Optimal Projection Research Articles

Scientific and Technological Innovation Rapid Emergency Resource Constraint-Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Project Scheduling Method

In the environment of scientific and technological innovation, the human and material resources that can reach the project threshold are often limited. For enterprise projects that require high R&D and production level to produce rapid emergency resources, they often face the problem of difficult effective allocation of emergency resources, resulting in project delay. Therefore, in the process of high-tech projects, it is necessary to deal with the lack of emergency scientific and technological resources. Therefore, based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm which is easy to be realized by scientific and technological innovation enterprises, this study improves its two shortcomings of easy local optimization and low performance, constructs the CD-PSO project scheduling model, verifies the performance of the improvement points, and tests the performance of the model in the actual project case of enterprise rapid emergency resource scheduling. The results show that the optimal solution of CD-PSO model in the three sample sets is higher than that of D-PSO model in the same group, and the average scheduling duration is the shortest, which is 350 days, and the proportion of reaching the optimal duration is 100%. The operation effect is obviously better than other scheduling models. The CD-PSO project scheduling model designed in this study is easier to implement and can calculate the optimal solution of the first project more efficiently. It not only has excellent performance, but also has a strong popularization foundation.

Assessment of Hydropower Potential in Wastewater Systems and Application in a Lowland Country, Lithuania

This paper focuses on possible power generation by micro-hydro turbines integrated into lowland wastewater systems, which convert the potential energy of effluents in pipes into electric power. While other European countries have widely invested in this technology, Lithuania and other Baltic countries are still behind with their potential development rate. A search for potential micro-hydro sites was carried out, and a methodology for assessing water resources for an ungauged wastewater network is proposed herein. Particularities of wastewater flow patterns are briefly reviewed, and turbine operational constraints are analyzed. The hydro turbines available on the market to be installed in wastewater systems that meet lowland conditions are discussed. Available tools on the hydropower market to conduct a preliminary assessment of potential sites for urban water networks are considered. Multicriteria analysis is performed to select optimal projects by assessing the relevant economic, technical, and environmental criteria in water networks. The outcomes of this study can be used for unlocking the hydropower potential of wastewater systems in low-lying areas.

Modeling the effects of government subsidy and regulation on BOT transport project contract design within contractible service quality

Government subsidy and regulation are frequently employed to encourage the private sector to participate fully in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) transport projects. Besides service charge, the service quality of BOT transport project (i.e., maintenance quality, toll service, operational monitoring, emergency management, safety management and so on) is also an important factor affecting the choice of users. This paper studies the optimal service quality decisions in both concession period (CP) and post-CP, in which we assume that the market demand is dependent on both service price and service quality. Firstly, in the absence of subsidy scheme, we derive the related players’ optimal decisions of toll charge, contractible service quality, project capacity and length of CP in the BOT contract design process. Secondly, we investigate how to design an optimal BOT transport project contract when the government subsidizes the private sector. Thirdly, we explore the effects of government regulation policies (i.e., price cap regulation and service quality floor regulation) on the BOT contract design. Finally, we make three extensions to further examine the impacts of the demand uncertainty, the risk-aversion attitude of private sector, the asymmetric cost information and the nonlinear demand function on the BOT contract design. From our model results, some policy implications are derived regarding BOT transport project contract design when the service quality is a fundamental contractible variable.

Drug Optimization, Sustainability, and Evaluation (DOSE) Project in Alberta Health Services.

Drug Optimization, Sustainability, and Evaluation (DOSE) Project in Alberta Health Services.

