Search results for: Total completion time.

Authors: Aurélie Mabrouk, Vincent Lagneau, Caroline De Dieuleveult, Martin Bachet, Hélène Schneider, Christophe Coquelet

Abstract:

Resins are used in nuclear power plants for water ultrapurification. Two approaches are considered in this work: column experiments and simulations. A software called OPTIPUR was developed, tested and used. The approach simulates the onedimensional reactive transport in porous medium with convectivedispersive transport between particles and diffusive transport within the boundary layer around the particles. The transfer limitation in the boundary layer is characterized by the mass transfer coefficient (MTC). The influences on MTC were measured experimentally. The variation of the inlet concentration does not influence the MTC; on the contrary of the Darcy velocity which influences. This is consistent with results obtained using the correlation of Dwivedi&Upadhyay. With the MTC, knowing the number of exchange site and the relative affinity, OPTIPUR can simulate the column outlet concentration versus time. Then, the duration of use of resins can be predicted in conditions of a binary exchange.

Keywords: ion exchange resin, mass transfer coefficient, modeling, OPTIPUR

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Authors: M. M. Bashandy, A. R. Ahmed, M. El-Gaffary, Sahar S. Abd El-Rahman

Abstract:

This study evaluated the acute toxicity and tissue distribution of intravenously administered gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in male rabbits. Rabbits were exposed to single dose of AuNPs (300 μg/ kg). Toxic effects were assessed via general behavior, hematological parameters, serum biochemical parameters, and histopathological examination of various rabbits’ organs. Inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine gold concentrations in tissue samples collected at predetermined time intervals. After one week, AuNPs exerted no obvious acute toxicity in rabbits. However, inflammatory reactions were observed in liver, lungs and kidneys accompanied with mild absolute neutrophilia and significant monocytosis. The highest gold levels were found in the spleen and liver followed by lungs, and kidneys. These results indicated that AuNPs could be distributed extensively to various tissues in the body, but primarily in the spleen and liver.

Keywords: Gold nanoparticles, toxicity, pathology, hematology, liver function, kidney function.

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Authors: Anirut Luadsong, Nitima Aschariyaphotha

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The spectral action balance equation is an equation that used to simulate short-crested wind-generated waves in shallow water areas such as coastal regions and inland waters. This equation consists of two spatial dimensions, wave direction, and wave frequency which can be solved by finite difference method. When this equation with dominating convection term are discretized using central differences, stability problems occur when the grid spacing is chosen too coarse. In this paper, we introduce the splitting upwind schemes for avoiding stability problems and prove that it is consistent to the upwind scheme with same accuracy. The splitting upwind schemes was adopted to split the wave spectral action balance equation into four onedimensional problems, which for each small problem obtains the independently tridiagonal linear systems. For each smaller system can be solved by direct or iterative methods at the same time which is very fast when performed by a multi-processor computer.

Keywords: upwind scheme, parallel algorithm, spectral action balance equation, splitting method.

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Authors: A. Lovascio, A. D’Orazio, V. Centonze

Abstract:

From several years till now the aerospace industry is developing more and more small satellites for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) missions. Such satellites have a low cost of making and launching since they have a size and weight smaller than other types of satellites. However, because of size limitations, small satellites need integrated electronic equipment based on digital logic. Moreover, the LEOs require telecommunication modules with high throughput to transmit to earth a big amount of data in a short time. In order to meet such requirements, in this paper we propose a Telemetry, Tracking & Command module optimized through the use of the Commercial Off-The-Shelf components. The proposed approach exploits the major flexibility offered by these components in reducing costs and optimizing the performance. The method has been applied in detail for the design of the front-end receiver, which has a low noise figure (1.5 dB) and DC power consumption (smaller than 2 W). Such a performance is particularly attractive since it allows fulfilling the energy budget stringent constraints that are typical for LEO small platforms.

Keywords: COTS, small satellites, sub-sampling, TT&C.

