Search results for: Principal component analysis
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 9252

Search results for: Principal component analysis

1032 Hypoglycemic Activity of Water Soluble Polysaccharides of Yam (Dioscorea hispida Dents) Prepared by Aqueous, Papain, and Tempeh Inoculum Assisted Extractions

Authors: Teti Estiasih, Harijono, Weny Bekti Sunarharum, Atina Rahmawati

Abstract:

This research studied the hypoglycemic effect of water soluble polysaccharide (WSP) extracted from yam (Dioscorea hispida) tuber by three different methods: aqueous extraction, papain assisted extraction, and tempeh inoculums assisted extraction. The two later extraction methods were aimed to remove WSP binding protein to have more pure WSP. The hypoglycemic activities were evaluated by means in vivo test on alloxan induced hyperglycemic rats, glucose response test (GRT), in situ glucose absorption test using everted sac, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis. All yam WSP extracts exhibited ability to decrease blood glucose level in hyperglycemia condition as well as inhibited glucose absorption and SCFA formation. The order of hypoglycemic activity was tempeh inoculums assisted- >papain assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. GRT and in situ glucose absorption test showed that order of inhibition was papain assisted- >tempeh inoculums assisted- >aqueous WSP extracts. Digesta of caecum of yam WSP extracts oral fed rats had more SCFA than control. Tempeh inoculums assisted WSP extract exhibited the most significant hypoglycemic activity.

Keywords: hypoglycemic activity, papain, tempeh inoculums, water soluble polysaccharides, yam (Discorea hispida)

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1031 Effects of Different Fiber Orientations on the Shear Strength Performance of Composite Adhesive Joints

Authors: Ferhat Kadioglu, Hasan Puskul

Abstract:

A composite material with carbon fiber and polymer matrix has been used as adherent for manufacturing adhesive joints. In order to evaluate different fiber orientations on joint performance, the adherents with the 0°, ±15°, ±30°, ±45° fiber orientations were used in the single lap joint configuration. The joints with an overlap length of 25 mm were prepared according to the ASTM 1002 specifications and subjected to tensile loadings. The structural adhesive used was a two-part epoxy to be cured at 70°C for an hour. First, mechanical behaviors of the adherents were measured using three point bending test. In the test, considerations were given to stress to failure and elastic modulus. The results were compared with theoretical ones using rule of mixture. Then, the joints were manufactured in a specially prepared jig, after a proper surface preparation. Experimental results showed that the fiber orientations of the adherents affected the joint performance considerably; the joints with ±45° adherents experienced the worst shear strength, half of those with 0° adherents, and in general, there was a great relationship between the fiber orientations and failure mechanisms. Delamination problems were observed for many joints, which were thought to be due to peel effects at the ends of the overlap. It was proved that the surface preparation applied to the adherent surface was adequate. For further explanation of the results, a numerical work should be carried out using a possible non-linear analysis.

Keywords: Composite materials, adhesive bonding, bonding strength, lap joint, tensile strength.

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1030 Fluid Structure Interaction Induced by Liquid Slosh in Partly Filled Road Tankers

Authors: Guorong Yan, Subhash Rakheja

Abstract:

The liquid cargo contained in a partly-filled road tank vehicle is prone to dynamic slosh movement when subjected to external disturbances. The slosh behavior has been identified as a significant factor impairing the safety of liquid cargo transportation. The laboratory experiments have been conducted for analyzing fluid slosh in partly filled tanks. The experiment results measured under forced harmonic excitations reveal the three-dimensional nature of the fluid motion and coupling between the lateral and longitudinal fluid slosh at resonance. Several spectral components are observed for the transient slosh forces, which can be associated with the excitation, resonance, and beat frequencies. The peak slosh forces and moments in the vicinity of resonance are significantly larger than those of the equivalent rigid mass. Due to the nature of coupling between sloshing fluid and vehicle body, the issue of the dynamic fluid-structure interaction is essential in the analysis of tank-vehicle dynamics. A dynamic pitch plane model of a Tridem truck incorporated the fluid slosh dynamics is developed to analyze the fluid-vehicle interaction under the straight-line braking maneuvers. The results show that the vehicle responses are highly associated with the characteristics of fluid slosh force and moment.

Keywords: Braking performance, fluid induced vibration, fluidslosh, fluid structure interaction, tank trucks, vehicle dynamics.

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1029 Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Generated Waste in Nouri Petrochemical Complex, Assaluyeh, Iran

Authors: L. Heidari, M. Jalili Ghazizade

Abstract:

In recent years, different petrochemical complexes have been established to produce aromatic compounds. Among them, Nouri Petrochemical Complex (NPC) is the largest producer of aromatic raw materials in the world, and is located in south of Iran. Environmental concerns have been raised in this region due to generation of different types of solid waste generated in the process of aromatics production, and subsequently, industrial waste characterization has been thoroughly considered. The aim of this study is qualitative and quantitative characterization of industrial waste generated in the aromatics production process and determination of the best method for industrial waste management. For this purpose, all generated industrial waste during the production process was determined using a checklist. Four main industrial wastes were identified as follows: spent industrial soil, spent catalyst, spent molecular sieves and spent N-formyl morpholine (NFM) solvent. The amount of heavy metals and organic compounds in these wastes were further measured in order to identify the nature and toxicity of such a dangerous compound. Then industrial wastes were classified based on lab analysis results as well as using different international lists of hazardous waste identification such as EPA, UNEP and Basel Convention. Finally, the best method of waste disposal is selected based on environmental, economic and technical aspects. 

