Electrochemical sensors have been used for many decades. Yet, modeling of such sensors used in electrolysis mode is poorly documented, especially in the case parallel action of multiple gases. Those ones are of great interest since they constitute the first brick to bring information on natures and concentrations of a gaseous mixture composition thanks to grey box modeling of sensors array for example. Based on Butler Volmer’s equations, a model assuming parallel reactions at gold cathode has been introduced in this article and confronted to experimental results. Establishment of the model is based on the extraction of 3 variables: the charge transfer coefficient “α”, the reaction order γ, and the reaction constant rate k0. Tests performed without pollutants and with different concentrations of oxygen could be nicely fitted by the model. Then, the influence of polarization current on the 3 variables of the model has been evaluated showing a clear influence on the constant rate and the reaction order. Also, increasing the polarization current enabled us to get selectivity to oxidant gases. Similarly, the effect of the oxygen concentration was evaluated. Results showed that, in this case, the charge transfer coefficients “α” obtained for oxidant gases is quite different that the ones obtained in the polarization current varying conditions. Therefore, the model will be interesting in situations where polarization current and oxygen content are not varied together. Variation of polarization current can be quite interesting to get increased information for multivariate analysis purpose in constant oxygen content situations. Besides, other parameters have are required for applications in which the oxygen content is bound to change like exhaust gases or combustion.

In modern automobiles, Infotainment High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems play a vital role in enhancing the capabilities of drivers and passengers by providing advanced features consisting of music, navigation, communication, entertainment, etc. However, as the use of information technology in vehicles increases, it results in cybersecurity threats such as data breaches and the loss of sensitive information. To improve the security of the infotainment system in automotive vehicles, the research conducted threat modeling at the component level using Microsoft’s STRIDE tool and performed risk assessment by using SAHARA (Safety-Aware Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment) and DREAD methodologies to evaluate associated risks. It provides a systematic representation of threats, associated risks, and generic mitigation strategies to counter cybersecurity attacks. Through the threat modeling process, 34 potential security threats were identified. The study also provided a comparative analysis to calculate the risk values of the threats to prioritize for treatment. These identified threats and associated risks need to be considered to avoid potential cyberattacks, before deploying the infotainment HPC system in real-world automotive vehicles.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are derived from reprogrammed adult somatic cells. These adult cells are manipulated in vitro to express genes and factors essential for acquiring and maintaining embryonic stem cell (ESC) properties. This technology is widely applied in many fields, and there has been much attention to developing iPSC-based disease models to validate drug discovery platforms and study pathophysiological molecular processes underlying disease onset. Especially in neurological diseases, there is a great need for iPSC-based technological research, as these cells can be obtained from each patient and carry the individual’s bulk of genetic mutations and properties. Moreover, iPSC can differentiate into multiple cell types. These are essential characteristics since the study of neurological diseases is affected by limited access to injured sites, in vitro models composed of various cell types, the complexity of reproducing the brain’s anatomy, ethical issues, and the fact that post-mortem cell culture is challenging. Neurodegenerative diseases enormously impact global health due to their high incidence, symptoms severity, and usually lack of effective therapies. Recently, analyses using disease-specific iPSC-based models confirmed their efficacy for testing multiple drugs. This review summarizes the advances in iPSC technology used in disease modeling and drug testing with a primary focus on neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Semantic interoperability is a foundational concept in modern healthcare, enabling seamless communication and meaningful data exchange across diverse EHR systems. At the heart of this concept lies archetype clinical information models, which serve as standardized templates to structure and encode clinical data, ensuring consistency and shared understanding among various healthcare stakeholders. This review paper delves into the intricacies of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) within the context of semantic interoperability and the pivotal role played by archetype clinical information models. Drawing from a wealth of recent research, this review paper examines the theoretical underpinnings of semantic interoperability. By surveying the literature, it synthesizes the diverse approaches and methods employed to achieve semantic interoperability within EHR systems. Furthermore, this review does not shy away from addressing the significant challenges that persist in this arena. These challenges encompass issues related to data quality, governance, resistance to change, and the scalability and integration hurdles that healthcare organizations encounter in their quest for interoperable EHR systems. Through a comprehensive review of relevant research papers from esteemed sources including PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Taylor & Francis, the paper offers a comprehensive understanding of the approaches and methods employed in this domain. This analysis encompasses a time frame ranging from 2015 to 2023, ensuring an up-to-date assessment of the field. By presenting a well-rounded picture of the field, this review paper offers valuable insights for healthcare stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners. It underscores the enduring importance of semantic interoperability in EHR systems, not only in advancing patient care, clinical decision support, and healthcare operations but also in driving data-driven innovations in the dynamic and ever-evolving medical healthcare sector. This comprehensive examination sets the stage for future advancements in the pursuit of truly interoperable and data-driven healthcare systems.

The Cantareira Water Producer System (CWPS), which supplies water to the most populous Brazilian region, Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), faces significant challenges due to climate change, threatening its water security. Climate change affects the hydrological cycle affecting water availability. The CWPS is vulnerable to periods of scarcity and instability due to increased climatic variability and increasing water consumption. Current water resource management systems do not consider the impacts of climate change, making it difficult to ensure water security in the future. This study analyzes the impact of climate change on the availability of CWPS using hydrological modeling approach with forecast precipitation data by CMIP6 and assessment of existing systems. The finds will provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by CWPS in the context of climate change, as well as support strategies and adaptive measures to ensure water security for MRSP.

This study applies several natural language processing techniques for characterizing social groups by analyzing published text in social media. The resulting computed values are proposed as features for modeling social groups and measure distances or similarities among them, along further data that could help understanding group behavior according to language usage. In this study, we have analyzed the messages published on Twitter regarding patriotism by the main political parties in Spain. The results show that lexical resources and topic modelling algorithms are useful to model different groups and serve as comparison tools to better understand the topics these groups are talking about.

In the context of post-harvest pest management in agricultural products, the adoption of modified atmospheres presents an eco-friendly alternative to conventional pesticides. This study focuses on nitrogen gas as a potential agent for insect control in stored commodities, utilizing computational simulations to investigate its penetration and distribution within two common storage configurations: chamber-contained pallets and silos. By employing the convection-diffusion equation, the simulations reveal insights into nitrogen distribution dynamics and duration required for oxygen reduction. The results highlight the influence of boundary conditions, commodity porosity, and convection effects on nitrogen dispersion. In chamber scenarios, boundary condition type significantly affects oxygen reduction time, while in silos, convection and diffusion interact to establish a consistent diffusion layer thickness. This research enhances the understanding of modified atmosphere techniques and their potential for sustainable pest management. It provides practitioners with valuable quantitative insights, paving the way for optimized modified atmosphere strategies in real-world agricultural contexts.

The article analyzes the transitional mode of movement of a passenger train caused by emergency braking by the driver. To study the possibility of derailment of passenger cars, a simulation model of the movement of a train consisting of a locomotive and twenty passenger cars was developed in the Universal Mechanism software environment, designed to study the dynamics and kinematics of mechanical systems, which include railway rolling stock. The developed model allows taking into account the longitudinal, transverse and vertical vibrations of all cars and locomotive. All bodies in the model are assumed to be absolutely rigid. The assumption of non-deformability of the bodies is based on the fact that the stiffness of the spring suspension and elastic connections is significantly less than the structural rigidity of the bogie frames and the bolster structure, and the frequency of elastic vibrations of these bodies is much higher than the frequency of their vibrations on the spring suspension. Passengers and cargo in a wagon are considered to be non-deformable and integral with the wagon body, similarly in the case of a locomotive body. Between the elements of the system, connections are involved that regulate certain relative movements of these elements.

Coproporphyrins I and III (CP-I and CP-III) are established as substrates of hepatic sinusoidal organic anion transporting polypeptides (Oatps), multidrug resistance-associated protein 3 (Mrp3), and canalicular transporter Mrp2. We aimed to evaluate the potential of plasma CP-I and CP-III concentrations to indicate functional changes in hepatic transporters in nonalcoholic stea-tohepatitis (NASH) rodent models using modeling and simulation approach. Mechanistic copro-porphyrins (CP-I and CP-III) models in rats and mice were constructed based on metabolism, transport, and elimination pathways in rodents. To parameterize the rat mechanistic model, we measured CP concentrations in plasma, liver, bile, and urine in healthy control Sprague Dawley rats. The mouse mechanistic model was parameterized using published data. The rat and mouse CP models described the steady-state levels of CP-I and CP-III in plasma, liver, and bile. The model recapitulated the observed high plasma CP-III / CP-1 ratio (9- and 3-fold in rats and mice, respec-tively) and elimination pathways of CP-I (>90% via biliary secretion) and CP-III (equal via bile and urine). Rat CP model was further validated with the published rat fistula model. The simulated increased plasma CP-I concentrations (4-fold), resulted from decreased Oatp activity (0.6-fold) and increased Mrp3 activity (3-fold) were comparable to those observed in bile-duct ligated NASH model. Sensitivity analysis revealed that 90% inhibition of Oatp and Mrp2 leads to a 4-fold and 2.5-fold increase in plasma CP-I levels, respectively. Additionally, we demonstrated the utility of the mechanistic CP models in testing hypothesis and understanding the mechanisms of the ob-served plasma CPs disposition in the Oatp knockout (KO) mice, bile-duct ligation NASH mice, and Mrp2 deficient TR- rats. Collectively, using a mechanistic model, we conclude that CP-I is a robust and predictable marker for assessing change in the activity of Oatps and Mrps in animal models. Our analysis suggests that efflux transporters (Mrp2 and Mrp3) can play an important role in the disposition of CP-I along with Oatp transporters in rodents.

Abstract—Annually, approximately 500,000 Merger and Ac- quisition (M&A) transactions are disclosed globally, each trans- action inciting substantial perturbations to the associated com- panies’ equity prices. The probability of an M&A transaction’s closure, as perceived by the public, inherently influences the stock price of the target company leading up to the proposed date of the deal. Given the recent advancements in the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP), we propose an empirical investigation into the correlation between digital dialogue sur- rounding M&A transactions and consequent movements in the stock prices of involved companies. Utilizing transformer-based encoder-only architectures, we fine tune a stance detection model on an extensive dataset, amassed from digital communication platforms, featuring public discourse related to five historical M&A transactions. Ultimately, we achieved 70% accuracy on deal-completion stance detection using the Roberta-base model. We subsequently employ the aggregated the public sentiment towards the completion or termination of a proposed M&A transaction to model stock price movement. Utilizing a multitude of time-series based approaches, we achieve a mean absolute error of 2.29 USD for next-day price prediction and 3.40 USD for next-week price prediction. Ultimately, we find an existing but tenuous relationship between online discourse and the price trajectory of target companies, ultimately highlighting the complex social and economic phenomena behind M&A deals.Index Terms—Mergers and Acquisitions, Stock prediction, su- pervised learning, neural networks, Recurrent Neural Network, LSTM, stance detection, transformers

This study focused on the predictive models incorporating machine learning techniques that induce new dynamics for forecasting energy generation, enabling effective planning, financing, and system monitoring. The research developed a machine learning-based power generation prediction model tailored explicitly for Kenya's Garissa solar power plant. The selected model demonstrated a root mean squared error of 5.23 during evaluation, resulting in a prediction accuracy of 90.42%. This high accuracy indicates that the model can be relied upon for precise generation prediction, facilitating effective planning, and system performance monitoring

Cellular automata (CA) models have emerged as a valuable tool in corrosion management. This manuscript provides an overview of the application of cellular automata models in corrosion research, highlighting their benefits and contributions to understanding the complex nature of corrosion processes. Cellular automata models offer a computational approach to simulate corrosion behavior at the microscale, capturing the intricate interactions between electrochemical reactions, material properties, and environmental factors generating a new vision of predictive maintenance. It discusses the key features of cellular automata, such as the grid-based representation of the material surface, the definition of state variables, and the rules governing cell-state transitions. The ability to model local interactions and emergent global behavior makes cellular automata particularly suitable for simulating corrosion processes. Finally, cellular automata models offer a powerful and versatile approach to studying corrosion processes, expanding models that can continue to enhance our understanding of corrosion and contribute to the development of effective corrosion prevention and control strategies.

Porous materials can be characterized by well-trained neural networks. In this study, fibrous paper-type gas diffusion layers were trained with artificial data created by a stochastic geometry model. The features of the data were calculated by means of transport simulations using the Lattice–Boltzmann method based on stochastic micro-structures. A convolutional neural network was developed that can predict the permeability and tortuosity of the material, through-plane and in-plane. The characteristics of real data, both uncompressed and compressed, were predicted. The data was represented by reconstructed images of different sizes and image resolutions. Image artifacts are also a source of potential errors in the prediction. The Kozeny–Carman trend was used to evaluate the prediction of permeability and tortuosity of compressed real data. Using this method, it was possible to decide if the predictions on compressed data were appropriate.