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Authors: M.A. Ahmad

Abstract:

This paper presents the use of anti-sway angle control approaches for a two-dimensional gantry crane with disturbances effect in the dynamic system. Delayed feedback signal (DFS) and proportional-derivative (PD)-type fuzzy logic controller are the techniques used in this investigation to actively control the sway angle of the rope of gantry crane system. A nonlinear overhead gantry crane system is considered and the dynamic model of the system is derived using the Euler-Lagrange formulation. A complete analysis of simulation results for each technique is presented in time domain and frequency domain respectively. Performances of both controllers are examined in terms of sway angle suppression and disturbances cancellation. Finally, a comparative assessment of the impact of each controller on the system performance is presented and discussed.

Keywords: Gantry crane, anti-sway control, DFS controller, PD-type Fuzzy Logic Controller.

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Authors: T. N. Janakiraman, P. V. S. S. R. Chandra Mouli

Abstract:

A color image edge detection algorithm is proposed in this paper using Pseudo-complement and matrix rotation operations. First, pseudo-complement method is applied on the image for each channel. Then, matrix operations are applied on the output image of the first stage. Dominant pixels are obtained by image differencing between the pseudo-complement image and the matrix operated image. Median filtering is carried out to smoothen the image thereby removing the isolated pixels. Finally, the dominant or core pixels occurring in at least two channels are selected. On plotting the selected edge pixels, the final edge map of the given color image is obtained. The algorithm is also tested in HSV and YCbCr color spaces. Experimental results on both synthetic and real world images show that the accuracy of the proposed method is comparable to other color edge detectors. All the proposed procedures can be applied to any image domain and runs in polynomial time.

Keywords: Color edge detection, dominant pixels, matrixrotation/shift operations, pseudo-complement.

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Authors: Mahmoud A. Rabah

Abstract:

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: Biao Wang, Tao Li, Qi-wen Sun, Wei-yong Ying, Ding-ye Fang

Abstract:

Methanol-to-olefins (MTO) coupled with transformation of coal or natural gas to methanol gives an interesting and promising way to produce ethylene and propylene. To investigate solid concentration in gas-solid fluidized bed for methanol-to-olefins process catalyzed by SAPO-34, a cold model experiment system is established in this paper. The system comprises a gas distributor in a 300mm internal diameter and 5000mm height acrylic column, the fiber optic probe system and series of cyclones. The experiments are carried out at ambient conditions and under different superficial gas velocity ranging from 0.3930m/s to 0.7860m/s and different initial bed height ranging from 600mm to 1200mm. The effects of radial distance, axial distance, superficial gas velocity, initial bed height on solid concentration in the bed are discussed. The effects of distributor shape and porosity on solid concentration are also discussed. The time-averaged solid concentration profiles under different conditions are obtained.

Keywords: Branched pipe distributor, distributor porosity, gas-solid fluidized bed, solid concentration.

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Authors: Hossein Mamusi, Abolfazl Masoumi, Ramezanali Mahdavinezhad

Abstract:

Tailor-welded Blanks (TWBs) are tailor made for different complex component designs by welding multiple metal sheets with different thicknesses, shapes, coatings or strengths prior to forming. In this study the Hemispherical Die Stretching (HDS) test (out-of-plane stretching) of TWBs were simulated via ABAQUS/Explicit to obtain the Forming Limit Diagrams (FLDs) of Stainless steel (AISI 304) laser welded blanks with different thicknesses. Two criteria were used to detect the start of necking to determine the FLD for TWBs and parent sheet metals. These two criteria are the second derivatives of the major and thickness strains that are given from the strain history of simulation. In the other word, in these criteria necking starts when the second derivative of thickness or major strain reaches its maximum. With having the time of onset necking, one can measure the major and minor strains at the critical area and determine the forming limit curve.

Keywords: TWB, Forming Limit Diagram, Necking criteria, ABAQUS/Explicit

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Authors: Vikas Pandey, T. L. Joshy, Vyshak Vijayan, N. Babu

Abstract:

A new and cost effective robotic device was designed for remote tele surgery using dual tone multi frequency technology (DTMF). Tele system with Dual Tone Multiple Frequency has a large capability in sending and receiving of data in hardware and software. The robot consists of DC motors for arm movements and it is controlled manually through a mobile phone through DTMF Technology. The system enables the surgeon from base station to send commands through mobile phone to the patient’s robotic system which includes two robotic arms that translate the input into actual instrument manipulation. A mobile phone attached to the microcontroller 8051 which can activate robot through relays. The Remote robot-assisted tele surgery eliminates geographic constraints for getting surgical expertise where it is needed and allows an expert surgeon to teach or proctor the performance of surgical technique by real-time intervention.

