GIS Exploitation for New Facility Location Decisions- A Logistics Perspective

Afzal Mohammad Khaled,Yong Jin Kim 인하대학교 정석물류통상연구원 2012 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS AND TRADE Vol.10 No.1

Logistical facility location decisions can make a crucial difference in the success or failure of a company. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have recently become a very popular decision support system to help deal with facility location problems. However, until recently, GIS methodologies have not been fully embraced as a way to deal with new facility location problems in business logistics. This research makes a framework for categorizing empirical facility location problems based on the intensity of the involvement of GIS methodologies in decision making. This framework was built by analyzing facility location models and GIS methodologies. The research results revealed the depth of the embracement of GIS methodologies in logistics for determining new facility location decisions. In the new facility location decisions, spatial data inputs are almost always coupled with the visualization of the problems and solutions. However, the usage of GIS capability solely (i.e. suitability analysis) for problem solving has not been embraced at the same level. In most cases, the suitability analysis is used together with special optimization models for choosing among the multiple alternatives.

Evaluating the Effects of Kinesthetic Biofeedback Delivered Using Reaction Wheels on Standing Balance

Afzal, Muhammad Raheel,Eizad, Amre,Palo Peñ,a, Carlos Ernesto,Yoon, Jungwon Hindawi 2018 Journal of healthcare engineering Vol.2018 No.-

<P>Aging, injury, or ailments can contribute to impaired balance control and increase the risk of falling. Provision of light touch augments the sense of balance and can thus reduce the amount of body sway. In this study, a wearable reaction wheel-based system is used to deliver light touch-based balance biofeedback on the subject's back. The system can sense torso tilt and, using reaction wheels, generates light touch. A group of 7 healthy young individuals performed balance tasks under 12 trial combinations based on two conditions each of standing stance and surface types and three of biofeedback device status. Torso tilt data, collected from a waist-mounted smartphone during all the trials, were analyzed to determine the efficacy of the system. Provision of biofeedback by the device significantly reduced RMS of mediolateral (ML) trunk tilt (<I>p</I> < 0.05) and ML trunk acceleration (<I>p</I> < 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant interaction between stance and surface on reduction in RMS of ML trunk tilt, AP trunk tilt, ML trunk acceleration, and AP trunk acceleration. The device shows promise for further applications such as virtual reality interaction and gait rehabilitation.</P>

Personalization of wellness recommendations using contextual interpretation

Afzal, Muhammad,Ali, Syed Imran,Ali, Rahman,Hussain, Maqbool,Ali, Taqdir,Khan, Wajahat Ali,Amin, Muhammad Bilal,Kang, Byeong Ho,Lee, Sungyoung Elsevier 2018 expert systems with applications Vol.96 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>A huge array of personalized healthcare and wellness systems are introduced into the portfolio of digital health and quantified-self movement in recent years. These systems share common capabilities including self-tracking/monitoring and self-quantifications, based on the raw sensory data. These capabilities provide solid ground for the users to be more aware of their health; however, such measures are inefficient for changing the unhealthy habits of the users. In order to induce healthy habits in the users, a system must be capable of generating context-aware personalized recommendations. The main obstacle in this regard is the contextual interpretation of recommendations based on user's current context and contextual preferences. To resolve these issues, we propose a methodology of cross-context interpretation of recommendations (CCIR) for personalized health and wellness services. The CCIR method adds additional capabilities to the traditional reasoning methods and builds advanced form of the reasoning with the incorporation of contextual factors in the process of interpretations of the recommendations. With CCIR, the self-quantification systems can be enhanced to generate personalized recommendations in addition to tracking, quantifying, and monitoring user activities. In order to validate the proposed CCIR methodology, a set of 40 contextual scenarios and corresponding recommendations are presented for the evaluation collected from 40 different end users and 10 domain experts. Using chi-square test evaluation, the results demonstrated acceptable “goodness of fit” indices for the system developed on proposed CCIR methodology with respect to the end users’ opinion. Also from the statistical observation, it is found that there exists a higher level agreement towards the system between the participants of both end users and experts.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> A method for cross-context interpretations of health and wellness recommendations. </LI> <LI> A mechanism of refining generalized recommendations to personalized recommendations. </LI> <LI> The contextual interpretations are made for increasing the user acceptability of a system. </LI> </UL> </P>

