Personalized Quantification of Facial Normality using Artificial Intelligence

While congenital facial deformities are not rare, and surgeons typically perform operations to improve these deformities, currently the success of the surgical reconstruction operations can only be “measured” subjectively by surgeons and specialists. No efficient objective mechanisms of comparing the outcomes of plastic reconstruction surgeries or the progress of different surgery techniques exist presently. The aim of this research project is to develop an efficient software application that can be used by plastic surgeons as an objective measurement tool for the success of an operation. The long-term vision is to develop a software application that is user-friendly and can be downloaded on a regular laptop and used by doctors and patients to assess the progress of their surgical reconstruction procedures. The application would work by first scanning a face before and after an operation and providing the surgeon with a normality score of the face from 0 to 3 where 3 represents normal and 0 represents extreme abnormality. A score will be given when the face is scanned before and after surgery. The difference between those scores is what we will call the delta. A high delta value would point to a high improvement in the normality of a face post-surgery, and a low delta value would indicate a small improvement. The first chapter of the thesis represents the introduction which describes the general aspects of the project. The second chapter presents the methodology employed for building the application and the existing solutions and proposed functional model structure. The results chapter presents the process behind collecting and labeling the image database and analyzes the scores produced by the program when fed with new images from the database. Finally, the last chapter of this thesis presents the conclusions. The list of references completes this work

A Novel Deep Learning Technique for Morphology Preserved Fetal ECG Extraction from Mother ECG using 1D-CycleGAN

Monitoring the electrical pulse of fetal heart through a non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) can easily detect abnormalities in the developing heart to significantly reduce the infant mortality rate and post-natal complications. Due to the overlapping of maternal and fetal R-peaks, the low amplitude of the fECG, systematic and ambient noises, typical signal extraction methods, such as adaptive filters, independent component analysis, empirical mode decomposition, etc., are unable to produce satisfactory fECG. While some techniques can produce accurate QRS waves, they often ignore other important aspects of the ECG. Our approach, which is based on 1D CycleGAN, can reconstruct the fECG signal from the mECG signal while maintaining the morphology due to extensive preprocessing and appropriate framework. The performance of our solution was evaluated by combining two available datasets from Physionet, "Abdominal and Direct Fetal ECG Database" and "Fetal electrocardiograms, direct and abdominal with reference heartbeat annotations", where it achieved an average PCC and Spectral-Correlation score of 88.4% and 89.4%, respectively. It detects the fQRS of the signal with accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score of 92.6%, 97.6%, 94.8% and 96.4%, respectively. It can also accurately produce the estimation of fetal heart rate and R-R interval with an error of 0.25% and 0.27%, respectively. The main contribution of our work is that, unlike similar studies, it can retain the morphology of the ECG signal with high fidelity. The accuracy of our solution for fetal heart rate and R-R interval length is comparable to existing state-of-the-art techniques. This makes it a highly effective tool for early diagnosis of fetal heart diseases and regular health checkups of the fetus.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure

M-SERVICE QUALITY OF TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES IN QATAR

Today, although mobile applications make our lives easier, the service quality provided by such applications has become a vital element in increasing customer satisfaction. This research paper aims to identify the significant mobile service quality factors (Application Design, Ease of Use, Information Content, Reliability, Responsiveness, Empathy, Security and Prices and offers) that influence customer satisfaction and loyalty in Qatar's telecommunications sector. To answer the research question and test the hypotheses that form the study model, data were collected through an online questionnaire of 195 random customers who use Ooredoo or Vodafone mobile applications in Qatar. The proposed model was evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that Ease of Use, Information Content, Responsiveness and Security are the most significant factors that affect M-Customer Satisfaction. Also, there is a strong relationship between M-customer Satisfaction and M-loyalty. On the contrary, Application Design, Reliability, Empathy, and Prices and offers did not affect M-customer satisfaction. Thus, the managers in telecommunication companies should adopt a strategy that focuses on the M-service quality factors that most influence M-customer satisfaction to increase customer satisfaction rates and loyalty to their products and services. It will also help reduce overall costs by delivering those products and services to a higher proportion of customers through the mobile application rather than physical branches. This paper also helps the researchers use the proposed model in future research to understand these relationships in other countries better

Synchrophasor-based backup distance protection of multi-terminal transmission lines

The distance protection of multi-terminal transmission lines need to be redesigned due to possible changes in the backup protection emanating from probable infeed currents produced from tapped transmission lines. Furthermore, high-resistance fault is another factor that relay become under-reach and cannot correctly identify the fault. In this study, an algorithm is presented based on synchrophasors. In this method, voltage and current signals of buses will be sent to system protection centre (SPC) and in SPC an algorithm based on active power calculation in buses is provided that is able to eliminate the effects of both mentioned factors. In this method, measurement or relay in tapped transmission line location are not required. The study includes analytical analysis and modelling and in modelling results a variety of faults with different fault resistances is considered. Two power systems including teed-feeder system and IEEE 14-bus power system are considered. The results show that in both power systems, and different types of faults, backup distance protection is improved. Simulations are conducted by Electro-Magnetic Transient Program works.Scopu

