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Commenced in January 2007
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Paper Count: 13406

Search results for: results.

6776 A Survey on Usage and Diffusion of Project Risk Management Techniques and Software Tools in the Construction Industry

Authors: Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Alberto De Marco

Abstract:

The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of various tools and techniques for managing risk in several industries has been sufficiently reported. Formal and systematic PRM practices have been made available for the construction industry. Based on such body of knowledge, this paper tries to find out the global picture of PRM practices and approaches with the help of a survey to look into the usage of PRM techniques and diffusion of software tools, their level of maturity, and their usefulness in the construction sector. Results show that, despite existing techniques and tools, their usage is limited: software tools are used only by a minority of respondents and their cost is one of the largest hurdles in adoption. Finally, the paper provides some important guidelines for future research regarding quantitative risk analysis techniques and suggestions for PRM software tools development and improvement.

Keywords: Construction industry, Project risk management, Software tools, Survey study.

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6775 Effect of Germination on Proximate, Available Phenol and Flavonoid Content, and Antioxidant Activities of African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)

Authors: Nneka N. Uchegbu, Ndidi F. Amulu

Abstract:

The work studied the effect of germination on proximate, phenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activities (AOA) of African Yam been (AYB). Germination was done in controlled dark chamber (100% RH, 28oC). The proximate, phenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activities before and after germination were investigated. The crude protein, moisture, and crude fiber content of germinated AYB were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of ungermianated seed, while the fat, Ash and carbohydrate content of ungerminated were higher than the germinated seed. Germination increased the phenol and flavoniod content by 19.14% and 14.53% respectively. The results of AOA assay showed that the DPPH, reducing power and FRAP of germinated AYB seed gave high values: 48.92 ±1.22 μg/ml, 0.75± 0.15μg/ml and 98.60±0.04 μmol/g while that of ungerminated seed were: 31.33μ/ml, 0.56±1.52μg/ml and 96.11±1.13μmol/g respectively. Germinated AYB has phytochemicals with potential AOA for disease prevention.

Keywords: Antioxidant, flovonoid, germination, phenol.

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6774 Preventive Measures after Needle-Stick Injuries and Association with Health Locus of Control Beliefs in Medical Students

Authors: M. Karbakhsh, M. Shamseddini Motlagh, M. Khansari

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate prevalence of post-exposure preventive measures (PEP) after needlestick injuries and its relationship with locus of control beliefs in a sample of medical students. In this cross-sectional study, 300 medical students with history of having experienced needle stick injuries (NSI) for at least once filled in a questionnaire to determine if they perceived themselves to be responsible and effective in preventing blood born infections after NSI. About 38% of students did not seek any professional consult or PEP after NSI due to lack of enough time or access, anxiety about tests results, belief in uselessness of followup and not being able to change destiny. These 114 students were not different from others regarding their scores on NSI specific scale of locus of health control. Thus, the potentiality of NSI locus of control beliefs in predicting PEP was not seen in this study.

Keywords: health care workers, locus of health control, needle stick injuries, post-exposure prevention.

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6773 A Novel Dosimetry System for Computed Tomography using Phototransistor

Authors: C. M. M. Paschoal, M. L. Sobrinho, D. do N. Souza, J. Antônio Filho, L. A. P. Santos

Abstract:

Computed tomography (CT) dosimetry normally uses an ionization chamber 100 mm long to estimate the computed tomography dose index (CTDI), however some reports have already indicated that small devices could replace the long ion chamber to improve quality assurance procedures in CT dosimetry. This paper presents a novel dosimetry system based in a commercial phototransistor evaluated for CT dosimetry. Three detector configurations were developed for this system: with a single, two and four devices. Dose profile measurements were obtained with them and their angular response were evaluated. The results showed that the novel dosimetry system with the phototransistor could be an alternative for CT dosimetry. It allows to obtain the CT dose profile in details and also to estimate the CTDI in longer length than the 100 mm pencil chamber. The angular response showed that the one device detector configuration is the most adequate among the three configurations analyzed in this study.

