Abstract: The paper presents an innovative networked radar
system for detection of obstacles in a railway level crossing scenario.
This Monitoring System (MS) is able to detect moving or still
obstacles within the railway level crossing area automatically,
avoiding the need of human presence for surveillance. The MS is also
connected to the National Railway Information and Signaling System
to communicate in real-time the level crossing status. The
architecture is compliant with the highest Safety Integrity Level
(SIL4) of the CENELEC standard. The number of radar sensors used
is configurable at set-up time and depends on how large the level
crossing area can be. At least two sensors are expected and up four
can be used for larger areas. The whole processing chain that
elaborates the output sensor signals, as well as the communication
interface, is fully-digital, was designed in VHDL code and
implemented onto a Xilinx Virtex 6.
Abstract: The mechanisms underlying the association between
obesity and asthma may be related to a decreased immunological
tolerance induced by a defective function of regulatory T cells
(Tregs). The aim of this study is to establish the potential link
between these diseases and CD4+, CD25+ FoxP3+ Tregs as well as T
helper cells (Ths) in children. This is a prospective case control
study. Obese (n:40), asthmatic (n:40), asthmatic obese (n:40) and
healthy children (n:40), who don't have any acute or chronic diseases,
were included in this study. Obese children were evaluated according
to WHO criteria. Asthmatic patients were chosen based on GINA
criteria. Parents were asked to fill up the questionnaire. Informed
consent forms were taken. Blood samples were marked with CD4+,
CD25+ and FoxP3+ in order to determine Tregs and Ths by flow
cytometric method. Statistical analyses were performed. p≤0.05 was
chosen as meaningful threshold. Tregs exhibiting anti-inflammatory
nature were significantly lower in obese (0,16%; p≤0,001), asthmatic
(0,25%; p≤0,01) and asthmatic obese (0,29%; p≤0,05) groups than
the control group (0,38%). Ths were counted higher in asthma group
than the control (p≤0,01) and obese (p≤0,001) groups. T cell
immunity plays important roles in obesity and asthma pathogeneses.
Decreased numbers of Tregs found in obese, asthmatic and asthmatic
obese children may help to elucidate some questions in
pathophysiology of these diseases. For HOMA-IR levels, any
significant difference was not noted between control and obese
groups, but statistically higher values were found for obese
asthmatics. The values obtained in all groups were found to be below
the critical cut off points. This finding has made the statistically
significant difference observed between Tregs of obese, asthmatic,
obese asthmatic and control groups much more valuable. These
findings will be useful in diagnosis and treatment of these disorders
and future studies are needed. The production and propagation of
Tregs may be promising in alternative asthma and obesity treatments.
Abstract: Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has
increased the interest in early and late indicators of gaining weight.
Cell blood counts may be indicators of pro-inflammatory states. The
aim was to evaluate associations of hematological parameters,
including hematocrit (HTC), hemoglobin, blood cell counts and their
indices with the degree of obesity in pediatric population. A total of
249; -139 morbidly obese (MO), 82 healthy normal weight (NW) and
28 overweight (OW) children were included into the scope of the
study. WHO BMI-for age percentiles were used to form age- and sexmatched
groups. Informed consent forms and the Ethics Committee
approval were obtained. Anthropometric measurements were
performed. Hematological parameters were determined. Statistical
analyses were performed using SPSS. The degree for statistical
significance was p≤0.05. Significant differences (p=0.000) between
waist-to-hip ratios and head-to- neck ratios (hnrs) of MO and NW
children were detected. A significant difference between hnrs of OW
and MO children (p=0.000) was observed. Red cell distribution width
(RDW) was higher in OW children than NW group (p=0.030). Such
finding couldn’t be detected between MO and NW groups. Increased
RDW was prominent in OW children. The decrease in mean
corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values in MO
children was sharper than the values in OW children (p=0.006 vs
p=0.042) compared to those in NW group. Statistically higher HTC
levels were observed between MO-NW (p=0.014), but none between
OW-NW. Though the cause-effect relationship between obesity and
erythrocyte indices still needs further investigation, alterations in
RDW, HTC, MCHC during obesity may be of significance in the
early life.
