Search results for: Cases analysis

Authors: Ksenija Dumičić, Anita Čeh Časni, Irena Palić

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This paper examines economic and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development influence on recently increasing Internet purchases by individuals for European Union member states. After a growing trend for Internet purchases in EU27 was noticed, all possible regression analysis was applied using nine independent variables in 2011. Finally, two linear regression models were studied in detail. Conducted simple linear regression analysis confirmed the research hypothesis that the Internet purchases in analyzed EU countries is positively correlated with statistically significant variable Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDPpc). Also, analyzed multiple linear regression model with four regressors, showing ICT development level, indicates that ICT development is crucial for explaining the Internet purchases by individuals, confirming the research hypothesis.

Keywords: European Union, Internet purchases, multiple linear regression model, outlier

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Authors: N. F. F. Ebecken, G. C. Pereira

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Ecological systems are exposed and are influenced by various natural and anthropogenic disturbances. They produce various effects and states seeking response symmetry to a state of global phase coherence or stability and balance of their food webs. This research project addresses the development of a computational methodology for modeling plankton food webs. The use of algorithms to establish connections, the generation of representative fuzzy multigraphs and application of technical analysis of complex networks provide a set of tools for defining, analyzing and evaluating community structure of coastal aquatic ecosystems, beyond the estimate of possible external impacts to the networks. Thus, this study aims to develop computational systems and data models to assess how these ecological networks are structurally and functionally organized, to analyze the types and degree of compartmentalization and synchronization between oscillatory and interconnected elements network and the influence of disturbances on the overall pattern of rhythmicity of the system.

Keywords: Ecological networks, plankton food webs, fuzzy multigraphs, dynamic of networks.

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Authors: Manish Kumar, Pradeep Rout Aditya Kumar Jha, Pankaj Gupta

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Wings are structural components of an aeroplane that are used to produce lift while the aircraft is in flight. The initial assault angle of the wing is definite. Due to the pressure difference at the top and bottom surfaces of the wing, lift force is produced when the flow passes over it. This paper explains the fundamental concept of the structural behaviour of a wing threatened by flowing loads during the voyage. The study comprises the use of concepts and analysis with the help of finite element analysis. Wing assembly is the first stage of wing model and design, which are determined by fascinating factual features. The basic gathering wing consists of a thin membrane, two poles, and several ribs. It has two spars, the major spar and the secondary spar. Here, NACA 23015 is selected as the standard model for all types of aerofoil structures since it is more akin to the custom aerofoil utilized in large aircraft, specifically the Airbus A320. Two rods mostly endure the twisting moment and trim strength, which is finished with titanium contamination to ensure enough inflexibility. The covering and wing spars are made of aluminium amalgam to lessen the structural heaviness. Following that, a static underlying examination is performed, and the general contortion, equivalent flexible strain, and comparing Von-Mises pressure are obtained to aid in investigations of the mechanical behaviour of the wing. Moreover, the modular examination is being upheld to decide the normal pace of repetition as well as the modular state of the three orders, which are obtained through the pre-stress modular investigation. The findings of the modular investigation assist engineers in reducing their excitement about regular events and turning away the wing from the whirlwind. Based on the findings of the study, planners can prioritise union and examination of the pressure mindfulness range and tremendous twisting region. All in all, the entertainment outcomes demonstrate that the game plan is feasible and further develop the data grade of the lifting surface.

Keywords: FEM, Airbus, NACA, modulus of elasticity, aircraft wing.

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Authors: F. C. Amadi, G. C. Enyi, G. Nasr

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Relative permeabilities are practical factors that are used to correct the single phase Darcy’s law for application to multiphase flow. For effective characterisation of large-scale multiphase flow in hydrocarbon recovery, relative permeability and capillary pressures are used. These parameters are acquired via special core flooding experiments. Special core analysis (SCAL) module of reservoir simulation is applied by engineers for the evaluation of these parameters. But, core flooding experiments in shale core sample are expensive and time consuming before various flow assumptions are achieved for instance Darcy’s law. This makes it imperative for the application of coreflooding simulations in which various analysis of relative permeabilities and capillary pressures of multiphase flow can be carried out efficiently and effectively at a relative pace. This paper presents a Sendra software simulation of core flooding to achieve to relative permeabilities and capillary pressures using different correlations. The approach used in this study was three steps. The first step, the basic petrophysical parameters of Marcellus shale sample such as porosity was determined using laboratory techniques. Secondly, core flooding was simulated for particular scenario of injection using different correlations. And thirdly the best fit correlations for the estimation of relative permeability and capillary pressure was obtained. This research approach saves cost and time and very reliable in the computation of relative permeability and capillary pressures at steady or unsteady state, drainage or imbibition processes in oil and gas industry when compared to other methods.