Keywords: Computed tomography, dosimetry, photo-transistor

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6772 Carbon Storage in Above-Ground Biomass of Tropical Deciduous Forest in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand

Authors: Ubonwan Chaiyo, Savitri Garivait, Kobsak Wanthongchai

Abstract:

The study site was located in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Four experimental plots in dry dipterocarp forest (DDF) and four plots in mixed deciduous forest (MDF) were set up to estimate the above-ground biomass of tree, sapling and bamboo. The allometry equations were used to investigate above-ground biomass of these vegetation. Seedling and other understory were determined using direct harvesting method. Carbon storage in above-ground biomass was calculated based on IPCC 2006. The results showed that the above-ground biomass of DDF at 20-40% slope, <20% slope and MDF at <20% slope were 91.96, 30.95 and 59.44 ton/ha, respectively. Bamboo covers about half of total aboveground biomass in MDF, which is a specific characteristic of this area. The carbon sequestration potential in above-ground biomass of plot slope range 20-40% DDF, <20% DDF and <20% MDF are 43.22, 14.55 and 27.94 ton C/ha, respectively.

Keywords: Carbon storage, aboveground biomass, tropical deciduous forest, dry dipterocarp forest, mixed deciduous forest.

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6771 Image Compression Using Multiwavelet and Multi-Stage Vector Quantization

Authors: S. Esakkirajan, T. Veerakumar, V. Senthil Murugan, P. Navaneethan

Abstract:

The existing image coding standards generally degrades at low bit-rates because of the underlying block based Discrete Cosine Transform scheme. Over the past decade, the success of wavelets in solving many different problems has contributed to its unprecedented popularity. Due to implementation constraints scalar wavelets do not posses all the properties such as orthogonality, short support, linear phase symmetry, and a high order of approximation through vanishing moments simultaneously, which are very much essential for signal processing. New class of wavelets called 'Multiwavelets' which posses more than one scaling function overcomes this problem. This paper presents a new image coding scheme based on non linear approximation of multiwavelet coefficients along with multistage vector quantization. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with the results obtained from scalar wavelets.

Keywords: Image compression, Multiwavelets, Multi-stagevector quantization.

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6770 Supporting Technology Transfer with Communities and Social Software Solutions

Authors: G. Schuh, S. Aghassi

Abstract:

In order to bridge the gap between research and industry, promoting technology and knowledge transfer becomes increasingly important. Especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, having only little R&D resources themselves, depend on external technology development activities for remaining innovative. Academia research on the other hand needs potential industrial partners, who are capable and willing to commercialize their technologies as most public funding programs require some sort of technology transfer or dissemination activities. Modern web technologies offer more and more “social” functionalities and open up new ways of user interaction. In the past years several technology transfer platforms were developed, making use of modern web technologies in order to enable and support technology transfer. In this paper we report on the results of a state-of-the art analyses of existing technology transfer platforms, point out their advantages and deficits and give a perspective to the development of an improved technology transfer platform.

Keywords: Knowledge transfer, social software, technology management, technology transfer.

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6769 Airline Quality Rating Using PARIS and TOPSIS in Multiple Criteria Decision Making Analysis

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This paper presents a multiple criteria evaluation analysis for airline quality rating using the preference analysis for reference ideal solution (PARIS) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approaches. The airline quality rating was developed as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria and the importance weights of criteria. The selected multiple performance criteria were determined as on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, involuntary denied boardings, and consumer complaints. The multiple criteria decision making analysis results show that the alternative ( a2) airline is the best-rated airline.

Keywords: airline quality rating, multiple criteria decision making, multiple criteria decision making analysis, entropy weight, MCDMA, PARIS, TOPSIS

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6768 The Effect of Precipitation on Weed Infestation of Spring Barley under Different Tillage Conditions

Authors: J. Winkler, S. Chovancová

Abstract:

The article deals with the relation between rainfall in selected months and subsequent weed infestation of spring barley. The field experiment was performed at Mendel University agricultural enterprise in Žabčice, Czech Republic. Weed infestation was measured in spring barley vegetation in years 2004 to 2012. Barley was grown in three tillage variants: conventional tillage technology (CT), minimization tillage technology (MT), and no tillage (NT). Precipitation was recorded in one-day intervals. Monthly precipitation was calculated from the measured values in the months of October through to April. The technique of canonical correspondence analysis was applied for further statistical processing. 41 different species of weeds were found in the course of the 9-year monitoring period. The results clearly show that precipitation affects the incidence of most weed species in the selected months, but acts differently in the monitored variants of tillage technologies.

