Search results for: The amount of urban artificial heat

Authors: Shatha Ghareeb, Rawaa Al-Jumeily, Thar Baker

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In Abu Dhabi, there are many different education curriculums where sector of private schools and quality assurance is supervising many private schools in Abu Dhabi for many nationalities. As there are many different education curriculums in Abu Dhabi to meet expats’ needs, there are different requirements for registration and success. In addition, there are different age groups for starting education in each curriculum. In fact, each curriculum has a different number of years, assessment techniques, reassessment rules, and exam boards. Currently, students that transfer curriculums are not being placed in the right year group due to different start and end dates of each academic year and their date of birth for each year group is different for each curriculum and as a result, we find students that are either younger or older for that year group which therefore creates gaps in their learning and performance. In addition, there is not a way of storing student data throughout their academic journey so that schools can track the student learning process. In this paper, we propose to develop a computational framework applicable in multicultural countries such as UAE in which multi-education systems are implemented. The ultimate goal is to use cloud and fog computing technology integrated with Artificial Intelligence techniques of Machine Learning to aid in a smooth transition when assigning students to their year groups, and provide leveling and differentiation information of students who relocate from a particular education curriculum to another, whilst also having the ability to store and access student data from anywhere throughout their academic journey.

Keywords: Admissions, algorithms, cloud computing, differentiation, fog computing, leveling, machine learning.

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Authors: Chin S. Y., Radzi, S. N. R., Maharon, I. H., Shafawi, M. A.

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A kinetic model for propane dehydrogenation in an industrial moving bed reactor is developed based on the reported reaction scheme. The kinetic parameters and activity constant are fine tuned with several sets of balanced plant data. Plant data at different operating conditions is applied to validate the model and the results show a good agreement between the model predictions and plant observations in terms of the amount of main product, propylene produced. The simulation analysis of key variables such as inlet temperature of each reactor (Tinrx) and hydrogen to total hydrocarbon ratio (H2/THC) affecting process performance is performed to identify the operating condition to maximize the production of propylene. Within the range of operating conditions applied in the present studies, the operating condition to maximize the propylene production at the same weighted average inlet temperature (WAIT) is ΔTinrx1= -2, ΔTinrx2= +1, ΔTinrx3= +1 , ΔTinrx4= +2 and ΔH2/THC= -0.02. Under this condition, the surplus propylene produced is 7.07 tons/day as compared with base case.

Keywords: kinetic model, dehydrogenation, simulation, modeling, propane

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Authors: Hatim Laalej, Salvador Sumohano-Verdeja, Thomas McLeay

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Monitoring of tool wear in milling operations is essential for achieving the desired dimensional accuracy and surface finish of a machined workpiece. Although there are numerous statistical models and artificial intelligence techniques available for monitoring the wear of cutting tools, these techniques cannot pin point which cutting edge of the tool, or which insert in the case of indexable tooling, is worn or broken. Currently, the task of monitoring the wear on the tool cutting edges is carried out by the operator who performs a manual inspection, causing undesirable stoppages of machine tools and consequently resulting in costs incurred from lost productivity. The present study is concerned with the development of a flute tracking system to segment signals related to each physical flute of a cutter with three flutes used in an end milling operation. The purpose of the system is to monitor the cutting condition for individual flutes separately in order to determine their progressive wear rates and to predict imminent tool failure. The results of this study clearly show that signals associated with each flute can be effectively segmented using the proposed flute tracking system. Furthermore, the results illustrate that by segmenting the sensor signal by flutes it is possible to investigate the wear in each physical cutting edge of the cutting tool. These findings are significant in that they facilitate the online condition monitoring of a cutting tool for each specific flute without the need for operators/engineers to perform manual inspections of the tool.

Keywords: Tool condition monitoring, tool wear prediction, milling operation, flute tracking.

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Authors: Ibrahim Naeimifar, Omid Naeemifar

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Evaluation of the excavation-induced ground movements is an important design aspect of support systems in urban areas. Geological and geotechnical conditions of an excavation area have significant effects on excavation-induced ground movements and the related damage. This paper is aimed at studying the performance of excavation walls supported by nails in jointed rock medium. The performance of nailed walls is investigated based on evaluating the excavation-induced ground movements. For this purpose, a set of calibrated 2D finite element models are developed by taking into account the nail-rock-structure interactions, the anisotropic properties of jointed rock, and the staged construction process. The results of this paper highlight effects of different parameters such as joint inclinations, anisotropy of rocks and nail inclinations on deformation parameters of excavation wall supported by nails.

