Search results for: patient safety in home hemodialysis.
737 Study on Energy Absorption Characteristic of Cab Frame with FEM
Authors: Shigeyuki Haruyama, Oke Oktavianty, Zefry Darmawan, Tadayuki Kyoutani, Ken Kaminishi
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Cab’s frame strength is considered as an important factor in excavator’s operator safety, especially during roll-over. In this study, we use a model of cab frame with different thicknesses and perform elastoplastic numerical analysis by using Finite Element Method (FEM). Deformation mode and energy absorption's of cab’s frame part are investigated on two conditions, with wrinkle and without wrinkle. The occurrence of wrinkle when deforming cab frame can reduce energy absorption, and among 4 parts with wrinkle, the energy absorption significantly decreases in part C. Residual stress that generated upon the bending process of part C is analyzed to confirm it possibility in increasing the energy absorption.
Keywords: ROPS, FEM, hydraulic excavator, cab frame, energy absorption.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1544736 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 1191735 Procedure to Use Quantitative Bone-Specific SPECT/CT in North Karelia Central Hospital
Authors: L. Korpinen, P. Taskinen, P. Rautio
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This study aimed to describe procedures that we developed to use in the quantitative, bone-specific SPECT/CT at our hospital. Our procedures included the following questions for choosing imaging protocols, which were based on a clinical doctor's referral: (1) Is she/he a cancer patient or not? (2) Are there any indications of inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis? We performed about 1,106 skeletal scintigraphies over two years. About 394 patients were studied with quantitative bone-specific single-photon emission computed tomography/computerized tomography (SPECT/CT) (i.e., about 36% of all bone scintigraphies). Approximately 64% of the patients were studied using the conventional Anterior-Posterior/Posterior-Anterior imaging. Our procedure has improved efficiency and decreased cycle times.
Keywords: Skeletal scintigraphy, SPECT/CT, imaging.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1178734 Kano’s Model for Clinical Laboratory
Authors: Khaled N. El-Hashmi, Omar K.Gnieber
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The clinical laboratory has received considerable recognition globally due to the rapid development of advanced technology, economic demands and its role in a patient’s treatment cycle. Although various cross-domain experiments and practices with respect to clinical laboratory projects are ready for the full swing, the customer needs are still ambiguous and debatable. The purpose of this study is to apply Kano’s model and customer satisfaction matrix to categorize service quality attributes in order to see how well these attributes are able to satisfy customer needs. The result reveals that ten of the 26 service quality attributes have greater impacts on highly increasing customer’s satisfaction and should be taken in consideration firstly.
Keywords: Clinical laboratory, Customer satisfaction matrix, Kano’s Model, Quality Attributes, Voice of Customer.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2829733 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 2035732 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 2043731 Evaluation of a Hybrid Knowledge-Based System Using Fuzzy Approach
Authors: Kamalendu Pal
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This paper describes the main features of a knowledge-based system evaluation method. System evaluation is placed in the context of a hybrid legal decision-support system, Advisory Support for Home Settlement in Divorce (ASHSD). Legal knowledge for ASHSD is represented in two forms, as rules and previously decided cases. Besides distinguishing the two different forms of knowledge representation, the paper outlines the actual use of these forms in a computational framework that is designed to generate a plausible solution for a given case, by using rule-based reasoning (RBR) and case-based reasoning (CBR) in an integrated environment. The nature of suitability assessment of a solution has been considered as a multiple criteria decision-making process in ASHAD evaluation. The evaluation was performed by a combination of discussions and questionnaires with different user groups. The answers to questionnaires used in this evaluations method have been measured as a fuzzy linguistic term. The finding suggests that fuzzy linguistic evaluation is practical and meaningful in knowledge-based system development purpose.
Keywords: Case-based reasoning, decision-support system, fuzzy linguistic term, rule-based reasoning, system evaluation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1632730 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 3049729 Authoring Tactile Gestures: Case Study for Emotion Stimulation
Authors: Rodrigo Lentini, Beatrice Ionascu, Friederike A. Eyssel, Scandar Copti, Mohamad Eid
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The haptic modality has brought a new dimension to human computer interaction by engaging the human sense of touch. However, designing appropriate haptic stimuli, and in particular tactile stimuli, for various applications is still challenging. To tackle this issue, we present an intuitive system that facilitates the authoring of tactile gestures for various applications. The system transforms a hand gesture into a tactile gesture that can be rendering using a home-made haptic jacket. A case study is presented to demonstrate the ability of the system to develop tactile gestures that are recognizable by human subjects. Four tactile gestures are identified and tested to intensify the following four emotional responses: high valence – high arousal, high valence – low arousal, low valence – high arousal, and low valence – low arousal. A usability study with 20 participants demonstrated high correlation between the selected tactile gestures and the intended emotional reaction. Results from this study can be used in a wide spectrum of applications ranging from gaming to interpersonal communication and multimodal simulations.
