Development of a vehicle robotic driver with intelligent control system modelling for automated standard driving-cycle tests

New road vehicles are required to undergo several specific tests to meet the requirement set by governing bodies in various markets. These tests are often carried out over specific driving-cycles. To carry out lab-based driving-cycle tests, a typical vehicle manufacturer will employ a trained driver to follow driving profiles on a chassis dynamometer. This project involves development of a robotic driver controller for the automation of dynamometer-based vehicle testing according to industry standard driving cycle tests and produce repeatable results by replacing the traditional method of employing a human driver with a robot driver. The throttle and brake pedals control systems modelling and design for automatic transmission vehicle are implemented, with Fuzzy model reference adaptive control (Fuzzy MRAC) as the main controller. The vehicle model was developed using black-box modelling approach where simulations are performed based on real-time data and processed using Matlab System Identification tool. The Fuzzy MRAC was then designed within the simulations to attain the driving performance. The vehicle model response was sent as feedback to the robotic DC linear actuator motor which was modelled based on DC linear actuator motor design specification. The results obtained from simulation and modelling experiment were discussed and compared. The performed work concludes that system identification modelling with best fit accuracy of 79.93% can be applied in Fuzzy MRAC to ensure smooth and accurate vehicle driving pattern behavior even when the leading vehicle exhibits highly dynamic speed behavior during driving-cycle test. The performance of the vehicle model has shown an average 0.07 MSE for the throttle system and 0.008 MSE for the brake system of the vehicle model

Relation of common ABL kinase domain mutations with resistance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibiters in patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Middle Euphrates of Iraq

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematopoietic stem cell disease, associated with a reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and chromosome 22, lead to the formation of the BCRABL fusion gene (Philadelphia chromosome). This fusion gene is believed to play golden role in the initial development of CML with constitutive tyrosine kinase activation. Successful use of tyrosine kinase inhibiters (TKIs) play a role in improve survival and increase prevalence of CML, but un fortunately mutations in the BCR-ABL kinase domain may cause, or contribute to increase, resistance to TKIs in CML patients. . Objective: This study was designed to assess the association of five most common BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations (T315I, M351T, E255K, M244V and E255V) with resistance state of CML patients on TKIs in Iraqi Middle Euphrates region. Patients and methods: A retrospective case-control study in which 85 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (45 patients as cases group and 40 patient as control group) were selected from three hemato-oncology centers in middle Euphrates in Iraq during the period from January 2016 till October 2016 out of a total of 240 CML patients (108 male and 132 female) who were registered during this period in these three centers and all patients on TKI (Imatinib and Nilotinib). Venous blood sampling done for BCRABL kinase domain mutations screening. Results: four patients from cases group (4/45) were carriers of one of five selected ABL kinase domain mutations and no one of control group. T315I mutation was detected in 3/45 (6.6 %) of resistant patients, with a significant risk association to develop resistance to TKI therapy (odd ratio and C. I.) (6.67, 0.3340 - 133.2255). E255V was detected in 1/45 (2.2 %) and also had significant risk association to develop resistance to TKIs (odd ratio, C.I.) (2.73, 0.1081 -68.9424). No one of these mutations had significance correlation with demographic or hematological features. M351T, E255K and M244V were not detected in any one of our study groups CML patients. Conclusions: T315I and E255V among five ABL kinas domain mutations were detected in our CML patients with resistance to TKIs. All of them may play a role in development variable degree of resistance to first and second generation TKIs weather primary or secondary.T315I mutation is most common mutation within BCR-ABL domain kinase gene

Male Determining Gene Nix May Bring an End to Transmission of Diseases through Mosquitoes

