Search results for: North Atlantic region.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1535

Search results for: North Atlantic region.

845 A New Approach to Design Low Power Continues-Time Sigma-Delta Modulators

Authors: E. Farshidi

Abstract:

This paper presents the design of a low power second-order continuous-time sigma-delta modulator for low power applications. The loop filter of this modulator has been implemented based on the nonlinear transconductance-capacitor (Gm-C) by employing current-mode technique. The nonlinear transconductance uses floating gate MOS (FG-MOS) transistors that operate in weak inversion region. The proposed modulator features low power consumption (<80uW), low supply voltage (1V) and 62dB dynamic range. Simulation results by HSPICE confirm that it is very suitable for low power biomedical instrumentation designs.

Keywords: Sigma-delta, modulator, Current-mode, Nonlinear Transconductance, FG-MOS.

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844 LQR Control for a Multi-MW Wind Turbine

Authors: Trung-Kien Pham, Yoonsu Nam, Hyungun Kim, Jaehoon Son

Abstract:

This paper addresses linear quadratic regulation (LQR) for variable speed variable pitch wind turbines. Because of the inherent nonlinearity of wind turbine, a set of operating conditions is identified and then a LQR controller is designed for each operating point. The feedback controller gains are then interpolated linearly to get control law for the entire operating region. Besides, the aerodynamic torque and effective wind speed are estimated online to get the gain-scheduling variable for implementing the controller. The potential of the method is verified through simulation with the help of MATLAB/Simulink and GH Bladed. The performance and mechanical load when using LQR are also compared with that when using PI controller.

Keywords: variable speed variable pitch wind turbine, multi-MW size wind turbine, wind energy conversion system, LQR control.

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843 Fuzzy Based Environmental System Approach for Impact Assessment - Case Studies

Authors: Marius Pislaru, Alexandru F. Trandabat

Abstract:

Environmental studies have expanded dramatically all over the world in the past few years. Nowadays businesses interact with society and the environment in ways that put their mark on both sides. Efforts improving human standard living, through the control of nature and the development of new products, have also resulted in contamination of the environment. Consequently companies play an important role in environmental sustainability of a region or country. Therefore we can say that a company's sustainable development is strictly dependent on the environment. This article presents a fuzzy model to evaluate a company's environmental impact. Article illustrates an example of the automotive industry in order to prove the usefulness of using such a model.

Keywords: fuzzy approach, environmental impact assessment, sustainability

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842 A Low Noise Microwave Filter with Minimum Distortion

Authors: Cheng Yuan Hung, Min Hang Weng, Siang Wen Lan, Wei Yu Chen, Hung Wei Wu, Chun Yueh Huang

Abstract:

In this paper, a low noise microwave bandpass filter (BPF) is presented. This filter is fabricated by modifying the conventional cross-coupled structure. The spurious response is improved by using the end open coupled lines, and the influence of the noise is minimized. Impedance matrix of the open end coupled circuit clarifies the characteristic of the suppression of the spurious response. The rejection of spurious suppression region of the proposed filter is greater than 20 dB from 3-13 GHz. The measured results of the fabricated filter confirm the concepts of the proposed design and exhibits high performance.

Keywords: Low noise, signal transmission, bandpass filter, end open coupled line, communication system.

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841 Surface Water Pollution by Open Refuse Dumpsite in North Central of Nigeria

Authors: Abimbola Motunrayo Folami, Ibironke Titilayo Enitan, Feroz Mohomed Swalaha

Abstract:

Water is a vital resource that is important in ensuring the growth and development of any country. To sustain the basic human needs and the demands for agriculture, industry, conservational and ecosystem, enough quality and quantity water is needed. Contamination of water resources is now a global and public health concern. Hence, this study assessed the water quality of Ndawuse River by measuring the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals concentrations of the river using standard methods. In total, 16 surface water samples were obtained from five locations along the river, from upstream to downstream as well as samples from the dumpsite. The results obtained were compared with the standard limits set by both the World Health Organization and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for domestic purposes. The results of the measured parameters indicated that biological oxygen demand (85.88 mg/L), turbidity (44.51 NTU), Iron (0.014 - 3.511 mg /L) and chromium (0.078 - 0.14 mg /L) were all above the standard limits. The results further showed that the quality of surface water is being significantly affected by human activities around the Ndawuse River which could pose an adverse health risk to several communities that rely on this river as their primary source of water. Therefore, there is a need for strict enforcement of environmental laws to protect the aquatic ecosystem and to avoid long term cumulative exposure risk that heavy metals may pose on human health.

