Search results for: Economics of health and Safety.
1481 The Study of Ultimate Response Guideline of Kuosheng BWR/6 Nuclear Power Plant Using TRACE and SNAP
Authors: J. R. Wang, J. H. Yang, Y. Chiang, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen, S. C. Chiang, T. Y. Yu
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In this study of ultimate response guideline (URG), Kuosheng BWR/6 nuclear power plant (NPP) TRACE model was established. The reactor depressurization, low pressure water injection, and containment venting are the main actions of URG. This research focuses to evaluate the efficiency of URG under Fukushima-like conditions. Additionally, the sensitivity study of URG was also performed in this research. The analysis results of TRACE present that URG can keep the peak cladding temperature (PCT) below 1088.7 K (the failure criteria) under Fukushima-like conditions. It implied that Kuosheng NPP was at the safe situation.Keywords: BWR, TRACE, safety analysis, URG.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11731480 Real-time Detection of Space Manipulator Self-collision
Authors: Zhang Xiaodong, Tang Zixin, Liu Xin
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In order to avoid self-collision of space manipulators during operation process, a real-time detection method is proposed in this paper. The manipulator is fitted into a cylinder-enveloping surface, and then, a kind of detection algorithm of collision between cylinders is analyzed. The collision model of space manipulator self-links can be detected by using this algorithm in real-time detection during the operation process. To ensure security of the operation, a safety threshold is designed. The simulation and experiment results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for a 7-DOF space manipulator.Keywords: Space manipulator, Collision detection, Self-collision, the real-time collision detection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20211479 A New Gateway for Rheumatoid Arthritis: COXIBs with an Improved Cardiovascular Profile
Authors: M. Hoxha, V. Capra, C. Buccellati, A. Sala, C. Cena, R. Fruttero, M. Bertinaria, G. E. Rovati
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Today COXIBs are used in the treatment of arthritis and many other painful conditions in selected patients with high gastrointestinal risk and low cardiovascular (CV) risk. Previously, we have identified an unexpected mechanism of action of a traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (diclofenac) and a specific inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COXIB) (lumiracoxib) demonstrating that they possess weak competitive antagonism at the thromboxane receptor (TP). We hypothesize that modifying the structure of a known COXIB so that it becomes also a more potent TP antagonist will preserve the anti-inflammatory and gastrointestinal safety typical of COXIBs and prevent the CV risk associated with long term therapy.
Keywords: Cyclooxygenase, inflammation, lumiracoxib, thromboxane A2.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20161478 Annoyance Caused by Air Pollution: A Comparative Study of Two Industrialized Regions
Authors: Milena M. Melo, Jane M. Santos, Severine Frere, Valderio A. Reisen, Neyval C. Reis Jr., Maria de Fátima S. Leite
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Although there had been a many studies that shows the impact of air pollution on physical health, comparatively less was known of human behavioral responses and annoyance impacts. Annoyance caused by air pollution is a public health problem because it can be an ambient stressor causing stress and disease and can affect quality of life. The objective of this work is to evaluate the annoyance caused by air pollution in two different industrialized urban areas, Dunkirk (France) and Vitoria (Brazil). The populations of these cities often report feeling annoyed by dust. Surveys were conducted, and the collected data were analyzed using statistical analyses. The results show that sociodemographic variables, importance of air quality, perceived industrial risk, perceived air pollution and occurrence of health problems play important roles in the perceived annoyance. These results show the existence of a common problem in geographically distant areas and allow stakeholders to develop prevention strategies.
