1,318 research outputs found
Formulating layered adjustable autonomy for unmanned aerial vehicles
Purpose - In this paper, we propose a Layered Adjustable Autonomy (LAA) as a dynamically adjustable autonomy model for a multi-agent system. It is mainly used to efficiently manage humans and agents share control of autonomous systems and maintain humansā global control over the agents.
Design/Methodology/Approach - We apply the LAA model in an agent-based autonomous Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) system. The UAV system implementation consists of two parts, software, and hardware. The software part represents the controller and the cognitive and the hardware represents the computing machinery and the actuator of the UAV system. The UAV system performs three experimental scenarios of dance, surveillance and search missions. The selected scenarios demonstrate different behaviors in order to create a suitable test plan and ensure significant results.
Findings - The results of the UAV system tests prove that segregating the autonomy of a system as multidimensional and adjustable layers enables humans and/or agents to perform actions in a convenient autonomy levels. Hence, reducing the adjustable autonomy drawbacks of constraining the autonomy of the agents, increasing humansā workload and exposing the system to disturbances.
Originality/value - The application of the LAA model in a UAV manifests the significance of implementing dynamic adjustable autonomy. Assessing the autonomy within three phases of agents run cycle (task-selection, actions-selection, actions-execution) is an original idea that aims to direct agentsā autonomy towards performance competency. The agentsā abilities are well exploited when an incompetent agent switches with a more competent on
Janus: An Uncertain Cache Architecture to Cope with Side Channel Attacks
Side channel attacks are a major class of attacks to crypto-systems.
Attackers collect and analyze timing behavior, I/O data, or power consumption
in these systems to undermine their effectiveness in protecting sensitive
information. In this work, we propose a new cache architecture, called Janus,
to enable crypto-systems to introduce randomization and uncertainty in their
runtime timing behavior and power utilization profile. In the proposed cache
architecture, each data block is equipped with an on-off flag to enable/disable
the data block. The Janus architecture has two special instructions in its
instruction set to support the on-off flag. Beside the analytical evaluation of
the proposed cache architecture, we deploy it in an ARM-7 processor core to
study its feasibility and practicality. Results show a significant variation in
the timing behavior across all the benchmarks. The new secure processor
architecture has minimal hardware overhead and significant improvement in
protecting against power analysis and timing behavior attacks.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The outcomes of Skeletonized and Pedicled Internal Thoracic Artery in Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: a randomized clinical study
Background: Internal thoracic artery became the cornerstone graft in coronary artery bypass grafting. This study aimed to investigate sternal healing and wound infection in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery using skeletonized versus pedicled internal thoracic artery.
Methods: 100 patients who underwent isolated CABG were divided into two groups; skeletonized internal thoracic artery (ITA) (50 patients) and pedicled internal thoracic artery (50 patients). The postoperative assessment was performed three months after surgery. Physical and radiological examinations were performed after surgery to assess sternal healing.
Results: There was no significant difference in patientsā demographics between groups. Skeletonized group had more diabetic patients (65% vs 44%; p= 0.016). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the number of grafts (2.72 Ā± 0.89 vs. 2.68 Ā± 0.90; skeletonized vs pedicled group; p= 0.84). Harvesting time was longer in the skeletonized group (55.69 Ā± 8.80 vs. 44.28 Ā± 6.95 minutes; p=0.09). Superficial wound infection occurred more frequently in the pedicled group (24% vs. 8%; p=0.03).