Keywords: Special core analysis (SCAL), relative permeability, capillary pressures, drainage, imbibition.

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Authors: J. Bernasovska, I. Boronova, J. Poracova, M. Mydlarova Blascakova, V. Szabadosova, P. Ruzbarsky, E. Petrejcikova, I. Bernasovsky

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The paper presents the results of the molecular genetics analysis in sports research, with special emphasis to use genetic information in diagnosing of motoric predispositions in Roma boys from East Slovakia. The ability and move are the basic characteristics of all living organisms. The phenotypes are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Genetic tests differ in principle from the traditional motoric tests, because the DNA of an individual does not change during life. The aim of the presented study was to examine motion abilities and to determine the frequency of ACTN3 (R577X) gene in Roma children. Genotype data were obtained from 138 Roma and 155 Slovak boys from 7 to 15 years old. Children were investigated on physical performance level in association with their genotype. Biological material for genetic analyses comprised samples of buccal swabs. Genotypes were determined using Real Time High resolution melting PCR method (Rotor-Gene 6000 Corbett and Light Cycler 480 Roche). The software allows creating reports of any analysis, where information of the specific analysis, normalized and differential graphs and many information of the samples are shown. Roma children of analyzed group legged to non-Romany children at the same age in all the compared tests. The % distribution of R and X alleles in Roma children was different from controls. The frequency of XX genotype was 9.26%, RX 46.33% and RR was 44.41%. The frequency of XX genotype was 9.26% which is comparable to a frequency of an Indian population. Data were analyzed with the ANOVA test.

Keywords: ACTN3 gene, R577X polymorphism, Roma children, Slovakia, sports performance.

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Authors: Leandi Steenkamp

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The sectional title industry has been a part of the property landscape in South Africa for almost half a century, and plays a significant role in addressing the housing problem in the country. Stakeholders such as owners and investors in sectional title property are in most cases not directly involved in the management thereof, and place reliance on the audited annual financial statements of bodies corporate for decision-making purposes. Although the industry seems to be highly regulated, the legislation regarding accounting and auditing of sectional title is vague and ambiguous. Furthermore, there are no industry-specific auditing and accounting standards to guide accounting and auditing practitioners in performing their work and industry financial benchmarks are not readily available. In addition, financial pressure on sectional title schemes is often very high due to the fact that some owners exercise unrealistic pressure to keep monthly levies as low as possible. All these factors have an impact on the business risk as well as audit risk of bodies corporate. Very little academic research has been undertaken on the sectional title industry in South Africa from an accounting and auditing perspective. The aim of this paper is threefold: Firstly, to discuss the findings of a literature review on uncertainties, ambiguity and confusing aspects in current legislation regarding the audit of a sectional title property that may cause or increase audit and business risk. Secondly, empirical findings of risk-related aspects from the results of interviews with three groups of body corporate role-players will be discussed. The role-players were body corporate trustee chairpersons, body corporate managing agents and accounting and auditing practitioners of bodies corporate. Specific reference will be made to business risk and audit risk. Thirdly, practical recommendations will be made on possibilities of closing the audit expectation gap, and further research opportunities in this regard will be discussed.

Keywords: Assurance, audit, audit risk, body corporate, corporate governance, sectional title.

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Authors: Hossein Pazhoumand-Dar, Amir Mohsen Toliyat Abolhassani, Ehsan Saeedi

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Speed estimation is one of the important and practical tasks in machine vision, Robotic and Mechatronic. the availability of high quality and inexpensive video cameras, and the increasing need for automated video analysis has generated a great deal of interest in machine vision algorithms. Numerous approaches for speed estimation have been proposed. So classification and survey of the proposed methods can be very useful. The goal of this paper is first to review and verify these methods. Then we will propose a novel algorithm to estimate the speed of moving object by using fuzzy concept. There is a direct relation between motion blur parameters and object speed. In our new approach we will use Radon transform to find direction of blurred image, and Fuzzy sets to estimate motion blur length. The most benefit of this algorithm is its robustness and precision in noisy images. Our method was tested on many images with different range of SNR and is satisfiable.

