An Environmental Evaluation Tool for Engineers

The objective of this study is to explore / analyze and evaluate environmental tools and propose a tool that manages various environmental resources such as air, water, energy, land, mineral etc. The study is broadly classified into two categories. First step provides a background of the environmental issues while second step proposes a computer program tailored for environmental resource management. The focus of this study is to develop an environmental evaluation tool for engineers. This can be achieved with the help of the computer program or computational tools. In environmental process design calculations are very complex in nature. The steps are repeated and it follows to the same procedure. The procedure when carried out manually is time consuming. Computer applications are proven to be useful for finding solutions due to their rapid computational ability and providing accurate results. It has shown its utility in all respects of computational work not only to save the time but also to give satisfactory accurate results. It has been accepted as one of the most efficient methods when dealing with the tedious calculations and complexity that an environment engineer has to face in real world

Methods For Defending Neural Networks Against Adversarial Attacks

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been at the frontier of the revolution within the field of computer vision. Since the advent of AlexNet in 2012, neural networks with CNN architectures have surpassed human-level capabilities for many cognitive tasks. As the neural networks are integrated in many safety critical applications such as autonomous vehicles, it is critical that they are robust and resilient to errors. Unfortunately, it has recently been observed that deep neural network models are susceptible to adversarial perturbations which are imperceptible to human vision. In this thesis, we propose a solution to defend neural networks against white box adversarial attacks. The proposed defense is based on activation pattern analysis in the frequency domain. The technique is evaluated and compared with state-of-the-art techniques on the CIFAR-10 dataset

Energy Audit in Residential Building

This paper deals with the study of energy audit of residential building at Trumbull, CT (USA). Worldwide,30-40% of all primary energy is used for buildings and they are held responsible for 40-50% of green house gas emissions. Sustainable development is essential for the residential building construction. It has various benefits such as low environmental impact, high economical and social gains. An energy audit is an assessment of how much energy is used and identifying where it is used. We can get a detail idea about energy consumption, identifying, enumerating and evaluating possible energy saving opportunity

Sentimental Analysis of Twitter Data using Classifier Algorithms

Microblogging has become a daily routine for most of the people in this world. With the help of Microblogging people get opinions about several things going on, not only around the nation but also worldwide. Twitter is one such online social networking website where people can post their views regarding something. It is a huge platform having over 316 Million users registered from all over the world. It enables users to send and read short messages with over 140 characters for compatibility with SMS messaging. A good sentimental analysis of data of this huge platform can lead to achieve many new applications like – Movie reviews, Product reviews, Spam detection, Knowing consumer needs, etc. In this paper, we have devised a new algorithm with which the above needs can be achieved. Our algorithm uses three specific techniques for sentimental analysis and can be called a hybrid algorithm – (1) Hash Tag Classification for topic modeling; (2) Naïve Bayes Classifier Algorithm for polarity classification; (3) Emoticon Analysis for Neutral polar data. These techniques individually have some limitations for sentimental analysis

Comparison study for internal and external modes of fixation for fractures of distal end radius

Background: Fractures of the distal radius continue to be one of the most common skeletal injuries. The methods which are commonly practiced are closed manipulation and plaster cast, pins and plaster, percutaneous pinning, external fixation and open reduction and internal fixation with or without bone graft. Surgeons are increasingly faced with the dilemma of when to consider operative management and when cast immobilization is the optimal treatment.Methods: 47 cases of distal end radius fractures were operated in the orthopedic department of a tertiary care centre. The purpose of the present study was to compare the results of external and internal fixation methods for the treatment of fractures of distal end of radius. Patients operated by external fixation were classified as Group A and those operated by internal fixation were classified as group B. Patients were classified according to AO Classification. Patients were followed at regular intervals depending on the case and time of operation and evaluated by Gartland and Werley score.Results: In our study, 29 patients were of extraarticular type, of which 86.20% had an excellent score and 18 patients were of intraarticular type, of which 83.33% had an excellent score. But when compared to groups A and B, the percentage of excellent score obtained in group B was more than that in group A in both extraarticular and intraarticular fractures. Yuan-kun et al did a study on intraarticular distal end radius fractures and evaluated the patients by Gartland and Werley point system, concluding that plating gives better results than external fixation supplemented by K wiring. Conclusions: We concluded that no method of fixation can be said superior to the other. Each method has fracture-specific indication. The results of open reduction and internal fixation can be better than external fixation in initial months, but in the long run, both the methods can have excellent score, provided the fixation is good and properly indicated

To study surgical outcome of various surgical procedures of lateral release in valgus knee in total knee arthroplasty

