Search results for: Kernel Density Estimator KDE

Authors: Norzita Ngadi, John Abrahamson, Conan Fee, Ken Morison

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Nonspecific protein adsorption generally occurs on any solid surfaces and usually has adverse consequences. Adsorption of proteins onto a solid surface is believed to be the initial and controlling step in biofouling. Surfaces modified with end-tethered poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) have been shown to be protein-resistant to some degree. In this study, the adsorption of β-casein and lysozyme was performed on 6 different types of surfaces where PEG was tethered onto stainless steel by polyethylene imine (PEI) through either OH or NHS end groups. Protein adsorption was also performed on the bare stainless steel surface as a control. The adsorption was conducted at 23 °C and pH 7.2. In situ QCM-D was used to determine PEG adsorption kinetics, plateau PEG chain densities, protein adsorption kinetics and plateau protein adsorbed quantities. PEG grafting density was the highest for a NHS coupled chain, around 0.5 chains / nm2. Interestingly, lysozyme which has smaller size than β-casein, appeared to adsorb much less mass than that of β- casein. Overall, the surface with high PEG grafting density exhibited a good protein rejection.

Keywords: QCM-D, PEG, stainless steel, β-casein, lysozyme.

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Authors: Maja Benkovic, Ingrid Bauman

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The objective of this work was to investigate flow properties of powdered infant formula samples. Samples were purchased at a local pharmacy and differed in composition. Lactose free infant formula, gluten free infant formula and infant formulas containing dietary fibers and probiotics were tested and compared with a regular infant formula sample which did not contain any of these supplements. Particle size and bulk density were determined and their influence on flow properties was discussed. There were no significant differences in bulk densities of the samples, therefore the connection between flow properties and bulk density could not be determined. Lactose free infant formula showed flow properties different to standard supplement-free sample. Gluten free infant formula with addition of probiotic microorganisms and dietary fiber had the narrowest particle size distribution range and exhibited the best flow properties. All the other samples exhibited the same tendency of decreasing compaction coefficient with increasing flow speed, which means they all become freer flowing with higher flow speeds.

Keywords: flow properties, infant formula, powderedmaterial

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Authors: Mahmoud A. Rabah

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Preparation of size controlled nano-particles of silver catalyst on carbon substrate from e-waste has been investigated. Chemical route was developed by extraction of the metals available in nitric acid followed by treatment with hydrofluoric acid. Silver metal particles deposited with an average size 4-10 nm. A stabilizer concentration of 10- 40 g/l was used. The average size of the prepared silver decreased with increase of the anode current density. Size uniformity of the silver nano-particles was improved distinctly at higher current density no more than 20mA... Grain size increased with EK time whereby aggregation of particles was observed after 6 h of reaction.. The chemical method involves adsorption of silver nitrate on the carbon substrate. Adsorbed silver ions were directly reduced to metal particles using hydrazine hydrate. Another alternative method is by treatment with ammonia followed by heating the carbon loaded-silver hydroxide at 980°C. The product was characterized with the help of XRD, XRF, ICP, SEM and TEM techniques.

Keywords: e-waste, silver catalyst, metals recovery, electrokinetic process.

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Authors: Abdullah Y. Al-Hossain

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This paper considers inference under progressive type II censoring with a compound Rayleigh failure time distribution. The maximum likelihood (ML), and Bayes methods are used for estimating the unknown parameters as well as some lifetime parameters, namely reliability and hazard functions. We obtained Bayes estimators using the conjugate priors for two shape and scale parameters. When the two parameters are unknown, the closed-form expressions of the Bayes estimators cannot be obtained. We use Lindley.s approximation to compute the Bayes estimates. Another Bayes estimator has been obtained based on continuous-discrete joint prior for the unknown parameters. An example with the real data is discussed to illustrate the proposed method. Finally, we made comparisons between these estimators and the maximum likelihood estimators using a Monte Carlo simulation study.

Keywords: Progressive type II censoring, compound Rayleigh failure time distribution, maximum likelihood estimation, Bayes estimation, Lindley's approximation method, Monte Carlo simulation.

