Search results for: fine electronic structure.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3419

Search results for: fine electronic structure.

3059 Re-Use of Waste Marble in Producing Green Concrete

Authors: Hasan Şahan Arel

Abstract:

In this study, literature related to the replacement of cement with waste marble and the use of waste marble as an aggregate in concrete production was examined. Workability of the concrete decreased when marble powder was used as a substitute for fine aggregate. Marble powder contributed to the compressive strength of concrete because of the CaCO3 and SiO2 present in the chemical structure of the marble. Additionally, the use of marble pieces in place of coarse aggregate revealed that this contributed to the workability and mechanical properties of the concrete. When natural standard sand was replaced with marble dust at a ratio of 15% and 75%, the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of the concrete increased by 20%-26% and 10%-15%, respectively. However, coarse marble aggregates exhibited the best performance at a 100% replacement ratio. Additionally, there was a greater improvement in the mechanical properties of concrete when waste marble was used in a coarse aggregate form when compared to that of when marble was used in a dust form. If the cement was replaced with marble powder in proportions of 20% or more, then adverse effects were observed on the compressive strength and workability of the concrete. This study indicated that marble dust at a cement-replacement ratio of 5%-10% affected the mechanical properties of concrete by decreasing the global annual CO2 emissions by 12% and also lowering the costs from US$40/m3 to US$33/m3.

Keywords: Cement production, concrete, CO2 emission, marble, mechanical properties.

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3058 Secure Mobile E-Business Applications

Authors: Hala A. Alrumaih

Abstract:

It is widely believed that mobile device is a promising technology for lending the opportunity for the third wave of electronic commerce. Mobile devices have changed the way companies do business. Many applications are under development or being incorporated into business processes. In this day, mobile applications are a vital component of any industry strategy.One of the greatest benefits of selling merchandise and providing services on a mobile application is that it widens a company’s customer base significantly.Mobile applications are accessible to interested customers across regional and international borders in different electronic business (e-business) area. But there is a dark side to this success story. The security risks associated with mobile devices and applications are very significant. This paper introduces a broad risk analysis for the various threats, vulnerabilities, and risks in mobile e-business applications and presents some important risk mitigation approaches. It reviews and compares two different frameworks for security assurance in mobile e-business applications. Based on the comparison, the paper suggests some recommendations for applications developers and business owners in mobile e-business application development process.

Keywords: E-business, Mobile Applications, Risk mitigations, Security assurance.

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3057 A Microwave Bandstop Filter Using Defected Microstrip Structure

Authors: H. Elftouh, N. T. Amar, M. Aghoutane, M. Boussouis

Abstract:

In this paper, two bandstop filters resonating at 5.25 GHz and 7.3 GHz using Defected Microstrip Structure (DMS) are discussed. These slots are incorporated in the feed lines of filters to perform a serious LC resonance property in certain frequency and suppress the spurious signals. Therefore, this method keeps the filter size unchanged and makes a resonance frequency that is due to the abrupt change of the current path of the filter. If the application requires elimination of this band of frequencies, additional filter elements are required, which can only be accomplished by adding this DMS element resonant at desired frequency band rejection. The filters are optimized and simulated with Computer Simulation Technology (CST) tool.

Keywords: Defected microstrip structure, microstrip filters, passive filter.

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3056 Effect of Nitrogen Gaseous Plasma on Cotton Fabric Dyed with Reactive Yellow105

Authors: Mohammad Mirjalili, Hamid Akbarpour

Abstract:

In this work, a bleached well cotton sample was dyed with reactive yellow105 dye and subsequently, the dyed sample was exposed to the plasma condition containing Nitrogen gas at 1 and 5 minutes of plasma exposure time, respectively. The effect of plasma on surface morphology fabric was studied by Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM). CIELab, K/S, and %R of samples (treated and untreated samples) were measured by a reflective spectrophotometer, and consequently, the experiments show that the sample dyed with Reactive yellow 105 after being washed, with the increase in the operation time of plasma, its dye fastness decreases. In addition, the increase in plasma operation time at constant pressure would increase the destructing effect on the surface morphology of samples dyed with reactive yellow105.

Keywords: Cotton fabric, cold nitrogen plasma, reflective spectrophotometer, electronic scanning microscope (SEM), reactive yellow105 dye.