Background: Fixed valgus deformity presents a major challenge in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), especially in moderate or severe cases. In knee arthritis, fixed-varus deformity (50 to 55%) is three times more frequent than fixed-valgus deformity (10 to 15%). Valgus deformity occurs more commonly in rheumatoid arthritis and also in osteoarthritis with hypoplasia of the lateral femoral condyle. Valgus deformity is often associated with flexion or external rotation contracture of the knee. In this study we aim to study the surgical outcome of total knee replacement in valgus deformity via standard medial parapatellar approach using various techniques like Pie –Crusting release of lateral structures or combined technique of pie crusting and standard release of lateral structures. Aim: To evaluate surgical outcome of various surgical techniques via standard medial parapatellar approach in fixed valgus deformity in Total Knee Arthroplasty.Methods: The present study involved both male and female patients with osteoarthritis of knee with valgus deformity. In present series, 26 consecutive patients of osteoarthritis with valgus deformity operated with total knee replacement were included. Previously operated cases of high tibial osteotomy and patients having contraindication for TKA were excluded from the study.Results: Valgus angle in this study was between 13 to 27 degree with average 17.84 degree. These results were comparable to many such similar studies. In our study, post operatively, knee society score was average 87.69 and function knee score was 82.5. Mean range of motion was 105 degree. In our study, mean tibiofemoral alignment improved from 17.84 valgus to 4.7 valgus.Conclusions: Knee society score is excellent with both techniques and there is no difference in both techniques Iliotibial band and posterolateral capsule are most common structures that require release. Initial ligament balancing should be done with pie crusting and then sequential lateral release if require.

Acquisition and Analysis of Earthwork Pay Quantity Verification Data

This research identifies technologies and methods that can be used by INDOT in earthwork data collection and earthwork quantity calculation process on large construction projects that could result in timely completion of the projects with less labor and resultant cost. In order to achieve the above stated objective, several tasks were performed, i.e., literature review, data collection, data analysis, and recommendations. INDOT engineers were interviewed to determine their current state of practice. Also, all the state DOTs, professional companies in Indiana and vendors of earthwork data collection equipment and software products were contacted through questionnaire surveys and personal interviews. Two case studies were also performed with an owner and a contractor to understand the use, benefits and drawbacks of these equipment and software products. The analysis of data indicated that a combination of technologies was a better option to suit different scenario rather than one specific technology. For INDOT, use of robotic total station (RTS), RTK GPS and aerial photogrammetric are recommended, while a comparative analysis of the companies for earthwork data collection equipment and earthwork quantity calculations software products is provided. Recommendations on training costs and options are also made to INDOT. Also some other relevant issues that came up during interviews and case studies are also discussed in this report. All the recommendations were on the basis of the collected data and literature review performed by researchers during the course of this project

Water Management of Four Story Building

This paper deals with the study of energy audit of four storey hotel building in Cromwell, CT (USA). Energy is the prime mover of economic growth. Water and energy resources are vital to the substance of a modern economy. The demand for energy is increasing because of technological development, atomization, and growing agricultural activities. The rising energy and utility bills have been the focus of serious concerns due to the pressure it has placed on people. Demand is more than supply because of a scarcity of resources; our desire is greater than the available resources.As per the report of Energy Star building manual the United States' 47,000 hotels spend an average of $2,196 per available room each year on energy, an amount that represents about 6 percent of all hotel operating costs.[2] The growing population and improvements in living standards have resulted in rising consumption of natural resources. An internal energy audit is an assessment of how much energy is used and identifying where it is used. Based on the research data, we can find out simple ways for saving energy in the Hotel building. The preliminary information like power requirement of each unit is estimated and the utility data is collected from the last two years with the occupancy level. The audit identifies the energy usage and losses at each point of use within and around the facility. This paper is focused on the energy audit of a four storey hotel building at a medium level and possible ways of energy use reduction in the Hotel

Water Management of Four Story Building

This paper deals with the study of energy audit of four storey hotel building in Cromwell, CT (USA). Energy is the prime mover of economic growth. Water and energy resources are vital to the substance of a modern economy. The demand for energy is increasing because of technological development, atomization, and growing agricultural activities. The rising energy and utility bills have been the focus of serious concerns due to the pressure it has placed on people. Demand is more than supply because of a scarcity of resources; our desire is greater than the available resources.As per the report of Energy Star building manual the United States' 47,000 hotels spend an average of $2,196 per available room each year on energy, an amount that represents about 6 percent of all hotel operating costs.[2] The growing population and improvements in living standards have resulted in rising consumption of natural resources. An internal energy audit is an assessment of how much energy is used and identifying where it is used. Based on the research data, we can find out simple ways for saving energy in the Hotel building. The preliminary information like power requirement of each unit is estimated and the utility data is collected from the last two years with the occupancy level. The audit identifies the energy usage and losses at each point of use within and around the facility. This paper is focused on the energy audit of a four storey hotel building at a medium level and possible ways of energy use reduction in the Hotel

Energy Audit in Residential Building

This paper deals with the study of energy audit of residential building at Trumbull, CT (USA). Worldwide,30-40% of all primary energy is used for buildings and they are held responsible for 40-50% of green house gas emissions. Sustainable development is essential for the residential building construction. It has various benefits such as low environmental impact, high economical and social gains. An energy audit is an assessment of how much energy is used and identifying where it is used. We can get a detail idea about energy consumption, identifying, enumerating and evaluating possible energy saving opportunity