Search results for: automated optical inspection
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1144

Search results for: automated optical inspection

424 Surface Morphology and Formation of Nanostructured Porous GaN by UV-assisted Electrochemical Etching

Authors: L. S. Chuah, Z. Hassan, C. W. Chin, H. Abu Hassan

Abstract:

This article reports on the studies of porous GaN prepared by ultra-violet (UV) assisted electrochemical etching in a solution of 4:1:1 HF: CH3OH:H2O2 under illumination of an UV lamp with 500 W power for 10, 25 and 35 minutes. The optical properties of porous GaN sample were compared to the corresponding as grown GaN. Porosity induced photoluminescence (PL) intensity enhancement was found in these samples. The resulting porous GaN displays blue shifted PL spectra compared to the as-grown GaN. Appearance of the blue shifted emission is correlated with the development of highly anisotropic structures in the morphology. An estimate of the size of the GaN nanostructure can be obtained with the help of a quantized state effective mass theory.

Keywords: Photoluminescence, porous GaN, electrochemical etching, Si, RF-MBE.

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423 A Tool for Rational Assessment of Dynamic Trust in Networked Organizations

Authors: Simon Samwel Msanjila

Abstract:

Networked environments which provide platforms for business organizations are configured in different forms depending on many factors including life time, member characteristics, communication structure, and business objectives, among others. With continuing advances in digital technologies the distance has become a less barrier for business minded collaboration among organizations. With the need and ease to make business collaborate nowadays organizations are sometimes forced to co-work with others that are either unknown or less known to them in terms of history and performance. A promising approach for sustaining established collaboration has been establishment of trust relationship among organizations based on assessed trustworthiness for each participating organization. It has been stated in research that trust in organization is dynamic and thus assessment of trust level must address such dynamic nature. This paper assesses relevant aspects of trust and applies the assessed concepts to propose a semi-automated system for the management of Sustainability and Evolution of trust in organizations participating in specific objective in a networked organizations environment.

Keywords: Trust evolution, trust sustainability, networked organizations, dynamic trust.

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422 Automation of the Maritime UAV Command, Control, Navigation Operations, Simulated in Real-Time Using Kinect Sensor: A Feasibility Study

Authors: Regius Asiimwe, Amir Anvar

Abstract:

This paper describes the process used in the automation of the Maritime UAV commands using the Kinect sensor. The AR Drone is a Quadrocopter manufactured by Parrot [1] to be controlled using the Apple operating systems such as iPhones and Ipads. However, this project uses the Microsoft Kinect SDK and Microsoft Visual Studio C# (C sharp) software, which are compatible with Windows Operating System for the automation of the navigation and control of the AR drone. The navigation and control software for the Quadrocopter runs on a windows 7 computer. The project is divided into two sections; the Quadrocopter control system and the Kinect sensor control system. The Kinect sensor is connected to the computer using a USB cable from which commands can be sent to and from the Kinect sensors. The AR drone has Wi-Fi capabilities from which it can be connected to the computer to enable transfer of commands to and from the Quadrocopter. The project was implemented in C#, a programming language that is commonly used in the automation systems. The language was chosen because there are more libraries already established in C# for both the AR drone and the Kinect sensor. The study will contribute toward research in automation of systems using the Quadrocopter and the Kinect sensor for navigation involving a human operator in the loop. The prototype created has numerous applications among which include the inspection of vessels such as ship, airplanes and areas that are not accessible by human operators.

Keywords: UAV, AR drone, Kinect Sensors, Automation, Real time, C sharp, Microsoft Kinect SDK.

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421 Applying Spanning Tree Graph Theory for Automatic Database Normalization

Authors: Chetneti Srisa-an

Abstract:

In Knowledge and Data Engineering field, relational database is the best repository to store data in a real world. It has been using around the world more than eight decades. Normalization is the most important process for the analysis and design of relational databases. It aims at creating a set of relational tables with minimum data redundancy that preserve consistency and facilitate correct insertion, deletion, and modification. Normalization is a major task in the design of relational databases. Despite its importance, very few algorithms have been developed to be used in the design of commercial automatic normalization tools. It is also rare technique to do it automatically rather manually. Moreover, for a large and complex database as of now, it make even harder to do it manually. This paper presents a new complete automated relational database normalization method. It produces the directed graph and spanning tree, first. It then proceeds with generating the 2NF, 3NF and also BCNF normal forms. The benefit of this new algorithm is that it can cope with a large set of complex function dependencies.

