Search results for: Javits Center

Authors: Elias Akoury

Abstract:

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an indispensable technique used in structure determination of small and macromolecules to study their physical properties, elucidation of characteristic interactions, dynamics and thermodynamic processes. Quantum mechanics defines the theoretical description of NMR spectroscopy and treatment of the dynamics of nuclear spin systems. The phenomenon of residual dipolar coupling (RDCs) has become a routine tool for accurate structure determination by providing global orientation information of magnetic dipole-dipole interaction vectors within a common reference frame. This offers accessibility of distance-independent angular information and insights to local relaxation. The measurement of RDCs requires an anisotropic orientation medium for the molecules to partially align along the magnetic field. This can be achieved by introduction of liquid crystals or attaching a paramagnetic center. Although anisotropic paramagnetic tags continue to mark achievements in the biomolecular NMR of large proteins, its application in small organic molecules remains unspread. Here, we propose a strategy for the synthesis of a lanthanide tag and the measurement of RDCs in organic molecules using paramagnetic lanthanide complexes.

Keywords: Lanthanide Tags, NMR spectroscopy, residual dipolar coupling, quantum mechanics of spin dynamics.

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Authors: R. Varalakshmi

Abstract:

For the last decade, researchers have started to focus their interest on Multicast Group Key Management Framework. The central research challenge is secure and efficient group key distribution. The present paper is based on the Bit model based Secure Multicast Group key distribution scheme using the most popular absolute encoder output type code named Gray Code. The focus is of two folds. The first fold deals with the reduction of computation complexity which is achieved in our scheme by performing fewer multiplication operations during the key updating process. To optimize the number of multiplication operations, an O(1) time algorithm to multiply two N-bit binary numbers which could be used in an N x N bit-model of reconfigurable mesh is used in this proposed work. The second fold aims at reducing the amount of information stored in the Group Center and group members while performing the update operation in the key content. Comparative analysis to illustrate the performance of various key distribution schemes is shown in this paper and it has been observed that this proposed algorithm reduces the computation and storage complexity significantly. Our proposed algorithm is suitable for high performance computing environment.

Keywords: Multicast Group key distribution, Bit model, Integer Multiplications, reconfigurable mesh, optimal algorithm, Gray Code, Computation Complexity, Storage Complexity.

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Authors: M. Boulakroune, M. Challal, H. Louazene, S. Fentiz

Abstract:

This paper presents two types of microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) at microwave frequencies. The first one is a tunable BPF using planar patch resonators based on a varactor diode. The filter is formed by a triple mode circular patch resonator with two pairs of slots, in which the varactor diodes are connected. Indeed, this filter is initially centered at 2.4 GHz; the center frequency of the tunable patch filter could be tuned up to 1.8 GHz simultaneously with the bandwidth, reaching high tuning ranges. Lossless simulations were compared to those considering the substrate dielectric, conductor losses and the equivalent electrical circuit model of the tuning element in order to assess their effects. Within these variations, simulation results showed insertion loss better than 2 dB and return loss better than 10 dB over the passband. The second structure is a BPF for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications based on multiple-mode resonator (MMR) and rectangular-shaped defected ground structure (DGS). This filter, which is compact size of 25.2 x 3.8 mm2, provides in the pass band an insertion loss of 0.57 dB and a return loss greater than 12 dB. The proposed filters presents good performances and the simulation results are in satisfactory agreement with the experimentation ones reported elsewhere.

Keywords: Defected ground structure, varactor diode, microstrip bandpass filter, multiple-mode resonator.

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Authors: Chalermpol Tapsai

Abstract:

The objectives of this research were to develop and find the efficiency of integrated online lessons by investigating the usage of online lessons, the relationship between learners’ background knowledge, and the achievement after learning with online lessons. The sample group in this study consisted of 97 students randomly selected from 121 students registering in 1/2012 at Trimitwittayaram Learning Center. The sample technique employed stratified sample technique of 4 groups according to their proficiency, i.e. high, moderate, low, and non-knowledge. The research instrument included online lessons in integration model on the topic of Java Programming, test after each lesson, the achievement test at the end of the course, and the questionnaires to find learners’ satisfaction. The results showed that the efficiency of online lessons was 90.20/89.18 with the achievement of after learning with the lessons higher than that before the lessons at the statistically significant level of 0.05. Moreover, the background knowledge of the learners on the programming showed the positive relationship with the achievement learning at the statistically significant level at 0.05. Learners with high background knowledge employed less exercises and samples than those with lower background knowledge. While learners with different background in the group of moderate and low did not show the significant difference in employing samples and exercises.