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Authors: Setareh Shekarsaraei, Marjan Moridi, Nasser L. Hadipour

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In this study, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy parameters of 14N (Nitrogen in imidazole ring) in N–H…O hydrogen bonding for Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate were calculated via density functional theory. We considered a five-molecule model system of Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate. Also we examined the trends of environmental effect on hydrogen bonds as well as cooperativity. The functional used in this research is M06-2X which is a good functional and the obtained results has shown good agreement with experimental data. This functional was applied to calculate the NMR and NQR parameters. Some correlations among NBO parameters, NMR and NQR parameters have been studied which have shown the existence of strong correlations among them. Furthermore, the geometry optimization has been performed using M062X/6-31++G(d,p) method. In addition, in order to study cooperativity and changes in structural parameters, along with increase in cluster size, natural bond orbitals have been employed.

Keywords: Hydrogen bonding, Density Functional Theory (DFT), Natural bond Orbitals (NBO), cooperativity effects.

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Authors: M. Jändel

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A new conceptual architecture for low-level neural pattern recognition is presented. The key ideas are that the brain implements support vector machines and that support vectors are represented as memory patterns in competitive queuing memories. A binary classifier is built from two competitive queuing memories holding positive and negative valence training examples respectively. The support vector machine classification function is calculated in synchronized evaluation cycles. The kernel is computed by bisymmetric feed-forward networks feed by sensory input and by competitive queuing memories traversing the complete sequence of support vectors. Temporary summation generates the output classification. It is speculated that perception apparatus in the brain reuses structures that have evolved for enabling fluent execution of prepared action sequences so that pattern recognition is built on internalized motor programmes.

Keywords: Competitive queuing model, Olfactory system, Pattern recognition, Support vector machine, Thalamus

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Authors: Sorayya Malek, Mogeeb Mosleh, Sharifah M. Syed

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In this study, Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique was applied to predict the dichotomized value of Dissolved oxygen (DO) from two freshwater lakes namely Chini and Bera Lake (Malaysia). Data sample contained 11 parameters for water quality features from year 2005 until 2009. All data parameters were used to predicate the dissolved oxygen concentration which was dichotomized into 3 different levels (High, Medium, and Low). The input parameters were ranked, and forward selection method was applied to determine the optimum parameters that yield the lowest errors, and highest accuracy. Initial results showed that pH, Water Temperature, and Conductivity are the most important parameters that significantly affect the predication of DO. Then, SVM model was applied using the Anova kernel with those parameters yielded 74% accuracy rate. We concluded that using SVM models to predicate the DO is feasible, and using dichotomized value of DO yields higher prediction accuracy than using precise DO value.

Keywords: Dissolved oxygen, Water quality, predication DO, Support Vector Machine.

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Authors: A. A. Okeola, T. I. Sijuade

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Unreinforced concrete is a comparatively brittle substance when exposed to tensile stresses, the required tensile strength is provided by the introduction of steel which is used as reinforcement. The strength of concrete may be improved tremendously by the addition of fibre. This study focused on investigating the compressive strength of mass concrete mixed with different percentage of plastic fibre. Twelve samples of concrete cubes with varied percentage of plastic fibre at 7, 14 and 28 days of water submerged curing were tested under compression loading. The result shows that the compressive strength of plastic fibre reinforced concrete increased with rise in curing age. The strength increases for all percentage dosage of fibre used for the concrete. The density of the Plastic Fibre Reinforced Concrete (PFRC) also increases with curing age, which implies that during curing, concrete absorbs water which aids its hydration. The least compressive strength obtained with the introduction of plastic fibre is more than the targeted 20 N/mm² recommended for construction work showing that PFRC can be used where significant loading is expected.

Keywords: Compressive strength, plastic fibre, concrete, curing, density.

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Authors: K´evin Fernagut, Olivier Flauzac, Erick M. Gallegos R, Florent Nolot

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The adoption of modern lightweight virtualization often comes with new threats and network vulnerabilities. This paper seeks to assess this with a different approach studying the behavior of a testbed built with tools such as Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), LinuX Containers (LXC) and Docker, by performing stress tests within a platform where students experiment simultaneously with cyber-attacks, and thus observe the impact on the campus network and also find the best solution for cyber-security learning. Interesting outcomes can be found in the literature comparing these technologies. It is, however, difficult to find results of the effects on the global network where experiments are carried out. Our work shows that other physical hosts and the faculty network were impacted while performing these trials. The problems found are discussed, as well as security solutions and the adoption of new network policies.

Keywords: Containerization, containers, cyber-security, cyber-attacks, isolation, performance, security, virtualization, virtual machines.