Keywords: Blur Analysis, Fuzzy sets, Speed estimation.

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Authors: Lin, Huifen, Fang, Yueh-chiu

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This study explores perceptions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners on using computer mediated communication technology in their learner of English. The data consists of observations of both synchronous and asynchronous communication participants engaged in for over a period of 4 months, which included online, and offline communication protocols, open-ended interviews and reflection papers composed by participants. Content analysis of interview data and the written documents listed above, as well as, member check and triangulation techniques are the major data analysis strategies. The findings suggest that participants generally do not benefit from computer-mediated communication in terms of its effect in learning a foreign language. Participants regarded the nature of CMC as artificial, or pseudo communication that did not aid their authentic communicational skills in English. The results of this study sheds lights on insufficient and inconclusive findings, which most quantitative CMC studies previously generated.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, EFL, writing

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Authors: Kari Björn, Mikael Soini

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Higher Education system reforms, especially Finnish system of Universities of Applied Sciences in 2014 are discussed. The new steering model is based on major legislative changes, output-oriented funding and open information. The governmental steering reform, especially the financial model and the resulting institutional level responses, such as a curriculum reforms are discussed, focusing especially in engineering programs. The paper is motivated by management need to establish objective steering-related performance indicators and to apply them consistently across all educational programs. The close relationship to governmental steering and funding model imply that internally derived indicators can be directly applied. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) as a case institution is briefly introduced, focusing on engineering education in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and its related programs. The reform forced consolidation of previously separate smaller programs into fewer units of student application. New curriculum ICT students have a common first year before they apply for a Major. A framework of parallel and longitudinal comparisons is introduced and used across Majors in two campuses. The new externally introduced performance criteria are applied internally on ICT Majors using data ex-ante and ex-post of program merger.  A comparative performance of the Majors after completion of joint first year is established, focusing on previously omitted Majors for completeness of analysis. Some new research questions resulting from transfer of Majors between campuses and quota setting are discussed. Practical orientation identifies best practices to share or targets needing most attention for improvement. This level of analysis is directly applicable at student group and teaching team level, where corrective actions are possible, when identified. The analysis is quantitative and the nature of the corrective actions are not discussed. Causal relationships and factor analysis are omitted, because campuses, their staff and various pedagogical implementation details contain still too many undetermined factors for our limited data. Such qualitative analysis is left for further research. Further study must, however, be guided by the relevance of the observations.

Keywords: Engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning outcomes, performance measurement.

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Authors: Yuki. Akiyama, Hiroaki. Sengoku, Ryosuke. Shibasaki

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In this study, the locations and areas of commercial accumulations were detected by using digital yellow page data. An original buffering method that can accurately create polygons of commercial accumulations is proposed in this paper.; by using this method, distribution of commercial accumulations can be easily created and monitored over a wide area. The locations, areas, and time-series changes of commercial accumulations in the South Kanto region can be monitored by integrating polygons of commercial accumulations with the time-series data of digital yellow page data. The circumstances of commercial accumulations were shown to vary according to areas, that is, highly- urbanized regions such as the city center of Tokyo and prefectural capitals, suburban areas near large cities, and suburban and rural areas.

Keywords: Commercial accumulations, Spatio-temporal analysis, Urban monitoring, Yellow page data

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Authors: Chanthana Poninthawong

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This research is to study the types of products and services that employs 'ambient media and respective techniques in its advertisement materials. Data collection has been done via analyses of a total of 62 advertisements that employed ambient media approach in Thailand during the years 2004 to 2011. The 62 advertisement were qualifying advertisements of the Adman Awards & Symposium under the category of Outdoor & Ambience. Analysis results reveal that there is a total of 14 products and services that chooses to utilize ambient media in its advertisement. Amongst all ambient media techniques, 'intrusion' uses the value of a medium in its representation of content most often. Following intrusion is 'interaction', where consumers are invited to participate and interact with the advertising materials. 'Illusion' ranks third in its ability to subject the viewers to distortions of reality that makes the division between reality and fantasy less clear.

Keywords: Ambient media, Adman Awards, advertising, Out of Home media.