Keywords: Air pollution, annoyance, industrial risks, perception of pollution, public health, settled dust.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22951477 Tomato Lycopene: Functional Proprieties and Health Benefits
Authors: C. S. Marques, M. J. Reis Lima, J. Oliveira, E. Teixeira-Lemos
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The growing concerns for physical wellbeing and health have been reflected in the way we choose food in our table. Nowadays, we are all more informed consumers and choose healthier foods. On the other hand, stroke, cancer and atherosclerosis may be somehow minimized by the intake of some bioactive compounds present in food, the so-called nutraceuticals and functional foods. The aim of this work was to make a revision of the published studies about the effects of some bioactive compounds, namely lycopene in human health, in the prevention of diseases, thus playing the role of a functional food. Free radical in human body can induce cell damage and consequently can be responsible for the development of some cancers and chronic diseases. Lycopene is one of the most powerful antioxidants known, being the predominant carotenoid in tomato. The respective chemistry, bioavailability, and its functional role in the prevention of several diseases will be object of this work. On the other hand, the inclusion of lycopene in some foods can also be made by biotechnology and represents a way to recover the wastes in the tomato industry with nutritional positive effects in health.Keywords: Tomato, lycopene, bioavailability, functional foods, carotenoids, cancer and antioxidants.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31841476 Inventory Control for a Joint Replenishment Problem with Stochastic Demand
Authors: Bassem Roushdy, Nahed Sobhy, Abdelrhim Abdelhamid, Ahmed Mahmoud
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Most papers model Joint Replenishment Problem (JRP) as a (kT,S) where kT is a multiple value for a common review period T,and S is a predefined order up to level. In general the (T,S) policy is characterized by a long out of control period which requires a large amount of safety stock compared to the (R,Q) policy. In this paper a probabilistic model is built where an item, call it item(i), with the shortest order time between interval (T)is modeled under (R,Q) policy and its inventory is continuously reviewed, while the rest of items (j) are periodically reviewed at a definite time corresponding to itemKeywords: Inventory management, Joint replenishment, policy evaluation, stochastic process
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30331475 Unified Structured Process for Health Analytics
Authors: Supunmali Ahangama, Danny Chiang Choon Poo
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Health analytics (HA) is used in healthcare systems for effective decision making, management and planning of healthcare and related activities. However, user resistances, unique position of medical data content and structure (including heterogeneous and unstructured data) and impromptu HA projects have held up the progress in HA applications. Notably, the accuracy of outcomes depends on the skills and the domain knowledge of the data analyst working on the healthcare data. Success of HA depends on having a sound process model, effective project management and availability of supporting tools. Thus, to overcome these challenges through an effective process model, we propose a HA process model with features from rational unified process (RUP) model and agile methodology.
Keywords: Agile methodology, health analytics, unified process model, UML.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23171474 Teaching Material, Books, Publications versus the Practice: Myths and Truths about Installation and Use of Downhole Safety Valve
Authors: Robson da Cunha Santos, Caio Cezar R. Bonifacio, Diego Mureb Quesada, Gerson Gomes Cunha
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The paper is related to the safety of oil wells and environmental preservation on the planet, because they require great attention and commitment from oil companies and people who work with these equipments. This must occur from drilling the well until it is abandoned in order to safeguard the environment and prevent possible damage. The project had as main objective the constitution resulting from comparatives made among books, articles and publications with information gathered in technical visits to operational bases of Petrobras. After the visits, the information from methods of utilization and present managements, which were not available before, became available to the general audience. As a result, it is observed a huge flux of incorrect and out-of-date information that comprehends not only bibliographic archives, but also academic resources and materials. During the gathering of more in-depth information on the manufacturing, assembling, and use aspects of DHSVs, several issues that were previously known as correct, customary issues were discovered to be uncertain and outdated. Information of great importance resulted in affirmations about subjects as the depth of the valve installation that was before installed to 30 meters from the seabed (mud line). Despite this, the installation should vary in conformity to the ideal depth to escape from area with the biggest tendency to hydrates formation according to the temperature and pressure. Regarding to valves with nitrogen chamber, in accordance with books, they have their utilization