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Authors: Mirigul Altan, Huseyin Yildirim

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Plastics occupy wide place in the applications of automotive, electronics and house goods. Especially reinforced plastics become popular because of their high strength besides their advantages of low weight and easy manufacturability. In this study, mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix composites reinforced with surface modified nano titan dioxide (TiO2) particles were investigated. Surface modification was made by coating the nano powders with maleic anhydride grafted styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS-g-MA) and silane, respectively. After surface modification, PP/TiO2 and HDPE/TiO2 composites were obtained by using twin screw extruder at titan dioxide loading of 1 wt.%, 3 wt.% and 5 wt.%. Effects of surface modification were determined by thermal and morphological analysis. SEBS-g-MA provided bridging effect between TiO2 particles and polymer matrix while silane was effective as a dispersant. Depending on that, homogenous structures without agglomeration were obtained. Mechanical tests were performed on the injection moldings of the composites for obtaining the impact strength, tensile strength, stress at break, elongation and elastic modulus. Reinforced HDPE and PP moldings gave higher tensile strength and elastic modulus due to the rigid structure of TiO2. Slight increment was seen in stress at break. Elongation and impact strength decreased due to the stiffness of the nano titan dioxide.

Keywords: High density polyethylene, mechanical properties, nano TiO2, polypropylene.

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Authors: A. Movaghar, R. A. Mahdavinejad

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To analyze the effect of various parameters of fluid on the material properties such as surface and depth defects and/or cracks, it is possible to determine the affection of pressure field on these specifications. Stress tensor analysis is also able to determine the points in which the probability of defection creation is more. Besides, from pressure field, it is possible to analyze the affection of various fluid specifications such as viscosity and density on defect created in the material. In this research, the concerned boundary conditions are analyzed first. Then the solution network and stencil used are mentioned. With the determination of relevant equation on the fluid flow between notch and matrix and their discretion according to the governed boundary conditions, these equations can be solved. Finally, with the variation creations on fluid parameters such as density and viscosity, the affection of these variations can be determined on pressure field. In this direction, the flowchart and solution algorithm with their results as vortex and current function contours for two conditions with most applications in pressing process are introduced and discussed.

Keywords: Pressing, notch, matrix, flow function, vortex.

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Authors: Merve Sogancioglu, Esra Yel, Ferda Tartar, Nihan Canan Iskender

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Waste polyethylene (PE) is classified as waste low density polyethylene (LDPE) and waste high density polyethylene (HDPE) according to their densities. Pyrolysis of plastic waste may have an important role in dealing with the enormous amounts of plastic waste produced all over the world, by decreasing their negative impact on the environment. This waste may be converted into economically valuable hydrocarbons, which can be used both as fuels and as feed stock in the petrochemical industry. End product yields and properties depend on the plastic waste composition. Pyrolytic biochar is one of the most important products of waste plastics pyrolysis. In this study, HDPE and LDPE plastic wastes were co-pyrolyzed together with waste olive pomace. Pyrolysis runs were performed at temperature 700°C with heating rates of 5°C/min. Higher pyrolysis oil and gas yields were observed by the using waste olive pomace. The biochar yields of HDPE- olive pomace and LDPEolive pomace were 6.37% and 7.26% respectively for 50% olive pomace doses. The calorific value of HDPE-olive pomace and LDPE-olive pomace of pyrolysis oil were 8350 and 8495 kCal.

Keywords: Biochar, co-pyrolysis, waste plastic, waste olive pomace.

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Authors: Ping Yuan, Mu-Sheng Chiang, Syu-Fang Liu, Shih-Bin Wang, Ming-Jun Kuo

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This study investigates the electrical performance of a planar solid oxide fuel cell unit with cross-flow configuration when the fuel utilization gets higher and the fuel inlet flow are non-uniform. A software package in this study solves two-dimensional, simultaneous, partial differential equations of mass, energy, and electro-chemistry, without considering stack direction variation. The results show that the fuel utilization increases with a decrease in the molar flow rate, and the average current density decreases when the molar flow rate drops. In addition, non-uniform Pattern A will induce more severe happening of non-reaction area in the corner of the fuel exit and the air inlet. This non-reaction area deteriorates the average current density and then deteriorates the electrical performance to –7%.

