Abstract: With the increasing dependency on our computer
devices, we face the necessity of adequate, efficient and effective
mechanisms, for protecting our network. There are two main
problems that Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) attempt to solve.
1) To detect the attack, by analyzing the incoming traffic and inspect
the network (intrusion detection). 2) To produce a prompt response
when the attack occurs (intrusion prevention). It is critical creating an
Intrusion detection model that will detect a breach in the system on
time and also challenging making it provide an automatic and with
an acceptable delay response at every single stage of the monitoring
process. We cannot afford to adopt security measures with a high
exploiting computational power, and we are not able to accept a
mechanism that will react with a delay. In this paper, we will
propose an intrusion response mechanism that is based on artificial
intelligence, and more precisely, reinforcement learning techniques
(RLT). The RLT will help us to create a decision agent, who will
control the process of interacting with the undetermined environment.
The goal is to find an optimal policy, which will represent the
intrusion response, therefore, to solve the Reinforcement learning
problem, using a Q-learning approach. Our agent will produce an
optimal immediate response, in the process of evaluating the network
traffic.This Q-learning approach will establish the balance between
exploration and exploitation and provide a unique, self-learning and
strategic artificial intelligence response mechanism for IDS.
Abstract: Mining industry is known for its appetite to spend sizeable capital on mine equipment. However, in the current scenario, the mining industry is challenged by daunting factors of non-uniform geological conditions, uneven ore grade, uncontrollable and volatile mineral commodity prices and the ever increasing quest to optimize the capital and operational costs. Thus, the role of equipment reliability and maintenance planning inherits a significant role in augmenting the equipment availability for the operation and in turn boosting the mine productivity. This paper presents the Risk Based Maintenance (RBM) planning conducted on mine loading equipment namely Load Haul Dumpers (LHDs) at Vedanta Resources Ltd subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Limited operated Sindesar Khurd Mines, an underground zinc and lead mine situated in Dariba, Rajasthan, India. The mining equipment at the location is maintained by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) namely Sandvik and Atlas Copco, who carry out the maintenance and inspection operations for the equipment. Based on the downtime data extracted for the equipment fleet over the period of 6 months spanning from 1st January 2017 until 30th June 2017, it was revealed that significant contribution of three downtime issues related to namely Engine, Hydraulics, and Transmission to be common among all the loading equipment fleet and substantiated by Pareto Analysis. Further scrutiny through Bubble Matrix Analysis of the given factors revealed the major influence of selective factors namely Overheating, No Load Taken (NTL) issues, Gear Changing issues and Hose Puncture and leakage issues. Utilizing the equipment wise analysis of all the downtime factors obtained, spares consumed, and the alarm logs extracted from the machines, technical design changes in the equipment and pre shift critical alarms checklist were proposed for the equipment maintenance. The given analysis is beneficial to allow OEMs or mine management to focus on the critical issues hampering the reliability of mine equipment and design necessary maintenance strategies to mitigate them.
Abstract: Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation
power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and
decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid
estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows
of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve
efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric
power more and more information and communication technologies
are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids.
Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased
and has converged into several standards which will be presented
here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to
satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth
investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in
existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a
retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance
in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this,
integration of security measures into measurement architectures of
smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.
Abstract: Delays in the construction industry are a global phenomenon. Many construction projects experience extensive delays exceeding the initially estimated completion time. The main purpose of this study is to identify construction projects typical behaviors in order to develop a prognosis and management tool. Being able to know a construction projects schedule tendency will enable evidence-based decision-making to allow resolutions to be made before delays occur. This study presents an innovative approach that uses Cluster Analysis Method to support predictions during Earned Value Analyses. A clustering analysis was used to predict future scheduling, Earned Value Management (EVM), and Earned Schedule (ES) principal Indexes behaviors in construction projects. The analysis was made using a database with 90 different construction projects. It was validated with additional data extracted from literature and with another 15 contrasting projects. For all projects, planned and executed schedules were collected and the EVM and ES principal indexes were calculated. A complete linkage classification method was used. In this way, the cluster analysis made considers that the distance (or similarity) between two clusters must be measured by its most disparate elements, i.e. that the distance is given by the maximum span among its components. Finally, through the use of EVM and ES Indexes and Tukey and Fisher Pairwise Comparisons, the statistical dissimilarity was verified and four clusters were obtained. It can be said that construction projects show an average delay of 35% of its planned completion time. Furthermore, four typical behaviors were found and for each of the obtained clusters, the interim milestones and the necessary rhythms of construction were identified. In general, detected typical behaviors are: (1) Projects that perform a 5% of work advance in the first two tenths and maintain a constant rhythm until completion (greater than 10% for each remaining tenth), being able to finish on the initially estimated time. (2) Projects that start with an adequate construction rate but suffer minor delays culminating with a total delay of almost 27% of the planned time. (3) Projects which start with a performance below the planned rate and end up with an average delay of 64%, and (4) projects that begin with a poor performance, suffer great delays and end up with an average delay of a 120% of the planned completion time. The obtained clusters compose a tool to identify the behavior of new construction projects by comparing their current work performance to the validated database, thus allowing the correction of initial estimations towards more accurate completion schedules.