Assessing the resistance risk to emamectin benzoate in Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae): selection, cross-resistance dynamics and estimates of realized heritability

Afzal Muhammad Babar Shahzad,Riaz Muhammad,Shad Sarfraz Ali,Ijaz Mamuna 한국응용곤충학회 2022 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.25 No.4

Emamectin benzoate, a non-systemic, translaminar, and broad spectrum insecticide, is excessively used in cotton. It kills the pest by suppressing the muscle contraction. Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudo coccidae) is one of the major sap sucking pests of cotton in many countries and has been shown resistance to various insecticides. In this study, we have continuously selected P. solenopsis with emamectin benzoate in the laboratory from G 3 to G 18 to determine the resistance development and resistance risk to emamectin benzoate and also to evaluate the dynamics of cross-resistance (CR) development with three other insecticides. After continuing selection of P. solenopsis for 16 generations with emamectin benzoate, the emamectin selected strain (Ema-SEL) developed a 280.15-fold resistance when tested at G 19 . Ema-SEL strain showed no CR to abamectin (0.28–1.65-fold), and profenofos (0.12–0.29-fold), but a very low to low CR to cypermethrin (6.02–11.29-fold). Abamectin was negatively cross-resistant with emamectin benzoate in Ema-SEL strain at G 13 , G 15 and G 19 while profenofos also exhibited similar results at G 13 , G 15 , G 17 and G 19 . Realized heritability (h 2 ) of resistance to emamectin benzoate was 0.24 from G 3 to G 19 . The results of projected rate of resistance development showed that if h 2 = 0.24, 0.34, and 0.44 at slope = 1.08, then 2.03, 1.43, and 1.11 generations, respectively are required for tenfold increase in LC 50 at 95 % selection intensity. Results of the present study suggested that P. solenopsis has the ability to develop resistance to emamectin benzoate but it can be managed by the alternate use of other insecticides including abamectin, profenofos and cypermethrin due to lack of/or very low to low CR with these insecticides.

Parametric Study of a Micromixer with Convergent-Divergent Sinusoidal Walls

Afzal, A.,Kim, K.Y. TRANS TECH PUBLICATIONS LTD 2013 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. No.

Comprehensible knowledge model creation for cancer treatment decision making

Afzal, Muhammad,Hussain, Maqbool,Ali Khan, Wajahat,Ali, Taqdir,Lee, Sungyoung,Huh, Eui-Nam,Farooq Ahmad, Hafiz,Jamshed, Arif,Iqbal, Hassan,Irfan, Muhammad,Abbas Hydari, Manzar Elsevier 2017 Computers in biology and medicine Vol.82 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P> <I>Background</I>: A wealth of clinical data exists in clinical documents in the form of electronic health records (EHRs). This data can be used for developing knowledge-based recommendation systems that can assist clinicians in clinical decision making and education. One of the big hurdles in developing such systems is the lack of automated mechanisms for knowledge acquisition to enable and educate clinicians in informed decision making. <I>Materials and Methods</I>: An automated knowledge acquisition methodology with a comprehensible knowledge model for cancer treatment (CKM-CT) is proposed. With the CKM-CT, clinical data are acquired automatically from documents. Quality of data is ensured by correcting errors and transforming various formats into a standard data format. Data preprocessing involves dimensionality reduction and missing value imputation. Predictive algorithm selection is performed on the basis of the ranking score of the weighted sum model. The knowledge builder prepares knowledge for knowledge-based services: clinical decisions and education support. <I>Results</I>: Data is acquired from 13,788 head and neck cancer (HNC) documents for 3447 patients, including 1526 patients of the oral cavity site. In the data quality task, 160 staging values are corrected. In the preprocessing task, 20 attributes and 106 records are eliminated from the dataset. The Classification and Regression Trees (CRT) algorithm is selected and provides 69.0% classification accuracy in predicting HNC treatment plans, consisting of 11 decision paths that yield 11 decision rules. <I>Conclusion</I>: Our proposed methodology, CKM-CT, is helpful to find hidden knowledge in clinical documents. In CKM-CT, the prediction models are developed to assist and educate clinicians for informed decision making. The proposed methodology is generalizable to apply to data of other domains such as breast cancer with a similar objective to assist clinicians in decision making and education.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Automated methods for data acquisition from clinical documents and preprocessing. </LI> <LI> Data quality assessment and standardization of language for improved data accuracy. </LI> <LI> Machine learning algorithm selection on the basis of weighted sum model's ranking score. </LI> <LI> The development of a decision tree-based knowledge model for treatment recommendations. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Comparative analysis of switched inductor-based quasi-Z-source inverters

