Search results for: Brightness variation compensation

Authors: M. Naimi, M. B. Khaled

Abstract:

The aim of the present work was to test in vitro inhibition of food pathogens and spoilage bacteria by crude bacteriocins from autochthonous lactic acid bacteria. Thirty autochthonous lactic acid bacteria isolated previously, belonging to the genera: Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium, Lactococcus, Vagococcus, Streptococcus, and Pediococcus, have been screened by an agar spot test and a well diffusion assay against Gram-positive and Gram-negative harmful bacteria: Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa under conditions means to reduce lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide effect to select bacteria with high bacteriocinogenic potential. Furthermore, crude bacteriocins semiquantification and heat sensitivity to different temperatures (80, 95, 110°C, and 121°C) were performed. Another exploratory test concerning the response of St. aureus ATCC 6538 to the presence of crude bacteriocins was realized. It has been observed by the agar spot test that fifteen candidates were active toward Gram-positive targets strains. The secondary screening demonstrated an antagonistic activity oriented only against St. aureus ATCC 6538, leading to the selection of five isolates: L_m14, L_m21, L_m23, L_m24, and L_m25 with a larger inhibition zone compared to the others. The ANOVA statistical analysis reveals a small variation of repeatability: L_m21: 0.56%, L_m23: 0%, L_m25: 1.67%, L_m14: 1.88%, L_m24: 2.14%. Conversely, slight variation was reported in terms of inhibition diameters: 9.58± 0.40, 9.83± 0.46 and 10.16± 0.24 8.5 ± 0.40 10 mm for, L_m21, L_m23, L_m25, L_m14and L_m24, indicating that the observed potential showed a heterogeneous distribution (BMS = 0.383, WMS = 0.117). The repeatability coefficient calculated displayed 7.35%. As for the bacteriocins semiquantification, the five samples exhibited production amounts about 4.16 for L_m21, L_m23, L_m25 and 2.08 AU/ml for L_m14, L_m24. Concerning the sensitivity the crude bacteriocins were fully insensitive to heat inactivation, until 121°C, they preserved the same inhibition diameter. As to, kinetic of growth , the µmax showed reductions in pathogens load for L_m21, L_m23, L_m25, L_m14, L_m24 of about 42.92%, 84.12%, 88.55%, 54.95%, 29.97% in the second trails. Inversely, this pathogen growth after five hours displayed differences of 79.45%, 12.64%, 11.82%, 87.88%, 85.66% in the second trails, compared to the control. This study showed potential inhibition to the growth of this food pathogen, suggesting the possibility to improve the hygienic food quality.

Keywords: Exploratory test, lactic acid bacteria, crude bacteriocins, spoilage, pathogens.

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Authors: Sumit Gandhi

Abstract:

The effect of an abruptly expanding channel on the main characteristics of hydraulic jump is considered experimentally. The present study was made for supercritical flow of Froude number varying between 2 to 9 and approach to expanded channel width ratios 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8. Physical explanations of the variation of these characteristics under varying flow conditions are discussed based on the observation drawn from experimental results. The analytical equation for the sequent depth ratio in an abruptly expanding channel as given by eminent hydraulic engineers are verified well with the experimental data for all expansion ratios, and the empirical relation was also verified with the present experimental data.

Keywords: Abruptly Expanding Channel, Hydraulic Jump, Efficiency, Sequent Depth Ratio.

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Authors: S. W. Lo, C.-H. Yu

Abstract:

A new design of aerostatic thrust bearing is proposed for high static stiffness. The bearing body, which is mead of polymer covered with metallic membrane, is held by a circular ring. Such a support helps form a concave air gap to grasp the air pressure. The polymer body, which can be made rapidly by either injection or molding is able to provide extra damping under dynamic loading. The smooth membrane not only serves as the bearing surface but also protects the polymer body. The restrictor is a capillary inside a silicone tube. It can passively compensate the variation of load by expanding the capillary diameter for more air flux. In the present example, the stiffness soars from 15.85 N/μm of typical bearing to 349.85 N/μm at bearing elevation 9.5 μm; meanwhile the load capacity also enhances from 346.86 N to 704.18 N.