Keywords: Spent industrial soil, spent molecular sieve, spent normal ¬formyl -morpholine solvent.

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1028 Investigation of the Effect of Teaching a Thinking and Research Lesson by Cooperative and Traditional Methods on the Creativity of Sixth Grade Students

Authors: Faroogh Khakzad, Marzieh Dehghani, Elahe Hejazi

Abstract:

The present study investigates the effect of teaching a Thinking and Research lesson by cooperative and traditional methods on the creativity of sixth-grade students in Piranshahr province. The statistical society includes all the sixth-grade students of Piranshahr province. The sample of this studytable was selected by available sampling from among male elementary schools of Piranshahr. They were randomly assigned into two groups of cooperative teaching method and traditional teaching method. The design of the study is quasi-experimental with a control group. In this study, to assess students’ creativity, Abedi’s creativity questionnaire was used. Based on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, the reliability of the factor flow was 0.74, innovation was 0.61, flexibility was 0.63, and expansion was 0.68. To analyze the data, t-test, univariate and multivariate covariance analysis were used for evaluation of the difference of means and the pretest and posttest scores. The findings of the research showed that cooperative teaching method does not significantly increase creativity (p > 0.05). Moreover, cooperative teaching method was found to have significant effect on flow factor (p < 0.05), but in innovation and expansion factors no significant effect was observed (p < 0.05).

Keywords: Cooperative teaching method, traditional teaching method, creativity, flow, innovation, flexibility, expansion, thinking and research lesson.

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1027 Further Investigations on Higher Mathematics Scores for Chinese University Students

Authors: Xun Ge

Abstract:

Recently, X. Ge and J. Qian investigated some relations between higher mathematics scores and calculus scores (resp. linear algebra scores, probability statistics scores) for Chinese university students. Based on rough-set theory, they established an information system S = (U,CuD,V, f). In this information system, higher mathematics score was taken as a decision attribute and calculus score, linear algebra score, probability statistics score were taken as condition attributes. They investigated importance of each condition attribute with respective to decision attribute and strength of each condition attribute supporting decision attribute. In this paper, we give further investigations for this issue. Based on the above information system S = (U, CU D, V, f), we analyze the decision rules between condition and decision granules. For each x E U, we obtain support (resp. strength, certainty factor, coverage factor) of the decision rule C —>x D, where C —>x D is the decision rule induced by x in S = (U, CU D, V, f). Results of this paper gives new analysis of on higher mathematics scores for Chinese university students, which can further lead Chinese university students to raise higher mathematics scores in Chinese graduate student entrance examination.

Keywords: Rough set, support, strength, certainty factor, coverage factor.

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1026 Procedure Model for Data-Driven Decision Support Regarding the Integration of Renewable Energies into Industrial Energy Management

Authors: M. Graus, K. Westhoff, X. Xu

Abstract:

The climate change causes a change in all aspects of society. While the expansion of renewable energies proceeds, industry could not be convinced based on general studies about the potential of demand side management to reinforce smart grid considerations in their operational business. In this article, a procedure model for a case-specific data-driven decision support for industrial energy management based on a holistic data analytics approach is presented. The model is executed on the example of the strategic decision problem, to integrate the aspect of renewable energies into industrial energy management. This question is induced due to considerations of changing the electricity contract model from a standard rate to volatile energy prices corresponding to the energy spot market which is increasingly more affected by renewable energies. The procedure model corresponds to a data analytics process consisting on a data model, analysis, simulation and optimization step. This procedure will help to quantify the potentials of sustainable production concepts based on the data from a factory. The model is validated with data from a printer in analogy to a simple production machine. The overall goal is to establish smart grid principles for industry via the transformation from knowledge-driven to data-driven decisions within manufacturing companies.

Keywords: Data analytics, green production, industrial energy management, optimization, renewable energies, simulation.

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1025 Objects Extraction by Cooperating Optical Flow, Edge Detection and Region Growing Procedures

Authors: C. Lodato, S. Lopes

Abstract:

The image segmentation method described in this paper has been developed as a pre-processing stage to be used in methodologies and tools for video/image indexing and retrieval by content. This method solves the problem of whole objects extraction from background and it produces images of single complete objects from videos or photos. The extracted images are used for calculating the object visual features necessary for both indexing and retrieval processes. The segmentation algorithm is based on the cooperation among an optical flow evaluation method, edge detection and region growing procedures. The optical flow estimator belongs to the class of differential methods. It permits to detect motions ranging from a fraction of a pixel to a few pixels per frame, achieving good results in presence of noise without the need of a filtering pre-processing stage and includes a specialised model for moving object detection. The first task of the presented method exploits the cues from motion analysis for moving areas detection. Objects and background are then refined using respectively edge detection and seeded region growing procedures. All the tasks are iteratively performed until objects and background are completely resolved. The method has been applied to a variety of indoor and outdoor scenes where objects of different type and shape are represented on variously textured background.