Female mosquitoes take blood from humans to gain protein needed to produce eggs, and in the process they can transmit viruses, such as Zika, Dengue, and chikungunya, or parasites, such as malaria. Male mosquitoes do not transmit diseases. This literature review will examine what is known about how sex is determined in mosquitoes and how this can be used to manipulate the females that spread diseases to humans. Using CRISPR Cas9, the lab of Zhijian Tu removed the Nix gene from mosquito embryos; all of these were feminized. Ectopic overexpression of Nix gene product in mosquito embryos caused even genetically female mosquitoes to have male genitalia. Nix has been shown to be a regulating factor for doublesex and fruitless, two other genes known to be involved in sex determination. The Nix gene has highly repetitive features similar to other genes in the Y chromosome of other organisms. Researchers in London have already demonstrated that CRISPR technology can be used to disrupt the female form of doublesex in a population of caged mosquitoes. The females become sterile and the population declines Nix could be used in a similar way to change female mosquitoes to harmless males

Microscopic Simulation On The Operation And Capacity Of Toll Plaza In Malaysia

Microscopic traffic simulation software has several applications, such as performance evaluation, plan improvements, traffic operation control, design, and transportation facility management. This study presents the application of the well-known traffic simulation software VISSIM in the operation of toll plazas in Malaysia. This study evaluates the overall toll operation of two types of closed system toll plazas in the Malaysian expressway to gain insight into the variables that influence toll operations, which in turn affect the actual capacity of toll plazas in terms of average and maximum queue length. VISSIM was used to build toll plaza models for the mainline and ramp toll plazas which are Juru and Jawi respectively, to study their toll operations and actual capacities. In order to simulate the toll operations at toll plazas, microscopic data were obtained for each vehicle arriving and departing the toll plazas through video recordings. Video recordings were taken from two sources. The first source was from the installed CCTV and the second source was from the PLUS CCTV cameras at the tollbooths. The collected field data of the Juru and Jawi toll plazas differed in terms of number of lanes, lane configuration, toll base fee, expressway location, traffic demand, and traffic composition characteristics. The toll plaza models were then calibrated according to the measure of effectiveness and key parameter to match real world toll operations at toll plazas. Results revealed that service time is the most important parameter for evaluating the toll operation of toll plazas. Moreover, service time for entry is much lower than the service time for exit. The findings indicated that the percentage of heavy vehicles in traffic flow has a significant impact on the queue lengths at the Juru and Jawi toll plazas. Apart from that, the models were used to predict the operation of toll plazas in the future upon implementation of full electronic toll collection (ETC). The results indicated that the implementation of full ETC at the entry of both the Juru and Jawi toll plazas did not improve the operations of the toll plazas. However, the implementation of full ETC at the exit significantly improved the toll operations. But, the implementation of full ETC at the exit of the Jawi toll plaza has negatively influenced the queue lengths of Touch 'n Go and Smart TAG lanes due to the location of the signalised intersection which is near to Jawi toll plaza. The study has managed to contribute to two major findings at the traffic operations at toll plaza. The first contribution is on the prediction of traffic operation at the toll plaza in the future after the implementation of full electronic toll collection system at conventional toll plazas. The second contribution is on the estimation of the actual capacity of the conventional toll plazas

A proposed Mathematical Expression for Computer Design of Electrostatic Mirror

A computational investigation has been carried out on the design and properties of the electrostatic mirror. In this research, we suggest a mathematical expression to represent the axial potential of an electrostatic mirror. The electron beam path under zero magnification condition had been investigated as mirror trajectory with the aid of fourth – order – Runge – Kutta method. The spherical and chromatic aberration coefficients of mirror has computed and normalized in terms of the focal length. The choice of the mirror depends on the operational requirements, i.e. each optical element in optical system has suffer from the chromatic aberration, for this case, it is use to operate the mirror in optical system at various values of chromatic aberration to correct it in that system

Regional Merchandise Trends of Export and Import Trade Policy Cooperation and Architecture in Economy of the Middle East