Keywords: Finite element, jointed rock, nailing, performance.

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Authors: Waralak Vongdoiwang Siricharoen

Abstract:

One of object oriented software developing problem is the difficulty of searching the appropriate and suitable objects for starting the system. In this work, ontologies appear in the part of supporting the object discovering in the initial of object oriented software developing. There are many researches try to demonstrate that there is a great potential between object model and ontologies. Constructing ontology from object model is called ontology engineering can be done; On the other hand, this research is aiming to support the idea of building object model from ontology is also promising and practical. Ontology classes are available online in any specific areas, which can be searched by semantic search engine. There are also many helping tools to do so; one of them which are used in this research is Protégé ontology editor and Visual Paradigm. To put them together give a great outcome. This research will be shown how it works efficiently with the real case study by using ontology classes in travel/tourism domain area. It needs to combine classes, properties, and relationships from more than two ontologies in order to generate the object model. In this paper presents a simple methodology framework which explains the process of discovering objects. The results show that this framework has great value while there is possible for expansion. Reusing of existing ontologies offers a much cheaper alternative than building new ones from scratch. More ontologies are becoming available on the web, and online ontologies libraries for storing and indexing ontologies are increasing in number and demand. Semantic and Ontologies search engines have also started to appear, to facilitate search and retrieval of online ontologies.

Keywords: Software Developing, Ontology, Ontology Library, Artificial Intelligent, Protégé, Object Model.

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Authors: Anastasis Kounoudes, Stephanos Mavromoustakos

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Electronic commerce is growing rapidly with on-line sales already heading for hundreds of billion dollars per year. Due to the huge amount of money transferred everyday, an increased security level is required. In this work we present the architecture of an intelligent speaker verification system, which is able to accurately verify the registered users of an e-commerce service using only their voices as an input. According to the proposed architecture, a transaction-based e-commerce application should be complemented by a biometric server where customer-s unique set of speech models (voiceprint) is stored. The verification procedure requests from the user to pronounce a personalized sequence of digits and after capturing speech and extracting voice features at the client side are sent back to the biometric server. The biometric server uses pattern recognition to decide whether the received features match the stored voiceprint of the customer who claims to be, and accordingly grants verification. The proposed architecture can provide e-commerce applications with a higher degree of certainty regarding the identity of a customer, and prevent impostors to execute fraudulent transactions.

Keywords: Speaker Recognition, Biometrics, E-commercesecurity.

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Authors: Saleh Alshehri

Abstract:

Thermoelectric technology is currently being used in many industrial applications for cooling, heating and generating electricity. This research mainly focuses on using thermoelectric to cool down high-speed computer chips at different operating conditions. A previously developed and validated three-dimensional model for optimizing and assessing the performance of cascaded thermoelectric and non-cascaded thermoelectric is used in this study to investigate the possibility of decreasing the hotspot temperature of computer chip. Additionally, a test assembly is built and tested at steady-state and transient conditions. The obtained optimum thermoelectric current at steady-state condition is used to conduct a number of pulsed tests (i.e. transient tests) with different shapes to cool the computer chips hotspots. The results of the steady-state tests showed that at hotspot heat rate of 15.58 W (5.97 W/cm²), using thermoelectric current of 4.5 A has resulted in decreasing the hotspot temperature at open circuit condition (89.3 °C) by 50.1 °C. Maximum and minimum hotspot temperatures have been affected by ON and OFF duration of the electrical current pulse. Maximum hotspot temperature was resulted by longer OFF pulse period. In addition, longer ON pulse period has generated the minimum hotspot temperature.

Keywords: Thermoelectric generator, thermoelectric cooler, chip hotspots, electronic cooling.