Keywords: Image Segmentation, Motion Detection, Object Extraction, Optical Flow

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1024 The Response of Winter Wheat to Flooding

Authors: M. E. Ghobadi, M. Ghobadi, A. Zebarjadi

Abstract:

The effect of flooding can be a serious problem for wheat farmers, even at dry land condition. Amount of flooding damage depends on duration flooding, developmental stage, wheat type and variety. Therefore as a factorial experiment in randomized complete design based on winter bread wheat cultivars (Pishtaz, Marvdasht, Shiraz, Zarin, Shahriar, C-81-4, Sardari, Agosta seed, FGS and Azar2) at stages (Non- flooding stress, flooding at tillering and stem elongation stages for 15 days) carried out in Faculty of Agriculture, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. During flooding, soil environment of plant roots were water saturated. Analysis of variance showed that flooding had a significant effect on the number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike and a grain weight. Hence flooding reduces the number of grain per spike between 27.1 to 42.5 percent, grain weight per spike between 34.7 to 54.4 percent and single grain weight between 12.1 to 15.1 percent. Effects of flooding at the tillering stage reduced higher than stem elongation stage on studied traits. The result also showed that flooding at tillering stage delayed spikelet primordial and floret. Between wheat cultivars was significant for traits, but were different reactions. "Shiraz", "Zarin" and "Shahriar" had the most no. grain per spike, but "Zarin" and "Sardari" had the most grain weight per spike and single grain weight, respectively. Also, interaction between start of flooding and cultivar was significant.

Keywords: Flooding, winter wheat, yield components

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1023 A Comparative Analysis of Asymmetric Encryption Schemes on Android Messaging Service

Authors: Mabrouka Algherinai, Fatma Karkouri

Abstract:

Today, Short Message Service (SMS) is an important means of communication. SMS is not only used in informal environment for communication and transaction, but it is also used in formal environments such as institutions, organizations, companies, and business world as a tool for communication and transactions. Therefore, there is a need to secure the information that is being transmitted through this medium to ensure security of information both in transit and at rest. But, encryption has been identified as a means to provide security to SMS messages in transit and at rest. Several past researches have proposed and developed several encryption algorithms for SMS and Information Security. This research aims at comparing the performance of common Asymmetric encryption algorithms on SMS security. The research employs the use of three algorithms, namely RSA, McEliece, and RABIN. Several experiments were performed on SMS of various sizes on android mobile device. The experimental results show that each of the three techniques has different key generation, encryption, and decryption times. The efficiency of an algorithm is determined by the time that it takes for encryption, decryption, and key generation. The best algorithm can be chosen based on the least time required for encryption. The obtained results show the least time when McEliece size 4096 is used. RABIN size 4096 gives most time for encryption and so it is the least effective algorithm when considering encryption. Also, the research shows that McEliece size 2048 has the least time for key generation, and hence, it is the best algorithm as relating to key generation. The result of the algorithms also shows that RSA size 1024 is the most preferable algorithm in terms of decryption as it gives the least time for decryption.

Keywords: SMS, RSA, McEliece, RABIN.

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1022 An Agent Oriented Approach to Operational Profile Management

Authors: Sunitha Ramanujam, Hany El Yamany, Miriam A. M. Capretz

Abstract:

Software reliability, defined as the probability of a software system or application functioning without failure or errors over a defined period of time, has been an important area of research for over three decades. Several research efforts aimed at developing models to improve reliability are currently underway. One of the most popular approaches to software reliability adopted by some of these research efforts involves the use of operational profiles to predict how software applications will be used. Operational profiles are a quantification of usage patterns for a software application. The research presented in this paper investigates an innovative multiagent framework for automatic creation and management of operational profiles for generic distributed systems after their release into the market. The architecture of the proposed Operational Profile MAS (Multi-Agent System) is presented along with detailed descriptions of the various models arrived at following the analysis and design phases of the proposed system. The operational profile in this paper is extended to comprise seven different profiles. Further, the criticality of operations is defined using a new composed metrics in order to organize the testing process as well as to decrease the time and cost involved in this process. A prototype implementation of the proposed MAS is included as proof-of-concept and the framework is considered as a step towards making distributed systems intelligent and self-managing.