Conclusion: Skeletonization of the internal thoracic artery conduits lowers the risk of superficial and deep sternal wound infection in patients undergoing CABG compared to the pedicled technique. However, skeletonization of internal thoracic artery conduits prolongs the operation time and requires more surgical skills
Characterization of alginateāgelatinācholesteryl ester liquid crystals bioinks for extrusion bioprinting of tissue engineering scaffolds
Tissue engineering (TE) is an innovative approach to tackling many diseases and body
parts that need to be replaced by developing artificial tissues and organs. Bioinks play an important
role in the success of various TE applications. A bioink refers to a combination of a living cell,
biomaterials, and bioactive molecules deposited in a layer-by-layer form to fabricate tissue-like
structures. The research on bioink attempts to offer a 3D complex architecture and control cellular
behavior that improve cell physical properties and viability. This research proposed a new multiļæ½material bioink based on alginate (A), gelatin (G), and cholesteryl ester liquid crystals (CELC)
biomaterials, namely (AGLC) bioinks. The development of AGLC was initiated with the
optimization of different concentrations of A and G gels to obtain a printable formulation of AG
gels. Subsequently, the influences of different concentrations of CELC with AG gels were
investigated by using a microextrusion-based 3D bioprinting system to obtain a printed structure
with high shape fidelity and minimum width. The AGLC bioinks were formulated using AG gel
with 10% weight/volume (w/v) of A and 50% w/v G (AG10:50) and 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 40% of
CELC, respectively. The AGLC bioinks yield a high printability and resolution blend. The printed
filament has a minimum width of 1.3 mm at a 1 mL/min extrusion rate when the A equals 10% w/v,
G equals 50% w/v, and CELC equals 40% v/v (AGLC40). Polymerization of the AGLC bioinks with
calcium (Ca2+) ions shows well-defined and more stable structures in the post-printing process. The
physicochemical and viability properties of the AGLC bioinks were examined by FTIR, DSC, contact
angle, FESEM, MTT assay, and cell interaction evaluation methods. The FTIR spectra of the AGLC
bioinks exhibit a combination of characteristics vibrations of AG10:50 and CELC. The DSC analysis
indicates the high thermal stability of the bioinks. Wettability analysis shows a reduction in the
water absorption ability of the AGLC bioinks. FESEM analysis indicates that the surface
morphologies of the bioinks exhibit varying microstructures. In vitro cytotoxicity by MTT assay
shows the ability of the bioinks to support the biological activity of HeLa cells. The AGLC bioinks
show average cell viability of 82.36% compared to the control (90%). Furthermore, cultured cells on
the surface of AGLC bioinks showed that bioinks provide favorable interfaces for cell attachment
Threshold dynamics of stochastic cholera epidemic model with direct transmission
This paper extends the cholera human-to-human direct transmission model from a deterministic to a stochastic framework. This is expressed as mixed system of stochastic and deterministic differential equations. A Lyapunov function is created to investigate the global stability of the stochastic cholera epidemic, which shows the existence of global positivity of the solution using the theory of stopping time. We then find the threshold quantity of the extended stochastic cholera epidemic model. We derive a parametric condition , and for additive white noise, we establish sufficient conditions for the extinction and the persistence of the cholera infection. Finally, for a suitable choice of the parameter of the system for , we perform numerical simulations for both scenarios of extinction and persistence of the dynamic of the cholera infection
Sponge media drying using a swirling fluidized bed dryer
Surface preparation today has seen the introduction of sponge media as an alternative product against the traditionally used abrasive materials. Being soft and elastic, the sponge media reduces air borne emission significantly during surface preparation with capability to be re-used. However the environmental conditions limit the sponge media usage whereby wet surroundings prohibit the re-use of the sponge without being dried properly. This study proposes the swirling fluidized bed dryer as a novel drying technique for sponge media. Batch experiments were conducted to study the bedās hydrodynamics followed by drying studies for three bed loadings of 0.5 kg, 0.75 kg and 1.0 kg at three drying temperatures of 80Ā°C, 90Ā°C and 100Ā°C. It was found that, minimum fluidization velocities for the wet sponge particles were found to be 1.342, 1.361 and 1.382 m/s with minimum swirling velocities of 1.400, 1.469 and 1.526 m/s. Drying times were recorded between 6 to 16 minutes depending on bed loading and drying temperature. Smaller bed weights exhibits faster drying with constant-rate drying period while higher drying temperature and larger bed load resulted in falling-rate drying period. Thin layer modelling for the falling-rate region indicates that Verma et. al model provides the best fit for the present experimental data with coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.98773, root mean square error, RMSE = 0.05048, residuals = 0.3442 and reduced chi-square, Ļ2 = 0.00254. The effective diffusivity, Deff, for 0.5 kg bed load was found to be 3.454 x 10-9 m2/s and 1.751 x 10-9 m2/s for 0.75 kg bed load. In conclusion, SFBD was found to be a viable and efficient method in drying of sponge media for various industrial applications particularly surface preparation