Keywords: Relational Database, Functional Dependency, Automatic Normalization, Primary Key, Spanning tree.

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420 Automatic Light Control in Domotics using Artificial Neural Networks

Authors: Carlos Machado, José A. Mendes

Abstract:

Home Automation is a field that, among other subjects, is concerned with the comfort, security and energy requirements of private homes. The configuration of automatic functions in this type of houses is not always simple to its inhabitants requiring the initial setup and regular adjustments. In this work, the ubiquitous computing system vision is used, where the users- action patterns are captured, recorded and used to create the contextawareness that allows the self-configuration of the home automation system. The system will try to free the users from setup adjustments as the home tries to adapt to its inhabitants- real habits. In this paper it is described a completely automated process to determine the light state and act on them, taking in account the users- daily habits. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used as a pattern recognition method, classifying for each moment the light state. The work presented uses data from a real house where a family is actually living.

Keywords: ANN, Home Automation, Neural Systems, PatternRecognition, Ubiquitous Computing.

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419 Systematic Study of the p, d and 3He Elastic Scattering on 6Li

Authors: A. Amar, N. Burtebayev, Kerimkulov Zhambul, Sh. Hamada, N. Amangeldi

Abstract:

the elastic scattering of protons, deuterons and 3He on 6Li at different incident energies have been analyzed in the framework of the optical model using ECIS88 as well as SPI GENOA codes. The potential parameters were extracted in the phenomenological treatment of measured by us angular distributions and literature data. A good agreement between theoretical and experimental differential cross sections was obtained in whole angular range. Parameters for real part of potential have been also calculated microscopically with singleand double-folding model for the p and d, 3He scattering, respectively, using DFPOT code. For best agreement with experiment the normalization factor N for the potential depth is obtained in the range of 0.7-0.9.

Keywords: Elastic scattering, Esis88 Code single and doublefolding model, phenomenological, DWBA.

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418 Localisation of Anatomical Soft Tissue Landmarks of the Head in CT Images

Authors: M. Ovinis, D. Kerr, K. Bouazza-Marouf, M. Vloeberghs

Abstract:

In this paper, algorithms for the automatic localisation of two anatomical soft tissue landmarks of the head the medial canthus (inner corner of the eye) and the tragus (a small, pointed, cartilaginous flap of the ear), in CT images are describet. These landmarks are to be used as a basis for an automated image-to-patient registration system we are developing. The landmarks are localised on a surface model extracted from CT images, based on surface curvature and a rule based system that incorporates prior knowledge of the landmark characteristics. The approach was tested on a dataset of near isotropic CT images of 95 patients. The position of the automatically localised landmarks was compared to the position of the manually localised landmarks. The average difference was 1.5 mm and 0.8 mm for the medial canthus and tragus, with a maximum difference of 4.5 mm and 2.6 mm respectively.The medial canthus and tragus can be automatically localised in CT images, with performance comparable to manual localisation

Keywords: Anatomical soft tissue landmarks, automatic localisation, Computed Tomography (CT)

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417 Low-Cost Robotic-Assisted Laparoscope

Authors: Ege Can Onal, Enver Ersen, Meltem Elitas

Abstract:

Laparoscopy is a surgical operation, well known as keyhole surgery. The operation is performed through small holes, hence, scars of a patient become much smaller, patients can recover in a short time and the hospital stay becomes shorter in comparison to an open surgery. Several tools are used at laparoscopic operations; among them, the laparoscope has a crucial role. It provides the vision during the operation, which will be the main focus in here. Since the operation area is very small, motion of the surgical tools might be limited in laparoscopic operations compared to traditional surgeries. To overcome this limitation, most of the laparoscopic tools have become more precise, dexterous, multi-functional or automated. Here, we present a robotic-assisted laparoscope that is controlled with pedals directly by a surgeon. Thus, the movement of the laparoscope might be controlled better, so there will not be a need to calibrate the camera during the operation. The need for an assistant that controls the movement of the laparoscope will be eliminated. The duration of the laparoscopic operation might be shorter since the surgeon will directly operate the camera.

Keywords: Laparoscope, laparoscopy, low-cost, minimally invasive surgery, robotic-assisted surgery.