Keywords: Software reliability, Software testing, Metrics, Distributed systems, Multi-agent systems

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1021 Experimental and Numerical Study of A/C Outletsand Its Impact on Room Airflow Characteristics

Authors: Mohammed A. Aziz, Ibrahim A. M. Gad, El Shahat F. A. Mohammed, Ramy H. Mohammed

Abstract:

This paper investigates experimental and numerical study of the airflow characteristics for vortex, round and square ceiling diffusers and its effect on the thermal comfort in a ventilated room. Three different thermal comfort criteria namely; Mean Age of the Air (MAA), ventilation effectiveness (E), and Effective Draft Temperature (EDT) have been used to predict the thermal comfort zone inside the room. In experimental work, a sub-scale room is set-up to measure the temperature field in the room. In numerical analysis, unstructured grids have been used to discretize the numerical domain. Conservation equations are solved using FLUENT commercial flow solver. The code is validated by comparing the numerical results obtained from three different turbulence models with the available experimental data. The comparison between the various numerical models shows that the standard k-ε turbulence model can be used to simulate these cases successfully. After validation of the code, effect of supply air velocity on the flow and thermal field could be investigated and hence the thermal comfort. The results show that the pressure coefficient created by the square diffuser is 1.5 times greater than that created by the vortex diffuser. The velocity decay coefficient is nearly the same for square and round diffusers and is 2.6 times greater than that for the vortex diffuser.

Keywords: Ceiling diffuser, Thermal Comfort, MAA, EDT, Fluent, Turbulence model.

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1020 The Impact of Transaction Costs on Rebalancing an Investment Portfolio in Portfolio Optimization

Authors: B. Marasović, S. Pivac, S. V. Vukasović

Abstract:

Constructing a portfolio of investments is one of the most significant financial decisions facing individuals and institutions. In accordance with the modern portfolio theory maximization of return at minimal risk should be the investment goal of any successful investor. In addition, the costs incurred when setting up a new portfolio or rebalancing an existing portfolio must be included in any realistic analysis. In this paper rebalancing an investment portfolio in the presence of transaction costs on the Croatian capital market is analyzed. The model applied in the paper is an extension of the standard portfolio mean-variance optimization model in which transaction costs are incurred to rebalance an investment portfolio. This model allows different costs for different securities, and different costs for buying and selling. In order to find efficient portfolio, using this model, first, the solution of quadratic programming problem of similar size to the Markowitz model, and then the solution of a linear programming problem have to be found. Furthermore, in the paper the impact of transaction costs on the efficient frontier is investigated. Moreover, it is shown that global minimum variance portfolio on the efficient frontier always has the same level of the risk regardless of the amount of transaction costs. Although efficient frontier position depends of both transaction costs amount and initial portfolio it can be concluded that extreme right portfolio on the efficient frontier always contains only one stock with the highest expected return and the highest risk.

Keywords: Croatian capital market, Fractional quadratic programming, Markowitz model, Portfolio optimization, Transaction costs.

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1019 Stature Prediction Model Based On Hand Anthropometry

Authors: Arunesh Chandra, Pankaj Chandna, Surinder Deswal, Rajesh Kumar Mishra, Rajender Kumar

Abstract:

The arm length, hand length, hand breadth and middle finger length of 1540 right-handed industrial workers of Haryana state was used to assess the relationship between the upper limb dimensions and stature. Initially, the data were analyzed using basic univariate analysis and independent t-tests; then simple and multiple linear regression models were used to estimate stature using SPSS (version 17). There was a positive correlation between upper limb measurements (hand length, hand breadth, arm length and middle finger length) and stature (p < 0.01), which was highest for hand length. The accuracy of stature prediction ranged from ± 54.897 mm to ± 58.307 mm. The use of multiple regression equations gave better results than simple regression equations. This study provides new forensic standards for stature estimation from the upper limb measurements of male industrial workers of Haryana (India). The results of this research indicate that stature can be determined using hand dimensions with accuracy, when only upper limb is available due to any reasons likewise explosions, train/plane crashes, mutilated bodies, etc. The regression formula derived in this study will be useful for anatomists, archaeologists, anthropologists, design engineers and forensic scientists for fairly prediction of stature using regression equations.

Keywords: Anthropometric dimensions, Forensic identification, Industrial workers, Stature prediction.

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1018 Water Immersion Recovery for Swimmers in Hot Environments

Authors: Thanura Abeywardena

Abstract:

This study recognized the effectiveness of cold-water immersion recovery post short-term exhaustive exercise. The purpose of this study was to understand if 16-20 °C of cold-water immersion would be beneficial in a tropical environment to achieve an optimal recovery in sprint swim performance in comparison to 10-15 °C of water immersion. Two 100 m-sprint swim performance times were measured along with blood lactate (BLa), heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in a 25 m swimming pool with full body head out horizontal water immersions of 10-15 °C, 16-20 °C and 29-32 °C (pool temperature) for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes of seated passive rest outside; in between the two swim performances. 10 well-trained adult swimmers (5 male and 5 female) within the top twenty in the Sri Lankan nationals swimming championships in 100m Butterfly and Freestyle in the years 2020 & 2021 volunteered for this study. One-way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.05) suggested performance time, BLa and HR had no significant differences between the three conditions after the second sprint, however RPE was significantly different with p = 0.034 between 10-15 °C and 16-20 °C immersion conditions. The study suggested that the recovery post the two cold-water immersion conditions were similar in terms of performance and physiological factors however the 16-20 °C temperature had a better “feel good” factor post sprint 2. Further study is recommended as there was participant bias with the swimmers not reaching optimal levels in sprint 1. Therefore, they might have been possibly fully recovered before sprint 2 invalidating the physiological effect of recovery.