Sadomasochism in everyday life

The article examines the phenomenon of sadomasochism in the context of everyday life. It is noted that the constructivist understanding of everyday life is based on the interpretation of social action proposed by M. Weber. Obviously, in Weber's typology, the highest type is the goal rational social action, which assumes a model of a rational person who is guided by rational motives and chooses the most optimal project of action to achieve the set goal. Whereas affective social action is on the margins of sociology's interest. Meanwhile, as Z. Freud demonstrates, the everyday is not some kind of sterile-rational reality, in the everyday the unconscious manifests itself in tricks, erroneous actions, descriptions, etc., which may well be based on unconscious sadomasochistic desires. The author turns to the history of the study of sadomasochism, considering the concepts of such authors as R. von Krafft-Ebing, Z. Freud, E. Fromm, Z. Lew-Starowicz, L. Eidelberg, H. Murray. The article examines the concepts of sadomasochism such modern author as Martin Kantor, who proceeds from the fact that sadomasochism cannot be reduced only to sexual sadomasochism or the practice of BDSM, in fact it is a much broader social phenomenon. According to M. Kantor, in a broad sense, sadomasochism manifests itself in power, control, dominance and submission, a dynamic that is pervasive in our lives, from home to work. We see such examples of sadomasochism as sadomasochistic mothers, children, and fathers in the family circle; sadomasochistic marriages and divorces; corporate sadomasochism; sadomasochistic companies; sadomasochistic workers; sadomasochistic writer's block іn the everyday life. In this perspective, the everyday appears before us as a reality where people act not to achieve rational goals, but because of the desire to dominate and submission.

Identifying the Current State and Improvement Opportunities in the Information Flows Necessary to Manage Professional Athletes: A Case Study in Rugby Union.

In sporting environments, the knowledge necessary to manage athletes is built on information flows associated with player management processes. In current literature, there are limited case studies available to illustrate how such information flows are optimized. Hence, as the first step of an optimization project, this study aimed to evaluate the current state and the improvement opportunities in the player management information flow executed within the High-Performance Unit (HPU) at a professional rugby union club in England. Guided by a Business Process Management framework, elicitation of the current process architecture illustrated the existence of 18 process units and two core process value chains relating to player management. From the identified processes, the HPU management team prioritized 7 processes for optimization. In-depth details on the current state (As-Is) of the selected processes were extracted from semi-structured, interview-based process discovery and were modeled using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Decision Model and Notation (DMN) standards. Results were presented for current issues in the information flow of the daily training load management process, identified through a thematic analysis conducted on the data obtained mainly from focus group discussions with the main stakeholders (physiotherapists, strength and conditioning coaches, and HPU management team) of the process. Specifically, the current state player management information flow in the HPU had issues relating to knowledge creation and process flexibility. Therefore, the results illustrate that requirements for information flow optimization within the considered environment exist in the transition from data to knowledge during the execution of player management decision-making processes.

APPLICATION OF DEPRECIATION NET PRESENT VALUE AND INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN IN ENGINEERING PROJECTS A BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

The Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Depreciation Methods are employed in most engineering projects to visualize the true potential of Return on Investment (ROI) in today’s capital investment world. Most previous studies have appreciated and indicated the usefulness of each method in determining economically feasible projects. However, some previous studies have applied all methods without a proper distinction between budgeting and accounting concepts and lacked insights into various situations under which each method has differed. This paper aims to explore the circumstances in which all methods differ to determine the most economically and optimal project alternatives. It describes a thematic literature review of the past 17 articles like the peer-reviewed conference and journal articles published from 1969 through 2021. The articles with citations have been randomly selected to analyze the data. The results indicate that the three methods are commonly used in all engineering projects under certain conditions. It concludes that NPV and IRR are capital budgeting methods based on discounted cash flow methods while depreciation is the accounting method based on non-cash discounted methods. The results also demonstrate that different depreciation methods are also employed throughout the project evaluation process to determine the best project alternatives. For an engineer to produce the results and make effective investment decisions, estimating the cost, predicting the savings, and acclimatizing to the budgeting and accounting concepts are crucial under each method.

