Search results for: Automated drug delivery systems
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5128

Search results for: Automated drug delivery systems

4528 Evaluation of Drainage Conditions along Selected Roadways in Amman

Authors: Zain M. Al-Houri, Abbas S. Al-Omari

Abstract:

Roadways in Amman city face many problems consequent upon poor drainage systems. Evaluation tools are necessary to identify those roads needing improvement in their drainage system, and those needing regular maintenance. This work aims at evaluating drainage conditions in selected roadways in Amman city with the intent of identifying the problems encountered in their drainage systems. Three sites in the vicinity of Amman city have been selected and then inspected via several field visits to determine the state of their existing drainage systems and define the major problems encountered in these systems. The evaluation tool used in this study is based on visual inspection supported by photographs that depicted the defined problems. Following the field assessment, the drainage system in each road was rated as excellent, fair, good, or poor. The study reveals that more than 60% of the roadways in the selected sites were in poor drainage conditions, which lead to tremendous environmental problems. This assessment serves as a guide for local decision makers to help plan for the maintenance of Amman city roadways drainage systems, and propose ways of managing the associated problems.

Keywords: Amman Stormwater, Drainage systems, Environmental problems, Roadways drainage.

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4527 Identification of Nonlinear Systems Structured by Hammerstein-Wiener Model

Authors: A. Brouri, F. Giri, A. Mkhida, F. Z. Chaoui, A. Elkarkri, M. L. Chhibat

Abstract:

Standard Hammerstein-Wiener models consist of a linear subsystem sandwiched by two memoryless nonlinearities. The problem of identifying Hammerstein-Wiener systems is addressed in the presence of linear subsystem of structure totally unknown and polynomial input and output nonlinearities. Presently, the system nonlinearities are allowed to be noninvertible. The system identification problem is dealt by developing a two-stage frequency identification method. First, the parameters of system nonlinearities are identified. In the second stage, a frequency approach is designed to estimate the linear subsystem frequency gain. All involved estimators are proved to be consistent.

Keywords: Nonlinear system identification, Hammerstein systems, Wiener systems, frequency identification.

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4526 Dry Needling Treatment in 38 Cases of Chronic Sleep Disturbance

Authors: P. Gao, Z. Q. Li, Y. G. Jin

Abstract:

In the past 10 years, computers and cellphones have become one of the most important factors in our lives, and one which has a tremendously negative impact on our muscles. Muscle tension may be one of the causes of sleep disturbance. Tension in the shoulders and neck can affect blood circulation to the muscles. This research uses a dry needling treatment to reduce muscle tension in order to determine if the strain in the head and shoulders can influence sleep duration. All 38 patients taking part in the testing suffered from tinnitus and have been experiencing disturbed sleep for at least one to five years. Even after undergoing drug therapy treatments and traditional acupuncture therapies, their sleep disturbances have not shown any improvement. After five to 10 dry needling treatments, 24 of the patients reported an improvement in their sleep duration. Five patients considered themselves to be completely recovered, while 12 patients experienced no improvement. This study investigated these pathogenic and therapeutic problems. The standard treatment for sleep disturbances is drug-based therapy; the results of most standard treatments are unfortunately negative. The result of this clinical research has demonstrated that: The possible cause of sleep disturbance for a lot of patients is the result of tensions in the neck and shoulder muscles. Blood circulation to those muscles is also influenced by the duration of sleep. Hypertonic neck and shoulder muscles are considered to impact sleeping patterns and lead to disturbed sleep. Poor posture, often adopted while speaking on the phone, is one of the main causes of hypertonic neck and shoulder muscle problems. The dry needling treatment specifically focuses on the release of muscle tension.

Keywords: Dry needling, sleep disturbance, sleep duration, muscle tension, trigger points.

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4525 Web-Based Control and Notification for Home Automation Alarm Systems

Authors: Helder Adão, Rui Antunes, Frederico Grilo

Abstract:

This paper describes the project and development of a very low-cost and small electronic prototype, especially designed for monitoring and controlling existing home automation alarm systems (intruder, smoke, gas, flood, etc.), via TCP/IP, with a typical web browser. Its use will allow home owners to be immediately alerted and aware when an alarm event occurs, and being also able to interact with their home automation alarm system, disarming, arming and watching event alerts, with a personal wireless Wi-Fi PDA or smartphone logged on to a dedicated predefined web page, and using also a PC or Laptop.

