobile devices makes creating, accessing, using and sharing information or communicating with each other simpler every day. However, while the amount of information constantly increasing it is becoming harder to effectively organize and find quality information despite the availability of web search engines, filtering and indexing tools. Although digital technologies have overall positive impact on students’ lives, frequent use of these technologies and digital media enriched with dynamic hypertext and hypermedia content, as well as multitasking, distractions caused by notifications, calls or messages; can decrease the attention span, make thinking, memorizing and learning more difficult, which can lead to stress and mental exhaustion. This is referred to as “information overload”, “information glut” or “information anxiety”. Objective of this study is to determine whether students show signs of information overload and to identify the possible predictors. Research was conducted using a questionnaire developed for the purpose of this study. The results show that students frequently use technology (computers, gadgets and digital media), while they show moderate level of information literacy. They have sometimes experienced symptoms of information overload. According to the statistical analysis, higher frequency of technology use and lower level of information literacy are correlated with larger information overload. The multiple regression analysis has confirmed that the combination of these two independent variables has statistically significant predictive capacity for information overload. Therefore, the information science teachers should pay attention to improving the level of students’ information literacy and educate them about the risks of excessive technology use.

Keywords: Information overload, technology use, digital media, information literacy, students.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2678

Authors: Ali Khajeh Samani, Mario M. Attard

Abstract:

Lateral expansion is a factor defining the level of confinement in reinforced concrete columns. Therefore, predicting the lateral strain relationship with axial strain becomes an important issue. Measuring lateral strains in experiments is difficult and only few report experimental lateral strains. Among the existing analytical formulations, two recent models are compared with available test results in this paper with shortcomings highlighted. A new analytical model is proposed here for lateral strain axial strain relationship and is based on the supposition that the concrete behaves linear elastic in the early stages of loading and then nonlinear hardening up to the peak stress and then volumetric expansion. The proposal for the lateral strain axial strain relationship after the peak stress is mainly based on the hypothesis that the plastic lateral strain varies linearly with the plastic axial strain and it is shown that this is related to the lateral confinement level.

Keywords: Confined Concrete, Lateral Strain, Triaxial test, Postpeak behavior

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1988

Authors: Olusola Olalekan Elekofehinti, Isaac Gbadura Adanlawo, Joao Batista Teixeira Rocha

Abstract:

The potential neuroprotective effect of Phyllantus nuriri against Fe2+ and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) induced oxidative stress in mitochondria of rats brain was evaluated. Cellular viability was assessed by MTT reduction, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was measured using the probe 2,7-dichlorofluoresce indiacetate (DCFH-DA). Glutathione content was measured using dithionitrobenzoic acid (DTNB). Fe2+ (10μM) and SNP (5μM) significantly decreased mitochondrial activity, assessed by MTT reduction assay, in a dose-dependent manner, this occurred in parallel with increased glutathione oxidation, ROS production and lipid peroxidation end-products (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS). The co-incubation with methanolic extract of Phyllantus nuriri (10-200 μg/ml) reduced the disruption of mitochondrial activity, gluthathione oxidation, ROS production as well as the increase in TBARS levels caused by both Fe2+ and SNP in a dose dependent manner. HPLC analysis of the extract revealed the presence of gallic acid (20.540.01), caffeic acid (7.930.02), rutin (25.310.05), quercetin (31.280.03) and kaemferol (14.360.01). This result suggests that these phytochemicals account for the protective actions of P. niruri against Fe2+ and SNP -induced oxidative stress. Our results show that P. nuriri consist important bioactive molecules in the search for an improved therapy against the deleterious effects of Fe2+, an intrinsic producer of reactive oxygen species (ROS), that leads to neuronal oxidative stress and neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Phyllantus niruri, mitochondria, antioxidant, oxidative stress, synaptosome.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1738

Authors: Jung-Chuan Chou, Wei-Chuan Chen, Chien-Cheng Chen

Abstract:

This study is concerned with pH solution detection using 2 × 4 flexible sensor array based on a plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate that is coated a conductive layer and a ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) sensitive membrane with the technologies of screen-printing and RF sputtering. For data analysis, we also prepared a dynamic measurement system for acquiring the response voltage and analyzing the characteristics of the working electrodes (WEs), such as sensitivity and linearity. In this condition, an array measurement system was designed to acquire the original signal from sensor array, and it is based on the method of digital signal processing (DSP). The DSP modifies the unstable acquisition data to a direct current (DC) output using the technique of digital filter. Hence, this sensor array can obtain a satisfactory yield, 62.5%, through the design measurement and analysis system in our laboratory.

Keywords: Flexible sensor array, PET, RuO2, dynamic measurement, data analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1484

Authors: H. Shayeghi, A. Safari, H. A. Shayanfar

Abstract:

In this paper, multiobjective design of multi-machine Power System Stabilizers (PSSs) using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is presented. The stabilizers are tuned to simultaneously shift the lightly damped and undamped electro-mechanical modes of all machines to a prescribed zone in the s-plane. A multiobjective problem is formulated to optimize a composite set of objective functions comprising the damping factor, and the damping ratio of the lightly damped electromechanical modes. The PSSs parameters tuning problem is converted to an optimization problem which is solved by PSO with the eigenvalue-based multiobjective function. The proposed PSO based PSSs is tested on a multimachine power system under different operating conditions and disturbances through eigenvalue analysis and some performance indices to illustrate its robust performance.

