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In this paper, a new metaheuristic optimization algorithm, called social network search (SNS), is employed for solving mixed continuous/discrete engineering optimization problems. The SNS algorithm mimics the social network user's efforts to gain more popularity by modeling the decision moods in expressing their opinions. Four decision moods, including imitation, conversation, disputation, and innovation, are real-world behaviors of users in social networks. These moods are used as optimization operators that model how users are affected and motivated to share their new views. The SNS algorithm was verified with 14 benchmark engineering optimization problems and one real application in the field of remote sensing. The performance of the proposed method is compared with various algorithms to show its effectiveness over other well-known optimizers in terms of computational cost and accuracy. In most cases, the optimal solutions achieved by the SNS are better than the best solution obtained by the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, the development of the dam engineering can be directly correlated to social and economic progress. Although fundamental, a dam construction and operation invariably involve some level of risk, which must be managed through different mechanisms and tools governed by appropriate laws. This paper aims to scrutinize the data contained in National Water Agency (ANA) reports, published annually following institution of the National Dam Safety Policy (PNSB), pertinent to dams accidents and incidents. This information was cataloged and analyzed in order to identify trends associated to types of accidents and incidents, dam component materials and entrepreneurs involved, as well as the disparities between data available from the different regions of Brazil. There is a lack of basic data in numerous reports, hindering more in-depth statistical analyses. The recurrence of this deficit was observed as well as the need to improve the methodologies used to apply the PNSB guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous multiple-fracture treatments in horizontal wellbores have become one of the key methods for economically and efficiently developing oil and gas resources in unconventional reservoirs. However, field data show that some perforation clusters have difficulty propagating fractures due to the internal mechanism of competing initiation and propagation among the fractures. In this paper, the physical mechanisms that influence simultaneous multiple-fracture initiation and propagation are investigated, and the effects of engineering parameters and in situ conditions on the nonuniform development of multiple fractures are discussed. A 3D fracture propagation model was established with ABAQUS to show the influence of the stress shadow effects and dynamic partitioning of the flow rate by simulating the propagation of multiple competing fractures generated in the perforation clusters. Based on the results of these simulations, simultaneous flow in multiple fractures can propagate evenly. Through adjusting the number of perforations in each cluster or the perforation diameter, the effect of the stress shadow can be significantly reduced by increasing the perforation friction, and the factors that affect the development of multiple fractures are changed, from the stress shadow effect to the dynamic partitioning of the flow rate. When the stress shadow effect is dominant, increasing the fracturing fluid viscosity promotes the uniform development of multiple fractures and increases the fracture width. When the dynamic partitioning of the flow rate is dominant, increasing the injection rate greatly affects the uniform development of multiple fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the information seeking behaviour of engineering faculty members of selected engineering colleges in Ryalaseema Region of AnadhraPradesh. Data were collected by using questionnaire from 41 engineering colleges in Rayalaseema Region. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 1230 faculty members, of whom 968 (78.69%) responded. This study investigates the information seeking behaviour of engineering faculty members in Rayalaseema Region of A.P. The purpose was to investigate the types of information sources used by the faculty members, problems faced while seeking information, purpose of using e-resources, use of e-consortiums and priority of information seeking habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agile software development (ASD) and software product line (SPL) have shown significant benefits for software engineering processes and practices. Although both methodologies promise similar benefits, they are based on different foundations. SPL encourages systematic reuse that exploits the commonalities of various products belonging to a common domain and manages their variations systematically. In contrast, ASD stresses a flexible and rapid development of products using iterative and incremental approaches. ASD encourages active involvement of customers and their frequent feedback. Both ASD and SPL require alternatives to extend agile methods for several reasons such as (1) to manage reusability and variability across the products of any domain, (2) to avoid the risk of developing core assets that will become obsolete and not used in future projects, and (3) to meet the requirements of changing markets. This motivates the researchers for the integration of ASD and SPL approaches. As a result, an innovative approach called agile product line engineering (APLE) by integrating SPL and ASD has been introduced. The principal aim of APLE is to maximize the benefits of ASD and SPL and address the shortcomings of both. However, combining both is a major challenge. Researchers have proposed a few approaches that try to put APLE into practice, but none of the existing approaches cover all APLE features needed. This paper proposes a new dynamic variability approach for APLE that uses APLE practices for reusing features. The proposed approach (PA) is based on the agile method Scrum and the reactive approach of SPL. In this approach, reusable core assets respond reactively to customer requirements. The PA constructs and develops the SPL architecture iteratively and incrementally. It provides the benefits of reusability and maintainability of SPLs while keeping the delivery-focused approach from agile methods. We conducted a quantitative survey of software companies applying the APLE to assess the performance of the PA and hypotheses of empirical study. Findings of empirical evaluation provide evidence on integrating ASD and SPL and the application of APLE into practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the steady RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulations based on our independently developed CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) solver NUAA-Turbo 2.0, are carried out to investigate the shock wave/tip leakage vortex (SW/TLV) interaction in two representative transonic axial fan rotors, NASA Rotor 67 and NASA Rotor 37. The intent of this study is mainly to verify if an identification method derived from relevant theories is suitable for shock-induced vortex stability in the real engineering environment. As the additional findings, a universal tip vortex model is established and the characteristics of vortex breakdown or not are also summarized under different load levels. To ensure the prediction accuracy of all numerical methods selected in this research, detailed comparisons are made between computational and experimental results before flow analysis. The excellent agreement between the both indicates that the current code is capable of