Keywords: Alarm Systems, Home Automation, Web-Server, TCP/IP.

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4524 Persistence of Termination for Non-Overlapping Term Rewriting Systems

Authors: Munehiro Iwami

Abstract:

A property is called persistent if for any many-sorted term rewriting system , has the property if and only if term rewriting system , which results from by omitting its sort information, has the property. In this paper,we show that termination is persistent for non-overlapping term rewriting systems and we give the example as application of this result. Furthermore we obtain that completeness is persistent for non-overlapping term rewriting systems.

Keywords: Theory of computing, Model-based reasoning, termrewriting system, termination

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4523 Handling Complexity of a Complex System Design: Paradigm, Formalism and Transformations

Authors: Hycham Aboutaleb, Bruno Monsuez

Abstract:

Current systems complexity has reached a degree that requires addressing conception and design issues while taking into account environmental, operational, social, legal and financial aspects. Therefore, one of the main challenges is the way complex systems are specified and designed. The exponential growing effort, cost and time investment of complex systems in modeling phase emphasize the need for a paradigm, a framework and an environment to handle the system model complexity. For that, it is necessary to understand the expectations of the human user of the model and his limits. This paper presents a generic framework for designing complex systems, highlights the requirements a system model needs to fulfill to meet human user expectations, and suggests a graphbased formalism for modeling complex systems. Finally, a set of transformations are defined to handle the model complexity.

Keywords: Higraph-based, formalism, system engineering paradigm, modeling requirements, graph-based transformations.

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4522 On General Stability for Switched Positive Linear Systems with Bounded Time-varying Delays

Authors: Xiu Liu, Shouming Zhong, Xiuyong Ding

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the problem of a common linear copositive Lyapunov function(CLCLF) existence for discrete-time switched positive linear systems(SPLSs) with bounded time-varying delays. In particular, applying system matrices, a special class of matrices are constructed in an appropriate manner. Our results reveal that the existence of a common copositive Lyapunov function can be related to the Schur stability of such matrices. A simple example is provided to illustrate the implication of our results.

Keywords: Common linear co-positive Lyapunov functions, positive systems, switched systems, delays.

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4521 Effect of Jatropha curcas Leaf Extract on Castor Oil Induced Diarrhea in Albino Rats

Authors: Fatima U. Maigari, Musa Halilu, M. Maryam Umar, Rabiu Zainab

Abstract:

Plants as therapeutic agents are used as drug in many parts of the world. Medicinal plants are mostly used in developing countries due to culture acceptability, belief or due to lack of easy access to primary health care services. Jatropha curcas is a plant from the Euphorbiaceae family which is widely used in Northern Nigeria as an anti-diarrheal agent. This study was conducted to determine the anti-diarrheal effect of the leaf extract on castor oil induced diarrhea in albino rats. The leaves of J. curcas were collected from Balanga Local government in Gombe State, north-eastern Nigeria; due to its bioavailability. The leaves were air-dried at room temperature and ground to powder. Phytochemical screening was done and different concentrations of the extract was prepared and administered to the different categories of experimental animals. From the results, aqueous leaf extract of Jatropha curcas at doses of 200mg/Kg and 400mg/Kg was found to reduce the mean stool score as compared to control rats, however, maximum reduction was achieved with the standard drug of Loperamide (5mg/Kg). Treatment of diarrhea with 200mg/Kg of the extract did not produce any significant decrease in stool fluid content but was found to be significant in those rats that were treated with 400mg/Kg of the extract at 2hours (0.05±0.02) and 4hours (0.01±0.01). A significant reduction of diarrhea in the experimental animals signifies it to possess some anti-diarrheal activity.

Keywords: Anti-diarrhea, Diarrhea, Jatropha curcas, Loperamide.