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3055 An Exact MCNP Modeling of Pebble Bed Reactors

Authors: Amin Abedi, Naser Vosoughi, Mohammad Bagher Ghofrani

Abstract:

Double heterogeneity of randomly located pebbles in the core and Coated Fuel Particles (CFPs) in the pebbles are specific features in pebble bed reactors and usually, because of difficulty to model with MCNP code capabilities, are neglected. In this study, characteristics of HTR-10, Tsinghua University research reactor, are used and not only double heterogeneous but also truncated CFPs and Pebbles are considered.Firstly, 8335 CFPs are distributed randomly in a pebble and then the core of reactor is filled with those pebbles and graphite pebbles as moderator such that 57:43 ratio of fuel and moderator pebbles is established.Finally, four different core configurations are modeled. They are Simple Cubic (SC) structure with truncated pebbles,SC structure without truncated pebble, and Simple Hexagonal(SH) structure without truncated pebbles and SH structure with truncated pebbles. Results like effective multiplication factor (Keff), critical height,etc. are compared with available data.

Keywords: Double Heterogeneity, HTR-10, MCNP, Pebble Bed Reactor, Stochastic Geometry.

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3054 Simulation of Particle Damping under Centrifugal Loads

Authors: Riaz A. Bhatti, Wang Yanrong

Abstract:

Particle damping is a technique to reduce the structural vibrations by means of placing small metallic particles inside a cavity that is attached to the structure at location of high vibration amplitudes. In this paper, we have presented an analytical model to simulate the particle damping of two dimensional transient vibrations in structure operating under high centrifugal loads. The simulation results show that this technique remains effective as long as the ratio of the dynamic acceleration of the structure to the applied centrifugal load is more than 0.1. Particle damping increases with the increase of particle to structure mass ratio. However, unlike to the case of particle damping in the absence of centrifugal loads where the damping efficiency strongly depends upon the size of the cavity, here this dependence becomes very weak. Despite the simplicity of the model, the simulation results are considerably in good agreement with the very scarce experimental data available in the literature for particle damping under centrifugal loads.

Keywords: Impact damping, particle damping, vibration control, vibration suppression.

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3053 Disturbance Observer for Lateral Trajectory Tracking Control for Autonomous and Cooperative Driving

Authors: Christian Rathgeber, Franz Winkler, Dirk Odenthal, Steffen Muller

Abstract:

In this contribution a structure for high level lateral vehicle tracking control based on the disturbance observer is presented. The structure is characterized by stationary compensating side forces disturbances and guaranteeing a cooperative behavior at the same time. Driver inputs are not compensated by the disturbance observer. Moreover the structure is especially useful as it robustly stabilizes the vehicle. Therefore the parameters are selected using the Parameter Space Approach. The implemented algorithms are tested in real world scenarios.

Keywords: Disturbance observer, trajectory tracking, robust control, autonomous driving, cooperative driving

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3052 CMOS-Compatible Silicon Nanoplasmonics for On-Chip Integration

Authors: Shiyang Zhu, Guo-Qiang Lo, Dim-Lee Kwong

Abstract:

Although silicon photonic devices provide a significantly larger bandwidth and dissipate a substantially less power than the electronic devices, they suffer from a large size due to the fundamental diffraction limit and the weak optical response of Si. A potential solution is to exploit Si plasmonics, which may not only miniaturize the photonic device far beyond the diffraction limit, but also enhance the optical response in Si due to the electromagnetic field confinement. In this paper, we discuss and summarize the recently developed metal-insulator-Si-insulator-metal nanoplasmonic waveguide as well as various passive and active plasmonic components based on this waveguide, including coupler, bend, power splitter, ring resonator, MZI, modulator, detector, etc. All these plasmonic components are CMOS compatible and could be integrated with electronic and conventional dielectric photonic devices on the same SOI chip. More potential plasmonic devices as well as plasmonic nanocircuits with complex functionalities are also addressed.