capturing the dominant secondary flow structures and aerodynamic phenomenon, especially the vortex system in tip region and SW/TLV interaction. It is found that three vortical structures such as tip leakage vortex (TLV), shock-induced vortex (SIV), tip separation vortex (TSV) in addition the tip leakage vortex-induced vortex (TLV-IV, which only occurs when the TLV strength increases to a certain extent) frequently exist near the blade tip and then abstracted as a tip vortex model. A stable TLV after passing through the passage shock is commonly characterized by tight rolling-up, slow deceleration and slight expansion. Conversely, the vortex behaves in a breakdown state. The final verification results show that the above two vortex states can be satisfactorily detected by the theoretical discriminant introduced in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on first given Lewis–Riesenfeld invariant depicted by a unit vector in parameter space, we inverse engineering the time-dependent Hamiltonian of a system with su(2) Lie algebraic structure. The introduced method is then applied to investigate nonadiabatic Abelian geometric quantum computation. We demonstrate that, by employing the nonadiabatic Berry phase generated through nonadiabatic periodic evolution, a driven two-level system which undergoes a single cyclic evolution along a loop path in Bloch space can realize a universal set of one-qubit gates. Subsequently, under consideration of the influence of the systematic error and dissipation on nonadiabatic process, the result reveals arbitrary one-qubit gate can be implemented with a high fidelity. Moreover, to complete the universal set, arbitrary controlled-U gate is designed by utilizing a driven system consisted of a pair of coupled spin subsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, engineering courses spend a lot of time on theoretical studies. From these contents, the rest of the time aims to practical issues and applications of the investigated concepts. In this way, one of the teaching methodologies that introduces a practical contextualization to the students consists of using didactical tools for conducting experiments, such as benches and equipment, which are key elements in the teaching-learning process. This approach is mainly applied to content related to process control, such as dynamic systems, nonlinear systems, and systems with disturbances, which are presented in engineering courses that encompass control and automation. Due to the importance of the didactical tools for understanding contents formerly approached theoretically, this paper presents the development of two didactical tools to complement the control system studying: an aeropendulum and a Furuta pendulum. In general, inverted pendulum systems offer challenges in the modeling and control design steps. Thus, the pendulums presented in this article are important tools for teaching content related to control systems. Once the prototypes of the proposed systems are validated through control experiments, they will be used as teaching tools in curriculum components in engineering courses, for example, in disciplines of control systems, feedback systems, multivariable control, and nonlinear control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Announces the winners of the 2003 Outstanding Paper Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society. Overview of the winning paper; Career background of the winners; Comments of award committee members on the winning paper.

A list of research papers and reports about engineering is presented. They include "Irregular Breaking Wave Transmission Over Submerged Porous Breakwater," "Scattering and Trapping of Wave Energy by a Submerged Truncated Paraboloidal Shoal" and "Effect of Upward Seepage on Scour and Flow Downstream of an Apron due to Submerged Jets."

Tertiary programmes in a discipline such as engineering must balance the competing needs of two key stakeholders: the university that designs and delivers the programme, and the professional body that accredits it. Programme and curriculum design in universities is traditionally bottom-up in nature, with courses designed by individual academics, and assembled into cognate programmes. Graduate qualities and accreditation criteria are mapped retrospectively onto the structure. Designing programmes from the top down, driven byuniversity and the accreditation body needs, is a desirable goal. However, without proper support tools, balancing competing needs across multiple courses and year levels is a complex task. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was created for this precise purpose. Treating the design of a tertiary programme the same as the design of a system suggests that QFD, and the implementation tool known as the House of Quality (HoQ), should be ideally suited to this purpose. The aim of this paper is to show how QFD and the HoQ can be applied to the design of an engineering programme, creating a specification that accurately reflects the voices of stakeholders, and serves as a benchmark for validating that these needs have been met in the implemented design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to obtain accurate and convergent numerical solutions of linear space-time matching telegraph fractional equations by means of a double Sumudu matching transformation method. Moreover, the numerical model is equipped to explain the work, the accuracy of the work, and sobriety in its presentation method, and as a result, the proposed method shows an effective and convenient way, to employ proven problems in science and engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key underlying challenge in today's model-driven approach to engineering is how progress and level of effort are being measured and reported. Recent definitions such as level of development enable project teams to track completeness of information in building information modeling (BIM)-driven processes; yet, there are no established processes or metrics to reliably measure progress or track productivity of a model-driven engineering process as a function of the maturity of the model and/or the data that supports the engineering process. To address this gap in knowledge, this paper presents a discrete set of model maturity index (MMI) definitions to measure progress in engineering work, per modeling discipline. Using these MMI definitions, a model maturity risk index (Model MRI) toolkit was created to track maturity of an engineering process at the granularity of work breakdown structure locations. The MMI toolkit also reports risk in achieving certain MMI levels per modeling discipline. To benchmark maturity of the modeling work per project milestone or model review session and to establish workflows for tracking progress, an addendum to the modeling execution plan (ModelXP) is presented. New productivity and project controls metrics for tracking modeling work are also introduced. The developed definitions, toolkit, and addendum to ModelXP were validated through exhaustive surveys and charrette tests with project stakeholders involved in capital projects. The role of the MMI definitions and Model MRI toolkit in providing project controls insight and proactive management opportunities in real-world projects is discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper there are described some educational strategies based on virtual learning environments, which were implemented in engineering programs with the purpose of mitigating failure rates in basic stage subjects. Based on a case study at the University of Baja California, the causes of failure for the period 2013 to 2016 were diagnosed, and subsequently, from 2017 to 2019, the implementation of four support strategies began. An analysis