Natural gas and oil are one of the mainstays of the global economy. However, many issues surround the pipelines that transport these resources, including aging infrastructure, environmental impacts, and vulnerability to sabotage operations. Such issues can result in leakages in these pipelines, requiring significant effort to detect and pinpoint their locations. The objective of this project is to develop and implement a method for detecting oil spills caused by leaking oil pipelines using aerial images captured by a drone equipped with a Raspberry Pi 4. Using the message queuing telemetry transport Internet of Things (MQTT IoT) protocol, the acquired images and the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the images' acquisition are sent to the base station. Using deep learning approaches such as holistically-nested edge detection (HED) and extreme inception (Xception) networks, images are analyzed at the base station to identify contours using dense extreme inception networks for edge detection (DexiNed). This algorithm is capable of finding many contours in images. Moreover, the CIELAB color space (LAB) is employed to locate black-colored contours, which may indicate oil spills. The suggested method involves eliminating smaller contours to calculate the area of larger contours. If the contour's area exceeds a certain threshold, it is classified as a spill; otherwise, it is stored in a database for further review. In the experiments, spill sizes of 1m2, 2m2, and 3m2 were established at three separate test locations. The drone was operated at three different heights (5 m, 10 m, and 15 m) to capture the scenes. The results show that efficient detection can be achieved at a height of 10 meters using the DexiNed algorithm. Statistical comparison with other edge detection methods using basic metrics, such as perimage best threshold (OIS = 0.867), fixed contour threshold (ODS = 0.859), and average precision (AP = 0.905), validates the effectiveness of the DexiNed algorithm in generating thin edge maps and identifying oil slicks. © 2023 Lavoisier. All rights reserved.
Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) are common skin disorders affecting the scalp and extending to other body sites in the case of SD. They are associated with pruritus and scaling, causing an esthetical disturbance in the population affected. Treatment of such conditions involves using a variety of drugs for long terms, thus optimizing drug formulation is essential to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Conventional topical formulations like shampoos and creams have been widely used but their use is associated with disadvantages. To overcome such effects, novel topical nanotechnology-based formulations are currently under investigation. In the following article, we highlight recently published formulatio
... Show MoreA recently reported Nile red (NR) dye conjugated with benzothiadiazole species paves the way for the development of novel organic-based sensitizers used in solar cells whose structures are susceptible to modifications. Thus, six novel NR structures were derived from two previously developed structures in laboratories. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) were used to determine the optoelectronic properties of the NR-derived moieties such as absorption spectra. Various linkers were investigated in an attempt to understand the impact of π-linkers on the optoelectronic properties. According to the findings, the presence of furan species led to the planarity of the molecule and a reduction
... Show MoreSummary First: The importance of the study and the need for it: The society is composed of an integrated unit of groups and institutions that seek to achieve a specific goal within a system of salary, and the family remains the most influential institutions on the individual and the unity of society, with the roles and responsibilities of the individual and society, and through the continuation and strength of other social organizations derive their ability On the other hand, any break-up in the institution of the family is reflected negatively on the cohesion of society and its interdependence, and the causes of this disintegration vary from society to another, but family problems remain the main factor in obtaining it. Second: Study Ob
... Show MoreAbstract Background: This in-vitro study was to evaluated bitewing radiograph and tactile examination for detection secondary caries adjacent to amalgam restorations. Material and method: Sixty primary extracted molars with class I and class II amalgam restorations were selected from children, and examined by bitewing radiographs were taken by using film holders and interpreted on a backlit screen without magnification. Then, we used tactile examination with blunt probe. Result: The result of this study showed that the best cut-off points for the sample were found by a Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the area under the ROC curve and the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the techniques were calculated for enamel (
... Show MoreBackground: Prosthodontic services have changed markedly due to an introduction of new materials, techniques and treatment options. The aim of this study were to identify the type of materials and the methods used by dental practitioners in their clinics to construct conventional complete dentures and to specify the type and design for removable partial dentures (RPDs); and to then compare them with those taught in dental schools. Materials and methods: A total of 153 dental practitioners in Sulaimani city completed a written questionnaire. The questionnaire included 19 questions regarding complete and RPDs fabrication. Results: Most of the practitioners provide complete dentures (81.6%) and RPDs (95.3%) in their clinics. Polyvinyl silox
... Show MoreThe aim: to evaluate combined microscopy techniques for determining the morphological and optical properties of methadone hydrochloride (MDN) crystals. Materials and methods: MDN crystal formation was optimized using a closed container method and crystals were characterized using polarized light microscope (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy (CM). SEM and CM were used to determine MDN crystal thickness and study its relationship with crystal retardation colours using the Michel-Levy Birefringence approach. Results: Dimensions (mean±SD) of diamond shaped MDN crystals were confirmed using SEM and CM. Crystals were 46.4±15.2 Vs 32.0±8.3 µm long, 28.03±8.2 Vs 20.85±5.5 µm wide, and 6.62±
... Show MoreScams remain among top cybercrime incidents happening around the world. Individuals with high susceptibility to persuasion are considered as risk-takers and prone to be scam victims. Unfortunately, limited number of research is done to investigate the relationship between appeal techniques and individuals' personality thus hindering a proper and effective campaigns that could help to raise awareness against scam. In this study, the impact of fear and rational appeal were examined as well as to identify suitable approach for individuals with high susceptibility to persuasion. To evaluate the approach, pretest and posttest surveys with 3 separate controlled laboratory experiments were conducted. This study found that rational appeal treatm
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