Keywords: Tactile stimulation, tactile gesture, emotion reactions, arousal, valence.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1329728 A Convolutional Deep Neural Network Approach for Skin Cancer Detection Using Skin Lesion Images
Authors: Firas Gerges, Frank Y. Shih
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Malignant Melanoma, known simply as Melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that appears as a mole on the skin. It is critical to detect this cancer at an early stage because it can spread across the body and may lead to the patient death. When detected early, Melanoma is curable. In this paper we propose a deep learning model (Convolutional Neural Networks) in order to automatically classify skin lesion images as Malignant or Benign. Images underwent certain pre-processing steps to diminish the effect of the normal skin region on the model. The result of the proposed model showed a significant improvement over previous work, achieving an accuracy of 97%.
Keywords: Deep learning, skin cancer, image processing, melanoma.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1540727 The IVAIRE Study: Relative Performance of Energy and Heat Recovery Ventilators in Cold Climates
Authors: D. Aubin, D. Won, H. Schleibinger, P. Lajoie, D. Gauvin, J.-M. Leclerc
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This paper describes the results obtained in a two-year randomized intervention field study investigating the impact of ventilation rates on indoor air quality (IAQ) and the respiratory health of asthmatic children in Québec City, Canada. The focus of this article is on the comparative effectiveness of heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) and energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) at increasing ventilation rates, improving IAQ, and maintaining an acceptable indoor relative humidity (RH). In 14% of the homes, the RH was found to be too low in winter. Providing more cold and dry outside air to under-ventilated homes in winter further reduces indoor RH. Thus, low-RH homes in the intervention group were chosen to receive ERVs (instead of HRVs) to increase the ventilation rate. The installation of HRVs or ERVs led to a near doubling of the ventilation rates in the intervention group homes which led to a significant reduction in the concentration of several key of pollutants. The ERVs were also effective in maintaining an acceptable indoor RH since they avoided excessive dehumidification of the home by recovering moisture from the exhaust airstream through the enthalpy core, otherwise associated with increased cold supply air rates.Keywords: Asthma, field study, indoor air quality, ventilation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 746726 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 1350725 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 1319724 First Aid Application on Mobile Device
Authors: Komwit Surachat, Supasit Kajkamhaeng, Kasikrit Damkliang, Watanyoo Tiprat, Taninnuch Wacharanimit
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An accident is an unexpected and unplanned situation that happens and affects human in a negative outcome. The accident can cause an injury to a human biological organism. Thus, the provision of initial care for an illness or injury is very important move to prepare the patients/victims before sending to the doctor. In this paper, a First Aid Application is developed to give some directions for preliminary taking care of patient/victim via Android mobile device. Also, the navigation function using Google Maps API is implemented in this paper for searching a suitable path to the nearest hospital. Therefore, in the emergency case, this function can be activated and navigate patients/victims to the hospital with the shortest path.Keywords: First Aid Application, Android, Google Maps API, Navigation System.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6002723 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 1025722 A Novel Method for Blood Glucose Measurement by Noninvasive Technique Using Laser
Authors: V.Ashok, A.Nirmalkumar, N.Jeyashanthi
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A method and apparatus for noninvasive measurement of blood glucose concentration based on transilluminated laser beam via the Index Finger has been reported in this paper. This method depends on atomic gas (He-Ne) laser operating at 632.8nm wavelength. During measurement, the index finger is inserted into the glucose sensing unit, the transilluminated optical signal is converted into an electrical signal, compared with the reference electrical signal, and the obtained difference signal is processed by signal processing unit which presents the results in the form of blood glucose concentration. This method would enable the monitoring blood glucose level of the diabetic patient continuously, safely and noninvasively.Keywords: Anisotropy factor, Blood glucose, Diabetes Mellitus, Noninvasive method, Photo detectors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3295721 Tool for Helping Rural Woman Giving Birth
Authors: Bernadus Kristyanto, Luciana T Dewi, Rustamaji
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Giving birth is a natural process and most women have to go through it. Gynecologist or Midwife usually uses the leg holder to position the cervix in the stitching process. In some part of rural areas in Indonesia, the labor process normally being done at homes by calling in a midwife or gynecologist. The facilities for this kind of labor process is not yet sufficient, as the use of leg holder supposedly on the obstetric bed. The reality is that it is impossible to bring in the obstetric bed to the patient-s house at the time they call for giving birth or the time when the stitching of the cervix need to be done. This research is redesigning the leg holder through Biomechanics and ergonomic approaches to obtain the optimal design which is suitable to the user of a developing country such as Indonesia.