The number of applications for nanobodies is steadily expanding, positioning these molecules as fast-growing biologic products in the biotechnology market. Several of their applications require protein engineering, which in turn would greatly benefit from having a reliable structural model of the nanobody of interest. However, as with antibodies, structural modeling of nanobodies is still a challenge. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), several methods have been developed in recent years that attempt to solve the problem of protein modeling. In this study, we have compared the performance in nanobody modeling of several state-of-the-art AI-based programs, either designed for general protein modeling, such as AlphaFold2, OmegaFold, ESMFold and Yang-Server, or specifically designed for antibody modeling, such as IgFold, and Nanonet. While all these programs performed rather well in constructing the nanobody framework and CDRs 1 and 2, modeling of CDR3 sill represents a big challenge. Interestingly, tailoring an AI method for antibody modeling does not necessarily translate into better results for nanobodies.

In this study, a multiobjective, multiperiod, global optimization for design, sizing and dispatch of an islanded, hybrid microgrid was performed using a model built in MATLAB. The system was simulated over one year for sizing and over one day for dispatch, both using hourly time steps. The model minimized lifecycle levelized costs, emissions, lost load and dumped power while maximizing penetration of clean, renewable sources in the microgrid. This found optimal capacities of the renewable, energy storage and backup generation components which provide the best combination of affordability, sustainability, reliability and efficiency. After experimenting with several global solvers, it was determined that particle swarm optimization is most well-suited to solving the sizing optimization problem. The PV-wind microgrid using Li-ion batteries along with diesel engines was found to perform best among all the combinations considered. It was found that in spite of including additional objectives, monetary costs are the primary driver while allocating generation capacity between different renewable sources like wind versus solar PV. Furthermore, the sizing of PV, wind and battery storage depends strongly on the rating of the standby distributed generator, mainly due to reliability consideration. Generating Pareto-optimal sets revealed interesting relationships between different input variables (i.e. PV, wind and battery capacities) as well as trade-offs that arise while pursuing different objectives. Pursuing cost-minimization alone may lead to sub-optimal outcomes in terms of environmental impact, reliability and excess energy production. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to understand the effects of various parameters like fuel price and energy storage costs on the optimal system's design and operation. Such accurate sizing programs help reduce the extent of oversizing of sub-systems during the design and planning stage, which is usually needed to achieve high reliability with distributed and decentralized energy systems like off-grid microgrids. This reduces the upfront capital investment needed to build the system, making clean electricity access affordable in the short term. The economic-environmental dispatch produced day-ahead scheduling strategies to meet the above mentioned objectives. The system was found to be relatively robust to short-term uncertainties and disturbances in renewable generation and load, although this does cause sub-optimal performance due to increased reliance on fossil fuels. It was found that dispatching of the batteries and backup generators is most critical in minimizing impacts of such events. However, the response to longer-term disturbances still remains to be assessed. The study also includes a comprehensive literature review of tools available for microgrid design as well as different optimization algorithms that have been used to solve microgrid sizing, dispatch and scheduling problems. Additionally, an overview is provided of various control strategies that can be used to improve robustness and resiliency of microgrids.

Problem. Image biomarker analysis, also known as radiomics, is a tool for tissue characterization and treatment prognosis that relies on routinely acquired clinical images and delineations. Due to the uncertainty in image acquisition, processing, and segmentation (delineation) protocols, radiomics often lacks reproducibility. Radiomics harmonization techniques have been proposed as a solution to reduce these sources of uncertainty and/or their influence on the prognostic model performance. A relevant question is how to estimate the protocol-induced uncertainty of a specific image biomarker, what the effect is on the model performance, and how to optimize the model given the uncertainty. In this manuscript, we show how protocol uncertainty can drastically reduce prognostic model performance. We introduce an effect-size measure η that assesses the protocol-induced uncertainty versus the measurable effect. Methods. Two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cohorts, composed of 421 and 240 patients respectively, were used for training and testing. Per patient, a Monte Carlo algorithm was used to generate three hundred synthetic contours with a surface dice tolerance measure less than 1.18 mm with respect to the original GTV. These contours were subsequently used to derive 104 radiomic features, which were ranked on their relative sensitivity to contour perturbation, expressed in the parameter η. The top four (low η) and the bottom four (high η) features were selected for two models based on Cox proportional hazards model. To investigate the influence of segmentation uncertainty on the prognostic model, we trained and tested the setup in 5000 augmented realizations (using a Monte Carlo sampling method); the log-rank test was used to assess the stratification performance and stability to segmentation uncertainty. Results. Although both low and high η setup showed significant testing set log-rank p-values (p=0.01) in the original GTV delineations (without segmentation uncertainty introduced), in the model with high uncertainty to effect ratio only around 30% of the augmented realizations resulted in model performance with p < 0.05 in the test set. In contrast, the low η setup performed with log-rank p < 0.05 in 90% of the augmented realizations. Moreover, the high η setup classification was uncertain for 50% of the subjects in the testing set (for 80% agreement rate), whereas the low η setup was uncertain only in 10% of the cases. The code and part of the data are available at https://github.com/Maastro-CDS-Imaging-Group/sure. Discussion. Estimating image biomarker model performance based only on the original GTV segmentation without considering segmentation uncertainty may be deceiving. The model might result in a significant stratification performance, but can be unstable for delineation variations, which are inherent to manual segmentation. Simulating segmentation uncertainty using the method described allows for more stable image biomarker estimation, selection, and model development. The segmentation uncertainty estimation method described here is universal and can be extended to estimate other protocol uncertainties (such as image acquisition and pre-processing).

This paper presents the behavior of decision makers, the possible choices and the strategies 1 resulting from the uncertainties related to the integration of renewable energies. Its uncertainties 2 are the risks associated with the volatility of renewable sources, the dynamics of energy production 3 as well as the planning and operation of the electricity grid. The goal is to model the risk-averse 4 decision-maker’s behavior and the choice of integrating renewable energies into the electrical system. 5 Following a bibliographic approach, we expose a methodology to model the decision-maker’s 6 behavior(risk aversion and predilection for risk) to risk taking. The risk-averse decision maker may 7 adopt nonlinear utility functions. Risk aversion is a behavior that reflects the desire to avoid risk 8 decisions and thus reduces the risk of adverse consequences. A decision support tool is provided to 9 the decision-maker to choose a best-fit strategy based on his preferences. The rational and risk-averse 10 decision-maker would seek to maximize a concave utility function instead of seeking to minimize its 11 cost. Taste or aversion to risk can be modeled by a thematic function of utility.

Yearly, 1,500,000 cases of leishmaniasis are diagnosed, causing thousands of deaths. To advance in its therapy, we present an interdisciplinary protocol that unifies ethnobotanical knowledge of natural compounds and the latest bioinformatics advances to respond to an orphan disease such as leishmaniasis and specifically the one caused by Leishmania amazonensis. The use of ethnobotanical information serves as a basis for the development of new drugs, a field in which computer-aided drug design (CADD) has been a revolution. Taking this information from Amazonian communities, located in the area with the highest prevalence of this disease, a protocol has been designed to verify new leads. Moreover, a method has been developed that allows the evaluation of lead molecules, and the improvement of their affinity and specificity against therapeutic targets. Through this approach, deguelin has been identified as a good lead to treat the infection due to its potential as an ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) inhibitor, a key enzyme in Leishmania development. Using an in silico-generated combinatorial library followed by docking approaches, we have found deguelin derivatives with better affinity and specificity against ODC than the original compound, suggesting that this approach could be adapted for developing new drugs against leishmaniasis.

The Physics Informed Neural Networks framework is applied to the understanding of the dynamics of Coronavirus of 2019. To provide the governing system of equations used by the framework, the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Death mathematical model is used. The study focused on finding the patterns of the dynamics of the disease which involves predicting the infection rate, recovery rate and death rate; thus predicting the active infections, total recovered, susceptible and deceased at any required time. The study used data that was collected on the dynamics of COVID-19 from the Kingdom of Eswatini between March 2020 and September 2021. The obtained results showed less errors thus making highly accurate predictions.

COVID-19 has been extremely difficult to control. The lack of understanding of key aspects of pandemics has affected virus transmission. On the other hand, there is a demand to incorporate Computational Thinking (CT) in the curricula with applications in STEM. However, there are still no exemplars in the curriculum that apply CT to real-world problems such as controlling a pandemic or other similar global crises. In this paper, we fill this gap by proposing exemplars of CT for modeling the pandemic. We designed exemplars following the three pillars of the APEC InMside framework for CT: algorithmic thinking, computational modeling, and machine learning. For each pillar, we designed a progressive sequence of activities that covers from elementary to high school. In an experimental study with elementary and middle school students from 2 schools of high vulnerability, we found that the computational modeling exemplar can be implemented by teachers and correctly understood by students. We conclude that it is feasible to introduce the exemplars at all grade levels, and that this is a powerful example of STEM integration that helps reflect and tackle real-world and challenging public health problems of great impact for students and their families.

In this study, I extend the Fama and French five-factor asset pricing model with a sixth factor, namely, carbon risk, to investigate its impact on equity returns. To measure carbon risk, a new factor ‘pollutant minus green,’ is developed using the difference between the weighted average returns of pollutant and green firms across 51 developed and emerging countries across four categories—North America, Europe, Emerging Markets, and the Asia Pacific. The results reveal that North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific markets have a carbon risk premium that gets eliminated in small-cap firms. The carbon risk factor is further tested in left-hand side (LHS) test asset portfolios and found to be more pronounced with size-effect anomaly; specifically, small stock firms report greater declining average returns because of more exposure than the mega-cap stocks to carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, size-effect anomaly prevails with profitability and investment factors across firms. Therefore, high profitability, as well as high investment small firms, show a greater decline than the big stock firms in average returns when their carbon dioxide emissions increase. The asset pricing model evaluation is carried out through the Gibbons, Ross, and Shanken test. The six-factor model directed at capturing carbon risk patterns in average equity returns performs better than the three-factor and five-factor models of Fama and French (1993 and 2015) in the majority of categories under 3x3 sorting and compete with both Fama and French model under 2x4x4 sorted LHS portfolios. The finding of this study offers various useful applications for investors, policymakers, brokers, corporations, governmental pollution abatement institutions, and other stakeholders who wish to obtain carbon risk premium.

As RPG has high sales and profits, lots of developers have supplied various RPG to market but it changed to mass production type with sensational advertising, low quality and excessive charging and similar contents which affects game market and users’ game play experience. The author of this paper studied ways to improve mobile RPG by collecting and analyzing users’ reviews using crawling on Google Play Store. The author of this paper used topic modeling that uses text mining technique and LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) to extract meaningful information from collected big data and visualized it. Inferring users’ reviews, figuring out opinions objectively and seeking ways to improve games are helpful in improving mobile RPG that can be played continuously.

This study explores the use of satellite-based LULC (Land Use / Land Cover) data while simultaneously correcting potential evapotranspiration (PET) input with Leaf Area Index (LAI) to increase the performance of a physically distributed hydrologic model. The mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM) was selected for this purpose due to its unique features. Since LAI input informs the model about vegetation dynamics, we incorporated the LAI based PET correction option together with multi-year LULC data. The Globcover land cover data was selected for the single land cover cases, and hybrid of CORINE (coordination of information on the environment) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) land cover datasets were chosen for the cases with multiple land cover datasets. These two datasets complement each other since MODIS has no separate forest class but more frequent (yearly) observations than CORINE. Calibration period spans from 1990 to 2006 and corresponding NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency) values varies between 0.23 and 0.42, while the validation period spans from 2007 to 2010 and corresponding NSE values are between 0.13 and 0.39. The results revealed that the best performance is obtained when multiple land cover datasets are provided to the model and LAI data is used to correct PET, instead of default aspect-based PET correction in mHM. This study suggests that to minimize errors due to parameter uncertainties in physically distributed hydrologic models, adequate information can be supplied to the model with care taken to avoid over-parameterizing the model.

Modern agent-based models (ABM) and other simulation models require evaluation and testing of many different parameters. Managing that testing for large scale parameter sweeps (grid searches) as well as storing simulation data requires multiple, potentially customizable steps that may vary across simulations. Furthermore, parameter testing, processing, and analysis are slowed if simulation and processing jobs cannot be shared across teammates or computational resources. While high-performance computing (HPC) has become increasingly available, models can often be tested faster through the use of multiple computers and HPC resources. To address these issues, we created the Distributed Automated Parameter Testing (DAPT) Python package. By hosting parameters in an online (and often free) "database", multiple individuals can run parameter sets simultaneously in a distributed fashion, enabling ad hoc crowdsourcing of computational power. Combining this with a flexible, scriptable tool set, teams can evaluate models and assess their underlying hypotheses quickly. Here we describe DAPT and provide an example demonstrating its use.

The emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a pandemic situation in over 210 countries. Controlling the spread of this disease has proven difficult despite several resources employed. Millions of hospitalization and deaths have been observed, and thousands of cases daily with many measures in place. Due to the complex nature of COVID-19, we proposed a system of time-fractional equations to understand the transmission of the disease better. Nonlocality involved in the model has made fractional differential equations appropriate for modeling the behavior. However, solving these types of models is computationally demanding. Our proposed generalized compartmental COVID-19 model incorporates effective contact rate, transition rate (from exposed quarantine and recovered to susceptible and infected quarantined individuals), quarantine rate, disease-induced death rate, natural death rate, natural recovery rate, recovery rate of quarantine infected for a holistic study of the coronavirus disease. A detailed analysis of the proposed model is carried out, including the existence and uniqueness of solutions, local and global stability analysis of the disease-free equilibrium analysis, and sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, numerical solutions of the proposed model are obtained with the generalized Adam-Bashforth-Moulton method developed for the fractional order model. Our analysis and solutions profile show that each of these incorporated parameters is very important in controlling the spread of COVID-19, especially quarantining exposed and infected individuals and the effective contact rate. Based on the results with different fractional order, we observe that there seems to be a third or even fourth wave of the spike in cases of COVID-19, which is what is happening right now in many countries.

Choosing the optimal location for a city based on sound environmental geomorphology planning is of the utmost importance to achieving environmental sustainability, as it can spare the State and other decision-making entities a great deal of stress in the long run. GIS offers great potential for environmental planners to choose the most appropriate places for the cities of the future, especially when coupled with environmental geomorphological analyses. The State of Kuwait seeks sustainable development through the implementation of clear and specific urban plans, some of which suffer from a severe lack of geomorphological and spatially based environmental planning. This study aims to: 1) Conduct suitability modelling for establishing new cities in Kuwait, 2) Assess the current 2005-2030 urban plan, and 3) Propose possible recommendations and solutions for potential urban problems. The study relies on integrating several methods to devise a framework that will aid researchers and decision-makers in selecting optimal locations for built structures based on analysis and modelling (e.g., digital elevation model, geologic mapping, geomorphology, natural hazards, heritage/archaeological sites, military areas, oil fields, soils). Using this methodology in choosing city sites contributes to achieving sustainable development, reducing city problems, saving countries’ budgets, and saving lives. Results from this study enhance understanding of how environmental geomorphology, when combined with GIS, can be harnessed to achieve sustainable urban development in the Arabian Gulf countries and other desert countries.

Sea-level rise is a problem increasingly affecting coastal areas worldwide. The existence of Free and Open-Source Models to estimate the sea-level impact can contribute to better coastal man-agement. This study aims to develop and to validate two different models to predict the sea-level rise impact supported by Google Earth Engine (GEE) – a cloud-based platform for planetary-scale environmental data analysis. The first model is a Bathtub Model based on the uncertainty of projections of the Sea-level Rise Impact Module of TerrSet - Geospatial Monitoring and Modeling System software. The validation process performed in the Rio Grande do Sul coastal plain (S Brazil) resulted in correlations from 0.75 to 1.00. The second model uses Bruun Rule formula implemented in GEE and is capable to determine the coastline retreat of a profile through the creation of a simple vector line from topo-bathymetric data. The model shows a very high cor-relation (0.97) with a classical Bruun Rule study performed in Aveiro coast (NW Portugal). The GEE platform seems to be an important tool for coastal management. The models developed have been openly shared, enabling the continuous improvement of the code by the scientific commu-nity.

Sea-level rise is a problem increasingly affecting coastal areas worldwide. The existence 15 of Free and Open-Source Models to estimate the sea-level impact can contribute to better coastal 16 management. This study aims to develop and to validate two different models to predict the 17 sea-level rise impact supported by Google Earth Engine (GEE) – a cloud-based platform for plan-18 etary-scale environmental data analysis. The first model is a Bathtub Model based on the uncer-19 tainty of projections of the Sea-level Rise Impact Module of TerrSet - Geospatial Monitoring and 20 Modeling System software. The validation process performed in the Rio Grande do Sul coastal 21 plain (S Brazil) resulted in correlations from 0.75 to 1.00. The second model uses Bruun Rule for-22 mula implemented in GEE and is capable to determine the coastline retreat of a profile through the 23 creation of a simple vector line from topo-bathymetric data. The model shows a very high correla-24 tion (0.97) with a classical Bruun Rule study performed in Aveiro coast (NW Portugal). The GEE 25 platform seems to be an important tool for coastal management. The models developed have been 26 openly shared, enabling the continuous improvement of the code by the scientific community.

The State of Kuwait seeks sustainable development through implementation of clear and specific urban plans, some of which suffer from a severe lack of geomorphological and spatially-based environmental planning, such as the use of geographic information systems (GIS). Choosing the optimal location for a city based on sound environmental planning is of the utmost importance to achieving environmental sustainability, as it can spare the State and other decision-making entities a great deal of stress in the long run. GIS, in particular, offers great potential for the environmental planner and decision-maker to choose the most appropriate places for the cities of the future, especially when coupled with geomorphological analyses. To achieve the Vision of Kuwait 2035, one of the State’s planning objectives focuses on Urban Planning for the Establishment of Environmental Cities that Achieve (UPEECA) environmental sustainability criteria. To gain a more holistic analysis related to the Vision, this study aims to: 1) Conduct suitability modelling for establishing new cities in Kuwait, 2) Assess the current 2005-2030 urban plan, and 3) Propose possible recommendations and solutions for potential urban problems. The study relies on integrating several methods to devise a framework that will aid researchers and decision-makers in selecting optimal locations for built structures based on analysis and modelling (e.g., digital elevation model, geologic mapping, geomorphology, natural hazards, heritage/archaeological sites, military areas, oil fields, soils)

A new iboga-vobasine-type isomeric bisindole alkaloid named voacamine A (1), along with eight known compounds, voacangine (2), voacristine (3), coronaridine (4), tabernanthine (5), iboxygaine (6), voacamine (7), voacorine (8), and conoduramine (9), were isolated from the stem bark of Voacanga africana. The structures of the compounds were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses (1D- and 2D-NMR). Compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 were found to inhibit the motility of both the microfilariae (Mf) and adult male worms of Onchocerca ochengi, in a dose-dependent manner, but were only moderately active on the adult female worms upon biochemical assessment at 30 μM drug concentrations. The IC50 values of the isolates are 2.49-5.49 µM for microfilariae and 3.45-17.87 µM for adult males. Homology modeling was used to generate a 3D model of the the O. ochengi thioredoxin reductase target and docking simulation attempted to offer an explanation of the anti-onchocercal structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the isolated compounds. These alkaloids are new potential leads for the development of antifilirial drugs. The results of this study validate the traditional use of V. africana in the treatment of human onchocerciasis.

The knowledge of human body proportion and segmental properties of limbs, head and trunk are of fundamental importance in biomechanical research. As many methods are employed, it is important to know which they are currently available, which data on human body masses, lengths, center of mass (COM) location, weights and moment of inertia are available and which methods are most suitable for a specific research purposes. The present review examines the literature concerning human body segments properties for biomechanical purposes. It emerges that data obtained in studies on cadaveric specimens are still the most accurate, whilst technological tools currently available are manifolds, each one with proper advantages and disadvantages. Classical studies were focused mainly on white men, while in recent year the available data of body segments has been extended to children, woman, and other races. Also, data on special population (obese, pregnant women) are starting to appear in the scientific literature.

The reinforcement learning problem of complex action control in the Multi-player wargame is a hot research topic in recent years. In this paper , a game system based on turn-based confrontation is designed and implemented with the state-of-the-art deep reinforcement learning models. Specifically, we first design a Q-learning algorithm to achieve intelligent decision-making, which is based the DQN(Deep Q Network) to model the complex game behaviors. Then, a priori- knowledge based algorithm PK-DQN(Prior Knowledge- Deep Q Network) is introduced to improve the DQN algorithm, which accelerates the convergence speed and stability of the algorithm. The experiments demonstrate, the correctness of the PK-DQN algorithm is validated and its performance surpass the conventional DQN algorithm. Furthermore, the PK-DQN algorithm shows effectiveness in defeating the high level of rule-based opponents, which provides promising results for the exploration of the field of smart chess and intelligent game deduction.

It is challenging to apply heat flow through a thermal bridge, which requires the analysis of 2D or 3D heat transfer to building energy simulation(BES). Research on the dynamic analysis of thermal bridges has been underway for many years, but their utilization remains low in BESs. This paper proposes a thermal bridge modeling and a dynamic analysis method that can be easily applied to BESs. The main idea begins with an analogy of the steady-state analysis of thermal bridges. As with steady-state analysis, the proposed method first divides the thermal bridge into a clear wall, where the heat flow is uniform, and the sections that are not the clear wall (the thermal bridge part). For the clear wall part, the method used in existing BESs is applied and analyzed. The thermal bridge part (TB part) is modeled with the linear time-invariant system (LTI system) and the system identification process is performed to find the transfer function. Then, the heat flow is obtained via a linear combination of the two parts. This method is validated by comparing the step, sinusoidal and annual outdoor temperature response of the finite differential method(FDM) simulation. When the thermal bridge was modeled as a third-order model, the root mean square error(RMSE) of annual heat flow with the FDM solution of heat flow through the entire wall was about 0.1W.

In the present time, the biggest problem of the world is the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this one name has become a part of our daily lives over the past few months. Beyond the boundaries of medical science, coronavirus is now the main subject of research in all fields like Applied Mathematics, Economy, Philosophy, Sociology, Politics upto living room. The epidemic has brought unimaginable changes in our traditional habits and daily routines. Thousands of people in our country are fighting with the rest of the world to survive in various new situations. There are different kinds of coronavirus appeared in different times. In this time, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). This virus was first identified towards the end of 2019 in the city of Wuhan in the province of Hubei in China. Within very short duration of time and very fast, it has spread throughout a large part of the world. In this study, the main aim is to investigate the spreading rate, death rate, recovery rate due to corona virus infection and to study the future of the coronavirus in India by using mathematical modeling based on the previous data. Mathematical models, in this situation, are the important tools in recruiting effective strategies to fight this epidemic. India is at high risk of spreading the disease and is facing many losses in socio-economic aspects. With current infection rates and existing levels of personal alertness, the number of infected people in India will increase at least in the next three months. Proper social awareness, maintain of social distance, large rate of testing and separation may break the chain of the Coronavirus-2.

On the primitive Earth, both L- and D-amino acids would have been present. However, only L-amino acids are essential blocks to construct proteins in modern life. To study the relative stability of D-amino acid substituted peptides, a variety of computational methods were applied. Ten prebiotic amino acids (Gly, Ala, Asp, Glu, Ile, Leu, Pro, Ser, Thr, and Val) were previously determined by multiple meteorite, spark discharge, and hydrothermal vent studies. Some previously reported early Earth polypeptide analogs were focused on in this study. Tripeptides composed of only Asp, Ser, and Val exemplified that different positions (i.e., N-terminus, C-terminus, and middle) made a difference in the minimal folding energy of peptides, while the chemical classification of amino acid (hydrophobic, acidic, or hydroxylic) did not show a significant difference. Hierarchical cluster analysis for dipeptides with all possible combinations of the proposed ten prebiotic amino acids and their D-amino acid substituted derivatives generated five clusters. Primordial simple polypeptides were modeled to test the significance of molecular fluctuations, secondary structure occupancies, and folding energy differences based on these clusters. We found peptides with α-helices, long β-sheets, and long loops are usually less sensitive to D-amino acid replacements in comparison to short β-sheets. Intriguingly, amongst 129 D-amino acid residues, mutation sensitivity profiles presented that the ratio of more to less stable residues was about 1. In conclusion, some combinations of a mixture of L- and D-amino acids can potentially act as essential building blocks of life.

With improved measurement and modelling technology, variability has emerged as an essential feature in non-equilibrium processes. While traditionally, mean values and variance have been heavily used, they are not appropriate in describing extreme events where a significant deviation from mean values often occurs. Furthermore, stationary Probability Density Functions (PDFs) miss crucial information about the dynamics associated with variability. It is thus critical to go beyond a traditional approach and deal with time-dependent PDFs. Here, we consider atmospheric data from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and calculate time-dependent PDFs and the information length from these PDFs, which is the total number of statistically different states that a system passes through in time. Time-dependent PDFs are shown to be non-Gaussian in general, and the information length calculated from these PDFs shed us a new perspective of understanding variabilities, correlation among different variables and regions. Specifically, we calculate time-dependent PDFs and information length and show that the information length tends to increase with the altitude albeit in a complex form. This tendency is more robust for flows/shears than temperature. Also, much similarity among flows and shears in the information length is found in comparison with the temperature. This means a stronger correlation among flows/shears because of a strong coupling through gravity waves in this particular WACCM model. We also find the increase of the information length with the latitude and interesting hemispheric asymmetry for flows/shears/temperature, a stronger anti-correlation (correlation) between flows/shears and temperature at a higher (low) latitude. These results also suggest the importance of high latitude/altitude in the information budge in the Earth's atmosphere, the spatial gradient of the information as a useful proxy for the transport of physical quantities.

