Search results for: Augmented Dickey Fuller Test
2533 Numerical Simulation of the Bond Behavior between Concrete and Steel Reinforcing Bars in Specialty Concrete
Authors: Camille A. Issa, Omar Masri
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In this study, the commercial finite element software ABAQUS was used to develop a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model capable of simulating the pull-out test of reinforcing bars from underwater concrete. The results of thirty-two pull-out tests that have different parameters were implemented in the software to study the effect of the concrete cover, the bar size, the use of stirrups, and the compressive strength of concrete. The interaction properties used in the model provided accurate results in comparison with the experimental bond-slip results, thus the model has successfully simulated the pull-out test. The results of the finite element model are used to better understand and visualize the distribution of stresses in each component of the model, and to study the effect of the various parameters used in this study including the role of the stirrups in preventing the stress from reaching to the sides of the specimens.Keywords: Bond strength, nonlinear finite element analysis, pull-out test, underwater concrete.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 45992532 Next Generation IP Address Transition Mechanism for Web Application System
Authors: Mohd. Khairil Sailan, Rosilah Hassan, Zuhaizal Zulkifli
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Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address is decreasing and a rapid transition method to the next generation IP address (IPv6) should be established. This study aims to evaluate and select the best performance of the IPv6 address network transitionmechanisms, such as IPv4/IPv6 dual stack, transport Relay Translation (TRT) and Reverse Proxy with additional features. It is also aim to prove that faster access can be done while ensuring optimal usage of available resources used during the test and actual implementation. This study used two test methods such asInternet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)ping and ApacheBenchmark (AB) methodsto evaluate the performance.Performance metrics for this study include aspects ofaverageaccessin one second,time takenfor singleaccess,thedata transfer speed and the costof additional requirements.Reverse Proxy with Caching featureis the most efficientmechanism because of it simpler configurationandthe best performerfrom the test conducted.
Keywords: IPv4, IPv6, network transition, apache benchmark andreverse proxy
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20892531 Pulse Oximeter Concept for Vascular Occlusion Test
Authors: Fatanah M. Suhaimi, J. Geoffrey Chase, Christopher G. Pretty, Rodney Elliott, Geoffrey M. Shaw
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Microcirculatory dysfunction is very common in sepsis and may results in organ failure and increased risk of death. Analyzing oxygen utilization can potentially assess microcirculation function of an individual. In this study, a modified pulse oximeter is used to extract information signals due to absorption of red (R) and infrared (IR) light. IR and R signal are related to the overall blood volume and reduced hemoglobin, respectively. Differences between these two signals thus represent the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin. Avascular occlusion test has been conducted on healthy individuals to validate the pulse oximeter concept. In this test, both R and IR signals rapidly changed according to the occlusion process. The pulse oximeter concept presented is capable of extracting valuable information to assess microcirculation condition. Implementing this concept on ICU patients has the potential to aid sepsis diagnosis and provide more accurate tracking of patient state and sepsis status.
Keywords: Microcirculation, sepsis, sepsis diagnosis, oxygen extraction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20202530 Plasma Spraying of 316 Stainless Steel on Aluminum and Investigation of Coat/Substrate Interface
Authors: P. Abachi, T. W. Coyle, P. S. Musavi Gharavi
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By applying coating onto a structural component, the corrosion and/or wear resistance requirements of the surface can be fulfilled. Since the layer adhesion of the coating influences the mechanical integrity of the coat/substrate interface during the service time, it should be examined accurately. At the present work, the tensile bonding strength of the 316 stainless steel plasma sprayed coating on aluminum substrate was determined by using tensile adhesion test, TAT, specimen. The interfacial fracture toughness was specified using four-point bend specimen containing a saw notch and modified chevron-notched short-bar (SB) specimen. The coating microstructure and fractured specimen surface were examined by using scanning electron- and optical-microscopy. The investigation of coated surface after tensile adhesion test indicates that the failure mechanism is mostly cohesive and rarely adhesive type. The calculated value of critical strain energy release rate proposes relatively good interface status. It seems that four-point bending test offers a potentially more sensitive means for evaluation of mechanical integrity of coating/substrate interfaces than is possible with the tensile test. The fracture toughness value reported for the modified chevron-notched short-bar specimen testing cannot be taken as absolute value because its calculation is based on the minimum stress intensity coefficient value which has been suggested for the fracture toughness determination of homogeneous parts in the ASTM E1304-97 standard.