Keywords: Hydrotherapy, blood lactate, fatigue, recovery, sprint-performance, sprint-swimming.

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1017 Processing and Assessment of Quality Characteristics of Composite Baby Foods

Authors: Reihaneh Ahmadzadeh Ghavidel, Mehdi Ghiafeh Davoodi

Abstract:

The usefulness of weaning foods to meet the nutrient needs of children is well recognized, and most of them are precooked roller dried mixtures of cereal and/or legume flours which posses a high viscosity and bulk when reconstituted. The objective of this study was to formulate composite weaning foods using cereals, malted legumes and vegetable powders and analyze them for nutrients, functional properties and sensory attributes. Selected legumes (green gram and lentil) were germinated, dried and dehulled. Roasted wheat, rice, carrot powder and skim milk powder also were used. All the ingredients were mixed in different proportions to get four formulations, made into 30% slurry and dried in roller drier. The products were analyzed for proximate principles, mineral content, functional and sensory qualities. The results of analysis showed following range of constituents per 100g of formulations on dry weight basis, protein, 18.1-18.9 g ; fat, 0.78-1.36 g ; iron, 5.09-6.53 mg; calcium, 265-310 mg. The lowest water absorption capacity was in case of wheat green gram based and the highest was in rice lentil based sample. Overall sensory qualities of all foods were graded as “good" and “very good" with no significant differences. The results confirm that formulated weaning foods were nutritionally superior, functionally appropriate and organoleptically acceptable.

Keywords: malted legumes, weaning foods, nutrition, functional properties

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1016 A Profile of Recent Upsurge of Brucellosis of Veterinary Health Care Workers Engaged in Brucella Vaccination Program in West Bengal, India

Authors: Satadal Das, Parthasarathi Sengupta

Abstract:

With millions of livestock wealth in India including cattle, and buffaloes, the National Animal Disease Control Program targeted a massive Brucella vaccination program. As a part of it in the state of West Bengal Veterinary healthcare assistants participated in the program in 2021. The aim of this study was to elucidate the burden of brucellosis in those healthcare assistants and to pinpoint the main causes of such infection. We contacted the healthcare assistants to find out whether they were infected during the vaccination program. Our findings indicated many Veterinary healthcare assistants who participated in the program developed symptoms and signs suggestive of brucellosis. Laboratory tests indicated many confirmed Brucellosis cases. However, this may not include many asymptomatic cases. Detailed analysis revealed that in most of them there was a history of needle prick injury about a month back during the vaccination program, which was mainly due to ferocious or disturbed animals. Few also complained that they were not properly trained or proper personal protective types of equipment were not provided. All of them were treated in referral hospitals following a standard protocol of the Government Health Department and now they are followed up. Thus we conclude that proper care during the vaccination of animals should be followed, prophylactic treatment for needle prick injuries should be given, and training and supply of personal protective equipment should be monitored.

Keywords: Occupational brucellosis, needle prick injury, brucella vaccination, personal protective equipment.

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1015 Food Safety and Perceived Risk: A Case Study of Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand

Authors: Siripen Yiamjanya, Kevin Wongleedee

Abstract:

Food safety is an important concern for holiday makers in foreign and unfamiliar tourist destinations. In fact, risk from food in these tourist destinations has an influence on tourist perception. This risk can potentially affect physical health and lead to an inability to pursue planned activities. The objective of this paper was to compare foreign tourists- demographics including gender, age and education level, with the level of perceived risk towards food safety. A total of 222 foreign tourists during their stay at Khao San Road in Bangkok were used as the sample. Independent- samples ttest, analysis of variance, and Least Significant Difference or LSD post hoc test were utilized. The findings revealed that there were few demographic differences in level of perceived risk among the foreign tourists. The post hoc test indicated a significant difference among the old and the young tourists, and between the higher and lower level of education. Ranks of tourists- perceived risk towards food safety unveiled some interesting results. Tourists- perceived risk of food safety in established restaurants can be ranked as i) cleanliness of dining utensils, ii) sanitation of food preparation area, and iii) cleanliness of food seasoning and ingredients. Whereas, the tourists- perceived risk of food safety in street food and drink can be ranked as i) cleanliness of stalls and pushcarts, ii) cleanliness of food sold, and iii) personal hygiene of street food hawkers or vendors.

Keywords: Food Safety, Foreign Tourists, Perceived Risk, Khao San Road.

