Techno-Economic Evaluation of 5G Technology for Automated Guided Vehicles in Production

The fifth generation of mobile communication (5G) is expected to bring immense benefits to automated guided vehicles by improving existing respectively enabling 5G-distinctive network control systems, leading to higher productivity and safety. However, only 1% of production companies have fully deployed 5G yet. Most companies currently lack an understanding of return on investment and of technical use-case benefits. Therefore, this paper analyses the influence of 5G on an automated guided vehicle use case based on a five-step evaluation model. The analysis is conducted with a use case in the Digital Experience Factory in Aachen. It shows a difference of net present value between 4G and 5G of 1.3 M€ after 10 years and a difference of return of investment of 66%. Furthermore, analysis shows an increase of mobility (13%), productivity (20%) and safety (136%). This indicates a noticeable improvement of a 5G-controlled automated guided vehicle compared to a 4G-controlled automated guided vehicle.

Autosomal Recessive Autism: Cure of the Major Autistic Features

Background: We have previously reported our extensive experiences with autism disorders and their treatments, and we showed the possibility of curing the major autistic features with a new therapeutic approach which included individualized courses of intramuscular cerebrolysin as the main therapy for the main autistic features. Our previously published experiences included observing the occurrence of atypical autism associated with evidence of mental retardation in four brothers from outside Baghdad, each two of them from two unrelated families. The four patients were treated based on our extensive published experiences with the pharmacological treatments of autism disorders; however, the follow-up and the outcome of treatments of these four children were not described in the previous publications. The aim of this paper is to report the cure of the major autistic features in 2 brothers with autosomal recessive autism. Patients and methods: It was possible to follow the first two brothers for only few weeks and to see them after the first course of treatment, however, the second brothers were followed for more than one year, and it was possible to achieve cure of the main autistic features. Results: After one short course, the first two brothers showed slight but noticeable improvement. The younger brother showed some reduction in autistic features as he developed rather an acceptable eye contact. However, the two brothers were still not responding to name and didn’t say any word. After, treatment, the second two brothers showed no autistic features, and experienced significant improvements in speech and cognitive functions. The older brother was not having autistic features after eighth months, and was obeying commands, but was still saying only few words. The younger brother joined primary school and was doing well apart from some behavioral problems especially running away from school and sometimes breaks things. Conclusion: In this paper, cure of autism has been achieved in two boys with autosomal recessive disorder. However, cure of autism in older children has never been expected to totally normalizes them, as the patients have already lost several years of learning, social adaptation, and maturation of personality and behavior.

Pelatihan Teknik Penulisan Karya Ilmiah untuk Siswa MAN 2 Kota Probolinggo

The purpose of this training activity is to equip the students of MAN 2 Kota Probolinggo in producing good and interesting scientific work based on students' creative ideas, critical thinking, and innovative. The method of conducting this training includes three stages, the first stage of identifying students who have a desire to write scientific papers and carry out pretests. In the second stage, the delivery of material by means of lecture methods, discussions, and direct practice of the process of preparing scientific work. Next in stage 3, is the student evaluation stage through posttest. The results of this scientific writing technique training include a noticeable improvement in writing techniques, field coverage, and the use of the internet as a reference for scientific work. Increased knowledge of students who are more creative in thinking to find ideas and ideas that can be used as topics to make scientific papers so that it becomes provision for purposes at a higher level.

Ultra-Widefield Fluorescein Angiography Image Brightness Compensation Based on Geometrical Features

Ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWFA) is an emerging imaging modality used to characterise pathologies in the retinal vasculature, such as microaneurysms (MAs) and vascular leakages. Despite its potential value for diagnosis and disease screening, objective quantitative assessment of retinal pathologies by UWFA is currently limited because laborious manual processing is required. In this report, we describe a geometrical method for uneven brightness compensation inherent to UWFA imaging technique. The correction function is based on the geometrical eyeball shape, therefore it is fully automated and depends only on pixel distance from the center of the imaged retina. The method’s performance was assessed on a database containing 256 UWFA images with the use of several image quality measures that show the correction method improves image quality. The method is also compared to the commonly used CLAHE approach and was also employed in a pilot study for vascular segmentation, giving a noticeable improvement in segmentation results. Therefore, the method can be used as an image preprocessing step in retinal UWFA image analysis.