Keywords: Robot, Microcontroller, DTMF, Tele surgery.

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Authors: E. I. Fandi, E. A. Alfandi, M. A. Alrabib

Abstract:

Implementing of a continues flow gas lift system for one vertical oil well producer in Wafa field was investigated under five reservoir pressures and their dependent parameters. Well 03 producers were responded positively to the gas lift system despite of the high well head operating pressures. However, the flowing bottom hole pressures were reduced by a ratio from 6 to 33 % in the case A3 for example, for the design runs conducted under the existing operating conditions for years 2003, 2006 and 2009. This reduction in FBHP has increased the production rate by a ratio from 12 to 22.5%. The results indicated that continues flow gas lift system is a good candidate as an artificial lift system to be considered for the one vertical producer covered by this study. Most significantly, timing for artificial lift by a gas lift system for this field is highly dependent on the amount of gas available at the time of implementation because of the high gas production rate from the top of the reservoir. 

Keywords: Gas lift, Wafa field, Ghadamis Basin, Artificial lift, Libya.

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Authors: M.R. Mustafa, M.H. Isa, R.B. Rezaur

Abstract:

Prediction of highly non linear behavior of suspended sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in the field of water resources engineering. In this study the predictive performance of two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) namely, the Radial Basis Function (RBF) Network and the Multi Layer Feed Forward (MLFF) Network have been compared. Time series data of daily suspended sediment discharge and water discharge at Pari River was used for training and testing the networks. A number of statistical parameters i.e. root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), coefficient of efficiency (CE) and coefficient of determination (R2) were used for performance evaluation of the models. Both the models produced satisfactory results and showed a good agreement between the predicted and observed data. The RBF network model provided slightly better results than the MLFF network model in predicting suspended sediment discharge.

Keywords: ANN, discharge, modeling, prediction, suspendedsediment,

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Authors: Elisa Orofino

Abstract:

Islamism is a very debated topic in the West but almost exclusively explored in its violent forms. Nevertheless, a number of “vocal radical Islamist” groups exist in the West and legally operate because of their non-violent nature. Vocal radicals continually inspire individuals and lead them towards specific goals and priorities, sometimes even towards violence. This paper uses the long-living group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) to explore the elements that make the organization appealing to segments of Muslim community in the West. This paper uses three agency variables - reflexive monitoring, the rationalization of action and the motivations for actions – to analyze HT’s appeal vis-à-vis two other Islamist groups, Ikhwan al-Muslimun and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), having similar goals and the same high international profile. This paper concludes that HT’s uniqueness is given by its method, detailed vision of the caliphate, consistency over time and the emphasis placed on the caliphate as the leading force of HT’s unchanged motivation for action.

Keywords: Agency, Caliphate, Radicalization, Vocal Radicals.

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Authors: A. M. R. Mosalman Yazdi, B. A. R. Mosalman Yazdi

Abstract:

In industry, on of the most important subjects is die and it's characteristics in which for cutting and forming different mechanical pieces, various punch and matrix metal die are used. whereas the common parts which form the main frame die are not often proportion with pieces and dies therefore using a part as socalled common part for frames in specified dimension ranges can decrease the time of designing, occupied space of warehouse and manufacturing costs. Parts in dies with getting uniform in their shape and dimension make common parts of dies. Common parts of punch and matrix metal die are as bolster, guide bush, guide pillar and shank. In this paper the common parts and effective parameters in selecting each of them as the primary information are studied, afterward for selection and design of mechanical parts an introduction and investigation based on the Mech. Desk. software is done hence with developing this software can standardize the metal common parts of punch and matrix. These studies will be so useful for designer in their designing and also using it has with very much advantage for manufactures of products in decreasing occupied spaces by dies.

Keywords: Die, Matrix, Punch, Standardize.

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Authors: Tun Myat Aung, Ni Ni Hla

Abstract:

This paper begins by describing basic properties of finite field and elliptic curve cryptography over prime field and binary field. Then we discuss the discrete logarithm problem for elliptic curves and its properties. We study the general common attacks on elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem such as the Baby Step, Giant Step method, Pollard’s rho method and Pohlig-Hellman method, and describe in detail experiments of these attacks over prime field and binary field. The paper finishes by describing expected running time of the attacks and suggesting strong elliptic curves that are not susceptible to these attacks.c

Keywords: Discrete logarithm problem, general attacks, elliptic curves, strong curves, prime field, binary field, attack experiments.