Keywords: Silicon nanoplasmonics, Silicon nanophotonics, Onchip integration, CMOS

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3051 Information Literacy among Faculty and Students of Medical Colleges of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh

Authors: Sanjeev Sharma, Suman Lata

Abstract:

With the availability of diverse printed, electronic literature and web sites on medical and health related information, it is impossible for the medical professional to get the information he seeks in the shortest possible time. For all these problems information literacy is the only solution. Thus, information literacy is recognized as an important aspect of medical education. In the present study, an attempt has been made to know the information literacy skills of the faculty and students at medical colleges of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. The scope of the study was confined to the 12 selected medical colleges of three States (Haryana, Punjab, and Chandigarh). The findings of the study were based on the data collected through 1018 questionnaires filled by the respondents of the medical colleges. It was found that Online Medical Websites (such as WebMD, eMedicine and Mayo Clinic etc.) were frequently used by 63.43% of the respondents of Chandigarh which is slightly more than Haryana (61%) and Punjab (55.65%). As well, 30.86% of the respondents of Chandigarh, 27.41% of Haryana and 27.05% of Punjab were familiar with the controlled vocabulary tool; 25.14% respondents of Chandigarh, 23.80% of Punjab, 23.17% of Haryana were familiar with the Boolean operators; 33.05% of the respondents of Punjab, 28.19% of Haryana and 25.14% of Chandigarh were familiar with the use and importance of the keywords while searching an electronic database; and 51.43% of the respondents of Chandigarh, 44.52% of Punjab and 36.29% of Haryana were able to make effective use of the retrieved information. For accessing information in electronic format, 47.74% of the respondents rated their skills high, while the majority of respondents (76.13%) were unfamiliar with the basic search technique i.e. Boolean operator used for searching information in an online database. On the basis of the findings, it was suggested that a comprehensive training program based on medical professionals information needs should be organized frequently. Furthermore, it was also suggested that information literacy may be included as a subject in the health science curriculum so as to make the medical professionals information literate and independent lifelong learners.

Keywords: Information, information literacy, medical colleges, medical professionals.

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3050 Motion Prediction and Motion Vector Cost Reduction during Fast Block Motion Estimation in MCTF

Authors: Karunakar A K, Manohara Pai M M

Abstract:

In 3D-wavelet video coding framework temporal filtering is done along the trajectory of motion using Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering (MCTF). Hence computationally efficient motion estimation technique is the need of MCTF. In this paper a predictive technique is proposed in order to reduce the computational complexity of the MCTF framework, by exploiting the high correlation among the frames in a Group Of Picture (GOP). The proposed technique applies coarse and fine searches of any fast block based motion estimation, only to the first pair of frames in a GOP. The generated motion vectors are supplied to the next consecutive frames, even to subsequent temporal levels and only fine search is carried out around those predicted motion vectors. Hence coarse search is skipped for all the motion estimation in a GOP except for the first pair of frames. The technique has been tested for different fast block based motion estimation algorithms over different standard test sequences using MC-EZBC, a state-of-the-art scalable video coder. The simulation result reveals substantial reduction (i.e. 20.75% to 38.24%) in the number of search points during motion estimation, without compromising the quality of the reconstructed video compared to non-predictive techniques. Since the motion vectors of all the pair of frames in a GOP except the first pair will have value ±1 around the motion vectors of the previous pair of frames, the number of bits required for motion vectors is also reduced by 50%.

Keywords: Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering, predictivemotion estimation, lifted wavelet transform, motion vector

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3049 Three Steps of One-way Nested Grid for Energy Balance Equations by Wave Model

Authors: Worachat Wannawong, Usa W. Humphries, Prungchan Wongwises, Suphat Vongvisessomjai

Abstract:

The three steps of the standard one-way nested grid for a regional scale of the third generation WAve Model Cycle 4 (WAMC4) is scrutinized. The model application is enabled to solve the energy balance equation on a coarse resolution grid in order to produce boundary conditions for a smaller area by the nested grid technique. In the present study, the model takes a full advantage of the fine resolution of wind fields in space and time produced by the available U.S. Navy Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) model with 1 degree resolution. The nested grid application of the model is developed in order to gradually increase the resolution from the open ocean towards the South China Sea (SCS) and the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) respectively. The model results were compared with buoy observations at Ko Chang, Rayong and Huahin locations which were obtained from the Seawatch project. In addition, the results were also compared with Satun based weather station which was provided from Department of Meteorology, Thailand. The data collected from this station presented the significant wave height (Hs) reached 12.85 m. The results indicated that the tendency of the Hs from the model in the spherical coordinate propagation with deep water condition in the fine grid domain agreed well with the Hs from the observations.