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4520 Matrix-Interleaved Serially Concatenated Block Codes for Speech Transmission in Fixed Wireless Communication Systems

Authors: F. Mehran

Abstract:

In this paper, we study a class of serially concatenated block codes (SCBC) based on matrix interleavers, to be employed in fixed wireless communication systems. The performances of SCBC¬coded systems are investigated under various interleaver dimensions. Numerical results reveal that the matrix interleaver could be a competitive candidate over conventional block interleaver for frame lengths of 200 bits; hence, the SCBC coding based on matrix interleaver is a promising technique to be employed for speech transmission applications in many international standards such as pan-European Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Digital Cellular Systems (DCS) 1800, and Joint Detection Code Division Multiple Access (JD-CDMA) mobile radio systems, where the speech frame contains around 200 bits.

Keywords: Matrix Interleaver, serial concatenated block codes (SCBC), turbo codes, wireless communications.

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4519 A New Approach to Workforce Planning

Authors: M. Othman, N. Bhuiyan, G. J. Gouw

Abstract:

In today-s global and competitive market, manufacturing companies are working hard towards improving their production system performance. Most companies develop production systems that can help in cost reduction. Manufacturing systems consist of different elements including production methods, machines, processes, control and information systems. Human issues are an important part of manufacturing systems, yet most companies do not pay sufficient attention to them. In this paper, a workforce planning (WP) model is presented. A non-linear programming model is developed in order to minimize the hiring, firing, training and overtime costs. The purpose is to determine the number of workers for each worker type, the number of workers trained, and the number of overtime hours. Moreover, a decision support system (DSS) based on the proposed model is introduced using the Excel-Lingo software interfacing feature. This model will help to improve the interaction between the workers, managers and the technical systems in manufacturing.

Keywords: Decision Support System, Human Factors, Manufacturing System, Workforce Planning.

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4518 Increase of Organization in Complex Systems

Authors: Georgi Yordanov Georgiev, Michael Daly, Erin Gombos, Amrit Vinod, Gajinder Hoonjan

Abstract:

Measures of complexity and entropy have not converged to a single quantitative description of levels of organization of complex systems. The need for such a measure is increasingly necessary in all disciplines studying complex systems. To address this problem, starting from the most fundamental principle in Physics, here a new measure for quantity of organization and rate of self-organization in complex systems based on the principle of least (stationary) action is applied to a model system - the central processing unit (CPU) of computers. The quantity of organization for several generations of CPUs shows a double exponential rate of change of organization with time. The exact functional dependence has a fine, S-shaped structure, revealing some of the mechanisms of self-organization. The principle of least action helps to explain the mechanism of increase of organization through quantity accumulation and constraint and curvature minimization with an attractor, the least average sum of actions of all elements and for all motions. This approach can help describe, quantify, measure, manage, design and predict future behavior of complex systems to achieve the highest rates of self organization to improve their quality. It can be applied to other complex systems from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, Economics, Cities, network theory and others where complex systems are present.

Keywords: Organization, self-organization, complex system, complexification, quantitative measure, principle of least action, principle of stationary action, attractor, progressive development, acceleration, stochastic.

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4517 A Two-Channel Secure Communication Using Fractional Chaotic Systems

Authors: Long Jye Sheu, Wei Ching Chen, Yen Chu Chen, Wei Tai Weng

Abstract:

In this paper, a two-channel secure communication using fractional chaotic systems is presented. Conditions for chaos synchronization have been investigated theoretically by using Laplace transform. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a numerical example is presented. The keys, key space, key selection rules and sensitivity to keys are discussed in detail. Results show that the original plaintexts have been well masked in the ciphertexts yet recovered faithfully and efficiently by the present schemes.

Keywords: fractional chaotic systems, synchronization, securecommunication.

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4516 An Efficient Algorithm for Reliability Lower Bound of Distributed Systems

Authors: Mohamed H. S. Mohamed, Yang Xiao-zong, Liu Hong-wei, Wu Zhi-bo

Abstract:

The reliability of distributed systems and computer networks have been modeled by a probabilistic network or a graph G. Computing the residual connectedness reliability (RCR), denoted by R(G), under the node fault model is very useful, but is an NP-hard problem. Since it may need exponential time of the network size to compute the exact value of R(G), it is important to calculate its tight approximate value, especially its lower bound, at a moderate calculation time. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm for reliability lower bound of distributed systems with unreliable nodes. We also applied our algorithm to several typical classes of networks to evaluate the lower bounds and show the effectiveness of our algorithm.