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Authors: Y. Chiang, J. R. Wang, J. H. Yang, Y. S. Tseng, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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Kuosheng nuclear power plant (NPP) is a BWR/6 plant in Taiwan. There is more concern for the safety of Spent Fuel Pools (SFPs) in Taiwan after Fukushima event. In order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP SFP, by using MELCOR2.1 and SNAP, the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP SFP was performed combined with the mitigation strategy of NEI 06-12 report. There were several steps in this research. First, the Kuosheng NPP SFP models were established by MELCOR2.1/SNAP. Second, the Station Blackout (SBO) analysis of Kuosheng SFP was done by TRACE and MELCOR under the cooling system failure condition. The results showed that the calculations of MELCOR and TRACE were very similar in this case. Second, the mitigation strategy analysis was done with the MELCOR model by following the NEI 06-12 report. The results showed the effectiveness of NEI 06-12 strategy in Kuosheng NPP SFP. Finally, a sensitivity study of SFP quenching was done to check the differences of different water injection time and the phenomena during the quenching. The results showed that if the cladding temperature was over 1600 K, the water injection may have chance to cause the accident more severe with more hydrogen generation. It was because of the oxidation heat and the “Breakaway” effect of the zirconium-water reaction. An animation model built by SNAP was also shown in this study.

Keywords: MELCOR, SNAP, spent fuel pool, quenching.

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Authors: Hamdon A. Abdelrhman

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The purpose of the analysis is estimation of viability and profitability of kenaf plant farming in Kelantan State. The monetary information was gathered through interviewing kenaf growers as well group discussion. In addition, the production statistics were collected from Kenaf factory administrative group. The monetary data were analyzed using the Precision financial Calculator. For kenaf production per hectare three scenarios of productivity were adopted, they were 15, 12 and ten; the research results exposed that, when kenaf productivity was 15 ton and the agronomist received financial supports from kenaf administration, the margin profit reached up to 37% which is almost dual profitability that is expected without government support. The financial analysis explains that, the adopted scenarios of the productivity are feasible when Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) was used as financial indicator. Nonetheless, the kenaf productivity of 15 ton is the superlative viable among the others and payback period is 5 years which equals to middle period time to return the invested amount back. The study concluded that for the farmer to increase the productivity of kenaf per hectare the well farming practices as well as continuously farmers financial support are highly needed.

Keywords: Margin profit, farming practices, financial analysis, kenaf cultivation.

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Authors: Youngji Yoo, Seung Hwan Park, Daewoong An, Sung-Shick Kim, Jun-Geol Baek

Abstract:

The yield management system is very important to produce high-quality semiconductor chips in the semiconductor manufacturing process. In order to improve quality of semiconductors, various tests are conducted in the post fabrication (FAB) process. During the test process, large amount of data are collected and the data includes a lot of information about defect. In general, the defect on the wafer is the main causes of yield loss. Therefore, analyzing the defect data is necessary to improve performance of yield prediction. The wafer bin map (WBM) is one of the data collected in the test process and includes defect information such as the fail bit patterns. The fail bit has characteristics of spatial point patterns. Therefore, this paper proposes the feature extraction method using the spatial point pattern analysis. Actual data obtained from the semiconductor process is used for experiments and the experimental result shows that the proposed method is more accurately recognize the fail bit patterns.

Keywords: Semiconductor, wafer bin map (WBM), feature extraction, spatial point patterns, contour map.

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Authors: A. Malakahmad, S.M. Zain, N.E. Ahmad Basri, S. R. Mohamed Kutty, M. H. Isa

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Anaerobic digestion process is one of the alternative methods to convert organic waste into methane gas which is a fuel and energy source. Activities of various kinds of microorganisms are the main factor for anaerobic digestion which produces methane gas. Therefore, in this study a modified Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) with working volume of 50 liters was designed to identify the microorganisms through biogas production. The mixture of 75% kitchen waste and 25% sewage sludge was used as substrate. Observations on microorganisms in the ABR showed that there exists a small amount of protozoa (5%) and fungi (2%) in the system, but almost 93% of the microorganism population consists of bacteria. It is definitely clear that bacteria are responsible for anaerobic biodegradation of kitchen waste. Results show that in the acidification zone of the ABR (front compartments of reactor) fast growing bacteria capable of growth at high substrate levels and reduced pH was dominant. A shift to slower growing scavenging bacteria that grow better at higher pH was occurring towards the end of the reactor. Due to the ability of activity in acetate environment the percentages of Methanococcus, Methanosarcina and Methanotrix were higher than other kinds of methane former in the system.

Keywords: Anaerobic microorganism identification, Kitchenwaste, Biogas.