Effect of Adding Nanoparticles Ag2O on Mechanical Properties and Thermal Conductivity of PMMA/ Polypropylene Fiber Composites

In this research, mechanical properties (hardness, impact strength, comparison strength) and thermal conductivity are examined for PMMA/polypropylene fiber composites reinforced with a different weight fraction of Ag2O nanoparticles (0%,0.05%,0.1%,0.15%,0.2%,0.25 and 0.3%). Samples prepared by Hand Lay-Up Moulding method at room temperature according to the international standard dimensions for each test, results showed a noticeable improvement in the values of mechanical properties and thermal conductivity with increasing the weight fraction of the silver oxide nanoparticles.

An Overview of the Strategies for Tin Selenide Advancement in Thermoelectric Application

Chalcogenide, tin selenide-based thermoelectric (TE) materials are Earth-abundant, non-toxic, and are proven to be highly stable intrinsically with ultralow thermal conductivity. This work presented an updated review regarding the extraordinary performance of tin selenide in TE applications, focusing on the crystal structures and their commonly used fabrication methods. Besides, various optimization strategies were recorded to improve the performance of tin selenide as a mid-temperature TE material. The analyses and reviews over the methodologies showed a noticeable improvement in the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient, with a noticeable decrement in the thermal conductivity, thereby enhancing the tin selenide figure of merit value. The applications of SnSe in the TE fields such as microgenerators, and flexible and wearable devices are also discussed. In the future, research in low-dimensional TE materials focusing on nanostructures and nanocomposites can be conducted with the advancements in material science technology as well as microtechnology and nanotechnology.

Testing of Silicon Rubber/Montmorillonite Nanocomposite for Mechanical and Tribological Performance

Nanocomposite made by blending nano-montmorillonite (MMT) and Silicon Rubber (SR) for mechanical and tribological performance is explored in this work. Different configurations of MMT/SR nanocomposite, with 0, 0.5, 2 and 5 wt % of MMT are manufactured by two roll mixing methods. Noticeable improvement in the mechanical and tribological performance is observed, which is also justified by a morphological study of fractured and wear surfaces through SEM. Two percent of MMT loading is found to be the optimum content that shows excellent performance compared to other compositions. The performance improvement can be linked to the good interfacial interaction between the MMT and SR. Statistical modeling through ANOVA is carried out for tribological performance, which reveals the influence of load on the coefficient of friction (COF) and the influence of sliding distance on the wear rate.

Fabrication and Nanomechanical Characterization of Thermoplastic Biocomposites Based on Chemically Treated Lignocellulosic Biomass for Surface Engineering Applications

Diverse applications of polymeric materials have prompted development of eco-friendly, efficient, and economical materials. These characteristics can be obtained by incorporating appropriate fillers in the polymeric matrix. The objective of this work is to investigate impact of aqueous glycerol (Gly) treated rice husk (RH) on surface mechanical properties of produced biocomposites. RH was treated with aqueous Gly (75 wt%) and compounded with low density polyethylene (LDPE) at different loadings (10, 20, and 30 wt%). The resulting mixture was thermally pressed in molds to fabricate biocomposites. Surface mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, hardness, creep rate, and plasticity of biocomposites reinforced with untreated and treated RH were investigated using nanoindenter. Experimental values depicted that hardness (H) and elastic modulus (Es) of treated biocomposites were higher than untreated ones. Treated biocomposites showed the noticeable improvement in elastic modulus by 24 and 37% compared to untreated biocomposites at 20 wt% loading and neat LDPE, respectively. Reductions in the creep rate by 20 and 14% were observed for untreated and treated biocomposites, respectively, in comparison to the neat LDPE. H/E ratio was increased by 23 and 18% for treated and untreated biocomposites, respectively, as compared to virgin LDPE. Furthermore, mechanical and structural properties of untreated and treated RH are reported based on nanoindentation response and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques The study indicated that aqueous glycerol pretreatment can partially strip off non-cellulosic constituents from lignocellulose matrix to generate cellulose-rich pulp for engineered composite applications.