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1014 Effect of Drawbar Force on the Dynamic Characteristics of a Spindle-Tool Holder System

Authors: Jui-Pui Hung, Yu-Sheng Lai, Tzuo-Liang Luo, Kung-Da Wu, Yun-Ji Zhan

Abstract:

This study presented the investigation of the influence of the tool holder interface stiffness on the dynamic characteristics of a spindle tool system. The interface stiffness was produced by drawbar force on the tool holder, which tends to affect the spindle dynamics. In order to assess the influence of interface stiffness on the vibration characteristic of spindle unit, we first created a three dimensional finite element model of a high speed spindle system integrated with tool holder. The key point for the creation of FEM model is the modeling of the rolling interface within the angular contact bearings and the tool holder interface. The former can be simulated by a introducing a series of spring elements between inner and outer rings. The contact stiffness was calculated according to Hertz contact theory and the preload applied on the bearings. The interface stiffness of the tool holder was identified through the experimental measurement and finite element modal analysis. Current results show that the dynamic stiffness was greatly influenced by the tool holder system. In addition, variations of modal damping, static stiffness and dynamic stiffness of the spindle tool system were greatly determined by the interface stiffness of the tool holder which was in turn dependent on the draw bar force applied on the tool holder. Overall, this study demonstrates that identification of the interface characteristics of spindle tool holder is of very importance for the refinement of the spindle tooling system to achieve the optimum machining performance.

Keywords: Dynamic stiffness, Drawbar force, Interface stiffness, Spindle-tool holder.

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1013 Tool Wear of Aluminum/Chromium/Tungsten-Based-Coated Cemented Carbide Tools in Cutting Sintered Steel

Authors: Tadahiro Wada, Hiroyuki Hanyu

Abstract:

In this study, to clarify the effectiveness of an aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated tool for cutting sintered steel, tool wear was experimentally investigated. The sintered steel was turned with the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)- and (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated cemented carbide tools according to the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. Moreover, the tool wear of the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated item was compared with that of the (Al,Cr)N coated tool. Furthermore, to clarify the tool wear mechanism of the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-coating film for cutting sintered steel, Scanning Electron Microscope observation and Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy mapping analysis were conducted on the abraded surface. The following results were obtained: (1) The wear progress of the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated tool was the slowest among that of the five coated tools. (2) Adding carbon (C) to the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coating film was effective for improving the wear-resistance. (3) The main wear mechanism of the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, the (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)- and the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coating films was abrasive wear.

Keywords: Cutting, physical vapor deposition coating method, tool wear, tool wear mechanism, sintered steel.

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1012 Statistical Analysis of Parameters Effects on Maximum Strain and Torsion Angle of FRP Honeycomb Sandwich Panels Subjected to Torsion

Authors: Mehdi Modabberifar, Milad Roodi, Ehsan Souri

Abstract:

In recent years, honeycomb fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich panels have been increasingly used in various industries. Low weight, low price and high mechanical strength are the benefits of these structures. However, their mechanical properties and behavior have not been fully explored. The objective of this study is to conduct a combined numerical-statistical investigation of honeycomb FRP sandwich beams subject to torsion load. In this paper, the effect of geometric parameters of sandwich panel on maximum shear strain in both face and core and angle of torsion in a honeycomb FRP sandwich structures in torsion is investigated. The effect of Parameters including core thickness, face skin thickness, cell shape, cell size, and cell thickness on mechanical behavior of the structure were numerically investigated. Main effects of factors were considered in this paper and regression equations were derived. Taguchi method was employed as experimental design and an optimum parameter combination for the maximum structure stiffness has been obtained. The results showed that cell size and face skin thickness have the most significant impacts on torsion angle, maximum shear strain in face and core.

Keywords: Finite element, honeycomb FRP sandwich panel, torsion, civil engineering.

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1011 Structural Performance Evaluation of Electronic Road Sign Panels Reflecting Damage Scenarios

Authors: Junwon Seo, Bipin Adhikari, Euiseok Jeong

Abstract:

This paper is intended to evaluate the structural performance of welded electronic road signs under various damage scenarios (DSs) using a finite element (FE) model calibrated with full-scale ultimate load testing results. The tested electronic road sign specimen was built with a back skin made of 5052 aluminum and two channels and a frame made of 6061 aluminum, where the back skin was connected to the frame by welding. The size of the tested specimen was 1.52 m long, 1.43 m wide, and 0.28 m deep. An actuator applied vertical loads at the center of the back skin of the specimen, resulting in a displacement of 158.7 mm and an ultimate load of 153.46 kN. Using these testing data, generation and calibration of a FE model of the tested specimen were executed in ABAQUS, indicating that the difference in the ultimate load between the calibrated model simulation and full-scale testing was only 3.32%. Then, six different DSs were simulated where the areas of the welded connection in the calibrated model were diminished for the DSs. It was found that the corners at the back skin-frame joint were prone to connection failure for all the DSs, and failure of the back skin-frame connection occurred remarkably from the distant edges.

Keywords: Computational analysis, damage scenarios, electronic road signs, finite element, welded connections.