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Authors: B. Tirandazi, M. Mehrpooya, A. Vatani

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This paper provides an exergy analysis of the multistage refrigeration cycle used for C2+ recovery plant. The behavior of an industrial refrigeration cycle with refrigerant propane has been investigated by the exergy method. A computational model based on the exergy analysis is presented for the investigation of the effects of the valves on the exergy losses, the second law of efficiency, and the coefficient of performance (COP) of a vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The equations of exergy destruction and exergetic efficiency for the main cycle components such as evaporators, condensers, compressors, and expansion valves are developed. The relations for the total exergy destruction in the cycle and the cycle exergetic efficiency are obtained. An ethane recovery unit with its refrigeration cycle has been simulated to prepare the exergy analysis. Using a typical actual work input value; the exergetic efficiency of the refrigeration cycle is determined to be 39.90% indicating a great potential for improvements. The simulation results reveal that the exergetic efficiencies of the heat exchanger and expansion sections get the lowest rank among the other compartments of refrigeration cycle. Refrigeration calculations have been carried out through the analysis of T–S and P–H diagrams where coefficient of performance (COP) was obtained as 1.85. The novelty of this article includes the effect and sensitivity analysis of molar flow, pressure drops and temperature on the exergy efficiency and coefficient of performance of the cycle.

Keywords: exergy; Valve; CRP; refrigeration cycle; propane refrigerant; C2+ Recovery; Ethane Recovery;.

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Authors: Aiyeloja A.A, Ogunjinmi A.A

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The recurring decimal of rural and urban poverty in Nigeria, resulting from lack of sustainable livelihood activities by the people due to non-diversification of the economy, necessitated this study. One hundred snail farmers were randomly selected in Akure North and Akure South Local Government areas of Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria where snail farming is widely practised. Data collection was through questionnaires administration and onsite observation of farms. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics, Student-s t-test and regression analysis. Cost benefit ratio (CBR) and rate of return on investment (RORI) were calculated in order to determine the poverty alleviation potentials of snail farming in the study areas. Although snail farming was profitable and viable, it was below poverty line. With time and more knowledge in its farming activities, and with more people taking to snail production, its poverty alleviation and reduction potentials will increase.

Keywords: Alleviation, farming, Nigeria, potential, poverty, snail.

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Authors: A. Kasmi, N. E. Abriak, M. Benzerzour, I. Shahrour

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Large volumes of river sediments are dredged each year in Europe in order to maintain harbour activities and prevent floods. The management of this sediment has become increasingly complex. Several European projects were implemented to find environmentally sound solutions for these materials. The main objective of this study is to show the ability of river sediment to be used in road. Since sediments contain a high amount of water, then a dehydrating treatment by addition of the flocculation aid has been used. Firstly, a lot of physical characteristics are measured and discussed for a better identification of the raw sediment and this dehydrated sediment by addition the flocculation aid. The identified parameters are, for example, the initial water content, the density, the organic matter content, the grain size distribution, the liquid limit and plastic limit and geotechnical parameters. The environmental impacts of the used material were evaluated. The results obtained show that there is a slight change on the physical-chemical and geotechnical characteristics of sediment after dehydration by the addition of polymer. However, these sediments cannot be used in road construction.

Keywords: River sediment, dehydration, flocculation aid, characteristics, environmental impacts, road construction.

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Authors: Ameur Abdelkader, Abed Bouarfa Hafida

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Since its inception, predictive analysis has revolutionized the IT industry through its robustness and decision-making facilities. It involves the application of a set of data processing techniques and algorithms in order to create predictive models. Its principle is based on finding relationships between explanatory variables and the predicted variables. Past occurrences are exploited to predict and to derive the unknown outcome. With the advent of big data, many studies have suggested the use of predictive analytics in order to process and analyze big data. Nevertheless, they have been curbed by the limits of classical methods of predictive analysis in case of a large amount of data. In fact, because of their volumes, their nature (semi or unstructured) and their variety, it is impossible to analyze efficiently big data via classical methods of predictive analysis. The authors attribute this weakness to the fact that predictive analysis algorithms do not allow the parallelization and distribution of calculation. In this paper, we propose to extend the predictive analysis algorithm, Classification And Regression Trees (CART), in order to adapt it for big data analysis. The major changes of this algorithm are presented and then a version of the extended algorithm is defined in order to make it applicable for a huge quantity of data.