of the behavior of the failure rates before and after the implementation of the strategies was made, and the results show up that both the failure levels in five subjects as well as the student lag decreased. Even though the strategies applied in this study are replicable, and the use of virtual learning environments supports students' academic performance, it is still necessary to expand the research to measure the impact of additional strategies that were put in to practice simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modified Green operator integrals are essential quantities in inclusion or homogenization problems, from microstructural to macro-engineering scales, that concern estimating stress/strain fields or effective properties in heterogeneous materials and structures. In several successive papers, the author and co-workers have presented analytical forms of global mean such "Green operators" for various inclusion shapes and patterns obtained from fully taking benefit of the geometrical nature of the Radon transform and of its inversion formula. This paper presents and exemplifies a direct consequence of this RT/IRT method that simplifies further accessing to the mean operators of inclusion patterns: the mean pair interaction Green operator (mpiGo) between any two inclusions in infinite media can be formally decomposed into an algebraic average of the mean interior Green operators (miGos) over 4 domains that are (i) the convex hull of the element pair and (ii) the 3 sub-domains of it that are obtained in suppressing either one or both inclusions from the hull. In the simplest cases, this decomposition can allow to obtaining the global mean Green operators (gmGos) of many patterns from the knowledge of a single miGo type. So are here analytically provided the gmGos of planar n -alignments of parallel infinite beams with rectangular cross section (when embedded in media with properties that are at least isotropic transversally to the beams infinite direction) from having derived the miGo of such a "rectangular beam" with any cross section aspect ratio. This beam type has particular interest since its flat shape limit is a laminate layer which is conversely the compact limit of infinite such beam planar alignments. Next are shown extensions of this (D) method to patterns of other parallel polygonal beams and are explicated the solutions it provides for the gmGo of hollow (or double) beams and for laminate layers with aligned parallel holes (or second phase tubes). More specific applications are out of this scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ever-increasing number of robotic applications is being created based on the functionalities and the communication facilities offered by the Robotic Operating System (ROS). When applications involve contact with humans, such as in some transportation tasks, a robot supervisory controller shall guarantee that in every possible circumstance safety and task requirements are satisfied. There is no framework provided by ROS to specify supervisory controllers with formal guarantees about the satisfaction of requirements. This is problematic when the complexity of the controller increases, and it is not viable to test every possible scenario during the validation stage of the robotic application. This paper presents novel work that aims at enabling supervisory controller synthesis for ROS-based applications by (a) proposing a novel mapping between concepts from supervisory control theory and ROS, (b) demonstrating that a supervisory control modeling language exists that can be used to describe plant models and to specify requirements and (c) presenting generic finite-state automata models of ROS components, regarded as plant models, which are input for the synthesis procedure. The approach is demonstrated by synthesizing the controller to coordinate state-of-the-art mobile robot navigation modules. Simulations and real-life experiments show that the generated supervisory controller guarantees the correctness of the model with respect to the requirements and that the execution time of a control loop, including the binding code between the supervisory controller and ROS, is on average short enough to be deployed in high-level control loops. The paper is accompanied by a public code repository that contains the implementation of all methods presented in the paper including simulation environments to ease the replication of the results presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When there are potential risks in the progress of the engineering project, regulators pay more attentions to losses rather than gains. In this paper, we design a new class of risk statistics for engineering, named regulator-based risk statistics. Considering the properties of regulator-based risk statistics, we are able to derive the dual representations for them. At last, the regulator-based version is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal sulfide nanomaterials (MeSNs) are a novel class of metal-containing nanomaterials composed of metal ions and sulfur compounds. During the past decade, scientists found that the MeSNs engineered by specific approaches not only had high biocompatibility but also exhibited unique physicochemical properties for cancer therapy, such as Fenton catalysis, light conversion, radiation enhancement, and immune activation. To clarify the development and promote the clinical transformation of MeSNs, the first section of this paper describes the appropriate fabrication approaches of MeSNs for medical science and analyzes the features and limitations of each approach. Secondly, we sort out the mechanisms of functional MeSNs in cancer therapy, including drug delivery, phototherapy, radiotherapy, chemodynamic therapy, gas therapy, and immunotherapy. It is worth noting that the intact MeSNs and the degradation products of MeSNs can exert different types of anti-tumor activities. Thus, MeSNs usually exhibit synergistic antitumor properties. Finally, future expectations and challenges of MeSNs in the research of translational medicine are spotlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The study aimed to examine the attitude of students towards organizing and safekeeping their digital documents. It also investigated students' personal digital information archiving and organizing practices from engineering and information technology disciplines. Design / Methodology / Approach The design of the study was quantitative and the survey method was used to achieve the objectives of the study. The survey instrument was the questionnaire and distributed to students of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and Punjab University College of Information Technology of the University of the Punjab personally and with the help of information professionals. The questionnaire was distributed to 225 students of both institutes and 202 questionnaires were received back with a response rate of 90 %. Findings The results of the study showed that the majority of the students considered that it is important to take care of their digital documents. The majority of the students also made effort to organize their digital data on their personal computer through folder organization. Most of the students accessed their digitally stored data according to their future needs. Most of the students mentioned that they transferred only their most important documents from one device to another. The majority of the students saved their data on personal computers to find them again. Many respondents used some tools i.e. Dropbox to save their data. Many students did not keep online information; however, they accessed it through the Internet according to their need particularly information related to entertainment. Findings