An evaluation of the depth of similarity between linear and non-linear wave theories

An evaluation of the wave behavior and the effects of kinematics and dynamic properties of wave particles on the submerged members of a jacket platform have been accomplished. The Stokes fifthorder and Airy wave theories have been employed to evaluate the kinematics and dynamic properties of wave particles. SAP2000 software was used to determine and evaluate the wave properties. The aim of this study is to model both theories and determining a depth of water, in which both theories indicate the same behavior. The study has found that the non-linear fifth-order theory shows similar behavior with the linear Airy wave theory from 10 meters below the SWL toward the sea floor with 99% of similarity

Distribution of pollutant in longitudinal direction of open channel flow

Predicting of distribution of pollutant in a rectangular open channel on passive mixing of pollutant in longitudinal direction is reported. A finite numerical difference scheme developed by author was extended to determine longitudinal advection and dispersion of concentration of pollutant into the open channel flow. To compute the concentration and depicting the graph versus time, modeling a channel to obtain velocity in small steps of the length of the channel was inevitable. Modeling of the channel is based on Saint-Venant equation as the governing equation. For solving the governing equations, direct numerical method by using partial differential equation into finite difference equations have been considered. In numerical method for the solution of the partial derivative equations, the computations are performed on the x-t grid depending on the length of channel. Explicit scheme for solution is considered. The unknown variables (velocity, depth, and concentration of pollutant) at a future time step t+?tare considered by a number of variables at the previous time steps. The graphs of concentration versus time and discharge versus time were depicted and compared to each other. Also the graphs of concentration with the depicted graph of experimental data were compared. Model results and field data were generally in good agreement. About 70% of the results from numerical method were matched with the data from experimental performance

INTELLIGENT ROAD MAINTENANCE: A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH FOR SURFACE DEFECT DETECTION

The emergence of increased sources for Big Data through consumer recording devices gives rise to a new basis for the management and governance of public infrastructures and policy de-sign. Road maintenance and detection of road surface defects, such as cracks, have traditionally been a time consuming and manual process. Lately, increased automation using easily acquirable front-view digital natural scene images is seen to be an alternative for taking timely maintenance decisions; reducing accidents and operating cost and increasing public safety. In this paper, we propose a machine learning based approach to handle the challenge of crack and related defect detection on road surfaces using front-view images captured from driver’s viewpoint under diverse conditions. We use a superpixel based method to first process the road images into smaller coherent image regions. These superpixels are then classified into crack and non-crack regions. Various texture-based features are combined for the classification mod-el. Classifiers such as Gradient Boosting, Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest and Linear Support Vector Machines are evaluated for the task. Evaluations on real datasets show that the approach successfully handles different road surface conditions and crack-types, while locating the defective regions in the scene images

Research and Development Aspects on Chemical Preparation Techniques of Photoanodes for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

The importance of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as a low-cost and environmentally friendly photovoltaic (PV) technology has prompted many researchers to improve its efficiency and durability. The realization of these goals is impossible without taking into account the importance of the materials in DSSCs, so the focus on the preparation/deposition methods is essential. These methods can be either chemical or physical. In this study, the chemical applied methods that utilize chemical reaction to synthesize and deposit the materials are covered and categorized according to their gas phase and liquid phase precursors. Film processing techniques that can be used to enhance the materials' properties postpreparation are also included for further evaluation in this study. However, there is a variety of consideration, and certain criteria must be taken into account when selecting a specific deposition method, due to the fact that the fabrication conditions vary and are unoptimized

T cell cytokine responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis following stimulation with proteins purified from Mycobacterium tuberculosis MDR clinical isolates