Risk sharing vs risk shifting: a comparative study of Islamic banks

Purpose This study aims to compare the use of risk-sharing and risk-shifting contracts (RSFCs) in Islamic banks using a triple grouping of conservative, moderate and liberal Islamic banks based on the Khaled Khandelwal (KK) model. Six fundamental Islamic contracts are used in this study, namely, Mushãrakah, Mudãrabah, Murãbaha, Salam, Ijãrah, Istisnã. Mushãrakah and Mudãrabah represent profit and loss sharing contracts (i.e., risk-sharing contracts – RSHCs), whereas Murãbaha, Salam, Ijãrah and Istisnã represent RSFCs. This study extends the previous studies by addressing an issue that has been neglected in the literature. The extent to which the two groups of contracts are used is extremely important because of its effect on the valuation of Islamic banks and on their earning quality. Design/methodology/approach This study aims to analyze, using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, the use of RSHCs and RSFCs made by 72 fully Islamic banks, using a sample that includes banks in most of the countries where Islamic banks are present. Only fully Islamic Banks were considered, that is, banks that are essentially mainstream banks; therefore, banks that include only a specific line of Islamic products, often called the Islamic Window, were excluded. The total number of the sample was 118, but the study was restricted to 72 banks due to the availability of time series data covering the period of study, 2007 to 2015. Findings The study documents that over the period 2007 to 2015 the moderate banks have better distribution and balance of RSHCs and RSFCs than the conservative and liberal banks. The conservative banks are found to depend greatly on RSFCs, whereas the liberal banks are found to depend almost completely on RSFCs. Unexpectedly, the conservative banks have not shown a noticeable improvement over the period of analysis on their level of reliance on RSHCs. The results show that there is a significant difference in the percentage income distribution of the two contracts between the moderate banks and the conservative banks and between the moderate banks and the liberal banks. However, no significant difference was found between the conservative banks and the liberal banks. Originality/value The study uses an alternate rating model for Islamic financial institutions. The study examined the issue of risk sharing and risk shifting contracts usage in banks for a long period of nine years and at a global level and with an additional dimension of three categories of Islamic Banks based on the KK model.

Ultrasound predictive criteria for short term benign thyroid nodular volume reduction after ultrasound guided radiofrequency ablation

Purpose This study evaluates the outcome of patients complaining of compressive& cosmetic problems due to benign thyroid nodules after recieving RF ablation with correlation between some ultrasound features of the nodules and their shrinkage and volume reduction. Methods and material fifteen patients with benign thyroid nodules causing compressive symptoms (foreign body sensation,neck discomfort or pain) and cosmetic problems. Results A total of 15 patients were included with the age rangmg from 22-82 years old the mean was 52.73 years old (SD + 14.37).Among them 12 patients (800 0)were females and 3 patients(20%) were males. There was statistically significant difference between volume of nodules before the procedure with mean volume was 21.13±5.13 and I month after with mean volume I I .96±3.08 and 3 months after the procedure with mean volume 7.70±2.82 with noticeable improvement in nodules with peri and intranodular vascularity showing mean reduction ratio 69.88% after 3 months vs 59.93% and 64 12% of weak peripheral vascularity and intense intra-nodular vasculanty respectively as well as US structure with spongiform nodules showing mean reduction ratio 68.48% at 3 months vs 59.87% and 62.14% for solid &mixed nodules respectively.Mean symptoms and cosmetic score were significantly reduced. Conclusion: This study validated the efficacy and safety of RFA for treatment of benign thyroid nodules and showed correlation between shrinkage and some common US findings.