Keywords: Aerostatic, bearing, polymer, static stiffness.

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Authors: Fridhi Hadia, Soua Wadhah, Hidouri Ammar, Omri Ahmed

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In this paper, the effect of the intake temperature (IT) and intake pressure (IP) on ignition timing and pollutants emission of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine is investigated. Numerical computations are performed using the CHEMKIN computer code. The numerical temperature obtained using different boundary conditions is compared to published data and a good agreement is assigned. Results show that the HCCI combustion engine is significantly improved by increasing the IT. With a value of IT lower than 390 K, combustion cannot occur. However, with an IT greater than 420 K, the cylinder pressure decreases. An optimum crank rotation angle is achieved by using IT of 420 K. So, we can conclude that the variation of the IT and IP influence notably the emission concentration.

Keywords: HCCI engine, CEMKIN, intake temperature, intake pressure.

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Authors: Vai Kuong Sin

Abstract:

Non-isothermal stagnation-point flow with consideration of thermal radiation is studied numerically. A set of partial differential equations that governing the fluid flow and energy is converted into a set of ordinary differential equations which is solved by Runge-Kutta method with shooting algorithm. Dimensionless wall temperature gradient and temperature boundary layer thickness for different combinaton of values of Prandtl number Pr and radiation parameter NR are presented graphically. Analyses of results show that the presence of thermal radiation in the stagnation-point flow is to increase the temperature boundary layer thickness and decrease the dimensionless wall temperature gradient.

Keywords: Stagnation-point flow, Similarity solution, Thermal radiation.

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Authors: Tsair-Wang Chung, Kuan-Ting Liu, Mai-Tzu Chen

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Under the variation of crude oil price and the impact of greenhouse effect, it is urgent to find a potential alternative fuel. Among these alternative fuels, non edible plant oils are the most potential ones, because they don-t have the problem of food and cropland competitions. Among the non-edible plant oils, Jatropha oil is the most potential one. Jatropha oil is non-eatable oil and has good oil quality and low temperature performance. It has potential to become one of the most competitive biomass crude oils. The crude plant oil will be blended with diesel fuel to be tested in a power generator. The international collaboration between Taiwan and Indonesia on the production of Jatropha in Indonesia will also be presented in this study.

Keywords: Jatropha, plant oil, oil blend, diesel, power generator.

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Authors: B. Chetti, W. A. Crosby

Abstract:

The work described in this paper is an investigation of the static and dynamic characteristics of two-lobe journal bearings taking into consideration the thermal effects. A thermo-hydrodynamic solution of a finite two-lobe journal bearing is performed by solving the generalized form Reynolds equation with the energy equation, taking into consideration viscosity variation across the film thickness. The static and dynamic characteristics were numerically obtained. The results are evaluated for different values of viscosity-temperature coefficient and Peclet number. The results show that considering the thermal effects in the solution of the two-lobe journal bearing has a marked on the study of its stability.

Keywords: Two-lobe bearing, thermal effect, static and dynamic characteristics.

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Authors: Wen-Yin Huang, Jia-Jie Liu, Jou-Ming Chang

Abstract:

Faults in a network may take various forms such as hardware/software errors, vertex/edge faults, etc. Folded hypercube is a well-known variation of the hypercube structure and can be constructed from a hypercube by adding a link to every pair of nodes with complementary addresses. Let FFv (respectively, FFe) be the set of faulty nodes (respectively, faulty links) in an n-dimensional folded hypercube FQn. Hsieh et al. have shown that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 3 contains a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n -2|FFv|, under the constraints that (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 4 and (2) every node in FQn is incident to at least two fault-free links. In this paper, we further consider the constraints |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3. We prove that FQn - FFv - FFe for n ≥ 5 still has a fault-free cycle of length at least 2n - 2|FFv|, under the constraints : (1) |FFv| + |FFe| ≤ 2n - 3, (2) |FFe| ≥ n + 2, and (3) every vertex is still incident with at least two links.