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an atypical, belligerent tumor that matures into cancer in the pleura, a stratum of tissue bordering the lungs. Pleural mesothelioma is a common type of mesothelioma that accounts for about 75 percent of all mesothelioma diagnosed yearly in the United States. Diagnosis of mesothelioma takes several months and is expensive. Given the difficulty of diagnosing MPM, early identification is crucial for patient survival. Our study implements artificial intelligence and recommends the best fit model for early diagnosis and prognosis of MPM. Method: We retrospectively retrieved patient’s medical reports generated by Dicle University, Turkey and implemented multi-layered perceptron (MLP), voted perceptron (VP), Clojure classifier (CC), kernel logistic regression (KLR), stochastic gradient decent SGD), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), Hoeffding tree (VFDT), and primal estimated sub-gradient solver for support vector machine (s-Pegasos). We evaluated the models, compared and tested using paired T-test (corrected) at 0.05 significance based on their respective classification accuracy, f-measure, precision, recall, root mean squared error, receivers characteristic curve (ROC), and precision-recall curve (PRC). Results: In phase-1 SGD, AdaBoost.M1, KLR, MLP, VFDT generates optimal results with the highest possible performance measures. In phase-2, AdaBoost with a classification accuracy of 71.29% outperformed all other algorithms. C-reactive protein, platelet count, duration of symptoms, gender, and pleural protein were found to be the most relevant predictors that can prognosticate mesothelioma. Conclusion: This study confirms that data obtained from biopsy and imagining tests are strong predictors of mesothelioma but are associated with high cost, however, can identify mesothelioma with optimal accuracy. Predictive analytics without using biopsy results can diagnose mesothelioma with acceptable accuracy. Implementation of phase-2 followed by phase-1 can address diagnosis expenses and maximize disease prognosis. Additionally, results indicate improved MPM diagnosis using AI methods dependent upon the specific application.

Boiler efficiency is called to some extent of total thermal energy which can be recovered from the fuel. Boiler efficiency losses are due to four major factors: the dry gas flux, the latent heat of steam in the flue gas, the combustion loss or the loss of unburned fuel, radiation and convection losses. In this research, the thermal behavior of boilers in gas refinery facilities is studied and their efficiency and their losses are calculated. The main part of this research is comprised of analyzing the effect of various parameters on efficiency such as excess air, fuel moisture, air humidity, fuel and air temperature, the temperature of combustion gases, and thermal value of the fuel. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to analyze and make recommendations for optimizing boilers in the gas refinery complex using response-surface method (RSM).

In the present work, a novel and the robust computational investigation is carried out to estimate solubility of different acids in supercritical carbon dioxide. Four different algorithms such as radial basis function artificial neural network, Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN), Least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) are developed to predict the solubility of different acids in carbon dioxide based on the temperature, pressure, hydrogen number, carbon number, molecular weight, and acid dissociation constant of acid. In the purpose of best evaluation of proposed models, different graphical and statistical analyses and also a novel sensitivity analysis are carried out. The present study proposed the great manners for best acid solubility estimation in supercritical carbon dioxide, which can be helpful for engineers and chemists to predict operational conditions in industries.

A transport process was studied from an aqueous solution containing oxalic acid and 100 mg/L Ge using a flat sheet supported liquid membrane (FSSLM) system. Cyanex 923 immobilized in a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane was employed as a carrier. The solution chemistry and related diagrams were applied to study the transport of germanium. The effectual parameters such as oxalic acid, carrier concentration, and strip reagent composition were evaluated in this study. Based on the results, the oxalic acid concentration of 0.075 mol/L and the carrier concentration of 20 %v/v were the condition in which the efficient germanium transport occurred. Among strip reagents, NaOH (0.04-0.1 mol/L) had the best efficiency to transport germanium through the SLM system. Furthermore, the permeation model was obtained to calculate the mass transfer resistances of the membrane (Δ_m) and feed (Δ_f) phases. According to the results, the values of 1 and 1345 s/cm were evaluated for Δ_m and Δ_f, respectively.

The availability of rail infrastructure resources is a major driver of rail operations performance. To evaluate the impact of infrastructure provision, network simulation models can be used to accurately represent train traffic behavior in a wide range of scenarios. However, performing this task can result in a problem of high combinatorial nature as the number of factors and their associated levels increase. This requires more sophisticated techniques such as experimental design formulations or optimization modeling in order to yield satisfactory results. Yet the research in network simulation models for rail systems has hitherto been limited to simple what-if analysis, made up from few factors that cannot represent the whole spectrum of interventions. This is especially critical in closed-loop rail systems where trains are subject to various interferences. Local improvements can be misleading as the queues are merely transferred within the network. Considering this, we propose a hybrid simulation-optimization model to aid the strategic decision of minimizing supplementary capital costs in a heavy-haul Brazilian railroad under construction. As soon as the railroad is completed, investments in both loading and unloading rail terminals will be necessary. First, we developed a representative and flexible model capable of dealing with complex relations between variable infrastructure provision and the resulting operational performance. Then, we simulated this system to prove that the current set of proposed infrastructure resources cannot meet the transportation demands. Afterwards, we demonstrate that local improvements can be delusive as the queues are shifted from loading to unloading operations, reciprocally. Then, we solve an optimization model to define the minimal supplementary investment in order to meet the commercial goals of mining companies. This is done by choosing the best trackage configuration, equipment quantity and capacity and fleet sizing in 3 different production scenarios. The best values of the objective function were found by improving both loading and unloading equipment and increasing the number of trains.

Spatial modeling in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) always involves choices. The existence of constraints, either of a financial nature or related to the specifics of the software itself, to the algorithms, the uncertainty and even the reliability of the data, the purposes and the applications of the studies, make this a kind of guiding compass for GIS analysts. Building on a previous exercise of data acquisition (check-ins) based on two Digital Social Networks (DSN—Facebook and Foursquare) and on the awareness of the use of voluntary geographic information generated by tourists sharing their topophilic ties through DSN, the present analysis aims to evaluate the contribution of modern techniques of spatial analysis applied to tourism in the “Alta and University of Coimbra” area. Concepts and procedural tasks related to density determination, cluster analysis and identification of patterns associated with regionalized variables have thus been implemented with the purpose of evaluating and comparing the results obtained through the application of two techniques of spatial analysis, Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and Optimized Hot-Spot Analysis (OHSA) & Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Interpolation.

Dietary factors are one of the risk factors that can impact the brain chemistry, which leads to mental distress. Based on our data mining approach, we found that mental distress in men is associated with eating unhealthy food. Our aim in this paper is to apply results from our big data analytics approach to inform system dynamics (SD) modeling to investigate the causal relationships between brain structures, nutrients from food and dietary supplements, and mental health. We perform descriptive analysis based on a large data set to estimate the SD modeling parameters. Finally, we calibrate the model towards a time series data collected for individuals on their dietary and distress patterns. The results reveal that bridging these different methodologies leads to further insights from the SD model and decreases the error of calibrated parameter values. Future research is needed to validate our initial results for investigating the relationship between mental distress and dietary intake.

Using a three-dimensional, hydrostatic, primitive-equation ocean model, this study investigates the dynamics of lateral circulation in a partially stratified tidal inlet, the Barataria Pass in the Gulf of Mexico, over a 25.6-hour diurnal tidal cycle. Model performance is assessed against observational data. During flood tide, the lateral circulation exhibits the characteristics similar to that induced by differential advection, i.e., lateral flow consists of two counter-rotating cells and is convergent at the surface. The analysis of momentum balance indicates that, in addition to the pressure gradient and vertical stress divergence, nonlinear advection and horizontal stress divergence are also important contributors. During ebb phase, the lateral circulation is mostly eastward for the whole water column and persisting for almost the whole period. The surface divergence suggested by the differential advection mechanism lasts for a very short period, if it ever exists. The main momentum balance across most of the transect during ebb is between the along-channel advection of cross-channel momentum and pressure gradient. The sectional averaged lateral velocity magnitude during ebb is comparable to that during flood, which is different from the idealized numerical experiment result.

The kinetics and efficacy profiles of photoinitiated polymerization are theoretically presented. For the same dose, lower light intensity achieves a higher steady-state-efficacy (SSE) in type-I; in contrast, type-II has an equal SSE. Higher light intensity has a faster rising efficacy, due to faster depletion of photoinitiator (PS) concentration. However, type-II process is also affected by the available oxygen. Higher light intensity produces more efficient singlet oxygen, resulting a higher transient efficacy, in which all intensities reach the same SSE when oxygen is completely depleted. With external oxygen, type-II efficacy increases with time, otherwise, it is governed only by the light dose, i.e., same dose achieves same efficacy. Moreover, type-II has an efficacy follows Bunsen Roscoe law (BRL), whereas type-I follows non-BRL. The measured type-I efficacy and gelation profile are analyzed by our analytic formulas. Schematics of the photocrosslinking stage defined by the availability of oxygen is developed, where both type-I and –II coexist until the oxygen is depleted. The overall efficacy may be enhanced by resupply of PS or oxygen during the light exposure. The roles of light dose and PS concentration on the efficacy of photoinitiated polymerization should be are governed a new concept of a volume efficacy (Ve), defined by the product of the crosslink (or gelation) depth (CD) and local [efficacy].

Flooding and overflows are recurring problems in several Brazilian cities, which usually undergo disorderly development. Their causes vary from increased impervious surface areas, deficiency/inefficiency of drainage structures and their maintenance, siltation of rivers, channel obstructions, and climatic factors. This situation is aggravated in the major cities. The Anhangabau watershed lies in the central portion of the city of Sao Paulo – Brazil and covers a drainage area of 5.4 km². The region is highly urbanized and crossed by a major north-south road connection. During heavy rain events, portions of this interconnection passage become compromised, disrupting the flow of vehicles, creating a chaotic situation for the population, as well as losses to the national economy. Observed rainfall records and an existing IDF (intensity duration frequency) curve for the region are used to obtain design storms. To account for climate change, a well know procedure, the equidistance quantile matching method for updating IDF curves under climate change, was applied to the existing historical data. Several different global climate models (GCM) and one regional model were applied to obtain and update rainfall design storm. The GCMs and future scenarios used were from the IPCC Assessment Report 5 (AR5) and two future projections: RCP (representative concentration pathway) 4.5 and 8.5. Alternatives previously proposed to solve to flooding issue are briefly reviewed. On one of the latest studies [1], a few modern concepts of water resources management are presented, and the linear retention measure was found to offer higher potential to mitigate the flooding problem in the lower valley of the watershed. Therefore, this alternative was used to evaluate different design storms scenarios combined with return periods of 25 and 100-years as well as the updated IDF under climate change for RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. To model the complex network, representing both road and drainage systems and their interconnections, PCSWMM/SWMM software was applied. Results are presented as flooding maps and show the impacts of the proposed linear retention measure based on the existing IDF curves and the updated IDF curves under climate change for two different drainage system conditions, current and improved with the use of linear retention reservoirs. Results show that the prosed changes on the drainage system help reduce the risk and damage to flooding. The climate change scenarios, however, impose a significant threat and need immediate attention from city planners and stakeholders.

There is a continuous growth of heat pump installations in residential buildings in Germany. The heat pumps were not only used for space heating and domestic hot water consumption but also to offer flexibility to the grid. the high coefficient of performance and the low cost of heat storages made the heat pumps an optimal candidate for the power to heat applications. Thus, several questions are raised about the optimal integration and control of the heat pump system with buffer storages to maximize its operation efficiency and minimize the operation costs. In this paper, an experimental investigation is performed to study the performance of a ground source heat pump (GSHP) with a combi-storage under several configurations and control factors. The experiments were performed on an innovative modular testbed that is capable of emulating a ground source to provide the heat pump with different temperature levels at different times of the day. Moreover, it can emulate the different building loads such as the space heating load and the domestic hot water consumption in real-time. The data gathered from the testbed and different experimental studies were used to develop a simulation model based on Modelica that can accurately simulate the dynamics of a GSHP in a building. The model was validated based on different metrics. Energetically, the difference between the developed model and the measured values was only 3.08\% and 4.18\% for the heat generation and electricity consumption, respectively.