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Authors: Ethan Shafer, Timothy Graziano, Jay Fisher

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This research seeks to answer whether first-year courses at institutions of higher learning can impact STEM major selection. Unlike many universities, an entry-level technology course (often referred to as CS0) is required for all United States Military Academy (USMA) students–regardless of major–in their first year of attendance. Students at the Academy choose their major at the end of their first year of studies. Through student responses to a multi-semester survey, this paper identifies a number of factors that potentially influence STEM major selection. Student demographic data, pre-existing exposure and access to technology, perceptions of STEM subjects, and initial desire for a STEM major are captured before and after taking a CS0 course. An analysis of factors that contribute to student perception of STEM and major selection are presented. This work provides recommendations and suggestions for institutions currently providing or looking to provide CS0-like courses to their students.

Keywords: STEM major, STEM, pedagogy, digital literacy.

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Authors: Khairul Akram Zainol Ariffin, Ahmad Kamil Mahmood, Jafreezal Jaafar, Solahuddin Shamsuddin

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Random Access Memory (RAM) is an important device in computer system. It can represent the snapshot on how the computer has been used by the user. With the growth of its importance, the computer memory has been an issue that has been discussed in digital forensics. A number of tools have been developed to retrieve the information from the memory. However, most of the tools have their limitation in the ability of retrieving the important information from the computer memory. Hence, this paper is aimed to discuss the limitation and the setback for two main techniques such as process signature search and process enumeration. Then, a new hybrid approach will be presented to minimize the setback in both individual techniques. This new approach combines both techniques with the purpose to retrieve the information from the process block and other objects in the computer memory. Nevertheless, the basic theory in address translation for x86 platforms will be demonstrated in this paper.

Keywords: Algorithms, Digital Forensics, Memory Analysis, Signature Search.

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Authors: N. Singh, N. Sharma, J. K. Katnoria

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Water a vital component for all living forms is derived from variety of sources, including surface water (rivers, lakes, reservoirs and ponds) and ground water (aquifers). Over the years of time, water bodies are subjected to human interference regularly resulting in deterioration of water quality. Therefore, pollution of water bodies has become matter of global concern. As the water quality closely relate to human health, water analysis before usage is of immense importance. Improper management of water bodies can cause serious problems in availability and quality of water. The quality of water may be described according to their physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics. For effective maintenance of water quality through appropriate control measures, continuous monitoring of metals, physico-chemical and biological parameter is essential for the establishment of baseline data for the water quality in any study area. The present study has focused on to explore the status of water pollution in various areas and to estimate the magnitude of its toxicity using different bioassay.

Keywords: Genotoxicity, Heavy metals, Mutagenicity, Physico-chemical analysis.

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Authors: Zarita Zainuddin, Ong Pauline, C. Ardil

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Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder, where the improper management of the blood glucose level in the diabetic patients will lead to the risk of heart attack, kidney disease and renal failure. This paper attempts to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of the advancing blood glucose levels of the diabetic patients, by combining principal component analysis and wavelet neural network. The proposed system makes separate blood glucose prediction in the morning, afternoon, evening and night intervals, using dataset from one patient covering a period of 77 days. Comparisons of the diagnostic accuracy with other neural network models, which use the same dataset are made. The comparison results showed overall improved accuracy, which indicates the effectiveness of this proposed system.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, principal component analysis, time-series, wavelet neural network.

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Authors: Zhou Yingkun, Xu Guorui, Wei Siming, Huang Yongzhang

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With the increasing of the penetration of renewable energy in power system, the whole inertia of the power system is declining, which will endanger the frequency stability of the power system. In order to enhance the inertia, virtual synchronous generator (VSG) has been proposed. In addition, the motor-generator pair (MGP) system is proposed to enhance grid inertia. Both of them need additional equipment to provide instantaneous energy, so the economic problem should be considered. In this paper, the basic working principle of MGP system and VSG are introduced firstly. Then, the technical characteristics and economic investment of MGP/VSG are compared by calculation and simulation. The results show that the MGP system can provide same inertia with less cost than VSG.

Keywords: High renewable energy penetration, inertia of power system, virtual synchronous generator, motor-generator pair system, techno-economic analysis.