Distance-differential protection of transmission lines connected to wind farms

Distance relays are often used in the protection of the transmission lines connected to the wind farms. The distance relay using the transmission line impedance measurement identifies the type and location of the fault. However any other factors that cause the failure of the measured impedance, makes the relay detect the fault in incorrect location or do not detect the fault at all. One of these factors is the fault resistance which directly increases the measured impedance by the relay. One of the methods to eliminate relay under-reach effect is using of the trip boundaries. Trip boundaries are changing with wind variation and following with output power of the wind farms. Therefore, trip boundaries should continuously change proportional by the wind speed. In this paper, a method is provided based on the combination of distance and differential protection. In this method, using active power calculation in both ends of the transmission line, fault resistance is calculated and its effects are directly deducted from the calculated impedance by the relay. Therefore, variable trip boundaries are not needed anymore. Also in this method, unlike the technique that the trip boundaries are used, the exact location of fault and its distance from the relay also is calculated. Detailed model of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) driven by a wind turbine is used in the modelling. Results of studies show that the presented method eliminates properly the mal-operation of relays under all different fault resistance conditions. Elsevier LtdScopu

Control and modulation of three to asymmetrical six-phase matrix converters based on space vectors

This paper proposes the modulation and control of a three-to-six-phase matrix converter with an asymmetrical six-phase output. The matrix converter (MC) outputs consist of two sets of three-phase spatially shifted by 300, where the two sets have two isolated neutrals. The space vector approach is considered for the modeling and subsequent modulation of the three-to-six phase MC. The intelligent selection of voltage space vectors is made to synthesize the reference voltages and to obtain a sinusoidal output. The dwell times of selected voltage space vectors are adjusted in such a way that the effect of the second and the third auxiliary plane vectors (i.e., x1-y1, and x2-y2) are nullified. To achieve the maximum output voltage gain and to ensure that no reactive power is drawn from the utility supply, the input side power factor is maintained at unity. Nevertheless, the source side power factor is controllable. The modulation technique is implemented in dSPACE working in conjunction with a FPGA. Hardware results that validate the proposed control algorithm are discussed.This publication was made possible by Qatar University internal grant QUCP-CENG-17/18-2.Scopu

Mutual Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid Operation Considering Solar-Load Uncertainty

This paper utilizes the electric vehicles (EVs) connected to both the building and grid at the same time. In the building, the vehicle-to-home (V2H) operation is modeled. In the gird, the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operation is studied. The EV s are modeled in the building connected to the electrical grid. The EV s are able to send energy to both grid and building. The building is also equipped with solar panels and electrical loads. Uncertainty of solar energy and loads are incorporated by stochastic programming. The optimization is implemented in GAMS to find the minimum daily cost. The optimal charging-discharging regime is denoted for EV s. The results illustrate that V2H - V2G operation can efficiently minimize the energy cost under solar-load volatility. 2019 IEEE.Scopus2-s2.0-8508230903

New High Gain 2LC-Y Multilevel-Boost-Converter (2LC-Y MBC) Topologies for Renewable Energy Conversion: Members of X-Y Converter Family

This paper presents a new high gain 2LC-Y Multilevel-Boost-Converter or 2LC-Y MBC topologies for renewable energy conversion. Four new topologies 2LC-L MBC, 2LC-2L MBC, 2LC-2LC MBC, and 2LC-2LCm MBC are developed by combination of the voltage multiplier characteristics and the traditional 2LC-Y topologies of XY family (2LC-L, 2LC-2L, 2LC-2LC, and 2LC-2LCm) to achieve high voltage gain. These topologies are beneficial when used in applications where low to high voltage conversion is required, which makes it suitable for renewable energy applications like photovoltaic systems, fuel-cell system, hybrid vehicle, HVDC, and DC drives etc. Additionally, a stack of multiple capacitors present at the output side makes the proposed topologies highly suitable for utility grid using multilevel inverter (MLI). The operating principle of proposed 2LC-2LCm MBC topology is explained in detail and voltage gain analysis of the proposed converters is presented. Moreover, all the proposed topologies are compared with each others in terms of voltage gain. The simulation results validated the operation of the proposed converter and perfectly matching with the theoretical analysis. - 2019 IEEE.ACKNOWLEDGMENT This publication was made possible by High Impact grant # [QUHI-CENG-19/20-2] from the Qatar University. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Portable System for Monitoring and Controlling Driver Behavior and the Use of a Mobile Phone While Driving

There is an utmost requirement for technology to control a driver’s phone while driving, which will prevent the driver from being distracted and thus saving the driver’s and passenger’s lives. Information from recent studies has shown that 70% of the young and aware drivers are used to texting while driving. There are many different technologies used to control mobile phones while driving, including electronic device control, global positioning system (GPS), on-board diagnostics (OBD)-II-based devices, mobile phone applications or apps, etc. These devices acquire the vehicle information such as the car speed and use the information to control the driver’s phone such as preventing them from making or receiving calls at specific speed limits. The information from the devices is interfaced via Bluetooth and can later be used to control mobile phone applications. The main aim of this paper is to propose the design of a portable system for monitoring the use of a mobile phone while driving and for controlling a driver’s mobile phone, if necessary, when the vehicle reaches a specific speed limit (>10 km/h). A paper-based self-reported questionnaire survey was carried out among 600 teenage drivers from different nationalities to see the driving behavior of young drivers in Qatar. Finally, a mobile application was developed to monitor the mobile usage of a driver and an OBD-II module-based portable system was designed to acquire data from the vehicle to identify drivers’ behavior with respect to phone usage, sudden lane changes, and abrupt breaking/sharp speeding. This information was used in a mobile application to control the driver’s mobile usage as well as to report the driving behavior while driving. The application of such a system can significantly improve drivers’ behavior all over the world.Applied Science, Faculty ofNon UBCElectrical and Computer Engineering, Department ofReviewedFacult