Keywords: Bonding strength, four-point bend test, interfacial fracture toughness, modified chevron-notched short-bar specimen, plasma sprayed coating.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15772529 Fatty Acid Profile of Meat from Lambs Fed on Diets Containing Mulberry Hay
Authors: A. G. Silva Sobrinho, L. G. A. Cirne, V. T. Santana
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The aim of this trial was to evaluate fatty acid profile of meat from lambs fed on diets containing 0, 12.5 and 25.0% mulberry hay as a substitute for the concentrate. Twenty-four feedlot Ile de France lambs (average weight of 15kg and average age of 60 days) were randomized to receive the different diets and slaughtered at 32kg body weight. Increases were observed in the concentrations of the saturated pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic and arachidic fatty acids; of the monounsaturated nervonic fatty acid and of the polyunsaturated α-linolenic, ɣ-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic fatty acids. Increased conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was also found in the meat of lambs fed on 12.5% mulberry hay. In addition, the omega-3 composition was augmented, while the omega-3/omega-6 ratio was decreased in mulberry hay-fed animals. In conclusion, a more desirable fatty acid profile was observed in lamb meat following the substitution of mulberry hay in the concentrate of fed, resulting in improved nutritional characteristics of the meat.
Keywords: Alternative food, fatty acids, feedlot, sheep meat.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20752528 Physical Properties of Uranium Dinitride UN2 by Using Density Functional Theory (DFT and DFT+U)
Authors: T. Zergoug, S.H. Abaidia, A. Nedjar, M. Y. Mokeddem
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Physical properties of uranium dinitride (UN2) were investigated in detail using first principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). To study the strong correlation effects due to 5f uranium valence electrons, the on-site coulomb interaction correction U via the Hubbard-like term (DFT+U) was employed. The UN2 structural, mechanical and thermodynamic properties were calculated within DFT and Various U of DFT+U approach. The Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE.5.2) version of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) is used to describe the exchange-correlation with the projector-augmented wave (PAW) pseudo potentials. A comparative study shows that results are improved by using the Hubbard formalism for a certain U value correction like the structural parameter. For some physical properties the variation versus Hubbard-U is strong like Young modulus but for others it is weakly noticeable such as bulk modulus. We noticed also that from U=7.5 eV, elastic results don’t agree with the cubic cell because of the C44 values which turn out to be negative.
Keywords: Ab initio, bulk modulus, DFT, DFT + U.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25432527 Predicting Automotive Interior Noise Including Wind Noise by Statistical Energy Analysis
Authors: Yoshio Kurosawa
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The applications of soundproof materials for reduction of high frequency automobile interior noise have been researched. This paper presents a sound pressure prediction technique including wind noise by Hybrid Statistical Energy Analysis (HSEA) in order to reduce weight of acoustic insulations. HSEA uses both analytical SEA and experimental SEA. As a result of chassis dynamo test and road test, the validity of SEA modeling was shown, and utility of the method was confirmed.
Keywords: Vibration, noise, car, statistical energy analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15602526 Cr Induced Magnetization in Zinc-Blende ZnO Based Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors
Authors: Bakhtiar Ul Haq, R. Ahmed, A. Shaari, Mazmira Binti Mohamed, Nisar Ali
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The capability of exploiting the electronic charge and spin properties simultaneously in a single material has made diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) remarkable in the field of spintronics. We report the designing of DMS based on zinc-blend ZnO doped with Cr impurity. The full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital FP-L(APW+lo) method in density functional theory (DFT) has been adapted to carry out these investigations. For treatment of exchange and correlation energy, generalized gradient approximations have been used. Introducing Cr atoms in the matrix of ZnO has induced strong magnetic moment with ferromagnetic ordering at stable ground state. Cr:ZnO was found to favor the short range magnetic interaction that reflect tendency of Cr clustering. The electronic structure of ZnO is strongly influenced in the presence of Cr impurity atoms where impurity bands appear in the band gap.