Keywords: Integration model, Online lessons.

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Authors: Emmanouel Koumoulas, Aikaterini Rokkou, Marios Moschakis

Abstract:

Theagenio" in Thessaloniki exists and works for three centuries now as a hospital. Since 1975, it has been operating as an Integrated Special Cancer Hospital and since 1985 it has been integrated into the National Health System. "Theagenio" Cancer Hospital is located at the central web of Thessaloniki residential complex and consists of two buildings, the "Symeonidio Research Center", which was completed in 1962 and the Nursing Ward, a project that was later completed in 1975. This paper examines the design of the Hospital Unit according to the requirements of the energy design of buildings. Initially, the energy characteristics of the Hospital are recorded, followed by a detailed presentation of the electromechanical installations. After the existing situation has been captured and with the help of the software TEE-KENAK, different scenarios for the energy upgrading of the buildings have been studied. Proposals for upgrading concern both the shell, e.g. installation of external thermal insulation, replacement of frames, addition of shading systems, etc. as well as electromechanical installations, e.g. use of ceiling fans, improvements in heating and cooling systems, interventions in lighting, etc. The simulation calculates the future energy status of the buildings and presents the economic benefits of the proposed interventions with reference to the environmental profits that arise.

Keywords: Energy consumption in hospitals, energy saving interventions, energy upgrading, hospital facilities.

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Authors: Jahanbakhsh Hamedi, Hassan Zohoor

Abstract:

This article proposes modeling, simulation and kinematic and workspace analysis of a spatial cable suspended robot as incompletely Restrained Positioning Mechanism (IRPM). These types of robots have six cables equal to the number of degrees of freedom. After modeling, the kinds of workspace are defined then an statically reachable combined workspace for different geometric structures of fixed and moving platform is obtained. This workspace is defined as the situations of reference point of the moving platform (center of mass) which under external forces such as weight and with ignorance of inertial effects, the moving platform should be in static equilibrium under conditions that length of all cables must not be exceeded from the maximum value and all of cables must be at tension (they must have non-negative tension forces). Then the effect of various parameters such as the size of moving platform, the size of fixed platform, geometric configuration of robots, magnitude of applied forces and moments to moving platform on workspace of these robots with different geometric configuration are investigated. Obtained results should be effective in employing these robots under different conditions of applied wrench for increasing the workspace volume.

Keywords: Kinematic modeling, applied wrench, workspace, cable based robot.

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Authors: A. Baith Mohamed, Ayman Abdel-Hamid, Kareem Youssri Mohamed

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Current proposals for E-passport or ID-Card is similar to a regular passport with the addition of tiny contactless integrated circuit (computer chip) inserted in the back cover, which will act as a secure storage device of the same data visually displayed on the photo page of the passport. In addition, it will include a digital photograph that will enable biometric comparison, through the use of facial recognition technology at international borders. Moreover, the e-passport will have a new interface, incorporating additional antifraud and security features. However, its problems are reliability, security and privacy. Privacy is a serious issue since there is no encryption between the readers and the E-passport. However, security issues such as authentication, data protection and control techniques cannot be embedded in one process. In this paper, design and prototype implementation of an improved E-passport reader is presented. The passport holder is authenticated online by using GSM network. The GSM network is the main interface between identification center and the e-passport reader. The communication data is protected between server and e-passport reader by using AES to encrypt data for protection will transferring through GSM network. Performance measurements indicate a 19% improvement in encryption cycles versus previously reported results.

Keywords: RFID "Radio Frequency Identification", EPC"Electronic Product Code", ICAO "International Civil Aviation Organization", IFF "Identify Friend or Foe"

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Authors: Celso A. G. Santos, Paula K. M. M. Freire

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The urban centers within northeastern Brazil are mainly influenced by the intense rainfalls, which can occur after long periods of drought, when flood events can be observed during such events. Thus, this paper aims to study the rainfall frequencies in such region through the wavelet transform. An application of wavelet analysis is done with long time series of the total monthly rainfall amount at the capital cities of northeastern Brazil. The main frequency components in the time series are studied by the global wavelet spectrum and the modulation in separated periodicity bands were done in order to extract additional information, e.g., the 8 and 16 months band was examined by an average of all scales, giving a measure of the average annual variance versus time, where the periods with low or high variance could be identified. The important increases were identified in the average variance for some periods, e.g. 1947 to 1952 at Teresina city, which can be considered as high wet periods. Although, the precipitation in those sites showed similar global wavelet spectra, the wavelet spectra revealed particular features. This study can be considered an important tool for time series analysis, which can help the studies concerning flood control, mainly when they are applied together with rainfall-runoff simulations.