linked to water line ≥ 700 meters, but in Brazilian exploratory fields, their use occurs from 600 meters of water line. The valves used in Brazilian fields are able to be inserted to the production column and self-equalizing, but the use of screwed valve in the column of production and equalizing is predominant. Although these valves are more expensive to acquire, they are more reliable, efficient, with a bigger shelf life and they do not cause restriction to the fluid flux. It follows that based on researches and theoretical information confronted to usual forms used in fields, the present project is important and relevant. This project will be used as source of actualization and information equalization that connects academic environment and real situations in exploratory situations and also taking into consideration the enrichment of precise and easy to understand information to future researches and academic upgrading.Keywords: Downhole, Teaching Material, Books, Practice.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13341473 Auto Rickshaw Impacts with Pedestrians: A Computational Analysis of Post-Collision Kinematics and Injury Mechanics
Authors: A. J. Al-Graitti, G. A. Khalid, P. Berthelson, A. Mason-Jones, R. Prabhu, M. D. Jones
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Motor vehicle related pedestrian road traffic collisions are a major road safety challenge, since they are a leading cause of death and serious injury worldwide, contributing to a third of the global disease burden. The auto rickshaw, which is a common form of urban transport in many developing countries, plays a major transport role, both as a vehicle for hire and for private use. The most common auto rickshaws are quite unlike ‘typical’ four-wheel motor vehicle, being typically characterised by three wheels, a non-tilting sheet-metal body or open frame construction, a canvas roof and side curtains, a small drivers’ cabin, handlebar controls and a passenger space at the rear. Given the propensity, in developing countries, for auto rickshaws to be used in mixed cityscapes, where pedestrians and vehicles share the roadway, the potential for auto rickshaw impacts with pedestrians is relatively high. Whilst auto rickshaws are used in some Western countries, their limited number and spatial separation from pedestrian walkways, as a result of city planning, has not resulted in significant accident statistics. Thus, auto rickshaws have not been subject to the vehicle impact related pedestrian crash kinematic analyses and/or injury mechanics assessment, typically associated with motor vehicle development in Western Europe, North America and Japan. This study presents a parametric analysis of auto rickshaw related pedestrian impacts by computational simulation, using a Finite Element model of an auto rickshaw and an LS-DYNA 50th percentile male Hybrid III Anthropometric Test Device (dummy). Parametric variables include auto rickshaw impact velocity, auto rickshaw impact region (front, centre or offset) and relative pedestrian impact position (front, side and rear). The output data of each impact simulation was correlated against reported injury metrics, Head Injury Criterion (front, side and rear), Neck injury Criterion (front, side and rear), Abbreviated Injury Scale and reported risk level and adds greater understanding to the issue of auto rickshaw related pedestrian injury risk. The parametric analyses suggest that pedestrians are subject to a relatively high risk of injury during impacts with an auto rickshaw at velocities of 20 km/h or greater, which during some of the impact simulations may even risk fatalities. The present study provides valuable evidence for informing a series of recommendations and guidelines for making the auto rickshaw safer during collisions with pedestrians. Whilst it is acknowledged that the present research findings are based in the field of safety engineering and may over represent injury risk, compared to “Real World” accidents, many of the simulated interactions produced injury response values significantly greater than current threshold curves and thus, justify their inclusion in the study. To reduce the injury risk level and increase the safety of the auto rickshaw, there should be a reduction in the velocity of the auto rickshaw and, or, consideration of engineering solutions, such as retro fitting injury mitigation technologies to those auto rickshaw contact regions which are the subject of the greatest risk of producing pedestrian injury.
Keywords: Auto Rickshaw, finite element analysis, injury risk level, LS-DYNA, pedestrian impact.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13021472 Seismic Hazard Assessment of Offshore Platforms
Authors: F. D. Konstandakopoulou, G. A. Papagiannopoulos, N. G. Pnevmatikos, G. D. Hatzigeorgiou
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This paper examines the effects of pile-soil-structure interaction on the dynamic response of offshore platforms under the action of near-fault earthquakes. Two offshore platforms models are investigated, one with completely fixed supports and one with piles which are clamped into deformable layered soil. The soil deformability for the second model is simulated using non-linear springs. These platform models are subjected to near-fault seismic ground motions. The role of fault mechanism on platforms’ response is additionally investigated, while the study also examines the effects of different angles of incidence of seismic records on the maximum response of each platform.