Keywords: ZnO, Density functional theory, Diluted magnetic semiconductors, Ferromagnetic materials, FP-L(APW+lo).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18762525 Bibliometric Analysis of the Impact of Funding on Scientific Development of Researchers
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.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17002524 Perceptual and Ultrasound Articulatory Training Effects on English L2 Vowels Production by Italian Learners
Authors: I. Sonia d’Apolito, Bianca Sisinni, Mirko Grimaldi, Barbara Gili Fivela
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The American English contrast /ɑ-ʌ/ (cop-cup) is difficult to be produced by Italian learners since they realize L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ as L1-/ɔ-a/ respectively, due to differences in phonetic-phonological systems and also in grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules. In this paper, we try to answer the following research questions: Can a short training improve the production of English /ɑ-ʌ/ by Italian learners? Is a perceptual training better than an articulatory (ultrasound - US) training? Thus, we compare a perceptual training with an US articulatory one to observe: 1) the effects of short trainings on L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ productions; 2) if the US articulatory training improves the pronunciation better than the perceptual training. In this pilot study, 9 Salento-Italian monolingual adults participated: 3 subjects performed a 1-hour perceptual training (ES-P); 3 subjects performed a 1-hour US training (ES-US); and 3 control subjects did not receive any training (CS). Verbal instructions about the phonetic properties of L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ and L1-/ɔ-a/ and their differences (representation on F1-F2 plane) were provided during both trainings. After these instructions, the ES-P group performed an identification training based on the High Variability Phonetic Training procedure, while the ES-US group performed the articulatory training, by means of US video of tongue gestures in L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ production and dynamic view of their own tongue movements and position using a probe under their chin. The acoustic data were analyzed and the first three formants were calculated. Independent t-tests were run to compare: 1) /ɑ-ʌ/ in pre- vs. post-test respectively; /ɑ-ʌ/ in pre- and post-test vs. L1-/a-ɔ/ respectively. Results show that in the pre-test all speakers realize L2-/ɑ-ʌ/ as L1-/ɔ-a/ respectively. Contrary to CS and ES-P groups, the ES-US group in the post-test differentiates the L2 vowels from those produced in the pre-test as well as from the L1 vowels, although only one ES-US subject produces both L2 vowels accurately. The articulatory training seems more effective than the perceptual one since it favors the production of vowels in the correct direction of L2 vowels and differently from the similar L1 vowels.Keywords: L2 vowel production, perceptual training, articulatory training, ultrasound.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10112523 The Effects of Eight Weeks of Interval Endurance Training on hs-CRP Levels and Anthropometric Parameters in Overweight Men
Authors: S. Khoshemehry, M. J. Pourvaghar
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Inflammatory markers are known as the main predictors of cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed at determining the effect of 8 weeks of interval endurance training on hs-CRP level and some anthropometric parameters in overweight men. Following the call for participation in research project in Kashan, 73 volunteers participated in it and constituted the statistical population of the study. Then, 28 overweight young men from the age of 22 to 25 years old were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control group (n=14). Anthropometric and the blood sample was collected before and after the termination of the program for measuring hs-CRP. The interval endurance program was performed at 60 to 75% of maximum heart rate in 2 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test whether two samples come from the same distribution and T-test was used to assess the difference of two groups which were statistically significant at the level of 0.05. The result indicated that there was a significant difference between the hs-RP, weight, BMI and W/H ratio of overweight men in posttest in the exercise group (P≤0.05) but not in the control group. Interval endurance training program causes decrease in hs-CRP level and anthropometric parameters.Keywords: Interval endurance training program, hs-CRP, overweight, anthropometric.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8062522 Hypoglycemic Activity of Water Soluble Polysaccharides of Yam (Dioscorea hispida Dents) Prepared by Aqueous, Papain, and Tempeh Inoculum Assisted Extractions
Authors: Teti Estiasih, Harijono, Weny Bekti Sunarharum, Atina Rahmawati
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This research studied the hypoglycemic effect of water soluble polysaccharide (WSP) extracted from yam (Dioscorea hispida) tuber by three different methods: aqueous extraction, papain assisted extraction, and tempeh inoculums assisted extraction. The two later extraction methods were aimed to remove WSP binding protein to have more pure WSP. The hypoglycemic activities were evaluated by means in vivo test on alloxan induced hyperglycemic rats, glucose response test (GRT), in situ glucose absorption test using everted sac, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis. All yam WSP extracts exhibited ability to decrease blood glucose level in hyperglycemia condition as well as inhibited glucose absorption and SCFA formation. The order of hypoglycemic activity was tempeh inoculums assisted- >papain assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. GRT and in situ glucose absorption test showed that order of inhibition was papain assisted- >tempeh inoculums assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. Digesta of caecum of yam WSP extracts oral fed rats had more SCFA than control. Tempeh inoculums assisted WSP extract exhibited the most significant hypoglycemic activity.Keywords: hypoglycemic activity, papain, tempeh inoculums, water soluble polysaccharides, yam (Discorea hispida)
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30422521 Modelling the Behavior of Commercial and Test Textiles against Laundering Process by Statistical Assessment of Their Performance
Authors: M. H. Arslan, U. K. Sahin, H. Acikgoz-Tufan, I. Gocek, I. Erdem