AbstractObjectiveTuberculosis (TB) is a devastating disease that remains a major health threat worldwide. The appearance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistance to current antibiotics is a growing problem, both in the third world and in developed countries. Completion of genomic sequencing of M. tuberculosis provides a strong foundation for subsequent identification of proteins to aid the understanding of protein function and the discovery of new drug targets or a TB vaccine. This study employed a proteomics approach to identify proteins from antibiotic resistant M. tuberculosis isolates and compare them to drug-sensitive isolates to determine the role of T cells in multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB patients against M. tuberculosis-purified proteins (Rv0147) as compared with healthy subjects.MethodsProteins were extracted by Triton X-114 detergent-phase separation and precipitated by adding saturated ammonium sulfate to the supernatant. Following isoelectric focusing, proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Mass spectrometry was performed, and protein sequences were determined. Peripheral bloom mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cultured, and autologous T cells were isolated from PBMCs by negative selection. Cells were subsequently cultured at 37°C in 5% CO2, followed by stimulation with 10μg/mL of the protein candidate (Rv0147) for 72h. Culture supernatants were assayed for interleukin (IL)-10 and interferon (IFN)-γ by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsThe identified proteins included Rv3057c, Rv0009, Rv3161c, Rv3614c, Rv0685, Rv2986c, Rv0443, Rv2114, Rv3311, Rv0831, Rv3804, and Rv3614c, and our results showed that the majority of upregulated or overexpressed proteins belonged to pathways associated with cellular metabolism, cell wall integrity, respiration, or cell membrane construction. Additionally, Rv1876 from MDR-TB isolates was predicted to be involved in the expression of bacterioferritin exclusively in MDR-TB-related resistance to first-line TB drugs. Furthermore, Rv2031c (HspX) was induced under oxygen-deficient conditions, and hypothetical protein (Rv2744c) and two membrane- and cell-wall-fraction proteins (Rv0379 and Rv1886c) were also identified. Analysis revealed increased percentages of INF-γ and decreased IL-10 levels in MDR-TB patients as compared with those observed in normal subjects.ConclusionFour identified membrane or membrane-associated proteins, including bacterioferritin, GroEs, HspX, and Ef-Tu, may be potential targets for the development of novel prophylactic diagnostics and therapeutic strategies against TB. Our results suggested that T cells stimulated by the protein candidate Rv0147 may be shifted to T helper 1 status in MDR-TB patients

Fc-Gamma Receptor 3B Copy Number Variation Is Not a Risk Factor for Behçet's Disease

Behçet's disease (BD) is an immune-mediated systemic vasculitis associated with HLAB51. Other gene associations are likely and may provide further insight into the pathogenesis of this disease. Fc-gamma receptors play an important role in regulating immune function. Copy number variation (CNV) of the Fc-gamma receptor 3B (FCGR3B) gene is associated with other inflammatory conditions and may also play a role in BD. The aim of this study was to determine whether CNV of the FCGR3B gene is associated with BD or its clinical features. FCGR3B copy number was determined for 187 Iranian patients and 178 ethnicity-matched controls using quantitative real-time PCR. The genotype frequencies were comparable in both BD patients and controls. The odds ratio for low copy number (<2CN) was 0.6 (P = 0.16) and the odds ratio for high copy number (>2CN) was 0.75 (P = 0.50). There was no association found between high or low CN of the FCGR3B gene and BD or its clinical features in this Iranian population. We are the first to report this finding which, when looked at in the context of other genetic studies, gives us further insight into the complex pathogenesis of BD

Nondestructive Evaluation of Buried Dielectric Cylinders by Asynchronous Particle Swarm Optimization

[[abstract]]This paper presents the study of time domain inverse scattering for a two-dimensional inhomogeneous dielectric cylinder buried in a slab medium via the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and the asynchronous particle swarm optimization (APSO) method. For the forward scattering part, the FDTD method was employed to calculate the scattered E fields. Base on the scattering fields, these inverse scattering problems were transformed into optimization problems. The APSO method was applied to reconstruct the permittivity of the two-dimensional inhomogeneous dielectric cylinder. In addition, the effects of Gaussian noise on the reconstruction results were investigated. Numerical results show that even when the measured scattered fields were contaminated with Gaussian noise, APSO was able to yield good reconstructed quality.[[notice]]補正完畢[[incitationindex]]SCI[[incitationindex]]EI[[booktype]]電子