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416 Segmentation Free Nastalique Urdu OCR

Authors: Sobia T. Javed, Sarmad Hussain, Ameera Maqbool, Samia Asloob, Sehrish Jamil, Huma Moin

Abstract:

The electronically available Urdu data is in image form which is very difficult to process. Printed Urdu data is the root cause of problem. So for the rapid progress of Urdu language we need an OCR systems, which can help us to make Urdu data available for the common person. Research has been carried out for years to automata Arabic and Urdu script. But the biggest hurdle in the development of Urdu OCR is the challenge to recognize Nastalique Script which is taken as standard for writing Urdu language. Nastalique script is written diagonally with no fixed baseline which makes the script somewhat complex. Overlap is present not only in characters but in the ligatures as well. This paper proposes a method which allows successful recognition of Nastalique Script.

Keywords: HMM, Image processing, Optical CharacterRecognition, Urdu OCR.

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415 Analysis of Residual Stresses and Angular Distortion in Stiffened Cylindrical Shell Fillet Welds Using Finite Element Method

Authors: M. R. Daneshgar, S. E. Habibi, E. Daneshgar, A. Daneshgar

Abstract:

In this paper, a two-dimensional method is developed to simulate the fillet welds in a stiffened cylindrical shell, using finite element method. The stiffener material is aluminum 2519. The thermo-elasto-plastic analysis is used to analyze the thermo-mechanical behavior. Due to the high heat flux rate of the welding process, two uncouple thermal and mechanical analysis are carried out instead of performing a single couple thermo-mechanical simulation. In order to investigate the effects of the welding procedures, two different welding techniques are examined. The resulted residual stresses and distortions due to different welding procedures are obtained. Furthermore, this study employed the technique of element birth and death to simulate the weld filler variation with time in fillet welds. The obtained results are in good agreement with the published experimental and three-dimensional numerical simulation results. Therefore, the proposed 2D modeling technique can effectively give the corresponding results of 3D models. Furthermore, by inspection of the obtained residual hoop and transverse stresses and angular distortions, proper welding procedure is suggested.

Keywords: Stiffened cylindrical shell, fillet welds, residual stress, angular distortion, finite element method.

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414 Meshed Antenna for Ku-band Wireless Communication

Authors: Chokri Baccouch, Chayma Bahhar, Hedi Sakli, Nizar Sakli

Abstract:

In this article, we present the combination of an antenna patch structure with a photovoltaic cell in one device for telecommunication applications in isolated environments. The radiating patch element of a patch antenna was replaced by a solar cell. DC current generation is the original feature of the solar cell, but now it was additionally able to receive and transmit electromagnetic waves. A mathematical model which serves in the minimization of power losses of the cell and therefore the improvement in conversion performance was studied. Simulation results of this antenna show a resonance at a frequency of 16.55 GHz in Ku-band with a gain of 4.24 dBi.

Keywords: Electric power collected, optical and electrical losses, optimization of the grid of collection, patch antenna, photovoltaic cell.

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413 Performance Analysis of Proprietary and Non-Proprietary Tools for Regression Testing Using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: K. Hema Shankari, R. Thirumalaiselvi, N. V. Balasubramanian

Abstract:

The present paper addresses to the research in the area of regression testing with emphasis on automated tools as well as prioritization of test cases. The uniqueness of regression testing and its cyclic nature is pointed out. The difference in approach between industry, with business model as basis, and academia, with focus on data mining, is highlighted. Test Metrics are discussed as a prelude to our formula for prioritization; a case study is further discussed to illustrate this methodology. An industrial case study is also described in the paper, where the number of test cases is so large that they have to be grouped as Test Suites. In such situations, a genetic algorithm proposed by us can be used to reconfigure these Test Suites in each cycle of regression testing. The comparison is made between a proprietary tool and an open source tool using the above-mentioned metrics. Our approach is clarified through several tables.

Keywords: APFD metric, genetic algorithm, regression testing, RFT tool, test case prioritization, selenium tool.

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412 Failure Analysis of a 304 Stainless Steel Flange Crack at Pipeline Transportation of Ethylene

Authors: Parisa Hasanpour, Bahram Borooghani, Vahid Asadi

Abstract:

In the current research, a catastrophic failure of a 304 stainless steel flange at pipeline transportation of ethylene in a petrochemical refinery was studied. Cracking was found in the flange after about 78840h service. Through the chemical analysis and tensile tests, in addition to microstructural analysis such as optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on the failed part, it found that the fatigue was responsible for the fracture of the flange, which originated from bumps and depressions on the outer surface and propagated by vibration caused by the working condition.