Keywords: Performance, Solid oxide fuel cell, non-uniform, fuelutilization

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Authors: N.A. Rashidi, S. Yusup, M.M. Ahmad

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As the fossil fuels kept on depleting, intense research in developing hydrogen (H2) as the alternative fuel has been done to cater our tremendous demand for fuel. The potential of H2 as the ultimate clean fuel differs with the fossil fuel that releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the surrounding and leads to the global warming. The experimental work was carried out to study the production of H2 from palm kernel shell steam gasification at different variables such as heating rate, steam to biomass ratio and adsorbent to biomass ratio. Maximum H2 composition which is 61% (volume basis) was obtained at heating rate of 100oCmin-1, steam/biomass of 2:1 ratio, and adsorbent/biomass of 1:1 ratio. The commercial adsorbent had been modified by utilizing the alcoholwater mixture. Characteristics of both adsorbents were investigated and it is concluded that flowability and floodability of modified CaO is significantly improved.

Keywords: Biomass gasification, Calcium oxide, Carbon dioxide capture, Sorbent flowability

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Authors: E. A. Mlybari, M. S. Elbisy, A. H. Alshahri, O. M. Albarakati

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Sea level rise threatens to increase the impact of future  storms and hurricanes on coastal communities. Accurate sea level  change prediction and supplement is an important task in determining  constructions and human activities in coastal and oceanic areas. In  this study, support vector machines (SVM) is proposed to predict  daily tidal levels along the Jeddah Coast, Saudi Arabia. The optimal  parameter values of kernel function are determined using a genetic  algorithm. The SVM results are compared with the field data and  with back propagation (BP). Among the models, the SVM is superior  to BPNN and has better generalization performance.

 

Keywords: Tides, Prediction, Support Vector Machines, Genetic Algorithm, Back-Propagation Neural Network, Risk, Hazards.

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Authors: Jinyong Yao, Hongzhi Li, Chao Du, Jiao Li

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Reliability of long-term storage products is related to the availability of the whole system, and the evaluation of storage life is of great necessity. These products are usually highly reliable and little failure information can be collected. In this paper, an analytical method based on data from accelerated storage life test is proposed to evaluate the reliability index of the long-term storage products. Firstly, singularities are eliminated by data normalization and residual analysis. Secondly, with the preprocessed data, the degradation path model is built to obtain the pseudo life values. Then by life distribution hypothesis, we can get the estimator of parameters in high stress levels and verify failure mechanism consistency. Finally, the life distribution under the normal stress level is extrapolated via the acceleration model and evaluation of the actual average life is available. An application example with the camera stabilization device is provided to illustrate the methodology we proposed.

Keywords: Accelerated storage life test, failure mechanism consistency, life distribution, reliability.

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Authors: Ashish Thakur, Radhey Shyam Anand

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This paper presents the region based segmentation method for ultrasound images using local statistics. In this segmentation approach the homogeneous regions depends on the image granularity features, where the interested structures with dimensions comparable to the speckle size are to be extracted. This method uses a look up table comprising of the local statistics of every pixel, which are consisting of the homogeneity and similarity bounds according to the kernel size. The shape and size of the growing regions depend on this look up table entries. The algorithms are implemented by using connected seeded region growing procedure where each pixel is taken as seed point. The region merging after the region growing also suppresses the high frequency artifacts. The updated merged regions produce the output in formed of segmented image. This algorithm produces the results that are less sensitive to the pixel location and it also allows a segmentation of the accurate homogeneous regions.

Keywords: Local statistics, region growing, segmentation, ultrasound images.

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Authors: Akinori Ozaki

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In this study, in order to clarify wind-induced phenomena, especially vertical mixing of density stratification in a closed water area with floating-leaved plants, we conducted hydraulic experiments on wind flow characteristics, wind wave characteristics, entrainment phenomena and turbulent structure by using a wind tunnel test tank and simulated floating-leaved plants. From the experimental results of wind flow and wind wave characteristics, we quantified the impact of the occupancy rate of the plants on their resistance characteristics. From the experimental results of entrainment phenomena, we defined the parameter that could explain the magnitude of mixing between the density stratifications, and quantified the impact of the occupancy rate on vertical mixing between stratifications. From the experimental results of the turbulent structure of the upper layer, we clarified the differences in small-scale turbulence components at each occupancy rate and quantified the impact of the occupancy rate on the turbulence characteristics. For a summary of this study, we theoretically quantified wind-induced entrainment phenomena in a closed water area with luxuriant growth of floating-leaved plants. The results indicated that the impact of luxuriant growth of floating-leaved plants in a closed water body could be seen in the difference in small-scale fluid characteristics, and these characteristics could be expressed using the small-scale turbulent components.