To date, several independent methods and algorithms exist exploiting constraint-based stoichiometric models to find metabolic engineering strategies that optimize microbial production performance. Optimization procedures based on metaheuristics facilitate a straightforward adaption and expansion of engineering objectives as well as fitness functions, while being particularly suited for solving problems of high complexity. With the increasing interest in multi-scale models and a need for solving advanced engineering problems, we strive to advance genetic algorithms, which stand out due to their intuitive optimization principles and proven usefulness in this field of research. A drawback of genetic algorithms is that premature convergence to sub-optimal solutions easily occurs if the optimization parameters are not adapted to the specific problem. Here, we conducted comprehensive parameter sensitivity analyses to study their impact on finding optimal strain designs. We further demonstrate the capability of genetic algorithms to simultaneously handle (i) multiple, non-linear engineering objectives, (ii) the identification of gene target-sets according to logical gene-protein-reaction associations, (iii) minimization of the number of network perturbations, and (iv) the insertion of non-native reactions, while employing genome-scale metabolic models. This framework adds a level of sophistication in terms of strain design robustness, which is exemplarily tested on succinate overproduction in Escherichia coli.

Background: Tourism is one of the prominent industry that has a capability to generate handsome income for developed as well as developing countries. However, the study to investigate specifically the perception of local residents towards tourism is still lacking. The perception of the locals is important since it could determine the extent of their support for tourism development. Plus, previous research found that male residents are more support better towards the tourism development. Thus, this factor is adapted as well in this study to examine whether this gender may influence to the tourism industry. 2) Methods: This study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique for determining the structural estimates between constructs. 3) Results: The respondents agree that positive perception, negative perception and tourism impact has a significant impact on support for tourism development in which has been recognized as Social Exchange Theory model. Moreover, the finding also revealed that gender has a potential to moderates the causal effect of tourism impact on tourism development. 4) Conclusion: The resident understand the tourism sector could strengthen economic nation but they also want the natural resources should be protected.

No doubt pollution is a global problem which must be holistically tackled. In doing this, adequate knowledge of the sources of pollution is important, therefore the aim of this paper is to review source apportionment with reference to top-down and bottom-up methods. In this paper, dispersion modeling, emissions inventory, and sampling methods were discussed. Also, analytical methods involved in top-down source apportionment were mentioned. The two techniques are needed to evaluate pollutants and their sources. Based on these two approaches, pollution control strategy would be developed and decisions can be made in deciding the right approach to solve or reduce the pollution problems.

The apicomplexan parasite, Sarcocystis neurona causes the degenerative neurological equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) disease of horses. Due to its host range expansion, S. neurona is an emerging threat that requires close monitoring. In apicomplexans, protein kinases (PKs) have been implicated in a myriad of critical functions such as host cell invasion, cell cycle progression and host immune responses evasion. Here, we used various bioinformatics methods to define the kinome of S. neurona and phylogenetic relatedness of its PKs to other apicomplexans. Further, three-dimensional (3D) homology models for selected S. neurona putative PKs were constructed and evaluated for inhibitor docking. We identified 92 putative PKs clustering within the AGC, CAMK, CK1, CMGC, STE, TKL, aPK and OPK groups. Although containing the universally conserved PKA (AGC group), S. neurona kinome was devoid of PKB and PKC, but contained the six apicomplexan conserved CDPKs (CAMK group). The OPK group was represented by ROPKs 19A, 27, 30, 33, 35 and 37, but was devoid of the virulence-associated ROPKs 5, 6, 18 and 38. Two out of the three S. neurona CK1 enzymes had high sequence similarities to T. gondii TgCK1-α and TgCK1-β and the Plasmodium PfCK1. Docking of four inhibitors onto homology models of putative ROP27 and PKA indicated that inhibition of S. neurona PKs is feasible, but needs to be experimentally tested. The essentiality of apicomplexan PKs makes the elucidation of S. neurona kinome a key milestone for development of novel therapeutics for EPM.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are being increasingly adopted in critical applications, where verifying the correct operation of sensor nodes is a major concern. Undesired events may undermine the mission of the WSNs. Hence their effects need to be properly assessed before deployment to obtain a good level of expected performance and during the operation in order to avoid dangerous unexpected results. In this paper we propose a methodology to support design and deployment of dependable WSNs by means of an event-based formal verification technique. The methodology includes a process to guide designers towards the realization of a dependable WSN and a tool ("ADVISES") to simplify its adoption. The tool allows to generate automatically formal specifications used to check correctness properties and evaluate dependability metrics at design time and at runtime. During the runtime we can check the behavior of theWSN accordingly to the results obtained at design time and we can detect sudden and unexpected failures, in order to trigger recovery procedures. The effectiveness of the methodology is shown in the context of two case studies, aiming to illustrate how the tool is helpful to drive design choices and to check the correctness properties of theWSN at runtime

Small and micro hydropower represents an attractive solution for electricity generation, with low cost and low environmental impact. The pump-as-turbine (PAT) approach has promise in this application owing to its low purchase and maintenance costs. In this paper, a new method to predict the inverse characteristic of industrial centrifugal pumps is presented. This method is based on results of simulations performed with commercial three-dimensional CFD software. Model results have been first validated in pumping mode using data supplied by pump manufacturers. Then, results have been compared to experimental data for a pump running in reverse condition. Experimentation has been performed on a dedicated test bench installed in the Department of Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II. Three different pumps, with different specific speeds, have been analyzed. Using the model results, the inverse characteristic and the best efficiency point have been evaluated. Finally, results of this methodology have been compared to prediction methods available in the literature.

The evaluation of geometric defects is necessary in order to maintain the integrity of structures over time. These assessments are designed to detect damages of structures and ideally help inspectors to estimate the remaining life of structures. Current methodologies for monitoring structural systems, while providing useful information about the current state of a structure, are limited in the monitoring of defects over time and in linking them to predictive simulation. This paper presents a new approach to the predictive modeling of geometric defects. A combination of segmented from point clouds are parametrized using the convex hull algorithm to extract features from detected defects, and a stochastic dynamic model is then adapted to these features to model the evolution of the hull over time. Describing a defect in terms of its parameterized hull enables consistent temporal tracking for predictive purposes, while implicitly reducing data dimensionality and complexity as well. In this study, 2D point clouds analogous to information derived from point clouds were first generated over simulated life-cycles. The evolutions of point cloud hull parameterizations were modeled as stochastic dynamical processes via autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and vectorized autoregression (VAR) and compared against ground truth. The results indicate that this convex hull approach provides consistent and accurate representations of defect evolution across a range of defect topologies and is reasonably robust to noisy measurements, however assumptions regarding the underlying dynamical process play a significant the role in predictive accuracy. The results were then validated on experimental data from fatigue testing with high accuracy. Longer term, the results of this work will support finite element model updating for predictive analysis of structural capacity.

This study presents established methods, along with new algorithmic developments, to automate the point cloud processing within the Field Information Modeling (FIM)™ framework. More specifically, given an n-D designed information model, and the point cloud’s spatial uncertainty, the problem of automatic assignment of the point clouds to their corresponding elements within the designed model is considered. The methods addressed two classes of field conditions, namely, (i) negligible construction errors; and (ii) existence of construction errors. The emphasis was given to describing and defining the assumptions in each method and shed light on some of their potentials and limitations in practical settings. Considering the shortcomings of current point cloud processing frameworks, three new and generic algorithms were developed to help solve the point cloud to model assignment in field conditions with both negligible, and existence (or speculation) of construction errors. The effectiveness of the new methods was demonstrated in real-world point clouds, acquired from construction projects, with promising results.

The production of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWIBA) is very massive and has the potential to replace cement despite the problems of complex composition, uneven particle size distribution, and low reactivity. This paper adopts sodium silicate activation of MSWIBA-slag to improve the reactivity to prepare composite cementitious materials. It explores the hydration performance study of the composite cementitious materials by isothermal calorimetric analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, XRD physical diffraction analysis, and SEM/EDS tests. SEM/EDS tests will be used to explore the hydration properties of the composite gelling. The results showed that with the increase of MSWIBA doping, the porosity between the materials increased, the degree of Hydration decreased, and the compressive strength decreased with the rise of MSWIBA. When sodium silicate increased from 25% to 35%, too much alkaline material occurred over the alkaline effect, which inhibited the Hydration of the particles, and the degree of hydration reaction decreased, and the compressive strength decreased accordingly; the exothermic process of Hydration can be mainly divided into five stages, quartz and calcite did not participate in the hydration reaction completely, and sexual aluminum participated in the hydration reaction. The vibrational peaks of Si-O-Ti (T = Si and Al) were present in the material. The vibrational peaks of XRD, FTIR, and SEM-EDS all indicate the presence of silica-aluminate network structures in the hydration products, mainly N-A-S-H and C-A-S-H gels.

A comprehensive Energy Audit of a Maintenance facility was performed to assess its energy performance and identify scope for improvement. The facility’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for 2022 was 404 kWh/m2 — more than double the Benchmark EUI for Maintenance facilities (151 kWh/m2) recommended by EnergyStar. Furthermore, the Load Factor for 2022 was 0.22, which is lower than the recommended minimum of 0.75 for an efficient building. The audit encompassed an in-depth evaluation of the building's structural and operational characteristics, comprising HVAC systems, lighting, building envelope, and energy-intensive machinery. An energy model of the building was developed to emulate the baseline building energy performance for 2022. Following the energy model's development and validation, an analysis was conducted to identify energy-intensive areas and opportunities for optimization. Energy Efficiency Measures were then formulated, focusing on improving energy efficiency while focusing on energy consumption reduction and GHG emission reduction. Results demonstrated the potential of Energy Audits and Modeling to enable significant reductions in energy consumption and promote sustainable building practices. Among the Energy Efficiency Measures considered, re-sizing and decarbonizing HVAC equipment contributed the most to energy savings, with a 100% decrease in natural gas and 37% decrease in electricity use annually.

Machine performance modeling and optimization have emerged as crucial steps for process enhancement and efficiency. This study explored machine learning to model and optimize the cassava grating chamber of cassava grater for the quality production of gari. This domain remains unexplored thus far. A total of 196 graters were studied. Key variables studied included tooth diameter (TD), tooth height (TH), inter-tooth spacing (ITS), drum speed (DS), clearance (C), and moisture content of cassava (MC). Geometric mean diameter (GMD) represented mash quality. Feature importance rankings emphasized TH (0.488784), C (0.243284), TD (0.112682), ITS (0.103547), DS (0.036261), and MC (0.015442) in determining particle size (GMD) of grated mash. Machine learning models efficiently interpreted these attributes, including gradient boost regressor, linear regression, neural network, and random forest. The gradient boost regressor was the best predictive model, achieving 95.34% accuracy, RMSE (0.3291), and MAE (0.2303). The study provides a GMD predictive equation and optimized parameters for specific gari size production, offering valuable insights for tailored machinery in the cassava grating activity.

The stochastic modelling of chemical physical processes is essentially based on a coarse-grained formulation of fluctuations, usually described by means of Wiener processes. By taking the paradigmatic example of chemical reaction kinetics, we propose a simple representation of microscopic stochastic dynamics grounded on the use of distributional derivatives of counting processes that account for elementary reactive events. This approach is consistent with the statistical analysis based on the Chemical Master Equation, and provides the formal setting for the existing algorithmic approaches (Gillespie algorithm). Some practical advantages of this formulation are addressed, and several other examples are discussed in connection with cluster formation, velocity fluctuations in liquid systems, and quantum transitions (radiative interactions) at the molecular level.

This pioneering study presents an in-depth biomechanical examination of soccer's diving header, aiming to quantify its impact on ball speed enhancement (BSE) and effective offensive range (EOR). Despite the diving header's widespread acclaim and historical significance, there remains a dearth of scientific scrutiny into its biomechanical intricacies. Employing an innovative research design featuring a static hanging ball at varied offensive distances and heights, the study replicates diverse header scenarios. The results of 3D motion quantification have shown that a physically excellent player (identified through the maximal standing long jump test) could reach an EOR around 2.64 times his body height. Furthermore, the study unveils that proficient players could attain BSE surpassing 9 m/s, signifying the diving header's heightened efficacy compared to traditional heading techniques, which could only result in 4.5 m/s. Correlation analyses unveil noteworthy relationships, highlighting the pivotal role of head speed at impact and the influence of minimizing speed-drop and temporal disparities for amplified effectiveness. Considerations for optimizing diving header execution are introduced, emphasizing the necessity for targeted training programs. Despite acknowledged limitations inherent to its pilot nature, this exploration furnishes foundational knowledge to guide subsequent research and practical applications, providing valuable insights into soccer training and skill development through a biomechanical lens.

A milk drink flavored with dates syrup produced at a lab scale level was evaluated. The production process of date syrup involves a sequence of essential unit operations, commencing with the extraction, filtration, and concentration processes from two cultivars: Sukkary and Khlass. Date syrup was then mixed with cow’s and camel’s milk at four percentages to form a nutritious, natural, sweet, and energy milk drink. Sensory, physical, and chemical characteristics of the milk drinks flavored with date syrup were examined. The objective of this work was to measure physiochemical properties of dates fruits and milk drinks flavored with dates syrup, then to evaluate the physical properties of milk drinks utilizing a non-destructive NIR spectra. The study assessed the characteristics of the milk drink enhanced with date syrup by employing near-infrared spectra (NIR) spectra and analyzed utilizing partial least-square regression (PLSR) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis. The NIR spectrum proved to be highly effective in estimating the physiochemical attributes of the flavored milk drink. The ANN model outperformed the PLSR model in this context. RMSECV is considered a more reliable indicator of a model's future predictive performance compared to RMSEC, R2 ranged between 0.946 and 0.989. Consequently, non-destructive NIR technology demonstrates significant promise for accurately predicting and contributing to the entire production process of the product's properties examined.

