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Abstract: The Pacific Tracker (PacTrac) is a computer program designed to analyse food intakes of individuals from the Pacific Region. PacTrac’s original output included servings of daily intake of food groups according to the United States Food Guide Pyramid, nutrient intake recommendations, and a comparison to other national nutrition recommendations. PacTrac was made available for public use through the Hawaii Foods website (hawaiifoods.hawaii.edu). PacTrac2 is an updated and expanded version of PacTrac that uses the United States MyPyramid/MyPlate food groups in household units of daily intake, rather than servings. In addition, the PacTrac2 includes a physical activity analysis tool which quantifies minutes of physical activities and their intensities based on energy estimates from the compendium of physical activity and research on children. An Expert System (ES) – a computerised decision tree to guide behaviour change – was developed using information on self-efficacy and stage of readiness to change, and the fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity information from PacTrac2. The ES produces reports for the child, the parent/guardian, and the child’s physician with child-specific strategies, targeted behavioural information, and feedback tailored to the child. PacTrac2-ES was designed for the Pacific Kids DASH for Health (PacDASH) intervention study, conducted in the Kaiser Permanente health care system in Hawaii. The intervention is based on the child’s self-efficacy and stage of readiness to change intake of fruits and vegetables and physical activity, with a goal of maintaining body weight to prevent obesity. The intervention is complemented with stage-based mailers addressing the environment for physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake and newsletters that address related behaviours (sedentary activity and a DASH eating approach). This project is the first to expand the PacTrac to contain children’s foods and physical activities from the Pacific Region and to use current US MyPyramid/MyPlate food and physical activity analysis and guidance systems, and to develop and implement an Expert System for fruits, vegetables and physical activity of 5–8-year-old children. The PacTrac2-ES was used in the PacDASH study and will be used for other programs to promote healthy eating and physical activity of children in the Pacific Region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the inception of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board statement-34 (GASB 34) in the United States, local and state governing entities need to inspect sewer systems and collect general information about their properties. Application of the collected information in decision-making processes, however, is often problematic due to the lack of consistency and completeness of infrastructure data. In addition, most techniques involved in decision-making processes are relatively complicated and difficult to implement without a certain level of engineering experience and training. Consequently, the sharing and transferring of pertinent information among stakeholders is not smooth and is frequently limited. This study presents a decision support system (DSS) for the management of sewer infrastructure using data warehousing technology. The proposed decision support system automatically assigns appropriate inspection and renewal methods for each pipeline and estimates associated costs, resulting in effective and practical sewer infrastructure management from various perspectives, with corresponding levels of detail. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop an expert system using fuzzy approach to investigate the effects of noise pollution on speech interference. The speech interference measured in terms of speech intelligibility is considered to be a function of noise level, distance between speaker and listener, and the age of the listener. The main source of model development is the reports of World Health Organization (WHO) and field surveys conducted by various researchers. It is implemented on Fuzzy Logic Toolbox of MATLAB using both Mamdani and Sugeno techniques. The results are found to be in good agreement with the findings of World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The study reveals that for good communication at normal distances (‘short’ and ‘medium’) encountered in ambient environment, the noise level should not exceed 65dB(A) for ‘young’ and ‘middle aged’, and 55dB(A) for ‘old’ persons. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Expert systems, when implemented with rigorous content and ease of use, are uniquely valuable to small water systems where personnel will frequently be required to function in multiple capacities with diverse skill requirements. In this study, the potential for using expert systems to supplement the 'breadth versus depth' paradigm prevalent in the operations and management of small water utilities is demonstrated. An expert system framework was constructed using a limited, but extensible set of rules for compliance monitoring decision support. Two expert system shells were incorporated to answer both data- and goal-driven questions. A native XML database was used to store the rules and to ensure consistency, extensibility and eliminate duplication between inference mechanisms. The Environmental Protection Agency's Total Coliform Rule was codified into the XML rules database and used to demonstrate 'proof-of-concept.