Keywords: Density Stratification, Floating-leaved Plant, Wind-induced Entrainment Phenomenon, Turbulent Structure

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Authors: H. Hosseini, M. Javadi, M. Moghiman, M. H. Ghodsi Rad

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Carbon disulfide is widely used for the production of viscose rayon, rubber, and other organic materials and it is a feedstock for the synthesis of sulfuric acid. The objective of this paper is to analyze possibilities for efficient production of CS2 from sour natural gas reformation (H2SMR) (2H2S+CH4 =CS2 +4H2) . Also, the effect of H2S to CH4 feed ratio and reaction temperature on carbon disulfide production is investigated numerically in a reforming reactor. The chemical reaction model is based on an assumed Probability Density Function (PDF) parameterized by the mean and variance of mixture fraction and β-PDF shape. The results show that the major factors influencing CS2 production are reactor temperature. The yield of carbon disulfide increases with increasing H2S to CH4 feed gas ratio (H2S/CH4≤4). Also the yield of C(s) increases with increasing temperature until the temperature reaches to 1000°K, and then due to increase of CS2 production and consumption of C(s), yield of C(s) drops with further increase in the temperature. The predicted CH4 and H2S conversion and yield of carbon disulfide are in good agreement with result of Huang and TRaissi.

Keywords: Carbon disulfide, sour natural gas, H2SMR, probability density function.

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Authors: Orathai Pornsunthorntawee, Wareerom Polrut, Nopphawan Phonthammachai

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In the present work, the effects of additives, including contents of the added antioxidants and type of the selected metallic stearates (either calcium stearate (CaSt) or zinc stearate (ZnSt)), on the thermal stabilities of carbon black (CB)/high density polyethylene (HDPE) compounds were studied. The results showed that the AO contents played a key role in the thermal stabilities of the CB/HDPE compounds — the higher the AO content, the higher the thermal stabilities. Although the CaSt-containing compounds were slightly superior to those with ZnSt in terms of the thermal stabilities, the remaining solid residue of CaSt after heated to the temperature of 600 °C (mainly calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique) seemed to catalyze the decomposition of CB in the HDPE-based compounds. Hence, the quantification of CB in the CaSt-containing compounds with a muffle furnace gave an inaccurate CB content — much lower than actual value. However, this phenomenon was negligible in the ZnSt-containing system.

Keywords: Antioxidant, Stearate, Carbon black, Polyethylene.

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Authors: Tian Kai, Yang Sheng-sheng, Li De-tian, Miao Yu-jun, Xue Yu-xiong Wang Yi, Yan Ze-dong, Ma Ya-li, ZHuang Jian-hong

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The charge-exchange xenon (CEX) ion generated by ion thruster can backflow to the surface of spacecraft and threaten to the safety of spacecraft operation. In order to evaluate the effects of the induced plasma environment in backflow regions on the spacecraft, we designed a spherical single Langmuir probe of 5.8cm in diameter for measuring low-density plasma parameters in backflow region of ion thruster. In practice, the tests are performed in a two-dimensional array (40cm×60cm) composed of 20 sites. The experiment results illustrate that the electron temperature ranges from 3.71eV to 3.96eV, with the mean value of 3.82eV and the standard deviation of 0.064eV. The electron density ranges from 8.30×1012/m3 to 1.66×1013/m3, with the mean value of 1.30×1013/m3 and the standard deviation of 2.15×1012/m3. All data is analyzed according to the “ideal" plasma conditions of Maxwellian distributions.

Keywords: Langmuir Probe, Plasma parameters, Ion thruster, Backflow region.

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Authors: Malcolm R Davidson, Ram P. Bharti, Petar Liovic, Dalton J.E. Harvie

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The electrokinetic flow resistance (electroviscous effect) is predicted for steady state, pressure-driven liquid flow at low Reynolds number in a microfluidic contraction of rectangular cross-section. Calculations of the three dimensional flow are performed in parallel using a finite volume numerical method. The channel walls are assumed to carry a uniform charge density and the liquid is taken to be a symmetric 1:1 electrolyte. Predictions are presented for a single set of flow and electrokinetic parameters. It is shown that the magnitude of the streaming potential gradient and the charge density of counter-ions in the liquid is greater than that in corresponding two-dimensional slit-like contraction geometry. The apparent viscosity is found to be very close to the value for a rectangular channel of uniform cross-section at the chosen Reynolds number (Re = 0.1). It is speculated that the apparent viscosity for the contraction geometry will increase as the Reynolds number is reduced.