Abstract: There are several possibilities of reducing the required
amount of cement in concrete production. Natural zeolite is one of
the raw materials which can partly substitute Portland cement. The
effort to reduce the amount of Portland cement used in concrete
production is brings both economical as well as ecological benefits.
The paper presents the properties of concrete containing natural
zeolite as an active admixture in the concrete which partly substitutes
Portland cement. The properties discussed here bring information
about the basic mechanical properties and frost resistance of concrete
containing zeolite. The properties of concretes with the admixture of
zeolite are compared with a reference concrete with no content of
zeolite. The properties of the individual concretes are observed for
360 days.
Abstract: In order to protect data privacy, image with sensitive or
private information needs to be encrypted before being outsourced to
the cloud. However, this causes difficulties in image retrieval and data
management. A secure image retrieval method based on orthogonal
decomposition is proposed in the paper. The image is divided into two
different components, for which encryption and feature extraction are
executed separately. As a result, cloud server can extract features from
an encrypted image directly and compare them with the features of the
queried images, so that the user can thus obtain the image. Different
from other methods, the proposed method has no special requirements
to encryption algorithms. Experimental results prove that the proposed
method can achieve better security and better retrieval precision.
Abstract: Experimental study of natural convection heat transfer
inside smooth and rough surfaces of vertical and inclined equilateral
triangular channels of different inclination angles with a uniformly
heated surface are performed. The inclination angle is changed from
15º to 90º. Smooth and rough surface of average roughness (0.02mm)
are used and their effect on the heat transfer characteristics are
studied. The local and average heat transfer coefficients and Nusselt
number are obtained for smooth and rough channels at different heat
flux values, different inclination angles and different Rayleigh
numbers (Ra) 6.48 × 105 ≤ Ra ≤ 4.78 × 106. The results show that
the local Nusselt number decreases with increase of axial distance
from the lower end of the triangular channel to a point near the upper
end of channel, and then, it slightly increases. Higher values of local
Nusselt number for rough channel along the axial distance compared
with the smooth channel. The average Nusselt number of rough
channel is higher than that of smooth channel by about 8.1% for
inclined case at θ = 45o and 10% for vertical case. The results
obtained are correlated using dimensionless groups for both rough
and smooth surfaces of the inclined and vertical triangular channels.
Abstract: In the current work, a three-dimensional geometry of a
75% stenosed blood vessel is analyzed. Large eddy simulation (LES)
with the help of a dynamic subgrid scale Smagorinsky model is
applied to model the turbulent pulsatile flow. The geometry, the
transmural pressure and the properties of the blood and the elastic
boundary were based on clinical measurement data. For the flexible
wall model, a thin solid region is constructed around the 75%
stenosed blood vessel. The deformation of this solid region was
modelled as a deforming boundary to reduce the computational cost
of the solid model. Fluid-structure interaction is realized via a twoway
coupling between the blood flow modelled via LES and the
deforming vessel. The information of the flow pressure and the wall
motion was exchanged continually during the cycle by an arbitrary
Lagrangian-Eulerian method. The boundary condition of current time
step depended on previous solutions. The fluctuation of the velocity
in the post-stenotic region was analyzed in the study. The axial
velocity at normalized position Z=0.5 shows a negative value near
the vessel wall. The displacement of the elastic boundary was
concerned in this study. In particular, the wall displacement at the
systole and the diastole were compared. The negative displacement at
the stenosis indicates a collapse at the maximum velocity and the
deceleration phase.
Abstract: Background - The TrendCare Patient Dependency
System is currently used by a large number of maternity Services
across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In 2012, 2013 and
2014 validation studies were initiated in all three countries to validate
the acuity tools used for women in labour, and postnatal mothers and
babies. This paper will present the findings of the validation study.