Keywords: rainfall data, urban center, wavelet transform.

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Authors: Somi Nah

Abstract:

The genre of fantasy depicts a world of imagine that triggers popular interest from a created view of world, and a fantasy is defined as a story that illustrates a world of imagine where scientific or horror elements are stand in its center. This study is not focused on the narrative of the fantasy, i.e. not on the adventurous story, but is concentrated on the image of the fantasy to work on its relationship with intended themes and differences among cultures due to meanings of materials. As for films, we have selected some films in the 2000's that are internationally recognized as expressing unique images of fantasy containing the theme of love in them. The selected films are 5 pieces including two European films, Amelie from Montmartre (2001) and The Science of Sleep (2005) and three Asian films, Citizen Dog from Thailand (2004), Memories of Matsuko from Japan (2006), and I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK from Korea (2006). These films share some common characteristics to the effect that they give tiny lessons and feelings for life with expressions of fantasy images as if they were fairy tales for adults and that they lead the audience to reflect on their days and revive forgotten dreams of childhood. We analyze the images of fantasy in each of the films on the basis of the elements of Mise-en-Scène (setting and props, costume, hair and make-up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and color, positioning of characters, and objects within a frame).

Keywords: Mise-en-scène, fantasy images, films, visualization.

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Authors: Kuyucu Helvacioglu Asli Deniz, Tektas Arzu

Abstract:

European Union candidate status provides a strong motivation for decision-making in the candidate countries in shaping the regional development policy where there is an envisioned transfer of power from center to the periphery. The process of Europeanization anticipates the candidate countries configure their regional institutional templates in the context of the requirements of the European Union policies and introduces new instruments of incentive framework of enlargement to be employed in regional development schemes. It is observed that the contribution of the local actors to the decision making in the design of the allocation architectures enhances the efficiency of the funds and increases the positive effects of the projects funded under the regional development objectives. This study aims at exploring the performances of the three regional development grant schemes in Turkey, established and allocated under the pre-accession process with a special emphasis given to the roles of the national and local actors in decision-making for regional development. Efficiency analyses have been conducted using the DEA methodology which has proved to be a superior method in comparative efficiency and benchmarking measurements. The findings of this study as parallel to similar international studies, provides that the participation of the local actors to the decision-making in funding contributes both to the quality and the efficiency of the projects funded under the EU schemes.

Keywords: Efficiency, European Union Funds, RegionalDevelopment, Turkey

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Authors: Guillermo Romero-Jiménez, Luis A. Jiménez-Fraustro, Mayolo Salinas-Camacho, Heriberto Avalos-Valenzuela

Abstract:

A geothermal power plant multiple simulator for operators training is presented. The simulator is designed to be installed in a wireless local area network and has a capacity to train one to six operators simultaneously, each one with an independent simulation session. The sessions must be supervised only by one instructor. The main parts of this multiple simulator are: instructor and operator-s stations. On the instructor station, the instructor controls the simulation sessions, establishes training exercises and supervises each power plant operator in individual way. This station is hosted in a Main Personal Computer (NS) and its main functions are: to set initial conditions, snapshots, malfunctions or faults, monitoring trends, and process and soft-panel diagrams. On the other hand the operators carry out their actions over the power plant simulated on the operator-s stations; each one is also hosted in a PC. The main software of instructor and operator-s stations are executed on the same NS and displayed in PCs through graphical Interactive Process Diagrams (IDP). The geothermal multiple simulator has been installed in the Geothermal Simulation Training Center (GSTC) of the Comisi├│n Federal de Electricidad, (Federal Commission of Electricity, CFE), Mexico, and is being utilized as a part of the training courses for geothermal power plant operators.

Keywords: Geothermal power plant, multiple simulator, training operator.