of the study regarding respondents' organizing strategies show that the majority of the students organized their digital data into folders. Value Previous researchers investigated students PIM practices generally and sometimes focusing on specific PIM activities - keeping, organizing, and re-finding both paper-based and digital information. However, no study examined engineering and information technology students' personal digital information archiving and organizing practices. Practical Implications The study concludes that engineering and information technology students were employing a variety of methods for keeping their digital data safe. This finding implies that students did not have one place for keeping all digital information. Rather, their information items were being managed across different tools and locations. Most of the students were using personal information management tools i.e. Dropbox to save their data. However, the majority of the students were still not using PIM tools. It implies that there is a need to conduct workshops by librarians related to the PIM management systems and tools for effective digital information keeping, organizing, and finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New mining exploration companies have entered the scene in France in the context of mining renewal. This paper analyses how private actors attempt to convince various publics about the future profitability of technological developments. We use the terms « promise engineering » to describe this activity. To understand the controversies that mining projects have spurred in France, we investigate the tensions between the promises designed for investors, and other promises addressed to the populations impacted by exploration projects and their future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Form representation is essential for any area that involves the creation of artefacts, since without it the project is just an idea in the mental field. In general terms, it is the ability to perceive and understand shapes and represent them through perspectives and orthographic views, as well as through models and geometric models. Given the issues raised, it is possible to understand the importance of knowledge related to the graphic representation of architecture for professionals involved with the Aeco Industry (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation) and, also the relevance of graphic geometry disciplines on the development of Visiographic Three-dimensional Capacity. So, this paper aims to investigate the impact caused by the use of traditional and digital media in the teaching of graphic representation. To this end, two groups of students were compared, one exposed to the use of both media - analogic and digital - and another that used just digital media. From the application of questionnaires, it was possible to identify the student's profile, their preferences of media and difficulties encountered. The work presumes that students exposed to more disciplines of graphic geometry will have less difficulties compared to those who had less contact. The main results indicated that: there is a preference, in both groups, for digital media to perform practical activities; the need to adapt the content to each specific engineering and that the most significant difficulties were related to work management, regardless of the media used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment model for the learning based on the formative assessment concept's gamification, created through the Moodle plataform. The related case studies demonstrate that, when working with gamification, the assessment process construction is problematic. From the theoretical foundation, an application was conceived based on the proposed model. In the case study carried out with the model, two groups were formed from a total of eleven Computer Engineering students from Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG): a control group, which performed the standard tasks of the discipline; and an experimental group that used the gamified assessment model developed in this research. The results were cataloged from two perspectives: qualitative and quantitative. The first one analyzed the scores achieved by each group. The second one measured the impact and acceptance of the tool as a learning assessment facilitator. The collected data allows concluding that the students who used the gamified formative assessment model obtained better results in terms of grades, in comparison with the control group, as well the students considering positive the experience with the tool. The gamified assessment model contributes to learning in the context in which it was applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the research output in engineering by the Middle East countries. The data on engineering research by Middle East countries were collected from Web of Science. Collected data were analyzed with various tools such as Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR), Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), Activity Index (AI), and Relative Specialization Index (RSI). The level of regional and international cooperation in the Middle East countries was also identified. Findings showed Iran has the highest overall performance in total documents, total citations, h-index, and highly cited papers, but most of the publications by Yemen were international cooperation. Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Yemen in the field of petroleum engineering; Bahrain and Qatar in industrial engineering; Turkey in geological engineering; Syria in agricultural engineering; Lebanon in medical engineering; Israel in cell & tissue engineering; Iraq in civil engineering; Egypt in Chemical Engineering; and Jordan in Software Engineering have the highest RSI in their countries. Results show that Iran had the best performance in most of the indicators (quantitative indices) and Saudi Arabia has good performance in qualitative indices among Middle East countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads are one of the major contributing factors for the economic and social enhancement of any country. Its importance further increases if the economy of a country is based on agriculture. From the total land area of India, more than 20% is covered with soils having high swelling and shrinkage potential and low strength. Any type of construction over such soils will not last long due to subsidence and crack formation. So, in order to overcome such situations, some soil stabilization techniques have to be adopted, since removal and replacement will lead to heavy economic burden. This paper presents the effect of adding rice husk ash (RHA) and stone dust on various index and engineering properties of weak soil. Various doses of RHA (5, 10 and 20%) along with 6% cement and stone dust (10, 20, 30 and 40%) are used for stabilization. Tests are carried out to determine consistency limits, specific gravity, differential free swell, compaction characteristics and soaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR). Test results indicated significant reduction in swelling potential and improvement in CBR value of soil, thus decreasing the thickness requirement of pavement and saving costly base and sub-base aggregate materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of articles related to energy engineering is presented, including "Dispersion Modeling of Leachates From Thermal Power," by G. Singh and colleagues, "Evaluation of Membrane Processes for Reducing Total Dissolved Solid Diagnosed to the Truckee River," by E. R. Mortensen and colleagues, and "In-Place Stabilization of Pond Ash Deposits by Hydrated Lime Columns," by S. K. Chand and C. Subbarao.