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Various exterior factors have perpetual effects on textile materials during wear, use and laundering in everyday life. In accordance with their frequency of use, textile materials are required to be laundered at certain intervals. The medium in which the laundering process takes place have inevitable detrimental physical and chemical effects on textile materials caused by the unique parameters of the process inherently existing. Connatural structures of various textile materials result in many different physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics. Because of their specific structures, these materials have different behaviors against several exterior factors. By modeling the behavior of commercial and test textiles as group-wise against laundering process, it is possible to disclose the relation in between these two groups of materials, which will lead to better understanding of their behaviors in terms of similarities and differences against the washing parameters of the laundering. Thus, the goal of the current research is to examine the behavior of two groups of textile materials as commercial textiles and as test textiles towards the main washing machine parameters during laundering process such as temperature, load quantity, mechanical action and level of water amount by concentrating on shrinkage, pilling, sewing defects, collar abrasion, the other defects other than sewing, whitening and overall properties of textiles. In this study, cotton fabrics were preferred as commercial textiles due to the fact that garments made of cotton are the most demanded products in the market by the textile consumers in daily life. Full factorial experimental set-up was used to design the experimental procedure. All profiles always including all of the commercial and the test textiles were laundered for 20 cycles by commercial home laundering machine to investigate the effects of the chosen parameters. For the laundering process, a modified version of ‘‘IEC 60456 Test Method’’ was utilized. The amount of detergent was altered as 0.5% gram per liter depending on varying load quantity levels. Datacolor 650®, EMPA Photographic Standards for Pilling Test and visual examination were utilized to test and characterize the textiles. Furthermore, in the current study the relation in between commercial and test textiles in terms of their performance was deeply investigated by the help of statistical analysis performed by MINITAB® package program modeling their behavior against the parameters of the laundering process. In the experimental work, the behaviors of both groups of textiles towards washing machine parameters were visually and quantitatively assessed in dry state.
Keywords: Behavior against washing machine parameters, performance evaluation of textiles, statistical analysis, commercial and test textiles.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13652520 Incremental Mining of Shocking Association Patterns
Authors: Eiad Yafi, Ahmed Sultan Al-Hegami, M. A. Alam, Ranjit Biswas
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Association rules are an important problem in data mining. Massively increasing volume of data in real life databases has motivated researchers to design novel and incremental algorithms for association rules mining. In this paper, we propose an incremental association rules mining algorithm that integrates shocking interestingness criterion during the process of building the model. A new interesting measure called shocking measure is introduced. One of the main features of the proposed approach is to capture the user background knowledge, which is monotonically augmented. The incremental model that reflects the changing data and the user beliefs is attractive in order to make the over all KDD process more effective and efficient. We implemented the proposed approach and experiment it with some public datasets and found the results quite promising.Keywords: Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD), Data mining, Incremental Association rules, Domain knowledge, Interestingness, Shocking rules (SHR).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18612519 Development of In Situ Permeability Test Using Constant Discharge Method for Sandy Soils
Authors: A. Rifa’i, Y. Takeshita, M. Komatsu
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The post-rain puddles problem that occurs in the first yard of Prambanan Temple are often disturbing visitor activity. A poodle layer and a drainage system had ever built to avoid such a problem, but puddles still did not stop appearing after rain. Permeability parameter needs to be determined by using a simpler procedure to find exact method of solution. The instrument modelling was proposed according to the development of field permeability testing instrument. This experiment used a proposed Constant Discharge method. Constant Discharge method used a tube poured with constant water flow from unsaturated until saturated soil condition. Volumetric water content (θ) were monitored by soil moisture measurement device. The results were correlations between k and θ which were drawn by numerical approach from Van Genutchen model. Parameters θr optimum value obtained from the test was at very dry soil. Coefficient of permeability with a density of 19.8 kN/m3 for unsaturated conditions was in range of 3 x 10-6 cm/sec (Sr=68%) until 9.98 x 10-4 cm/sec (Sr=82%). The equipment and testing procedure developed in this research was quite effective, simple and easy to be implemented on determining field soil permeability coefficient value of sandy soil. Using constant discharge method in proposed permeability test, value of permeability coefficient under unsaturated condition can be obtained without establish soil water characteristic curve.
Keywords: Constant discharge method, in situ permeability test, sandy soil, unsaturated conditions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 34452518 Managing the Cloud Procurement Process – Findings from a Case Study
Authors: Andreas Jede, Frank Teuteberg
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Cloud computing (CC) has already gained overall appreciation in research and practice. Whereas the willingness to integrate cloud services in various IT environments is still unbroken, the previous CC procurement processes run mostly in an unorganized and non-standardized way. In practice, a sufficiently specific, yet applicable business process for the important acquisition phase is often lacking. And research does not appropriately remedy this deficiency yet. Therefore, this paper introduces a field-tested approach for CC procurement. Based on an extensive literature review and augmented by expert interviews, we designed a model that is validated and further refined through an in-depth real-life case study. For the detailed process description, we apply the event-driven process chain notation (EPC). The gained valuable insights into the case study may help CC research to shift to a more socio-technical area. For practice, next to giving useful organizational instructions we will provide extended checklists and lessons learned.