Keywords: PSS Design, Particle Swarm Optimization, Dynamic Stability, Multiobjective Optimization.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2638

Authors: Thomas Bryan, Veton Kepuska, Ivica Kostanic

Abstract:

Speaker recognition is performed in high Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) environments using principals of Computational Auditory Scene Analysis (CASA). CASA methods often classify sounds from images in the time-frequency (T-F) plane using spectrograms or cochleargrams as the image. In this paper atomic decomposition implemented by matching pursuit performs a transform from time series speech signals to the T-F plane. The atomic decomposition creates a sparsely populated T-F vector in “weight space” where each populated T-F position contains an amplitude weight. The weight space vector along with the atomic dictionary represents a denoised, compressed version of the original signal. The arraignment or of the atomic indices in the T-F vector are used for classification. Unsupervised feature learning implemented by a sparse autoencoder learns a single dictionary of basis features from a collection of envelope samples from all speakers. The approach is demonstrated using pairs of speakers from the TIMIT data set. Pairs of speakers are selected randomly from a single district. Each speak has 10 sentences. Two are used for training and 8 for testing. Atomic index probabilities are created for each training sentence and also for each test sentence. Classification is performed by finding the lowest Euclidean distance between then probabilities from the training sentences and the test sentences. Training is done at a 30dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Testing is performed at SNR’s of 0 dB, 5 dB, 10 dB and 30dB. The algorithm has a baseline classification accuracy of ~93% averaged over 10 pairs of speakers from the TIMIT data set. The baseline accuracy is attributable to short sequences of training and test data as well as the overall simplicity of the classification algorithm. The accuracy is not affected by AWGN and produces ~93% accuracy at 0dB SNR.

Keywords: Time-frequency plane, atomic decomposition, envelope sampling, Gabor atoms, matching pursuit, sparse dictionary learning, sparse autoencoder.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1562

Authors: Junyou Shi, Weiwei Cui

Abstract:

Testability modeling is a commonly used method in testability design and analysis of system. A dependency matrix will be obtained from testability modeling, and we will give a quantitative evaluation about fault detection and isolation. Based on the dependency matrix, we can obtain the diagnosis tree. The tree provides the procedures of the fault detection and isolation. But the dependency matrix usually includes built-in test (BIT) and manual test in fact. BIT runs the test automatically and is not limited by the procedures. The method above cannot give a more efficient diagnosis and use the advantages of the BIT. A Comprehensive method of fault detection and isolation is proposed. This method combines the advantages of the BIT and Manual test by splitting the matrix. The result of the case study shows that the method is effective.

Keywords: BIT, fault detection, fault isolation, testability modeling.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1663

Authors: Qiong He, S. Thomas Ng

Abstract:

Upgrading the thermal performance of building envelope of existing residential buildings is an effective way to reduce heat gain or heat loss. Overhang device is a common solution for building envelope improvement as it can cut down solar heat gain and thereby can reduce the energy used for space cooling in summer time. Despite that, overhang can increase the demand for indoor heating in winter due to its function of lowering the solar heat gain. Obviously, overhang has different impacts on energy use in different climatic zones which have different energy demand. To evaluate the impact of overhang device on building energy performance under different climates of China, an energy analysis model is built up in a computer-based simulation program known as DesignBuilder based on the data of a typical high-rise residential building. The energy simulation results show that single overhang is able to cut down around 5% of the energy consumption of the case building in the stand-alone situation or about 2% when the building is surrounded by other buildings in regions which predominantly rely on space cooling though it has no contribution to energy reduction in cold region. In regions with cold summer and cold winter, adding overhang over windows can cut down around 4% and 1.8% energy use with and without adjoining buildings, respectively. The results indicate that overhang might not an effective shading device to reduce the energy consumption in the mixed climate or cold regions.

Keywords: Overhang, energy analysis, computer-based simulation, high-rise residential building, mutual shading, climate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1442

Authors: Andreas Theissler, Ian Dear

Abstract:

The one-class support vector machine “support vector data description” (SVDD) is an ideal approach for anomaly or outlier detection. However, for the applicability of SVDD in real-world applications, the ease of use is crucial. The results of SVDD are massively determined by the choice of the regularisation parameter C and the kernel parameter  of the widely used RBF kernel. While for two-class SVMs the parameters can be tuned using cross-validation based on the confusion matrix, for a one-class SVM this is not possible, because only true positives and false negatives can occur during training. This paper proposes an approach to find the optimal set of parameters for SVDD solely based on a training set from one class and without any user parameterisation. Results on artificial and real data sets are presented, underpinning the usefulness of the approach.

Keywords: Support vector data description, anomaly detection, one-class classification, parameter tuning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2927

Authors: Benjamin Anderson-Sackaney, Amr Abdel-Dayem

Abstract:

This paper presents a comprehensive survey of recent source camera identification (SCI) systems. Then, the performance of various sensor pattern noise (SPN) estimators was experimentally assessed, under common photo response non-uniformity (PRNU) frameworks. The experiments used 1350 natural and 900 flat-field images, captured by 18 individual cameras. 12 different experiments, grouped into three sets, were conducted. The results were analyzed using the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. The experimental results demonstrated that combining the basic SPN estimator with a wavelet-based filtering scheme provides promising results. However, the phase SPN estimator fits better with both patch-based (BM3D) and anisotropic diffusion (AD) filtering schemes.

Keywords: Sensor pattern noise, source camera identification, photo response non-uniformity, anisotropic diffusion, peak to correlation energy ratio.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1130