Keywords: Folded hypercubes, interconnection networks, cycle embedding, faulty elements.

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Authors: A. D'Alessandro, F. Ubertini, A. L. Materazzi

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In the field of civil engineering, Structural Health Monitoring is a topic of growing interest. Effective monitoring instruments permit the control of the working conditions of structures and infrastructures, through the identification of behavioral anomalies due to incipient damages, especially in areas of high environmental hazards as earthquakes. While traditional sensors can be applied only in a limited number of points, providing a partial information for a structural diagnosis, novel transducers may allow a diffuse sensing. Thanks to the new tools and materials provided by nanotechnology, new types of multifunctional sensors are developing in the scientific panorama. In particular, cement-matrix composite materials capable of diagnosing their own state of strain and tension, could be originated by the addition of specific conductive nanofillers. Because of the nature of the material they are made of, these new cementitious nano-modified transducers can be inserted within the concrete elements, transforming the same structures in sets of widespread sensors. This paper is aimed at presenting the results of a research about a new self-sensing nanocomposite and about the implementation of smart sensors for Structural Health Monitoring. The developed nanocomposite has been obtained by inserting multi walled carbon nanotubes within a cementitious matrix. The insertion of such conductive carbon nanofillers provides the base material with piezoresistive characteristics and peculiar sensitivity to mechanical modifications. The self-sensing ability is achieved by correlating the variation of the external stress or strain with the variation of some electrical properties, such as the electrical resistance or conductivity. Through the measurement of such electrical characteristics, the performance and the working conditions of an element or a structure can be monitored. Among conductive carbon nanofillers, carbon nanotubes seem to be particularly promising for the realization of self-sensing cement-matrix materials. Some issues related to the nanofiller dispersion or to the influence of the nano-inclusions amount in the cement matrix need to be carefully investigated: the strain sensitivity of the resulting sensors is influenced by such factors. This work analyzes the dispersion of the carbon nanofillers, the physical properties of the fresh dough, the electrical properties of the hardened composites and the sensing properties of the realized sensors. The experimental campaign focuses specifically on their dynamic characterization and their applicability to the monitoring of full-scale elements. The results of the electromechanical tests with both slow varying and dynamic loads show that the developed nanocomposite sensors can be effectively used for the health monitoring of structures.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, self-sensing nanocomposites, smart cement-matrix sensors, structural health monitoring.

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Authors: T. Tchawe Moukam, N. Ngongang François, D. Thomas, K. Bienvenu, T. -Toko Dénis

Abstract:

Since the expression of the coefficient of friction by Colebrook-White which turns out to be an implicit equation, equations have been developed to facilitate their applicability. In this work, this equation was applied to the penstock of the Three Gorges dam in order to observe the evolution of the turbulent boundary layer and the friction along the walls. Thus, the study is being carried out using a 3D digital approach in FLUENT in order to take into account the wall effects. It appears that according to the position of the portions, we have a variation in the evolutions of the turbulent friction and of the values of the boundary layer. We also observe that the inclination of the pipe has a significant influence on this turbulent friction; similarly, one could not make a fair evaluation of the latter without specifying the choice and location of the wall.

Keywords: Hydroelectric dam, penstock, turbulent friction, boundary layer, CFD.

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Authors: R. Pesce Delfino, M. Selvaggi, G. V. Celano, C. Dario

Abstract:

Data on 657 lactation from 163 Maltese goat, collected over a 5-year period were analyzed by a mixed model to estimate the variance components for heritability. The considered lactation traits were: milk yield (MY) and lactation length (LL). Year, parity and type of birth (single or twin) were significant sources of variation for lactation length; on the other hand milk yield was significantly influenced only by the year. The average MY was 352.34 kg and the average LL was 230 days. Estimates of heritability were 0.21 and 0.15 for MY and LL respectively. These values suggest there is low correlation between genotype and phenotype so it may be difficult to evaluate animals directly on phenotype. So, the genetic improvement of this breed may be quite slow without the support of progeny test aimed to select Maltese breeders.