Aim - The aim of this study was to; identify if the care hours
provided by the TrendCare acuity system was an accurate reflection
of the care required by women and babies; obtain evidence of
changes required to acuity indicators and/or category timings to
ensure the TrendCare acuity system remains reliable and valid across
a range of maternity care models in three countries.
Method - A non-experimental action research methodology was
used across maternity services in four District Health Boards in New
Zealand, a large tertiary and a large secondary maternity service in
Singapore and a large public maternity service in Australia.
Standardised data collection forms and timing devices were used to
collect midwife contact times, with women and babies included in the
study. Rejection processes excluded samples when care was not
completed/rationed, and contact timing forms were incomplete. The
variances between actual timed midwife/mother/baby contact and the
TrendCare acuity category times were identified and investigated.
Results - Thirty two (88.9%) of the 36 TrendCare acuity category
timings, fell within the variance tolerance levels when compared to
the actual timings recorded for midwifery care. Four (11.1%)
TrendCare categories provided less minutes of care than the actual
timings and exceeded the variance tolerance level. These were all
night shift category timings. Nine postnatal categories were not able
to be compared as the sample size for these categories was
statistically insignificant. 100% of labour ward TrendCare categories
matched actual timings for midwifery care, all falling within the
variance tolerance levels.
The actual time provided by core midwifery staff to assist lead
maternity carer (LMC) midwives in New Zealand labour wards
showed a significant deviation to previous studies. The findings of
the study demonstrated the need for additional time allocations in
TrendCare to accommodate an increased level of assistance given to
LMC midwives.
Conclusion - The results demonstrated the importance of regularly
validating the TrendCare category timings with actual timings of the
care hours provided. It was evident from the findings that variances
to models of care and length of stay in maternity units have increased
midwifery workloads on the night shift. The level of assistance
provided by the core labour ward staff to the LMC midwife has
increased substantially.
Outcomes - As a consequence of this study, changes were made to
the night duty TrendCare maternity categories, additional acuity
indicators were developed and times for assisting LMC midwives in
labour ward increased. The updated TrendCare version was delivered
to maternity services in 2014.
Abstract: Non-water based fixed abrasive polishing was adopted
to manufacture LBO crystal for nano precision surface quality because
of its deliquescent. Ethyl alcohol was selected as the non-water based
slurry solvent and ethanediamine, lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide was
added in the slurry as a chemical additive, respectively. Effect of
different additives with non-water based slurry on material removal
rate, surface topography, microscopic appearances, and surface
roughness were investigated in fixed abrasive polishing of LBO
crystal. The results show the best surface quality of LBO crystal with
surface roughness Sa 8.2 nm and small damages was obtained by
non-water based slurry with lactic acid. Non-water based fixed
abrasive polishing can achieve nano precision surface quality of LBO
crystal with high material removal.
Abstract: This article presents modeling studies of NiAl alloy
under solid-particle erosion and liquid-drop erosion. In the
solid-particle erosion simulation, attention is paid to the oxide scale
thickness variation on the alloy in high-temperature erosion
environments. The erosion damage is assumed to be deformation wear
and cutting wear mechanisms, incorporating the influence of the oxide
scale on the eroded surface; thus the instantaneous oxide thickness is
the result of synergetic effect of erosion and oxidation. For liquid-drop
erosion, special interest is in investigating the effects of drop velocity
and drop size on the damage of the target surface. The models of
impact stress wave, mean depth of penetration, and maximum depth of
erosion rate (Max DER) are employed to develop various maps for
NiAl alloy, including target thickness vs. drop size (diameter), rate of
mean depth of penetration (MDRP) vs. drop impact velocity, and
damage threshold velocity (DTV) vs. drop size.
Abstract: The design philosophy of building structure has been
changing time to time. The reason for this is because of an increase of
human inertest, an improved building materials and technology that
will impact how we live, to speed up construction period and natural
effect which includes earthquake disasters and environmental effect.