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A web-based expert system was developed to help potato growers in Michigan make important decisions on optimal use and timing of fungicide applications to mitigate the risk of potato late blight (PLB) disease development. The system was developed around a relational database which stores information on PLB risk which is generated using a PLB prediction model implemented in Perl. The model uses data on relative humidity and temperature from a network of automated weather stations in Michigan to estimate if environmental conditions are favorable for PLB epidemic development. Management recommendations are then produced based on the level of risk. Information stored in the database is presented to users through a series of interactive web pages which are dynamically generated through a combination of Perl and PHP scripts which interface between the website and relational database. This system differs from traditional systems in two major ways. Firstly, the system is web-based and interactive, allowing growers to access site specific, weather-based recommendations through their personal computer without the purchase or installation of additional equipment and/or software. Secondly, the system incorporates geographic proximity of known PLB occurrences and data from a network of regional weather stations into daily risk estimates and management recommendations for 48 locations in Michigan. Recommendations include application timing and spray rates for common fungicides. The interactive website is accessible over the web at URL: http://www.lateblight.org. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article is a review of the MultiCASE Inc. software and expert systems and their use to assess acute toxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and other health effects. It is demonstrated that MultiCASE expert systems satisfy the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) principles and that the portfolio of available endpoints closely overlaps with the list of tests required by REACH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is desirable to incorporate heuristic and empirical knowledge including hydrological and bio-geochemical considerations into the selection process of a potential landfill site. In this article, a prototype expert system for the selection of a landfill site, with hybrid knowledge representation approach under object-oriented design environment in a blackboard architecture, is described. It incorporates an artificial neural network for training of partial hazardous scores and a fuzzy rule base for the representation of heuristic knowledge. The evaluation is based on the hazardous waste site ranking system recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency, adapted to Hong Kong conditions by incorporating the stipulation of some local regulations. It is shown to be a useful aid in assisting novice engineers in the selection process of a potential landfill site during preliminary investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To combat COVID-19, curb the pandemic, and manage containment, governments around the world are turning to data collection and population monitoring for analysis and prediction. The massive data generated through the use of big data and artificial intelligence can play an important role in addressing this unprecedented global health and economic crisis., Objectives: The objective of this work is to develop an expert system that combines several solutions to combat COVID-19. The main solution is based on a new developed software called General Guide (GG) application. This expert system allows us to explore, monitor, forecast, and optimize the data collected in order to take an efficient decision to ensure the safety of citizens, forecast, and slow down the spread's rate of COVID-19. It will also facilitate countries' interventions and optimize resources. Moreover, other solutions can be integrated into this expert system, such as the automatic vehicle and passenger sanitizing system equipped with a thermal and smart High Definition (HD) cameras and multi-purpose drones which offer many services. All of these solutions will facilitate lifting COVID-19 restrictions and minimize the impact of this pandemic., Methods: The methods used in this expert system will assist in designing and analyzing the model based on big data and artificial intelligence (machine learning). This can enhance countries' abilities and tools in monitoring, combating, and predicting the spread of COVID-19., Results: The results obtained by this prediction process and the use of the above mentioned solutions will help monitor, predict, generate indicators, and make operational decisions to stop the spread of COVID-19., Conclusions: This developed expert system can assist in stopping the spread of COVID-19 globally and putting the world back to work.

Abstract: Advances in automation have led to the ability to rapidly sequence large numbers of samples. However, the large number of samples requires time consuming manual analysis and review of the data in order to produce a validated result. An automated software system for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data analysis, developed under contract with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation DNA Analysis Unit Two, allows forensic analysts to get consistent, accurate results more quickly. In MTexpert™, ab1 trace files are assembled into a consensus sequence and the difference report “mitotype” is generated using the standardized Mitotyper nomenclature rules. Expert system rules and procedures are incorporated to automate routine trace and assembly edits. The analysis of quality control samples is also automated. Every step in the data analysis process, both automatic and manual, is tracked and logged. Project files that archive the data, the analysis process log, the assembled sample consensus sequence, and the type description are automatically generated. Currently, two examiners are required to read and edit mtDNA sequences. This can be time consuming and laborious. The MTexpert software completely automates the analysis of high quality data sets, replacing the need for one of the two forensic analysts in a two-reviewer process. When this is not possible, the software efficiently directs the analysts’ attention to the issues that prevented automated completion of a project. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]