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Authors: Debajyoti Mishra, Urmila Bhanja

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel fuzzy approach is developed while solving the Dynamic Routing and Wavelength Assignment (DRWA) problem in optical networks with Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). In this work, the effect of nonlinear and linear impairments such as Four Wave Mixing (FWM) and amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE) noise are incorporated respectively. The novel algorithm incorporates fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to reduce the effect of FWM noise and ASE noise on a requested lightpath referred in this work as FWM aware fuzzy dynamic routing and wavelength assignment algorithm. The FWM crosstalk products and the static FWM noise power per link are pre computed in order to reduce the set up time of a requested lightpath, and stored in an offline database. These are retrieved during the setting up of a lightpath and evaluated online taking the dynamic parameters like cost of the links into consideration.

Keywords: Amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE), Dynamic routing and wavelength assignment, Four wave mixing (FWM), Fuzzy rule based system (FRBS).

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Authors: B. Bagheri Nakhjavanlo, T. J. Ellis, P. Raoofi, J. Dehmeshki

Abstract:

This paper presents a customized deformable model for the segmentation of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms in CTA datasets. An important challenge in reliably detecting aortic aneurysm is the need to overcome problems associated with intensity inhomogeneities and image noise. 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 Gaussian kernel function in the level set formulation, which extracts the local intensity information, 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. The results indicate the method is more effective than other approaches in coping with intensity inhomogeneities.

Keywords: Abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms, intensityinhomogeneity, level sets, local fitting binary.

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Authors: V. G. Sangam, Balasaheb M. Patre

Abstract:

In this paper we have proposed a methodology to develop an amperometric biosensor for the analysis of glucose concentration using a simple microcontroller based data acquisition system. The work involves the development of Detachable Membrane Unit (enzyme based biomembrane) with immobilized glucose oxidase on the membrane and interfacing the same to the signal conditioning system. The current generated by the biosensor for different glucose concentrations was signal conditioned, then acquired and computed by a simple AT89C51-microcontroller. The optimum operating parameters for the better performance were found and reported. The detailed performance evaluation of the biosensor has been carried out. The proposed microcontroller based biosensor system has the sensitivity of 0.04V/g/dl, with a resolution of 50mg/dl. It has exhibited very good inter day stability observed up to 30 days. Comparing to the reference method such as HPLC, the accuracy of the proposed biosensor system is well within ± 1.5%. The system can be used for real time analysis of glucose concentration in the field such as, food and fermentation and clinical (In-Vitro) applications.

Keywords: Biosensor, DMU, Glucose oxidase andMicrocontroller.

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Authors: Mohammad Irfan

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship among the key macroeconomic variables and Islamic stock market in India. This study is based on the time series data of financial years 2009-2015 to explore the consistency of relationship between macroeconomic variables and Shariah Indices. The ADF (Augmented Dickey–Fuller Test Statistic) and PP (Phillips–Perron Test Statistic) tests are employed to check stationarity of the data. The study depicts the long run relationship between Shariah indices and macroeconomic variables by using the Johansen Co-integration test. BSE Shariah and Nifty Shariah have uni-direct Granger causality. The outcome of VECM is significantly confirming the applicability of best fitted model. Thus, Islamic stock indices are proficiently working for the development of Indian economy. It suggests that by keeping eyes on Islamic stock market which will be more interactive in the future with other macroeconomic variables.

Keywords: Indian shariah indices, macroeconomic variables, co-integration, Granger causality, Vector error correction model.