Keywords: Heritability estimate, lactation traits, Maltese goat

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Authors: Jin-Lung Guan, Jyh-Cherng Gu, Ming-Ta Yang, Hsin-Hung Chang, Chun-Wei Huang, Shao-Yu Huang

Abstract:

One of the most important power quality issues is voltage flicker. Nowadays this issue also impacts the power system all over the world. The fact of the matter is that the more and the larger capacity of wind generator has been installed. Under unstable wind power situation, the variation of output current and voltage have caused trouble to voltage flicker. Hence, the major purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of wind generator on voltage flicker of power system. First of all, digital simulation and analysis are carried out based on wind generator operating under various system short circuit capacity, impedance angle, loading, and power factor of load. The simulation results have been confirmed by field measurements.

Keywords: Wind Generator, Voltage Flicker

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Authors: Neveen I. Ghali, Nahed El-Dessouki, Mervat A. N., Lamiaa Bakrawi

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In this paper we use exponential particle swarm optimization (EPSO) to cluster data. Then we compare between (EPSO) clustering algorithm which depends on exponential variation for the inertia weight and particle swarm optimization (PSO) clustering algorithm which depends on linear inertia weight. This comparison is evaluated on five data sets. The experimental results show that EPSO clustering algorithm increases the possibility to find the optimal positions as it decrease the number of failure. Also show that (EPSO) clustering algorithm has a smaller quantization error than (PSO) clustering algorithm, i.e. (EPSO) clustering algorithm more accurate than (PSO) clustering algorithm.

Keywords: Particle swarm optimization, data clustering, exponential PSO.

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Authors: S. Dorbani, M. Badaoui, D. Benouar

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The goal of the paper is to highlight the effect of the building design and epicentral distance on the storey lateral displacements, for several reinforced concrete buildings (6, 9 and 12 stories). These structures are subjected to seismic accelerations from the Boumerdes earthquake (Algeria, May 21st, Mw = 6.8). Using the response spectrum method (modal spectral approach), the analysis is performed in both longitudinal and transverse directions. The building design is expressed through the fundamental period and epicentral distance is used to represent the earthquake effect variation on storey lateral displacements and interstory drift for the considered buildings.

Keywords: Epicentral distance, interstory drift, lateral displacement, natural period, reinforced concrete buildings.

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Authors: Ahmed Zaafouri, Mounir Sayadi, Farhat Fnaiech

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In this paper, we present a method for edge segmentation of satellite images based on 2-D Phase Congruency (PC) model. The proposed approach is composed by two steps: The contextual non linear smoothing algorithm (CNLS) is used to smooth the input images. Then, the 2D stretched Gabor filter (S-G filter) based on proposed angular variation is developed in order to avoid the multiple responses in the previous work. An assessment of our proposed method performance is provided in terms of accuracy of satellite image edge segmentation. The proposed method is compared with others known approaches.

Keywords: Edge segmentation, Phase congruency model, Satellite images, Stretched Gabor filter

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Authors: Josef Brychta, Jiri Kratochvil, Marek Pagac

Abstract:

The group of progressive cutting materials can include non-traditional, emerging and less-used materials that can be an efficient use of cutting their lead to a quantum leap in the field of machining. This is essentially a “superhard” materials (STM) based on polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) cutting performance ceramics and development is constantly "perfecting" fine coated cemented carbides. The latter cutting materials are broken down by two parameters, toughness and hardness. A variation of alloying elements is always possible to improve only one of each parameter. Reducing the size of the core on the other hand doing achieves "contradictory" properties, namely to increase both hardness and toughness.

Keywords: Grained cutting materials difficult to machine materials, optimum utilization.