Keywords: Abuja, contaminants, heavy metals, Ndawuse River, Nigeria, surface water.

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840 A Study of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution in the Manganese Mining in Drama, Greece

Authors: A. Argiri, A. Molla, Tzouvalekas, E. Skoufogianni, N. Danalatos

Abstract:

The release of heavy metals into the environment has increased over the last years. In this study, 25 soil samples (0-15 cm) from the fields near the mining area in Drama region were selected. The samples were analyzed in the laboratory for their physicochemical properties and for seven “pseudo-total’’ heavy metals content, namely Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Mn. The total metal concentrations (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Mn) in digests were determined by using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. According to the results, the mean concentration of the listed heavy metals in 25 soil samples are Cd 1.1 mg/kg, Cr 15 mg/kg, Cu 21.7 mg/kg, Ni 30.1 mg/kg, Pd 50.8 mg/kg, Zn 99.5 mg/kg and Mn 815.3 mg/kg. The results show that the heavy metals remain in the soil even if the mining closed many years ago.

Keywords: Greece, heavy metals, mining, pollution

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839 Post Earthquake Volunteer Learning That Build Up Caring Learning Communities

Authors: Naoki Okamura

Abstract:

From a perspective of moral education, this study has examined the experiences of a group of college students who volunteered in disaster areas after the magnitude 9.0 Earthquake, which struck the Northeastern region of Japan in March, 2011. The research, utilizing the method of grounded theory, has uncovered that most of the students have gone through positive changes in their development of moral and social characters, such as attaining deeper sense of empathy and caring personalities. The study expresses, in identifying the nature of those transformations, that the importance of volunteer work should strongly be recognized by the colleges and universities in Japan, in fulfilling their public responsibility of creating and building learning communities that are responsible and caring.

Keywords: Moral development, moral education, service learning, volunteer learning.

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838 An Algorithm for Detecting Seam Cracks in Steel Plates

Authors: Doo-chul Choi, Yong-Ju Jeon, Jong Pil Yun, Sung Wook Yun, Sang Woo Kim

Abstract:

In this study, we developed an algorithm for detecting seam cracks in a steel plate. Seam cracks are generated in the edge region of a steel plate. We used the Gabor filter and an adaptive double threshold method to detect them. To reduce the number of pseudo defects, features based on the shape of seam cracks were used. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we tested 989 images with seam cracks and 9470 defect-free images. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is suitable for detecting seam cracks. However, it should be improved to increase the true positive rate.

Keywords: Defect detection, Gabor filter, machine vision, surface inspection.

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837 Identification and Classification of Plastic Resins using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Authors: Hamed Masoumi, Seyed Mohsen Safavi, Zahra Khani

Abstract:

In this paper, an automated system is presented for identification and separation of plastic resins based on near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy. For identification and separation among resins, a "Two-Filter" identification method is proposed that is capable to distinguish among polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). Through surveying effects of parameters such as surface contamination, sample thickness, label and cap existence, it was obvious that the "Two-Filter" method has a high efficiency in identification of resins. It is shown that accurate identification and separation of five major resins can be obtained through calculating the relative reflectance at two wavelengths in the NIR region.