Afzal, Raheel,Tang, Yu,Song, Yinghao The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2022 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.22 No.10

A switched-inductor quasi-Z-source inverter (SI-qZSI) exhibits a higher gain than a quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI) while keeping continuous input current. Like renewable power generation systems that result in low input voltage, SI-qZSI exhibits boosting ability that may not be adequate in some cases. A voltage-lifting unit can be formed by alternating one of the diodes in the switch inductor unit. A high step-up topology, such as qZSI with voltage-lifting unit (qZSI-VL), can be derived. The boosting factor of qZSI-VL can be enhanced further by retaining all the merits of the SI-qZSI. The overall conduction loss can be reduced under the same output and input voltage for the qZSI-VL, thereby enhancing efciency. In this study, the analysis of the qZSI-VL and its operating principle are explained. The characteristic comparison of qZSI-VL with the SI-qZSI and qZSI is discussed in detail. Finally, the prototypes of qZSI-VL and SI-qZSI are designed in the lab. Simulation and experiments are performed to verify the analysis.

Degradation and fate of N-nitrosamines in water by UV photolysis

Afzal, A.,Kang, J.,Choi, B.M.,Lim, H.J. Elsevier BV 2016 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREENHOUSE GAS CONTROL Vol.52 No.-

Carcinogenic nitrosamines have received much attention due to their formation in CO<SUB>2</SUB> capture processes and probable emission into the atmosphere. Fortunately, nitrosamines are decomposed by exposure to UV irradiation. This may be an effective strategy to degrade nitrosamines, forming more benign products in the process. In this work, UV photolysis was used to examine the degradation kinetics and fate of nitrosamines (i.e., N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA), N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA), and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR)) in water at 40<SUP>o</SUP>C. Nearly all nitrosamines were decomposed within the first 10min of photodegradation using 4W, low pressure Hg lamp. Pseudo-first order reaction rate constants were 1.8x10<SUP>-2</SUP>, 2.6x10<SUP>-2</SUP>, 2.6x10<SUP>-2</SUP>, 2.3x10<SUP>-2</SUP>, and 1.4x10<SUP>-2</SUP>L/W-min for NDEA, NDBA, NDMA, NDELA, and NPYR, respectively. There was minimal change in total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN), suggesting negligible loss of nitrosamines and photodegradation products by evaporation.

A Sampling Plan for the Selection of Supplier using Process Yield Index based on Linear Profiles

Afzal, Kalsoom,Aslam, Muhammad,Jun, Chi-Hyuck,Ahmad, Liaquat Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers 2017 Industrial Engineeering & Management Systems Vol.16 No.2

In this article, a multiple dependent state repetitive (MDSR) sampling plan is developed to choose a more capable process by comparing two suppliers' processes. The proposed MDSR plan is based on the ratio of two process yield indices based on the estimated linear profiles. The linear profile for both processes is estimated by a regression model with a single explanatory variable having the specified number of levels. The operating characteristic function of the proposed plan will be derived. The plan parameters related to the decision rule as well as the sample size are determined by minimizing the average sample number while satisfying the producer's and the consumer's risks.

Distinguished Speaker, Chair: Brian Dollery : KAPA ; A Structural Equations Model of Power, Conflict Management Styles and Propensity to Leave a Job: A study in the U.S., Greece, South Korea, and Bangladesh

( Afzal Rahim ) 한국행정학회 2003 Bulletins et mémoires de la Societe d'Anthropologi Vol.2003 No.-