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Authors: Olivia A. Wilson, Hannah E. Power, Murray Kendall

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Sydney Harbour is an iconic location with a dense population and low-lying development. On the east coast of Australia, facing the Pacific Ocean, it is exposed to several tsunamigenic trenches. This paper presents a component of the most detailed assessment of the potential for earthquake-generated tsunami impact on Sydney Harbour to date. Models in this study use dynamic tides to account for tide-tsunami interaction. Sydney Harbour’s tidal range is 1.5 m, and the spring tides from January 2015 that are used in the modelling for this study are close to the full tidal range. The tsunami wave trains modelled include hypothetical tsunami generated from earthquakes of magnitude 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 M_W from the Puysegur and New Hebrides trenches as well as representations of the historical 1960 Chilean and 2011 Tohoku events. All wave trains are modelled for the peak wave to coincide with both a low tide and a high tide. A single wave train, representing a 9.0 M_W earthquake at the Puysegur trench, is modelled for peak waves to coincide with every hour across a 12-hour tidal phase. Using the hydrodynamic model ANUGA, results are compared according to the impact parameters of inundation area, depth variation and current speeds. Results show that both maximum inundation area and depth variation are tide dependent. Maximum inundation area increases when coincident with a higher tide, however, hazardous inundation is only observed for the larger waves modelled: NH90high and P90high. The maximum and minimum depths are deeper on higher tides and shallower on lower tides. The difference between maximum and minimum depths varies across different tidal phases although the differences are slight. Maximum current speeds are shown to be a significant hazard for Sydney Harbour; however, they do not show consistent patterns according to tide-tsunami phasing. The maximum current speed hazard is shown to be greater in specific locations such as Spit Bridge, a narrow channel with extensive marine infrastructure. The results presented for Sydney Harbour are novel, and the conclusions are consistent with previous modelling efforts in the greater area. It is shown that tide must be a consideration for both tsunami modelling and emergency management planning. Modelling with peak tsunami waves coinciding with a high tide would be a conservative approach; however, it must be considered that maximum current speeds may be higher on other tides.

Keywords: Emergency management, Sydney, tide-tsunami interaction, tsunami impact.

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Authors: Qasim Khan, Furkan Ahmad, Asfar A. Khan, M. Saad Alam, Faiz Ahmad

Abstract:

In this paper, partial discharge analysis is performed in cavities artificially created in insulation. The setup is according with Cigre-II Method. Circular Samples created from Perspex Sheet with different configuration with changing number of cavities. Assessment of insulation health can be performed by Partial Discharge measurement as this has been found to be important means of condition monitoring. The experiments are done using MPD 540, which is a modern partial discharge measurement system. By analyzing the PD activity obtained for various voids/cavities, it is observed that the PD voltages show variation for cavity’s diameter, depth even for its ratios. This can be employed for scrutiny of insulation system.

Keywords: Partial discharges, condition monitoring, MPD 540, cavities/defects, degradation and corrosion, PMMA.

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Authors: Phongsak Phakamach

Abstract:

A DC servomotor position control system using a Fuzzy Logic Sliding mode Model Following Control or FLSMFC approach is presented. The FLSMFC structure consists of an integrator and variable structure system. The integral control is introduced into it in order to eliminated steady state error due to step and ramp command inputs and improve control precision, while the fuzzy control would maintain the insensitivity to parameter variation and disturbances. The FLSMFC strategy is implemented and applied to a position control of a DC servomotor drives. Experimental results indicated that FLSMFC system performance with respect to the sensitivity to parameter variations is greatly reduced. Also, excellent control effects and avoids the chattering phenomenon.

Keywords: Sliding mode model following control, fuzzy logic, DC servomotor.

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Authors: Kahil Amar, Nekmouche Aghiles, Titouche Billal, Hamizi Mohand, Hannachi Naceur Eddine

Abstract:

The ductility is an important parameter in the nonlinear behavior of portal structures reinforced concrete. It may be explained by the ability of the structure to deform in the plastic range, or the geometric characteristics in the map may influence the overall ductility. Our study is based on the influence of geometric slenderness (Lx / Ly) on the overall ductility of these structures, a study is made on a structure has 05 floors with varying the column section of 900 cm², 1600 cm² and 1225 cm². A slight variation in global ductility is noticed as (Lx/Ly) varies; however, column sections can control satisfactorily the plastic behavior of buildings.