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1010 Hazard Identification and Sensitivity of Potential Resource of Emergency Water Supply

Authors: A. Bumbová, M. Čáslavský, F. Božek, J. Dvořák, E. Bakoš

Abstract:

The paper presents the case study of hazard identification and sensitivity of potential resource of emergency water supply as part of the application of methodology classifying the resources of drinking water for emergency supply of population. The case study has been carried out on a selected resource of emergency water supply in one region of the Czech Republic. The hazard identification and sensitivity of potential resource of emergency water supply is based on a unique procedure and developed general registers of selected types of hazards and sensitivities. The registers have been developed with the help of the “Fault Tree Analysis” method in combination with the “What if method”. The identified hazards for the assessed resource include hailstorms and torrential rains, drought, soil erosion, accidents of farm machinery, and agricultural production. The developed registers of hazards and vulnerabilities and a semi-quantitative assessment of hazards for individual parts of hydrological structure and technological elements of presented drilled wells are the basis for a semi-quantitative risk assessment of potential resource of emergency supply of population and the subsequent classification of such resource within the system of crisis planning.

Keywords: Hazard identification, register of hazards, sensitivity identification, register of sensitivity, emergency water supply, state of crisis, resource of emergency water supply, ground water.

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1009 Investigating the Regulation System of the Synchronous Motor Excitation Mode Serving as a Reactive Power Source

Authors: Baghdasaryan Marinka, Ulikyan Azatuhi

Abstract:

The efficient usage of the compensation abilities of the electrical drive synchronous motors used in production processes can essentially improve the technical and economic indices of the process.  Reducing the flows of the reactive electrical energy due to the compensation of reactive power allows to significantly reduce the load losses of power in the electrical networks. As a result of analyzing the scientific works devoted to the issues of regulating the excitation of the synchronous motors, the need for comprehensive investigation and estimation of the excitation mode has been substantiated. By means of the obtained transmission functions, in the Simulink environment of the software package MATLAB, the transition processes of the excitation mode have been studied. As a result of obtaining and estimating the graph of the Nyquist plot and the transient process, the necessity of developing the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) regulator has been justified. The transient processes of the system of the PID regulator have been investigated, and the amplitude–phase characteristics of the system have been estimated. The analysis of the obtained results has shown that the regulation indices of the developed system have been improved. The developed system can be successfully applied for regulating the excitation voltage of different-power synchronous motors, operating with a changing load, ensuring a value of the power coefficient close to 1.

Keywords: Transient process, synchronous motor, excitation mode, regulator, reactive power.

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1008 Adsorption and Electrochemical Regeneration for Industrial Wastewater Treatment

Authors: H. M. Mohammad, A. Martin, N. Brown, N. Hodson, P. Hill, E. Roberts

Abstract:

Graphite intercalation compound (GIC) has been demonstrated to be a useful, low capacity and rapid adsorbent for the removal of organic micropollutants from water. The high electrical conductivity and low capacity of the material lends itself to electrochemical regeneration. Following electrochemical regeneration, equilibrium loading under similar conditions is reported to exceed that achieved by the fresh adsorbent. This behavior is reported in terms of the regeneration efficiency being greater than 100%. In this work, surface analysis techniques are employed to investigate the material in three states: ‘Fresh’, ‘Loaded’ and ‘Regenerated’. ‘Fresh’ GIC is shown to exhibit a hydrogen and oxygen rich surface layer approximately 150 nm thick. ‘Loaded’ GIC shows a similar but slightly thicker surface layer (approximately 370 nm thick) and significant enhancement in the hydrogen and oxygen abundance extending beyond 600 nm from the surface. 'Regenerated’ GIC shows an oxygen rich layer, slightly thicker than the fresh case at approximately 220 nm while showing a very much lower hydrogen enrichment at the surface. Results demonstrate that while the electrochemical regeneration effectively removes the phenol model pollutant, it also oxidizes the exposed carbon surface. These results may have a significant impact on the estimation of adsorbent life.

Keywords: Graphite, adsorbent, electrochemical, regeneration, phenol.

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1007 A Study on Learning Styles and Academic Performance in Relation with Kinesthetic, Verbal and Visual Intelligences

Authors: Salina Budin, Nor Liawati Abu Othman, Shaira Ismail

Abstract:

This study attempts to determine kinesthetic, verbal and visual intelligences among mechanical engineering undergraduate students and explores any probable relation with students’ learning styles and academic performance. The questionnaire used in this study is based on Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory comprising of five elements of learning style; environmental, sociological, emotional, physiological and psychological. Questionnaires are distributed amongst undergraduates in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Additional questions on students’ perception of learning styles and their academic performance are included in the questionnaire. The results show that one third of the students are strongly dominant in the kinesthetic intelligent (33%), followed by a combination of kinesthetic and visual intelligences (29%) and 21% are strongly dominant in all three types of intelligences. There is a statistically significant correlation between kinesthetic, verbal and visual intelligences and students learning styles and academic performances. The ANOVA analysis supports that there is a significant relationship between academic performances and level of kinesthetic, verbal and visual intelligences. In addition, it has also proven a remarkable relationship between academic performances and kinesthetic, verbal and visual learning styles amongst the male and female students. Thus, it can be concluded that, academic achievements can be enhanced by understanding as well as capitalizing the students’ types of intelligences and learning styles.