Keywords: Identification, Near Infrared, Plastic, Separation, Spectroscopy

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836 Financial Problems Met in the Tourism Sector in Turkey: A Survey on the Tourism Businesses

Authors: Raif Parlakkaya, Huseyin Cetin, Halil Akmese, Mesut Murat Adabali

Abstract:

As the economies of other countries in the Mediterranean Basin, the tourism sector in our country has a high denominator in economics. Tourism businesses, which are building blocks of tourism, sector faces with a variety of problems during their activities. These problems faced make business efficiency and competition conditions of the businesses difficult. Most of the problems faced by the tourism businesses and the information of consumers about consumers’ rights were used in this study, which is conducted to determine the problems of tourism businesses in the Central Anatolia Region. It is aimed to contribute the awareness of staff and executives working at tourism sector and to attract attention of businesses active concurrently with tourism sector and legislators.

Keywords: Financial Problems, The problems of Tourism businesses, Tourism Businesses, Tourism Sector in Turkey.

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835 Maximum Norm Analysis of a Nonmatching Grids Method for Nonlinear Elliptic Boundary Value Problem −Δu = f(u)

Authors: Abida Harbi

Abstract:

We provide a maximum norm analysis of a finite element Schwarz alternating method for a nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem of the form -Δu = f(u), on two overlapping sub domains with non matching grids. We consider a domain which is the union of two overlapping sub domains where each sub domain has its own independently generated grid. The two meshes being mutually independent on the overlap region, a triangle belonging to one triangulation does not necessarily belong to the other one. Under a Lipschitz assumption on the nonlinearity, we establish, on each sub domain, an optimal L∞ error estimate between the discrete Schwarz sequence and the exact solution of the boundary value problem.

Keywords: Error estimates, Finite elements, Nonlinear PDEs, Schwarz method.

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834 A Comparative Study of Electrical Transport Phenomena in Ultrathin vs. Nanoscale SOI MOSFETs Devices

Authors: A. Karsenty, A. Chelly

Abstract:

Ultrathin (UTD) and Nanoscale (NSD) SOI-MOSFET devices, sharing a similar W/L but with a channel thickness of 46nm and 1.6nm respectively, were fabricated using a selective “gate recessed” process on the same silicon wafer. The electrical transport characterization at room temperature has shown a large difference between the two kinds of devices and has been interpreted in terms of a huge unexpected series resistance. Electrical characteristics of the Nanoscale device, taken in the linear region, can be analytically derived from the ultrathin device ones. A comparison of the structure and composition of the layers, using advanced techniques such as Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and High Resolution TEM (HRTEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), contributes an explanation as to the difference of transport between the devices.

Keywords: Nanoscale Devices, SOI MOSFET, Analytical Model, Electron Transport.

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833 Systematic Examination of Methods Supporting the Social Innovation Process

Authors: Mariann Veresne Somosi, Zoltan Nagy, Krisztina Varga

Abstract:

Innovation is the key element of economic development and a key factor in social processes. Technical innovations can be identified as prerequisites and causes of social change and cannot be created without the renewal of society. The study of social innovation can be characterised as one of the significant research areas of our day. The study’s aim is to identify the process of social innovation, which can be defined by input, transformation, and output factors. This approach divides the social innovation process into three parts: situation analysis, implementation, follow-up. The methods associated with each stage of the process are illustrated by the chronological line of social innovation. In this study, we have sought to present methodologies that support long- and short-term decision-making that is easy to apply, have different complementary content, and are well visualised for different user groups. When applying the methods, the reference objects are different: county, district, settlement, specific organisation. The solution proposed by the study supports the development of a methodological combination adapted to different situations. Having reviewed metric and conceptualisation issues, we wanted to develop a methodological combination along with a change management logic suitable for structured support to the generation of social innovation in the case of a locality or a specific organisation. In addition to a theoretical summary, in the second part of the study, we want to give a non-exhaustive picture of the two counties located in the north-eastern part of Hungary through specific analyses and case descriptions.

Keywords: Factors of social innovation, methodological combination, social innovation process, supporting decision-making.