Keywords: Weeds, precipitation, tillage, weed infestation forecast.

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6767 Role and Effect of Temperature on LPG Sweetening Process

Authors: Ali Samadi Afshar, Sayed Reaza Hashemi

Abstract:

In the gas refineries of Iran-s South Pars Gas Complex, Sulfrex demercaptanization process is used to remove volatile and corrosive mercaptans from liquefied petroleum gases by caustic solution. This process consists of two steps. Removing low molecular weight mercaptans and regeneration exhaust caustic. Some parameters such as LPG feed temperature, caustic concentration and feed-s mercaptan in extraction step and sodium mercaptide content in caustic, catalyst concentration, caustic temperature, air injection rate in regeneration step are effective factors. In this paper was focused on temperature factor that play key role in mercaptans extraction and caustic regeneration. The experimental results demonstrated by optimization of temperature, sodium mercaptide content in caustic because of good oxidation minimized and sulfur impurities in product reduced.

Keywords: Caustic regeneration, demercaptanization, LPG sweetening, mercaptan extraction, temperature.

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6766 Simulation of Effect of Current Stressing on Reliability of Solder Joints with Cu-Pillar Bumps

Authors: Y. Li, Q. S. Zhang, H. Z. Huang, B. Y. Wu

Abstract:

The mechanism behind the electromigration and thermomigration failure in flip-chip solder joints with Cu-pillar bumps was investigated in this paper through using finite element method. Hot spot and the current crowding occurrs in the upper corner of copper column instead of solders of the common solder ball. The simulation results show that the change in thermal gradient is noticeable, which might greatly affect the reliability of solder joints with Cu-pillar bumps under current stressing. When the average applied current density is increased from 1×104 A/cm2 to 3×104 A/cm2 in solders, the thermal gradient would increase from 74 K/cm to 901 K/cm at an ambient temperature of 25°C. The force from thermal gradient of 901 K/cm can nearly induce thermomigration by itself. With the increase in applied current, the thermal gradient is growing. It is proposed that thermomigration likely causes a serious reliability issue for Cu column based interconnects.

Keywords: Simulation, Cu-pillar bumps, Electromigration, Thermomigration.

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6765 A Worst Case Estimation of the Inspection Rate by a Berthing Policy in a Container Terminal

Authors: K.H. Yang

Abstract:

After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in U.S., the container security issue got high attention, especially by U.S. government, which deployed a lot of measures to promote or improve security systems. U.S. government not only enhances its national security system, but allies with other countries against the potential terrorist attacks in the future. For example CSI (Container Security Initiative), it encourages foreign ports outside U.S. to become CSI ports as a part of U.S. anti-terrorism network. Although promotion of the security could partly reach the goal of anti-terrorism, that will influence the efficiency of container supply chain, which is the main concern when implementing the inspection measurements. This paper proposes a quick estimation methodology for an inspection service rate by a berth allocation heuristic such that the inspection activities will not affect the original container supply chain. Theoretical and simulation results show this approach is effective.

Keywords: Berth allocation, Container, Heuristic, Inspection.

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6764 Mine Production Index (MPI): New Method to Evaluate Effectiveness of Mining Machinery

Authors: Amol Lanke, Hadi Hoseinie, Behzad Ghodrati

Abstract:

OEE has been used in many industries as measure of performance. However due to limitations of original OEE, it has been modified by various researchers. OEE for mining application is special version of classic equation, carries these limitation over. In this paper it has been aimed to modify the OEE for mining application by introducing the weights to the elements of it and termed as Mine Production index (MPi). As a special application of new index MPishovel has been developed by authors. This can be used for evaluating the shovel effectiveness. Based on analysis, utilization followed by performance and availability were ranked in this order. To check the applicability of this index, a case study was done on four electrical and one hydraulic shovel in a Swedish mine. The results shows that MPishovel can evaluate production effectiveness of shovels and can determine effectiveness values in optimistic view compared to OEE. MPi with calculation not only give the effectiveness but also can predict which elements should be focused for improving the productivity.