Drift Artifacts Correction for Laboratory Cone-Beam Nanoscale X-ray Computed Tomography by Fitting the Partial Trajectory of Projection Centroid

A self-correction method for the drift artifacts of laboratory cone-beam nanoscale X-ray computed tomography (nano-CT) based on the trajectory of projection centroid (TPC) is proposed. This method does not require additional correction phantoms, simplifying the correction process. The whole TPC is estimated by the partial TPC in the optimal projection set. The projection drift is calculated by the measured TPC and the estimated TPC. The interval search method is used so that the proposed method can adapt to the case of a truncated projection due to drift. The fixed-angle scanning experiment of the Siemens star and the partial derivative analysis of the projection position show the necessity of correcting drift artifacts. Further, the Shepp–Logan phantoms with different drift levels are simulated. The results show that the proposed method can effectively estimate the horizontal and vertical drifts within the projection drift range of ±2 mm (27 pixels) with high accuracy. Experiments were conducted on tomato seed and bamboo stick to validate the feasibility of the proposed method for samples with different textures. The correction effect on different reconstructed slices indicates that the proposed method provides performance superior to the reference scanning method (RSM) and global fitting. In addition, the proposed method requires no extra scanning, which improves the acquisition efficiency, as well as radiation utilization.

Conceptual Framework Design to Select Optimal Project Delivery System and Contract Strategy

One of the most critical factors in the implementation of wastewater projects is the development of a plan for the implementation of the project as well as the optimal project delivery method and contract strategy that suits it, which may affect the success of the project. This research aims to explore the joint planning between the project delivery system and contract strategy, with the aim of providing a conceptual framework for designing an appropriate project delivery method and contract strategy. The researcher identified seven basic delivery methods based on a review of previous studies and a questionnaire that were conducted with a group of experts working in sewage projects in Wasit Governorate / Iraq. This research designs PDCS through the analytical hierarchical process This technique has been used for several reasons, including the ease of application and its ability to identify any quality problem, as well as allowing diversity between viewpoints and its ability to bring different opinions together. It can also be applied with many applications such as linear programming and targeted programming, where the main and sub-factors that affect the choice of PDCS are studied. The design process is divided into two stages, the preliminarily design and the detailed design.

An alignment-independent three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship study on ron receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Recepteur d'Origine Nantais known as RON is a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) superfamily which has recently gained increasing attention as cancer target for therapeutic intervention. The aim of this work was to perform an alignment-independent three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D QSAR) study for a series of RON inhibitors. A 3D QSAR model based on GRid-INdependent Descriptors (GRIND) methodology was generated using a set of 19 compounds with RON inhibitory activities. The generated 3D QSAR model revealed the main structural features important in the potency of RON inhibitors. The results obtained from the presented study can be used in lead optimization projects for designing of novel compounds where inhibition of RON is needed.

A phase-decomposition-based polarimetric coherence optimization method

The interference between different scattering components in distributed scatterer (DS) makes it difficult to estimate the phase from DS. Recently, some methods based on eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) are proposed to separate scatterer components from DS, such as component extraction and selection SAR (CAESAR) and phase-decomposition-based persistent scatterer (PS) InSAR (PD-PSInSAR). Meanwhile, many polarimetric radar satellites launched in recent years provide abundant polarization data, which promotes the research of polarimetric coherence optimization (PCO). The capability of PCO to improve the amount and quality of PSs has been verified. In this paper, a phase-decomposition-based polarimetric coherence optimization (PD-PCO) is proposed to explore the potential of PCO to improve the phase quality of DS. Firstly, the contribution of the first principal component on a coherence matrix is obtained by searching for the optimum projection vector. Then, the new scattering coefficient is generated by combining the polarimetric scattering vector and the projection vector. Finally, the interferometric phase of dominant scattering mechanism component is separated from the phase component by EVD. Twenty-eight dual-pol Sentinel-1A SAR images have been adopted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Phase derivative variation and coherence of the proposed method has been compared with other algorithms. The result shows that the quality of phase estimated by the PD-PCO is superior to the CAESAR, PD-PSInSAR, and the mean coherence polarimetric optimization based on equivalent scattering mechanism (ESM-R). The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm successfully improves the phase quality of DSCs.