Keywords: Distributed systems, probabilistic network, residual connectedness reliability, lower bound.

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4515 Scientific Workflow Interoperability Evaluation

Authors: Ahmed Alqaoud

Abstract:

There is wide range of scientific workflow systems today, each one designed to resolve problems at a specific level. In large collaborative projects, it is often necessary to recognize the heterogeneous workflow systems already in use by various partners and any potential collaboration between these systems requires workflow interoperability. Publish/Subscribe Scientific Workflow Interoperability Framework (PS-SWIF) approach was proposed to achieve workflow interoperability among workflow systems. This paper evaluates the PS-SWIF approach and its system to achieve workflow interoperability using Web Services with asynchronous notification messages represented by WS-Eventing standard. This experiment covers different types of communication models provided by Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC). These models are: Chained processes, Nested synchronous sub-processes, Event synchronous sub-processes, and Nested sub-processes (Polling/Deferred Synchronous). Also, this experiment shows the flexibility and simplicity of the PS-SWIF approach when applied to a variety of workflow systems (Triana, Taverna, Kepler) in local and remote environments.

Keywords: Publish/subscribe, scientific workflow, web services, workflow interoperability.

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4514 Tests and Comparison of Two Mobile Industrial Analytical Systems for Mercury Speciation in Flue Gas

Authors: Karel Borovec, Jerzy Gorecki, Tadeas Ochodek

Abstract:

Combustion of solid fuels is one of the main sources of mercury in the environment. To reduce the amount of mercury emitted to the atmosphere, it is necessary to modify or optimize old purification technologies or introduce the new ones. Effective reduction of mercury level in the flue gas requires the use of speciation systems for mercury form determination. This paper describes tests and provides comparison of two industrial portable and continuous systems for mercury speciation in the flue gas: Durag HM-1400 TRX with a speciation module and the Portable Continuous Mercury Speciation System based on the SGM-8 mercury speciation set, made by Nippon Instruments Corporation. Additionally, the paper describes a few analytical problems that were encountered during a two-year period of using the systems.

Keywords: Mercury determination, speciation, continuous measurement, flue gas.

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4513 CFD Analysis of Passive Cooling Building by Using Solar Chimney System

Authors: Naci Kalkan, Ihsan Dagtekin

Abstract:

This research presents the design and analysis of solar air-conditioning systems particularly solar chimney which is a passive strategy for natural ventilation, and demonstrates the structures of these systems’ using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) and finally compares the results with several examples, which have been studied experimentally and carried out previously. In order to improve the performance of solar chimney system, highly efficient sub-system components are considered for the design. The general purpose of the research is to understand how efficiently solar chimney systems generate cooling, and is to improve the efficient of such systems for integration with existing and future domestic buildings.

Keywords: Solar cooling system, solar chimney, active and passive solar technologies, natural ventilation, cavity depth, CFD models for solar chimney.

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4512 Analysis of FWM Penalties in DWDM Systems Based on G.652, G.653, and G.655 Optical Fibers

Authors: Paula B. Harboe, Edilson da Silva, José R. Souza

Abstract:

This paper presents an investigation of the power penalties imposed by four-wave mixing (FWM) on G.652 (Single- Mode Fiber - SMF), G.653 (Dispersion-Shifted Fiber - DSF), and G.655 (Non-Zero Dispersion-Shifted Fiber - NZDSF) compliant fibers, considering the DWDM grids suggested by the ITU-T Recommendations G.692, and G.694.1, with uniform channel spacing of 100, 50, 25, and 12.5 GHz. The mathematical/numerical model assumes undepleted pumping, and shows very clearly the deleterious effect of FWM on the performance of DWDM systems, measured by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The results make it evident that non-uniform channel spacing is practically mandatory for WDM systems based on DSF fibers.