Abstract: The majority of today’s mobile robots are very dependent on battery power. Mobile robots can operate untethered for a number of hours but eventually they will need to recharge their batteries in-order to continue to function. While computer processing and sensors have become cheaper and more powerful each year, battery development has progress very little. They are slow to re-charge, inefficient and lagging behind in the general progression of robotic development we see today. However, batteries are relatively cheap and when fully charged, can supply high power output necessary for operating heavy mobile robots. As there are no cheap alternatives to batteries, we need to find efficient ways to manage the power that batteries provide during their operational lifetime. This paper proposes the use of autonomic principles of self-adaption to address the behavioral changes a battery experiences as it gets older. In life, as we get older, we cannot perform tasks in the same way as we did in our youth; these tasks generally take longer to perform and require more of our energy to complete. Batteries also suffer from a form of degradation. As a battery gets older, it loses the ability to retain the same charge capacity it would have when brand new. This paper investigates how we can adapt the current state of a battery charge and cycle count, to the requirements of a mobile robot to perform its tasks.
Abstract: Muscle regeneration after injury (as irradiation) is of great importance. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms are still unclear. Cytokines are believed to play fundamental role in the different stages of muscle regeneration. They are secreted by many cell populations, but the predominant producers are macrophages and helper T cells. On the other hand, it has been shown that adipose tissue derived stromal/stem cell (ASC) injection could improve muscle regeneration. Stem cells probably induce the coordinated modulations of gene expression in different macrophage cells. Therefore, we investigated the patterns and timing of changes in gene expression of different cytokines occurring upon stem cells loading. Muscle regeneration was studied in an irradiated muscle of minipig animal model in presence or absence of ASC treatment (irradiated and treated with ASCs, IRR+ASC; irradiated not-treated with ASCs, IRR; and non-irradiated no-IRR). We characterized macrophage populations by immunolabeling in the different conditions. In our study, we found mostly M2 and a few M1 macrophages in the IRR+ASC samples. However, only few M2b macrophages were noticed in the IRR muscles. In addition, we found intensive fibrosis in the IRR samples. With in situ hybridization and immunolabeling, we analyzed the cytokine expression of the different macrophages and we showed that M2d macrophage are the most abundant in the IRR+ASC samples. By in situ hybridization, strong expression of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) was observed in the IRR+ASC but very week in the IRR samples. But when we analyzed TGF-β level with immunolabeling the expression was very different: many M2 macrophages showed week expression in IRR+ASC and few cells expressing stronger level in IRR muscles. Therefore, we investigated the MMP expressions in the different muscles. Our data showed that the M2 macrophages of the IRR+ASC muscle expressed MMP2 proteins. Our working hypothesis is that MMP2 expression of the M2 macrophages can decrease fibrosis in the IRR+ASC muscle by capturing TGF-β.
Abstract: The choice evaluation between oil-immersed and dry-type transformers is often controlled by cost, location, and application. This paper compares the electrical performance of liquid- filled and dry-type transformers, which will assist the customer to choose the right and efficient ones for particular applications. An accurate assessment of the time-average flux density, electric field intensity and voltage distribution in an oil-insulated and a dry-type transformer have been computed and investigated. The detailed transformer modeling and analysis has been carried out to determine electrical parameter distributions. The models of oil-immersed and dry-type transformers are developed and solved by using the finite element method (FEM) to compare the electrical parameters. The effects of non-uniform and non-coherent voltage gradient, flux density and electric field distribution on the power losses and insulation properties of transformers are studied in detail. The results show that, for the same voltage and kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) rating, oil-immersed transformers have better insulation properties and less hysteresis losses than the dry-type.