Keywords: Predictive analysis, big data, predictive analysis algorithms. CART algorithm.

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Authors: Isabela Romanha de Alcantara, José Eustáquio Ribeiro Vieira Filho, José Garcia Gasques

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Innovation and technology can be determinant factors to ensure agricultural and sustainable growth, as well as productivity gains. Technical change has contributed considerably to supply agricultural expansion in Brazil. This agricultural growth could be achieved by incorporating more land or capital. If capital is the main source of agricultural growth, it is possible to increase production per unit of land. The objective of this paper is to estimate: 1) total factor productivity (TFP), which is measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input; and 2) the land-saving effect (LSE) that is the amount of land required in the case that yield rate is constant over time. According to this study, from 1990 to 2019, it appears that 87% of Brazilian agriculture product growth comes from the gains of productivity; the remaining 13% comes from input growth. In the same period, the total LSE was roughly 400 Mha, which corresponds to 47% of the national territory. These effects reflect the greater efficiency of using productive factors, whose technical change has allowed an increase in the agricultural production based on productivity gains.

Keywords: agriculture, land-saving effect, livestock, productivity

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Authors: Bintao Wu, Xiangfang Xu, Yugang Miao, Duanfeng Han

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Joining of 1mm thick aluminum 6061 to titanium TC4 was conducted using Bypass-current MIG welding-brazed, and stable welding process and good bead appearance were obtained. The Joint profile and microstructure of Ti/Al joints were observed by optical microscopy and SEM and then the structure of the interfacial reaction layers were analyzed in details. It was found that the intermetallic compound layer at the interfacial top is in the form of columnar crystal, which is in short and dense state. A mount of AlTi were observed at the interfacial layer near the Ti base metal while intermetallic compound like Al3Ti, TiSi3 were formed near the Al base metal, and the Al11Ti5 transition phase was found in the center of the interface layer due to the uneven distribution inside the weld pool during the welding process. Tensile test results show that the average tensile strength of joints is up to 182.6 MPa, which reaches about 97.6% of aluminum base metal. Fracture is prone to occur in the base metal with a certain amount of necking.

Keywords: Bypass-current MIG welding-brazed, Al alloy, Ti alloy, joint characteristics, mechanical properties.

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Authors: Shanmugasundaram Krishnakumari, Paramasivam Rajeswari, Subramanian Kathiravan

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Mushrooms are a group of fleshy macroscopic fungi. They have been valued throughout the world as both edible and medicine. They are highly nutritious with good amount of quality proteins, vitamins and minerals. An edible mushroom, Calocybe indica was selected to validate its nutritional and medicinal properties. Since tissue damage in hyperglycemia has been related to oxidative stress, we evaluated the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant status in the serum, liver and kidney since they are the target organs in diabetic complications. From the results, increased oxidative stress and decreased antioxidants might be related to the causation of diabetes mellitus. The treatment in the diabetic rats with the Calocybe indica showed an increase in the antioxidant system and decrease in the production of free radicals. The mushrooms which contain antioxidant phytochemicals has potential free radical scavenging capacity and hence can induce the antioxidant system in the body significantly reduces the generated free radicals thereby maintaining the normal levels of the antioxidants

Keywords: Antioxidants, Calocybe indica, diabetes mellitus, edible mushroom, oxidative stress.

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Authors: Mohamed El Morsy, Gabriela Achtenová

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Research on damage of gears and gear pairs using vibration signals remains very attractive, because vibration signals from a gear pair are complex in nature and not easy to interpret. Predicting gear pair defects by analyzing changes in vibration signal of gears pairs in operation is a very reliable method. Therefore, a suitable vibration signal processing technique is necessary to extract defect information generally obscured by the noise from dynamic factors of other gear pairs.This article presents the value of cepstrum analysis in vehicle gearbox fault diagnosis. Cepstrum represents the overall power content of a whole family of harmonics and sidebands when more than one family of sidebands is present at the same time. The concept for the measurement and analysis involved in using the technique are briefly outlined. Cepstrum analysis is used for detection of an artificial pitting defect in a vehicle gearbox loaded with different speeds and torques. The test stand is equipped with three dynamometers; the input dynamometer serves asthe internal combustion engine, the output dynamometers introduce the load on the flanges of the output joint shafts. The pitting defect is manufactured on the tooth side of a gear of the fifth speed on the secondary shaft. Also, a method for fault diagnosis of gear faults is presented based on order Cepstrum. The procedure is illustrated with the experimental vibration data of the vehicle gearbox. The results show the effectiveness of Cepstrum analysis in detection and diagnosis of the gear condition.