Keywords: Cloud Procurement Process, IT-Organization, Event-driven Process Chain, In-depth Case Study.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24682517 Evaluation for Punching Shear Strength of Slab-Column Connections with Ultra High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Overlay
Authors: H. S. Youm, S. G. Hong
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This paper presents the test results on 5 slab-column connection specimens with Ultra High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) overlay including 1 control specimen to investigate retrofitting effect of UHPFRC overlay on the punching shear capacity. The test parameters were the thickness of the UHPFRC overlay and the amount of steel re-bars in it. All specimens failed in punching shear mode with abrupt failure aspect. The test results showed that by adding a thin layer of UHPFRC over the Reinforced Concrete (RC) substrates, considerable increases in global punching shear resistance up to 82% and structural rigidity were achieved. Furthermore, based on the cracking patterns the composite systems appeared to be governed by two failure modes: 1) diagonal shear failure in RC section and 2) debonding failure at the interface.
Keywords: Punching shear strength, retrofit, slab-column connection, UHPFRC, UHPFRC overlay.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10082516 Uncertainty Analysis of a Hardware in Loop Setup for Testing Products Related to Building Technology
Authors: Balasundaram Prasaant, Ploix Stephane, Delinchant Benoit, Muresan Cristian
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Hardware in Loop (HIL) testing is done to test and validate a particular product especially in building technology. When it comes to building technology, it is more important to test the products for their efficiency. The test rig in the HIL simulator may contribute to some uncertainties on measured efficiency. The uncertainties include physical uncertainties and scenario-based uncertainties. In this paper, a simple uncertainty analysis framework for an HIL setup is shown considering only the physical uncertainties. The entire modeling of the HIL setup is done in Dymola. The uncertain sources are considered based on available knowledge of the components and also on expert knowledge. For the propagation of uncertainty, Monte Carlo Simulation is used since it is the most reliable and easy to use. In this article it is shown how an HIL setup can be modeled and how uncertainty propagation can be performed on it. Such an approach is not common in building energy analysis.
Keywords: Energy in Buildings, Hardware in Loop, Modelica (Dymola), Monte Carlo Simulation, Uncertainty Propagation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5532515 Detecting Defects in Textile Fabrics with Optimal Gabor Filters
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This paper investigates the problem of automated defect detection for textile fabrics and proposes a new optimal filter design method to solve this problem. Gabor Wavelet Network (GWN) is chosen as the major technique to extract the texture features from textile fabrics. Based on the features extracted, an optimal Gabor filter can be designed. In view of this optimal filter, a new semi-supervised defect detection scheme is proposed, which consists of one real-valued Gabor filter and one smoothing filter. The performance of the scheme is evaluated by using an offline test database with 78 homogeneous textile images. The test results exhibit accurate defect detection with low false alarm, thus showing the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed scheme. To evaluate the detection scheme comprehensively, a prototyped detection system is developed to conduct a real time test. The experiment results obtained confirm the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed detection scheme.Keywords: Defect detection, Filtering, Gabor function, Gaborwavelet networks, Textile fabrics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23392514 Computer Assisted Learning in a Less Resource Region
Authors: Hamidullah Sokout, Samiullah Paracha, Abdul Rashid Ahmadi
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Passing the entrance exam to a university is a major step in one's life. University entrance exam commonly known as Kankor is the nationwide entrance exam in Afghanistan. This examination is prerequisite for all public and private higher education institutions at undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students who are graduated from high schools. In this paper, we reflect the major educational school graduates issues and propose ICT-based test preparation environment, known as ‘Online Kankor Exam Prep System’ to give students the tools to help them pass the university entrance exam on the first try. The system is based on Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS), which introduced an essential package of educational technology for learners that features: (I) exam-focused questions and content; (ii) self-assessment environment; and (iii) test preparation strategies in order to help students to acquire the necessary skills in their carrier and keep them up-to-date with instruction.