Keywords: Contraction, Electroviscous, Microfluidic, Numerical.

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Authors: Ö. Öztürk, O. Şaman

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Sesame is one of the oldest and most important oil crops as main crop and second crop agriculture. This study was carried out to determine the effects of different inter- and intra-row spacings on the yield and yield components on second crop sesame; was set up in Antalya West Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institue in 2009. Muganlı 57 sesame cultivar was used as plant material. The field experiment was set up in a split plot design and row spacings (30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 cm) were assigned to the main plots and and intra-row spacings (5, 10, 20 and 30 cm) were assigned to the subplots. Seed yield, oil ratio, oil yield, protein ratio and protein yield were investigated. In general, wided inter row spacings and intra-row spacings, resulted in decreased seed yield, oil yield and protein yield. The highest seed yield, oil yield and protein yield (respectively, 1115.0 kg ha-1, 551.3 kg ha-1, 224.7 kg ha-1) were obtained from 30x5 cm plant density while the lowest seed yield, oil yield and protein yield (respectively, 677.0 kg ha-1, 327.0 kg ha-1, 130.0 kg ha-1) were recorded from 70x30 cm plant density. As a result, in terms of oil yield for second crop sesame agriculture, 30 cm row spacing, and 5 cm intra row spacing are the most suitable plant densities.

Keywords: Sesamum indicum L., oil ratio, oil yield, protein ratio, protein yield

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Authors: Franky Michael Hamonangan Siagian, Affan Maulana, Himawan Tri Bayu Murti Petrus, Panut Mulyono, Widi Astuti

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In this study, the feasibility of the direct electrowinning method was used to produce zero-valent iron from red mud. The red mud sample came from the Tayan mine, Indonesia, which contains high hematite (Fe2O3). Before electrolysis, the samples were characterized by various analytical techniques (ICP-AES, SEM, XRD) to determine their chemical composition and mineralogy. The direct electrowinning method of red mud suspended in NaOH was introduced at low temperatures ranging from 30-110 °C. Current density and temperature variations were carried out to determine the optimum operation of the direct electrowinning process. Cathode deposits and residues in electrochemical cells were analyzed using XRD, XRF, and SEM to determine the chemical composition and current recovery. The low-temperature electrolysis current efficiency on Redmud can reach 11.8% recovery at a current density of 796 A/m². The moderate performance of the process was investigated with red mud, which was attributed to the troublesome adsorption of red mud particles on the cathode, making the reduction far less efficient than that with hematite.

Keywords: Alumina, electrochemical reduction, iron production, red mud.

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Authors: A.M. Fahim, A. M. Salem, F. A. Torkey, M. A. Ramadan

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Clustering algorithms are attractive for the task of class identification in spatial databases. However, the application to large spatial databases rises the following requirements for clustering algorithms: minimal requirements of domain knowledge to determine the input parameters, discovery of clusters with arbitrary shape and good efficiency on large databases. The well-known clustering algorithms offer no solution to the combination of these requirements. In this paper, a density based clustering algorithm (DCBRD) is presented, relying on a knowledge acquired from the data by dividing the data space into overlapped regions. The proposed algorithm discovers arbitrary shaped clusters, requires no input parameters and uses the same definitions of DBSCAN algorithm. We performed an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of it, and compared this results with that of DBSCAN. The results of our experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is significantly efficient in discovering clusters of arbitrary shape and size.

Keywords: Clustering Algorithms, Arbitrary Shape of clusters, cluster Analysis.

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Authors: J. Soltani, H. Abootorabi Zarchi, Gh. R. Arab Markadeh

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In this paper a sliding-mode torque and flux control is designed for encoderless synchronous reluctance motor drive. The sliding-mode plus PI controllers are designed in the stator-flux field oriented reference frame which is able to track the mentioned reference signals with a minimum pulsations in the state condition. In addition, with these controllers a fast dynamic response is also achieved for the drive system. The proposed control scheme is robust subject to parameters variation except to stator resistance. To solve this problem a simple estimator is used for on-line detecting of this parameter. Moreover, the rotor position and speed are estimated by on-line obtaining of the stator-flux-space vector. The effectiveness and capability of the proposed control approach is verified by both the simulation and experimental results.