The evolution of the mechanically agitated hopper in Anglo American Platinum

For Anglo American Platinum (AAP) to reach their burning ambition goal of doubling the Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) by 2023, sites are required to adopt an alternative approach to improve representativeness of metal accounting samples given the increase in grind and throughput demand. The success of optimization projects will rely heavily on metal accounting data being accurate so that improvements declared are based on sound samples and assay measurements. The 60 litre mechanically agitated hopper (MAH) was initially developed and ratified in order to overcome particle segregation evident in the 20-litre conventional, compressed air-agitated hoppers of vezin type sampling systems. A sustained plant accountability performance within the range of 95-105% was realized due to the correction of the previously overstated feed grade by means of a more representative sample. Pierre Gy’s rule of thumb of 30 increments per sampling campaign has not been proven and documented for the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) industry. The MAH however with additional volume capacity allows for flexibility to increase the primary sampling increments per shift from ± 32 to ± 96 to cater for process variability (thereby reducing distributional heterogeneity) without increasing the overall resulting final sample mass. Additional technology and larger 110/220 litre capacity hoppers have been deployed. Enhancements include a wash water and drainage system, an improved trash screen design and high/low hopper level sensors. The MAH principle of operation has also been expanded to cater for a double (3-drive) stage sampling system as well as a triple (5-drive) stage sampling system. It is believed that the latest MAH design will satisfy the Theory of Sampling principles and therefore a motivation for an industrial roll out of the innovation within AAP is underway.

Engineering of <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> insecticidal proteins

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been used as sprayable pesticides for many decades. Bt strains utilized in these products produce multiple insecticidal proteins to complement a narrow insect specificity of each protein. In the late 1990s, genes encoding Bt insecticidal proteins were expressed in crop plants such as cotton and corn to protect these crops from insect damage. The first Bt protein used in transgenic cotton was Cry1Ac to control Heliothis virescens (tobacco budworm). Cry1Ab was applied to corn to control Ostrinia nubilalis (European corn borer). Since these insects have developed resistance to Cry1Ac and Cry1Ab, new Bt proteins are required to overcome the resistance. In order to protect corn furthermore, it is desired to control Diabrotica virgifera (Western corn rootworm), Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm) and Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm). Recently, many new Bt insecticidal proteins have been discovered, but most of them require protein engineering to meet the high activity standard for commercialization. The engineering process for higher activity necessary for Bt crops is called optimization. The seed industry has been optimizing Bt insecticidal proteins to improve their insecticidal activity. In this review, several optimization projects, which have led to substantial activity increases of Bt insecticidal proteins, are described.

Optimization of a care pathway before atrial fibrillation ablation with the integration of translational research into routine clinical care

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background The diagnostic work-up for atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation is often complex and expensive. Improving the organization of this work-up may help to streamline patient journeys and to reduce administrative burden and costs. Additionally, reorganizing the existing work-up provides the opportunity to integrate (translational) research into routine clinical care, hereby contributing to improved patient selection and improved care for future patients. Purpose The aim of this project was to optimize a care pathway for patients considered for AF ablation, with the goals to improve the patient journey and simultaneously integrate research into the clinical process. Methods The Lean Six Sigma approach was used to map the pre-existing process, identify constraints in the process and formulate countermeasures. The impact of this pathway optimization was evaluated using four outcome measures: (1) efficient use of medical resources, defined as the percentage of patients receiving the pre-ablation work-up and eventually undergoing AF ablation, (2) number of hospital visits and consultations with a cardiologist, (3) pathway compliance, defined as the percentage of patients that completed the work-up with a maximum of 2 outpatient hospital visits, a maximum of 1 cardiologist consultation, laboratory results available, and a complete echocardiogram available, and (4) completeness of scientific data, defined as the availability of a predefined set of relevant variables (clinical indicators, medication, laboratory results and echocardiography derived data). Results Five root causes for constraints in the pre-existing work-up were identified and corresponding countermeasures were formulated (Figure 1). The impact of the countermeasures was studied for 33 patients before and 26 patients after pathway optimization. After optimization, efficient use of resources increased from 44% to 95% (p<0.01). The project resulted in fewer hospital visits per patient (3.2 ±1.2 versus 2.3 ±0.8, p=0.01) and fewer cardiologist consultations (1.8 ±0.7 versus 1.0 ±0.3, p<0.01). Pathway compliance increased significantly (3% versus 73%, p<0.01), an increase that was reflected in all separate components of overall pathway compliance (Figure 2, panel A). The percentage of available data for scientific research increased from 80% to 94% (p<0.01), resulting in a complete dataset in 73% of patients after, compared to only 15% of patients prior to the optimization project (p<0.01, Figure 2, panel B). Conclusions This optimization project resulted in a more efficient care pathway for patients considered for AF ablation. The structural integration of research into the care pathway may lay the foundations for further improvements of AF care in the future.