Keywords: Web-based test prep systems, Learner-centered design, E-Learning, Intelligent tutoring system.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19422513 Comparing Test Equating by Item Response Theory and Raw Score Methods with Small Sample Sizes on a Study of the ARTé: Mecenas Learning Game
Authors: Steven W. Carruthers
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The purpose of the present research is to equate two test forms as part of a study to evaluate the educational effectiveness of the ARTé: Mecenas art history learning game. The researcher applied Item Response Theory (IRT) procedures to calculate item, test, and mean-sigma equating parameters. With the sample size n=134, test parameters indicated “good” model fit but low Test Information Functions and more acute than expected equating parameters. Therefore, the researcher applied equipercentile equating and linear equating to raw scores and compared the equated form parameters and effect sizes from each method. Item scaling in IRT enables the researcher to select a subset of well-discriminating items. The mean-sigma step produces a mean-slope adjustment from the anchor items, which was used to scale the score on the new form (Form R) to the reference form (Form Q) scale. In equipercentile equating, scores are adjusted to align the proportion of scores in each quintile segment. Linear equating produces a mean-slope adjustment, which was applied to all core items on the new form. The study followed a quasi-experimental design with purposeful sampling of students enrolled in a college level art history course (n=134) and counterbalancing design to distribute both forms on the pre- and posttests. The Experimental Group (n=82) was asked to play ARTé: Mecenas online and complete Level 4 of the game within a two-week period; 37 participants completed Level 4. Over the same period, the Control Group (n=52) did not play the game. The researcher examined between group differences from post-test scores on test Form Q and Form R by full-factorial Two-Way ANOVA. The raw score analysis indicated a 1.29% direct effect of form, which was statistically non-significant but may be practically significant. The researcher repeated the between group differences analysis with all three equating methods. For the IRT mean-sigma adjusted scores, form had a direct effect of 8.39%. Mean-sigma equating with a small sample may have resulted in inaccurate equating parameters. Equipercentile equating aligned test means and standard deviations, but resultant skewness and kurtosis worsened compared to raw score parameters. Form had a 3.18% direct effect. Linear equating produced the lowest Form effect, approaching 0%. Using linearly equated scores, the researcher conducted an ANCOVA to examine the effect size in terms of prior knowledge. The between group effect size for the Control Group versus Experimental Group participants who completed the game was 14.39% with a 4.77% effect size attributed to pre-test score. Playing and completing the game increased art history knowledge, and individuals with low prior knowledge tended to gain more from pre- to post test. Ultimately, researchers should approach test equating based on their theoretical stance on Classical Test Theory and IRT and the respective assumptions. Regardless of the approach or method, test equating requires a representative sample of sufficient size. With small sample sizes, the application of a range of equating approaches can expose item and test features for review, inform interpretation, and identify paths for improving instruments for future study.Keywords: Effectiveness, equipercentile equating, IRT, learning games, linear equating, mean-sigma equating.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10052512 Primary School Teachers’ Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge of Rational Number and Its Effects on Pupils’ Achievement in Rational Numbers
Authors: R. M. Kashim
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The study investigated primary school teachers’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational numbers and its effects on pupil’s achievement in rational numbers. Specifically, primary school teachers’ level of conceptual knowledge about rational numbers, primary school teachers’ level of procedural knowledge about rational numbers, and the effects of teachers conceptual and procedural knowledge on their pupils understanding of rational numbers in primary schools is investigated. The study was carried out in Bauchi metropolis in the Bauchi state of Nigeria. The design of the study was a multi-stage design. The first stage was a descriptive design. The second stage involves a pre-test, post-test only quasi-experimental design. Two instruments were used for the data collection in the study. These were Conceptual and Procedural knowledge test (CPKT) and Rational number achievement test (RAT), the population of the study comprises of three (3) mathematics teachers’ holders of Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) teaching primary six and 210 pupils in their intact classes were used for the study. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance and t- test. The findings indicated that the pupils taught rational number by a teacher that has high conceptual and procedural knowledge understand and perform better than the pupil taught by a teacher who has low conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational number. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers in primary schools should be encouraged to enrich their conceptual knowledge of rational numbers. Also, the superiority performance of teachers in procedural knowledge in rational number should not become an obstruction of understanding. Teachers Conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational numbers should be balanced so that primary school pupils will have a view of better teaching and learning of rational number in our contemporary schools.Keywords: Achievement, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, rational numbers.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8782511 Face Recognition: A Literature Review
Authors: A. S. Tolba, A.H. El-Baz, A.A. El-Harby
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The task of face recognition has been actively researched in recent years. This paper provides an up-to-date review of major human face recognition research. We first present an overview of face recognition and its applications. Then, a literature review of the most recent face recognition techniques is presented. Description and limitations of face databases which are used to test the performance of these face recognition algorithms are given. A brief summary of the face recognition vendor test (FRVT) 2002, a large scale evaluation of automatic face recognition technology, and its conclusions are also given. Finally, we give a summary of the research results.Keywords: Combined classifiers, face recognition, graph matching, neural networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 77032510 Trend Analysis for Extreme Rainfall Events in New South Wales, Australia
Authors: Evan Hajani, Ataur Rahman, Khaled Haddad
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Climate change will affect the hydrological cycle in many different ways such as increase in evaporation and rainfalls. There have been growing interests among researchers to identify the nature of trends in historical rainfall data in many different parts of the world. This paper examines the trends in annual maximum rainfall data from 30 stations in New South Wales, Australia by using two non-parametric tests, Mann-Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s Rho (SR). Rainfall data were analyzed for fifteen different durations ranging from 6 min to 3 days. It is found that the sub-hourly durations (6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 48 minutes) show statistically significant positive (upward) trends whereas longer duration (subdaily and daily) events generally show a statistically significant negative (downward) trend. It is also found that the MK test and SR test provide notably different results for some rainfall event durations considered in this study. Since shorter duration sub-hourly rainfall events show positive trends at many stations, the design rainfall data based on stationary frequency analysis for these durations need to be adjusted to account for the impact of climate change. These shorter durations are more relevant to many urban development projects based on smaller catchments having a much shorter response time.