Keywords: energy balance equation, Gulf of Thailand, nested gridapplication, South China Sea, wave model.

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3048 Highlighting Document's Structure

Authors: Sylvie Ratté, Wilfried Njomgue, Pierre-André Ménard

Abstract:

In this paper, we present symbolic recognition models to extract knowledge characterized by document structures. Focussing on the extraction and the meticulous exploitation of the semantic structure of documents, we obtain a meaningful contextual tagging corresponding to different unit types (title, chapter, section, enumeration, etc.).

Keywords: Information retrieval, document structures, symbolic grammars.

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3047 A Ground Structure Method to Minimize the Total Installed Cost of Steel Frame Structures

Authors: Filippo Ranalli, Forest Flager, Martin Fischer

Abstract:

This paper presents a ground structure method to optimize the topology and discrete member sizing of steel frame structures in order to minimize total installed cost, including material, fabrication and erection components. The proposed method improves upon existing cost-based ground structure methods by incorporating constructability considerations well as satisfying both strength and serviceability constraints. The architecture for the method is a bi-level Multidisciplinary Feasible (MDF) architecture in which the discrete member sizing optimization is nested within the topology optimization process. For each structural topology generated, the sizing optimization process seek to find a set of discrete member sizes that result in the lowest total installed cost while satisfying strength (member utilization) and serviceability (node deflection and story drift) criteria. To accurately assess cost, the connection details for the structure are generated automatically using accurate site-specific cost information obtained directly from fabricators and erectors. Member continuity rules are also applied to each node in the structure to improve constructability. The proposed optimization method is benchmarked against conventional weight-based ground structure optimization methods resulting in an average cost savings of up to 30% with comparable computational efficiency.

Keywords: Cost-based structural optimization, cost-based topology and sizing optimization, steel frame ground structure optimization, multidisciplinary optimization of steel structures.

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3046 Sustainable Development of Medium Strength Concrete Using Polypropylene as Aggregate Replacement

Authors: Reza Keihani, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Timothy James Clacy

Abstract:

Plastic as an environmental burden is a well-rehearsed topic in the research area. This is due to its global demand and destructive impacts on the environment, which has been a significant concern to the governments. Typically, the use of plastic in the construction industry is seen across low-density, non-structural applications due to its diverse range of benefits including high strength-to-weight ratios, manipulability and durability. It can be said that with the level of plastic consumption experienced in the construction industry, an ongoing responsibility is shown for this sector to continually innovate alternatives for application of recycled plastic waste such as using plastic made replacement from polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl and polypropylene in the concrete mix design. In this study, the impact of partially replaced fine aggregate with polypropylene in the concrete mix design was investigated to evaluate the concrete’s compressive strength by conducting an experimental work which comprises of six concrete mix batches with polypropylene replacements ranging from 0.5 to 3.0%. The results demonstrated a typical decline in the compressive strength with the addition of plastic aggregate, despite this reduction generally mitigated as the level of plastic in the concrete mix increased. Furthermore, two of the six plastic-containing concrete mixes tested in the current study exceeded the ST5 standardised prescribed concrete mix compressive strength requirement at 28-days containing 1.50% and 2.50% plastic aggregates, which demonstrated the potential for use of recycled polypropylene in structural applications, as a partial by mass, fine aggregate replacement in the concrete mix.

Keywords: Compressive strength, concrete, polypropylene, sustainability.

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3045 Cost-Effective Design of Space Structures Joints: A Review

Authors: Mohammed I. Ali, Feng Fan, Peter N. Khakina, Ma H.H

Abstract:

In construction of any structure, the aesthetic and utility values should be considered in such a way as to make the structure cost-effective. Most structures are composed of elements and joints which are very critical in any skeletal space structure because they majorly determine the performance of the structure. In early times, most space structures were constructed using rigid joints which had the advantage of better performing structures as compared to pin-jointed structures but with the disadvantage of requiring all the construction work to be done on site. The discovery of semi-rigid joints now enables connections to be prefabricated and quickly assembled on site while maintaining good performance. In this paper, cost-effective is discussed basing on strength of connectors at the joints, buckling of joints and overall structure, and the effect of initial geometrical imperfections. Several existing joints are reviewed by classifying them into categories and discussing where they are most suited and how they perform structurally. Also, finite element modeling using ABAQUS is done to determine the buckling behavior. It is observed that some joints are more economical than others. The rise to span ratio and imperfections are also found to affect the buckling of the structures. Based on these, general principles that guide the design of cost-effective joints and structures are discussed.