Keywords: DWDM systems, Four-Wave Mixing (FWM), G.652, G.653, G.655 compliant fibers, Signal-to-noise ratio.

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4511 Global GMRES with Deflated Restarting for Families of Shifted Linear Systems

Authors: Jing Meng, Peiyong Zhu, Houbiao Li

Abstract:

Many problems in science and engineering field require the solution of shifted linear systems with multiple right hand sides and multiple shifts. To solve such systems efficiently, the implicitly restarted global GMRES algorithm is extended in this paper. However, the shift invariant property could no longer hold over the augmented global Krylov subspace due to adding the harmonic Ritz matrices. To remedy this situation, we enforce the collinearity condition on the shifted system and propose shift implicitly restarted global GMRES. The new method not only improves the convergence but also has a potential to simultaneously compute approximate solution for the shifted systems using only as many matrix vector multiplications as the solution of the seed system requires. In addition, some numerical experiments also confirm the effectiveness of our method.

Keywords: Shifted linear systems, global Krylov subspace, GLGMRESIR, GLGMRESIRsh, harmonic Ritz matrix, harmonic Ritz vector.

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4510 Parallel Multisplitting Methods for Singular Linear Systems

Authors: Guangbin Wang, Fuping Tan

Abstract:

In this paper, we discuss convergence of the extrapolated iterative methods for linear systems with the coefficient matrices are singular H-matrices. And we present the sufficient and necessary conditions for convergence of the extrapolated iterative methods. Moreover, we apply the results to the GMAOR methods. Finally, we give one numerical example.

Keywords: Singular H-matrix, linear systems, extrapolated iterative method, GMAOR method, convergence.

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4509 Complexity of Component-based Development of Embedded Systems

Authors: M. Zheng, V. S. Alagar

Abstract:

The paper discusses complexity of component-based development (CBD) of embedded systems. Although CBD has its merits, it must be augmented with methods to control the complexities that arise due to resource constraints, timeliness, and run-time deployment of components in embedded system development. Software component specification, system-level testing, and run-time reliability measurement are some ways to control the complexity.

Keywords: Components, embedded systems, complexity, softwaredevelopment, traffic controller system.

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4508 Grid Artifacts Suppression in Computed Radiographic Images

Authors: Igor Belykh

Abstract:

Anti-scatter grids used in radiographic imaging for the contrast enhancement leave specific artifacts. Those artifacts may be visible or may cause Moiré effect when digital image is resized on a diagnostic monitor. In this paper we propose an automated grid artifactsdetection and suppression algorithm which is still an actual problem. Grid artifacts detection is based on statistical approach in spatial domain. Grid artifacts suppression is based on Kaiser bandstop filter transfer function design and application avoiding ringing artifacts. Experimental results are discussed and concluded with description of advantages over existing approaches.

Keywords: Computed radiography, grid artifacts, image filtering.

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4507 A Calibration Device for Force-Torque Sensors

Authors: Nicolay Zarutskiy, Roman Bulkin

Abstract:

The paper deals with the existing methods of force-torque sensor calibration with a number of components from one to six, analyzed their advantages and disadvantages, the necessity of introduction of a calibration method. Calibration method and its constructive realization are also described here. A calibration method allows performing automated force-torque sensor calibration both with selected components of the main vector of forces and moments and with complex loading. Thus, two main advantages of the proposed calibration method are achieved: the automation of the calibration process and universality.

Keywords: Automation, calibration, calibration device, calibration method, force-torque sensors.

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4506 Long-Term Structural Behavior of Resilient Materials for Reduction of Floor Impact Sound

Authors: J. Y. Lee, J. Kim, H. J. Chang, J. M. Kim

Abstract:

People’s tendency towards living in apartment houses is increasing in a densely populated country. However, some residents living in apartment houses are bothered by noise coming from the houses above. In order to reduce noise pollution, the communities are increasingly imposing a bylaw, including the limitation of floor impact sound, minimum thickness of floors, and floor soundproofing solutions. This research effort focused on the specific long-time deflection of resilient materials in the floor sound insulation systems of apartment houses. The experimental program consisted of testing nine floor sound insulation specimens subjected to sustained load for 45 days. Two main parameters were considered in the experimental investigation: three types of resilient materials and magnitudes of loads. The test results indicated that the structural behavior of the floor sound insulation systems under long-time load was quite different from that the systems under short-time load. The loading period increased the deflection of floor sound insulation systems and the increasing rate of the long-time deflection of the systems with ethylene vinyl acetate was smaller than that of the systems with low density ethylene polystyrene.