Keywords: Climate change, Mann-Kendall test, Spearman’s Rho test, trends, design rainfall.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29042509 Development of High Performance Clarification System for FBR Dissolver Liquor
Authors: M.Takeuchi, T.Kitagaki, Y.Noguchi, T. Washiya
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A high performance clarification system has been discussed for advanced aqueous reprocessing of FBR spent fuel. Dissolver residue gives the cause of troubles on the plant operation of reprocessing. In this study, the new clarification system based on the hybrid of centrifuge and filtration was proposed to get the high separation ability of the component of whole insoluble sludge. The clarification tests of simulated solid species were carried out to evaluate the clarification performance using small-scale test apparatus of centrifuge and filter unit. The density effect of solid species on the collection efficiency was mainly evaluated in the centrifugal clarification test. In the filtration test using ceramic filter with pore size of 0.2μm, on the other hand, permeability and filtration rate were evaluated in addition to the filtration efficiency. As results, it was evaluated that the collection efficiency of solid species on the new clarification system was estimated as nearly 100%. In conclusion, the high clarification performance of dissolver liquor can be achieved by the hybrid of the centrifuge and filtration system.Keywords: Centrifuge, Clarification, FBR dissolver liquor, Filtration
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15442508 Effect of Different Contaminants on Mineral Insulating Oil Characteristics
Authors: H. M. Wilhelm, P. O. Fernandes, L. P. Dill, C. Steffens, K. G. Moscon, S. M. Peres, V. Bender, T. Marchesan, J. B. Ferreira Neto
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Deterioration of insulating oil is a natural process that occurs during transformers operation. However, this process can be accelerated by some factors, such as oxygen, high temperatures, metals and, moisture, which rapidly reduce oil insulating capacity and favor transformer faults. Parts of building materials of a transformer can be degraded and yield soluble compounds and insoluble particles that shorten the equipment life. Physicochemical tests, dissolved gas analysis (including propane, propylene and, butane), volatile and furanic compounds determination, besides quantitative and morphological analyses of particulate are proposed in this study in order to correlate transformers building materials degradation with insulating oil characteristics. The present investigation involves tests of medium temperature overheating simulation by means of an electric resistance wrapped with the following materials immersed in mineral insulating oil: test I) copper, tin, lead and, paper (heated at 350-400 °C for 8 h); test II) only copper (at 250 °C for 11 h); and test III) only paper (at 250 °C for 8 h and at 350 °C for 8 h). A different experiment is the simulation of electric arc involving copper, using an electric welding machine at two distinct energy sets (low and high). Analysis results showed that dielectric loss was higher in the sample of test I, higher neutralization index and higher values of hydrogen and hydrocarbons, including propane and butane, were also observed. Test III oil presented higher particle count, in addition, ferrographic analysis revealed contamination with fibers and carbonized paper. However, these particles had little influence on the oil physicochemical parameters (dielectric loss and neutralization index) and on the gas production, which was very low. Test II oil showed high levels of methane, ethane, and propylene, indicating the effect of metal on oil degradation. CO2 and CO gases were formed in the highest concentration in test III, as expected. Regarding volatile compounds, in test I acetone, benzene and toluene were detected, which are oil oxidation products. Regarding test III, methanol was identified due to cellulose degradation, as expected. Electric arc simulation test showed the highest oil oxidation in presence of copper and at high temperature, since these samples had huge concentration of hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. Particle count was also very high, showing the highest release of copper in such conditions. When comparing high and low energy, the first presented more hydrogen, ethylene, and acetylene. This sample had more similar results to test I, pointing out that the generation of different particles can be the cause for faults such as electric arc. Ferrography showed more evident copper and exfoliation particles than in other samples. Therefore, in this study, by using different combined analytical techniques, it was possible to correlate insulating oil characteristics with possible contaminants, which can lead to transformers failure.