Keywords: Buckling, Connectors, Joint stiffness, Eccentricity, Second moment of area, Semi-rigid joints.

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3044 Chaos-based Secure Communication via Continuous Variable Structure Control

Authors: Cheng-Fang Huang, Meei-Ling Hung, Teh-Lu Liao, Her-Terng Yau, Jun-Juh Yan

Abstract:

The design of chaos-based secure communication via synchronized modified Chua-s systems is investigated in this paper. A continuous control law is proposed to ensure synchronization of the master and slave modified Chua-s systems by using the variable structure control technique. Particularly, the concept of extended systems is introduced such that a continuous control input is obtained to avoid chattering phenomenon. Then, it becomes possible to ensure that the message signal embedded in the transmitter can be recovered in the receiver.

Keywords: Chaos, Secure communication, Synchronization, Variable structure control (VSC)

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3043 Knowledge Sharing Behavior in E-Communities: from the Perspective of Transaction Cost Theory

Authors: Teresa L. Ju, Szu-Yuan Sun, Pei-Ju Chao, Chang-Yao Wu

Abstract:

This study aims to examine the factors affecting knowledge sharing behavior in knowledge-based electronic communities (e-communities) because quantity and quality of knowledge shared among the members play a critical role in the community-s sustainability. Past research has suggested three perspectives that may affect the quantity and quality of knowledge shared: economics, social psychology, and social ecology. In this study, we strongly believe that an economic perspective may be suitable to validate factors influencing newly registered members- knowledge contribution at the beginning of relationship development. Accordingly, this study proposes a model to validate the factors influencing members- knowledge sharing based on Transaction Cost Theory. By doing so, we may empirically test our hypotheses in various types of e-communities to determine the generalizability of our research models.

Keywords: Electronic community, individual behavior, knowledge sharing, transaction cost theory.

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3042 Mitigation of Sag in Real Time

Authors: Vijay Gajanan Neve, Pallavi V. Pullawar, G. M. Dhole

Abstract:

Modern industrial processes are based on a large amount of electronic devices such as programmable logic controllers and adjustable speed drives. Unfortunately, electronic devices are sensitive to disturbances, and thus, industrial loads become less tolerant to power quality problems such as sags, swells, and harmonics. Voltage sags are an important power quality problem. In this paper proposed a new configuration of Static Var Compensator (SVC) considering three different conditions named as topologies and Booster transformer with fuzzy logic based controller, capable of compensating for power quality problems associated with voltage sags and maintaining a prescribed level of voltage profile. Fuzzy logic controller is designed to achieve the firing angles for SVC such that it maintains voltage profile. The online monitoring system for voltage sag mitigation in the laboratory using the hardware is used. The results are presented from the performance of each topology and Booster transformer considered in this paper.

Keywords: Booster Transformer, Fuzzy logic, Static Var Compensator, Voltage sag.

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3041 Validity of Universe Structure Conception as Nested Vortexes

Authors: Khaled M. Nabil

Abstract:

This paper introduces the Nested Vortexes conception of the universe structure and interprets all the physical phenomena according this conception. The paper first reviews recent physics theories, either in microscopic scale or macroscopic scale, to collect evidence that the space is not empty. But, these theories describe the property of the space medium without determining its structure. Determining the structure of space medium is essential to understand the mechanism that leads to its properties. Without determining the space medium structure, many phenomena; such as electric and magnetic fields, gravity, or wave-particle duality remain uninterpreted. Thus, this paper introduces a conception about the structure of the universe. It assumes that the universe is a medium of ultra-tiny homogeneous particles which are still undiscovered. Like any medium with certain movements, possibly because of a great asymmetric explosion, vortexes have occurred. A vortex condenses the ultra-tiny particles in its center forming a bigger particle, the bigger particles, in turn, could be trapped in a bigger vortex and condense in its center forming a much bigger particle and so on. This conception describes galaxies, stars, protons as particles at different levels. Existing of the particle’s vortexes make the consistency of the speed of light postulate is not true. This conception shows that the vortex motion dynamic agrees with the motion of all the universe particles at any level. An experiment has been carried out to detect the orbiting effect of aggregated vortexes of aligned atoms of a permanent magnet. Based on the described particle’s structure, the gravity force of a particle and attraction between particles as well as charge, electric and magnetic fields and quantum mechanics characteristics are interpreted. All augmented physics phenomena are solved.