• Engineering demand parameters (EDPs) were assessed for CLT-glulam hybrid structures. • An EDP named MaxISWDI was proposed to evaluate damage to CLT shear wall subsystems. • Nonlinear time-history analyses were conducted on 12 prototype structures. • The best-suited EDPs for capturing damage were determined by correlation analyses. • An EDP named MaxCDI was developed as the benchmark EDP in correlation analyses. By bracing glulam frames with cross-laminated timber (CLT) shear walls, CLT-glulam hybrid structures offer a promising solution for multi-story timber construction. This paper presents an assessment of engineering demand parameters (EDPs) for seismic analyses of such hybrid structures. Five EDPs were considered, including the commonly used maximum inter-story drift ratios (MaxISDRs), peak floor accelerations (PFAs), and maximum roof drift ratios (MaxRDRs), as well as two newly developed EDPs named maximum connection damage index (MaxCDI) and maximum inter-story CLT shear wall damage index (MaxISWDI). The EDPs were assessed through nonlinear time-history analyses (NLTHAs) on 12 prototype CLT-glulam hybrid structures with different building heights, construction types of CLT shear wall subsystems (platform or balloon), and inter-story configurations of CLT shear walls. The MaxCDI was then employed as the benchmark EDP to evaluate the effectiveness of the other four EDPs in capturing structural damage. The results showed that the connection damage of glulam frame subsystems was limited during major earthquakes, and the construction type of CLT shear wall subsystems had a significant impact on the connection damage of CLT shear wall subsystems. The MaxISDR performed well in characterizing damage to glulam frame subsystems, while it could not reflect damage to CLT shear wall subsystems given that the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the MaxISDR and the MaxCDI of CLT shear wall subsystems only reached −0.07. The MaxISWDI was capable of quantifying connection damage of CLT shear wall subsystems, with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of 0.87. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A facile laser-assisted synthesis process was employed to prepare Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –LIG. • Laser induces in situ carbonization and surface engineering of Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –LIG. • Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –LIG-modified GCE showed good electrochemical detection for FNPS. • The FNPS sensor had a low LOD (7.69 nM) and high sensitivity (1.5137 µA µM−1cm−2). • The sensor exhibited a recovery of > 96 % in spiked environmental and food samples. The increasing use of pesticides poses significant threats to both the environment and human health. Safety assessments for controlling or monitoring such potential hazards require on-site sensing devices with facile fabrication and ultralow detection limits. In particular, electrochemical assays satisfy some of these requirements; however, to date, their electrodes have not demonstrated satisfactory stability, selectivity, or sensitivity. This paper reports the development of a simple, efficient electrochemical sensor based on a composite of samarium stannate (Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7) and laser-induced graphene (LIG) for detecting fenamiphos (FNPS) insecticides in environmental and food samples. A laser photothermal reaction was employed to simultaneously carbonize and amorphize the surface of a Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –polyimide film. This single-step reaction furnished a three-dimensional porous LIG network with Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 clusters. The resulting Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –LIG nanocomposite exhibited enhanced physicochemical properties, surpassing those of its individual components, i.e., LIG and Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7. Moreover, a glassy carbon electrode modified with Sm 2 Sn 2 O 7 –LIG was employed for the detection of FNPS at remarkably low concentrations of 7.69 nM, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 1.5137 µA µM−1cm−2. Real-time monitoring resulted in a recovery rate of more than 96 % from spiked environmental and food samples, confirming its practical applicability for sensitive FNPS detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision forests are known to excel in tabular data once their hyperparameters are well-tuned. In addition to being accurate and robust classifiers, these models can be easily converted into a collection of if-else rules that clearly describe the model's decision-making process. However, in practice, decision trees may reach enormous depth and size, and as a result, the collection of rules is vast and complicated. Furthermore, the model may consume a significant amount of memory space on the machine. By creating compact models, it is possible to establish a modest set of rules that may be easier to understand, require less memory, and by nature, may increase the decision-making ability and avoid overfitting. Previous studies attempted to reduce the size of the trees by altering their structure, but this affects both their advantages and simplicity because their structure is much more complicated. (e.g. oblique trees). In this research, we present FACET , a novel algorithm for retaining the compactness of trees while referring to the model as a black box. FACET addresses this by utilizing automated feature engineering methods, which generate a new feature set from the data set by manipulating the current feature set, resulting in a drastic reduction in the size of the decision trees while preserving and even improving the model's accuracy. Our algorithm, FACET, has been extensively tested on multiple datasets, models, and operators to demonstrate its effectiveness. On average, FACET achieves a 24% reduction in the size criteria of the tree-based model without sacrificing accuracy. This reduction in size leads to an average memory reduction of 44% on the dataset required for learning. These statistically significant results demonstrate the potential of FACET to enable more efficient and interpretable tree-based models, without compromising their accuracy, in practical applications. • New algorithm retains decision tree compactness while treating model as black box. • First literature to reduce tree size by modifying user features. • New approach formally defined in paper. • Automated feature engineering methods proposed for problem handling. • Algorithms assessed on diverse data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently introduced Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (AHA) exhibits competitive performance in developing optimization concerns. However, AHA has an imbalance between exploration and utilization abilities, often prematurely converging with low precision. Therefore, in this paper, a multi-strategy boosted hybrid artificial hummingbird algorithm called LCAHA combined with sinusoidal chaotic map strategy, Lévy flight, cross, and update foraging strategy is proposed. Firstly, LCAHA is initialized by the sinusoidal chaotic map strategy to obtain a population with better ergodicity. Secondly, introducing the Lévy flight can boost the diversity of the population, control premature convergence and boost the stability of the population. Then, two new strategies, cross foraging and update foraging, are introduced. The introduction of new foraging strategies further enhances the exploration and developmental capabilities. These three strategies work together to improve the overall performance of the AHA. Finally, the performance of the LCAHA is examined on 23 classical test suites, the CEC2017, CEC2019, and CEC2020 test suites, and six engineering optimization cases. The numerical experimental results show that LCAHA provides very promising numerical results in solving challenging optimization problems. The algorithm is applied to two spacecraft trajectory optimization cases. The experimental results demonstrate the applicability and potential of the LCAHA in solving practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a list of recommended articles on cold region engineering published in 2003. "Goodbye, Hazen; Hello, Kozeny-Carman," by W.D. Carrier III, published in the "Journal of Geotechnology and Geoenvironmental Engineering"; "Thermal Post-buckling of Uniform Columns on Elastic Foundation--An Intuitive Solution," by G.V. Rao and K.K. Raju, published in the "Journal of Engineering Mechanism"; "Soil Water Content Monitoring Using Electromagnetic Induction," by R.C. Reddy and B.R. Scanlon, published in the "Journal of Geotechnology and Geoenvironmental Engineering."