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Authors: V. Viliene, V. Sasyte, A. Raceviciute-Stupeliene, R. Gruzauskas

Abstract:

In horse nutrition, the most suitable cereal for their rations composition could be defined as oats and barley. Oats have high nutritive value because it provides more protein, fiber, iron and zinc than other whole grains, has good taste, and an activity of stimulating metabolic changes in the body. Another cereal – barley is very similar to oats as a feed except for some characteristics that affect how it is used; however, barley is lower in fiber than oats and is classified as a "heavy" feed. The value of oats and barley grain, first of all is dependent on its composition. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has long been considered and used as a significant method in component and quality analysis and as an emerging technology for authenticity applications for cereal quality control. This paper presents the chemical and amino acid composition of different varieties of barley and oats, also digestible energy of different cereals for horses. Ten different spring barley (n = 5) and oats (n = 5) varieties, grown in one location in Lithuania, were assayed for their chemical composition (dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, crude fiber, starch) and amino acids content, digestible amino acids and amino acids digestibility. Also, the grains digestible energy for horses was calculated. The oats and barley samples reflectance spectra were measured by means of NIRS using Foss-Tecator DS2500 equipment. The chemical components: fat, crude protein, starch and fiber differed statistically (P<0.05) between the oats and barley varieties. The highest total amino acid content between oats was determined in variety Flamingsprofi (4.56 g/kg) and the lowest – variety Circle (3.57 g/kg), and between barley - respectively in varieties Publican (3.50 g/kg) and Sebastian (3.11 g/kg). The different varieties of oats digestible amino acid content varied from 3.11 g/kg to 4.07 g/kg; barley different varieties varied from 2.59 g/kg to 2.94 g/kg. The average amino acids digestibility of oats varied from 74.4% (Liz) to 95.6% (Fen) and in barley - from 75.8 % (Tre) to 89.6% (Fen). The amount of digestible energy in the analyzed varieties of oats and barley was an average compound 13.74 MJ/kg DM and 14.85 MJ/kg DM, respectively. An analysis of the results showed that different varieties of oats compared with barley are preferable for horse nutrition according to the crude fat, crude fiber, ash and separate amino acids content, but the analyzed barley varieties dominated the higher amounts of crude protein, the digestible Liz amount and higher DE content, and thus, could be recommended for making feed formulation for horses combining oats and barley, taking into account the chemical composition of using cereal varieties.

Keywords: Barley, digestive energy, horses, nutritional value, oats.

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Authors: Nurul-Akidah M. Yusak, Rahmah Mohamed, Noor Zuhaira Abd Aziz

Abstract:

The introduction of degradable plastic materials into agricultural sectors has represented a promising alternative to promote green agriculture and environmental friendly of modern farming practices. Major challenges of developing degradable agricultural films are to identify the most feasible types of degradation mechanisms, composition of degradable polymers and related processing techniques. The incorrect choice of degradable mechanisms to be applied during the degradation process will cause premature losses of mechanical performance and strength. In order to achieve controlled process of agricultural film degradation, the compositions of degradable agricultural film also important in order to stimulate degradation reaction at required interval of time and to achieve sustainability of the modern agricultural practices. A set of photodegradable polyethylene based agricultural film was developed and produced, following the selective optimization of processing parameters of the agricultural film manufacturing system. Example of agricultural films application for oil palm seedlings cultivation is presented.

Keywords: Photodegradable polyethylene, plasticulture, processing schemes.

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Orkide Donma

Abstract:

A growing list of cancers might be influenced by obesity. Obesity is associated with an increased risk for the occurrence and development of some cancers. Inflammation can lead to cancer. It is one of the characteristic features of cancer and plays a critical role in cancer development. C-reactive protein (CRP) is under evaluation related to the new and simple prognostic factors in patients with metastatic renal cell cancer. Obesity can predict and promote systemic inflammation in healthy adults. BMI is correlated with hs-CRP. In this study, SII index and CRP values were evaluated in children with normal BMI and those within the range of different obesity grades to detect the tendency towards cancer in pediatric obesity. A total of one hundred and ninety-four children; thirty-five children with normal BMI, twenty overweight (OW), forty-seven obese (OB) and ninety-two morbid obese (MO) participated in the study. Age- and sex-matched groups were constituted using BMI-for age percentiles. Informed consent was obtained. Ethical Committee approval was taken. Weight, height, waist circumference (C), hip C, head C and neck C of the children were measured. The complete blood count test was performed. C-reactive protein analysis was performed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. The degree for statistical significance was p≤0.05. SII index values were progressively increasing starting from normal weight (NW) to MO children. There is a statistically significant difference between NW and OB as well as MO children. No significant difference was observed between NW and OW children, however, a correlation was observed between NW and OW children. MO constitutes the only group, which exhibited a statistically significant correlation between SII index and CRP. Obesity-related bladder, kidney, cervical, liver, colorectal, endometrial cancers are still being investigated. Obesity, characterized as a chronic low-grade inflammation, is a crucial risk factor for colon cancer. Elevated childhood BMI values may be indicative of processes leading to cancer, initiated early in life. Prevention of childhood adiposity may decrease the cancer incidence in adults. To authors’ best knowledge, this study is the first to introduce SII index values during obesity of varying degrees of severity. It is suggested that this index seems to affect all stages of obesity with an increasing tendency and may point out the concomitant status of obesity and cancer starting from very early periods of life.