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Authors: Adnan Muharemovic, Hidajet Salkic, Mario Klaric, Irfan Turkovic, Aida Muharemovic

Abstract:

In nature, electromagnetic fields always appear like atmosphere static electric field, the earth's static magnetic field and the wide-rang frequency electromagnetic field caused by lightening. However, besides natural electromagnetic fields (EMF), today human beings are mostly exposed to artificial electromagnetic fields due to technology progress and outspread use of electrical devices. To evaluate nuisance of EMF, it is necessary to know field intensity for every frequency which appears and compare it with allowed values. Low frequency EMF-s around transmission and distribution lines are time-varying quasi-static electromagnetic fields which have conservative component of low frequency electrical field caused by charges and eddy component of low frequency magnetic field caused by currents. Displacement current or field delay are negligible, so energy flow in quasi-static EMF involves diffusion, analog like heat transfer. Electrical and magnetic field can be analyzed separately. This paper analysis the numerical calculations in ELF-400 software of EMF in distribution substation in shopping center. Analyzing the results it is possible to specify locations exposed to the fields and give useful suggestion to eliminate electromagnetic effect or reduce it on acceptable level within the non-ionizing radiation norms and norms of protection from EMF.

Keywords: Electromagnetic Field, Density of Electromagnetic Flow, Place of Proffesional Exposure, Place of Increased Sensitivity

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Authors: Victor H. Benitez, Ramon V. Armas-Flores, Jesus H. Pacheco-Ramirez

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Systems transforming solar energy into electrical power have emerged as a viable source of clean, renewable energy. Solar power tower technology is a good example of this type of system, which consists of several mobile mirrors, called heliostats, which reflect the sun's radiation to the same point, located on top of a tower at the center of heliostat field, for collection or transformation into another type of energy. The so-called Hermosillo’s Solar Platform (Plataforma Solar de Hermosillo, PSH, in Spanish) is a facility constituted with several heliostats, its aim and scope is for research purposes. In this paper, the implementation of a wireless communication system based on intelligent nodes is proposed in order to allow the communication and control of the heliostats in PSH. Intelligent nodes transmit information from one point to another, and can perform other actions that allow them to adapt to the conditions and limitations of a field of heliostats, thus achieving effective communication system. After deployment of the nodes in the heliostats, tests were conducted to measure the effectiveness of the communication, and determine the feasibility of using the proposed technologies. The test results were always positive, exceeding expectations held for its operation in the field of heliostats. Therefore, it was possible to validate the efficiency of the wireless communication system to be implemented in PSH, allowing communication and control of the heliostats.

Keywords: Solar energy, heliostat, wireless communication, intelligent node.

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Authors: Hussin K. Ragb, Vijayan K. Asari

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a pedestrian detection descriptor called Fused Structure and Texture (FST) features based on the combination of the local phase information with the texture features. Since the phase of the signal conveys more structural information than the magnitude, the phase congruency concept is used to capture the structural features. On the other hand, the Center-Symmetric Local Binary Pattern (CSLBP) approach is used to capture the texture information of the image. The dimension less quantity of the phase congruency and the robustness of the CSLBP operator on the flat images, as well as the blur and illumination changes, lead the proposed descriptor to be more robust and less sensitive to the light variations. The proposed descriptor can be formed by extracting the phase congruency and the CSLBP values of each pixel of the image with respect to its neighborhood. The histogram of the oriented phase and the histogram of the CSLBP values for the local regions in the image are computed and concatenated to construct the FST descriptor. Several experiments were conducted on INRIA and the low resolution DaimlerChrysler datasets to evaluate the detection performance of the pedestrian detection system that is based on the FST descriptor. A linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to train the pedestrian classifier. These experiments showed that the proposed FST descriptor has better detection performance over a set of state of the art feature extraction methodologies.

Keywords: Pedestrian detection, phase congruency, local phase, LBP features, CSLBP features, FST descriptor.

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Authors: Ismail Karaca, Ridvan Saracoglu, Omer Soner

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Fuzzy Logic, an advanced method to support decision-making, is used by various scientists in many disciplines. Fuzzy programming is a product of fuzzy logic, fuzzy rules, and implication. In marine science, fuzzy programming for ships is dramatically increasing together with autonomous ship studies. In this paper, a program to support the decision-making process for ship navigation has been designed. The program is produced in fuzzy logic and rules, by taking the marine accidents and expert opinions into account. After the program was designed, the program was tested by 46 ship accidents reported by the Transportation Safety Investigation Center of Turkey. Wind speed, sea condition, visibility, day/night ratio have been used as input data. They have been converted into a risk factor within the Fuzzy Logic Designer application and fuzzy rules set by marine experts. Finally, the expert's meteorological risk factor for each accident is compared with the program's risk factor, and the error rate was calculated. The main objective of this study is to improve the navigational safety of ships, by using the advance decision support model. According to the study result, fuzzy programming is a robust model that supports safe navigation.