Keywords: Cepstrum analysis, fault diagnosis, gearbox.

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Authors: Meltem Serhatli, Ferda N. Alpaslan

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Processing the data by computers and performing reasoning tasks is an important aim in Computer Science. Semantic Web is one step towards it. The use of ontologies to enhance the information by semantically is the current trend. Huge amount of domain specific, unstructured on-line data needs to be expressed in machine understandable and semantically searchable format. Currently users are often forced to search manually in the results returned by the keyword-based search services. They also want to use their native languages to express what they search. In this paper, an ontology-based automated question answering system on software test documents domain is presented. The system allows users to enter a question about the domain by means of natural language and returns exact answer of the questions. Conversion of the natural language question into the ontology based query is the challenging part of the system. To be able to achieve this, a new algorithm regarding free text to ontology based search engine query conversion is proposed. The algorithm is based on investigation of suitable question type and parsing the words of the question sentence.

Keywords: Description Logics, ontology, question answering, reasoning.

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Authors: Rohit Gupta, Ravinder Agarwal

Abstract:

Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal has the potential to identify the human activities and intention. This potential is further exploited to control the artificial limbs using the sEMG signal from residual limbs of amputees. The paper deals with the development of multichannel cost efficient sEMG signal interface for research application, along with evaluation of proposed class dependent statistical approach of the feature selection method. The sEMG signal acquisition interface was developed using ADS1298 of Texas Instruments, which is a front-end interface integrated circuit for ECG application. Further, the sEMG signal is recorded from two lower limb muscles for three locomotions namely: Plane Walk (PW), Stair Ascending (SA), Stair Descending (SD). A class dependent statistical approach is proposed for feature selection and also its performance is compared with 12 preexisting feature vectors. To make the study more extensive, performance of five different types of classifiers are compared. The outcome of the current piece of work proves the suitability of the proposed feature selection algorithm for locomotion recognition, as compared to other existing feature vectors. The SVM Classifier is found as the outperformed classifier among compared classifiers with an average recognition accuracy of 97.40%. Feature vector selection emerges as the most dominant factor affecting the classification performance as it holds 51.51% of the total variance in classification accuracy. The results demonstrate the potentials of the developed sEMG signal acquisition interface along with the proposed feature selection algorithm.

Keywords: Classifiers, feature selection, locomotion, sEMG.

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Authors: J. Witzany, T. Čejka, R. Zigler

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With respect to the dissipation of energy through plastic deformation of joints of prefabricated wall units, the paper points out the principal importance of efficient reinforcement of the prefabricated system at its joints. The method, quality and amount of reinforcement are essential for reaching the necessary degree of joint ductility. The paper presents partial results of experimental research of vertical joints of prefabricated units exposed to monotonously rising loading and repetitive shear force and formulates a conclusion that the limit state of the structure as a whole is preceded by the disintegration of joints, or that the structure tends to pass from linearly elastic behaviour to non-linearly elastic to plastic behaviour by exceeding the proportional elastic limit in joints.Experimental verification on a model of a 7-storey prefabricated structure revealed weak points in its load-bearing systems, mainly at places of critical points around openings situated in close proximity to vertical joints of mutually perpendicularly oriented walls.

Keywords: dissipative energy, dynamic and cycling load repetitive load, working diagrams of joints

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Authors: T.F.Lai, Wan Nor Liza Mahadi, Norhayati Soin

Abstract:

This paper present a circular patch microstrip array antenna operate in KU-band (10.9GHz – 17.25GHz). The proposed circular patch array antenna will be in light weight, flexible, slim and compact unit compare with current antenna used in KU-band. The paper also presents the detail steps of designing the circular patch microstrip array antenna. An Advance Design System (ADS) software is used to compute the gain, power, radiation pattern, and S11 of the antenna. The proposed Circular patch microstrip array antenna basically is a phased array consisting of 'n' elements (circular patch antennas) arranged in a rectangular grid. The size of each element is determined by the operating frequency. The incident wave from satellite arrives at the plane of the antenna with equal phase across the surface of the array. Each 'n' element receives a small amount of power in phase with the others. There are feed network connects each element to the microstrip lines with an equal length, thus the signals reaching the circular patches are all combined in phase and the voltages add up. The significant difference of the circular patch array antenna is not come in the phase across the surface but in the magnitude distribution.