Keywords: Resilient materials, floor sound insulation systems, long-time deflection, sustained load, noise pollution.

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4505 Soil Mass Loss Reduction during Rainfalls by Reinforcing the Slopes with the Surficial Confinement

Authors: Ramli Nazir, Hossein Moayedi

Abstract:

Soil confinement systems serve as effective solutions to any erosion control project. Various confinements systems, namely triangular, circular and rectangular with the size of 50, 100, and 150 mm, and with a depth of 10 mm, were embedded in soil samples at slope angle of 60°. The observed soil mass losses for the confined soil systems were much smaller than those from unconfined system. As a result, the size of confinement and rainfall intensity have a direct effect on the soil mass loss. The triangular and rectangular confinement systems showed the lowest and highest soil loss masses, respectively. The slopes also failed much faster in the unconfined system than in the confined slope.

Keywords: Erosion control, Soil confinement, Soil erosion, Slope stability.

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4504 Lego Mindstorms as a Simulation of Robotic Systems

Authors: Miroslav Popelka, Jakub Nožička

Abstract:

In this paper we deal with using Lego Mindstorms in simulation of robotic systems with respect to cost reduction. Lego Mindstorms kit contains broad variety of hardware components which are required to simulate, program and test the robotics systems in practice. Algorithm programming went in development environment supplied together with Lego kit as in programming language C# as well. Algorithm following the line, which we dealt with in this paper, uses theoretical findings from area of controlling circuits. PID controller has been chosen as controlling circuit whose individual components were experimentally adjusted for optimal motion of robot tracking the line. Data which are determined to process by algorithm are collected by sensors which scan the interface between black and white surfaces followed by robot. Based on discovered facts Lego Mindstorms can be considered for low-cost and capable kit to simulate real robotics systems.

Keywords: LEGO Mindstorms, PID controller, low-cost robotics systems, line follower, sensors, programming language C#, EV3 Home Edition Software.

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4503 The Energy Impacts of Using Top-Light Daylighting Systems for Academic Buildings in Tropical Climate

Authors: M. S. Alrubaih, M. F. M. Zain, N. L. N. Ibrahim, M.A. Alghoul, K. I. Ben Sauod

Abstract:

Careful design and selection of daylighting systems can greatly help in reducing not only artificial lighting use, but also decrease cooling energy consumption and, therefore, potential for downsizing air-conditioning systems. This paper aims to evaluate the energy performance of two types of top-light daylighting systems due to the integration of daylight together with artificial lighting in an existing examinaton hall in University Kebangsaan Malaysia, based on a hot and humid climate. Computer simulation models have been created for building case study (base case) and the two types of toplight daylighting designs for building energy performance evaluation using the VisualDOE 4.0 building energy simulation program. The finding revealed that daylighting through top-light systems is a very beneficial design strategy in reducing annual lighting energy consumption and the overall total annual energy consumption.

Keywords: Academic buildings, Daylighting, Top-lighting, Energy savings, Tropical Climate

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4502 Forecasting 24-Hour Ahead Electricity Load Using Time Series Models

Authors: Ramin Vafadary, Maryam Khanbaghi

Abstract:

Forecasting electricity load is important for various purposes like planning, operation and control. Forecasts can save operating and maintenance costs, increase the reliability of power supply and delivery systems, and correct decisions for future development. This paper compares various time series methods to forecast 24 hours ahead of electricity load. The methods considered are the Holt-Winters smoothing, SARIMA Modeling, LSTM Network, Fbprophet and Tensorflow probability. The performance of each method is evaluated by using the forecasting accuracy criteria namely, the Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Square Error. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) residential energy consumption data are used to train the models. The results of this study show that SARIMA model is superior to the others for 24 hours ahead forecasts. Furthermore, a Bagging technique is used to make the predictions more robust. The obtained results show that by Bagging multiple time-series forecasts we can improve the robustness of the models for 24 hour ahead electricity load forecasting.