Keywords: Failure analysis, 304 stainless steel, fatigue, flange, petrochemical refinery.

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411 A Collaborative Platform for Multilingual Ontology Development

Authors: Ahmed Tawfik, Fausto Giunchiglia, Vincenzo Maltese

Abstract:

Ontologies provide a common understanding of a specific domain of interest that can be communicated between people and used as background knowledge for automated reasoning in a wide range of applications. In this paper, we address the design of multilingual ontologies following well-defined knowledge engineering methodologies with the support of novel collaborative development approaches. In particular, we present a collaborative platform which allows ontologies to be developed incrementally in multiple languages. This is made possible via an appropriate mapping between language independent concepts and one lexicalization per language (or a lexical gap in case such lexicalization does not exist). The collaborative platform has been designed to support the development of the Universal Knowledge Core, a multilingual ontology currently in English, Italian, Chinese, Mongolian, Hindi and Bangladeshi. Its design follows a workflow-based development methodology that models resources as a set of collaborative objects and assigns customizable workflows to build and maintain each collaborative object in a community driven manner, with extensive support of modern web 2.0 social and collaborative features.

Keywords: Knowledge Diversity, Knowledge Representation, Ontology Development.

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410 Characterization of HD-V2 Gafchromic Film for Measurement of Spatial Dose Distribution from Alpha Particle of 5.5 MeV

Authors: A. Aydarous, M. El Ghazaly

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of the newly released Gafchromic HD-V2 film for alpha particle of 5.5 MeV. Gafchromic HD-V2 was exposed to alpha particles of energy 5 MeV from 241Am for different durations. Then the films were scanned with a flatbed scanner. The dose response curve up to 2200 Gy has been achieved. The film’s reproducibility and sensitivity were evaluated. The results obtained show that the net optical density increases almost exponentially with the increase in the exposure time, and it becomes saturated after prolonged exposure times. The red channel shows the highest sensitivity, with a value of 4 x 10-3 Gy-1 at netOD of 0.4. The inter-film reproducibility was measured and the relative uncertainty found was 1.7 %, 2.1 % and 2.3 % for grey, red and green channels, respectively.

Keywords: Alpha dosimetry, 241Am, Gafchromic film.

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409 The SEMONT Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Environmental EMF Pollution

Authors: Dragan Kljajic, Nikola Djuric, Karolina Kasas-Lazetic, Danka Antic

Abstract:

Wireless communications have been expanded very fast in recent decades. This technology relies on an extensive network of base stations and antennas, using radio frequency signals to transmit information. Devices that use wireless communication, while offering various services, basically act as sources of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF). Such devices are permanently present in human vicinity and almost constantly radiate, causing EMF pollution of the environment. This fact has initiated development of modern systems for observation of the EMF pollution, as well as for risk assessment. This paper presents the Serbian electromagnetic field monitoring network – SEMONT, designed for automated, remote and continuous broadband monitoring of EMF in the environment. Measurement results of the SEMONT monitoring at one of the test locations, within the main campus of the University of Novi Sad, are presented and discussed, along with corresponding exposure assessment of the general population, regarding the Serbian legislation.

Keywords: EMF monitoring, exposure assessment, sensor nodes, wireless network.

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408 GSM Based Automated Embedded System for Monitoring and Controlling of Smart Grid

Authors: Amit Sachan

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to acquire the remote electrical parameters like Voltage, Current, and Frequency from Smart grid and send these real time values over GSM network using GSM Modem/phone along with temperature at power station. This project is also designed to protect the electrical circuitry by operating an Electromagnetic Relay. The Relay can be used to operate a Circuit Breaker to switch off the main electrical supply. User can send commands in the form of SMS messages to read the remote electrical parameters. This system also can automatically send the real time electrical parameters periodically (based on time settings) in the form of SMS. This system also send SMS alerts whenever the Circuit Breaker trips or whenever the Voltage or Current exceeds the predefined limits.

Keywords: GSM Modem, Initialization of ADC module of microcontroller, PIC-C compiler for Embedded C programming, PIC kit 2 programmer for dumping code into Micro controller, Express SCH for Circuit design, Proteus for hardware simulation.