Abstract: The problem of obesity is one that continues to be faced in the United States health care system and across the developing world. Prescription medications are available, but are often very expensive with minimal insurance coverage. The over-the-counter diet aid industry is a robust one, selling billions of dollars in products every year. It is important for clinicians to understand the myriad of different nutritional supplements marketed for obesity, and to weigh the evidence behind these products. This manuscript outlines the most commonly used nutritional supplements currently marketed for weight loss, reviewing the evidence with a focus on the efficacy and safety of these products.
Abstract: Cellulose acetate (CA) is a natural biodegradable polymer. It forms transparent films by the casting technique. CA suffers from high degree of water permeability as well as the low thermal stability at high temperatures. To adjust the CA polymeric films to the manufacture of food packaging, its thermal and mechanical properties should be improved. The modification of CA by grafting it with N-Amino phenyl maleimide (N-APhM) led to the construction of hydrophobic branches throughout the polymeric matrix which reduced its wettability as compared to the parent CA. The branches built onto the polymeric chains had been characterized by UV/Vis, 13C-NMR and ESEM. The improvement of the thermal properties was investigated and compared to the parent CA using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), contact angle and mechanical testing measurements. The results revealed that the water-uptake was reduced by increasing the graft percentage. The thermal and mechanical properties were also improved.
Abstract: In this paper, a method of fast 3D topography modeling using the high-resolution camera images is studied based on the characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system for low altitude aerial photogrammetry and the need of three dimensional (3D) urban landscape modeling. Firstly, the existing high-resolution digital camera with special design of overlap images is designed by reconstructing and analyzing the auto-flying paths of UAVs, which improves the self-calibration function to achieve the high precision imaging by software, and further increased the resolution of the imaging system. Secondly, several-angle images including vertical images and oblique images gotten by the UAV system are used for the detail measure of urban land surfaces and the texture extraction. Finally, the aerial photography and 3D topography construction are both developed in campus of Chang-Jung University and in Guerin district area in Tainan, Taiwan, provide authentication model for construction of 3D topography based on combined UAV-based camera images from system. The results demonstrated that the UAV system for low altitude aerial photogrammetry can be used in the construction of 3D topography production, and the technology solution in this paper offers a new, fast, and technical plan for the 3D expression of the city landscape, fine modeling and visualization.
Abstract: Lead contamination of agricultural land mainly vegetated with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) has been investigated. The metal derived from the discharge of sludge from a ceramic industry in the past had used lead paints. The results showed very high values of lead concentration in many soil samples. In order to assess the lead soil contamination, a sequential extraction with H2O, KNO3, EDTA was performed, and the chemical forms of lead in the soil were evaluated. More than 70% of lead was in a potentially bioavailable form. Analysis of Lolium perenne showed elevated lead concentration. A Freundlich-like model was used to describe the transferability of the metal from the soil to the plant.
Abstract: Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is portrayed by difficulties and accomplishments. One of the fundamental difficulties is water shortage. With a specific end goal to beat water shortage, significant ventures have been attempted in sea water desalination, water circulation, sewerage, and wastewater treatment. The motivation behind Statistical Process Control (SPC) is to decide whether the execution of a procedure is keeping up an acceptable quality level [AQL]. SPC is an analytical decision-making method. A fundamental apparatus in the SPC is the Control Charts, which follow the inconstancy in the estimations of the item quality attributes. By utilizing the suitable outline, administration can decide whether changes should be made with a specific end goal to keep the procedure in charge. The two most important quality factors in the distilled water which were taken into consideration were pH (Potential of Hydrogen) and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). There were three stages at which the quality checks were done. The stages were as follows: (1) Water at the source, (2) water after chemical treatment & (3) water which is sent for packing. The upper specification limit, central limit and lower specification limit are taken as per Saudi water standards. The procedure capacity to accomplish the particulars set for the quality attributes of Berain water Factory chose to be focused by the proposed SPC system.
Abstract: Studying DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequence is useful in biological processes and it is applied in the fields such as diagnostic and forensic research. DNA is the hereditary information in human and almost all other organisms. It is passed to their generations. Earlier stage detection of defective DNA sequence may lead to many developments in the field of Bioinformatics. Nowadays various tedious techniques are used to identify defective DNA. The proposed work is to analyze and identify the cancer-causing DNA motif in a given sequence. Initially the human DNA sequence is separated as k-mers using k-mer separation rule. The separated k-mers are clustered using Self Organizing Map (SOM). Using Levenshtein distance measure, cancer associated DNA motif is identified from the k-mer clusters. Experimental results of this work indicate the presence or absence of cancer causing DNA motif. If the cancer associated DNA motif is found in DNA, it is declared as the cancer disease causing DNA sequence. Otherwise the input human DNA is declared as normal sequence. Finally, elapsed time is calculated for finding the presence of cancer causing DNA motif using clustering formation. It is compared with normal process of finding cancer causing DNA motif. Locating cancer associated motif is easier in cluster formation process than the other one. The proposed work will be an initiative aid for finding genetic disease related research.
