A systematic mapping of semi-formal and formal methods in requirements engineering of industrial Cyber-Physical systems

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing - The requirements engineering of Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems is extremely challenging due to large system sizes, component heterogeneity, involvement of...     

Development,optimization, and characterization of a novel tea tree oil nanogel using response surface methodology

Purpose: To develop and optimize nanoemulsion (NE)-based emulgel (EG) formulation as a potential vehicle for topical delivery of tea tree oil (TTO).

Methodology: Central composite design was adopted for optimizing the processing conditions for NE preparation by high energy emulsification method viz. surfactant concentration, co-surfactant concentration, and stirring speed. The optimized NE was developed into emulgel (EG) using pH sensitive polymer Carbopol 940 and triethanolamine as alkalizer. The prepared EG was evaluated for its pH, viscosity, and texture parameters, ex vivo permeation at 37?°C and stability. Antimicrobial evaluation of EG in comparison to conventional gel and pure TTO was also carried out against selected microbial strains.

Results and discussion: Optimized NE had particle size and zeta potential of 16.23?±?0.411?nm and 36.11?±?1.234?mV, respectively. TEM analysis revealed the spherical shape of droplets. The pH of EG (5.57?±?0.05?) was found to be in accordance with the range of human skin pH. EG also illustrated efficient permeation (79.58?μL/cm²) and flux value (J_SS) of 7.96?μL cm²/h through skin in 10?h. Viscosity and texture parameters, firmness (9.3?±?0.08?g), spreadability (2.26?±?0.06?mJ), extrudability (61.6?±?0.05?mJ), and adhesiveness (8.66?±?0.08?g) depict its suitability for topical application. Antimicrobial evaluation of EG with same amount of TTO as conventional gel revealed broader zones of growth inhibitions against all the selected microbial strains. Moreover, EG was also found to be nonirritant (PII 0.0833). These parameters were consistent over 90 d.

Conclusion: TTO EG turned out to be a promising vehicle for the topical delivery of TTO with enhanced therapeutic efficacy.     

Neural-network-based classification of Space Acceleration Measurement Systems (SAMS) data via supervised learning

This paper illustrates the applicability of neural networks in classifying events using Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) data. Computer programs have been written in the MATLAB environment for the following purposes: automatic retrieval of SAMS data from NASA CDROM disks, computation of power spectral densities for SAMS data and construction of input patterns for the training of a multi-layer neural network (MNN). The MNN has been trained using the backpropagation learning algorithm and the SAMS data collected on the STS-50 Space Shuttle mission for three crew exercise events. It is found that the trained MNN is highly successful in classifying events. In addition, the performance of MNN is found to be better than that of the nearest neighbor classifier.     

Feature tracking and matching in video using programmable graphics hardware

This paper describes novel implementations of the KLT feature tracking and SIFT feature extraction algorithms that run on the graphics processing unit (GPU) and is suitable for video analysis in real-time vision systems. While significant acceleration over standard CPU implementations is obtained by exploiting parallelism provided by modern programmable graphics hardware, the CPU is freed up to run other computations in parallel. Our GPU-based KLT implementation tracks about a thousand features in real-time at 30 Hz on 1,024 × 768 resolution video which is a 20 times improvement over the CPU. The GPU-based SIFT implementation extracts about 800 features from 640 × 480 video at 10 Hz which is approximately 10 times faster than an optimized CPU implementation.     

Receptive field structures for recognition

Localized operators, like Gabor wavelets and difference-of-gaussian filters, are considered useful tools for image representation. This is due to their ability to form a sparse code that can serve as a basis set for high-fidelity reconstruction of natural images. However, for many visual tasks, the more appropriate criterion of representational efficacy is recognition rather than reconstruction. It is unclear whether simple local features provide the stability necessary to subserve robust recognition of complex objects. In this article, we search the space of two-lobed differential operators for those that constitute a good representational code under recognition and discrimination criteria. We find that a novel operator, which we call the dissociated dipole, displays useful properties in this regard. We describe simple computational experiments to assess the merits of such dipoles relative to the more traditional local operators. The results suggest that nonlocal operators constitute a vocabulary that is stable across a range of image transformations.     

