An assembly system consists of work stations where specific tasks are carried in such a way that ... more An assembly system consists of work stations where specific tasks are carried in such a way that last station gives the complete product. An assembly line balancing Problem (ALBP) involves optimally assigning tasks among workstations with respect to some performance objective. ALBP problems are of NP hard nature and in literature; many efforts are there to solve the problem efficiently through heuristics. This paper proposes a heuristic algorithm for solving type 2 ALBP for single objective optimization. The proposed algorithm assigns tasks to a fixed no of stations with objective of minimizing cycle time. In literature, type 2 ALBP is mostly solved through Type 1 problem. However, this paper proposes a direct approach to Type 2 ALBP. The effectiveness is tested through application on Gunther problem of 35 tasks with forty five precedence constraints. The task assignment for six stations is computed and it shows competitive performance. The number of fixed stations is varied and cor...
The pheromone update phase in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) has been addressed by various researc... more The pheromone update phase in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) has been addressed by various researchers in the context of scheduling problems. Various Arti�cial Intelligence (AI) techniques have also been used to investigate and improve the pheromone trail in worker assignment issues at the workshop oor level. This paper proposes a novel way of investigating and analyzing the issue of pheromone assignment through the Neural augmented Ant Colony Optimization (NaACO) technique. The technique thus developed has its roots in combining the strengths of Arti�cial Neural Networks (ANN) and the extra ordinary convergence capabilities of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), thus, formulating NaACO (Neural Augmented ACO). A set of one hundred problems has been taken and an extensive methodology has been formulated to address the issue of pheromone updates in worker assignments on these problems. The results have been formulated and areas of future research have also been indicated.
We propose an algorithm to generate inner and outer polyhedral approximations to the upper image ... more We propose an algorithm to generate inner and outer polyhedral approximations to the upper image of a bounded convex vector optimization problem. It is an outer approximation algorithm and is based on solving norm minimizing scalarizations. Unlike Pascolleti-Serafini scalarization used in the literature for similar purposes, it does not involve a direction parameter. Therefore, the algorithm is free of direction-biasedness. We also propose a modification of the algorithm by introducing a suitable compact subset of the upper image, which helps in proving for the first time the finiteness of an algorithm for convex vector optimization. The computational performance of the algorithms is illustrated using some of the benchmark test problems, which shows promising results in comparison to a similar algorithm that is based on Pascoletti-Serafini scalarization.
The challenge to manage massive applications arises from weak application design strategy. The ob... more The challenge to manage massive applications arises from weak application design strategy. The objective role of this article is to propose an algorithmic approach to engineer high performance bioinformatics softwares. The technique proposed in this article aids in building efficient and effective large applications which become difficult to manage otherwise. This framework methodology is designed to implement application development using codeigniter 2.1.0 framework.
Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is a novel source of biomarkers that can be considered as an alte... more Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is a novel source of biomarkers that can be considered as an alternative to blood sampling for disease diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, in vivo extraction and analysis of ISF are challenging. On the other hand, microneedle (MN) technology can address most of the challenges associated with dermal ISF extraction and is well suited for long-term, continuous ISF monitoring as well as in situ detection. In this review, we first briefly summarise the different dermal ISF collection methods and compare them with MN methods. Next, we elaborate on the design considerations and biocompatibility of MNs. Subsequently, the fabrication technologies of various MNs used for dermal ISF extraction, including solid MNs, hollow MNs, porous MNs, and hydrogel MNs, are thoroughly explained. In addition, different sensing mechanisms of ISF detection are discussed in detail. Subsequently, we identify the challenges and propose the possible solutions associated with ISF ...
Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2020
It is widely believed that construction sector helps developing aggregate economy and reducing un... more It is widely believed that construction sector helps developing aggregate economy and reducing unemployment. Currently, Pakistan is experiencing a major transformational phase in the back drop of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC is valued at US$ 62 Billion. The present study is undertaken to ascertain the impact of time overrun of projects on their cost, the correlation between stakeholders and to predict the effect of delays on cost overruns. Causes of delays are identified by stakeholders of the construction industry of Pakistan. Two models for projects that had delay less and greater than 100 days are developed. Structured questionnaires and personal interviews are carried out to extract primary data for the study. Relative Importance Index (RII) was utilized for ranking of delay causes, and Pearson’s correlation to formulate correlation between causes of delays and cost of construction projects from the perspective of client, contractors and consultants. For predict...
Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing, 2018
An explicit content detection (ECD) system to detect Not Suitable For Work (NSFW) media (i.e., im... more An explicit content detection (ECD) system to detect Not Suitable For Work (NSFW) media (i.e., image/ video) content is proposed. The proposed ECD system is based on residual network (i.e., deep learning model) which returns a probability to indicate the explicitness in media content. The value is further compared with a defined threshold to decide whether the content is explicit or nonexplicit. The proposed system not only differentiates between explicit/nonexplicit contents but also indicates the degree of explicitness in any media content, i.e., high, medium, or low. In addition, the system also identifies the media files with tampered extension and label them as suspicious. The experimental result shows that the proposed model provides an accuracy of ~ 95% when tested on our image and video datasets.