Keywords: Circular patch microstrip array antenna, gain, radiation pattern, S-Parameter.

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Authors: P. Pasomboon, P. Chumnanpuen, T. E-kobon

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Hyaluronic acid (HA) consists of linear heteropolysaccharides repeat of D-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. HA has various useful properties to maintain skin elasticity and moisture, reduce inflammation, and lubricate the movement of various body parts without causing immunogenic allergy. HA can be found in several animal tissues as well as in the capsule component of some bacteria including Pasteurella multocida. This study aimed to modify a genome-scale metabolic model of Escherichia coli using computational simulation and flux analysis methods to predict HA productivity under different carbon sources and nitrogen supplement by the addition of two enzymes (GLMU2 and HYAD) from P. multocida to improve the HA production under the specified amount of carbon sources and nitrogen supplements. Result revealed that threonine and aspartate supplement raised the HA production by 12.186%. Our analyses proposed the genome-scale metabolic model is useful for improving the HA production and narrows the number of conditions to be tested further.

Keywords: Pasteurella multocida, Escherichia coli, hyaluronic acid, genome-scale metabolic model, bioinformatics.

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Authors: M. Balestrieri, C. Pusceddu

Abstract:

Issues relating to the destructive phenomena that can damage people and goods have returned to the centre of debate in Italy with the increase in catastrophic episodes in recent years in a country which is highly vulnerable to hydrological risk. Environmental factors and geological and geomorphological territorial characteristics play an important role in determining the level of vulnerability and the natural tendency to risk. However, a territory has also been subjected to the requirements of and transformations of society and this brings other relevant factors. The reasons for the increase in destructive phenomena are often to be found in the territorial development models adopted. Stewardship of the landscape and management of risk are related issues. This study aims to summarize the most relevant elements about this connection and at the same time to clarify the role of environmental risk assessment as a tool to aid in the sustainable management of landscape. Finally, the study reflects on how regional and urban planners deal with environmental risk and which aspects should be monitored in order to adopt responsible and useful interventions.

Keywords: Assessment, landscape, risk, planning.

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Authors: D. I. De Souza, G. P. Azevedo, R. Rocha

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The State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will hold two important events in the nearby future. In 2014 it will have the final game of the Football World Cup, and in 2016 it will be holding the Olympic Games. Therefore, the public transportation system (mainly buses) is of a major concern to the Rio de Janeiro State authorities-. The main objective of this work is to compare the quality of service of the bus companies operating in the cities of ItaperunaandCampos, both cities situated in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The outcome of thiscomparison, based on the opinion of the bus users, has shownthemdispleased with the quality of the service provided by the bus companies operating in both cities. It is urgent the need to find possible practical alternatives to minimize the consequences of the main problems detected in this work. With these practical alternatives available, we will be able to offer to the Rio de Janeiro State authorities- suggestions about possible solutions to the main problems identified in this survey, as well as the time of implantation and costs of these solutions.

Keywords: Public Transportation, Quality of Service, Riders' Opinion, Bus Companies, Practical Alternatives.

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Authors: Azin Shakibabarough, Mojtaba Valinejadshoubi, Ashutosh Bagchi

Abstract:

Structural vibration means repetitive motion that causes fatigue and reduction of the performance of a structure. An earthquake may release high amount of energy that can have adverse effect on all components of a structure. Therefore, decreasing of vibration or maintaining performance of structures such as bridges, dams, roads and buildings is important for life safety and reducing economic loss. When earthquake or any vibration happens, investigation on parts of a structure which sustain the seismic loads is mandatory to provide a safe condition for the occupants. One of the solutions for reducing the earthquake vibration in a structure is using of vibration control devices such as dampers and base isolators. The objective of this study is to investigate the optimal positions of friction dampers and base isolators for better seismic response of 2D frame. For this purpose, a two bay and six story frame with different distribution formats was modeled and some of their responses to earthquake such as inter-story drift, max joint displacement, max axial force and max bending moment were determined and compared using non-linear dynamic analysis.