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Authors: S. J. Matlan, M. Mukhlisin, M. R. Taha

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Characterization of the engineering behavior of unsaturated soil is dependent on the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), a graphical representation of the relationship between water content or degree of saturation and soil suction. A reasonable description of the SWCC is thus important for the accurate prediction of unsaturated soil parameters. The measurement procedures for determining the SWCC, however, are difficult, expensive, and timeconsuming. During the past few decades, researchers have laid a major focus on developing empirical equations for predicting the SWCC, with a large number of empirical models suggested. One of the most crucial questions is how precisely existing equations can represent the SWCC. As different models have different ranges of capability, it is essential to evaluate the precision of the SWCC models used for each particular soil type for better SWCC estimation. It is expected that better estimation of SWCC would be achieved via a thorough statistical analysis of its distribution within a particular soil class. With this in view, a statistical analysis was conducted in order to evaluate the reliability of the SWCC prediction models against laboratory measurement. Optimization techniques were used to obtain the best-fit of the model parameters in four forms of SWCC equation, using laboratory data for relatively coarse-textured (i.e., sandy) soil. The four most prominent SWCCs were evaluated and computed for each sample. The result shows that the Brooks and Corey model is the most consistent in describing the SWCC for sand soil type. The Brooks and Corey model prediction also exhibit compatibility with samples ranging from low to high soil water content in which subjected to the samples that evaluated in this study.

Keywords: Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), statistical analysis, unsaturated soil.

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Authors: Noor Ul Ain Bhatti, M. Junaid Khan, Javed Ahmad, Murtaza Saleem, Shahid M. Ramay, Saadat A. Siddiqi

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Manganese oxide is being recently used as electrode material for rechargeable batteries. In this study, Al incorporated Mn₂O₃ compositions were synthesized to study the effect of Al doping on electrochemical performance of host material. Structural studies were carried out using X-ray diffraction analysis to confirm the phase stability and explore the lattice parameters, crystallite size, lattice strain, density and cell volume. Morphology and composition were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. Dynamic light scattering analysis was performed to observe the average particle size of the compositions. FTIR measurements exhibit the O-Al-O and O-Mn-O and Al-O bonding and with increasing the concentration of Al, the vibrational peaks of Mn-O become sharper. An enhanced electrochemical performance was observed in compositions with higher Al content.

Keywords: Mn2O3, electrode materials, energy storage and conversion, electrochemical performance.

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Authors: M. Brandt, A. Peniak, J. Makarovič, P. Rafajdus

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This paper deals with a novel approach of power transformers diagnostics. This approach identifies the exact location and the range of a fault in the transformer and helps to reduce operation costs related to handling of the faulty transformer, its disassembly and repair. The advantage of the approach is a possibility to simulate healthy transformer and also all faults, which can occur in transformer during its operation without its disassembling, which is very expensive in practice. The approach is based on creating frequency dependent impedance of the transformer by sweep frequency response analysis measurements and by 3D FE parametrical modeling of the fault in the transformer. The parameters of the 3D FE model are the position and the range of the axial short circuit. Then, by comparing the frequency dependent impedances of the parametrical models with the measured ones, the location and the range of the fault is identified. The approach was tested on a real transformer and showed high coincidence between the real fault and the simulated one.

Keywords: Fault, finite element method, parametrical model of transformer, sweep frequency response analysis, transformer.

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Authors: Wen-Chieh, Hsieh

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The purpose of this study is to analyze the islands tourist travel information sources, as well as for the satisfaction of the tourist destination services. This study used questionnaires to the island of Taiwan to the Penghu Islands to engage in tourism activities tourist adopt the designated convenience sampling method, a total of 889 valid questionnaires were collected. After statistical analysis, this study found that: 1. tourists to the Penghu Islands travel information source for “friends and family came to Penghu". 2. Tourists feel the service of the outlying islands of Penghu, the highest feelings of “friendly local residents". 3. There are different demographic variables affect the tourist travel information source and service satisfaction. Based on the findings of this study not only for Penghu's tourism industry with the unit in charge of the proposed operating and suggestions for future research to other researchers.

Keywords: Island tourism, destination, travel information, service satisfaction.

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Authors: Ashish R. Tanna, Hiren H. Joshi

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The mineral having chemical compositional formula MgAl2O4 is called “spinel". The ferrites crystallize in spinel structure are known as spinel-ferrites or ferro-spinels. The spinel structure has a fcc cage of oxygen ions and the metallic cations are distributed among tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) interstitial voids (sites). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) intensity of each Bragg plane is sensitive to the distribution of cations in the interstitial voids of the spinel lattice. This leads to the method of determination of distribution of cations in the spinel oxides through XRD intensity analysis. The computer program for XRD intensity analysis has been developed in C language and also tested for the real experimental situation by synthesizing the spinel ferrite materials Mg0.6Zn0.4AlxFe2- xO4 and characterized them by X-ray diffractometry. The compositions of Mg0.6Zn0.4AlxFe2-xO4(x = 0.0 to 0.6) ferrites have been prepared by ceramic method and powder X-ray diffraction patterns were recorded. Thus, the authenticity of the program is checked by comparing the theoretically calculated data using computer simulation with the experimental ones. Further, the deduced cation distributions were used to fit the magnetization data using Localized canting of spins approach to explain the “recovery" of collinear spin structure due to Al3+ - substitution in Mg-Zn ferrites which is the case if A-site magnetic dilution and non-collinear spin structure. Since the distribution of cations in the spinel ferrites plays a very important role with regard to their electrical and magnetic properties, it is essential to determine the cation distribution in spinel lattice.