Keywords: Children, c- reactive protein, systemic immune-inflammation index, obesity.

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Authors: Konstantin Movsovic, Emanuele Stomeo, Tatiana Kalganova

Abstract:

The evolutionary design of electronic circuits, or evolvable hardware, is a discipline that allows the user to automatically obtain the desired circuit design. The circuit configuration is under the control of evolutionary algorithms. Several researchers have used evolvable hardware to design electrical circuits. Every time that one particular algorithm is selected to carry out the evolution, it is necessary that all its parameters, such as mutation rate, population size, selection mechanisms etc. are tuned in order to achieve the best results during the evolution process. This paper investigates the abilities of evolution strategy to evolve digital logic circuits based on programmable logic array structures when different mutation rates are used. Several mutation rates (fixed and variable) are analyzed and compared with each other to outline the most appropriate choice to be used during the evolution of combinational logic circuits. The experimental results outlined in this paper are important as they could be used by every researcher who might need to use the evolutionary algorithm to design digital logic circuits.

Keywords: Evolvable hardware, evolutionary algorithm, digitallogic circuit, mutation rate.

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Authors: Tan Wee Choon, Abdul Saad Salleh, Saifulnizan Jamian, Mohd. Imran Ghazali

Abstract:

Phase transformation temperature is one of the most important parameters for the shape memory alloys (SMAs). The most popular method to determine these phase transformation temperatures is the Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), but due to the limitation of the DSC testing itself, it made it difficult for the finished product which is not in the powder form. A novel method which uses the Universal Testing Machine has been conducted to determine the phase transformation temperatures. The Flexinol wire was applied with force and maintained throughout the experiment and at the same time it was heated up slowly until a temperature of approximately 1000C with direct current. The direct current was then slowly decreased to cool down the temperature of the Flexinol wire. All the phase transformation temperatures for Flexinol wire were obtained. The austenite start at 52.540C and austenite finish at 60.900C, while martensite start at 44.780C and martensite finish at 32.840C.

Keywords: Phase transformation temperature, Robotic, Shapememory alloy, Universal Testing Machine.

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Authors: Nur Atiqah Rochin Demong, Jie Lu, Farookh Khadeer Hussain

Abstract:

Property investment in the real estate industry has a high risk due to the uncertainty factors that will affect the decisions made and high cost. Analytic hierarchy process has existed for some time in which referred to an expert-s opinion to measure the uncertainty of the risk factors for the risk analysis. Therefore, different level of experts- experiences will create different opinion and lead to the conflict among the experts in the field. The objective of this paper is to propose a new technique to measure the uncertainty of the risk factors based on multidimensional data model and data mining techniques as deterministic approach. The propose technique consist of a basic framework which includes four modules: user, technology, end-user access tools and applications. The property investment risk analysis defines as a micro level analysis as the features of the property will be considered in the analysis in this paper.

Keywords: Uncertainty factors, data mining, multidimensional data model, risk analysis.

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Authors: Alicia Y. C. Tang, Rukaini Abdullah, Sharifuddin M. Zain, Noorsaadah A. Rahman

Abstract:

This paper discusses the causal explanation capability of QRIOM, a tool aimed at supporting learning of organic chemistry reactions. The development of the tool is based on the hybrid use of Qualitative Reasoning (QR) technique and Qualitative Process Theory (QPT) ontology. Our simulation combines symbolic, qualitative description of relations with quantity analysis to generate causal graphs. The pedagogy embedded in the simulator is to both simulate and explain organic reactions. Qualitative reasoning through a causal chain will be presented to explain the overall changes made on the substrate; from initial substrate until the production of final outputs. Several uses of the QPT modeling constructs in supporting behavioral and causal explanation during run-time will also be demonstrated. Explaining organic reactions through causal graph trace can help improve the reasoning ability of learners in that their conceptual understanding of the subject is nurtured.