Keywords: Ductility, nonlinear behavior, pushover analysis, geometric slenderness, structural behavior.

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Authors: Anshu Gupta

Abstract:

Quality evaluation of urban environment is an integral part of efficient urban environment planning and management. The development of fuzzy set theory (FST) and the introduction of FST to the urban study field attempts to incorporate the gradual variation and avoid loss of information. Urban environmental quality assessment pertain to interpretation and forecast of the urban environmental quality according to the national regulation about the permitted content of contamination for the sake of protecting human health and subsistence environment . A strategic motor vehicle control strategy has to be proposed to mitigate the air pollution in the city. There is no well defined guideline for the assessment of urban air pollution and no systematic study has been reported so far for Indian cities. The methodology adopted may be useful in similar cities of India. Remote sensing & GIS can play significant role in mapping air pollution.

Keywords: GIS, Pollution, Remote Sensing, Urban.

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Authors: A. Naceri, M. Chikouche Hamina, P. Grosseau

Abstract:

The effect of artificial pozzolan (waste brick) on the physico-chemical properties of cement manufactured was investigated. The waste brick is generated by the manufacture of bricks. It was used in the proportions of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by mass of cement to study its effect on the physico-chemical properties of cement incorporating artificial pozzolan. The physicochemical properties of cement at anhydrous state and the hydrated state (chemical composition, specific weight, fineness, consistency of the cement paste and setting times) were studied. The experimental results obtained show that the quantity of pozzolanic admixture (waste brick) of cement manufactured is the principal parameter who influences on the variation of the physico-chemical properties of the cement tested.

Keywords: Artificial pozzolan, waste brick, cement, physicochemicalcharacteristics.

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Authors: Zhizhong Jiang, Peter Naudé, Craig Comstock

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The productivity of software development is one of the major concerns for project managers. Given the increasing complexity of the software being developed and the concomitant rise in the typical project size, the productivity has not consistently improved. By analyzing the latest release of ISBSG data repository with 4106 projects ever developed, we report on the factors found to significantly influence productivity, and present an original model for the estimation of productivity during project design. We further illustrate that software development productivity has experienced irregular variations between the years 1995 and 2005. Considering the factors significant to productivity, we found its variations are primarily caused by the variations of average team size for the development and the unbalanced use of the less productive development language 3GL.

Keywords: Development Platform, Function Point, Language, Productivity, Software Engineering, Team Size.

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Authors: Mohamed Shawki Elamir, Heinrich Gotzig, Raoul Zoellner, Patrick Maeder

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In this work, a methodology is presented for identifying the optimal digitization parameters for the analog signal of ultrasonic sensors. These digitization parameters are the resolution of the analog to digital conversion and the sampling rate. This is accomplished though the derivation of characteristic curves based on Fano inequality and the calculation of the mutual information content over a given dataset. The mutual information is calculated between the examples in the dataset and the corresponding variation in the feature that needs to be estimated. The optimal parameters are identified in a manner that ensures optimal estimation performance while preventing inefficiency in using unnecessarily powerful analog to digital converters.

Keywords: Analog to digital conversion, digitization, sampling rate, ultrasonic sensors.

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Authors: Shigenori Togashi, Erika Katayama, Mitsuhiro Matsuzawa

Abstract:

We have developed a microfluidic device system for the continuous producting of nanoparticles, and we have clarified the relationship between the mixing performance of reactors and the particle size. First, we evaluated the mixing performance of reactors by carring out the Villermaux–Dushman reaction and determined the experimental conditions for producing AgCl nanoparticles. Next, we produced AgCl nanoparticles and evaluated the mixing performance and the particle size. We found that as the mixing performance improves the size of produced particles decreases and the particle size distribution becomes sharper. We produced AgCl nanoparticles with a size of 86 nm using the microfluidic device that had the best mixing performance among the three reactors we tested in this study; the coefficient of variation (Cv) of the size distribution of the produced nanoparticles was 26.1%.