Leaf area estimation is a critical component in the study of plant growth and productivity within agricultural systems. This research introduces the LeafArea package, a specialized tool designed to calculate the leaf area of six distinct Andean fruit species: S. quitoense, S. betaceum, P. peruviana, R. fruticosus, P. ligularis and P. edulis. Leveraging response variables such as species type, leaf length and width, the package employs advanced machine learning algorithms to estimate leaf area accurately. The primary focus of the study is to identify the most effective model for describing the relationship between leaf width, length, and area for each plant species. Currently, the LeafArea package utilizes four different machine learning algorithms, namely generalized linear model (GLM), generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), Random Forest and XGBoost. Among these, XGBoost stands out as a top-performing algorithm, exhibiting exceptional predictive accuracy. The evaluation metrics employed in the program provide valuable insights for researchers, aiding in informed decision-making. Specifically, XGBoost demonstrates significantly lower prediction errors and approaches a near-perfect R2 value, emphasizing its potential to enhance predictive accuracy. These results underscore the efficacy of machine learning techniques, as a compelling choice for researchers seeking precise and robust predictions in leaf area estimation. The LeafArea package thus represents a valuable tool for advancing our understanding of plant growth dynamics, resource allocation, and overall productivity within agricultural ecosystems.

Plastic pollution of the ocean is currently one of the most serious environmental threat. Analysis of observations in the Arctic ocean shows that microplastic particles have been found in Arctic snow cover, sea ice, water and sediments. Possible pathways and deposition locations of microplastics in the Arctic Ocean can be assessed based on 3D numerical modeling of thermohaline structure and water circulation, sea ice conditions and drift. The problem is that in addition to transport by currents, a number of other processes affect the state of microplastics. These include mechanical fragmentation, freezing into sea ice and release back into the water, biofouling, adsorption of contaminants and other factors. In this study, based on scenario calculations for a 5-year period, we analyzed the possible spread of microplastics brought by Siberian rivers to the Kara Sea shelf. The Lagrangian particle model used daily 3D numerical simulation data to simulate microplastic transport by ocean currents and by sea ice drift. The results of a series of scenario calculations show how the distribution of particles and their subsequent deposition depend on their type (density), size, processes of freezing into the ice and biofouling.

This paper shows the development of a numerical analysis model, which enables the calculation of the cargo transport capacity of a vehicle that circulates through a vacuum tube at high speed, whose effectiveness in transport is analyzed. The simulated transportation system is based on vehicles moving in vacuum tubes at high speed, a concept commonly known as Hyperloop, but assuming the vehicles for cargo containers. For the specific vehicle proposed, which does not include a compressor and levitates on magnets, the system formed by the vehicle and the vacuum tube has been conceptually developed, establishing the corresponding mathematical relationships that define its behavior. To properly model the performance of this transport system, it has been necessary to establish the relationships between the design variables and the associated constraints, such as the Kantrowitz limit, aerodynamics, transport, energy consumption, etc. Once the model was built and validated, it was used to analyze the effects of the variation of the number of containers, the operating speed and the tube length, considering the total and specific consumption of energy. Once the most efficient configuration was found regarding energy consumption and transport effectiveness, the complete system was calculated. The results obtained constitute a first approximation for the pre-design of this transport system and the built model allows different alternatives to be compared according to the design variables.

Urbanization triggers the emergence of slums in urban areas. Palembang is one of the Indonesian cities with slum settlements. This research aimed to analyze the interpolation of slum positions in Palembang and their distribution pattern using kernel density analysis and by modeling spatial data on accuracy values. It employed a quantitative method with a survey approach. Samples were selected using proportional random sampling from families in 64 slum areas across the 13 districts in the city, and their positions were recorded with a GPS device and then processed and mapped in ArcGIS. The data were analyzed with inverse distance weighted, kernel density, and spatial data modeling. Results showed that slum areas near the riverbanks had high population density, while those located further were lower. The values obtained from the kernel density analysis varied from 0 to 58.1123, while the inverse distance weighted showed a value range of 2.26745–380.991. The spatial data modelling analysis demonstrated that the distribution of slum areas was widely spread along the Musi River, with an accuracy value of 96.8%, which falls within the range of >0.9-1.

As a new logistics system, Physical Internet (PI) provides a solution to cope with the continuous rise of urban logistics demand by exploring same-level and cross-level paths and flattening. This research suggests a PI-based urban logistics distribution cost minimization model based on the examination of the primary elements influencing PI distribution, intending to maintain the logistic transportation process' integrity. This proposed model enhances the flexibility of goods operation and reduces the global cost of logistics distribution using the interconnected and open PI logistics distribution mode. The experimental results show that the distribution cost of the PI logistics model is significantly better than that of a traditional logistics model. The elastic and cost advantages relatively grow as the infrastructure for distribution scales up and the interruptions from emergencies occur.

The grinding process by friction at the micro-scale in a mill with stones is considered a variable combination of contacts: with two-body (the asperities of lower millstone in direct contact with the asperities of upper millstone) and the three-body (micro-particles of ground seeds trapped between the asperities of lower and the upper stones of the mill). Three elements are described: (1) the mechanic contact of the asperities of the lower and upper millstone, to predict pressures on asperities, by modeling; (2) tests on a millstone sample covered with grinding particles, and (3) tests on a wafer sample formed by the millstones with the grinding particles between them. The paper highlights the combined effects of the micro-scale friction by individual measurements and to sum these effects an analytical model was used, and to validate the model, several experiments were performed. A suitable grind by friction assumes the grain’s movement and the interaction between the seeds and solid surfaces and is highlighted through theoretical and experimental studies. Topography analysis of the surface of the millstones revealed the model of microscopic frictional force. Endpoint measurements (the traces of the surface topography evolution), enable model verification in the grinding process.

Leucyl-aminopeptidase (LAP), an important metallopeptidase, hydrolyses amino acid residues from the N-terminal of polypeptides and proteins, acting preferentially on the peptide bond formed by N- terminus leucine. A new leucyl-aminopeptidase was found in Bacillus cereus CZ. Its gene (bclap) contained a 1485 bp ORF encoding 494 amino acids with a molecular weight of 54 kDa. The bcLAP protein was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3). Optimal activity is obtained at pH 9.0 and 58°C. The bcLAP displays a moderate thermostability and an alkaline pH adaptation range. Enzymatic activity is dramatically enhanced by Ni2+. EDTA significantly inhibits the enzymatic activity, and bestatin and SDS also show strong inhibition. The three-dimensional model of bcLAP monomer and homohexamer is simulated by Phyre2 server and SWISS-MODEL server. The docking of bestatin, Leu-Trp, Asp-Trp and Ala-Ala-Gly to bcLAP is performed using AutoDock4.2.5 , respectively. Molecular docking results show that the residues Lys260, Asp265, Lys272, Asp283, Asp342, Glu344, Arg346, Gly372, His437 are involved in the hydrogen bonding with the ligands and zinc ions. There may be two nucleophilic catalytic mechanisms in bcLAP, one involving His 437 or Arg346 and the other involving His437 and Arg346. The bcLAP can hydrolyse the peptide bonds in Leu-Trp, Leu-Trp and Ala-Ala-Gly.

The methanation of CO2 is of great interest in power-to-gas systems and contributes to the mitigation of climate change through carbon dioxide capture and the subsequent production of high value-added products. This study investigated CO2 methanation with three Ni catalysts supported on Al2O3 and ZrO2, which were simulated using a mathematical model of a packed bed reactor designed based on their chemical kinetics reported in the literature. The simulated reactive system was fed with syngas obtained from residual coffee pulp, obtained after solvent phytochemical extraction process, under several gasification conditions. The results reflect a high incidence of catalyst support, preparation method, and syngas composition on CO2 conversion and CH4 selectivity. For all the syngas compositions, Ni/ZrO2 catalysts show the best values for CO2 conversion and CH4 selectivity for Ni/Al2O3 catalyst.

The construction industry of Ukraine shall not only recover but also to upgrade, enhance and reevaluate projects of existing buildings. Further research raises simultaneously two pertinent issues for Ukraine - retrofitting as well as reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure. The priority objective of the research is to restore damaged and ruined buildings rapidly. It may be achieved by means of a creation of recovery methods in Ukraine and countries in the post-conflict stage of development. The approach implies using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Artificial Intelligence of things (AIoT) to make reconstruction faster, better and less costly. In addition, we acquire a reduction of energy consumption and increase in the lifespan of the building by choosing retrofitting methods. The effectiveness of BIM and AIoT technologies allows imple-menting modern requirements to reduce the time and cost of design, optimize design solutions based on experience in designing new buildings and structures, providing the necessary infor-mation support of the investment project throughout its life cycle.

Manufacturing is a significant sector of the economy in many nations and is frequently regarded as an engine of economic expansion, particularly in developing nations. Despite its importance, the metal sector is seen as unsafe due to frequent and high accident rates as well as worker health issues. Therefore, the primary goal of this research is to create a safety model with the goal of development in occupational safety and health in order to reduce workplace injuries, diseases, and deaths in the Akaki Basic Metal Industry. The hypothesized model was developed and tested on a sample 215 respondents who worked for production businesses. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 was used to enter and analyze the acquired data, and the Analysis Moment of Structure (AMOS) version 21 software was used to build the model. Through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), research models were examined and confirmed. A good-fit structural model (PCLOSE=0.001, Goodness of Fit Index=0.971, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation=0.121, Comparative Fit Index=0.986 and TLI =0.906) indicated that Safety culture, safety police and safety climate constructs direct influence on firm productivity. The new structural model can be used to provide better understanding of the links between firm productivity indicators and contributing components, and make stronger recommendations for effective intervention in construction projects

This study aims to identify the knowledge structure and research trends of soccer psychology research during the last 33 years (1990–2022). Data were obtained from 1,863 papers from the Web of Science database. The data were collected through keyword text mining and data preprocessing to determine the keywords needed for analysis. Based on the keywords, latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modeling analysis was performed to analyze the topic distribution of papers and explore research trends by topic area. The topic modeling process included four topic area and fifty topics. The “Coaching Essentials in Football” topic area had the highest frequency, but it was not statistically identified as a trend. However, coaching, including training, is expected to continue to be an important research topic, as it is a key requirement for success in the highly competitive elite football world. Interest in the research field of “Psychological Skills for Performance Development” has waned in recent years. This may be due to the predominance of other subject areas rather than a lack of interest. Various high-tech interventions and problem-solving attempts are being made in this field, providing opportunities for qualitative and quantitative expansion. “Motivation, cognition, and emotion” is a largely underrated subject area in soccer psychology. This could be because survey-based psychological evaluation attempts have decreased as the importance of rapid field application has been emphasized in recent soccer-related studies. However, measuring psychological factors contributes to the study of football psychology through a new methodology and theoretical background. Recognizing the important role of psychological factors in player performance and mental management, as well as presenting new research directions and approaches that can be directly applied to the field, will advance soccer psychology research.

These years, disease-causing and disabling diseases have caused great concern. Neurological, musculoskeletal disorders are diverse and affect people of a wide range of ages. And the lack of comprehensive diagnostic methods places a huge burden on healthcare systems and social economies. In this paper, the current status of clinical research on neuromuscular diseases is introduced, and the advantages of magnetic field measurement compared with clinical diagnostic methods are illustrated. The paper makes a comprehensive description about the related technology of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), magnetic field detection noise suppression scheme, the development trend of sensor detection system, and the application and model establishment of neuromuscular magnetic field. The current researches and developments in the worldwide are compared simultaneously in this paper and finally the conclusions and outlook are put forward. This review will be very interesting and helpful to the scientific community.

The paper presents the results of modeling the problem of injecting liquid sulfur dioxide into a porous reservoir initially saturated with methane and ice. The model presented in the paper assumes the formation of three different regions, namely, the near one, saturated with liquid SO2 and its hydrate; the far one, containing methane and ice, and the intermediate one, saturated with methane and water. The effects of various parameters of the porous medium and injected SO2 on the nature of the course of the hydrate formation process have been studied. It is shown that with a decrease in reservoir permeability or injection pressure, the length of the intermediate region decreases, which in the limiting case means the formation of SO2 hydrate in the mode without the formation of an extended region saturated with methane and water. It is shown that such a regime is also typical for the case of high initial injection pressures, as well as low values of the initial reservoir temperature and injection temperature.