Keywords: Hazard analysis, offshore platforms, earthquakes, safety.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9951471 Job Satisfaction of Midwives Working in Labor Ward of the Lady Dufferin Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: B. Muhammadani
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Health workforce is a fundamental component of health system and plays a significant role in delivering effective health care services. However, there is a crucial shortage of skilled personnel which make them prone to work in stressful conditions. In spite of excessively high workload and burnout among the staff, little attention is given to their job satisfaction level which has serious implications on the productivity and effective performance of staff to achieve organizational goals. Therefore, this study aims to explore the job satisfaction of midwives working in the labor ward of the Lady Dufferin Hospital, Karachi. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. The short version of Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered on a convenient sample group of 22 midwives to gather information on their job satisfaction. The results demonstrated that midwives were overall satisfied with their job. The level of job satisfaction was however found different in various positions within midwifery cadre. The head of midwives was highly satisfied as compared to midwifery staff who works under the supervision of head. The level of satisfaction of team leaders fall between the head and staff of midwifery. Similar trends were observed for both intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Such evidences on these issues are essential and useful as it helps explore the attitudes of individuals towards work which has direct implications on access to quality care services. Strategic interventions are required at organizational level to provide motivators and satisfiers to health workers for their work related satisfaction and enhanced motivation.Keywords: Health workforce, job satisfaction, motivation, workload, burnout, midwives, health system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22901470 Implementation of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Approach in Maximizing Net Present Value
Authors: Gaurav Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Bajaj
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The applicability of Net Present Value (NPV) in an investment project is becoming more and more popular in the field of engineering economics. The classical NPV methodology involves only the precise and accurate data of the investment project. In the present communication, we give a new mathematical model for NPV which uses the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy set theory. The proposed model is based on triangular intuitionistic fuzzy number, which may be known as Intuitionistic Fuzzy Net Present Value (IFNPV). The model has been applied to an example and the results are presented.
Keywords: Net Present Value, Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set, Investment Projects.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24991469 Impact of Hepatitis C Virus Chronic Infection on Quality of Life in Egypt
Authors: Ammal M. Metwally, Ghada A. Abdel-Latif, Walaa A. Fouad, Thanaa M. Rabah, Amira Mohsen, Fatma A. Shaaban, Iman I. Salama
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The study aimed at determining the impact of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on patients’ Quality of Life (QoL), its relation to geographical characteristics of patients, awareness of the disease, treatment regimen, co-morbid psychiatric or other diseases. 457 patients were randomly selected from ten National Treatment Reference Centers of Ministry of Health hospitals from four community locations representing Egypt. Health related QoL assessment questionnaire with the 36-item Short Form used for assessment of the enrolled patients. The study showed no significant difference between HCV patients in different governorates as regards total QoL. Females, illiterate patients and those had bilharziasis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension or were depressed had significantly the lowest QoL score. HCV patients who knew the danger of the disease had significant lower mean score of physical and mental health components. Optimal care of overall well-being of HCV patients requires adequate knowledge of their neurological and psychological status. It is important to know how to cope with having a family member with hepatitis C and more importantly to know what should you say and what shouldn’t you say as a positive hopeful attitude is essential for combating HCV chronic infection.