Keywords: Fast nonlinear analysis, friction damper, base isolator, seismic vibration control, seismic response.

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Authors: Kifah Tout, Nisrine Sinno, Mohamad Mikati

Abstract:

Many studies have focused on the nonlinear analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) mainly for the characterization of epileptic brain states. It is assumed that at least two states of the epileptic brain are possible: the interictal state characterized by a normal apparently random, steady-state EEG ongoing activity; and the ictal state that is characterized by paroxysmal occurrence of synchronous oscillations and is generally called in neurology, a seizure. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the epileptogenic process is still not clear completely especially the most challenging aspects of epileptology which is the anticipation of the seizure. Despite all the efforts we still don-t know how and when and why the seizure occurs. However actual studies bring strong evidence that the interictal-ictal state transition is not an abrupt phenomena. Findings also indicate that it is possible to detect a preseizure phase. Our approach is to use the neural network tool to detect interictal states and to predict from those states the upcoming seizure ( ictal state). Analysis of the EEG signal based on neural networks is used for the classification of EEG as either seizure or non-seizure. By applying prediction methods it will be possible to predict the upcoming seizure from non-seizure EEG. We will study the patients admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit for the purpose of recording their seizures. Preictal, ictal, and post ictal EEG recordings are available on such patients for analysis The system will be induced by taking a body of samples then validate it using another. Distinct from the two first ones a third body of samples is taken to test the network for the achievement of optimum prediction. Several methods will be tried 'Backpropagation ANN' and 'RBF'.

Keywords: Artificial neural network (ANN), automatic prediction, epileptic seizures analysis, genetic algorithm.

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Authors: Samir J. Deshmukh, Lalit B. Bhuyar, Shashank B. Thakre, Sachin S. Ingole

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to develop mathematical relationships for the performance parameter brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emission parameter nitrogen oxides (NOx) for the various esters of vegetable oils used as CI engine fuel. The BTE is an important performance parameter defining the ability of engine to utilize the energy supplied and power developed similarly it is indication of efficiency of fuels used. The esters of cottonseed oil, soybean oil, jatropha oil and hingan oil are prepared using transesterification process and characterized for their physical and main fuel properties including viscosity, density, flash point and higher heating value using standard test methods. These esters are tried as CI engine fuel to analyze the performance and emission parameters in comparison to diesel. The results of the study indicate that esters as a fuel does not differ greatly with that of diesel in properties. The CI engine performance with esters as fuel is in line with the diesel where as the emission parameters are reduced with the use of esters. The correlation developed between BTE and brake power(BP), gross calorific value(CV), air-fuel ratio(A/F), heat carried away by cooling water(HCW). Another equation is developed between the NOx emission and CO, HC, smoke density (SD), exhaust gas temperature (EGT). The equations are verified by comparing the observed and calculated values which gives the coefficient of correlation of 0.99 and 0.96 for the BTE and NOx equations respectively.

Keywords: Esters, emission, performance, and vegetable oil.

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Authors: Daniel J. O. Ferreira, Juan H. Sosa-Arnao, Bruno C. Moreira, Leonardo P. Rangel, Song W. Park

Abstract:

The comprehensive CFD models have been used to represent and study the heterogeneous combustion of biomass. In the present work, the operation of a global flue gas circuit in the sugarcane bagasse combustion, from wind boxes below primary air grate supply, passing by bagasse insertion in swirl burners and boiler furnace, to boiler bank outlet is simulated. It uses five different meshes representing each part of this system located in sequence: wind boxes and grate, boiler furnace, swirl burners, superheaters and boiler bank. The model considers turbulence using standard k-ε, combustion using EDM, radiation heat transfer using DTM with 16 ray directions and bagasse particle tracking represented by Schiller- Naumann model. The results showed good agreement with expected behavior found in literature and equipment design. The more detailed results view in separated parts of flue gas system allows observing some flow behaviors that cannot be represented by usual simplifications like bagasse supply under homogeneous axial and rotational vectors and others that can be represented using new considerations like the representation of 26 thousand grate orifices by 144 rectangular inlets.

Keywords: Comprehensive CFD model, sugar-cane bagasse combustion, sugar-cane bagasse grate boiler.

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