Optimization of Printing and Dyeing Energy Consumption Based on Multimedia Machine Learning Algorithm

In order to solve the problem with the expansion of the industrial scale, the contradiction between energy resources and development of printing and dyeing enterprises must implement refined management and optimize the allocation of resources such as production technology, energy consumption types, and metering instruments. As a printing and dyeing textile industry with high energy consumption and high pollution, energy conservation and emission reduction have become difficult problem to be solved in this industry. The premise of optimizing resource allocation is to have an objective and scientific evaluation of the current energy resource allocation of printing and dyeing enterprises. In view of this, through the investigation of printing and dyeing enterprises, this paper puts forward the index system of enterprise energy consumption optimization evaluation. Based on the application of data warehouse and combined with historical data, a new energy consumption optimization evaluation method is proposed. This survey has basically understood the current situation of energy and water resources management of a printing and dyeing enterprise and pointed out the direction for the development of enterprise energy optimization project in the next step. By means of multimedia informatization, with the help of Internet of Things sensing technology, building a new generation of energy management system, improving the refined management of energy measurement, and improving the energy assessment system, enterprises can achieve significant economic and social benefits in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction. On this basis, a low-power scheduling strategy for typical data center applications is designed and implemented. The algorithm uses the input data of different calculation parts, performs matching to determine the redundant part of the calculation process, and schedules the algorithm. Experimental data show that the mean square error of the limit tree is 0.0004248 and the mean square error of the decision tree is 0.01581; through calculation, the algorithm can achieve 23% and 17% energy saving.

Identification and Strategies to Mitigate High Total Clearance of Benzylamine-Substituted Biphenyl Ring Systems.

For most oral small-molecule projects within drug discovery, the extent and duration of the effect are influenced by the total clearance of the compound; hence, designing compounds with low clearance remains a key focus to help enable sufficient protein target engagement. Comprehensive understanding and accurate prediction of animal clearance and pharmacokinetics provides confidence that the same can be observed for human. During a MERTK inhibitor lead optimization project, a series containing a biphenyl ring system with benzylamine meta-substitution on one phenyl and nitrogen inclusion as the meta atom on the other ring demonstrated multiple routes of compound elimination in rats. Here, we describe the identification of a structural pharmacophore involving two key interactions observed for both the MERTK program and an additional internal project. Four strategies to mitigate these clearance liabilities were identified and systematically investigated. We provide evidence that disruption of at least one of the interactions led to a significant reduction in CL that was subsequently predicted from rat hepatocytes using in vitro/in vivo extrapolation and the well-stirred scaling method. These tactics will likely be of general utility to the medicinal chemistry and DMPK community during compound optimization when similar issues are encountered for biphenyl benzylamines.

