Evaluation of rock burst in deep coal mining by using forensic engineering

Rock bursts remain an important problem in longwall coal mining. These bursts are due to a sudden and severe failure of rocks from a high stress concentration in deep underground excavations that occur with the instantaneous release of strain energy stored in the rocks. They can potentially cause irrecoverable damage to equipment and personnel, thus accurate rock burst prediction and control is expected to be carried out by the mine design engineer. As a result, this can constitute major challenges for said engineer. In this paper, forensic engineering has been used to evaluate the possibility and extent of rock bursts in deep coal mining. For this purpose, established mining engineering principles, including factors influencing the severity of rock bursts, have been incorporated in the forensic engineering technique. The analyses took place in five steps: • Assessment of regional and local conditions prior to the event • Assessment of conditions after the event • Hypothesize plausible ways in which pre-event conditions can become post-event ones • Search for evidence that either denies or supports various hypotheses • Apply engineering knowledge to relate the various facts and evidence into a cohesive scenario of how the event may have occurred. The paper concludes by demonstrating a method for predicting rock bursts and preventing their re-occurrence. The methodology used in this paper, together with the results obtained, can serve as useful tools for the coal mine design engineer in the primary evaluation of rock burst potential in underground coal mines

A Roadmap to Evaluate Lean Six Sigma E-Health Reference Architectures Using a Fuzzy Group Bi-Objective LINMAP

Purpose: In recent years, although several studies have focused on Lean Six Sigma project selection, none of them have provided Lean Six Sigma approach to e-health reference architectures. Therefore, there is a significant gap of the application of the Lean Six Sigma in e-Health architectures in e-Health care quality improvement literature. In this paper, we present a Lean Six Sigma approach to e-health reference architectures to have high-quality healthcare in modern medicine. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel framework to present a roadmap to evaluate e-Health architectures from Lean and Six Sigma perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: At first, a novel model is presented to evaluate core e-Health modules and layers of e-Health reference architectures from a Six Sigma perspective. Then, the proposed model is used to evaluate core e-Health modules and layers of e-Health reference architectures from a Lean perspective. In order to overcome issues related to imprecise or vague judgments in, the proposed e-Health decision making model is presented in the fuzzy environment. Findings: Findings from this paper develop the LINMAP model to a Fuzzy Group bi-objective LINMAP to integrate Lean and Six Sigma perspectives and select the best practice Lean Six Sigma e-Health reference architecture

Exponential basis functions in solution of incompressible fluid problems with moving free surfaces

In this report, a new simple meshless method is presented for the solution of incompressible inviscid fluid flow problems with moving boundaries. A Lagrangian formulation established on pressure, as a potential equation, is employed. In this method, the approximate solution is expressed by a linear combination of exponential basis functions (EBFs), with complex-valued exponents, satisfying the governing equation. Constant coefficients of the solution series are evaluated through point collocation on the domain boundaries via a complex discrete transformation technique. The numerical solution is performed in a time marching approach using an implicit algorithm. In each time step, the governing equation is solved at the beginning and the end of the step, with the aid of an intermediate geometry. The use of EBFs helps to find boundary velocities with high accuracy leading to a precise geometry updating. The developed Lagrangian meshless algorithm is applied to variety of linear and nonlinear benchmark problems. Non-linear sloshing fluids in rigid rectangular two-dimensional basins are particularly addressed

Thermodynamics of nano-spheres encapsulated in virus capsids

We investigate the thermodynamics of complexation of functionalized charged nano-spheres with viral proteins. The physics of this problem is governed by electrostatic interaction between the proteins and the nano-sphere cores (screened by salt ions), but also by configurational degrees of freedom of the charged protein N-tails. We approach the problem by constructing an appropriate complexation free energy functional. On the basis of both numerical and analytical studies of this functional we construct the phase diagram for the assembly which contains the information on the assembled structures that appear in the thermodynamical equilibrium, depending on the size and surface charge density of the nano-sphere cores. We show that both the nano-sphere core charge as well as its radius determine the size of the capsid that forms around the core.Comment: Submitte

A Novel Method for Epileptic Seizure Detection Using Coupled Hidden Markov Models

We propose a novel Coupled Hidden Markov Model to detect epileptic seizures in multichannel electroencephalography (EEG) data. Our model defines a network of seizure propagation paths to capture both the temporal and spatial evolution of epileptic activity. To address the intractability introduced by the coupled interactions, we derive a variational inference procedure to efficiently infer the seizure evolution from spectral patterns in the EEG data. We validate our model on EEG aquired under clinical conditions in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Using 5-fold cross validation, we demonstrate that our model outperforms three baseline approaches which rely on a classical detection framework. Our model also demonstrates the potential to localize seizure onset zones in focal epilepsy.Comment: To appear in MICCAI 2018 Proceeding

A Novel Fuzzy Group ANP Model for Global E-government Readiness Assessment from an e-Citizen Relationship Management Perspective