Keywords: Mining, Overall equipment efficiency (OEE), Mine Production index, Shovels.

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6763 Coordinated Design of PSS and STATCOM for Power System Stability Improvement Using Bacteria Foraging Algorithm

Authors: Kyaw Myo Lin, Wunna Swe, Pyone Lai Swe

Abstract:

This paper presents the coordinated controller design of static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and power system stabilizers (PSSs) for power system stability improvement. Coordinated design problem of STATCOM-based controller with multiple PSSs is formulated as an optimization problem and optimal controller parameters are obtained using bacteria foraging optimization algorithm. By minimizing the proposed objective function, in which the speed deviations between generators are involved; stability performance of the system is improved. The nonlinear simulation results show that coordinated design of STATCOM-based controller and PSSs improve greatly the system damping oscillations and consequently stability improvement.

Keywords: Bacteria Foraging, Coordinated Design, Power System Stability, PSSs, STATCOM.

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6762 Stress Intensity Factor for Dynamic Cracking of Composite Material by X-FEM Method

Authors: S. Lecheb, A. Nour, A. Chellil, H. Mechakra, N. Hamad, H. Kebir

Abstract:

The work involves develops attended by a numerical execution of the eXtend Finite Element Method premises a measurement by the fracture process cracked so many cracked plates an application will be processed for the calculation of the stress intensity factor SIF. In the first we give in statically part the distribution of stress, displacement field and strain of composite plate in two cases uncrack/edge crack, also in dynamical part the first six modes shape. Secondly, we calculate Stress Intensity Factor SIF for different orientation angle θ of central crack with length (2a=0.4mm) in plan strain condition, KI and KII are obtained for mode I and mode II respectively using X-FEM method. Finally from crack inclined involving mixed modes results, the comparison we chose dangerous inclination and the best crack angle when K is minimal.

Keywords: Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), Crack orientation, Glass/Epoxy, natural Frequencies, X-FEM.

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6761 Iran’s Gas Flare Recovery Options Using MCDM

Authors: Halle Bakhteeyar, Azadeh Maroufmashat, Abbas Maleki, Sourena Sattari Khavas

Abstract:

In this paper, five options of Iran’s gas flare recovery have been compared via MCDM method. For developing the model, the weighing factor of each indicator an AHP method is used via the Expert-choice software. Several cases were considered in this analysis. They are defined where the priorities were defined always keeping one criterion in first position, while the priorities of the other criteria were defined by ordinal information defining the mutual relations of the criteria and the respective indicators. The results, show that amongst these cases, priority is obtained for CHP usage where availability indicator is highly weighted while the pipeline usage is obtained where environmental indicator highly weighted and the injection priority is obtained where economic indicator is highly weighted and also when the weighing factor of all the criteria are the same the Injection priority is obtained.

Keywords: Flare, Gas, Iran.

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6760 Effects of Some Natural Antioxidants Mixtures on Margarine Stability

Authors: Maryam Azizkhani, Parvin Zandi

Abstract:

Application of synthetic antioxidants such as tertbutylhydroquinon (TBHQ), in spite of their efficiency, is questioned because of their possible carcinogenic effect. The purpose of this study was application of mixtures of natural antioxidants that provide the best oxidative stability for margarine. Antioxidant treatments included 10 various mixtures (F1- F10) containing 100-500ppm tocopherol mixture (Toc), 100-200ppm ascorbyl palmitate (AP), 100- 200ppm rosemary extract (Ros) and 1000ppm lecithin(Lec) along with a control or F0 (with no antioxidant) and F11 with 120ppm TBHQ. The effect of antioxidant mixtures on the stability of margarine samples during oven test (60°C), rancimat test at 110°C and storage at 4°C was evaluated. Final ranking of natural antioxidant mixtures was as follows: F2,F10>F5,F9>F8>F1,F3,F4>F6, F7. Considering the results of this research and ranking criteria, F2(200ppmAp + 200ppmRos) and F10(200ppmRos + 200ppmToc +1000ppmLec) were recommended as substitutes for TBHQ to maintain the quality and increase the shelf-life of margarine.