Keywords: Qualitative reasoning, causal graph, organicreactions, explanation, QPT, modeling constructs.

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Authors: Antaryami Mishra

Abstract:

Composite pins of rubber dust collected from tyre retreading centres of trucks, cars and buses etc.and epoxy with weight percentages of 10. 15, and 20 % of rubber (weight fractions of 9, 13 and 17 % respectively) have been prepared in house with the help of a split wooden mould. The pins were tested in a pin-on-disc wear monitor to determine the co-efficient of friction and weight losses with varying speeds, loads and time. The wear volume and wear rates have also been found out for all these three specimens.. It is observed that all the specimens have exhibited very low coefficient of friction and low wear rates under dry sliding condition. Out of the above three samples tested, the specimen with 10 % rubber dust by weight has shown lowest wear rates. However a peculiar result i.e decreasing trend has been obtained with 20% reinforcement of rubber in epoxy while rubbed against steel at varying speeds. This might have occurred due to high surface finish of the disc and formation of a thin transfer layer from the composite

Keywords: epoxy, rubber dust, composites, weight fractions, pin-on-disc wear tests, wear volume and wear rate calculations.

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Authors: Do-Hwan Kim, Roberto Leon

Abstract:

Probabilistic characteristics of seismic responses of the Partially Restrained connection rotation (PRCR) and panel zone deformation (PZD) installed in older steel moment frames were investigated in accordance with statistical inference in decision-making process. The 4, 6 and 8 story older steel moment frames with clip angle and T-stub connections were designed and analyzed using 2%/50yrs ground motions in four cities of the Mid-America earthquake region. The probability density function and cumulative distribution function of PRCR and PZD were determined by the goodness-of-fit tests based on probabilistic parameters measured from the results of the nonlinear time-history analyses. The obtained probabilistic parameters and distributions can be used to find out what performance level mainly PR connections and panel zones satisfy and how many PR connections and panel zones experience a serious damage under the Mid-America ground motions.

Keywords: Mid-America earthquake, Panel zone, PR connection, Probabilistic characteristics, seismic performance

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Authors: Muhammad H. Rais,

Abstract:

Truncated multiplier is a good candidate for digital signal processing (DSP) applications including finite impulse response (FIR) and discrete cosine transform (DCT). Through truncated multiplier a significant reduction in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) resources can be achieved. This paper presents for the first time a comparison of resource utilization of Spartan-3AN and Virtex-5 implementation of standard and truncated multipliers using Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL). The Virtex-5 FPGA shows significant improvement as compared to Spartan-3AN FPGA device. The Virtex-5 FPGA device shows better performance with a percentage ratio of number of occupied slices for standard to truncated multipliers is increased from 40% to 73.86% as compared to Spartan- 3AN is decreased from 68.75% to 58.78%. Results show that the anomaly in Spartan-3AN FPGA device average connection and maximum pin delay have been efficiently reduced in Virtex-5 FPGA device.

Keywords: Digital Signal Processing (DSP), FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA), Spartan-3AN, TruncatedMultiplier, Virtex-5, VHDL.

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Authors: G. Schuh, A. Kampker, A. Hoeschen, T. Jasinski

Abstract:

Today-s manufacturing companies are facing multiple and dynamic customer-supplier-relationships embedded in nonhierarchical production networks. This complex environment leads to problems with delivery reliability and wasteful turbulences throughout the entire network. This paper describes an operational model based on a theoretical framework which improves delivery reliability of each individual customer-supplier-relationship within non-hierarchical production networks of the European machinery and equipment industry. By developing a non-centralized coordination mechanism based on determining the value of delivery reliability and derivation of an incentive system for suppliers the number of in time deliveries can be increased and thus the turbulences in the production network smoothened. Comparable to an electronic stock exchange the coordination mechanism will transform the manual and nontransparent process of determining penalties for delivery delays into an automated and transparent market mechanism creating delivery reliability.

Keywords: delivery reliability, machinery and equipmentindustry, non-hierarchical production networks, supply chainmanagement

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