Keywords: Calculation of risk factor, fuzzy logic, fuzzy programming for ship, safe navigation of ships.

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Authors: Ghzlan Mahmoud Abdel Aziz

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This case study aims to identify the intrastate conflicts between the nation state and armed groups. Nowadays, most wars weaken states against armed groups. Thus, it is very important to negotiate with such groups in order to reinforce the law for the protection of victims. These armed groups are the cause of conflicts and they are related with many of humanitarian issues that result out of conflicts. In this age of rivalry; terrorists, insurgents, or transnational criminal parties have surfaced to the top as a reaction to these armed groups in an effort to set up a new world order. Moreover, the intra state conflicts became increasingly treacherous than the interstate conflicts, particularly when nation state systems deal with armed groups which try to influence the state. The unexpected upraising of the Arab Spring during 2011 in parts of the Middle East and North Africa formed various patterns of conflicts. The events of the Arab Spring resulted in current and long term change across the region. Significant modifications in the level, strength and period of armed conflict around the world have been made. Egypt was in the center of these events. It has fought back the armed groups under the name of terrorism and spread common disorder and violence among civilians. On this note, this study focuses on the problem of the transformation in the methods of organized violence within one state rather than between two state or more and analyzes the objectives, strategies, and internal composition of armed groups and the environments that foster them, with a focus on the Egyptian case.

Keywords: Armed groups, conflicts, Egyptian armed forces, intrastate conflicts.

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Authors: Fan Li, Chun-Hsien Chen, Li Pheng Khoo

Abstract:

Operators of vessel traffic service (VTS) center provides three different types of services; namely information service, navigational assistance and traffic organization to vessels. To provide these services, operators monitor vessel traffic through computer interface and provide navigational advice based on the information integrated from multiple sources, including automatic identification system (AIS), radar system, and closed circuit television (CCTV) system. Therefore, this information is crucial in VTS operation. However, what information the VTS operator actually need to efficiently and properly offer services is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate into information requirements for VTS operation. To achieve this aim, field observation was carried out to elicit the information requirements for VTS operation. The study revealed that the most frequent and important tasks were handling arrival vessel report, potential conflict control and abeam vessel report. Current location and vessel name were used in all tasks. Hazard cargo information was particularly required when operators handle arrival vessel report. The speed, the course, and the distance of two or several vessels were only used in potential conflict control. The information requirements identified in this study can be utilized in designing a human-computer interface that takes into consideration what and when information should be displayed, and might be further used to build the foundation of a decision support system for VTS.

Keywords: Vessel traffic service, information requirements, hierarchy task analysis, field observation.

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Authors: Mohammad Izadkhah, Mojtaba Hoseini, Alireza Khalili Tehrani

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In this paper we presented a new method for tracking flying targets in color video sequences based on contour and kernel. The aim of this work is to overcome the problem of losing target in changing light, large displacement, changing speed, and occlusion. The proposed method is made in three steps, estimate the target location by particle filter, segmentation target region using neural network and find the exact contours by greedy snake algorithm. In the proposed method we have used both region and contour information to create target candidate model and this model is dynamically updated during tracking. To avoid the accumulation of errors when updating, target region given to a perceptron neural network to separate the target from background. Then its output used for exact calculation of size and center of the target. Also it is used as the initial contour for the greedy snake algorithm to find the exact target's edge. The proposed algorithm has been tested on a database which contains a lot of challenges such as high speed and agility of aircrafts, background clutter, occlusions, camera movement, and so on. The experimental results show that the use of neural network increases the accuracy of tracking and segmentation.

Keywords: Video tracking, particle filter, greedy snake, neural network.