One technique which takes in to account the above case is using a
prefabricable structural system. In which each and every structural
element is designed and prefabricated and assembled on a site so that
the construction speed is increased and the environmental impact is
also enhanced. This system has an immense advantage such as: reduce
construction cost, reusable, recyclable, speed up construction period
and less environmental effect. In this study, it is tried to present some
of the developed and evaluated structural elements of building
structures.
Abstract: In general, codes and regulations consider seismic
loads only for completed structures of the bridges while, evaluation
of incomplete structure of bridges, especially those constructed by
free cantilever method, under these loads is also of great importance.
Hence, this research tried to study the behavior of incomplete
structure of common bridge type (box girder bridge), in construction
phase under vertical seismic loads. Subsequently, the paper provided
suitable guidelines and solutions to resist this destructive
phenomenon. Research results proved that use of preventive methods
can significantly reduce the stresses resulted from vertical seismic
loads in box cross sections to an acceptable range recommended by
design codes.
Abstract: This paper presents a study of SIW circuits (Substrate
Integrated Waveguide) with a rigorous and fast original approach
based on Iterative process (WCIP). The theoretical suggested study is
validated by the simulation of two different examples of SIW
circuits. The obtained results are in good agreement with those of
measurement and with software HFSS.
Abstract: This paper presents effects of distilled water, seawater
and sustained bending strains of 30% and 50% ultimate strain at
room temperature, on the durability of unidirectional pultruded
carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. In this study,
dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) was used to investigate the
synergic effects of the immersions and bending strains on the viscoelastic
properties of (CFRP) such as storage modulus, tan delta and
glass transition temperature. The study reveals that the storage
modulus and glass transition temperature increase while tan delta
peak decreases in the initial stage of both immersions due to the
progression of curing. The storage modulus and Tg subsequently
decrease and tan delta increases due to the matrix plasticization. The
blister induced damages in the unstrained seawater samples enhance
water uptake and cause more serious degradation of Tg and storage
modulus than in water immersion. Increasing sustained bending
decreases Tg and storage modulus in a long run for both immersions
due to resin matrix cracking and debonding. The combined effects of
immersions and strains are not clearly reflected due to the statistical
effects of DMA sample sizes and competing processes of molecular
reorientation and postcuring.
Abstract: Image segmentation plays an important role in
medical imaging applications. Therefore, accurate methods are
needed for the successful segmentation of medical images for
diagnosis and detection of various diseases. In this paper, we have
used maximum entropy to achieve image segmentation. Maximum
entropy has been calculated using Shannon, Renyi and Tsallis
entropies. This work has novelty based on the detection of skin lesion
caused by the bite of a parasite called Sand Fly causing the disease is
called Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
Abstract: The biodegradable family of polymers
polyhydroxyalkanoates is an interesting substitute for convectional
fossil-based plastics. However, the manufacturing and environmental
impacts associated with their production via intracellular bacterial
fermentation are strongly dependent on the raw material used and on
energy consumption during the extraction process, limiting their
potential for commercialization. Industrial wastewater is studied in
this paper as a promising alternative feedstock for waste valorization.
Based on results from laboratory and pilot-scale experiments, a
conceptual process design, techno-economic analysis and life cycle
assessment are developed for the large-scale production of the most
common type of polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxbutyrate.
Intracellular polyhydroxybutyrate is obtained via fermentation of
microbial community present in industrial wastewater and the
downstream processing is based on chemical digestion with
surfactant and hypochlorite. The economic potential and
environmental performance results help identifying bottlenecks and
best opportunities to scale-up the process prior to industrial
implementation. The outcome of this research indicates that the
fermentation of wastewater towards PHB presents advantages
compared to traditional PHAs production from sugars because the
null environmental burdens and financial costs of the raw material in
the bioplastic production process. Nevertheless, process optimization
is still required to compete with the petrochemicals counterparts.