Keywords: Hepatitis C virus chronic infection, physical health component and mental health component of QoL, total quality of life.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20471468 The Impact of Copper and Zinc Deficiency on Milk Production Performances of Intensively Grazed Dairy Cows on the North-East of Romania
Authors: Alina Anton, Gheorghe Solcan, Carmen Solcan
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The influence of copper and zinc supplements on milk production performances and health indicators was tested in a 20- week feeding trial, with 40 Holstein-Friesian lactating cows, devided in four groups (copper, zinc, copper-zinc and control). Correlations of the Cu and Zn plasma values with some animal performance criteria of health (body condition score and somatic cell counts) and production (milk yield, peak milk yield, fat and crude protein content) were done. During the 140 days of the experiment, the two added minerals caused a statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) of their plasma values after the peak of the cows’ lactations. It was also observed that subjects that have received copper and zinc supplements had the lowest number of somatic cell counts in milk. The Pearson correlation test showed a positive corellation (p = 0.007, r = + 0.851) between the plasma Zn and the milk production. The improvement of the nutritional status improved the milk production performances of the cows as well as their health performances.
Keywords: Copper, dairy cows, health, milk production, zinc
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32491467 A Short Form of the Taiwan Health Literacy Scale (THLS) for Chinese-Speaking Adults
Authors: Frank C. Pan
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The Taiwan Health Literacy Scale (THLS) was developed to cope with the need of measuring heath literacy of Chinese-speaking adults in Taiwan. Although the scale was proven having good reliability and validity, it was not popularly adopted by the practitioners due to the length, and the time required completing. Based on the THLS, this research further invited healthcare professionals to review the original scale for a possible shorten work. Under the logic of THLS, the research adopted an analytic hierarchy process technique to consolidate the healthcare experts- assessments to shorten the original scale. There are fifteen items out of the original 66 items were identified having higher loadings. Confirmed by the experts and passed a pilot test with 40 undergraduate students, a short form of THLS is then introduced. This research then used 839 samples from the major cities of the Hua-lien county in the eastern part of Taiwan to test the reliability and validity of this new scale. The reliability of the scale is high and acceptable. The current scale is also highly correlated with the original, of which provide evidence for the validity of the scale.
Keywords: Health literacy, THLS, health education, STHLS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18991466 An Economic Evaluation of Subjective Well-Being Derived from Sport Participation
Authors: Huei-Fu Lu
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This study links up the theories of social psychology, economics and sport management to assess the impact of sport participation on subjective well-being (SWB) and use a simple statistic method to estimate the relative monetary value that sport participation derives SWB for Taiwan-s college students. By constructing proper measurements on sport participation and SWB respectively, a structural equation model (SEM) is developed to perform a confirmatory factory analysis, and the causal relationship between sport participation and SWB as well as the effect of the demographic variables on these two concepts are also discussed.Keywords: Demographics, Economic value, Sport participation, Structural equation modeling (SEM), Subjective well-being.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16511465 Quality Monitoring and Dynamic Pricing in Cold Chain Management
Authors: Myo Min Aung, Yoon Seok Chang, Woo Ram Kim
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This paper presents a cold chain monitoring system which focuses on assessment of quality and dynamic pricing information about food in cold chain. Cold chain is composed of many actors and stages; however it can be seen as a single entity since a breakdown in temperature control at any stage can impact the final quality of the product. In a cold chain, the shelf life, quality, and safety of perishable food throughout the supply chain is greatly impacted by environmental factors especially temperature. In this paper, a prototype application is implemented to retrieve timetemperature history, the current quality and the dynamic price setting according to changing quality impacted by temperature fluctuations in real-time.
Keywords: Cold chain, monitoring, quality, temperature, traceability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30541464 Using TRACE and SNAP Codes to Establish the Model of Maanshan PWR for SBO Accident
Authors: B. R. Shen, J. R. Wang, J. H. Yang, S. W. Chen, C. Shih, Y. Chiang, Y. F. Chang, Y. H. Huang
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In this research, TRACE code with the interface code-SNAP was used to simulate and analyze the SBO (station blackout) accident which occurred in Maanshan PWR (pressurized water reactor) nuclear power plant (NPP). There are four main steps in this research. First, the SBO accident data of Maanshan NPP were collected. Second, the TRACE/SNAP model of Maanshan NPP was established by using these data. Third, this TRACE/SNAP model was used to perform the simulation and analysis of SBO accident. Finally, the simulation and analysis of SBO with mitigation equipments was performed. The analysis results of TRACE are consistent with the data of Maanshan NPP. The mitigation equipments of Maanshan can maintain the safety of Maanshan in the SBO according to the TRACE predictions.