Keywords: Bagging, Fbprophet, Holt-Winters, LSTM, Load Forecast, SARIMA, tensorflow probability, time series.

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4501 Discovery of Production Rules with Fuzzy Hierarchy

Authors: Fadl M. Ba-Alwi, Kamal K. Bharadwaj

Abstract:

In this paper a novel algorithm is proposed that integrates the process of fuzzy hierarchy generation and rule discovery for automated discovery of Production Rules with Fuzzy Hierarchy (PRFH) in large databases.A concept of frequency matrix (Freq) introduced to summarize large database that helps in minimizing the number of database accesses, identification and removal of irrelevant attribute values and weak classes during the fuzzy hierarchy generation.Experimental results have established the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Data Mining, Degree of subsumption, Freq matrix, Fuzzy hierarchy.

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4500 Evaluation of Gingival Hyperplasia Caused by Medications

Authors: Ilma Robo, Saimir Heta, Greta Plaka, Vera Ostreni

Abstract:

Purpose: Drug gingival hyperplasia is an uncommon pathology encountered during routine work in dental units. The purpose of this paper is to present the clinical appearance of gingival hyperplasia caused by medications. There are already three classes of medications that cause hyperplasia and based on data from the literature, the clinical cases encountered and included in this study have been compared. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a total of 311 patients, out of which 182 patients were included in our study, meeting the inclusion criteria. After each patient's history was recorded and it was found that patients were in their knowledge of chronic illness, undergoing treatment of gingivitis hypertrophic drugs was performed with a clinical examination of oral cavity and assessment by vertical and horizontal evaluation according to the periodontal indexes. Results: Of the data collected during the study, it was observed that 97% of patients with gingival hyperplasia are treated with nifedipine. 84% of patients treated with selected medicines and gingival hyperplasia in the oral cavity has been exposed at time period for more than 1 year and 1 month. According to the GOI, in the first rank of this index are about 21% of patients, in the second rank are 52%, in the third rank are 24% and in the fourth grade are 3%. According to the horizontal growth index of gingival hyperplasia, grade 1 included about 61% of patients and grade 2 included about 39% of patients with gingival hyperplasia. Bacterial index divides patients by degrees: grading 0 - 8.2%, grading 1 - 32.4%, grading 2 - 14% and grading 3 - 45.1%. Conclusions: The highest percentage of gingival hyperplasia caused by drugs is due to dosing of nifedipine for a duration of dosing and application for systemic healing for more than 1 year.

Keywords: Drug gingival hyperplasia, horizontal growth index, vertical growth index.

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4499 Interactive Effects in Blended Learning Mode: Exploring Hybrid Data Sources and Iterative Linkages

Authors: Hock Chuan, Lim

Abstract:

This paper presents an approach for identifying interactive effects using Network Science (NS) supported by Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on general observations that learning processes and behaviors are shaped by the social relationships and influenced by learning environment, the central idea was to understand both the human and non-human interactive effects for a blended learning mode of delivery of computer science modules. Important findings include (a) the importance of non-human nodes to influence the centrality and transfer; (b) the degree of non-human and human connectivity impacts learning. This project reveals that the NS pattern and connectivity as measured by node relationships offer alternative approach for hypothesis generation and design of qualitative data collection. An iterative process further reinforces the analysis, whereas the experimental simulation option itself is an interesting alternative option, a hybrid combination of both experimental simulation and qualitative data collection presents itself as a promising and viable means to study complex scenario such as blended learning delivery mode. The primary value of this paper lies in the design of the approach for studying interactive effects of human (social nodes) and non-human (learning/study environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructures nodes) components. In conclusion, this project adds to the understanding and the use of SNA to model and study interactive effects in blended social learning.

Keywords: Blended learning, network science, social learning, social network analysis, study environment.

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