Land subsidence along significant linear engineering is mainly affected by long-term over-extraction of groundwater, mining of mineral resources, and karst collapse. In this paper, combined with the engineering geological and hydrogeological conditions, a three-dimensional fluid-solid model of land subsidence is established based on groundwater seepage and Biot's consolidation theories, in order to analyze and forecast the evolution law of the groundwater and land subsidence. The numerical results are verified using field monitoring data (InSAR and high-precision level measurement results). On the basis of monitoring and numerical results, the induced factors and distribution characteristics of land subsidence along the high-speed railway line are determined. According to different groundwater exploitation schemes, the development and evolution laws of ground subsidence in the future are predicted to analyze the influence of ground subsidence on high-speed railway line. The results suggest that (1) the main influencing factors of land subsidence in DK306~DK313 and DK411~DK414 sections are groundwater over-extraction, while DK276~DK279 section is coal mining, DK368~DK372 section requires a special research; (2) the decrease of land subsidence rate and differential subsidence are shown to be nonlinear with the reduction of groundwater withdrawal; (3) under the same mining conditions of groundwater, the land subsidence rate and differential subsidence are declining with time; (4) the surface differential subsidence is obviously sensitive to groundwater exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a configurable and computable instructional model based on gamification elements. The empirical evaluation of the model is also reported using the software engineering area as the scope of application. In the experimental study two treatments were compared: the traditional dynamics of using a paper document for the Performance Test, and the use of a Virtual Learning Environment configured based in the model; the dependent variables considered were time and score. From the statistical analysis it was possible to conclude that the students did not present significant differences in the scores obtained in both treatments; however, the time turned out to be a variable with significant differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering degree programmes include a significant amount of practical work for which national accrediting bodies stipulate a set of laboratory-learning outcomes. This paper sets out to understand how students' interactions in the laboratory contribute to the attainment of laboratory-learning outcomes. The investigation was conducted in the traditional face-to-face laboratory mode. Results from surveys of final-year students and instructors are reported. Students' and instructors' perspectives of the relative importance of four main types of student interaction to meet each of the Engineers Australia laboratory-learning outcomes are also presented. Students primarily expected to interact with instructors more than with students (directly or through observation of interactions) or equipment for their achievement of the learning outcomes, whereas instructors reported that all of the interactions are important to achieve the learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in computational methods, materials science, and new manufacturing processes are resulting in an unprecedented design flexibility which is driving the geometrical complexity of the components found in modern structures and machines. For safety-critical components, the geometrical complexity poses a significant challenge to the sensitivity of the existing nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods available for the detection of manufacturing defects or damage that develops while a component is in service. Although X-ray computed tomography is the primary NDE method used to test these parts in current industrial practice, it is widely recognized that it has limited sensitivity to critical defects, such as cracks, especially in the presence of large size parts made of dense materials. The lack of sensitive NDE methods represents a major technology gap that could impede the acceptance of rapidly developing technologies, such as 3-D printing, for the production of safety-critical components. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by exploring the possibility of inspecting a complex-shaped part with ultrasonic waves after it has been encapsulated in ice, under the paradigm of what can be defined as cryo-ultrasonic NDE. The underpinning hypothesis is that through ice encapsulation a complex-shaped part can be transformed into a simple-shaped solid whose volume can be probed with ultrasonic waves, which are known to be highly sensitive to both pores and crack-like defects and over a wide range of material properties. Damage detection is then performed by analyzing cross-sectional images of the ice-encapsulated part obtained by applying migration methods to the ultrasonic signals measured by an array of transducers. This paper lays the foundation for cryo-ultrasonic NDE and presents the first experimental results demonstrating the possibility of imaging defects through multiple ice–metal interfaces. This paves the way to the detection of defects in complex-shaped parts containing internal vanes which have so far limited the use of conventional NDE methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Time-domain near-field scanning is gaining more and more interest within EMC engineering to analyze electromagnetic near-fields of, e.g., quasi-stationar devices. When using a digital oscilloscope to scan the near-fields of an electronic device, the oscilloscope measures time-domain signals that comprise in most cases a large number of frequency components. For many of these components, noncoherent sampling occurs, resulting in spectral leakage when calculating the frequency spectrum of the time-domain signals with the discrete Fourier transform. This paper proposes an improved method to detect the presence of such noncoherently sampled signals as well as an iterative algorithm to obtain accurate approximations of all the frequency components with their accompanying amplitudes and phase angles. The algorithm excels over existing algorithms in obtaining these values especially in situations where several sinusoidal components are close to each other in the spectrum. This is achieved, thanks to an iterative process of removing the influence of the multiple sinusoidal components on each other. This paper contains the mathematical description of the algorithm and a numerical example evaluating the accuracy of the algorithm. The algorithm has a higher accuracy than the existing approaches, e.g., multipoint Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (IpDFTs), with only a slight increase of the computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern engineering, researchers/scientists are very keen to know first few modes of vibration because it provides how system/structure behaves under vibration. In this paper, author computed the natural vibration of non homogeneous tapered square plate. Here tapered means that plate's thickness varies linearly along x-axis. Here non homogeneity arises in the plate's material due to simultaneous variation in density (circular variation) and Poisson's ratio (exponential variation). Temperature variation on the plate is viewed bi-parabolic along the axes. Rayleigh-Ritz technique is applied to obtain the frequency equation and vibrational frequency modes under different combination of parameters. The findings of the papers are presented in tabular form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complex engineering system typically consists of a group of components/subsystems in a hierarchical structure and the system is monitored at only some, not all, of these hierarchical levels. This paper investigates a Bayesian approach to system reliability prediction using multilevel incomplete data. These data are drawn simultaneously from different component/subsystem levels within the same system, thus need to be analyzed with the consideration of their overlapping nature. In this paper, a Bayesian network model is proposed for modeling the reliability of a multilevel system, where a lower level node can only be connected to one higher level node. Through Bayesian inference, the posterior distributions of lifetime parameters and conditional probabilities in the model are obtained by combining prior beliefs with lifetime data coming from different system levels. This study is also extended to include mixed data types, i.e., both pass/fail data and lifetime data. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated in a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A great deal of previous work has studied methods to determine system reliability. That work has defined system reliability as the probability that the production output meets a predetermined demand for a network with many workstations, each of which has random capacity determined by a discrete probability distribution. It is noteworthy that the archival work presents numerous examples, wherein entities are discrete and indivisible, while the analysis is based upon continuous flow, much like a fluid, through the network. The inconsistency, inherent in mixing discrete-entity examples with continuous-flow analysis, can result in erroneous conclusions about the system reliability. The current paper presents a rigorous discrete-analysis analytical approach, which is called the Song rule (Stochastic “Output $\geq$ demand” Networks and their Generation). Based on all examples studied in this paper, the absolute difference ratios between the previous incorrect (as published) and the correct probabilities (from the Song rule) are all greater than 23%. The proposed Song rule analysis is verified to be correct using discrete-event simulation. In addition to providing rigorous analysis for the network problems under consideration, the Song rule is a useful tool for assessing the validity of any future proposed approach for other stochastic reliability problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The development of machine learning brings a new way for diagnosing the fault of rolling element bearings. However, the method in machine learning with high accuracy often has the poor ability of generalization due to the overuse of feature engineering. To address this challenge, Naïve Bayes classifier is applied in this paper. As the one of the cluster of Bayes classifiers, its ability of classification is very outstanding. In this paper, the method is provided with a detailed description for why and how to diagnose the fault of bearing. Finally, an evaluation of the performance of Naïve Bayes classifier is presented with real world data. The evaluation indicates that Naïve Bayes classifier can achieve a high level of accuracy without any feature engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear power plant (NPP) outages are challenging construction projects. Delays in NPP outage processes can cause significant economic losses. In typical NPP outages, extremely busy outage schedules, large crew sizes, dynamic workspaces and zero tolerance of accidents pose challenges to ensuring the resilience of outage control, which should rapidly and proactively respond to delays, errors, or unexpected tasks added during outages. Two mutually interacting practical problems impede NPPs from achieving such resilient outage control: 1) how to control errors and wastes effectively during the “handoffs” between tasks, and 2) how to respond to numerous contingencies in NPP outage workflows in a responsive and proactive manner. A resilient NPP outage control system should address these two practical problems through “Human-Centered Automation (HCA),” which is improving the control process automation while fully considering human factors. Previous studies examined two categories of technologies that potentially enable HCA in outage control: 1) computational modeling and simulation methods for predicting states of field operations and workflows; 2) data collection and processing methods for capturing the reality and thus providing feedback to computational models. Unfortunately, limited studies systematically synthesize technological challenges related to these practical problems and underlying HCA principles. This paper identifies the domain requirements, challenges, and potential solutions of achieving the HCA system that effectively supports resilient NPP outage control. This proposed system aims at significantly improving the performance of handoff monitoring/control and responding to contingencies during the outage. Firstly, the authors identified information acquisition and modeling challenges of achieving human-center automation for outage control. The rest of the paper then synthesizes potential techniques available in the domains of computer science, cognitive science, system science, and construction engineering that can potentially address these challenges. The authors concluded this literature and technological review with a research roadmap for achieving HCA in construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertain and potentially harsh operating environments are often known to alter the operational performance of a system. In order to maintain system performance while coping with varying operating environments and potential disruptions, the resilience of engineered systems is desirable. Engineering systems are often interconnected in a dimensional way inherently from basic components to subsystems to the system of systems, which poses a grand challenge for system designers to analyze the resilience of such a complex system. Moreover, further complications in the assessment of resilience in the engineering domain are attributed to time-varying system performances, random perturbation occurrences, and probable failures caused by adverse events. This paper presents a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) approach for the modeling and predictive resilience analysis for dynamic engineered systems. With the inter-time-slice links and the conditional probability tables in a DBN, the system performance could be molded as changing in a discrete time slice, while capturing the temporal probabilistic dependencies between the variables. An industrial-based case study of an electricity distribution system is further studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the DBN approach for resilience analysis. The approach presented in this paper hopes to aid in realizing resiliency in system designs and to pave the way toward enhancements in developing resilient engineered systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses upon a place called the Vertical Village, a building in the center of Rio de Janeiro inhabited exclusively by indigenous peoples from different ethnic groups belonging to different parts of the country. In this paper, we discuss questions related to the experience of being indigenous in a city, the construction of a residential space as a village, and the constitution of indigenous identity in the urban context. Following the paths of three inhabitants of the building, the questions considered emerge from their transiting between cities and villages, frontiers either real or imaginary, prejudices and expectations of indigenous identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on typical water-rich sandy gravel strata in Beijing, in order to explore the application of the artificial ground freezing method (AGF) in urban large-scale underground engineering, the formation and development of freezing body were analyzed when multirow freezing pipes were working together, and the group effect exhibited during the freezing process was also revealed in this paper. On this basis, the basin-shaped freezing method (BFM) is put forward as an application of AGF used in underground engineering. BFM structure consists of two parts: the frozen curtain (basin wall) around the excavation scope and the horizontal frozen body (basin bottom) at the bottom of the station. Physical model test and numerical simulation were conducted to study temperature field expansion of BFM under two different conditions. The