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Authors: Alisha Khanal, Gokhan Saygili

Abstract:

It is commonly observed that aftershocks follow the mainshock. Aftershocks continue over a period of time with a decreasing frequency and typically there is not sufficient time for repair and retrofit between a mainshock–aftershock sequence. Usually, aftershocks are smaller in magnitude; however, aftershock ground motion characteristics such as the intensity and duration can be greater than the mainshock due to the changes in the earthquake mechanism and location with respect to the site. The seismic performance of slopes is typically evaluated based on the sliding displacement predicted to occur along a critical sliding surface. Various empirical models are available that predict sliding displacement as a function of seismic loading parameters, ground motion parameters, and site parameters but these models do not include the aftershocks. The seismic risks associated with the post-mainshock slopes ('damaged slopes') subjected to aftershocks is significant. This paper extends the empirical sliding displacement models for flexible slopes subjected to earthquake mainshock-aftershock sequences (a multi hazard approach). A dataset was developed using 144 pairs of as-recorded mainshock-aftershock sequences using the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) database. The results reveal that the combination of mainshock and aftershock increases the seismic demand on slopes relative to the mainshock alone; thus, seismic risks are underestimated if aftershocks are neglected.

Keywords: Seismic slope stability, sliding displacement, mainshock, aftershock, landslide, earthquake.

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Authors: A. Schirru, A. Irimescu, S. Merola, A. d’Adamo, S. Fontanesi

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One of the aspects that are usually neglected during the design phase of an engine is the effect of the spark plug on the flow field inside the combustion chamber. Because of the difficulties in the experimental investigation of the mutual interaction between flow alteration and early flame kernel convection effect inside the engine combustion chamber, CFD-3D simulation is usually exploited in such cases. Experimentally speaking, a particular type of engine has to be used in order to directly observe the flame propagation process. In this study, a double electrode spark plug was fitted into an optically accessible engine and a high-speed camera was used to capture the initial stages of the combustion process. Both the arc and the kernel phases were observed. Then, a morphologic analysis was carried out and the position of the center of mass of the flame, relative to the spark plug position, was calculated. The crossflow orientation was chosen for the spark plug and the kernel growth process was observed for different air-fuel ratios. It was observed that during a normal cycle the flow field between the electrodes tends to transport the arc deforming it. Because of that, the kernel growth phase takes place away from the electrodes and the flame propagates with a preferential direction dictated by the flow field.

Keywords: Combustion, Kernel growth, optically accessible engine, spark-ignition engine, spark plug orientation.

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Authors: Hyun-Koo Kim, Young-Nam Shin, Sa-gong Kuk, Ju H. Park, Ho-Youl Jung

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This paper presents an effective traffic lights detection method at the night-time. First, candidate blobs of traffic lights are extracted from RGB color image. Input image is represented on the dominant color domain by using color transform proposed by Ruta, then red and green color dominant regions are selected as candidates. After candidate blob selection, we carry out shape filter for noise reduction using information of blobs such as length, area, area of boundary box, etc. A multi-class classifier based on SVM (Support Vector Machine) applies into the candidates. Three kinds of features are used. We use basic features such as blob width, height, center coordinate, area, area of blob. Bright based stochastic features are also used. In particular, geometric based moment-s values between candidate region and adjacent region are proposed and used to improve the detection performance. The proposed system is implemented on Intel Core CPU with 2.80 GHz and 4 GB RAM and tested with the urban and rural road videos. Through the test, we show that the proposed method using PF, BMF, and GMF reaches up to 93 % of detection rate with computation time of in average 15 ms/frame.

Keywords: Night-time traffic light detection, multi-class classification, driving assistance system.

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Authors: W. Phanwanich, O. Kumdee, P. Ritthipravat, Y. Wongsawat

Abstract:

In order to alleviate the mental and physical problems of persons with disabilities, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is one of the possible modalities that employs the merit of the human-animal interaction. Nevertheless, to achieve the purpose of AAT for persons with severe disabilities (e.g. spinal cord injury, stroke, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), real-time animal language interpretation is desirable. Since canine behaviors can be visually notable from its tail, this paper proposes the automatic real-time interpretation of canine tail language for human-canine interaction in the case of persons with severe disabilities. Canine tail language is captured via two 3-axis accelerometers. Directions and frequencies are selected as our features of interests. The novel fuzzy rules based on Gaussian-Trapezoidal model and center of gravity (COG)-based defuzzification method are proposed in order to interpret the features into four canine emotional behaviors, i.e., agitate, happy, scare and neutral as well as its blended emotional behaviors. The emotional behavior model is performed in the simulated dog and has also been evaluated in the real dog with the perfect recognition rate.

