Process Development in Facilities Management Sector

This capstone project focuses on the enhancement and optimization of different aspects within the facilities management department of Dubai Developments, which is a leading real estate company in Dubai. Considering the huge number of buildings owned by the company and that the facilities management department was recently formed, there are still opportunities of improvement in terms of saving energy, growing productivity, improving operations processes and promoting sustainability. To do so, this capstone project focused on developing four main aspects within the FM department to ensure achieving the abovementioned objectives. Firstly, a retrofit project was implemented on the cooling system of one building which resulted in saving 756,864 Kwh of electrical power per year which is equivalent to 320,000 AED of savings in bills per year. Secondly, a mobile application was developed using Google AppSheet to organize the inventory management process in different stores. Thirdly, standard operation procedures were drafted to standardize the technicians’ work process and control the maintenance quality. Finally, a proposal of zero-waste buildings was submitted to the management to completely recycle the buildings’ waste. The proposal is still under review by the management and will be implemented once a budget is allocated for it. If implemented, zero-waste buildings will be a remarkable start for the company towards green buildings and sustainability journeys. This report illustrates how each project was planned and implemented, as well as the results achieved

The new method of Extraction and Analysis of Non-linear Features for face recognition

In this paper, we introduce the new method of Extraction and Analysis of Non-linear Features (EANF) for face recognition based on extraction and analysis of nonlinear features i.e. Locality Preserving Analysis. In our proposed algorithm, EANF removes disadvantages such as the length of search space, different sizes and qualities of imagees due to various conditions of imaging time that has led to problems in the previous algorithms and removes the disadvantages of ELPDA methods (local neighborhood separator analysis) using the Scatter matrix in the form of a between-class scatter that this matrix introduces and displayes the nearest neighbors to K of the outer class by the samples. In addition, another advantage of EANF is high-speed in the face recognition through miniaturizing the size of feature matrix by NLPCA (Non-Linear Locality Preserving Analysis). Finally, the results of tests on FERET Dataset show the impact of the proposed method on the face recognition.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i6.177

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on the Future of Green Supply Chain

The fourth industrial revolution offers new technologies to transform conventional supply chain solutions into cyber-physical supply chain ones. This transformation makes it possible to increase the efficiency, availability, quality, and cost-efficiency of the value-making chain, while the energy consumption and the GHG emission can be decreased. Within the frame of this chapter, the authors introduce the most important Industry 4.0 technologies and Internet of Things tools and demonstrate their potentials to update supply chain operations. This update of conventional operations can lead to greener and more sustainable purchasing, production, and distribution processes. The successful future of the green supply chain is based on a wide range of factors, like production management, logistics management, societal and regulatory environment. However, the Industry 4.0 technologies are expected to strongly influence the whole supply chain performance positively. This chapter aims to explore the potentials of Industry 4.0 technologies and the transformation of conventional supply chain solutions into cyber-physical systems, especially from a municipal waste collection point of view. The research findings can provide useful insights for supply chain experts, manufacturing, and service companies

Complete Neurologic Recovery of Cerebral Fat Embolism Syndrome in Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease is one of the most common inherited hemoglobinopathies diagnosed in the United States. Patients often present with severe anemia, pain crises, infections, and vaso-occlusive phenomena. Complications of these disorders can lead to significant debilitating morbidity and mortality. Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a rare and devastating complication of sickle cell disease. It usually presents with a rapidly deteriorating clinical course, and the prognosis is dismal. We report a case of FES in a 19-year-old African American male with a history of sickle cell disease who presented with tonic-clonic seizures and was found to have multi-organ failure. FES was diagnosed 20 days from a presentation based on blood cytopenias and magnetic resonance imaging findings that were obscured at the initial presentation. We describe in this report, the patient\u27s course from presentation until diagnosis and resolution. Our case is peculiar as the patient had a very good outcome without the need for red blood cell (RBC) exchange; instead, supportive treatment and simple RBC transfusions were enough to change the clinical course of this almost fatal syndrome

Assessment of the onset of radiation-induced cardiac damage after radiotherapy of breast cancer patients