Keywords: PWR, TRACE, SBO, Maanshan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7361463 Application of Robotics to Assemble a Used Fuel Container in the Canadian Used Fuel Packing Plant
Authors: Dimitrie Marinceu
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The newest Canadian Used Fuel Container (UFC)- (called also “Mark II”) modifies the design approach for its Assembly Robotic Cell (ARC) in the Canadian Used (Nuclear) Fuel Packing Plant (UFPP). Some of the robotic design solutions are presented in this paper. The design indicates that robots and manipulators are expected to be used in the Canadian UFPP. As normally, the UFPP design will incorporate redundancy of all equipment to allow expedient recovery from any postulated upset conditions. Overall, this paper suggests that robot usage will have a significant positive impact on nuclear safety, quality, productivity, and reliability.Keywords: Used fuel packing plant, robotic assembly cell, used fuel container, deep geological repository.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8681462 Development of a Miniature and Low-Cost IoT-Based Remote Health Monitoring Device
Authors: Sreejith Jayachandran, Mojtaba Ghodsi, Morteza Mohammadzaheri
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The modern busy world is running behind new embedded technologies based on computers and software meanwhile some people are unable to monitor their health condition and regular medical check-ups. Some of them postpone medical check-ups due to a lack of time and convenience while others skip these regular evaluations and medical examinations due to huge medical bills and hospital expenses. In this research, we present a device in the telemonitoring system capable of monitoring, checking, and evaluating the health status of the human body remotely through the internet for the needs of all kinds of people. The remote health monitoring device is a microcontroller-based embedded unit. The various types of sensors in this device are connected to the human body, and with the help of an Arduino UNO board, the required analogue data are collected from the sensors. The microcontroller on the Arduino board processes the analogue data collected in this way into digital data and transfers that information to the cloud and stores it there; the processed digital data are then instantly displayed through the LCD attached to the machine. By accessing the cloud storage with a username and password, the concerned person’s health care teams/doctors, and other health staff can collect these data for the assessment and follow-up of that patient. Besides that, the family members/guardians can use and evaluate these data for awareness of the patient's current health status. Moreover, the system is connected to a GPS module. In emergencies, the concerned team can be positioning the patient or the person with this device. The setup continuously evaluates and transfers the data to the cloud and also the user can prefix a normal value range for the evaluation. For example, the blood pressure normal value is universally prefixed between 80/120 mmHg. Similarly, the Remote Health Monitoring System (RHMS) is also allowed to fix the range of values referred to as normal coefficients. This IoT-based miniature system 11×10×10 cm3 with a low weight of 500 gr only consumes 10 mW. This smart monitoring system is manufactured for 100 GBP (British Pound Sterling), and can facilitate the communication between patients and health systems, but also it can be employed for numerous other uses including communication sectors in the aerospace and transportation systems.