Keywords: Margarine, Natural antioxidant, Oxidative stability, Shelf-life.

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6759 Performance Evaluation of an Online Text-Based Strategy Game

Authors: Nazleeni S. Haron, Mohd K. Zaime , Izzatdin A. Aziz, Mohd H. Hasan

Abstract:

Text-based game is supposed to be a low resource consumption application that delivers good performances when compared to graphical-intensive type of games. But, nowadays, some of the online text-based games are not offering performances that are acceptable to the users. Therefore, an online text-based game called Star_Quest has been developed in order to analyze its behavior under different performance measurements. Performance metrics such as throughput, scalability, response time and page loading time are captured to yield the performance of the game. The techniques in performing the load testing are also disclosed to exhibit the viability of our work. The comparative assessment between the results obtained and the accepted level of performances are conducted as to determine the performance level of the game. The study reveals that the developed game managed to meet all the performance objectives set forth.

Keywords: Online text-based games, performance evaluation

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6758 Utilizing the Principal Component Analysis on Multispectral Aerial Imagery for Identification of Underlying Structures

Authors: M. Bosques-Perez, W. Izquierdo, H. Martin, L. Deng, J. Rodriguez, T. Yan, M. Cabrerizo, A. Barreto, N. Rishe, M. Adjouadi

Abstract:

Aerial imagery is a powerful tool when it comes to analyzing temporal changes in ecosystems and extracting valuable information from the observed scene. It allows us to identify and assess various elements such as objects, structures, textures, waterways, and shadows. To extract meaningful information, multispectral cameras capture data across different wavelength bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this study, the collected multispectral aerial images were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) to identify independent and uncorrelated components or features that extend beyond the visible spectrum captured in standard RGB images. The results demonstrate that these principal components contain unique characteristics specific to certain wavebands, enabling effective object identification and image segmentation.

Keywords: Big data, image processing, multispectral, principal component analysis.

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6757 Applying Fuzzy FP-Growth to Mine Fuzzy Association Rules

Authors: Chien-Hua Wang, Wei-Hsuan Lee, Chin-Tzong Pang

Abstract:

In data mining, the association rules are used to find for the associations between the different items of the transactions database. As the data collected and stored, rules of value can be found through association rules, which can be applied to help managers execute marketing strategies and establish sound market frameworks. This paper aims to use Fuzzy Frequent Pattern growth (FFP-growth) to derive from fuzzy association rules. At first, we apply fuzzy partition methods and decide a membership function of quantitative value for each transaction item. Next, we implement FFP-growth to deal with the process of data mining. In addition, in order to understand the impact of Apriori algorithm and FFP-growth algorithm on the execution time and the number of generated association rules, the experiment will be performed by using different sizes of databases and thresholds. Lastly, the experiment results show FFPgrowth algorithm is more efficient than other existing methods.

Keywords: Data mining, association rule, fuzzy frequent patterngrowth.

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6756 Numerical Evaluation of Nusselt Number on the Hot Wall in Square Enclosure Filled with Nanofluid

Authors: A. Ghafouri, A. Falavand Jozaei, M. Salari

Abstract:

In this paper, effects of using Alumina-water nanofluid on the rate of heat transfer have been investigated numerically. Physical model is a square enclosure with insulated top and bottom horizontal walls, while the vertical walls are kept at different constant temperatures. Two appropriate models are used to evaluate the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid. The governing stream-vorticity equations are solved using a second order central finite difference scheme, coupled to the conservation of mass and energy. The study has been carried out for the Richardson number 0.1 to 10 and the solid volume fraction 0 to 0.04. Results are presented by isotherms lines, average Nusselt number and normalized Nusselt number in different range of φ and Ri for forced, combined and natural convection dominated regime. It is found that higher heat transfer rate is predicted when the effects of nanoparticle is taken into account.

Keywords: Nanofluid, Heat Transfer Enhancement, Square Enclosure, Nusselt number.