Keywords: Spinel ferrites, Localized canting of spins, X-ray diffraction, Programming in Borland C.

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Authors: Giovanni Luca Masala

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A typical definition of the Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), found in literature, can be: A diagnosis made by a radiologist using the output of a computerized scheme for automated image analysis as a diagnostic aid. Often it is possible to find the expression Computer Aided Detection (CAD or CADe): this definition emphasizes the intent of CAD to support rather than substitute the human observer in the analysis of radiographic images. In this article we will illustrate the application of CAD systems and the aim of these definitions. Commercially available CAD systems use computerized algorithms for identifying suspicious regions of interest. In this paper are described the general CAD systems as an expert system constituted of the following components: segmentation / detection, feature extraction, and classification / decision making. As example, in this work is shown the realization of a Computer- Aided Detection system that is able to assist the radiologist in identifying types of mammary tumor lesions. Furthermore this prototype of station uses a GRID configuration to work on a large distributed database of digitized mammographic images.

Keywords: Computer Aided Detection, Computer Aided Diagnosis, mammography, GRID.

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Authors: Ž. Nikolić, H. Smoljanović, N. Živaljić

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This paper presents numerical model based on finite-discrete element method for analysis of the structural response of dry stone masonry structures under static and dynamic loads. More precisely, each discrete stone block is discretized by finite elements. Material non-linearity including fracture and fragmentation of discrete elements as well as cyclic behavior during dynamic load are considered through contact elements which are implemented within a finite element mesh. The application of the model was conducted on several examples of these structures. The performed analysis shows high accuracy of the numerical results in comparison with the experimental ones and demonstrates the potential of the finite-discrete element method for modelling of the response of dry stone masonry structures.

Keywords: Finite-discrete element method, dry stone masonry structures, static load, dynamic load.

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Authors: Mohamed Amine Ben Henni, Taher Hassaine Daouadji, Boussad Abbes, Yu Ming Li, Fazilay Abbes

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The reinforcement and repair of concrete structures by bonding composite materials have become relatively common operations. Different types of composite materials can be used: carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) as well as functionally graded material (FGM). The development of analytical and numerical models describing the mechanical behavior of structures in civil engineering reinforced by composite materials is necessary. These models will enable engineers to select, design, and size adequate reinforcements for the various types of damaged structures. This study focuses on the free vibration behavior of orthotropic laminated composite plates using a refined shear deformation theory. In these models, the distribution of transverse shear stresses is considered as parabolic satisfying the zero-shear stress condition on the top and bottom surfaces of the plates without using shear correction factors. In this analysis, the equation of motion for simply supported thick laminated rectangular plates is obtained by using the Hamilton’s principle. The accuracy of the developed model is demonstrated by comparing our results with solutions derived from other higher order models and with data found in the literature. Besides, a finite-element analysis is used to calculate the natural frequencies of laminated composite plates and is compared with those obtained by the analytical approach.

Keywords: Composites materials, laminated composite plate, shear deformation theory of plates, finite element analysis, free vibration.

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Authors: Ashkan Ebadi, Andrea Schiffauerova

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Every year, a considerable amount of money is being invested on research, mainly in the form of funding allocated to universities and research institutes. To better distribute the available funds and to set the most proper R&D investment strategies for the future, evaluation of the productivity of the funded researchers and the impact of such funding is crucial. In this paper, using the data on 15 years of journal publications of the NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering research Council of Canada) funded researchers and by means of bibliometric analysis, the scientific development of the funded researchers and their scientific collaboration patterns will be investigated in the period of 1996-2010. According to the results it seems that there is a positive relation between the average level of funding and quantity and quality of the scientific output. In addition, whenever funding allocated to the researchers has increased, the number of co-authors per paper has also augmented. Hence, the increase in the level of funding may enable researchers to get involved in larger projects and/or scientific teams and increase their scientific output respectively.