Keywords: Astrophysics, cosmology, particles’ structure model, particles’ forces, vortex dynamics.

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3040 Spatial Integration at the Room-Level of 'Sequina' Slum Area in Alexandria, Egypt

Authors: Ali Essam El Shazly

Abstract:

The social logic of 'Sequina' slum area in Alexandria details the integral measure of space syntax at the room-level of twenty-building samples. The essence of spatial structure integrates the central 'visitor' domain with the 'living' frontage of the 'children' zone against the segregated privacy of the opposite 'parent' depth. Meanwhile, the multifunctioning of shallow rooms optimizes the integral 'visitor' structure through graph and visibility dimensions in contrast to the 'inhabitant' structure of graph-tails out of sight. Common theme of the layout integrity increases in compensation to the decrease of room visibility. Despite the 'pheno-type' of collective integration, the individual layouts observe 'geno-type' structure of spatial diversity per room adjoins. In this regard, the layout integrity alternates the cross-correlation of the 'kitchen & living' rooms with the 'inhabitant & visitor' domains of 'motherhood' dynamic structure. Moreover, the added 'grandparent' restructures the integral measure to become the deepest space, but opens to the 'living' of 'household' integrity. Some isomorphic layouts change the integral structure just through the 'balcony' extension of access, visual or ignored 'ringiness' of space syntax. However, the most integrated or segregated layouts invert the 'geno-type' into a shallow 'inhabitant' centrality versus the remote 'visitor' structure. Overview of the multivariate social logic of spatial integrity could never clarify without the micro-data analysis.

Keywords: Alexandria, Sequina slum, spatial integration, space syntax.

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3039 An Integrated Experimental and Numerical Approach to Develop an Electronic Instrument to Study Apple Bruise Damage

Authors: Paula Pascoal-Faria, Rúben Pereira, Elodie Pinto, Miguel Belbut, Ana Rosa, Inês Sousa, Nuno Alves

Abstract:

Apple bruise damage from harvesting, handling, transporting and sorting is considered to be the major source of reduced fruit quality, resulting in loss of profits for the entire fruit industry. The three factors which can physically cause fruit bruising are vibration, compression load and impact, the latter being the most common source of bruise damage. Therefore, prediction of the level of damage, stress distribution and deformation of the fruits under external force has become a very important challenge. In this study, experimental and numerical methods were used to better understand the impact caused when an apple is dropped from different heights onto a plastic surface and a conveyor belt. Results showed that the extent of fruit damage is significantly higher for plastic surface, being dependent on the height. In order to support the development of a biomimetic electronic device for the determination of fruit damage, the mechanical properties of the apple fruit were determined using mechanical tests. Preliminary results showed different values for the Young’s modulus according to the zone of the apple tested. Along with the mechanical characterization of the apple fruit, the development of the first two prototypes is discussed and the integration of the results obtained to construct the final element model of the apple is presented. This work will help to reduce significantly the bruise damage of fruits or vegetables during the entire processing which will allow the introduction of exportation destines and consequently an increase in the economic profits in this sector.

Keywords: Apple, fruit damage, impact during crop and post-crop, mechanical characterization of the apple, numerical evaluation of fruit bruise damage, electronic device.