Activated sludge process is a well known method to treat municipal and industrial waste water. In this complex process, the oxygen concentration in the reactors plays a critical role in the plant efficiency. This paper proposes the use of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to identify an input-output model suitable for the design of an oxygen concentration controller. The model is identified from easy-accessible measures collected from a real plant. This dataset covers almost a month. The performances achieved with the proposed LSTM model are compared with the ones obtained with a standard AutoRegressive model with eXogenous input (ARX). Both models catch the oscillation and the overall behaviour (ARX ρ=0.833 , LSTM ρ=0.921), but, while the ARX model fails in reaching the correct amplitude (FIT=41.20%), the LSTM presents satisfactory performance (FIT=60.56%).

The use of the voice of the customer as a main input to guide decision making towards customer centricity strategies has become a necessity for companies. This research proposes a structured method of textual processing using the KDD (Knowledge Discovery Databases) methodology applied to the tweets of users of Colombian public sector companies, through the analysis of temporal sentiments and topic modeling to identify the areas in which actions should be taken to improve the perception of service. To fulfill such purpose, tweets from January to June 2022 are processed, followed by a temporal analysis of the evolution of the sentiment based on 3 enriched dictionaries; after, the LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis) algorithm is implemented to find the areas with ailment for the user, in addition to propose a method to homologate the CIER (Comisión de Integración Energética Regional) survey. Finally, metrics are detailed to follow up the perception of the service. It is concluded that for the Acueducto the topic with the highest number of complaints is related to "Water truck request", for Enel "Servide Outages" and for Vanti: " Case solution and request information". Also, the homologation of 3 of the 5 pillars on which the CIER survey is based is presented.

The development of mineral deposits causes changes that are comparable to natural exogenous geological processes, and in local areas of intensive mining activity prevail over them. In this article, a diamond deposit is selected, developed by quarries of great depth, and a forecast is made of the impact of drainage water discharge on changes in the composition of surface water and bottom sediments during the entire period of development of the deposit. Modeling was per-formed according to various scenarios, taking into account changes in the total dissolved solids of groundwater from 0.5 to 21.7 g/kg H2O. Thermodynamic calculations were carried out using the HCh software package. The role of dissolved organic carbon in the migration of chemical elements and the effect of DOC on the precipitation of chemical elements from mixing solutions is given. It has been established that fulvic acid completely binds to Fe in the Fe(OH)2FA– complex in all types of natural waters and under all mixing scenarios. With humic acid, such a sharp competitive complex formation does not occur. It is distributed among the various elements more evenly. It was determined that the mass of precipitating iron in the presence of DOC decreases by 18-27%, and its precipitation in winter is more intense. In contrast to Fe, precipitation of Ca, Mg, and C from solution with DOC is higher in summer, and there are more of them in solution in winter. This study contributed to a better understanding of the behavior of heavy metals in surface waters and sediments under anthropogenic pressures in order to improve the sustainable management of water resources in the face of anthropogenic activities.

The study aims to investigate Gen Z's intentions to utilize the Waze mobile application as a solution for sustainable traffic management in Meto Manila. The extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to define user behavior and technology usage to determine the factors influencing Filipino drivers' application acceptance of Waze. The study’s data results have revealed that the System Quality, Perceived Location Accuracy, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease of Use affect Filipinos' intentions to use traffic navigation applications, particularly Waze. The study utilized a survey and was given to 300 Filipino drivers traveling within the National Capital Region to accurately measure the factors and their connections to usage intention and actual use. The analytical approach used for this investigation was partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The study's results can be applied as a theoretical framework for future researchers of Waze mobile applications, Waze route accuracy, and Waze overall application performance, as well as the features of the Waze application, to evaluate how the use of the Waze mobile application could help in the effective management of traffic situations in Metro Manila. The study was able to assess the effectiveness of the Waze navigation app as a platform for efficiently managing traffic situations in Metro Manila. Moreover, this study also highlighted the application performance of Waze and its acceptance by Filipino drivers in Metro Manila. Furthermore, the study implores a critical review of Waze's application performance. The study recommends that similar future studies must consider samples from a more diverse geographic background to obtain a more accurate representation of Filipinos traveling. Future researchers are also advised to adopt a qualitative research design to gain more detailed insights of Filipinos regarding their experience with the Waze application.

Species distribution modeling (SDM) has come a long way since its inception. Starting as simple bioclimatic envelope models based on expert knowledge, species distribution models (SDMs) have evolved into complex and sophisticated models that incorporate multiple sources of data and machine learning algorithms. Today, SDMs play a crucial role in addressing pressing conservation and management issues, including the impacts of climate change on species ranges and the as-sessment of species vulnerability to extinction. In this article, we will embark on a journey through the history, present, and future of SDM, exploring its evolution from bioclimatic envelopes to machine learning. We will also provide practical tips on how to use SDMs effectively and discuss the exciting future developments in this field. Whether you are a seasoned SDM expert or new to this field, this article will provide valuable insights into the exciting world of SDM. By exploring the rich history and current state of the field, we hope to shed light on the tremendous potential of SDM for improving our understanding of the distribution of species in a changing world.

Rapid in vitro assessment of antimicrobial drug efficacy under clinically relevant pharmacokinetic conditions is an essential element of both drug development and clinical use. Here we present an overview of a novel integrated methodology for rapid assessment of such efficacy, particularly against emergence of resistant bacterial strains, as jointly researched by the authors in recent years. This methodology enables rapid in vitro assessment of antimicrobial efficacy of a single or multiple drugs in combination, following clinically relevant pharmacokinetics. The proposed methodology entails (a) automated collection of longitudinal time-kill data in an optical-density instrument; (b) processing of collected time-kill data with the aid of a mathematical model to de-termine optimal dosing regimens under clinically relevant pharmacokinetics for a single or mul-tiple drugs; and (c) in vitro validation of promising dosing regimens in a hollow fiber system. Proof-of-concept of this methodology through a number of in vitro studies is discussed. Future directions for refinement of optimal data collection and processing are discussed.

Projected future sea level rise and marine storminess is a serious threat for beaches as they induce beach flooding and erosion. Among other factors, wave runup play an important role in beach evolution and must be robustly assessed. However, little attention has been paid to the uncertainties associated to its characterization and how do they compare to other sources of uncertainty. As a first step towards this goal, we have quantified the impact of several sources of error in the estimation of wave runup on sandy beaches. Understanding what factors are more influential in the quality of the results will help to determine the main sources of uncertainty in beach flooding projections. To reach that goal, a calibrated state-of-the-art numerical modelling system has been setup for two beaches in the Mallorca islands (NW Mediterranean). The system has been forced with the best available information of nearshore incoming waves and has been validated against observations to define the benchmark quality. To determine the key factors affecting the quality of the system’s results, different systems configurations have been tested with different degrees of complexity.Our results show that using the most sophisticated modelling system with the best information on boundary conditions, bottom bathymetry, and submerged vegetation leads to a swash RMSE comparable to the standard deviation of the observed swash. We have also found that the choice of lateral boundary conditions (i.e., source of information for the incoming waves) can double the RMSE and induce large biases. Our results also show that using a simple empirical approach usually underestimates the wave runup. However, in locations with vegetated seabed there is a compensation error, and the empirical approach can lead to acceptable results if forced by nearshore waves. In addition, we have compared the error estimates obtained with uncertainties associated to projected sea level rise. Our findings suggest that the uncertainty associated with wave runup modelling should be considered in the assessment of the total uncertainty of future beach flooding, since the analysis performed indicates that this uncertainty can account for between 16% to 60% of the uncertainties linked to mean sea level projections.

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease representing a substantial economic burden. In order to develop policies that successfully decrease this burden, the factors affecting costs need to be fully understood. Evidence suggests that early detection in Stage I has a lower cost than late detection. We aim to provide conservative estimates of BC's stage-wise medical costs from German healthcare and the payer's perspective. To this end, we conducted a literature review of articles evaluating stage-wise costs of BC in Germany through PubMed, Web of Science, and Econ Lit databases supplemented by Google Scholar. We developed a decision tree model to estimate BC related medical costs in Germany using available treatment and cost information. The review generated seven studies; none estimated the stage-wise costs of BC. The studies were classified into two groups: (1) case scenarios (five studies) and two studies based on administrative data. The first sickness funds data study (Gruber, Stock, et al. 2012) used 1999 information to approach BC attributable cost; their results suggest a range between €3,929 and €11,787 depending on age. The second study (Kreis, Plöthner, et al. 2020) used 2011-2014 data and suggested an initial phase incremental cost of €21,499, an intermediate phase cost of €2,620, and a terminal phase cost of €34,513 per incident case. Our decision tree model based BC stage-wise cost estimates were €21,523 for Stage I, €25,679 for Stage II, €30,156 for Stage III, €42,086 for Stage IV. Alternatively, the modeled cost estimates are €20,284 for the initial phase of care, €851 for the intermediate phase of care, and €34,963 for the terminal phase of care. Our estimates for phases of care are consistent with recent German estimates provided by Kreis and Plöthner et al. Furthermore, the data collected by sickness funds are collected primarily for reimbursement purposes, where the German ICD-10 classification system defines a cancer diagnosis. As a result, claims data lack the clinical information necessary to understand stage-wise BC costs. Our model-based estimates fill the gap and inform future economic evaluations of BC interventions.

SGLT2 inhibitors act to induce glucosuria and have been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus but have also been shown to positively affect cardiovascular conditions and some benefitting kidney function. SGLT2i have shown to be effective in more advanced conditions but may eventually be a treatment in more general metabolic dysfunction. Metabolic syndrome is a clinical diagnosis for establishing risk for ischemic heart disease and diabetes. The prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and severe vascular events steadily increased over recent decades. In addition to the established benefits of diet and exercise, SGLT2 inhibitor therapy may be able to aid in the treatment of metabolic syndrome from its proven cardiovascular and anti-hyperglycemic benefits. Pharmacologic modeling in canines is also considered, as they present with similar diagnoses and offer a model that shares many of the characteristics of humans in metabolic dysfunction.

This article presents new PEM fuel cell models with hexagonal and pentagonal designs. After observing cell performance improvement in these models, we optimized them. Inlet pressure and temperature were used as input parameters, and consumption and output power were the target parameters of the multi-objective optimization algorithm. Then we used artificial intelligence techniques, including deep neural networks and polynomial regression, to model the data. Next, we employed the RSM (Response Surface Method) method to derive the target functions. Furthermore, we applied the NSGA-II multi-objective genetic algorithm to optimize the targets. Compared to the base model (Cubic), the optimized Pentagonal and Hexagonal models averagely increase the output current density by 21.819\% and 39.931\%, respectively.

Memristors were proposed in the early ’70s of the XXth century by Leon Chua as a new electrical element linking the charge and the flux. Since that first introduction, these devices have positioned themselves to be considered as possibly fundamental for the new generations of electronic devices. It has to be mentioned that actual memristors have only been recognized to exist as physical elements. In this paper, we apply a modeling framework to generate a model describing experimental measurements performed on a ReRAM. We show how to apply the Dynamic Route Map technique in the general case to obtain an approximation to the differential equation that determines the behaviour of the device.

Purpose:To explore (theoretically) the key parameters and their influence on the time profiles of photosensitizer (riboflavin), free radicals, singlet oxygen, oxygen and the efficacy of corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL)in both type-I and oxygen-mediated type-II mechanisms, specially the role of oxygen and the initiator regeneration. Methodology:Coupled kinetic equations are derived and numerically solved under the quasi-steady state condition for the 2-pathway mechanisms of CXL. The key parameters explored include (bI, V, Q', K, K',Q,P) and their influence on the time profiles of photosensitizer (riboflavin, C), radicals (R), singlet oxygen(S), oxygen (X) and efficacy (E), parameters of (K,K',Q) define the relative strength of type-I and type-II process. The oxygen depletion profile, X(t), and the associated singlet oxygen, S(t), depend on the parameters of V, Q' and the initial value of oxygen. The coupling strength given by (bI) governs almost all profiles, where b is an effective absorption parameter and I is the UV light intensity.Results:Our numerical method for CXL dynamic profiles demonstrated the following important features: (i) Type-I and type-II coexit in CXL, in the presence of oxygen. However, there is no type-II when oxygen is depleted or in a condition without oxygen. (ii) Type-I with bimolecular termination, the radical R(t) is a function of [K'(bIgC)]^0.5, leading to the steady-state efficacy given by a scaling law of 1/(bI)^0.5, in contract to that of type-II which is almost independent to the light intensity. (iii) The depletion rate (2 to 5 minutes) of X(t) is much faster than that of C(t) (10 to 20 minutes), (iv) Thepure type-II profile, has a transition point from straight line to saturating curve and matches the depletion point of singlet oxygen S(t). (v) Improved CXL efficacy of type-I and type-II may be achieved by external supply of photoinitiator (riboflavin) and oxygen, respectively.