Keywords: Microfluidic, Mixing, Nanoparticle, Silver Chloride.

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Authors: Muhammad R. Alrabeiah, Ibrahim S. Alnomay

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The need in cognitive radio system for a simple, fast, and independent technique to sense the spectrum occupancy has led to the energy detection approach. Energy detector is known by its dependency on noise variation in the system which is one of its major drawbacks. In this paper, we are aiming to improve its performance by utilizing a weighted collaborative spectrum sensing, it is similar to the collaborative spectrum sensing methods introduced previously in the literature. These weighting methods give more improvement for collaborative spectrum sensing as compared to no weighting case. There is two method proposed in this paper: the first one depends on the channel status between each sensor and the primary user while the second depends on the value of the energy measured in each sensor.

Keywords: Cognitive radio, Spectrum sensing, Collaborative sensors, Weighted Decisions.

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Authors: A. K. Al-Othman, H. A. Al-Mekhaizim

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Multilevel inverters supplied from equal and constant dc sources almost don-t exist in practical applications. The variation of the dc sources affects the values of the switching angles required for each specific harmonic profile, as well as increases the difficulty of the harmonic elimination-s equations. This paper presents an extremely fast optimal solution of harmonic elimination of multilevel inverters with non-equal dc sources using Tanaka's fuzzy linear regression formulation. A set of mathematical equations describing the general output waveform of the multilevel inverter with nonequal dc sources is formulated. Fuzzy linear regression is then employed to compute the optimal solution set of switching angles.

Keywords: Multilevel converters, harmonics, pulse widthmodulation (PWM), optimal control.

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Authors: E.G. Bautista, F. Méndez, O. Bautista, J.C. Arcos

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In this work we study analytically and numerically the performance of the mean heave motion of an OWC coupled with the governing equation of the spreading ocean waves due to the wide variation in an open parabolic channel with constant depth. This paper considers that the ocean wave propagation is under the assumption of a shallow flow condition. In order to verify the effect of the waves in the OWC firstly we establish the analytical model in a non-dimensional form based on the energy equation. The proposed wave-power system has to aims: one is to perturb the ocean waves as a consequence of the channel shape in order to concentrate the maximum ocean wave amplitude in the neighborhood of the OWC and the second is to determine the pressure and volume oscillation of air inside the compression chamber.

Keywords: Oscillating water column, Shallow flow, Waveenergy.

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Authors: Fujian Wang, Shubin Ruan, Meiwei Dai

Abstract:

Speed dispersion has tight relation to traffic safety. In this paper, several kinds of indicating parameters (the standard speed deviation, the coefficient of variation, the deviation of V85 and V15, the mean speed deviations, and the difference between adjacent car speeds) are applied to investigate the characteristics of speed dispersion, where V85 and V15 are 85th and 15th percentile speed, respectively. Their relationships are into full investigations and the results show that: there exists a positive relation (linear) between mean speed and the deviation of V85 and V15; while a negative relation (quadratic) between traffic flow and standard speed deviation. The mean speed deviation grows exponentially with mean speed while the absolute speed deviation between adjacent cars grows linearly with the headway. The results provide some basic information for traffic management.

Keywords: Headway, indicating parameters, speed dispersion, urban expressway.

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Authors: D. H. Park, Y. H. Tak, H. H. Kwon, G. J. Kwon, H. G. Kim

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The purpose of this study is to develop a forging process of automotive parts that satisfies the deformation characteristics. The analyses of temperature variation and deformation behavior of the material are important to obtain the optimal forging products. The hot compression test was carried out to know formability at high temperature. In order to define the optimum forging conditions including material temperature, strain and forging load, the commercial finite element analysis code was used to simulate the forging procedure of engine mounting parts. Experimental results were compared with the simulation results by finite element analysis. Test results were in good agreement with the simulations.

Keywords: Cold forging, hot forging, engine mounting, automotive parts, optimization.

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