Keywords: Synchronous Reluctance Motor, Direct Torque and Flux Control, Sliding Mode, Field-Oriented Frame, Encoderless.

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Authors: Ahmad Al-Omari, Osama Khreis, Ahmad M. K. Dagamseh, Abdullah Ababneh, Kevin Lear

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High-speed infrared vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes (VCSELs) with Cu-plated heat sinks were fabricated and tested. VCSELs with 10 mm aperture diameter and 4 mm of electroplated copper demonstrated a -3dB modulation bandwidth (f_-3dB) of 14 GHz and a resonance frequency (f_R) of 9.5 GHz at a bias current density (J_bias) of only 4.3 kA/cm², which corresponds to an improved f_-3dB²/J_bias ratio of 44 GHz²/kA/cm². At higher and lower bias current densities, the f_-3dB²/ J_bias ratio decreased to about 30 GHz²/kA/cm² and 18 GHz²/kA/cm², respectively. Examination of the analogue modulation response demonstrated that the presented VCSELs displayed a steady f_-3dB/ f_R ratio of 1.41±10% over the whole range of the bias current (1.3I_th to 6.2I_th). The devices also demonstrated a maximum modulation bandwidth (f_{-3dB max}) of more than 16 GHz at a bias current less than the industrial bias current standard for reliability by 25%.

Keywords: Current density, High-speed VCSELs, Modulation bandwidth, Small-Signal Characteristics, Thermal impedance, Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

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Authors: Ag. S. Abd. Hamid, S. K. Lee, J. Dayou, R. Yusoff, F. Sulaiman

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The mixture between two fluids of different salinity has been proven to capable of producing electricity in an ocean salinity energy conversion system known as hydrocratic generator. The system relies on the difference between the salinity of the incoming fresh water and the surrounding sea water in the generator. In this investigation, additional parameter is introduced which is the temperature difference between the two fluids; hence the system is known as Ocean Salinity and Temperature Energy Conversion System (OSTEC). The investigation is divided into two papers. This first paper of Part 1 presents the theoretical formulation by considering the effect of fluid dynamic viscosity known as Viscosity Model and later compares with the conventional formulation which is Density Model. The dynamic viscosity model is used to predict the dynamic of the fluids in the system which in turns gives the analytical formulation of the potential power output that can be harvested. 

Keywords: Buoyancy, density, frictional head loss, kinetic power, viscosity.

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Authors: B. Bagheri Nakhjavanlo, T. S. Ellis, P.Raoofi, Sh.ziari

Abstract:

This paper presents an application of level sets for the segmentation of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms in CTA datasets. An important challenge in reliably detecting aortic is the need to overcome problems associated with intensity inhomogeneities. Level sets are part of an important class of methods that utilize partial differential equations (PDEs) and have been extensively applied in image segmentation. A kernel function in the level set formulation aids the suppression of noise in the extracted regions of interest and then guides the motion of the evolving contour for the detection of weak boundaries. The speed of curve evolution has been significantly improved with a resulting decrease in segmentation time compared with previous implementations of level sets, and are shown to be more effective than other approaches in coping with intensity inhomogeneities. We have applied the Courant Friedrichs Levy (CFL) condition as stability criterion for our algorithm.

Keywords: Image segmentation, Level-sets, Local fitting binary, Thoracic aorta.

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Authors: Bachir Chemani, Halima Chemani

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of adding coal to obtain insulating ceramic product. The preparation of mixtures is achieved with 04 types of different masse compositions, consisting of gray and yellow clay, and coal. Analyses are performed on local raw materials by adding coal as additive. The coal content varies from 5 to 20 % in weight by varying the size of coal particles ranging from 0.25mm to 1.60mm.

Initially, each natural moisture content of a raw material has been determined at the temperature of 105°C in a laboratory oven. The Influence of low-coal content on absorption, the apparent density, the contraction and the resistance during compression have been evaluated. The experimental results showed that the optimized composition could be obtained by adding 10% by weight of coal leading thus to insulating ceramic products with water absorption, a density and resistance to compression of 9.40 %, 1.88 g/cm³, 35.46 MPa, respectively. The results show that coal, when mixed with traditional raw materials, offers the conditions to be used as an additive in the production of lightweight ceramic products.

Keywords: Clay, coal, resistance to compression, insulating bricks.

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