results show the following: (1) The group effect refers to the cooling effect of different freezing pipes influencing each other during freezing process. Under the condition of still water, the group effect expands the freezing area, and it shows the gradual development of freezing from back water surface to front water surface under seepage condition. (2) BFM can effectively play the role of water proofing, and although different parts of basin structure show different frozen order under different conditions, both basin wall and basin bottom can form an effective thickness during the freezing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive system is able to adapt at runtime to dynamically changing environments and to new requirements. Adaptive systems can be single adaptive entities or collective ones that consist of several collaborating entities. Rigorous engineering requires appropriate methods and tools that help guaranteeing that an adaptive system lives up to its intended purpose. This paper introduces the special section on "Rigorous Engineering of Collective Adaptive Systems." It presents the seven contributions of the section and gives a short overview of the field of rigorously engineering collective adaptive systems by structuring it according to three topics: systematic development, methods and theories for modelling and analysis, and techniques for programming and operating collective adaptive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organ-on-a-chip (OOC) is a very ambitious emerging technology with a high potential to revolutionize many medical and industrial sectors, particularly in preclinical-to-clinical translation in the pharmaceutical arena. In vivo, the function of the organ(s) is orchestrated by a complex cellular structure and physiochemical factors within the extracellular matrix and secreted by various types of cells. The trend in in vitro modeling is to simplify the complex anatomy of the human organ(s) to the minimal essential cellular structure "micro-anatomy" instead of recapitulating the full cellular milieu that enables studying the absorption, metabolism, as well as the mechanistic investigation of drug compounds in a "systemic manner." However, in order to reflect the human physiology in vitro and hence to be able to bridge the gap between the in vivo and in vitro data, simplification should not compromise the physiological relevance. Engineering principles have long been applied to solve medical challenges, and at this stage of organ-on-a-chip technology development, the work of biomedical engineers, focusing on device engineering, is more important than ever to accelerate the technology transfer from the academic lab bench to specialized product development institutions and to the increasingly demanding market. In this paper, instead of presenting a narrative review of the literature, we systemically present a synthesis of the best available organ-on-a-chip technology from what is found, what has been achieved, and what yet needs to be done. We emphasized mainly on the requirements of a "good in vitro model that meets the industrial need" in terms of the structure (micro-anatomy), functions (micro-physiology), and characteristics of the device that hosts the biological model. Finally, we discuss the biological model–device integration supported by an example and the major challenges that delay the OOC technology transfer to the industry and recommended possible options to realize a functional organ-on-a-chip system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on engineering and computer science including cryptosporidiosis in cotton rats, design science research to assess cyber threat impacts and the reason for information technology project failure.

• Plasmonic Pt-Au/BiVO 4 single-crystal photocatalyst was constructed. • It was synthesized using crystal-facet engineering and selective photodeposition. • The unique photocatalyst can promote consecutive separation of photocarriers. • They are resulted from orientation transfer of BiVO 4 , Z-scheme Au/BiVO 4 , and Au-Pt. Constructing Z-scheme photocatalysts is one of the most effective technologies to enhance the photocatalytic reduction or oxidation ability in artificial photosynthesis. For the BiVO 4 photocatalyst, it usually shows limited photocatalytic ability because of the severe bulk recombination of photogenerated carriers and the poor reduction reaction of photogenerated electrons. In this paper, a novel plasmonic Z-scheme Pt-Au/BiVO 4 single-crystal photocatalyst was constructed to solve the above issues. Here, Au nanoparticles are selectively deposited on the electron-rich (0 1 0) facet of BiVO 4 , while Pt nanoparticles are selectively modified on the Au surface. Photocatalytic results indicated that the resultant Pt-Au/BiVO 4 Z-scheme photocatalyst exhibits an obviously higher photocatalytic performance than pure BiVO 4 , Au/BiVO 4 , randomly deposited BiVO 4 (Pt-Au/BiVO 4 (R)) and conventional Pt-Au/BiVO 4. More importantly, compared with the well-known Pt/BiVO 4 (2.0 wt%), the Pt-Au/BiVO 4 not only exhibits a higher photocatalytic performance, but also loads a lower amount of high-cost Pt cocatalyst. The excellent photocatalytic activity of the plasmonic Z-scheme Pt-Au/BiVO 4 photocatalyst can be attributed to the synergistic effect of crystal-facet engineering and selective loading of Pt-Au, which results in the orientation transfer of photogenerated carriers in the single-crystal BiVO 4 , the enhanced reduction power of photogenerated electrons, and the rapid oxygen-reduction reaction on Pt cocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of noise in room-temperature THz radiometers that use THz-to-optical upconversion followed by optical detection of thermal radiation. Despite some undesired upconverted thermal noise, no noise is intrinsically introduced by efficient electro-optic modulation via a sum-frequency-generation process in high quality factor (Q) whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators. However, coherent and incoherent optical detection results in fundamentally different noise characteristics. The analysis shows that the upconversion receiver is quantum limited like conventional amplifiers and mixers, only when optical homodyne or heterodyne detection is performed. However, this type of receiver shows advantages as a THz photon counter, where counting is in the optical domain. Theoretical predictions show that upconversion-based room-temperature receivers can outperform state-of-the-art cooled and room-temperature THz receivers based on low-noise amplifiers and mixers, provided that a photon conversion efficiency greater than 1% is realized. Although the detection bandwidth is naturally narrow due to the highly resonant electro-optic modulator, it is not fundamentally limited and can be broadened by engineering selective optical coupling mechanisms to the resonator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the Vidwan database and find the distribution of subject experts in engineering & technology of Deemed Universities in India. Vidwan is the expert database for national researchers network it helps the research community to maintain their academic profile and identify the experts from various subject domains in one place. We collected the data from Vidwan database manually and used Microsoft Excel for analysing the data. Frequency distribution, percentage analysis were used to rank for finding the highly performing the fields of expertise, the academic positions (designation of the researcher), organisations and states. There are about 4365 experts available from the Deemed Universities. Out of these, 1729 experts are available in engineering & technology domain. There are more experts in electrical and electronics engineering. Among the various designations, the experts in the range of Assistant Professors level followed by Professors are in more numbers. Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology have contributed more experts. Andhra Pradesh is leading in the number of experts in engineering and technology. Tamil Nadu is in third position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]