Keywords: Giving birth, Leg holder, Re-design product, Biomechanics and ergonomic approaches
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1891720 Rapid Detection System of Airborne Pathogens
Authors: Shigenori Togashi, Kei Takenaka
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We developed new processes which can collect and detect rapidly airborne pathogens such as the avian flu virus for the pandemic prevention. The fluorescence antibody technique is known as one of high-sensitive detection methods for viruses, but this needs up to a few hours to bind sufficient fluorescence dyes to viruses for detection. In this paper, we developed a mist-labeling can detect substitution viruses in a short time to improve the binding rate of fluorescent dyes and substitution viruses by the micro reaction process. Moreover, we developed the rapid detection system with the above “mist labeling”. The detection system set with a sampling bag collecting patient’s breath and a cartridge can detect automatically pathogens within 10 minutes.
Keywords: Viruses, Sampler, Mist, Detection, Fluorescent dyes, Microreaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2845719 High-Value Health System for All: Technologies for Promoting Health Education and Awareness
Authors: M. P. Sebastian
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Health for all is considered as a sign of well-being and inclusive growth. New healthcare technologies are contributing to the quality of human lives by promoting health education and awareness, leading to the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms of diseases. Healthcare technologies have now migrated from the medical and institutionalized settings to the home and everyday life. This paper explores these new technologies and investigates how they contribute to health education and awareness, promoting the objective of high-value health system for all. The methodology used for the research is literature review. The paper also discusses the opportunities and challenges with futuristic healthcare technologies. The combined advances in genomics medicine, wearables and the IoT with enhanced data collection in electronic health record (EHR) systems, environmental sensors, and mobile device applications can contribute in a big way to high-value health system for all. The promise by these technologies includes reduced total cost of healthcare, reduced incidence of medical diagnosis errors, and reduced treatment variability. The major barriers to adoption include concerns with security, privacy, and integrity of healthcare data, regulation and compliance issues, service reliability, interoperability and portability of data, and user friendliness and convenience of these technologies.
Keywords: Bigdata, education, healthcare, ICT, patients, technologies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1044718 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 3064717 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 767716 Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta Nigeria: An Act of Inhumanity to Man and His Environment
Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi
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The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is home to about 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups. The region has an area of seventy thousand square kilometers (70,000 KM2) of wetlands, formed primarily by sediments deposition and makes up 7.5 percent of Nigeria's total landmass. The notable ecological zones in this region includes: coastal barrier islands; mangrove swamp forests; fresh water swamps; and lowland rainforests. This incredibly naturally-endowed ecosystem region, which contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, is threatened by the inhuman act known as gas flaring. Gas flaring is the combustion of natural gas that is associated with crude oil when it is pumped up from the ground. In petroleum-producing areas such as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where insufficient investment was made in infrastructure to utilize natural gas, flaring is employed to dispose of this associated gas. This practice has impoverished the communities where it is practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health challenges. This paper discusses the adverse environmental and health implication associated with the practice, the role of Government, Policy makers, Oil companies and the Local communities aimed at bring this inhuman practice to a prompt end.
Keywords: Combustion, Emission, Environment, Flaring, Gas, Health, Niger Delta.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2723715 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 876714 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 4184713 The State-of-Art Environmental Impact Assessment: An Overview
Authors: Tsolmon Tumenjargal, Muhammad Hassan Khalil, Wu Yao Guo
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The research on the effectiveness of environmental assessment (EA) is a milestone effort to evaluate the state of the field, including many contributors related with a lot of countries since more than two decades. In the 1960s, there was a surge of interest between modern industrialized countries over unexpected opposite effects of technical invention. The interest led to choice of approaches for assessing and prediction the impressions of technology and advancement for social and economic, state health and safety, solidity and the circumstances. These are consisting of risk assessment, technology assessment, environmental impact assessment and costbenefit analysis. In this research contribution, the authors have described the research status for environmental assessment in cumulative environmental system. This article discusses the methods for cumulative effect assessment (CEA).