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832 A Multilevel Analysis of Predictors of Early Antenatal Care Visits among Women of Reproductive Age in Benin: 2017/2018 Benin Demographic and Health Survey

Authors: Ebenezer Kwesi Armah-Ansah, Kenneth Fosu Oteng, Esther Selasi Avinu, Eugene Budu, Edward Kwabena Ameyaw

Abstract:

Maternal mortality, particularly in Benin, is a major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. To provide a positive pregnancy experience and reduce maternal morbidities, all pregnant women must get appropriate and timely prenatal support. However, many pregnant women in developing countries, including Benin, begin Antenatal Care (ANC) late. There is a paucity of empirical literature on the prevalence and predictors of early ANC visits in Benin. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and predictors of early ANC visits among women of productive age in Benin. This is a secondary analysis of the 2017/2018 Benin Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data. The study involved 6,919 eligible women. Data analysis was conducted using Stata version 14.2 for Mac OS. We adopted a multilevel logistic regression to examine the predictors of early ANC visits in Benin. The results were presented as odds ratios (ORs) associated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p-value < 0.05 to determine the significant associations. The prevalence of early ANC visits among pregnant women in Benin was 57.03% [95% CI: 55.41-58.64]. In the final multilevel logistic regression, early ANC visit was higher among women aged 30-34 [aOR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.17-2.18] compared to those aged 15-19, women with primary education [aOR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.06-142] compared to the non-educated women, women who were covered by health insurance [aOR = 3.03, 95% CI = 1.35-6.76], women without a big problem in getting the money needed for treatment [aOR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.16-1.49], distance to the health facility, not a big problem [aOR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.08-1.41], and women whose partners had secondary/higher education [aOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.15-1.57] compared with those who were not covered by health insurance, had big problem in getting money needed for treatment, distance to health facility is a big problem and whose partners had no education respectively. However, women who had four or more births [aOR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.48-0.74] and those in Atacora Region [aOR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.37-0.68] had lower odds of early ANC visit. This study revealed a relatively high prevalence of early ANC visits among women of reproductive age in Benin. Women's age, educational status of women and their partners, parity, health insurance coverage, distance to health facilities, and region were all associated with early ANC visits among women of reproductive in Benin. These factors ought to be taken into account when developing ANC policies and strategies in order to boost early ANC visits among women in Benin. This will significantly reduce maternal and newborn mortality and help achieve the World Health Organization’s recommendation that all pregnant women should initiate early ANC visits within the first three months of pregnancy.

Keywords: Antenatal care, Benin, maternal health, pregnancy, DHS, public health.

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831 Simulation of Immiscibility Regions in Sodium Borosilicate Glasses

Authors: D. Aboutaleb, B. Safi

Abstract:

In this paper, sodium borosilicates glasses were prepared by melting in air. These heat-resistant transparent glasses have subjected subsequently isothermal treatments at different times, which have transformed them at opaque glass (milky white color). Such changes indicate that these glasses showed clearly phase separation (immiscibility). The immiscibility region in a sodium borosilicate ternary system was investigated in this work, i.e. to determine the regions from which some compositions can show phase separation. For this we went through the conditions of thermodynamic equilibrium, which were translated later by mathematical equations to find an approximate solution. The latter has been translated in a simulation which was established thereafter to find the immiscibility regions in this type of special glasses.

Keywords: Sodium borosilicate, heat-resistant, isothermal treatments, immiscibility, thermodynamics four.

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830 Tuning a Fractional Order PID Controller with Lead Compensator in Frequency Domain

Authors: Tahmine. V. Moghaddam, N. Bigdeli, K. Afshar

Abstract:

To achieve the desired specifications of gain and phase margins for plants with time-delay that stabilized with FO-PID controller a lead compensator is designed. At first the range of controlled system stability based on stability boundary criteria is determined. Using stability boundary locus method in frequency domain the fractional order controller parameters are tuned and then with drawing bode diagram in frequency domain accessing to desired gain and phase margin are shown. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the shapes of the stabilizing region and to show the design procedure.

Keywords: Fractional controller, Lead compensator, Stabilityregions, Stability boundary locus

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829 Prediction of Basic Wind Speed for Ayeyarwady

Authors: Chaw Su Mon

Abstract:

Abstract— The paper presents a preliminary study on modeling and estimation of basic wind speed ( extreme wind gusts ) for the consideration of vulnerability and design of building in Ayeyarwady Region. The establishment of appropriate design wind speeds is a critical step towards the calculation of design wind loads for structures. In this paper the extreme value analysis of this prediction work is based on the anemometer data (1970-2009) maintained by the department of meteorology and hydrology of Pathein. Statistical and probabilistic approaches are used to derive formulas for estimating 3-second gusts from recorded data (10-minute sustained mean wind speeds).

