Intelligent Diagnosis and Smart Detection of Crack in a Structure from its Vibration Signatures

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of structural health monitoring for vibrating structures, especially crack detection methodologies and on-line diagnostic techniques. In the current research, methodologies have been developed for damage detection of a cracked cantilever beam using analytical, fuzzy logic, neural network and fuzzy neuro techniques. The presence of a crack in a structural member introduces a local flexibility that affects its dynamic response. For finding out the deviation in the vibrating signatures of the cracked cantilever beam the local stiffness matrices are taken into account. Theoretical analyses have been carried out to calculate the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the cracked cantilever beam using local stiffness matrices. Strain energy release rate has been used for calculating the local stiffness of the beam. The fuzzy inference system has been designed using the first three relative natural frequencies and mode shapes as input parameters. The output from the fuzzy controller is relative crack location and relative crack depth. Several fuzzy rules have been developed using the vibration signatures of the cantilever beam. A Neural Network technique using multi layered back propagation algorithm has been developed for damage assessment using the first three relative natural frequencies and mode shapes as input parameters and relative crack location and relative crack depth as output parameters. Several training patterns are derived for designing the Neural Network. A hybrid fuzzy-neuro intelligent system has been formulated for fault identification. The fuzzy controller is designed with six input parameters and two output parameters. The input parameters to the fuzzy system are relative deviation of first three natural frequencies and first three mode shapes. The output parameters of the fuzzy system are initial relative crack depth and initial relative crack location. The input parameters to the neural controller are relative deviation of first three natural frequencies and first three mode shapes along with the interim outputs of fuzzy controller. The output parameters of the fuzzy-neuro system are final relative crack depth and final relative crack location. A series of fuzzy rules and training patterns are derived for the fuzzy and neural system respectively to predict the final crack location and final crack depth.To diagnose the crack in the vibrating structure multiple adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (MANFIS) methodology has been applied. The final outputs of the MANFIS are relative crack depth and relative crack location. Several hundred fuzzy rules and neural network training patterns are derived using natural frequencies, mode shapes, crack depths and crack locations. The proposed research work aims to broaden the development in the area of fault detection of dynamically vibrating structures. This research also addresses the accuracy for detection of crack location and depth with considerably low computational time. The objective of the research is related to design of an intelligent controller for prediction of damage location and severity in a uniform cracked cantilever beam using AI techniques (i.e. Fuzzy, neural, adaptive neuro-fuzzy and Manfis)

Comparison of CFBP, FFBP, and RBF Networks in the Field of Crack Detection

The issue of crack detection and its diagnosis has gained a wide spread of industrial interest. The crack/damage affects the industrial economic growth. So early crack detection is an important aspect in the point of view of any industrial growth. In this paper a design tool ANSYS is used to monitor various changes in vibrational characteristics of thin transverse cracks on a cantilever beam for detecting the crack position and depth and was compared using artificial intelligence techniques. The usage of neural networks is the key point of development in this paper. The three neural networks used are cascade forward back propagation (CFBP) network, feed forward back propagation (FFBP) network, and radial basis function (RBF) network. In the first phase of this paper theoretical analysis has been made and then the finite element analysis has been carried out using commercial software, ANSYS. In the second phase of this paper the neural networks are trained using the values obtained from a simulated model of the actual cantilever beam using ANSYS. At the last phase a comparative study has been made between the data obtained from neural network technique and finite element analysis

Deconfinement Transition in Large N Lattice Gauge Theory

We study analytically the phase diagram of the pure $SU(N)$ lattice gauge theory at finite temperature, and we attempt to estimate the critical deconfinement temperature. We apply large $N$ techniques to the Wilson and to the Heat Kernel action, and we study the resulting models both in the strong coupling and in the weak coupling limits. Using the Heat Kernel action, we establish an interesting connection between the Douglas-Kazakov phase transition of two-dimensional QCD and the deconfining transition in $d$ dimensions. The analytic results obtained for the critical temperature compare well with Montecarlo simulations of the full theory in $(2+1)$ and in $(3+1)$ dimensions.Comment: 39 pages (Latex) + 4 ps-figures (using EPSF), DFTT 30/9

Some New/Old Approaches to QCD

This is a talk delivered at the Meeting on Integrable Quantum Field Theories, Villa Olmo and at STRINGS 1992, Rome, September 1992. I discuss some recent attempts to revive two old ideas regarding an analytic approach to QCD-the development of a string representation of the theory and the large N limit of QCD.Comment: 20 page