Keywords: Cumulative effect assessment, Environmental impact assessment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1701712 Continual Improvement with Integrated Management System
Authors: Sharareh Mirsaeidi Farahani , Gholamreza Chitsaz
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Management Systems are powerful tools for businesses to manage quality , environmental and occupational health and safety requirements . where once these systems were considered as stand alone control mechanisms , industry is now opting to increase the efficiency of these documented systems through a more integrated approach . System integration offers a significant step forward, where there are similarities between system components , reducing duplication and adminstration costs and increasing efficiency . At first , this paper reviews integrated management system structure and its benefits. The second part of this paper focuses on the one example implementation of such a system at Imam Khomeini Hospital and in final part of the paper will be discuss outcomes of that proccess .Keywords: environmental management , Integratedmanagement systems, occupational healt and safetymanagement , quality management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3243711 Centralized Monitoring and Self-protected against Fiber Fault in FTTH Access Network
Authors: Mohammad Syuhaimi Ab-Rahman, Boonchuan Ng, Kasmiran Jumari
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This paper presented a new approach for centralized monitoring and self-protected against fiber fault in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) access network by using Smart Access Network Testing, Analyzing and Database (SANTAD). SANTAD will be installed with optical line terminal (OLT) at central office (CO) for in-service transmission surveillance and fiber fault localization within FTTH with point-to-multipoint (P2MP) configuration downwardly from CO towards customer residential locations based on the graphical user interface (GUI) processing capabilities of MATLAB software. SANTAD is able to detect any fiber fault as well as identify the failure location in the network system. SANTAD enable the status of each optical network unit (ONU) connected line is displayed onto one screen with capability to configure the attenuation and detect the failure simultaneously. The analysis results and information will be delivered to the field engineer for promptly actions, meanwhile the failure line will be diverted to protection line to ensure the traffic flow continuously. This approach has a bright prospect to improve the survivability and reliability as well as increase the efficiency and monitoring capabilities in FTTH.Keywords: Fiber fault, FTTH, SANTAD, transmission surveillance, MATLAB.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2553710 A Framework for the Design of Green Giga Passive Optical Fiber Access Network in Kuwait
Authors: Ali A. Hammadi
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In this work, a practical study on a commissioned Giga Passive Optical Network (GPON) fiber to the home access network in Kuwait is presented. The work covers the framework of the conceptual design of the deployed Passive Optical Networks (PONs), access network, optical fiber cable network distribution, technologies, and standards. The work also describes methodologies applied by system engineers for design of Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) and Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) transceivers with respect to the distance, operating wavelengths, splitting ratios. The results have demonstrated and justified the limitation of transmission distance of a PON link in Fiber to The Premises (FTTP) to not exceed 20 km. Optical Time Domain Reflector (OTDR) test has been carried for this project to confirm compliance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) specifications regarding the total length of the deployed optical cable, total loss in dB, and loss per km in dB/km with respect to the operating wavelengths. OTDR test results with traces for segments of implemented fiber network will be provided and discussed.
Keywords: Passive optical networks, fiber to the premises, access network, OTDR.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1067709 Manual to Automated Testing: An Effort-Based Approach for Determining the Priority of Software Test Automation
Authors: Peter Sabev, Katalina Grigorova
Abstract:
Test automation allows performing difficult and time consuming manual software testing tasks efficiently, quickly and repeatedly. However, development and maintenance of automated tests is expensive, so it needs a proper prioritization what to automate first. This paper describes a simple yet efficient approach for such prioritization of test cases based on the effort needed for both manual execution and software test automation. The suggested approach is very flexible because it allows working with a variety of assessment methods, and adding or removing new candidates at any time. The theoretical ideas presented in this article have been successfully applied in real world situations in several software companies by the authors and their colleagues including testing of real estate websites, cryptographic and authentication solutions, OSGi-based middleware framework that has been applied in various systems for smart homes, connected cars, production plants, sensors, home appliances, car head units and engine control units (ECU), vending machines, medical devices, industry equipment and other devices that either contain or are connected to an embedded service gateway.Keywords: Automated Testing, Manual Testing, Test Automation, Software testing, Test Prioritization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3386708 HelpMeBreathe: A Web-Based System for Asthma Management
Authors: Alia Al Rayssi, Mahra Al Marar, Alyazia Alkhaili, Reem Al Dhaheri, Shayma Alkobaisi, Hoda Amer
Abstract:
We present in this paper a web-based system called “HelpMeBreathe” for managing asthma. The proposed system provides analytical tools, which allow better understanding of environmental triggers of asthma, hence better support of data-driven decision making. The developed system provides warning messages to a specific asthma patient if the weather in his/her area might cause any difficulty in breathing or could trigger an asthma attack. HelpMeBreathe collects, stores, and analyzes individuals’ moving trajectories and health conditions as well as environmental data. It then processes and displays the patients’ data through an analytical tool that leads to an effective decision making by physicians and other decision makers.
Keywords: Asthma, environmental triggers, map interface, peak flow, web-based system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 869