Keywords: Basic Wind Speed, Building, Gusts, Statistical and probabilistic approaches

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828 Artificial Neural Network Approach for Short Term Load Forecasting for Illam Region

Authors: Mohsen Hayati, Yazdan Shirvany

Abstract:

In this paper, the application of neural networks to study the design of short-term load forecasting (STLF) Systems for Illam state located in west of Iran was explored. One important architecture of neural networks named Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) to model STLF systems was used. Our study based on MLP was trained and tested using three years (2004-2006) data. The results show that MLP network has the minimum forecasting error and can be considered as a good method to model the STLF systems.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, Forecasting, Multi-layer perceptron.

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827 Determination of a Fair Price for Blood Transportation by Applying the Vehicle Routing Problem: A Case for National Blood Center, Thailand

Authors: S. Pathomsiri, P. Sukaboon

Abstract:

The National Blood Center, Thai Red Cross Society is responsible for providing blood to hospitals all over the country. When any hospital needs blood, it will have to send the vehicle to pick up at the NBC. There are a lot of vehicles to pick up blood at the NBC every day. Each vehicle is usually empty for inbound trip and a little loaded for outbound. The NBC realized such waste or loss and there have been the third party offered to distribute blood and charge for fee. This paper proposes to apply the vehicle routing problem (VRP) for estimating the fair price. The idea is tested with the real data during seven-day period of 6 – 12 July 2010 to estimate the fair price for transporting blood in Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

Keywords: Blood Supply Chain, Vehicle Routing Problem, Heuristic, Saving Algorithm, Fair Price.

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826 Chemical Characterization of Submicron Aerosol in Kanpur Region: a Source Apportionment Study

Authors: A. Chakraborty, T. Gupta

Abstract:

Several studies have shown the association between ambient particulate matter (PM) and adverse health effects and climate change, thus highlighting the need to limit the anthropogenic sources of PM. PM Exposure is commonly monitored as mass concentration of PM10 (particle aerodynamic diameter < 10μm) or PM2.5 (particle aerodynamic diameter < 2.5μm), although increasing toxicity with decreasing aerodynamic diameter has been reported due to increased surface area and enhanced chemical reactivity with other species. Additionally, the light scattering properties of PM increases with decreasing size. Hence, it is important to study the chemical characterization of finer fraction of the particulate matter and to identify their sources so that they can be controlled appropriately to a large extent at the sources before reaching to the receptors.

Keywords: PM1, PCA, source apportionment.

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825 Water and Beverage Consumption among Children and Adolescents in Tehran Metropolitan City of Iran

Authors: Mitra Abtahi, Esmat Nasseri, Morteza Abodllahi

Abstract:

Introduction: Adequate hydration is necessary for proper physical and mental function. The aim of this study is to determine the consumption of water and all other beverages in children (8-13 years) and adolescents (14-17 years) in Tehran metropolitan city of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 455 children (8-13 years) and 334 adolescents (14-17 years) were retrieved from north, center, and south of Tehran (18 schools). Instrument for data collection consisted of a “demographic and general health” questionnaire and a “7-day fluid record”. Data analyses were performed with SPSS 16 software. Results: The mean total consumption of fluids in school children was 1302 ± 500.6 ml/day. The highest mean intakes were observed for water (666 ± 398 ml/day), followed by milk (239 ± 183 ml/day), regular soft beverages (RSB) (188 ± 148 ml/day), and juices (60 ± 74 ml/day). Water, hot drinks (mainly tea) and soft drinks intake was significantly more in boys than girls. A significantly lower intake of milk and a higher intake of RSB and hot beverages (mainly tea) have been seen among adolescents compared to children. Conclusion: The most important finding is that mean fluid intake of children and adolescents does not meet international adequate intake references for water and fluids. This finding may suggest the necessity of development of the local references. To improve fluid intake habits of children and adolescents, relevant policy making and actions are warranted.