Keywords: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), Persons with disabilities, Canine tail language, Fuzzy emotional behavior model

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Authors: Saeed Sayyad Hagh Shomar

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Traffic congestion pricing in urban streets is one of the most suitable options for solving the traffic problems and environment pollutions in the cities of the country. Unlike its acceptable outcomes, there are problems concerning the necessity to pay by the mass. Regarding the fact that public response in order to succeed in this strategy is so influential, studying their response and behavior to get the feedback and improve the strategies is of great importance. In this study, a questionnaire was used to examine the public reactions to the traffic congestion pricing schemes at the center of Tehran metropolis and the factors involved in people’s decision making in accepting or rejecting the congestion pricing schemes were assessed based on the data obtained from the questionnaire as well as the international experiences. Then, by analyzing and comparing the schemes, guidelines to reduce public objections to them are discussed. The results of reviewing and evaluating the public reactions show that all the pros and cons must be considered to guarantee the success of these projects. Consequently, with targeted public education and consciousness-raising advertisements, prior to initiating a scheme and ensuring the mechanism of the implementation after the start of the project, the initial opposition is reduced and, with the gradual emergence of the real and tangible benefits of its implementation, users’ satisfaction will increase.

Keywords: Demand management, international experiences, traffic congestion pricing, public acceptance, public objection.

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Authors: T. Wuttipornpun, U. Wangrakdiskul, W. Songserm

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This paper aims to develop an algorithm of finite capacity material requirement planning (FCMRP) system for a multistage assembly flow shop. The developed FCMRP system has two main stages. The first stage is to allocate operations to the first and second priority work centers and also determine the sequence of the operations on each work center. The second stage is to determine the optimal start time of each operation by using a linear programming model. Real data from a factory is used to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed FCMRP system and also to guarantee a practical solution to the user. There are five performance measures, namely, the total tardiness, the number of tardy orders, the total earliness, the number of early orders, and the average flow-time. The proposed FCMRP system offers an adjustable solution which is a compromised solution among the conflicting performance measures. The user can adjust the weight of each performance measure to obtain the desired performance. The result shows that the combination of FCMRP NP3 and EDD outperforms other combinations in term of overall performance index. The calculation time for the proposed FCMRP system is about 10 minutes which is practical for the planners of the factory.

Keywords: Material requirement planning, Finite capacity, Linear programming, Permutation, Application in industry.

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Authors: C. Caçador, M. J. Reis Lima, J. Oliveira, M. J. Veiga, M. Teixeira Veríssimo, F. Ramos, M. C. Castilho, E. Teixeira-Lemos

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In the present study we evaluated the nutritional status of 214 institutionalized elderly residents of both genders, aged 65 years and older of 11 care homes located in the district of Viseu (center of Portugal). The evaluation was based on anthropometric measurements and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) score.

The mean age of the subjects was 82.3 ± 6.1 years-old. Most of the elderly residents were female (72.0%). The majority had 4 years of formal education (51.9%) and was widowed (74.3%) or married (14.0%).

Men presented a mean age of 81.2±8.5 years-old, weight 69.3±14.5 kg and BMI 25.33±6.5 kg/m². In women, the mean age was 84.5±8.2 years-old, weight 61.2±14.7 kg and BMI 27.43±5.6 kg/m².

The evaluation of the nutritional status using the MNA score showed that 24.0% of the residents show a risk of undernutrition and 76.0% of them were well nourished.

There was a high prevalence of obese (24.8%) and overweight residents (33.2%) according to the BMI. 7.5% were considered underweight.

We also found that according to their waist circumference measurements 88.3% of the residents were at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 64.0% of them presented very high risk for CVD (WC≥88 cm for women and WC ≥102 cm for men).

The present study revealed the coexistence of a dual form of malnutrition (undernourished and overweight) among the institutionalized Portuguese concomitantly with an excess of abdominal adiposity. The high prevalence of residents at high risk for CVD should not be overlooked.

Given the vulnerability of the group of institutionalized elderly, our study highlights the importance of the classification of nutritional status based on both instruments: the BMI and the MNA.

Keywords: Nutritional status, MNA, BMI, elderly.

