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"Ali, Majid"
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Wearable sensors based human behavioral pattern recognition using statistical features and reweighted genetic algorithm
Human behavior pattern recognition (BPR) from accelerometer signals is a challenging problem due to variations in signal durations of different behaviors. Analysis of human behaviors provides in depth observations of subject’s routines, energy consumption and muscular stress. Such observations hold key importance for the athletes and physically ailing humans, who are highly sensitive to even minor injuries. A novel idea having variant of genetic algorithm is proposed in this paper to solve complex feature selection and classification problems using sensor data. The proposed BPR system, based on statistical dependencies between behaviors and respective signal data, has been used to extract statistical features along with acoustic signal features like zero crossing rate to maximize the possibility of getting optimal feature values. Then, reweighting of features is introduced in a feature selection phase to facilitate the segregation of behaviors. These reweighted features are further processed by biological operations of crossover and mutation to adapt varying signal patterns for significant accuracy results. Experiments on wearable sensors benchmark datasets HMP, WISDM and self-annotated IMSB datasets have been demonstrated to testify the efficacy of the proposed work over state-of-the-art methods.
Journal Article
Analyzing barriers to construction waste minimization and circular economy culture in Building projects using fuzzy DEMATEL
The rapid expansion of the construction industry has led to significant waste generation and environmental issues. While the circular economy (CE) offers a solution to reduce this waste, its implementation faces numerous barriers. While many global studies have explored barriers to waste minimization (WM), few have compared how different stakeholders perceive and prioritize these barriers. Moreover, country-specific research is needed, particularly in developing nations, due to differences in construction practices. Furthermore, there is currently a significant research gap in terms of the barriers and policy guidelines for WM in Pakistan’s construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to identify these barriers, compare stakeholders’ perceptions, and propose a conceptual framework to address them. A review identified 40 WM barriers, with the top 13 shortlisted barriers identified through frequency analysis. Root cause barriers were identified through fuzzy DEMATEL technique, while thematic and word frequency analyses of interviews led to the development of the theoretical framework. The fuzzy DEMATEL method identified root-cause barriers. Comparative analysis revealed the highest agreement (69%) between contractors and regulators on key barriers such as lack of regulations (B1) and financial constraints (B2), whereas clients and consultants showed moderate alignment (62%). Overall, all stakeholders agreed that B1, B2, poor awareness (B3), and unclear specifications (B12) are major barriers to WM adoption. Identifying these root causes lays a strong foundation for developing targeted mitigation strategies. A theoretical policy framework is proposed, emphasizing financial support and awareness programs at the macro level and contract document modification and material recycling at the micro level. The study concludes with implications for social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Journal Article
A Study of Accelerometer and Gyroscope Measurements in Physical Life-Log Activities Detection Systems
Nowadays, wearable technology can enhance physical human life-log routines by shifting goals from merely counting steps to tackling significant healthcare challenges. Such wearable technology modules have presented opportunities to acquire important information about human activities in real-life environments. The purpose of this paper is to report on recent developments and to project future advances regarding wearable sensor systems for the sustainable monitoring and recording of human life-logs. On the basis of this survey, we propose a model that is designed to retrieve better information during physical activities in indoor and outdoor environments in order to improve the quality of life and to reduce risks. This model uses a fusion of both statistical and non-statistical features for the recognition of different activity patterns using wearable inertial sensors, i.e., triaxial accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers. These features include signal magnitude, positive/negative peaks and position direction to explore signal orientation changes, position differentiation, temporal variation and optimal changes among coordinates. These features are processed by a genetic algorithm for the selection and classification of inertial signals to learn and recognize abnormal human movement. Our model was experimentally evaluated on four benchmark datasets: Intelligent Media Wearable Smart Home Activities (IM-WSHA), a self-annotated physical activities dataset, Wireless Sensor Data Mining (WISDM) with different sporting patterns from an IM-SB dataset and an SMotion dataset with different physical activities. Experimental results show that the proposed feature extraction strategy outperformed others, achieving an improved recognition accuracy of 81.92%, 95.37%, 90.17%, 94.58%, respectively, when IM-WSHA, WISDM, IM-SB and SMotion datasets were applied.