Keywords: Adolescents, beverages, children, water.

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824 Analysing the Cost of Immigrants to the National Health System in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

Authors: T. Theodosiou, P. Polychronidou, A. G. Karasavvoglou

Abstract:

The latest years the number of immigrants at Greece has increased dramatically. Their impact on the National Health System (NHS) has not been yet thoroughly investigated. This paper analyses the cost of immigrants to the NHS hospitals of the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The data are collected from 2005 to 2011 from five different hospitals and are analysed using linear mixed effects models in order to investigate the effects of nationality and year on the cost of hospitalization and treatment. The results show that generally the Greek nationality patients have a higher mean cost of hospitalization compared to the immigrants and that there is an increasing trend for the cost except for the year 2010.

Keywords: Cost, Eastern Macedonia, Thrace, immigrants, national health system.

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823 Bioclimatic Principles and Urban Open Spaces: The Case of Xanthi

Authors: Maria Giannopoulou

Abstract:

Open urban public spaces comprise an important element for the development of social, cultural and economic activities of the population in the modern cities. These spaces are also considered regulators of the region-s climate conditions, providing better thermal, visual and auditory conditions which can be optimized by the application of appropriate strategies of bioclimatic design. The paper focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the recent unification of the open spaces in the centre of Xanthi, a medium – size city in northern Greece, from a bioclimatic perspective, as well as in the creation of suitable methodology. It is based both on qualitative observation of the interventions by fieldwork research and assessment and on quantitative analysis and modeling of the research area.

Keywords: Bioclimatic principles, Quantitative analysis, Sustainability, TownScope III, Urban open spaces

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822 Effect of Isfahan Refinery, Power Plant and Petrochemical on Borkhar District Soil

Authors: A. Gandomkar

Abstract:

This study aimed to evaluate regional soil Borkhar of the metals Lead has been made. In this field study fires visits to the regions. The limit of this study located in the East refineries, petrochemical and power plant to 20 km was selected. The 41 soil samples from depths of 0 to 10 cm in area and were randomized. Soil samples were transported to the laboratory and by air was dry and passed through 2-mil thickness sieve. In the laboratory of physical and chemical characteristics and concentrations of total absorption was measured. The results showed that the amount of lead in soil in many parts of the range higher than the standard limit. Survey maps show that the lead spatial distribution of the region does not special pattern.

Keywords: Soil Pollution, Heavy Metals, Borkhar District, Soil Sampling.

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821 Regional Convergence in per Capita Personal Income in the US and Canada

Authors: Ilona Shiller

Abstract:

This study examines regional convergence in per capita personal income in the US and Canada. We find that the disparity in real per capita income levels across US states (Canadian provinces) has declined, but income levels are not identical. Income levels become more aligned once costs of living are accounted for in relative per capita income series. US states (Canadian provinces) converge at an annual rate of between 1.3% and 2.04% (between 2.15% and 2.37%). A pattern of σ and β-convergence in per capita personal income across regions evident over the entire sample period, is reversed over 1979-1989 (1976-1990) period. The reversal may be due to sectoral or region-specific shocks that have highly persistent effects. The latter explanation might be true for half of the US and most of Canada.

Keywords: regional convergence, regional disparities, per capita income.

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820 Image Similarity: A Genetic Algorithm Based Approach

Authors: R. C. Joshi, Shashikala Tapaswi

Abstract:

The paper proposes an approach using genetic algorithm for computing the region based image similarity. The image is denoted using a set of segmented regions reflecting color and texture properties of an image. An image is associated with a family of image features corresponding to the regions. The resemblance of two images is then defined as the overall similarity between two families of image features, and quantified by a similarity measure, which integrates properties of all the regions in the images. A genetic algorithm is applied to decide the most plausible matching. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated using examples from an image database of general-purpose images, and is shown to produce good results.