Keywords: Embedded Technology, Telemonitoring system, Microcontroller, Arduino UNO, Cloud storage, GPS, RHMS, Remote Health Monitoring System, Alert system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2271461 Exploring the Perspective of Service Quality in mHealth Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Wan-I Lee, Nelio Mendoza Figueredo
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The impact of COVID-19 has a significant effect on all sectors of society globally. Health information technology (HIT) has become an effective health strategy in this age of distancing. In this regard, Mobile Health (mHealth) plays a critical role in managing patient and provider workflows during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the users' perception of service quality about mHealth services plays a significant role in shaping confidence and subsequent behaviors regarding the mHealth users' intention of use. This study's objective was to explore levels of user attributes analyzed by a qualitative method of how health practitioners and patients are satisfied or dissatisfied with using mHealth services; and analyzed the users' intention in the context of Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores the experienced usability of a mHealth services during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses qualitative methods that include in-depth and semi-structured interviews that investigate participants' perceptions and experiences and the meanings they attribute to them. The five cases consisted of health practitioners, clinic staff, and patients' experiences using mHealth services. This study encourages participants to discuss issues related to the research question by asking open-ended questions, usually in one-to-one interviews. The findings show the positive and negative attributes of mHealth service quality. Hence, the significant importance of patients' and health practitioners' issues on several dimensions of perceived service quality is system quality, information quality, and interaction quality. A concept map for perceptions regards to emergency uses' intention of mHealth services process is depicted. The findings revealed that users pay more attention to "Medical care", "ease of use" and "utilitarian benefits" and have less importance for "Admissions and Convenience" and "Social influence". To improve mHealth services, the mHealth providers and health practitioners should better manage users' experiences to enhance mHealth services. This research contributes to the understanding of service quality issues in mHealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19, mobile health, mHealth, service quality, use intention.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6711460 Highly Accurate Tennis Ball Throwing Machine with Intelligent Control
Authors: Ferenc Kovács, Gábor Hosszú
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The paper presents an advanced control system for tennis ball throwing machines to improve their accuracy according to the ball impact points. A further advantage of the system is the much easier calibration process involving the intelligent solution of the automatic adjustment of the stroking parameters according to the ball elasticity, the self-calibration, the use of the safety margin at very flat strokes and the possibility to placing the machine to any position of the half court. The system applies mathematical methods to determine the exact ball trajectories and special approximating processes to access all points on the aimed half court.Keywords: Control system, robot programming, robot control, sports equipment, throwing machine.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 41651459 Implementation of a Web-Based Wireless ECG Measuring and Recording System
Authors: Onder Yakut, Serdar Solak, Emine Dogru Bolat
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Measuring the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is an essential process for the diagnosis of the heart diseases. The ECG signal has the information of the degree of how much the heart performs its functions. In medical diagnosis and treatment systems, Decision Support Systems processing the ECG signal are being developed for the use of clinicians while medical examination. In this study, a modular wireless ECG (WECG) measuring and recording system using a single board computer and e-Health sensor platform is developed. In this designed modular system, after the ECG signal is taken from the body surface by the electrodes first, it is filtered and converted to digital form. Then, it is recorded to the health database using Wi-Fi communication technology. The real time access of the ECG data is provided through the internet utilizing the developed web interface.Keywords: ECG, e-health sensor shield, raspberry Pi, wifi technology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29871458 A Design of the Organic Rankine Cycle for the Low Temperature Waste Heat
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A presentation of the design of the Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with heat regeneration and superheating processes is a subject of this paper. The maximum temperature level in the ORC is considered to be 110°C and the maximum pressure varies up to 2.5MPa. The selection process of the appropriate working fluids, thermal design and calculation of the cycle and its components are described. With respect to the safety, toxicity, flammability, price and thermal cycle efficiency, the working fluid selected is R134a. As a particular example, the thermal design of the condenser used for the ORC engine with a theoretical thermal power of 179 kW was introduced. The minimal heat transfer area for a completed condensation was determined to be approximately 520m2.