Abstract: The advancement in various concrete ingredients like plasticizers, additives and fibers, etc. has enabled concrete technologists to develop many viable varieties of special concretes in recent decades. Such various varieties of concrete have significant enhancement in green as well as hardened properties of concrete. A prudent selection of appropriate type of concrete can resolve many design and application issues in construction projects. This paper focuses on usage of self-compacting concrete, high early strength concrete, structural lightweight concrete, fiber reinforced concrete, high performance concrete and ultra-high strength concrete in the structures. The modified properties of strength at various ages, flowability, porosity, equilibrium density, flexural strength, elasticity, permeability etc. need to be carefully studied and incorporated into the design of the structures. The paper demonstrates various mixture combinations and the concrete properties that can be leveraged. The selection of such products based on the end use of structures has been proposed in order to efficiently utilize the modified characteristics of these concrete varieties. The study involves mapping the characteristics with benefits and savings for the structure from design perspective. Self-compacting concrete in the structure is characterized by high shuttering loads, better finish, and feasibility of closer reinforcement spacing. The structural design procedures can be modified to specify higher formwork strength, height of vertical members, cover reduction and increased ductility. The transverse reinforcement can be spaced at closer intervals compared to regular structural concrete. It allows structural lightweight concrete structures to be designed for reduced dead load, increased insulation properties. Member dimensions and steel requirement can be reduced proportionate to about 25 to 35 percent reduction in the dead load due to self-weight of concrete. Steel fiber reinforced concrete can be used to design grade slabs without primary reinforcement because of 70 to 100 percent higher tensile strength. The design procedures incorporate reduction in thickness and joint spacing. High performance concrete employs increase in the life of the structures by improvement in paste characteristics and durability by incorporating supplementary cementitious materials. Often, these are also designed for slower heat generation in the initial phase of hydration. The structural designer can incorporate the slow development of strength in the design and specify 56 or 90 days strength requirement. For designing high rise building structures, creep and elasticity properties of such concrete also need to be considered. Lastly, certain structures require a performance under loading conditions much earlier than final maturity of concrete. High early strength concrete has been designed to cater to a variety of usages at various ages as early as 8 to 12 hours. Therefore, an understanding of concrete performance specifications for special concrete is a definite door towards a superior structural design approach.
Abstract: Due to the numerous advantages of steel corrugated
web girders, its application field is growing for bridges as well as for
buildings. The global stability behavior of such girders is
significantly larger than those of conventional I-girders with flat web,
thus the application of the structural steel material can be
significantly reduced. Design codes and specifications do not provide
clear and complete rules or recommendations for the determination of
the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) resistance of corrugated web
girders. Therefore, the authors made a thorough investigation
regarding the LTB resistance of the corrugated web girders. Finite
element (FE) simulations have been performed to develop new
design formulas for the determination of the LTB resistance of
trapezoidally corrugated web girders. FE model is developed
considering geometrical and material nonlinear analysis using
equivalent geometric imperfections (GMNI analysis). The equivalent
geometric imperfections involve the initial geometric imperfections
and residual stresses coming from rolling, welding and flame cutting.
Imperfection sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the
necessary magnitudes regarding only the first eigenmodes shape
imperfections. By the help of the validated FE model, an extended
parametric study is carried out to investigate the LTB resistance for
different trapezoidal corrugation profiles. First, the critical moment of
a specific girder was calculated by FE model. The critical moments
from the FE calculations are compared to the previous analytical
calculation proposals. Then, nonlinear analysis was carried out to
determine the ultimate resistance. Due to the numerical
investigations, new proposals are developed for the determination of
the LTB resistance of trapezoidally corrugated web girders through a
modification factor on the design method related to the conventional
flat web girders.
Abstract: The latent heat thermal energy storage system is a
thrust area of research due to exuberant thermal energy storage
potential. The thermal performance of PCM is significantly
augmented by installation of the high thermal conductivity fins. The
objective of the present study is to obtain optimum size and location
of the fins to enhance diffusion heat transfer without altering overall
melting time. Hence, the constructal theory is employed to eliminate,
resize, and re-position the fins. A numerical code based on conjugate
heat transfer coupled enthalpy porosity approached is developed to
solve Navier-Stoke and energy equation. The numerical results show
that the constructal fin design has enhanced the thermal performance
along with the increase in the overall volume of PCM when
compared to conventional. The overall volume of PCM is found to be
increased by half of total of volume of fins. The elimination and repositioning
the fins at high temperature gradient from low
temperature gradient is found to be vital.