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3038 Shock Response Analysis of Soil–Structure Systems Induced by Near–Fault Pulses

Authors: H. Masaeli, R. Ziaei, F. Khoshnoudian

Abstract:

Shock response analysis of the soil–structure systems induced by near–fault pulses is investigated. Vibration transmissibility of the soil–structure systems is evaluated by shock response spectra (SRS). Medium–to–high rise buildings with different aspect ratios located on different soil types as well as different foundations with respect to vertical load bearing safety factors are studied. Two types of mathematical near–fault pulses, i.e. forward directivity and fling step, with different pulse periods as well as pulse amplitudes are selected as incident ground shock. Linear versus nonlinear soil–structure interaction (SSI) condition are considered alternatively and the corresponding results are compared. The results show that nonlinear SSI is likely to amplify the acceleration responses when subjected to long–period incident pulses with normalized period exceeding a threshold. It is also shown that this threshold correlates with soil type, so that increased shear–wave velocity of the underlying soil makes the threshold period decrease.

Keywords: Nonlinear soil–structure interaction, shock response spectrum, near–fault ground shock, rocking isolation.

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3037 Comparison of Domain and Hydrophobicity Features for the Prediction of Protein-Protein Interactions using Support Vector Machines

Authors: Hany Alashwal, Safaai Deris, Razib M. Othman

Abstract:

The protein domain structure has been widely used as the most informative sequence feature to computationally predict protein-protein interactions. However, in a recent study, a research group has reported a very high accuracy of 94% using hydrophobicity feature. Therefore, in this study we compare and verify the usefulness of protein domain structure and hydrophobicity properties as the sequence features. Using the Support Vector Machines (SVM) as the learning system, our results indicate that both features achieved accuracy of nearly 80%. Furthermore, domains structure had receiver operating characteristic (ROC) score of 0.8480 with running time of 34 seconds, while hydrophobicity had ROC score of 0.8159 with running time of 20,571 seconds (5.7 hours). These results indicate that protein-protein interaction can be predicted from domain structure with reliable accuracy and acceptable running time.

Keywords: Bioinformatics, protein-protein interactions, support vector machines, protein features.

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3036 Enhancing the Peer-To-Peer Architecture with a Roaming Service and OWL

Authors: Younes Djaghloul, Zizette Boufaida

Abstract:

This paper addresses the problem of building a unified structure to describe a peer-to-peer system. Our approach uses the well-known notations in the P2P area, and provides a global architecture that puts a separation between the platform specific characteristics and the logical ones. In order to enable the navigation of the peer across platforms, a roaming layer is added. The latter provides a capability to define a unique identification of peer and assures the mapping between this identification and those used in each platform. The mapping task is assured by special wrapper. In addition, ontology is proposed to give a clear presentation of the structure of the P2P system without interesting in the content and the resource managed by the peer. The ontology is created according to the web semantic paradigm and using OWL language; so, the structure of the system is considered as a web resource.

Keywords: Peer to peer, ontology, owl.

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3035 Solutions for Comfort and Safety on Vibrations Resulting from the Action of the Wind on the Building in the Form of Portico with Four Floors

Authors: G. B. M. Carvalho, V. A. C. Vale, E. T. L. Cöuras Ford

Abstract:

With the aim of increasing the levels of comfort and security structures, the study of dynamic loads on buildings has been one of the focuses in the area of control engineering, civil engineering and architecture. Thus, this work presents a study based on simulation of the dynamics of buildings in the form of portico subjected to wind action, besides presenting an action of passive control, using for this the dynamics of the structure, consequently representing a system appropriated on environmental issues. These control systems are named the dynamic vibration absorbers.

Keywords: Dynamic vibration absorber, structure, comfort, safety, wind behavior, structure.

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3034 Reflections of Utopia and the Ideal City in the Development of Physical Structure of Nikšić Aspect of Visual Perception

Authors: Svetlana Perović, Svetislav Popović

Abstract:

Aspect of visual perception occupies a central position in shaping the physical structure of a city. This paper discusses the visual characteristics of utopian cities and their impact on the shaping of real urban structures. Utopian examples of cities will not be discussed in terms of social and sociological conditions, but rather the emphasis is on urban utopias and ideal cities that have achieved or have had potential impact on the shape of the physical structure of Nikšić. It is a Renaissance-Baroque period with a touch of classicism. The paper’s emphasis is on the physical dimension, not excluding the importance of social equilibrium, studies of which are dating back to Aristotle, Plato, Thomas More, Robert Owen, Tommaso Campanella and others. The emphasis is on urban utopias and their impact on the development of sustainable physical structure of a real city in the context of visual perception. In the case of Nikšić, this paper identifies the common features of a real city and a utopian city, as well as criteria for sustainable urban development in the context of visual achievement.