Keywords: Kinesthetic intelligent, verbal intelligent, visual intelligent, learning style, academic performances.

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1006 Developing of Knowledge-Based System for the Medical Treatment with Herbs

Authors: Rujijan Vichivanives

Abstract:

This research aims to create a knowledge-based system as a database for self-healthcare analysis, diagnosis of simple illnesses, and the use of Thai herbs instead of modern medicine by using principles of Thai traditional medication theory. These were disseminated by website network programs within Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The population used in this study was divided into two groups: the first group consisted of four experts of Thai traditional medication and the second group was 300 website users. The methods used for collecting data were paper questionnaires and poll questionnaires on the website. The statistics used for analyzing data was at an average level. The results were divided into three parts: the first part was the development of a knowledge-based system and the second part was applied programs on website. Both parts could be fulfilled and achieved according to the set goal. The third part was the evaluation of the study: The evaluation of the viewpoints of the experts towards website designs were evaluated at a good level of 4.20. The satisfaction evaluation of the users was found at a good level of average satisfactory level at 4.24. It was found that the young population of those under the age of 16 had less cares about their health than the population of other teenagers, working age adults and those of older age. The research findings should be extended in order to encourage the lifestyle modifications to people of all ages by using the self-healthcare principles.

Keywords: Developing, Herbs, Knowledge-based system, Medical treatment.

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1005 Effect of Concrete Strength and Aspect Ratio on Strength and Ductility of Concrete Columns

Authors: Mohamed A. Shanan, Ashraf H. El-Zanaty, Kamal G. Metwally

Abstract:

This paper presents the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of normal and high strength reinforced concrete columns confined with transverse steel under axial compressive loading. Nineteen normal strength concrete rectangular columns with different variables tested in this research were used to study the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of columns. The paper also presents a nonlinear finite element analysis for these specimens and another twenty high strength concrete square columns tested by other researchers using ANSYS 15 finite element software. The results indicate that the axial force – axial strain relationship obtained from the analytical model using ANSYS are in good agreement with the experimental data. The comparison shows that the ANSYS is capable of modeling and predicting the actual nonlinear behavior of confined normal and high-strength concrete columns under concentric loading. The maximum applied load and the maximum strain have also been confirmed to be satisfactory. Depending on this agreement between the experimental and analytical results, a parametric numerical study was conducted by ANSYS 15 to clarify and evaluate the effect of each variable on strength and ductility of the columns.

Keywords: ANSYS, concrete compressive strength effect, ductility, rectangularity ratio, strength.

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1004 Student Attitude towards Entrepreneurship: A South African and Dutch Comparison

Authors: Natanya Meyer, Johann Landsberg

Abstract:

Unemployment among the youth is a significant problem in South Africa. Large corporations and the public sector simply cannot create enough jobs. Too many youths in South Africa currently do not consider entrepreneurship as an option in order to become independent. Unlike the youth of the Netherlands, South African youth prefer to find employment in the public or private sector. The Netherlands has a much lower unemployment rate than South Africa and the Dutch are generally very entrepreneurial. From early on, entrepreneurship is considered a desirable career option in the Netherlands. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the perceptions of some Dutch and South African students in terms of unemployment and entrepreneurship. Questionnaires were distributed to students at the North West University's Vaal Triangle campus in Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng, South Africa and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. A descriptive statistical analysis approach was followed and the means for the independent questions were calculated. The results demonstrate that the Dutch students are not as concerned about unemployment after completion of their studies as this is not as significant a problem as it is in South Africa. Both groups had positive responses towards the posed questions, but the South African group felt more strongly about the issues. Both groups of students felt that there was a need for more practical entrepreneurship training. The South African education system should focus on practical entrepreneurship training from a young age.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, entrepreneurship development programmes, entrepreneurship intention, Netherlands, South Africa, unemployment.

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1003 Modeling and Analysis of Concrete Slump Using Hybrid Artificial Neural Networks

Authors: Vinay Chandwani, Vinay Agrawal, Ravindra Nagar

Abstract:

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) trained using backpropagation (BP) algorithm are commonly used for modeling material behavior associated with non-linear, complex or unknown interactions among the material constituents. Despite multidisciplinary applications of back-propagation neural networks (BPNN), the BP algorithm possesses the inherent drawback of getting trapped in local minima and slowly converging to a global optimum. The paper present a hybrid artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm approach for modeling slump of ready mix concrete based on its design mix constituents. Genetic algorithms (GA) global search is employed for evolving the initial weights and biases for training of neural networks, which are further fine tuned using the BP algorithm. The study showed that, hybrid ANN-GA model provided consistent predictions in comparison to commonly used BPNN model. In comparison to BPNN model, the hybrid ANNGA model was able to reach the desired performance goal quickly. Apart from the modeling slump of ready mix concrete, the synaptic weights of neural networks were harnessed for analyzing the relative importance of concrete design mix constituents on the slump value. The sand and water constituents of the concrete design mix were found to exhibit maximum importance on the concrete slump value.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, Genetic algorithms, Back-propagation algorithm, Ready Mix Concrete, Slump value.

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