Journal Article
Use of coconut fibre reinforced concrete and coconut-fibre ropes for seismic-resistant construction
Earthquake-resistant and economical housing is the most desirable need in rural areas of developing countries. These regions often suffer significant loss of life during a seismic event. To enable an efficient and cost-effective solution, a new concept of construction, i.e. a wallette of interlocking blocks with movability at the interface and rope reinforcement, is investigated. The novel interlocking block is made of coconut fibre reinforced concrete (CFRC). The reason for using coconut fibre is their highest toughness amongst natural fibres. This paper describes the in-plane behaviour of the interlocking wallette under earthquake loadings. The wallette response is measured in terms of induced acceleration, block uplift, top maximum relative displacement and rope tension. The applied earthquake loadings cannot produce any damage in the structure, i.e. blocks and/or ropes. The response of the wallette is explained in detail along with correlation of materials aspect with structural behaviour.
Journal Article
Fault Location for Distribution Smart Grids: Literature Overview, Challenges, Solutions, and Future Trends
Thanks to smart grids, more intelligent devices may now be integrated into the electric grid, which increases the robustness and resilience of the system. The integration of distributed energy resources is expected to require extensive use of communication systems as well as a variety of interconnected technologies for monitoring, protection, and control. The fault location and diagnosis are essential for the security and well-coordinated operation of these systems since there is also greater risk and different paths for a fault or contingency in the system. Considering smart distribution systems, microgrids, and smart automation substations, a full investigation of fault location in SGs over the distribution domain is still not enough, and this study proposes to analyze the fault location issues and common types of power failures in most of their physical components and communication infrastructure. In addition, we explore several fault location techniques in the smart grid’s distribution sector as well as fault location methods recommended to improve resilience, which will aid readers in choosing methods for their own research. Finally, conclusions are given after discussing the trends in fault location and detection techniques.
Journal Article
Development and Engineering Evaluation of Interlocking Hollow Blocks Made of Recycled Plastic for Mortar-Free Housing
The construction industry is the biggest consumer of raw materials, and there is growing pressure for this industry to reduce its environmental footprint through the adoption of sustainable solutions. Waste plastic in a recycled form can be used to produce valuable products that can decrease dependence on natural resources. Despite the growing trend of exploring the potential of recycled plastics in construction through composite manufacturing and nonstructural products, to date no scientific data is available about converting waste plastic into recycled plastic to manufacture interlocking hollow blocks (IHBs) for construction. Thus, the current study intended to fill this gap by investigating the dynamic, mechanical, and physicochemical properties of engineered IHBs made out of recycled plastic. Engineered IHBs are able to self-center via controlled tolerance to lateral displacement, which makes their design novel. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste was considered due to its anticipated material properties and abundance in daily-use household products. Mechanical recycling coupled with extrusion-based pressurized filling was adopted to manufacture IHBs. Various configurations of IHBs and prism samples were tested for compression and shear strength, and forensic tests were conducted to study the physicochemical changes in the recycled plastic. In addition, to obtain better dynamic properties for energy dissipation, the compressive strength of the IHBs was 30.99 MPa, while the compressive strength of the prisms was 34.23 MPa. These values are far beyond the masonry strength requirements in applicable codes across the globe. In-plane shear strength was greater than out-of-plane shear strength, as anticipated. Microstructure analysis showed fibrous surfaces with good resistance and enclosed unburnt impurities. The extrusion process resulted in the elimination of contaminants and impurities, with limited variation in thermal stability. Overall, the outcomes are favorable for potential use in house construction due to sufficient masonry strength and negligible environmental concerns.