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6755 CookIT: A Web Portal for the Preservation and Dissemination of Traditional Italian Recipes

Authors: M. T. Artese, G. Ciocca, I. Gagliardi

Abstract:

Food is a social and cultural aspect of every individual. Food products, processing, and traditions have been identified as cultural objects carrying history and identity of social groups. Traditional recipes are passed down from one generation to the other, often to strengthen the link with the territory. The paper presents CookIT, a web portal developed to collect Italian traditional recipes related to regional cuisine, with the purpose to disseminate the knowledge of typical Italian recipes and the Mediterranean diet which is a significant part of Italian cuisine. The system designed is completed with multimodal means of browsing and data retrieval. Stored recipes can be retrieved integrating and combining a number of different methods and keys, while the results are displayed using classical styles, such as list and mosaic, and also using maps and graphs, with which users can play using available keys for interaction.

Keywords: Collaborative portal, Italian cuisine, intangible cultural heritage, traditional recipes, searching and browsing.

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6754 Monitoring and Analysis of Bridge Crossing Ground Fissures

Authors: Zhiqing Zhang, Xiangong Zhou, Zihan Zhou

Abstract:

Ground fissures can be seen in some cities all over the world. As a special urban geological disaster, ground fissures in Xi'an have caused great harm to infrastructure. Chang'an Road Interchange in Xi'an City is a bridge across ground fissures. The damage to Chang'an Road interchange is the most serious and typical. To study the influence of ground fissures on the bridge, we established a bridge monitoring system. The main monitoring items include elevation monitoring, structural displacement monitoring, etc. The monitoring results show that the typical failure is mainly reflected in the bridge deck damage caused by horizontal tension and vertical dislocation. For the construction of urban interchange spanning ground fissures, the interchange should be divided reasonably, a simple support structure with less restriction should be adopted, and the monitoring of supports should be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of beam falling.

Keywords: Bridge monitoring, ground fissures, typical disease, structural displacement.

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6753 An in Silico Approach for Prioritizing Drug Targets in Metabolic Pathway of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Authors: Baharak Khoshkholgh-Sima, Soroush Sardari, Jalal Izadi Mobarakeh, Ramezan Ali Khavari-Nejad

Abstract:

There is an urgent need to develop novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) drugs that are active against drug resistant bacteria but, more importantly, kill persistent bacteria. Our study structured based on integrated analysis of metabolic pathways, small molecule screening and similarity Search in PubChem Database. Metabolic analysis approaches based on Unified weighted used for potent target selection. Our results suggest that pantothenate synthetase (panC) and and 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate hydroxymethyl transferase (panB) as a appropriate drug targets. In our study, we used pantothenate synthetase because of existence inhibitors. We have reported the discovery of new antitubercular compounds through ligand based approaches using computational tools.

Keywords: In Silico, Ligand-based Virtual Screening, Metabolic Pathways, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

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6752 Effects of Polymers and Alkaline on Recovery Improvement from Fractured Models

Authors: Payam Parvasi, Mohammad Hossein Sedaghat, Reza Janamiri, Amir Hatampour

Abstract:

In this work, several ASP solutions were flooded into fractured models initially saturated with heavy oil at a constant flow rate and different geometrical characteristics of fracture. The ASP solutions are constituted from 2 polymers i.e. a synthetic polymer, hydrolyzed polyacrylamide as well as a biopolymer, a surfactant and 2types of alkaline. The results showed that using synthetic hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer increases ultimate oil recovery; however, type of alkaline does not play a significant rule on oil recovery. In addition, position of the injection well respect to the fracture system has remarkable effects on ASP flooding. For instance increasing angle of fractures with mean flow direction causes more oil recovery and delays breakthrough time. This work can be accounted as a comprehensive survey on ASP flooding which considers most of effective factors in this chemical EOR method.

Keywords: ASP Flooding, Fractured System, Displacement, Heavy Oil.