Keywords: Image Features, color descriptor, segmented classes, texture descriptors, genetic algorithm.

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819 Factors of Competitiveness in the Wine Industry: an Analysis of Innovation Strategy

Authors: Mª del Valle Fernández Moreno; Isidro Peña García-Pardo; Jesús David Sánchez de Pablo González del Campo

Abstract:

The search for competitive advantages as one of the main activities of a company has become a principle of contemporary theories on Strategic Management. Innovation facilitates a company's adaptation to the global competitive environment, representing the important strategic role that it has to play in relation to managerial performance and, as such, underlines the growing importance of innovation and the use of a company's technological assets. This paper therefore studies the effect in the results of four dimensions of technological innovation strategy on a sample of Spanish wineries, situated in the Castilla La-Mancha region of Spain, all of which are registered under the La Mancha Designation of Origin (DO).

Keywords: Company's strategy, factors of competitiveness, innovation strategy, wine industry

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818 Study of Storms on the Javits Center Green Roof

Authors: A. Cho, H. Sanyal, J. Cataldo

Abstract:

A quantitative analysis of the different variables on both the South and North green roofs of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was taken to find mathematical relationships between net radiation and evapotranspiration (ET), average outside temperature, and the lysimeter weight. Groups of datasets were analyzed, and the relationships were plotted on linear and semi-log graphs to find consistent relationships. Antecedent conditions for each rainstorm were also recorded and plotted against the volumetric water difference within the lysimeter. The first relation was the inverse parabolic relationship between the lysimeter weight and the net radiation and ET. The peaks and valleys of the lysimeter weight corresponded to valleys and peaks in the net radiation and ET respectively, with the 8/22/15 and 1/22/16 datasets showing this trend. The U-shaped and inverse U-shaped plots of the two variables coincided, indicating an inverse relationship between the two variables. Cross variable relationships were examined through graphs with lysimeter weight as the dependent variable on the y-axis. 10 out of 16 of the plots of lysimeter weight vs. outside temperature plots had R² values > 0.9. Antecedent conditions were also recorded for rainstorms, categorized by the amount of precipitation accumulating during the storm. Plotted against the change in the volumetric water weight difference within the lysimeter, a logarithmic regression was found with large R² values. The datasets were compared using the Mann Whitney U-test to see if the datasets were statistically different, using a significance level of 5%; all datasets compared showed a U test statistic value, proving the null hypothesis of the datasets being different from being true.

Keywords: Green roof, green infrastructure, Javits Center, evapotranspiration, net radiation, lysimeter.

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817 Image Segmentation Using the K-means Algorithm for Texture Features

Authors: Wan-Ting Lin, Chuen-Horng Lin, Tsung-Ho Wu, Yung-Kuan Chan

Abstract:

This study aims to segment objects using the K-means algorithm for texture features. Firstly, the algorithm transforms color images into gray images. This paper describes a novel technique for the extraction of texture features in an image. Then, in a group of similar features, objects and backgrounds are differentiated by using the K-means algorithm. Finally, this paper proposes a new object segmentation algorithm using the morphological technique. The experiments described include the segmentation of single and multiple objects featured in this paper. The region of an object can be accurately segmented out. The results can help to perform image retrieval and analyze features of an object, as are shown in this paper.

Keywords: k-mean, multiple objects, segmentation, texturefeatures.

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816 Building and Tree Detection Using Multiscale Matched Filtering

Authors: Abdullah H. Özcan, Dilara Hisar, Yetkin Sayar, Cem Ünsalan

Abstract:

In this study, an automated building and tree detection method is proposed using DSM data and true orthophoto image. A multiscale matched filtering is used on DSM data. Therefore, first watershed transform is applied. Then, Otsu’s thresholding method is used as an adaptive threshold to segment each watershed region. Detected objects are masked with NDVI to separate buildings and trees. The proposed method is able to detect buildings and trees without entering any elevation threshold. We tested our method on ISPRS semantic labeling dataset and obtained promising results.

Keywords: Building detection, tree detection, matched filtering, multiscale, local maximum filtering, watershed segmentation.

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