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407 Wet Sliding Wear and Frictional Behavior of Commercially Available Perspex

Authors: S. Reaz Ahmed, M. S. Kaiser

Abstract:

The tribological behavior of commercially used Perspex was evaluated under dry and wet sliding condition using a pin-on-disc wear tester with different applied loads ranging from 2.5 to 20 N. Experiments were conducted with varying sliding distance from 0.2 km to 4.6 km, wherein the sliding velocity was kept constant, 0.64 ms-1. The results reveal that the weight loss increases with applied load and the sliding distance. The nature of the wear rate was very similar in both the sliding environments in which initially the wear rate increased very rapidly with increasing sliding distance and then progressed to a slower rate. Moreover, the wear rate in wet sliding environment was significantly lower than that under dry sliding condition. The worn surfaces were characterized by optical microscope and SEM. It is found that surface modification has significant effect on sliding wear performance of Perspex.

Keywords: Perspex, wear, friction, SEM.

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406 Formal Verification of a Multicast Protocol in Mobile Networks

Authors: M. Matash Borujerdi, S.M. Mirzababaei

Abstract:

As computer network technology becomes increasingly complex, it becomes necessary to place greater requirements on the validity of developing standards and the resulting technology. Communication networks are based on large amounts of protocols. The validity of these protocols have to be proved either individually or in an integral fashion. One strategy for achieving this is to apply the growing field of formal methods. Formal methods research defines systems in high order logic so that automated reasoning can be applied for verification. In this research we represent and implement a formerly announced multicast protocol in Prolog language so that certain properties of the protocol can be verified. It is shown that by using this approach some minor faults in the protocol were found and repaired. Describing the protocol as facts and rules also have other benefits i.e. leads to a process-able knowledge. This knowledge can be transferred as ontology between systems in KQML format. Since the Prolog language can increase its knowledge base every time, this method can also be used to learn an intelligent network.

Keywords: Formal methods, MobiCast, Mobile Network, Multicast.

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405 Augmented Reality for Maintenance Operator for Problem Inspections

Authors: Chong-Yang Qiao, Teeravarunyou Sakol

Abstract:

Current production-oriented factories need maintenance operators to work in shifts monitoring and inspecting complex systems and different equipment in the situation of mechanical breakdown. Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging technology that embeds data into the environment for situation awareness to help maintenance operators make decisions and solve problems. An application was designed to identify the problem of steam generators and inspection centrifugal pumps. The objective of this research was to find the best medium of AR and type of problem solving strategies among analogy, focal object method and mean-ends analysis. Two scenarios of inspecting leakage were temperature and vibration. Two experiments were used in usability evaluation and future innovation, which included decision-making process and problem-solving strategy. This study found that maintenance operators prefer build-in magnifier to zoom the components (55.6%), 3D exploded view to track the problem parts (50%), and line chart to find the alter data or information (61.1%). There is a significant difference in the use of analogy (44.4%), focal objects (38.9%) and mean-ends strategy (16.7%). The marked differences between maintainers and operators are of the application of a problem solving strategy. However, future work should explore multimedia information retrieval which supports maintenance operators for decision-making.

Keywords: Augmented reality, situation awareness, decision-making, problem-solving.

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404 Alphanumeric Hand-Prints Classification: Similarity Analysis between Local Decisions

Authors: G. Dimauro, S. Impedovo, M.G. Lucchese, R. Modugno, G. Pirlo

Abstract:

This paper presents the analysis of similarity between local decisions, in the process of alphanumeric hand-prints classification. From the analysis of local characteristics of handprinted numerals and characters, extracted by a zoning method, the set of classification decisions is obtained and the similarity among them is investigated. For this purpose the Similarity Index is used, which is an estimator of similarity between classifiers, based on the analysis of agreements between their decisions. The experimental tests, carried out using numerals and characters from the CEDAR and ETL database, respectively, show to what extent different parts of the patterns provide similar classification decisions.

Keywords: Handwriting Recognition, Optical Character Recognition, Similarity Index, Zoning.

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403 Recognition-based Segmentation in Persian Character Recognition

Authors: Mohsen Zand, Ahmadreza Naghsh Nilchi, S. Amirhassan Monadjemi

Abstract:

Optical character recognition of cursive scripts presents a number of challenging problems in both segmentation and recognition processes in different languages, including Persian. In order to overcome these problems, we use a newly developed Persian word segmentation method and a recognition-based segmentation technique to overcome its segmentation problems. This method is robust as well as flexible. It also increases the system-s tolerances to font variations. The implementation results of this method on a comprehensive database show a high degree of accuracy which meets the requirements for commercial use. Extended with a suitable pre and post-processing, the method offers a simple and fast framework to develop a full OCR system.