Distribution of lead between copper and matte and the activity of PbS in copper-saturated mattes

The distribution coefficients of lead between copper and matte phases have been measured at 1405 and 1505 K and correlated with lead and iron concentrations in metallic copper and matte. Experiments covered the ranges of 0.009 to 1.8 and 0 to 11 wt pct lead and iron in matte, respectively. Distribution coefficients of lead between copper and iron-free matte, at infinite dilution of lead, have been determined to be 3.60 and 4.06 at 1505 and 1405 K, respectively. From the measured values of distribution coefficients, the Raoultian activity coefficients of PbS in copper-saturated matte have been calculated. At the temperatures and matte compositions investigated, activities of PbS deviate negatively from Temkin's ideality. At infinite dilution, the following equation correlating the Raoultian activity coefficients of PbS, , with matte composition and temperature has been obtained: In , whereN _FeS , is the mole fraction of FeS in the Cu₂S-FeS-PbS matte. The present values of γ _PbS ^o must be used exclusively in conjunction with the following Gibbs free energy of formation: Pb(l) + 1/2S₂(g) = PbS(l); ΔGℴ = −26730 + 12.20T (cal/mol). M. NAGAMORI, Formerly Associate Professor of Metallurgy at The University of Utah,     

Co-evolutionary immuno-particle swarm optimization with penetrated hyper-mutation for distributed inventory replenishment

This article is betrothed to serve as a continuation of the emerging swarm techniques to solve supply chain problems. Our aim is to map some of the pressing research challenges contributed by the artificial intelligence community and to develop an improved algorithm: Co-evolutionary immuno-particle swarm optimisation with penetrated hyper-mutation (COIPSO-PHM). In this paper, we proposed a new algorithm which uses clonal selection approach in particle swarm optimisation by embedding co-evolutionary theory to solve the problem of inventory replenishment in distributed plant–warehouse–retailer system. Constraint handling is explicitly taken care by implanting augmented lagrangian concept. To demonstrate the efficiency of the algorithm, its performance are evaluated and compared on 10 benchmarked problems (made constrained problem via random initialisation in the infeasible zone) including functions with uni-modalities as well as multi-modalities. The result follows shows superior performance of the algorithm in every respect.     

Evolutionary programming techniques for economic load dispatch

Evolutionary programming has emerged as a useful optimization tool for handling nonlinear programming problems. Various modifications to the basic method have been proposed with a view to enhance speed and robustness and these have been applied successfully on some benchmark mathematical problems. But few applications have been reported on real-world problems such as economic load dispatch (ELD). The performance of evolutionary programs on ELD problems is examined and presented in this paper in two parts. In Part I, modifications to the basic technique are proposed, where adaptation is based on scaled cost. In Part II, evolutionary programs are developed with adaptation based on an empirical learning rate. Absolute, as well as relative, performance of the algorithms are investigated on ELD problems of different size and complexity having nonconvex cost curves where conventional gradient-based methods are inapplicable.     

Stability and Control of a Parametrically Excited Rotating System. Part I: Stability Analysis

This paper analyses the stability of a parametrically excited double pendulum rotating in the horizontal plane. The equations of motion for such a system contain time varying periodic coefficients. Floquet theory and the method of Hill's determinant are used to evaluate the stability of the linearized system. Stability charts are obtained for various sets of damping, parametric excitation, and rotation parameters. Several resonance conditions are found, and it is shown that the system stability can be significantly altered due to the rotation. Such systems can be used as preliminary models for studying the lag dynamics and control of helicopter blades and other gyroscopic systems.     

Effect of EGR on the exhaust gas temperature and exhaust opacity in compression ignition engines

In diesel engines, NOx formation is a highly temperature-dependent phenomenon and takes place when the temperature in the combustion chamber exceeds 2000 K. Therefore, in order to reduce NOx emissions in the exhaust, it is necessary to keep peak combustion temperatures under control. One simple way of reducing the NOx emission of a diesel engine is by late injection of fuel into the combustion chamber. This technique is effective but increases fuel consumption by 10–15%, which necessitates the use of more effective NOx reduction techniques like exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Re-circulating part of the exhaust gas helps in reducing NOx, but appreciable paniculate emissions are observed at high loads, hence there is a trade-off between NOx and smoke emission. To get maximum benefit from this trade-off, a paniculate trap may be used to reduce the amount of unburnt particulates in EGR, which in turn reduce the paniculate emission also. An experimental investigation was conducted to observe the effect of exhaust gas re-circulation on the exhaust gas temperatures and exhaust opacity. The experimental setup for the proposed experiments was developed on a two-cylinder, direct injection, air-cooled, compression ignition engine. A matrix of experiments was conducted for observing the effect of different quantities of EGR on exhaust gas temperatures and opacity