Keywords: Ferrography, gas analysis, insulating mineral oil, particle contamination, transformer failures.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4382507 A New Method in Short-Term Heart Rate Variability — Five-Class Density Histogram
Authors: Liping Li, Ke Li, Changchun Liu, Chengyu Liu, Yuanyang Li
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A five-class density histogram with an index named cumulative density was proposed to analyze the short-term HRV. 150 subjects participated in the test, falling into three groups with equal numbers -- the healthy young group (Young), the healthy old group (Old), and the group of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Results of multiple comparisons showed a significant differences of the cumulative density in the three groups, with values 0.0238 for Young, 0.0406 for Old and 0.0732 for CHF (p<0.001). After 7 days and 14 days, 46 subjects from the Young and Old groups were retested twice following the same test protocol. Results showed good-to-excellent interclass correlations (ICC=0.783, 95% confidence interval 0.676-0.864). The Bland-Altman plots were used to reexamine the test-retest reliability. In conclusion, the method proposed could be a valid and reliable method to the short-term HRV assessment.
Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, congestive heart failure, heart rate variability, histogram.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19942506 The Effect of Diversity Sensitive Orientation on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention
Authors: Hyeondal Jeong, Yoonjung Baek
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The main purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of diversity sensitive orientation on job satisfaction and turnover intention. Diversity sensitive orientation is the attitude of the individual to respect and accommodate diversity. This is focused on an individual’s perception of diversity. Although being made from the most diversity related research team and organizational level, this study deals with diversity issues at the individual level. To test the proposed research model and hypothesis, the data were collected from 291 Korean employees. The study conducted a confirmatory factor analysis for the validity test. Furthermore, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationship in the conceptual model. The results of this paper were as followings: First, diversity sensitive orientation was positively related to job satisfaction. Second, diversity sensitive orientation was negatively related to turnover intention. In other words, the positive influence of the diversity sensitive orientation has been verified. Based on the findings, this study suggested implications and directions for future research.
Keywords: Diversity sensitive orientation, job satisfaction, turnover intention, perception, cognition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16612505 Food and Beverage Safety and Satisfaction: A Gender Effect
Authors: Sakul Jariyachamsit, Kevin Wongleedee
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There has been considerable growth in the issue of food & beverage safety in Thailand. This is important because the level of satisfaction in food & beverage safety has impacts on travel decision made by foreign tourists. Therefore, this paper was aimed to test if there is any significant gender effect in the level of satisfaction of food & beverage safety made by foreign tourists in Thailand. In addition, this paper utilized the Chi Square test of independent to test if there was an association between gender and sickness because of food and if there was an association between gender and the perception of food safety standard. During January to June, 2012, a total of 400 foreign tourist respondents, 200 male as well as 200 female foreign tourists, were interviewed at the departure lounge at Suvarnabhumi airport, Thailand. The findings revealed the astonishing result that there was no significant effect of gender. Also, there was no significant difference in the association between gender and being sick because of food as well as the association between gender and the perception on the standard of food safety during their trip in Thailand.Keywords: Food & Beverage, Gender Effect, Safety Standard, Satisfaction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22912504 The Quality Assessment of Seismic Reflection Survey Data Using Statistical Analysis: A Case Study of Fort Abbas Area, Cholistan Desert, Pakistan
Authors: U. Waqas, M. F. Ahmed, A. Mehmood, M. A. Rashid
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In geophysical exploration surveys, the quality of acquired data holds significant importance before executing the data processing and interpretation phases. In this study, 2D seismic reflection survey data of Fort Abbas area, Cholistan Desert, Pakistan was taken as test case in order to assess its quality on statistical bases by using normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), Cronbach’s alpha test (α) and null hypothesis tests (t-test and F-test). The analysis challenged the quality of the acquired data and highlighted the significant errors in the acquired database. It is proven that the study area is plain, tectonically least affected and rich in oil and gas reserves. However, subsurface 3D modeling and contouring by using acquired database revealed high degrees of structural complexities and intense folding. The NRMSE had highest percentage of residuals between the estimated and predicted cases. The outcomes of hypothesis testing also proved the biasness and erraticness of the acquired database. Low estimated value of alpha (α) in Cronbach’s alpha test confirmed poor reliability of acquired database. A very low quality of acquired database needs excessive static correction or in some cases, reacquisition of data is also suggested which is most of the time not feasible on economic grounds. The outcomes of this study could be used to assess the quality of large databases and to further utilize as a guideline to establish database quality assessment models to make much more informed decisions in hydrocarbon exploration field.
Keywords: Data quality, null hypothesis, seismic lines, seismic reflection survey.
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