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Authors: Rachid Zentar, Mokrane Bala, Pascal Boustingorry

Abstract:

The prediction of the rheological behavior of concrete is at the center of current concerns of the concrete industry for different reasons. The shortage of good quality standard materials combined with variable properties of available materials imposes to improve existing models to take into account these variations at the design stage of concrete. The main reasons for improving the predictive models are, of course, saving time and cost at the design stage as well as to optimize concrete performances. In this study, we will highlight the different properties of the granular mixtures that affect the rheological properties of concrete. Our objective is to identify the intrinsic parameters of the aggregates which make it possible to predict the yield stress of concrete. The work was done using two typologies of grains: crushed and rolled aggregates. The experimental results have shown that the rheology of concrete is improved by increasing the packing density of the granular mixture using rolled aggregates. The experimental program realized allowed to model the yield stress of concrete by a modified model of Chateau et al. through a dimensionless parameter following Krieger-Dougherty law. The modelling confirms that the yield stress of concrete depends not only on the properties of cement paste but also on the packing density of the granular skeleton and the shape of grains.

Keywords: Crushed aggregates, intrinsic viscosity, packing density, rolled aggregates, slump, yield stress of concrete.

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Authors: Junwon Seo, Bipin Adhikari, Euiseok Jeong

Abstract:

This paper is intended to evaluate the structural performance of welded electronic road signs under various damage scenarios (DSs) using a finite element (FE) model calibrated with full-scale ultimate load testing results. The tested electronic road sign specimen was built with a back skin made of 5052 aluminum and two channels and a frame made of 6061 aluminum, where the back skin was connected to the frame by welding. The size of the tested specimen was 1.52 m long, 1.43 m wide, and 0.28 m deep. An actuator applied vertical loads at the center of the back skin of the specimen, resulting in a displacement of 158.7 mm and an ultimate load of 153.46 kN. Using these testing data, generation and calibration of a FE model of the tested specimen were executed in ABAQUS, indicating that the difference in the ultimate load between the calibrated model simulation and full-scale testing was only 3.32%. Then, six different DSs were simulated where the areas of the welded connection in the calibrated model were diminished for the DSs. It was found that the corners at the back skin-frame joint were prone to connection failure for all the DSs, and failure of the back skin-frame connection occurred remarkably from the distant edges.

Keywords: Computational analysis, damage scenarios, electronic road signs, finite element, welded connections.

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Authors: C. Edwards, P. Parker

Abstract:

Flight school members are facing a major disruption in the technologies available for them to fly as electric planes enter the aviation industry. The year 2020 marked a new era in aviation with the first type certification of an electric plane. The Pipistrel Velis Electro is a two-seat electric aircraft (e-plane) designed for flight training. Electric flight training has the potential to deeply reduce emissions, noise, and cost of pilot training. Though these are all attractive features, understanding must be developed on the perceptions of the essential actor of the technology, the pilot. This study asks student pilots, flight instructors, flight center managers, and other members of flight schools about their perceptions of e-planes. The questions were divided into three categories: safety and trust of the technology, expected costs in comparison to conventional planes, and interest in the technology, including their desire to fly electric planes. Participants were recruited from flight schools using a protocol approved by the Office of Research Ethics. None of these flight schools have an e-plane in their fleet so these views are based on perceptions rather than direct experience. The results revealed perceptions that were strongly positive with many qualitative comments indicating great excitement about the potential of the new electric aviation technology. Some concerns were raised regarding battery endurance limits. Overall, the flight school community is clearly in favor of introducing electric propulsion technology and reducing the environmental impacts of their industry.

Keywords: electric planes, flight training, green aircraft, student pilots, sustainable aviation

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Authors: Kayijuka Idrissa

Abstract:

This work investigates a mathematical study for traffic flow and traffic density in Kigali city roads and the data collected from the national police of Rwanda in 2012. While working on this topic, some mathematical models were used in order to analyze and compare traffic variables. This work has been carried out on Kigali roads specifically at roundabouts from Kigali Business Center (KBC) to Prince House as our study sites. In this project, we used some mathematical tools to analyze the data collected and to understand the relationship between traffic variables. We applied the Poisson distribution method to analyze and to know the number of accidents occurred in this section of the road which is from KBC to Prince House. The results show that the accidents that occurred in 2012 were at very high rates due to the fact that this section has a very narrow single lane on each side which leads to high congestion of vehicles, and consequently, accidents occur very frequently. Using the data of speeds and densities collected from this section of road, we found that the increment of the density results in a decrement of the speed of the vehicle. At the point where the density is equal to the jam density the speed becomes zero. The approach is promising in capturing sudden changes on flow patterns and is open to be utilized in a series of intelligent management strategies and especially in noncurrent congestion effect detection and control.

Keywords: Statistical methods, Poisson distribution, car moving techniques, traffic flow.

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

Abstract:

This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: Active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF).

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