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6751 Attention-Based Spatio-Temporal Approach for Fire and Smoke Detection

Authors: A. Mirrashid, M. Khoshbin, A. Atghaei, H. Shahbazi

Abstract:

In various industries, smoke and fire are two of the most important threats in the workplace. One of the common methods for detecting smoke and fire is the use of infrared thermal and smoke sensors, which cannot be used in outdoor applications. Therefore, the use of vision-based methods seems necessary. The problem of smoke and fire detection is spatiotemporal and requires spatiotemporal solutions. This paper presents a method that uses spatial features along with temporal-based features to detect smoke and fire in the scene. It consists of three main parts; the task of each part is to reduce the error of the previous part so that the final model has a robust performance. This method also uses transformer modules to increase the accuracy of the model. The results of our model show the proper performance of the proposed approach in solving the problem of smoke and fire detection and can be used to increase workplace safety.

Keywords: Attention, fire detection, smoke detection, spatiotemporal.

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6750 A Research on Glass Ceiling Syndrome Career Barriers of Women Academics

Authors: Serdar Öge, Alpay Karasoy, Özlem Kara

Abstract:

Although women have merit in their jobs, they still are located very few in the top management in many sectors. There are many causes of such situation. Such a situation creates obstacles; especially invisible ones are called “glass ceiling syndrome”. Also, studies which handle this subject in academic community are very few. The aim of this research is to reach the results about glass ceiling obstacles in terms of female teaching staff (academics) working in higher education institutions. To this end, our study was performed on female academics working at Selcuk University, Konya / Turkey. Our study's main aim can be expressed as to determine whether there are glass ceiling obstacles for female academics working at the higher education institution in question, to measure their glass ceiling perceptions and, thus, to identify what the glass ceiling barrier components for them to promotion to senior management positions are.

Keywords: Career, Career Barriers, Glass ceiling syndrome.

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6749 Segmentation of Breast Lesions in Ultrasound Images Using Spatial Fuzzy Clustering and Structure Tensors

Authors: Yan Xu, Toshihiro Nishimura

Abstract:

Segmentation in ultrasound images is challenging due to the interference from speckle noise and fuzziness of boundaries. In this paper, a segmentation scheme using fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering incorporating both intensity and texture information of images is proposed to extract breast lesions in ultrasound images. Firstly, the nonlinear structure tensor, which can facilitate to refine the edges detected by intensity, is used to extract speckle texture. And then, a spatial FCM clustering is applied on the image feature space for segmentation. In the experiments with simulated and clinical ultrasound images, the spatial FCM clustering with both intensity and texture information gets more accurate results than the conventional FCM or spatial FCM without texture information.

Keywords: fuzzy c-means, spatial information, structure tensor, ultrasound image segmentation

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6748 Entropy based Expeditive Methodology for Rating Curves Assessment

Authors: D. Mirauda, M. Greco, P. Moscarelli

Abstract:

The river flow forecasting represents a crucial point to employ for improving a management policy addressed to the right use of water resources as well as for conjugating prevention and defense actions against environmental degradation. The difficulties occurring during the field activities encourage the development and implementation of operative computation and measuring methods addressed to time reduction for data acquisition and processing maintaining a good level of accuracy. Therefore, the aim of the present work is to test a new entropy based expeditive methodology for the evaluation of the rating curves on three gauged sections with different geometric and morphological characteristics. The methodology requires the choice of only three verticals along the measure section and the sampling of only the maximum velocity. The results underline how in most conditions the rating curves drawn can replace those built with classic methodologies, simplifying thus the procedures of data monitoring and calculation.

Keywords: gauged station, entropic approach, expeditive methodology, rating curves.

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6747 Numerical Investigation on the Progressive Collapse Resistance of an RC Building with Brick Infills under Column Loss

Authors: Meng-Hao Tsai, Tsuei-Chiang Huang

Abstract:

Interior brick-infill partitions are usually considered as non-structural components and only their weight is accounted for in practical structural design. In this study, their effect on the progressive collapse resistance of an RC building subjected to sudden column loss is investigated. Three notional column loss conditions with four different brick-infill locations are considered. Column-loss response analyses of the RC building with and without brick infills are carried out. Analysis results indicate that the collapse resistance is only slightly influenced by the brick infills due to their brittle failure characteristic. Even so, they may help to reduce the inelastic displacement response under column loss. For practical engineering, it is reasonably conservative to only consider the weight of brick-infill partitions in the structural analysis.

Keywords: Progressive collapse, column loss, brick-infill partition, compression strut.

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