Keywords: Organic Rankine Cycle, thermal efficiency, working fluids.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 40411457 Novel Methods for Desulfurization of Fuel Oils
Authors: H. Hosseini
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Because of the requirement for low sulfur content of fuel oils, it is necessary to develop alternative methods for desulfurization of heavy fuel oil. Due to the disadvantages of HDS technologies such as costs, safety and green environment, new methods have been developed. Among these methods is ultrasoundassisted oxidative desulfurization. Using ultrasound-assisted oxidative desulfurization, compounds such as benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene can be oxidized. As an alternative method is sulfur elimination of heavy fuel oil by using of activated carbon in a packed column in batch condition. The removal of sulfur compounds in this case to reach about 99%. The most important property of activated carbon is ability of it for adsorption, which is due to high surface area and pore volume of it.Keywords: Desulfurization, Fuel oil, Activated carbon, Ultrasound-assisted oxidative desulfurization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 44361456 Product Development and Derivatives Exploration by using Photosynthetic Bacteria
Authors: Yi-Fang Hung, Jinn-Tsyy Lai
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Lycopene, which can be extracted from plants and is very popular for fruit intake, is restricted for healthy food development due to its high price. On the other hand, it will get great safety concerns, especially in the food or cosmetic application, if the raw material of lycopene is produced by chemical synthesis. In this project, we provide a key technology to bridge the limitation as mentioned above. Based on the abundant bioresources of BCRC (Bioresource Collection and Research Center, Taiwan), a promising lycopene output will be anticipated by the introduction of fermentation technology along with industry-related core energy. Our results showed that addition of tween 80(0.2%) and span 20 produced higher amount of lycopene. And piperidine, when was added at 48hr to the cultivation medium, could promote lycopene excretion effectively also.Keywords: photosynthetic bacteria, lycopene, tween80, Piperidine
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18321455 MP-SMC-I Method for Slip Suppression of Electric Vehicles under Braking
Authors: Tohru Kawabe
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In this paper, a new SMC (Sliding Mode Control) method with MP (Model Predictive Control) integral action for the slip suppression of EV (Electric Vehicle) under braking is proposed. The proposed method introduce the integral term with standard SMC gain , where the integral gain is optimized for each control period by the MPC algorithms. The aim of this method is to improve the safety and the stability of EVs under braking by controlling the wheel slip ratio. There also include numerical simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.Keywords: Sliding Mode Control, Model Predictive Control, Integral Action, Electric Vehicle, Slip suppression.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22471454 Control of Aspergillus flavus Growth in Tomato Paste by Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Origanum vulgare L. Essential Oils
Authors: F. Kalantari, M. Barzegar, Z. Hamidi-Esfahani
Abstract:
This study was conducted to evaluate the antifungal activities of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Origanum vulgare L. essential oil against Aspergillus flavus in culture media and tomato paste. 200 ppm of cinnamon and 500 ppm of oregano completely inhibited A. flavus growth in culture media, while in tomato paste 300 ppm of cinnamon and 200 ppm of oregano had the same effect. Test panel evaluations revealed that samples with 100 and 200 ppm cinnamon were acceptable. The results may suggest the potential use of Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oil as natural preservative in tomato paste.Keywords: Antimicrobial, Food safety, GC/MS, Natural preservative
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26531453 Study the Effect of Soft Errors on FlexRay-Based Automotive Systems
Authors: Yung-Yuan Chen, Kuen-Long Leu
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FlexRay, as a communication protocol for automotive control systems, is developed to fulfill the increasing demand on the electronic control units for implementing systems with higher safety and more comfort. In this work, we study the impact of radiation-induced soft errors on FlexRay-based steer-by-wire system. We injected the soft errors into general purpose register set of FlexRay nodes to identify the most critical registers, the failure modes of the steer-by-wire system, and measure the probability distribution of failure modes when an error occurs in the register file.Keywords: Soft errors, FlexRay, fault injection, steer-by-wirer
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17801452 Image Distortion Correction Method of 2-MHz Side Scan Sonar for Underwater Structure Inspection
Authors: Youngseok Kim, Chul Park, Jonghwa Yi, Sangsik Choi
Abstract:
The 2-MHz Side Scan SONAR (SSS) attached to the boat for inspection of underwater structures is affected by shaking. It is difficult to determine the exact scale of damage of structure. In this study, a motion sensor is attached to the inside of the 2-MHz SSS to get roll, pitch, and yaw direction data, and developed the image stabilization tool to correct the sonar image. We checked that reliable data can be obtained with an average error rate of 1.99% between the measured value and the actual distance through experiment. It is possible to get the accurate sonar data to inspect damage in underwater structure.
Keywords: Image stabilization, motion sensor, safety inspection, sonar image, underwater structure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1041