Abstract: The discussion about elements of cultural heritage and
their relevance among the ancient villages is comparably insufficient.
The protection work is strongly influenced by touristic development
and cultural gimmick, resulting in low protection efficiency and many
omissions. Historical villages as the cultural settlement patterns bear a
large number of heritage relics. They were regionally scattered with a
clear characteristic of gathering. First of all, this study proposes the
association and similarities of the forming mechanism between four
historic cultural villages in Mian Mountain. Secondly, the study
reveals that these villages own the strategic pass, underground
passage, and the mountain barrier. Thirdly, based on the differentiated
characteristics of villages’ space, the study discusses about the
integrated conservation from three levels: the regional heritage
conservation, the cultural line shaping, and the featured brand
building.
Abstract: The world-wide population of people over 60 years
of age is growing rapidly. The explosion is placing increasingly
onerous demands on individual families, multiple industries and
entire countries. Current, human-intensive approaches to eldercare
are not sustainable, but IoT and AI technologies can help. The
Knowledge Reactor (KR) is a contextual, data fusion engine built to
address this and other similar problems. It fuses and centralizes IoT
and System of Record/Engagement data into a reactive knowledge
graph. Cognitive applications and services are constructed with its
multiagent architecture. The KR can scale-up and scaledown, because
it exploits container-based, horizontally scalable services for graph
store (JanusGraph) and pub-sub (Kafka) technologies. While the KR
can be applied to many domains that require IoT and AI technologies,
this paper describes how the KR specifically supports the challenging
domain of cognitive eldercare. Rule- and machine learning-based
analytics infer activities of daily living from IoT sensor readings. KR
scalability, adaptability, flexibility and usability are demonstrated.
Abstract: This paper describes the design and implementation of
web system for continuable and viable collaboration. This study
proposes the improvement of the system based on a result of a certain
practice. As contemporary higher education information environments
transform, this study highlights the significance of university identity
and college identity that are formed continuously through independent
activities of the students. Based on these discussions, the present study
proposes a practical media environment design which facilitates the
processes of organizational identity formation based on a continuous
and cyclical model. Even if users change by this system, the
communication system continues operation and cooperation. The
activity becomes the archive and produces new activity. Based on the
result, this study elaborates a plan with a re-design by a system from
the viewpoint of second-order cybernetics. Systems theory is a
theoretical foundation for our study.
Abstract: Tire noise has a significant impact on ride quality
and vehicle interior comfort, even at low frequency. Reduction of
tire noise is especially important due to strict state and federal
environmental regulations. The primary sources of tire noise are the
low frequency structure-borne noise and the noise that originates from
the release of trapped air between the tire tread and road surface
during each revolution of the tire. The frequency response of the tire
changes at low and high frequency. At low frequency, the tension
and bending moment become dominant, while the internal structure
and local deformation become dominant at higher frequencies. Here,
we analyze tire response in terms of deformation and rolling velocity
at low revolution frequency. An Abaqus FEA finite element model
is used to calculate the static and dynamic response of a rolling tire
under different rolling conditions. The natural frequencies and mode
shapes of a deformed tire are calculated with the FEA package where
the subspace-based steady state dynamic analysis calculates dynamic
response of tire subjected to harmonic excitation. The analysis was
conducted on the dynamic response at the road (contact point of tire
and road surface) and side nodes of a static and rolling tire when
the tire was excited with 200 N vertical load for a frequency ranging
from 20 to 200 Hz. The results show that frequency has little effect on
tire deformation up to 80 Hz. But between 80 and 200 Hz, the radial
and lateral components of displacement of the road and side nodes
exhibited significant oscillation. For the static analysis, the fluctuation
was sharp and frequent and decreased with frequency. In contrast, the
fluctuation was periodic in nature for the dynamic response of the
rolling tire. In addition to the dynamic analysis, a steady state rolling
analysis was also performed on the tire traveling at ground velocity
with a constant angular motion. The purpose of the computation
was to demonstrate the effect of rotating motion on deformation and
rolling velocity with respect to a fixed Newtonian reference point.
The analysis showed a significant variation in deformation and rolling
velocity due to centrifugal and Coriolis acceleration with respect to
a fixed Newtonian point on ground.