Keywords: Bibliometrics, Collaboration, Funding, Productivity.

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Authors: H. Nikzad, S. Yoshitomi

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This paper presents the design application and reinforcement detailing of 15 storied reinforced concrete shear wall-frame structure based on linear static analysis. Databases are generated for section sizes based on automated structural optimization method utilizing Active-set Algorithm in MATLAB platform. The design constraints of allowable section sizes, capacity criteria and seismic provisions for static loads, combination of gravity and lateral loads are checked and determined based on ASCE 7-10 documents and ACI 318-14 design provision. The result of this study illustrates the efficiency of proposed method, and is expected to provide a useful reference in designing of RC shear wall-frame structures.

Keywords: Structural optimization, linear static analysis, ETABS, MATLAB, RC shear wall-frame structures.

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Authors: Gupta Rajesh, Paudel Sagar, Sharma Utkarsh, Singh Amit Kumar

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Thermal stratification has drawn much attention because of the malfunctions at various nuclear plants in U.S.A that raised significant safety concerns. The concerns due to this phenomenon relate to thermal stresses in branch pipes connected to the reactor coolant system piping. This stress limits the lifetime of the piping system, and even leading to penetrating cracks. To assess origin of valve damage in the pipeline, it is essential to determine the effect of turbulence penetration on valve leakage; since stratified flow is generally generated by turbulent penetration or valve leakage. As a result, we concluded with the help of coupled fluent-structural analysis that the pipe with less turbulence has less chance of failure there by requiring less maintenance.

Keywords: Reactor coolant system, thermal stratification, turbulent penetration, coupled fluent-structural analysis, Von Mises stress.

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Authors: Durgesh Kumar Ojha, Monica Subashini

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The proposed method is to study and analyze Electrocardiograph (ECG) waveform to detect abnormalities present with reference to P, Q, R and S peaks. The first phase includes the acquisition of real time ECG data. In the next phase, generation of signals followed by pre-processing. Thirdly, the procured ECG signal is subjected to feature extraction. The extracted features detect abnormal peaks present in the waveform Thus the normal and abnormal ECG signal could be differentiated based on the features extracted. The work is implemented in the most familiar multipurpose tool, MATLAB. This software efficiently uses algorithms and techniques for detection of any abnormalities present in the ECG signal. Proper utilization of MATLAB functions (both built-in and user defined) can lead us to work with ECG signals for processing and analysis in real time applications. The simulation would help in improving the accuracy and the hardware could be built conveniently.

Keywords: ECG Waveform, Peak Detection, Arrhythmia, Matlab.

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Authors: Liming Chen, Baoxin Xiu, Zhaoyun Ding, Bin Liu, Xianqiang Zhu

Abstract:

In the era of big data, public investors are faced with more complicated information related to investment decisions than ever before. To survive in the fierce competition, it has become increasingly urgent for investors to combine multi-source knowledge and evaluate the companies’ true value efficiently. For this, a rule-based ontology reasoning method is proposed to support steel companies’ value assessment. Considering the delay in financial disclosure and based on cost-benefit analysis, this paper introduces the supply chain enterprises financial analysis and constructs the ontology model used to value the value of steel company. In addition, domain knowledge is formally expressed with the help of Web Ontology Language (OWL) language and SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules. Finally, a case study on a steel company in China proved the effectiveness of the method we proposed.

Keywords: Financial ontology, steel company, supply chain, ontology reasoning.

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Authors: Emre Ünal, Hasan Başaran

Abstract:

In this study, starting with a predetermined Lunar free-return trajectory, an analysis of major near-Earth perturbations is carried out. Referencing to historical Apollo-13 flight, changes in the mission’s resultant perimoon and perigee altitudes with each perturbative effect are evaluated. The perturbations that were considered are Earth oblateness effects, up to the 6^th order, atmospheric drag, third body perturbations consisting of solar and planetary effects and solar radiation pressure effects. It is found that for a Moon mission, most of the main perturbative effects spoil the trajectory significantly while some came out to be negligible. It is seen that for apparent future request of constructing low cost, reliable and safe trajectories to the Moon, most of the orbital perturbations are crucial.

Keywords: Apollo-13 trajectory, atmospheric drag, lunar trajectories, oblateness effect, perturbative effects, solar radiation pressure, third body perturbations.

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