Poro cheese is a regional product originally from the area of Los Rios, Tabasco in Mexico. In the... more Poro cheese is a regional product originally from the area of Los Rios, Tabasco in Mexico. In the context of preserving the heritage of Poro cheese and protecting the specific characteristics that define its typicity through an origin designation, the present study was conducted to establish a general profile of Poro cheese by characterizing their physicochemical, textural, rheological, sensorial and microbiological characteristics. Differences in moisture, proteins, fats, NaCl, titrable acidity, pH, color texture and rheology amongst cheese factories were observed and ranges were established. Fifteen descriptors were generated to provide a descriptive analysis, eight of which were significantly different amongst the factories with no differences in the global acceptability of cheese. The favorite cheese had the highest scores for aroma attributes. Conventional and molecular methods were used to identify the main microorganisms, for which Lactobacillus plantarum, L. fermentum, L. fa...
The next-generation network provides state-of-the-art access-independent services over converged ... more The next-generation network provides state-of-the-art access-independent services over converged mobile and fixed networks. Security in the converged network environment is a major challenge. Traditional packet and protocol-based intrusion detection techniques cannot be used in next-generation networks due to slow throughput, low accuracy and their inability to inspect encrypted payload. An alternative solution for protection of next-generation networks is to use network flow records for detection of malicious activity in the network traffic. The network flow records are independent of access networks and user applications. In this paper, we propose a two-stage flow-based intrusion detection system for next-generation networks. The first stage uses an enhanced unsupervised one-class support vector machine which separates malicious flows from normal network traffic. The second stage uses a self-organizing map which automatically groups malicious flows into different alert clusters. W...
To determine the prevalence and possible factors associated with anaemia, and vitamin B12 and fol... more To determine the prevalence and possible factors associated with anaemia, and vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies in women of reproductive age (WRA) in Pakistan. A secondary analysis was conducted on data collected through the large-scale National Nutrition Survey in Pakistan in 2011. Anaemia was defined as haemoglobin levels <12 g/dL, vitamin B12 deficiency as serum vitamin B12 levels of <203 pg/mL (150 pmol/L) and folate deficiency as serum folate levels <4 ng/mL (10 nmol/L). A total of 11 751 blood samples were collected and analysed. The prevalence of anaemia, vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency was 50.4%, 52.4% and 50.8%, respectively. After adjustment, the following factors were positively associated with anaemia: living in Sindh province (RR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.09) P<0.00, food insecure with moderate hunger (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.06) P=0.02, four or more pregnancies (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.05) P<0.00, being underweight (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.00 t...
An assembly system consists of work stations where specific tasks are carried in such a way that ... more An assembly system consists of work stations where specific tasks are carried in such a way that last station gives the complete product. An assembly line balancing Problem (ALBP) involves optimally assigning tasks among workstations with respect to some performance objective. ALBP problems are of NP hard nature and in literature; many efforts are there to solve the problem efficiently through heuristics. This paper proposes a heuristic algorithm for solving type 2 ALBP for single objective optimization. The proposed algorithm assigns tasks to a fixed no of stations with objective of minimizing cycle time. In literature, type 2 ALBP is mostly solved through Type 1 problem. However, this paper proposes a direct approach to Type 2 ALBP. The effectiveness is tested through application on Gunther problem of 35 tasks with forty five precedence constraints. The task assignment for six stations is computed and it shows competitive performance. The number of fixed stations is varied and cor...
The pheromone update phase in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) has been addressed by various researc... more The pheromone update phase in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) has been addressed by various researchers in the context of scheduling problems. Various Arti�cial Intelligence (AI) techniques have also been used to investigate and improve the pheromone trail in worker assignment issues at the workshop oor level. This paper proposes a novel way of investigating and analyzing the issue of pheromone assignment through the Neural augmented Ant Colony Optimization (NaACO) technique. The technique thus developed has its roots in combining the strengths of Arti�cial Neural Networks (ANN) and the extra ordinary convergence capabilities of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), thus, formulating NaACO (Neural Augmented ACO). A set of one hundred problems has been taken and an extensive methodology has been formulated to address the issue of pheromone updates in worker assignments on these problems. The results have been formulated and areas of future research have also been indicated.
We propose an algorithm to generate inner and outer polyhedral approximations to the upper image ... more We propose an algorithm to generate inner and outer polyhedral approximations to the upper image of a bounded convex vector optimization problem. It is an outer approximation algorithm and is based on solving norm minimizing scalarizations. Unlike Pascolleti-Serafini scalarization used in the literature for similar purposes, it does not involve a direction parameter. Therefore, the algorithm is free of direction-biasedness. We also propose a modification of the algorithm by introducing a suitable compact subset of the upper image, which helps in proving for the first time the finiteness of an algorithm for convex vector optimization. The computational performance of the algorithms is illustrated using some of the benchmark test problems, which shows promising results in comparison to a similar algorithm that is based on Pascoletti-Serafini scalarization.
The challenge to manage massive applications arises from weak application design strategy. The ob... more The challenge to manage massive applications arises from weak application design strategy. The objective role of this article is to propose an algorithmic approach to engineer high performance bioinformatics softwares. The technique proposed in this article aids in building efficient and effective large applications which become difficult to manage otherwise. This framework methodology is designed to implement application development using codeigniter 2.1.0 framework.
Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is a novel source of biomarkers that can be considered as an alte... more Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is a novel source of biomarkers that can be considered as an alternative to blood sampling for disease diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, in vivo extraction and analysis of ISF are challenging. On the other hand, microneedle (MN) technology can address most of the challenges associated with dermal ISF extraction and is well suited for long-term, continuous ISF monitoring as well as in situ detection. In this review, we first briefly summarise the different dermal ISF collection methods and compare them with MN methods. Next, we elaborate on the design considerations and biocompatibility of MNs. Subsequently, the fabrication technologies of various MNs used for dermal ISF extraction, including solid MNs, hollow MNs, porous MNs, and hydrogel MNs, are thoroughly explained. In addition, different sensing mechanisms of ISF detection are discussed in detail. Subsequently, we identify the challenges and propose the possible solutions associated with ISF ...
Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2020
It is widely believed that construction sector helps developing aggregate economy and reducing un... more It is widely believed that construction sector helps developing aggregate economy and reducing unemployment. Currently, Pakistan is experiencing a major transformational phase in the back drop of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC is valued at US$ 62 Billion. The present study is undertaken to ascertain the impact of time overrun of projects on their cost, the correlation between stakeholders and to predict the effect of delays on cost overruns. Causes of delays are identified by stakeholders of the construction industry of Pakistan. Two models for projects that had delay less and greater than 100 days are developed. Structured questionnaires and personal interviews are carried out to extract primary data for the study. Relative Importance Index (RII) was utilized for ranking of delay causes, and Pearson’s correlation to formulate correlation between causes of delays and cost of construction projects from the perspective of client, contractors and consultants. For predict...
Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing, 2018
An explicit content detection (ECD) system to detect Not Suitable For Work (NSFW) media (i.e., im... more An explicit content detection (ECD) system to detect Not Suitable For Work (NSFW) media (i.e., image/ video) content is proposed. The proposed ECD system is based on residual network (i.e., deep learning model) which returns a probability to indicate the explicitness in media content. The value is further compared with a defined threshold to decide whether the content is explicit or nonexplicit. The proposed system not only differentiates between explicit/nonexplicit contents but also indicates the degree of explicitness in any media content, i.e., high, medium, or low. In addition, the system also identifies the media files with tampered extension and label them as suspicious. The experimental result shows that the proposed model provides an accuracy of ~ 95% when tested on our image and video datasets.
Poro cheese is a regional product originally from the area of Los Rios, Tabasco in Mexico. In the... more Poro cheese is a regional product originally from the area of Los Rios, Tabasco in Mexico. In the context of preserving the heritage of Poro cheese and protecting the specific characteristics that define its typicity through an origin designation, the present study was conducted to establish a general profile of Poro cheese by characterizing their physicochemical, textural, rheological, sensorial and microbiological characteristics. Differences in moisture, proteins, fats, NaCl, titrable acidity, pH, color texture and rheology amongst cheese factories were observed and ranges were established. Fifteen descriptors were generated to provide a descriptive analysis, eight of which were significantly different amongst the factories with no differences in the global acceptability of cheese. The favorite cheese had the highest scores for aroma attributes. Conventional and molecular methods were used to identify the main microorganisms, for which Lactobacillus plantarum, L. fermentum, L. fa...
The next-generation network provides state-of-the-art access-independent services over converged ... more The next-generation network provides state-of-the-art access-independent services over converged mobile and fixed networks. Security in the converged network environment is a major challenge. Traditional packet and protocol-based intrusion detection techniques cannot be used in next-generation networks due to slow throughput, low accuracy and their inability to inspect encrypted payload. An alternative solution for protection of next-generation networks is to use network flow records for detection of malicious activity in the network traffic. The network flow records are independent of access networks and user applications. In this paper, we propose a two-stage flow-based intrusion detection system for next-generation networks. The first stage uses an enhanced unsupervised one-class support vector machine which separates malicious flows from normal network traffic. The second stage uses a self-organizing map which automatically groups malicious flows into different alert clusters. W...
To determine the prevalence and possible factors associated with anaemia, and vitamin B12 and fol... more To determine the prevalence and possible factors associated with anaemia, and vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies in women of reproductive age (WRA) in Pakistan. A secondary analysis was conducted on data collected through the large-scale National Nutrition Survey in Pakistan in 2011. Anaemia was defined as haemoglobin levels <12 g/dL, vitamin B12 deficiency as serum vitamin B12 levels of <203 pg/mL (150 pmol/L) and folate deficiency as serum folate levels <4 ng/mL (10 nmol/L). A total of 11 751 blood samples were collected and analysed. The prevalence of anaemia, vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency was 50.4%, 52.4% and 50.8%, respectively. After adjustment, the following factors were positively associated with anaemia: living in Sindh province (RR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.09) P<0.00, food insecure with moderate hunger (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.06) P=0.02, four or more pregnancies (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.05) P<0.00, being underweight (RR 1.03; 95% CI 1.00 t...
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