The global economic and trade and diligence blow has affected Middle East mainly through the trade channel. As the world economy has undergone through different changes so as the countries of Middle East (ME). After following growth regarding policies for a long period individual countries in the region, have adopted various reform measures to encourage patterns of export and import. Production networks have been integrating Middle East, and this assimilation process is being hastened by the express development of regional and bilateral trade and economic agreements since the late 1990s. This paper examines various aspects of trends of export and import in major Middle East countries namely Kurdistan, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Basic patterns in export and import in these Countries are analyzed using recent data. The researcher utilized  the World Trade Report and also group indiscriminate effect.  Evaluation is carried out using a data set ranging from 1991 to 2014 to measure the impact of economic reforms on Middle East countries specifically Kurdistan, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. The observed results of this study recommend positive and significant association between trends in export and import and trade improvement for the nations. This study proceeds that most of the countries in Middle East need to expand their export markets to reap the greatest benefit from a collection of reform initiatives. Challenge take account of the pressures of protectionism in an economic murkiness. The problem of whether there is an expected political exposure, the maintenance of more than a small number of  overlapping free trade agreements with the very complicated and expensive expansion opportunity in the central point of the region’s economy. Keywords: Trends of export and import, Balance of trade-economic, Middle East, and panel random effect mode

Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Hydrogen Production Using III-V Semiconductor Materials

The use of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting to harvest intermittent solar sources in the form of hydrogen is an attractive potential method to address energy and environmental issues. Since 1972, when Honda and Fujishima demonstrated the use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) in PEC water splitting (1), extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of photoelectrode stability and high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency. Metal oxides (e.g. TiO2, Fe2O3, BiVO4, and SrTiO2) have been extensively studied but their large band gap and sluggish charge transfer kinetics typically limited their solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (1-9). III-V semiconductor materials have proven attractive for PEC water splitting due to their high efficiency, optimal band gap, and excellent optical properties but they are readily susceptible to corrosion in strongly acidic or basic aqueous solutions during the PEC process (10-18). This thesis aims to construct a PEC device (e.g. photoanode and photocathode) based on III-V semiconductor materials (such as InGaN, GaP, and GaPSb) for PEC water splitting. The design of a direct PEC water splitting device requires a suitable band gap to cover the entire solar spectrum (visible range), which leads to a high photocurrent and solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency. The band edge alignment must straddle the hydrogen and oxygen redox potentials and stable under illumination in electrolyte conditions (19). However, the current challenge is to develop efficient and stable solar-to-chemical conversion systems based on III-V semiconductor materials for PEC water splitting. This can be addressed by incorporating novel co-catalysts that are physically and electrically attached to the surface of the photoelectrodes. The role of the co-catalyst is to minimize the overpotentials and accelerate the charge kinetics at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface (20). Additionally, the surface modification strategy of applying co-catalysts can extend the stability of the photoelectrode for long-time operation (21-25)

TOWARDS FACING GLOBAL FAMINE: MODELING FOOD DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO IRAQI CASE

The total population facing malnutrition and hunger is about one billion at the global level. As the global population increases from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.2 billion in 2050, the total new population that needs to be fed until 2050 is 2 billion. This was in addition to the one billion people facing starvation. Additional food products should be combined together to feed an additional population of three billions in thirty five years to come. Due to the constraint of agricultural land and food production deficit to meet the food security standard of a population of more than nine billion, global famine is expected to prevail unless hard work is done at both the national and the international scales in two dimensions under the help of the United Nations (FAO, WFP, and UNICAFE). The first dimension is increasing total food output to meet the need of all the people for a healthy and active food requirements. In the second dimension which is due to the wide discrepancies of income distribution between countries and within countries, it is necessary to adopt subsidized food distribution system at the national scale for countries where their population largely or partially cannot afford to obtain the required food at all time. The core of this paper is the second dimension with reference to Iraqi food distribution system adopted during thirteen years of comprehensive sanction, and it was proven to be successful in saving Iraqi people from famine. It was mentioned that the public food distribution which was recently adopted in India covers 800 million persons. This paper proposed guidelines for building infrastructure like silos and large warehouses for strategic reserve to secure the flow of food. This has to be facilitated by preparing transport network to carry food from ports or local farmers to silos and warehouses, and to deliver food through network of private retailers so that beneficiaries can obtain food from their residential areas. National aid is required for counties facing malnutrition and starvation