Journal Article
Prospective Use and Assessment of Recycled Plastic in Construction Industry
The accumulation of plastic waste poses a significant environmental challenge, necessitating sustainable solutions. This study investigates the potential of recycling waste plastics for use in the construction industry, emphasizing their integration into building materials and components. Earlier waste plastic recycling was excessively studied as an ingredient in concrete composites, roads, and other use in research. However, in this study, recycled plastic is assessed for use as a sole material for structural products. Raw plastics, including high-density polyethylene, Low-Density Polyethylene, polypropylene, polyolefin, samicanite, and virgin polyethylene, were analyzed for recycling through mechanical extrusion, and their mechanical properties were analyzed to determine their feasibility for construction applications. In this study, the extrusion process, combined with engineered dyes, was investigated with comprehensive material testing as per the ASTM standards to obtain the properties desired for construction. Advanced characterization techniques, including SEM, FTIR, and TGA, were employed to evaluate the chemical composition, thermal stability, and impurities of these waste plastics collected from municipal waste. A gas emission analysis during extrusion confirmed a minimal environmental impact, validating the sustainability of the recycling process. Municipal waste plastic has a considerable quantum of HDPE, PP, and LDPE, which was considered in this research for recycling for construction products. A total of 140 samples were recycled through extrusion and tested across shear, flexural, tensile, and compression categories: 35 samples each. The results showed that rHDPE and PP had good tensile strength and shear resistance. The findings pave the way for developing cost-effective, durable, and eco-friendly building materials, such as rebars, corrugated sheet, blocks, and other products, contributing to environmental conservation and resource efficiency for the construction Industry.
Journal Article
Ammonia Synthesis via Synergistic Plasma–Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction
We report ambient‐condition ammonia synthesis via plasma‐mediated electrocatalysis that couples a nonthermal plasma (NTP) with an electrochemical cell. In this hybrid scheme, the plasma pregenerates long‐lived, soluble nitrogen intermediates (predominantly NO 3 − /NO 2 − ) from N 2 /H 2 O, which are subsequently electrochemically reduced to NH 3 . Using a dual‐chamber H‐cell (2.5 kV NTP, ~6–7 mA plasma current; −0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl), we find that Ar plasma doubles NH 3 production relative to electrochemistry alone, and N 2 plasma provides a further approximately 50% increase. Acidic electrolytes are critical: 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 maximizes NH 3 yield, while tuning acid concentration balances NH 3 selectivity against HER. Humidifying the N 2 plasma increases nitrate from approximately 5400 to approximately 7100 ppm and boosts NH 3 by approximately 21%, consistent with enhanced formation of soluble nitrogen intermediates. Catalyst screening shows PtIr and Pd outperform Pt/C, NbN, and NbO 2 , indicating that in the plasma‐assisted regime the rate‐limiting step shifts from nitrate activation to hydrogenation, favoring catalysts that efficiently supply surface hydrogen. Time‐resolved measurements reveal steady NH 3 accumulation with nonmonotonic NO 3 − evolution, reflecting a competition between plasma‐driven formation and electroreduction. Under optimized conditions (N 2 plasma; 0.3 M–0.5 M H 2 SO 4 ), the Faradaic efficiency (FE) reaches up to 47%; total specific energy consumption for our present setup is approximately 73 kWh/kg NH 3 , dominated by the plasma input, indicating clear opportunities for reduction via high‐frequency operation and reactor optimization. These results establish plasma–electrochemical coupling as a tunable route to decentralized, ambient NH 3 synthesis and outline design principles for plasma‐compatible electrocatalysts and reactors.
Journal Article
Role of Post-tensioned Coconut-fibre Ropes in Mortar-free Interlocking Concrete Construction During Seismic Loadings
This paper mainly presents the experimental work on studying the effect of post-tensioned coconut-fibre ropes in controlling uplifts of interlocking blocks in mortar-free concrete construction during seismic loadings. Interlocking blocks are capable of returning back to their original positions after the ground motion because of provided inclined key between the blocks. Coconut fibre reinforced concrete was used to make interlocking blocks. To simulate a single degree-of-freedom system, a mass of 200 kg is attached at the column top. The seismic response of structure is measured in terms of induced accelerations, block uplift, top relative displacement and rope tension. Generally, induced acceleration is increased up to the column mid-height and then decreased a little bit at the column top. The trends of block uplift and rope tension are somewhat similar i.e. non-linear with respect to the applied incremental seismic loadings. Empirical relations, as a function of peak ground acceleration, are also developed from the experimental results to envisage the structure seismic response. There is a percentage difference up to 35% in predicting the structure response which can be attributed towards the complicated nature of the structure versus the simple approach developed. But still, this can help in understanding the behaviour of mortar-free interlocking structure having post-tensioned coconut-fibre rope in a systematic manner.
Journal Article