Keywords: OCR, Persian, Recognition, Segmentation.

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402 Influence of Seasons on Honeybee Wooden Hives Attack by Termites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Authors: A. A. Aiyeloja, G.A. Adedeji, S. L. Larinde

Abstract:

Termites have been observed as major pre-colonisation and post-colonisation pest insect of honeybees’ wooden hives in Nigeria. However, pest situation studies in modern beekeeping have been largely directed towards those pests that affect honeybees rather than the biological structure (wood) which houses the honeybees and the influence of seasons on the pests’ activities against the hives. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of seasons on the intensity of hives attacks by termites for 2 years in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State using visual inspection. The Experimental Apiary was established with 15 Kenyan’s top bar hives made of Triplochiton scleroxylon wood that were strategically placed and observed within the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management arboretum. The colonies hives consistently showed comparatively lower termite’s infestation levels in the dry season and, consequently, also lower attacks on the colonized hives. The result indicated raining season as a distinct period for more destructive activities of termites on the hives and strongly associated with dryness of the hives. Since previous study and observations have linked colonization with dry season coupled with minimal attacked on colonized hives; the non-colonised hives should be removed from the field at the onset of raining season and returned two weeks prior to dry season to reduce hives degradation by pests.

Keywords: Attack, hives degradation, Nigeria, seasons, termites.

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401 Neural Network based Texture Analysis of Liver Tumor from Computed Tomography Images

Authors: K.Mala, V.Sadasivam, S.Alagappan

Abstract:

Advances in clinical medical imaging have brought about the routine production of vast numbers of medical images that need to be analyzed. As a result an enormous amount of computer vision research effort has been targeted at achieving automated medical image analysis. Computed Tomography (CT) is highly accurate for diagnosing liver tumors. This study aimed to evaluate the potential role of the wavelet and the neural network in the differential diagnosis of liver tumors in CT images. The tumors considered in this study are hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangio carcinoma, hemangeoma and hepatoadenoma. Each suspicious tumor region was automatically extracted from the CT abdominal images and the textural information obtained was used to train the Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) to classify the tumors. Results obtained were evaluated with the help of radiologists. The system differentiates the tumor with relatively high accuracy and is therefore clinically useful.

Keywords: Fuzzy c means clustering, texture analysis, probabilistic neural network, LVQ neural network.

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400 The Effect of Sodium Bicarbonate on the Mg and P Concentrations in Turkish Black and Green Tea

Authors: E. Moroydor Derun, T. Yalcin, O. Dere Ozdemir, A. S. Kipcak, N. Tugrul, S. Piskin

Abstract:

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages all over the world. Especially, black and green teas are preferred to consume. In Turkey, some local tea houses use sodium bicarbonate (SB) to obtain more infusion by using less than the amount of tea. Therefore, the addition of SB to black and green teas affects element concentrations of these teas. In this study, determination of magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) contents in black and green teas aimed for conscious consumption, after the addition of SB. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used for these analysis. The results of this study showed that the concentrations of Mg and P decreased by adding SB from 11.020, 21.915 to 10.009, 17.520 in black tea and from 12.605, 14.550 to 8.118, 9.425 in green tea, respectively. The addition of SB on analyzed teas is not recommended to cause reducing intake percentages of Mg and P from the essential elements.

Keywords: Elements, ICP-OES, sodium bicarbonate, tea.

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399 Rock Slope Stabilization and Protection for Roads and Multi-Storey Structures in Jabal Omar, Saudi Arabia

Authors: Ibrahim Abdel Gadir Malik, Dafalla Siddig Dafalla, Abdelazim Ibrahim

Abstract:

Jabal Omar is located in the western side of Makkah city in Saudi Arabia. The proposed Jabal Omar Development project includes several multi-storey buildings, roads, bridges and below ground structures founded at various depths. In this study, geological mapping and site inspection which covered pre-selected areas were carried out within the easily accessed parts. Geological features; including rock types, structures, degree of weathering, and geotechnical hazards were observed and analyzed with specified software and also were documented in form of photographs. The presence of joints and fractures in the area made the rock blocks small and weak. The site is full of jointing; it was observed that, the northern side consists of 3 to 4 jointing systems with 2 random fractures associated with dykes. The southern part is affected by 2 to 3 jointing systems with minor fault and shear zones. From the field measurements and observations, it was concluded that, the Jabal Omar intruded by andesitic and basaltic dykes of different thickness and orientation. These dykes made the outcrop weak, highly deformed and made the rock masses sensitive to weathering.