Multiparty Data Publishing via Blockchain and Differential Privacy

Data are distributed between different parties. Collecting data from multiple parties for analysis and mining will serve people better. However, it also brings unprecedented privacy threats to the participants. Therefore, safe and reliable data publishing among multiple data owners is an urgent problem to be solved. We mainly study the problem of privacy protection in data publishing. For a centralized scenario, we propose the LDA-DP algorithm. First, the within-class mean vectors and the pooled within-class scatter matrix are perturbed by the Gaussian noise. Second, the optimal projection direction vector with differential privacy is obtained by the Fisher criterion. Finally, the low-dimensional projection data of the original data are obtained. For distributed scenarios, we propose the Mul-LDA-DP algorithm based on a blockchain and differential privacy technology. First, the within-class mean vectors and within-class scatter matrices of local data are perturbed by the Gaussian noise and uploaded to the blockchain network. Second, the projection direction vector is calculated in the blockchain network and returned to the data owner. Finally, the data owner uses the projection direction vector to generate low-dimensional projection data of the original data and upload it to the blockchain network for publishing. Furthermore, in a distributed scenario, we propose a correlated noise generation scheme that uses the additivity of the Gaussian distribution to mitigate the effects of noise and can achieve the same noise level as the centralized scenario. We measure the utility of the published data by the SVM misclassification rate. We conduct comparative experiments with similar algorithms on different real data sets. The experimental results show that the data released by the two algorithms can maintain good utility in SVM classification.

Fit-for-purpose conformal mapping for sustainable land administration in war-ravaged Syria

Over the last nine years, the ongoing armed conflict in Syria has had a devastating impact on properties and infrastructure, making it necessary to rebuild everything from scratch. As spatial data are a pillar to enhance sustainable socio-economic development, it should be georeferenced and reformed to keep up with the tremendous growth in information and communication technology. On the other hand, the low-distortion conformal mapping contributes significantly to changing the position of any feature on the earth's surface onto a plane to create accurate large-scale spatial data. The current research conducts an analytical study using spatial statistics tools to investigate an optimal conformal projection for representing the Syrian area in a single zone that preserves angles locally, reduces linear distortions, and fulfills modern geospatial technologies' requirements. The findings have shown the applicability of the proposed model as an alternative solution to minimize the scale error over the interest area. In addition, the isograms pattern is close to the shape of the area, and better fits the quality criteria of the chosen projection.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Optimization Strategies: Cusp Overlap, Commissural Alignment, Sizing, and Positioning

As transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) rapidly expands to younger patients and those at low surgical risk, there is a compelling need to identify patients at increased risk of post-procedural complications, such as paravalvular leak, prosthesis–patient mismatch, and conduction abnormalities. This review highlights the incidence and risk factors of these procedural complications, and focuses on novel methods to reduce them by using newer generation transcatheter heart valves and the innovative cusp-overlap technique, which provides optimal fluoroscopic imaging projection to allow for precise implantation depth which minimizes interaction with the conduction system. Preserving coronary access after TAVR is another important consideration in younger patients. This paper reviews the significance of commissural alignment to allow coronary cannulation after TAVR and discusses recently published data on modified delivery techniques to improve commissural alignment.

What it takes to get it right: A qualitative study exploring optimal handover of health programmes in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT Since 2015 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone, with an integrated health care approach at the community, primary health centre (PHC), and hospital level. This programme is planned to be handed over to MoH. To prepare for this handover, a qualitative study exploring elements of a successful handover was undertaken in 2019. Focus group discussions (FGD) with the community members (n-48) and in-depth interviews (IDI) with MSF staff, community leaders, and MoH staff in Sierra Leone (n-15) were conducted. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim from English, Creole, and Themne, coded, and thematically analysed. Participants expressed that an optimal project handover and exit strategy should be a continuous, long-term, the staggered process included from the inception of the programme design. It requires clear communication and relationship building by all relevant stakeholders and demands efficient resources and management capacity. Associated policy implications are applicable across humanitarian settings on the handover of programmes where the government is functional and willing to accept responsibilities.