Keywords: Physical Structure of Nikšić, Utopia and Ideal City, Visual Perception.

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3033 Modeling the Time-Dependent Rheological Behavior of Clays Used in Fabrication of Ceramic

Authors: L. Hammadi, N. Boudjenane, R. Houdjedje, R. Reffis, M. Belhadri

Abstract:

In this study, we investigated the thixotropic behavior of two clays used in fabrication of ceramic. The structural kinetic model (SKM) was used to characterize the thixotropic behavior of two different kinds of clays used in fabrication of ceramic. The SKM postulates that the change in the rheological behavior is associated with shear-induced breakdown of the internal structure of the clays. This model for the structure decay with time at constant shear rate assumes nth order kinetics for the decay of the material structure with a rate constant.

Keywords: Ceramic, clays, structural kinetic model, thixotropy, viscosity.

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3032 A Cognitive Model for Frequency Signal Classification

Authors: Rui Antunes, Fernando V. Coito

Abstract:

This article presents the development of a neural network cognitive model for the classification and detection of different frequency signals. The basic structure of the implemented neural network was inspired on the perception process that humans generally make in order to visually distinguish between high and low frequency signals. It is based on the dynamic neural network concept, with delays. A special two-layer feedforward neural net structure was successfully implemented, trained and validated, to achieve minimum target error. Training confirmed that this neural net structure descents and converges to a human perception classification solution, even when far away from the target.

Keywords: Neural Networks, Signal Classification, Adaptative Filters, Cognitive Neuroscience

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3031 Active Control for Reduction of Noise Passing through Enclosure and Optimization of Microphone Position

Authors: Han-wool Lee, Chin-suk Hong, Weui-bong Jung

Abstract:

In this study, noise characteristics of structure were analyzed in an effort to reduce noise passing through an opening of an enclosure surrounding the structure that generates noise. Enclosures are essential measure to protect noise propagation from operating machinery. Access openings of the enclosures are important path of noise leakage. First, noise characteristics of structure were analyzed and feed-forward noise control was performed using simulation in order to reduce noise passing through the opening of enclosure, which surrounds a structure generating noise. We then implemented a feed-forward controller to actively control the acoustic power through the opening. Finally, we conducted optimization of placement of the reference sensors for several cases of the number of sensors. Good control performances were achieved using the minimum number of microphones arranged an optimal placement.

Keywords: Active Noise Control, Feed-forward Control, Noise Attenuation, Position Optimization.

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3030 Revitalisation of Indigenous Food in Africa through Print and Electronic Media

Authors: Adebisi. Elizabeth, Banjo

Abstract:

Language and culture are interwoven that they cannot be separated, for the knowledge of a language cannot be complete without having the culture of the language. Indigenous food is a cultural aspect of any language that is expected to be acquired by all the speakers of the language. Indigenous food is known to be vital right from early years, which is also attributed to the healthy living of the ancient people. However it is discovered that the indigenous food is almost being replaced by fast food products such as Indomie noodles, Spaghetti and Macaroni to the extent that majority of the young folks prefer the eating of the fast foods and cannot prepare the indigenous foods which are good for growth and healthy living of people. Therefore, there is need to revitalize and re-educate people on the indigenous food which is an aspect of inter-cultural education of any language to prevent it from being forgotten or neglected.

African foods are many, but this study focused on Nigerian food using some Yoruba dishes as a case study. Examples of Yoruba dishes are pounded yam and melon with vegetable and dried fish soup, beans pudding (moin moin) and pap (eko), water yam pudding with fish and meat (ikokore) and many more. The ingredients needed for the preparation of these indigenous foods contain some basic food nutrients which will be analyzed and their nutritional importance to human bodies will also be discussed.

The process of re- awakening the education of indigenous food to the present and up-coming generation should be via print and electronic media in form of advertisements on posters, billboards, calendars and in rhymes on television programs, radio presentations, video tapes and CD–ROM apart from classroom teaching and learning. Indigenous food is a panacea to healthy living and longevity, a prevention of diseases and a means of accelerated healing of the body through natural foods.

Keywords: Indigenous food, print and electronic media, nutritional values, re-awakening education.

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