The auto assist bar system for disabled people
This paper presents the development of the auto assist bar system to help the disabled people especially paralyzed in the legs where they have a problem to doing transaction stand-to-sit and sit-to-stand. An example the difficult movement of people with disabilities are from wheelchair to bed or from wheelchair to the toilet bowl. Many people with disabilities use the grab bars or assist bar are sold in the markets where it is too difficult and require a lot of energy to use which can cause them to fall and injured. Through this system, the disabled people can do the transaction stand-to-sit and sit-to-stand without assistance from other persons. The work will be performed during this project is testing performance of the sensors, design for the entire system either on mechanical parts and use the PID controller by using Arduino to control of dc motor. PID parameter values of Kp, Ki and Kd is obtained which is suitable to enable a dc motor rotates smoothly. The overall results obtained from this project found all managed to achieve the overall objectives of the system where the system is able to support people with disabilities to stand up and sit down
Hand hygiene knowledge and attitude of medical students in western Saudi Arabia
Background The practice of hand hygiene (HH) has prime importance among Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and non-compliance could cause adverse consequences. By keeping the importance of HH in mind, this study aims at investigating the knowledge and attitudes towards HH among medical students and interns at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA). Methods The study includes 453 medical students and interns (189 males & 264 females). This study was completed in three months; from September to November 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) HH questionnaire was used and data were analyzed on SPSS-21. Results Two-third of the participants 292 (64.2%) had formal training in HH in the last three years. Almost half of the participants 254 (56.1%) had correct knowledge regarding the major course of transmission of potentially detrimental microbes among patients in the healthcare premises. Just 124 (27.4%) of the respondents had the correct knowledge about the most common basis of germs accountable for healthcare-related infections. Females had significantly better knowledge than males regarding the type of HH technique needed before palpation of the abdomen (177(54%) Vs. 151(46%); PĀ <Ā 0.002), before an injection (175(54.5%) Vs. 146(45.5%); PĀ <Ā 0.007), after emptying a bedpan (207(64.7%) Vs. 113(35.3%); PĀ <Ā 0.001), following discarding examination gloves (256(60.4% Vs. 168(39.6%); PĀ <Ā 0.001] and after exposure to blood (200(64.1%) Vs. 112(35.%); PĀ <Ā 0.001). Female participants had better knowledge than males regarding the type ofĀ HH actions. Females also had a significantly better attitude towards the importance of HH than males (240(62.5%) Vs. 144(37.5%); PĀ <Ā 0.001). Conclusion The majority of the participantsā knowledge regarding HH was not up to the mark; however, female students had better knowledge compared to male students. The medical students and internsā knowledge and positive attitude towards HH can play a pivotal role in preventing HCPs associated infections and it would overall decrease the infection-related burden on the hospital and governmental budgets. It is suggested that multi-dimensional plans are required to change this low compliance to a higher rate
Synthesis and application of polypyrrole/carrageenan nano-bio composite as a cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells
A novel nano-bio composite polypyrrole (PPy)/kappa-carrageenan(KC) was fabricated and characterized for application as a cathode catalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). High resolution SEM and TEM verified the bud-like shape and uniform distribution of the PPy in the KC matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has approved the amorphous structure of the PPy/KC as well. The PPy/KC nano-bio composites were then studied as an electrode material, due to their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) ability as the cathode catalyst in the MFC and the results were compared with platinum (Pt) as the most common cathode catalyst. The produced power density of the PPy/KC was 72.1 mW/m2 while it was 46.8 mW/m2 and 28.8 mW/m2 for KC and PPy individually. The efficiency of the PPy/KC electrode system is slightly lower than a Pt electrode (79.9 mW/m2) but due to the high cost of Pt electrodes, the PPy/KC electrode system has potential to be an alternative electrode system for MFCs
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