Prescription practices and availability of artemisinin monotherapy in India: where do we stand?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The World Health Organization has urged all member states to deploy artemisinin-based combination therapy and progressively withdraw oral artemisinin monotherapies from the market due to their high recrudescence rates and to reduce the risk of drug resistance. Prescription practices by physicians and the availability of oral artemisinin monotherapies with pharmacists directly affect the pattern of their use. Thus, treatment practices for malaria, with special reference to artemisinin monotherapy prescription, in selected states of India were evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Structured, tested questionnaires were used to conduct convenience surveys of physicians and pharmacists in eleven purposively selected districts across six states in 2008. In addition, exit interviews of patients with a diagnosis of uncomplicated malaria or a prescription for an anti-malarial drug were also performed. Logistic regression was used to determine patient clinical care, and institutional factors associated with artemisinin monotherapy prescription.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five hundred and eleven physicians from 196 health facilities, 530 pharmacists, and 1, 832 patients were interviewed. Artemisinin monotherapy was available in 72.6% of pharmacies and was prescribed by physicians for uncomplicated malaria in all study states. Exit interviews among patients confirmed the high rate of use of artemisinin monotherapy with 14.8% receiving such a prescription. Case management, i.e. method of diagnosis and overall treatment, varied by state and public or private sector. Treatment in the private sector (OR 8.0, 95%CI: 3.8, 17) was the strongest predictor of artemisinin monotherapy prescription when accounting for other factors. Use of the combination therapy recommended by the national drug policy, artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, was minimal (4.9%), with the exception of one state.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Artemisinin monotherapy use was widespread across India in 2008. The accessible sale of oral artemisinin monotherapy in retail market and an inadequate supply of recommended drugs in the public sector health facilities promoted its prescription. This study resulted in notifications to all state drug controllers in India to withdraw the oral artemisinin formulations from the market. In 2010, artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine became the universal first-line treatment for confirmed <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>malaria and was deployed at full scale.</p

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global, regional, and national progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 for neonatal and child health: all-cause and cause-specific mortality findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 has targeted elimination of preventable child mortality, reduction of neonatal death to less than 12 per 1000 livebirths, and reduction of death of children younger than 5 years to less than 25 per 1000 livebirths, for each country by 2030. To understand current rates, recent trends, and potential trajectories of child mortality for the next decade, we present the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 findings for all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality in children younger than 5 years of age, with multiple scenarios for child mortality in 2030 that include the consideration of potential effects of COVID-19, and a novel framework for quantifying optimal child survival. Methods We completed all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality analyses from 204 countries and territories for detailed age groups separately, with aggregated mortality probabilities per 1000 livebirths computed for neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and under-5 mortality rate (USMR). Scenarios for 2030 represent different potential trajectories, notably including potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of improvements preferentially targeting neonatal survival. Optimal child survival metrics were developed by age, sex, and cause of death across all GBD location-years. The first metric is a global optimum and is based on the lowest observed mortality, and the second is a survival potential frontier that is based on stochastic frontier analysis of observed mortality and Healthcare Access and Quality Index. Findings Global U5MR decreased from 71.2 deaths per 1000 livebirths (95% uncertainty interval WI] 68.3-74-0) in 2000 to 37.1 (33.2-41.7) in 2019 while global NMR correspondingly declined more slowly from 28.0 deaths per 1000 live births (26.8-29-5) in 2000 to 17.9 (16.3-19-8) in 2019. In 2019,136 (67%) of 204 countries had a USMR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold and 133 (65%) had an NMR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold, and the reference scenario suggests that by 2030,154 (75%) of all countries could meet the U5MR targets, and 139 (68%) could meet the NMR targets. Deaths of children younger than 5 years totalled 9.65 million (95% UI 9.05-10.30) in 2000 and 5.05 million (4.27-6.02) in 2019, with the neonatal fraction of these deaths increasing from 39% (3.76 million 95% UI 3.53-4.021) in 2000 to 48% (2.42 million; 2.06-2.86) in 2019. NMR and U5MR were generally higher in males than in females, although there was no statistically significant difference at the global level. Neonatal disorders remained the leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years in 2019, followed by lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, congenital birth defects, and malaria. The global optimum analysis suggests NMR could be reduced to as low as 0.80 (95% UI 0.71-0.86) deaths per 1000 livebirths and U5MR to 1.44 (95% UI 1-27-1.58) deaths per 1000 livebirths, and in 2019, there were as many as 1.87 million (95% UI 1-35-2.58; 37% 95% UI 32-43]) of 5.05 million more deaths of children younger than 5 years than the survival potential frontier. Interpretation Global child mortality declined by almost half between 2000 and 2019, but progress remains slower in neonates and 65 (32%) of 204 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, are not on track to meet either SDG 3.2 target by 2030. Focused improvements in perinatal and newborn care, continued and expanded delivery of essential interventions such as vaccination and infection prevention, an enhanced focus on equity, continued focus on poverty reduction and education, and investment in strengthening health systems across the development spectrum have the potential to substantially improve USMR. Given the widespread effects of COVID-19, considerable effort will be required to maintain and accelerate progress. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

Effect of Different Chemical Treatments on Surface Morphology, Thermal and Tensile Strength of Bauhinia Vahlii (BV) Stem Fibers

Appropriate surface modifications are required to enhance the compatibility of natural fibers with polymer matrix to develop eco-friendly composites. One of such novel plant fibers is Bauhinia vahlii (BV) stem fiber. The present work aims to analyze the potentiality of this fiber as reinforcement to substitute synthetic fibers in composites. To enhance the properties of natural fibers, various chemical treatments like alkaline, peroxide, maleic anhydride and acrylation were conducted on BV fibers. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were conducted to inspect the effects of chemical treatment on the morphology and composition of fibers, respectively. The crystallinity indices were calculated from X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The improved tensile strength of the fiber after chemical treatment decides its usability as reinforcement in composites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were also conducted on treated fiber to investigate its thermal stability