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the dose delivered to the heart during radiotherapy of left-sided and right-sided breast cancer (BC) patients, correlate the dose and laterality of radiotherapy to the possible cardiac damage and evaluate whether Left-ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF), Troponin-I (TnI), Creatinine Kinase (CK), Creatine Kinase-MB Relative Index (CK-MBRI) or Lactic Dehydrogenase (LDH) could be used to detect the possible onset of radiotherapy-related cardiotoxicity.Subjects and methods: 80 females were assigned as; 30 left-sided BC patients, 30 right-sided BC patients and 20 healthy females. Patients were treated by radical mastectomy followed by FAC-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy. CT-based 3D-planning was used to generate cardiac dose-volume histograms to assess mean dose received by the heart.Echocardiography was done to all patients before and 1 year after completing radiotherapy. In serum, TnI and CK-MB concentration and CK and LDH activities were determined before and 1 year after radiotherapy.Results: In left-sided patients, mean dose delivered to the heart was significantly higher in left-sided patients with significant association with total radiotherapy dose in left- but not right-sided patients. LVEF before and after radiotherapy were statistically different only in left-sided patients. LVEF one year after radiotherapy dropped 20% or more (△LVEF) in 6 patients, all were left-sided. Using cut-off values 0.08 ng/mL for TnI and 1.4 for CK-MBRI; 11 left-sided patients had abnormal TnI and CK-MBRI vs 5 right-sided patients, the 6 patients identified with △LVEF ≥ 20 were all among them.Conclusion: the mean dose delivered to the heart is significantly higher in left-sided patients, and it was correlated to the total radiotherapy dose. One year after radiotherapy, △LVEF is possibly good marker of cardiotoxicity onset, however, the persistent elevation of both TnI and CK-MBRI could identify both patients with cardiotoxicity and patients that are thought to be in subclinical phase of cardiac damage.Keywords: Breast cancer, Radiation-induced cardiac damage, LVEF, Troponin ICK-MB relative index, LD

Novel Method for Assessing Moisture Damage in Asphalt Mixtures

Moisture damage is a major cause of early pavement deterioration and often accelerates other distresses such as rutting, fatigue cracking, and raveling. Water infiltrates into the pavement structure through the cracks and air voids and weakens the adhesive bond between the binder and the aggregates as well as the cohesive bond between the binder particles. Several tests have been adopted to test for moisture susceptibility, most commonly the Modified Lottman (AASHTO, T283) and the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (AASHTO, T32404), however, these tests correlate poorly with field results and do not properly replicate the conditions which a pavement structure experiences in the field. Also, the mechanism which determines the mode of failure due to moisture damage, being either adhesive or cohesive, remains largely not understood, and the research tackling this issue is very scarce. The objective of this study is to introduce a new testing procedure based on the pull-off approach and study the factors which influence the mode of failure of the samples, such as the asphalt film thickness and loading rate

Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor of Mortality in Patients Undergoing Aortic Valve Replacement

Background: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been studied as a measure of inflammation and as a prognosticating factor in various medical conditions including neoplastic, inflammatory and cardiovascular. The prognostic role of NLR in predicting mortality in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) has not been studied. The aim of our study is to explore the utility of NLR as a predictor of both, short and long-term mortality, in patients undergoing surgical AVR. Methods: Consecutive patients with aortic stenosis admitted for AVR to our institution were evaluated for study inclusion. Of the 335 patients admitted from January 2007 to September 2011, 234 met study inclusion criteria. Patients were divided into two groups depending on their initial preoperative NLR level with a cutoff value of 3. Three-year vital status was accessed with electronic medical records and Social Security Death Index. Survival analysis, stratified by NLR, was used to evaluate the predictive value of preoperative NLR levels. Results: Patients with NLR \u3e/=3, when compared to those with NLR /=3 had 4.77 fold increase in 3-year mortality (1.48-15.32, P=0.0090). Conclusions: NLR is an independent predictor of short-term and long-term mortality in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing AVR surgery, especially those with NLR \u3e/=3. We strongly suggest the use of NLR as a tool to risk stratify patients with aortic stenosis undergoing AVR surgery

The Incidence and Geographical Distribution of Brucellosis in Iran Using Geographic Information System and Prediction of its Incidence in 2021

Background: Brucellosis is one of the most challenging health issues in many developing countries including Iran. The purpose of this study is to investigate the incidence and geographical distribution of brucellosis using Geographic Information System (GIS) and to predict its incidence in Iran in 2021. Method: This is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, which contains spatial and climatic information along with the prevalence rate of brucellosis in Iran. Disease information was obtained from the National Center for Infectious Diseases Management during 2011-2015. Then, Arc GIS version 9.3 was used to plot the geographical maps for the incidence and frequency of the disease. Using the Raster calculator tool, the disease prediction map for the future was plotted. For proper spatial distribution of hot and cold spots, Getis-Ord-Gi statistic was employed. Results: The highest incidence of brucellosis during 2009-2015 was observed in the western provinces of Iran (North Khorasan, South Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan provinces). The incidence of brucellosis in Iran decreased from 2009 to 2011 but it exhibited an increasing trend from 2011 to 2014. The provinces of Kurdistan, Lorestan, Ilam, Zanjan and Kermanshah may be among the hot spots in terms of brucellosis incidence in 2021. Conclusion: We predicted significant variations in brucellosis risk distribution in Iran in the coming years. In the western and northwestern provinces, which are among the high risk areas for the incidence of this disease in the future, this disease can pose a serious health threat to the residents of these areas