Abstract: This paper describes the issues relating to the role of
the flash flood early warning system provided by the Malaysian
Government to the communities in Malaysia, specifically during the
flash flood disaster in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Normally,
flash flood disasters can occur as a result of heavy rainfall in an area,
and that water may possibly cause flooding via streams or narrow
channels. The focus of this study is the flash flood disaster which
occurred on 23 October 2013 in the Cameron Highlands, and as a
result the Sungai Bertam overflowed after the release of water from
the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam. This release of water from the dam
caused flash flooding which led to damage to properties and also the
death of residents and livestock in the area. Therefore, the effort of
this study is to identify the perceptions of the flash flood victims on
the role of the flash flood early warning system. For the purposes of
this study, data were gathered through face-to-face interviews from
those flood victims who were willing to participate in this study. This
approach helped the researcher to glean in-depth information about
their feelings and perceptions of the role of the flash flood early
warning system offered by the government. The data were analysed
descriptively and the findings show that the respondents of 22 flood
victims believe strongly that the flash flood early warning system was
confusing and dysfunctional, and communities had failed to response
positively to it. Therefore, most of the communities were not well
prepared for the releasing of water from the dam which caused
property damage, and 3 people were killed in the Cameron Highland
flash flood disaster.
Abstract: Specific leaf area (SLA; cm2leaf g-1leaf) the ratio of leaf
area to leaf dry mass is a key ecophysiological parameter influencing
leaf physiology, photosynthesis, and whole plant carbon gain and
also can be used as a rapid and diagnostic tool. In this study, two
species of soluble inorganic selenium forms, selenite (Se^IV) and
selenate (Se^VI) at different concentrations were investigated on maize
plants that were growing in nutrient solutions during 2 weeks and at
the end of the experiment, amounts of SLA for first and second
leaves of maize were measured. In accordance with the results we
observed that our regarded Se concentrations in both forms of Se^IV
and Se^VI were not effective on maize plants’ SLA significantly
although high level of 3 mg.kg-1 Se^IV had negative affect on growth
of the samples that had been treated by it but about Se^VI samples we
did not observe this state and our different considered Se^VI
concentrations were not toxic for maize plants.
Abstract: In this study, polycaprolactone (PCL) was dissolved
in chloroform:ethanol solvent system at a concentration of 18 w/v %.
1, 2, 4, and 6 droplets of formic acid were added to the prepared 10ml
PCL-chloroform:ethanol solutions separately. Fibrous webs were
produced by electrospinning technique based on the horizontal
working principle. Morphology of the webs was investigated by
using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) whereas fiber diameters
were measured by Image J Software System. The effect of formic
acid addition to the mostly used chloroform solvent on fiber
morphology was examined.
Results indicate that there is a distinct fall in fiber diameter with
the addition of formic acid drops. The average fiber diameter was
measured as 2.22μm in PCL /chloroform:ethanol solution system. On
the other hand, 328nm and 256 nm average fiber diameters were
measured for the samples of 4 drops and 6 drops formic acid added.
This study offers alternative solvent systems to produce nanoscaled,
nontoxic PCL fibrous webs by electrospinning technique.
Abstract: Problems insulation of building structures is often
closely connected with the problem of moisture remediation. In the
case of historic buildings or if only part of the redevelopment of
envelope of structures, it is not possible to apply the classical external
thermal insulation composite systems. This application is mostly
effective thermal insulation plasters with high porosity and controlled
capillary properties which assures improvement of thermal properties
construction, its diffusion openness towards the external environment
and suitable treatment capillary properties of preventing the
penetration of liquid moisture and salts thereof toward the outer
surface of the structure.
With respect to the current trend of reducing the energy
consumption of building structures and reduce the production of CO2
is necessary to develop capillary-active materials characterized by
their low density, low thermal conductivity while maintaining good
mechanical properties. The aim of researchers at the Faculty of Civil
Engineering, Brno University of Technology is the development and
study of hygrothermal behaviour of optimal materials for thermal
insulation and rehabilitation of building structures with the possible
use of alternative, less energy demanding binders in comparison with
conventional, frequently used binder, which represents cement.
The paper describes the evaluation of research activities aimed at
the development of thermal insulation and repair materials using
lightweight aggregate and alternative binders such as metakaolin and
finely ground fly ash.