E-government readiness assessment is a significant indicator in measuring citizen satisfaction levels in using E-governmentservices. It provides an opportunity to learn about the government\u27s strengths and weakness on the journey to excellence.Simultaneously, the main goal of E-government is to create an optimized relationship with its citizens. This paper presents anE-Government readiness assessment framework for assessing services from an e-Citizen Relationship Management (e-CiRM)perspective using fuzzy Group Analytic Network Process (FGANP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity toIdeal Solution (TOPSIS) approaches. The proposed framework is applicable to assess E-government readiness as the processof government assessment irrespective of size and structure, and sector. The results of this Global assessment allowgovernments to discern clearly its strengths and areas in which improvement can be made regarding citizen\u27s needs

Investigation of HIV-1 Gag binding with RNAs and Lipids using Atomic Force Microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy was utilized to study the morphology of Gag, {\Psi}RNA, and their binding complexes with lipids in a solution environment with 0.1{\AA} vertical and 1nm lateral resolution. TARpolyA RNA was used as a RNA control. The lipid used was phospha-tidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). The morphology of specific complexes Gag-{\Psi}RNA, Gag-TARpolyA RNA, Gag-PI(4,5)P2 and PI(4,5)P2-{\Psi}RNA-Gag were studied. They were imaged on either positively or negatively charged mica substrates depending on the net charges carried. Gag and its complexes consist of monomers, dimers and tetramers, which was confirmed by gel electrophoresis. The addition of specific {\Psi}RNA to Gag is found to increase Gag multimerization. Non-specific TARpolyA RNA was found not to lead to an increase in Gag multimerization. The addition PI(4,5)P2 to Gag increases Gag multimerization, but to a lesser extent than {\Psi}RNA. When both {\Psi}RNA and PI(4,5)P2 are present Gag undergoes comformational changes and an even higher degree of multimerization

Modular sensor nodes for environmental data monitoring

A framework for modular wireless sensor networks (WSN) designed to capture and monitor micro-climates in a crop field. WSN is rapidly improving in automotive industry, agricultural, industrial and environmental monitoring and many other areas. Moulder architecture minimises the software upgrade down time and enables hardware reusability. Recent developments and advances in wireless technology as well as affordability give rise to this emerging field in the realm of Precision Agriculture (PA). Vineyard monitoring is an emerging application field in PA

Effect of hydro-alcoholic Portulaca-Oleracea extract on oxidative damage induced by bacterial Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in liver of rat

زمینه و هدف: استرس اکسیداتیو یک نقش کلیدی در بروز بسیاری از بیماریها دارد. خرفه حاوی انواع اسیدهای چرب غیر اشباع و ترکیباتی مانند : آلفا-توکوفرول، اسید‌آسکوربیک و گلوتاتیون می‌باشد. که اثرات آنتی اکسیدانی دارند، بنابراین شاید بتواند نقشی موثر جهت پیشگیری و درمان بیماری‌های مرتبط با استرس‌اکسیداتیو داشته باشد. جهت بررسی این امر، استرس اکسیداتیو در یک مدل حیوانی از طریق تزریق لیپو ساکارید باکتریایی (LPS) القا گردید. در مرحله بعدی اثر عصاره هیدروالکلی خرفه بر بهبود آسیب اکسیداتیو القا شده توسط LPS در کبد موشهای صحرایی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. روش‌ بررسی: موشهای صحرایی نر نژاد ویستار در 4 گروه قرار گرفتند. عصاره خرفه (400 mg/kg) طی یک دوره 14 روزه از طریق تزریق دهانی (گاواژ) به حیوانات داده شد. LPS (1000 µg/kg) ، به صورت داخل صفاقی تزریق گردید. میزان فعالیت آنزیمهای آنتی اکسیدان از طریق اندازه گیری کاتالاز(CAT) ، سوپراکسیددسموتاز(SOD) و گلوتاتیون ردوکتاز (GR) در بافت کبد گروههای مختلف صورت گرفت. میزان پروکسیداسیون لیپیدی نیز به عنوان مارکری برای تعیین آسیب اکسیداتیو اندازه گیری شد. همچنین مطالعات بافت شناسی نیز صورت گرفت. یافته ‌ها: LPS موجب تحریک و افزایش فعالیت آنزیم SOD، CAT و کاهش فعالیت GR نسبت به گروه کنترل شد. همچنین LPS موجب افزایش مالون دی آلدئید(MDA) کبد شد. از طرفی در گروه پیشگیری عصاره خرفه به صورت معناداری فعالیت آنزیم های SOD، CAT و GRرا نسبت به گروه LPS افزایش داد و باعث کاهش معنادار MAD نسبت به گروه دریافت کننده LPS گردید. بحث و نتیجه گیری : به نظر می رسد خرفه به علت دارا بودن میزان بالایی از ترکیبات انتی اکسیدانی می‌تواند به عنوان یک محصول طبیعی، برای پیشگیری از آسیب و بیماری های ناشی از استرس اکسیداتیو استفاده شود