Keywords: Rock, slope, stabilization, protection, Makkah.

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398 Automated Detection of Alzheimer Disease Using Region Growing technique and Artificial Neural Network

Authors: B. Al-Naami, N. Gharaibeh, A. AlRazzaq Kheshman

Abstract:

Alzheimer is known as the loss of mental functions such as thinking, memory, and reasoning that is severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functioning. The appearance of Alzheimer Disease symptoms (AD) are resulted based on which part of the brain has a variety of infection or damage. In this case, the MRI is the best biomedical instrumentation can be ever used to discover the AD existence. Therefore, this paper proposed a fusion method to distinguish between the normal and (AD) MRIs. In this combined method around 27 MRIs collected from Jordanian Hospitals are analyzed based on the use of Low pass -morphological filters to get the extracted statistical outputs through intensity histogram to be employed by the descriptive box plot. Also, the artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to test the performance of this approach. Finally, the obtained result of t-test with confidence accuracy (95%) has compared with classification accuracy of ANN (100 %). The robust of the developed method can be considered effectively to diagnose and determine the type of AD image.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease, Brain MRI analysis, Morphological filter, Box plot, Intensity histogram, ANN.

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397 Segmenting Ultrasound B-Mode Images Using RiIG Distributions and Stochastic Optimization

Authors: N. Mpofu, M. Sears

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for delineating the endocardial wall from a human heart ultrasound scan. We assume that the gray levels in the ultrasound images are independent and identically distributed random variables with different Rician Inverse Gaussian (RiIG) distributions. Both synthetic and real clinical data will be used for testing the algorithm. Algorithm performance will be evaluated using the expert radiologist evaluation of a soft copy of an ultrasound scan during the scanning process and secondly, doctor’s conclusion after going through a printed copy of the same scan. Successful implementation of this algorithm should make it possible to differentiate normal from abnormal soft tissue and help disease identification, what stage the disease is in and how best to treat the patient. We hope that an automated system that uses this algorithm will be useful in public hospitals especially in Third World countries where problems such as shortage of skilled radiologists and shortage of ultrasound machines are common. These public hospitals are usually the first and last stop for most patients in these countries.

Keywords: Endorcardial Wall, Rician Inverse Distributions, Segmentation, Ultrasound Images.

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396 Real-Time Specific Weed Recognition System Using Histogram Analysis

Authors: Irshad Ahmad, Abdul Muhamin Naeem, Muhammad Islam

Abstract:

Information on weed distribution within the field is necessary to implement spatially variable herbicide application. Since hand labor is costly, an automated weed control system could be feasible. This paper deals with the development of an algorithm for real time specific weed recognition system based on Histogram Analysis of an image that is used for the weed classification. This algorithm is specifically developed to classify images into broad and narrow class for real-time selective herbicide application. The developed system has been tested on weeds in the lab, which have shown that the system to be very effectiveness in weed identification. Further the results show a very reliable performance on images of weeds taken under varying field conditions. The analysis of the results shows over 95 percent classification accuracy over 140 sample images (broad and narrow) with 70 samples from each category of weeds.

Keywords: Image Processing, real-time recognition, Weeddetection.

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395 Production of Spherical Ag/ZnO Nanocomposite Particles for Photocatalytic Applications

Authors: K. B. Dermenci, B. Ebin, S.Gürmen

Abstract:

Noble metal participation in nanostructured semiconductor catalysts has drawn much interest because of their improved properties. Recently, it has been discussed by many researchers that Ag participation in TiO2, CuO, ZnO semiconductors showed improved photocatalytic and optical properties. In this research, Ag/ZnO nanocomposite particles were prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis(USP) Method. 0.1M silver and zinc nitrate aqueous solutions were used as precursor solutions. The Ag:Zn atomic ratio of the solution was selected 1:1. Experiments were taken place under constant air flow of 400 mL/min at 800°C furnace temperature. Particles were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The crystallite sizes of Ag and ZnO in composite particles are 24.6 nm, 19.7 nm respectively. Although, spherical nanocomposite particles are in a range of 300- 800 nm, these particles are formed by the aggregation of primary particles which are in a range of 20-60 nm.

Keywords: Ag/ZnO nanocatalysts, Nanotechnology, USP

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