The deep geothermal industrial project at Soultz-sous-Forêts is located in the Upper Rhine Graben, France. As part of the MEET project, this study aims to evaluate the possibility of extracting higher amounts of energy from the existing industrial infrastructure. To achieve this objective, the effect of reinjecting fluid at lower temperature than the current fluid injection temperature of 70 ℃ was modelled and the drop in the production wellhead temperature for 100 years of operation was quantified. Two injection-production rate scenarios were considered and compared for their effect on overall production wellhead temperature. For each scenario, reinjection temperatures of 40 ℃, 50 ℃ and 60 ℃ were chosen and compared with the 70 ℃ injection case. For the lower production rate scenario, the results show that the production wellhead temperature is approximately 1-1.5 ℃ higher than for the higher production rate scenario after 100 years of operation. In conclusion, no significant thermal breakthrough has been observed with the applied flow rates and lowered injection temperatures even after 100 years of operation.

A position sensing glove, called SmartScan, that creates a 3D virtual model of a real object is presented. The data from the glove is processed by a volume minimization algorithm to validate the position sensor data. This allows only data from the object’s surface to be retained. The data validation algorithm allows the user to progressively improve an image by repeatedly moving their hand over the object. In addition, the user can choose their own balance between feature resolution and invalid data rejection. The SmartScan glove is tested on a foot model and is shown to be robust against motion artifacts, and has a mean accuracy of 2.9 mm (compared to a 3D model generated from optical imaging) without calibration.

Oil palm is one of the most important crops in Malaysia. Lately, the production of oil palm has been reduced due to a variety of factors, including the weather and climate. Temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall distribution all have an impact on palm tree growth and development, which in turn has an impact on oil palm production. This paper aims to investigate the effects of some weather elements (temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall) on oil palm production in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0 version), with descriptive statistics, and multiple linear regression (MLR). The MLR model determined the strength of the relationship between oil palm yield (dependent variable) and the changing variables of temperature, sunshine, wind speed, relative humidity, and rainfall (independent variables). The findings revealed that temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall have a low impact on oil palm production and yield turnover. The R2 value of 0.202 shows that the independent variables explained only 20.2% of the fluctuation in palm oil production. The study recommends working within an integrated approach involving scientific research, planting, improving variety, improving regional academic leadership, and engaging private and public stakeholders, emphasized collaborative efforts with researchers in consumer countries, and strengthening the capacity of growers to best agroecological practices.

Iyer Markoulakis Helmholtz Hamiltonian mechanics formalisms mathematically modeled physics with vortex rotational fields acting with gradient fields, typically in zero-point microblackhole general fields. Here, Helmholtz metrics have been gaged to Coulombic Hilbert metrics, representing Gilbertian and Amperian natures of electromagnetic fields out of the mechanical fields from Helmholtz Hamiltonian mechanics. This ansatz general gaging helps to properly isolate field effects – mechanical, electric, magnetic components within the analytical processes. Vacuum gravitational fields and the flavor Higgs-Boson matter inertial gravitational fields have been thus quantified extending to stringmetrics constructs matrix showing charge asymmetry gage metrics, having the power to analyze dark energy superluminal phase, dark matter luminal phase, and light matter subluminal phase. Interpreting particle physics gage matrix pointing to Dirac seas electrons, monopoles with positrons, electron-positron annihilation leading to energy production, relativistic energy generating matter, and both monopoles – vacuum and compressed out of vortex Helmholtz decomposition fields have been interpolated. Quantum ASTROPHYSICS gage metrix posits superluminal profile of signals velocity generating electron-positron chain like “curdling” action that is consistent with physics literature reporting nature electron photon observed oscillatory fields configurations. This helps proposing creation of neutrino antineutrino pair orthogonal to electron positron “curdling” planes, that may lead to formation of protonic hydrogen of stars or orthogonally muon. These aspects will explain receding or fast expanding universe with dark matter in terms of flavor metrics versus gage associating metrics flavor. Additional interpretations of virtual gravitational dipoles that have gravitational charge of opposite signs, reported per physics literature at Planck dimensions, that may originate at the center of supermassive blackhole. On the other hands, vacuum monopoles occur probably at infinity with cosmos extent.

Background Although aminoglycosides are often used as treatment for Gram-Negative infections, optimal dosing regimens remains unclear, especially in ICU patients. This is due to a large between- and within-subject variability in the aminoglycosides’ pharmacokinetics in this population. Objective The review provides comprehensive data on the pharmacokinetics of aminoglycosides in patients hospitalized in ICU by summarizing all published PopPK models in ICU patients for amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin. The objective was to determine the presence of a consensus on the structural model used, significant covariates included, and therapeutic targets considered during dosing regimen simulations. Methods A literature search was conducted from the Medline/PubMed database, using the terms: ‘amikacin’, ’gentamicin’, ’tobramycin’, ‘pharmacokinetic(s)’, nonlinear mixed effect’, population’, ‘intensive care’ and ‘critically ill’. Results Nineteen articles were retained where amikacin, gentamicin and tobramycin pharmacokinetics were described in six, eleven and five models, respectively. Two-compartment model best described amikacin and tobramycin pharmacokinetics, whereas one-compartment model majorly described gentamicin pharmacokinetics. The most recurrent significant covariates were renal clearance and bodyweight. Across all aminoglycosides, mean interindividual variability in clearance and volume of distribution were 41.6% and 22.0%, respectively. A common consensus for an optimal dosing regimen for each aminoglycoside was not reached. Conclusion This review showed models developed for amikacin, from 2015 until now and for gentamicin and tobramycin from the past decades. Despite growing challenges of external evaluation, the latter should be more considered during model development. Further research including new covariates, additional simulated dosing regimens and external validation should be considered to better understand aminoglycosides pharmacokinetics in ICU patients.

This study aimed at the investigation of the effect of substrate preheating on residual stress in laser powder bed fusion using a physics-based analytical model. In this study, an analytical model is proposed to predict the residual stress through the calculation of preheating affected temperature profile and thermal stress. The effect of preheating is super-positioned with initial temperature in the modeling of temperature profile using a moving heat source approach; the resultant temperature gradient is then employed to predict the thermal stress from a point body load approach. If the thermal stress exceeds the yield strength of the material, then the residual stress under cyclic heating and cooling will be calculated based on the incremental plasticity and kinematic hardening behavior of metal. IN718 is used as a material example to pursue this investigation. To validate the predicted residual stress, experimental measurements are conducted using X-ray diffraction on IN718 samples manufactured via laser powder bed fusion under different process conditions. Results showed that preheating of the substrate could reduce the residual stress in an additively manufactured part due to the reduction in temperature gradient and resultant shrinkage stresses. However, the excessive preheating could have an opposite impact on residual stress accumulation. Moreover, the results confirm that the proposed model is a valuable tool for the prediction of residual stress- eliminating the costly experiments and time-consuming finite element simulations.

This paper presents a simple and fast technique of multifractal traffic modeling. It proposes a method of fitting model to a given traffic trace. A comparison of simulation results obtained for an exemplary trace, multifractal model and Markov Modulated Poisson Process models has been performed.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, to be a pandemic. Since the declaration, Nigeria economy has been greatly impacted thus resulting in a recession. This paper considers a couple of misconceptions among Nigerian people in the COVID-19 pandemic era thereby causing the spread of the novel virus and hence making the situation difficult for the government to handle. In particular, we discuss the first and second waves of the pandemic as it affects the Nigerian people. The impact of the pandemic on animals and the role of mathematical epidemiologists in combatting the spread is discussed herein. We give some recommendations that could be adopted by the government and the good people of Nigeria to reduce the further spread of the virus.

The non-symmetrical collapse of an empty cylindrical cavity is modelled using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. The presence of a nearby surface produces an anisotropic pressure field generating a high velocity jet that hits the surface. The collapse follows a different dynamic based to the initial distance between the centre of the cavity and the surface. When the distance is greater than the cavity radius (detached cavity) the surface is hit by travelling shock waves. When the distance is less than the cavity radius (attached cavity) the surface is directly hit by the jet and later by other shock waves generated in the last stages of the of the collapse. The results show that the surface is hit by a stronger shock when distance between the centre of the cavity and the surface is zero while showing more complex double peaks behaviour for other distances.

Medical Trust-Network is one of the most promising fields of study in network science. Establishment of trust within medical entities ensures better treatment and increases better medical facilities. The word ‘Trust’ signifies a very important behavioral aspect between any human entities, especially among doctors and patients. To represent such relationships Trust Network Models are built to express the interactions between human entities within such networks. Though the idea of a Trust-Network has traditionally been one of the major areas of research, yet the concept of a medical trust network model is relatively a new domain. In this paper, we introduce an overall multilayered Trust Network to represent the entire healthcare architecture. More specifically our model is based on an evolutionary graph system with a discrete relationship between the three most important entities of any healthcare system, namely – Doctors, Departments, and Hospitals. Observations indicate that based on our model, the medical healthcare system is a multilayered model unlike a feed-forward model as indicated by previous studies.

Effective water resources management requires assessments of water availability within a framework of complex institutions and infrastructure employed to manage extremely variable stream flow shared by numerous often competing water users and diverse types of use. The Water Rights Analysis Package (WRAP) modeling system is fundamental to water allocation and planning in the state of Texas in the United States. Integration of environmental flow standards into both the modeling system and comprehensive statewide water management is a high priority for continuing research and development. The public domain WRAP software and documentation are generalized for application any place in the world. Lessons learned in developing and implementing the modeling system in Texas are relevant worldwide. The modeling system combines: (1) detailed simulation of water right systems, interstate compacts, international treaties, federal/state/local agreements, and operations of storage and conveyance facilities; (2) simulation of river system hydrology; and (3) statistical frequency and reliability analyses. The continually evolving modeling system has been implemented in Texas by a water management community that includes the state legislature, planning and regulatory agencies, river authorities, water districts, cities, industries, engineering consulting firms, and university researchers. The shared modeling system contributes significantly to integration of water allocation, planning, system operations, and research.

A Mamdani-type fuzzy-logic model has been developed to link Mediterranean seagrass abundance to the prevailing environmental conditions. Big Databases, as UNEP-WCMC (seagrass abundance), CMEMS and EMODnet (oceanographic/environmental) and human-impact parameters were utilized for this expert system. Model structure and input parameters were tested according to their capacity to accurately predict seagrass families at specific locations. The optimum FIS comprised of four input variables: water depth, sea surface temperature and nitrates and bottom chlorophyll-a concentration, exhibiting fair accuracy (76%). Results illustrated that Posidoniaceae prefers cool (16-18oC) and low chlorophyll-a presence (&lt; 0.2 mg/m3); Zosteraceae favors cool (16-18oC) and mesotrophic waters (Chl-a &gt; 0.2 mg/m3), but also slightly warmer (18-19.5 oC) with lower Chl-a levels (&lt; 0.2 mg/m3); Cymodoceaceae lives from warm, oligotrophic (19.5-21.0oC and Chl-a &lt; 0.3 mg/m3) to moderately warm mesotrophic sites (18-21.3oC and 0.3 – 0.4 mg/m3 Chl-a). Finally, Hydrocharitaceae thrives in warm Mediterranaean waters (21-23oC) of low chlorophyll-a content (&lt; 0.25 mg/m3). Climate change scenarios showed that Posidoniaceae and Zosteraceae tolerate bathymetric changes, Posidoniaceae and Zosteraceae are mostly affected by sea temperature rise, while Hydrocharitaceae exhibits tolerance in higher sea temperature rise. This FIS could be used by national and regional policy-makers and public authorities.

The process model is very essential for the model based control design. The model of the process can be identified using system identification algorithm. The system identification is done through the open loop and closed loop approaches. In this work, the lab scale conical tank setup configured as a non square MIMO system. The conical tank system is identified through the both appraoches, the effectiveness and need of the both approaces are discussed. Based on the open loop identified model the controller designed and the controller implemented in the real time the to record the process data. From this data the closed loop identification are conducted uisng N4SID algorithm. The controller seetings are obtained using the smith predcitor based IMC based PI controller for the obtained model. The proposed identification algorithm and controller tuning show the better reults over the conventional method. Moreover, this method is applicable for all the non square MIMO system.

Biological gels (bio-gels) are hydrated polymer networks that serve diverse biological functions, which often lead to intentional or unintentional exposure to particulate matter. In this work, we derive a microscopically motivated framework that enables the investigation of penetration mechanisms into bio-gels. We distinguish between two types of mechanisms: spontaneous (unforced) penetration and forced penetration. Using experimental data available in literature, we exploit the proposed model to characterize and compare between the micro-structures of respiratory, intestinal, and cervicovaginal mucus and two types of biofilms. Next, we investigate the forced penetration process of spherical and ellipsoidal particles into a locally quadrilateral network. The proposed framework can be used to improve and complement the analysis of experimental findings in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. Additionally, the insights from this work pave the way towards enhanced designs of nano-medicines and allow to assess risk factors related to the nano-pollutants exposure.