Search results for: Decision Support System.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10443

Search results for: Decision Support System.

1443 Retrofitting of Beam-Column Joint Using CFRP and Steel Plate

Authors: N. H. Hamid, N. D. Hadi, K. D. Ghani

Abstract:

This paper presents the retrofitting of beam-column joint using CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) and steel plate. This specimen was tested until failure up to 1.0% drift. This joint suffered severe damages and diagonal cracks at upper crack at upper column before retrofitted. CFRP were wrapped at corbel, bottom and top of the column. Steel plates with bonding were attached to the two beams and the jointing system. This retrofitted specimen is tested again under lateral cyclic loading up 1.75% drift. Visual observations show that the cracks started at joint when 0.5% drift applied at top of column. Damage of retrofitted beam-column joint occurred inside the CFRP and it cannot be seen from outside. Analysis of elastic stiffness, lateral strength, ductility, hysteresis loops and equivalent viscous damping shows that these values are higher than before retrofitting. Therefore, it is recommended to use this type of retrofitting method for beam-column joint with corbel which suffers severe damage after the earthquake.

Keywords: Beam-Column joint, ductility, stiffness, retrofitting.

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1442 Effects of Additives on Thermal Decompositions of Carbon Black/High Density Polyethylene Compounds

Authors: Orathai Pornsunthorntawee, Wareerom Polrut, Nopphawan Phonthammachai

Abstract:

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

Keywords: Antioxidant, Stearate, Carbon black, Polyethylene.

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1441 Three Dimensional Numerical Simulation of a Full Scale CANDU Reactor Moderator to Study Temperature Fluctuations

Authors: A. Sarchami, N. Ashgriz, M. Kwee

Abstract:

Threedimensional numerical simulations are conducted on a full scale CANDU Moderator and Transient variations of the temperature and velocity distributions inside the tank are determined. The results show that the flow and temperature distributions inside the moderator tank are three dimensional and no symmetry plane can be identified.Competition between the upward moving buoyancy driven flows and the downward moving momentum driven flows, results in the formation of circulation zones. The moderator tank operates in the buoyancy driven mode and any small disturbances in the flow or temperature makes the system unstable and asymmetric. Different types of temperature fluctuations are noted inside the tank: (i) large amplitude are at the boundaries between the hot and cold (ii) low amplitude are in the core of the tank (iii) high frequency fluctuations are in the regions with high velocities and (iv) low frequency fluctuations are in the regions with lower velocities.

Keywords: Bruce, Fluctuations, Numerical, Temperature, Thermal hydraulics

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1440 The Influence of Disturbances Generated by Arc Furnaces on the Power Quality

Authors: Z. Olczykowski

Abstract:

The paper presents the impact of work on the electric arc furnace. Arc equipment is one of the largest receivers powered by the power system. Electric arc disturbances arising during melting process occurring in these furnaces are the cause of an abrupt change of the passive power of furnaces. Currents drawn by these devices undergo an abrupt change, which in turn cause voltage fluctuations and light flicker. The quantitative evaluation of the voltage fluctuations is now the basic criterion of assessment of an influence of unquiet receiver on the supplying net. The paper presents the method of determination of range of voltage fluctuations and light flicker at parallel operation of arc devices. The results of measurements of voltage fluctuations and light flicker indicators recorded in power supply networks of steelworks were presented, with different number of parallel arc devices. Measurements of energy quality parameters were aimed at verifying the proposed method in practice. It was also analyzed changes in other parameters of electricity: the content of higher harmonics, asymmetry, voltage dips.

Keywords: Power quality, arc furnaces, propagation of voltage fluctuations.

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1439 Phytoremediation Rates of Water Hyacinth in an Aquaculture Effluent Hydroponic System

Authors: E. A. Kiridi, A. O. Ogunlela

Abstract:

Conventional wastewater treatment plants of activated carbon, electrodialysis, ion exchange, reverse osmosis etc. are expensive to install, operate and maintain especially in developing countries; therefore, the use of aquatic macrophytes for wastewater purification is a viable alternative. On the first day of experimentation, approximately 100g of water hyacinth was introduced into the hydroponic units in four replicates. The water quality parameters measured were total suspended solids (TSS), pH and electrical conductivity (EC). Others were concentration of ammonium–nitrogen (NH4+-N), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2--N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3--N), phosphate–phosphorus (PO43--P), and biomass value. At phytoremediation intervals of 7, 14, 21 and 28 days, the biomass recorded were 438.2 g, 600.7 g, 688.2 g and 725.7 g. Water hyacinth was able to reduce the pollutant concentration of all the selected parameter. The percentage reduction of pH ranged from 1.9% to 14.7%, EC from 49.8% to 97.0%, TDS from 50.4% to 97.6%, TSS from 34.0% to 78.3%, NH4+-N from 38.9% to 85.2%, NO2--N from 0% to 84.6%, NO3--N from 63.2% to 98.8% and PO43--P from 10% to 88.0%. Paired sample t-test shows that at 95% confidence level, it can be concluded statistically that the inequality between the pre-treatment and post-treatment values are significant. This suggests that the use of water hyacinth is valuable in the design and operation of aquaculture effluent treatment and should therefore be adopted by environmental and wastewater managers.

Keywords: Aquaculture effluent, phytoremediation, pollutant, water hyacinth.

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1438 Monte Carlo Analysis and Fuzzy Sets for Uncertainty Propagation in SIS Performance Assessment

Authors: Fares Innal, Yves Dutuit, Mourad Chebila

Abstract:

The object of this work is the probabilistic performance evaluation of safety instrumented systems (SIS), i.e. the average probability of dangerous failure on demand (PFDavg) and the average frequency of failure (PFH), taking into account the uncertainties related to the different parameters that come into play: failure rate (λ), common cause failure proportion (β), diagnostic coverage (DC)... This leads to an accurate and safe assessment of the safety integrity level (SIL) inherent to the safety function performed by such systems. This aim is in keeping with the requirement of the IEC 61508 standard with respect to handling uncertainty. To do this, we propose an approach that combines (1) Monte Carlo simulation and (2) fuzzy sets. Indeed, the first method is appropriate where representative statistical data are available (using pdf of the relating parameters), while the latter applies in the case characterized by vague and subjective information (using membership function). The proposed approach is fully supported with a suitable computer code.

Keywords: Fuzzy sets, Monte Carlo simulation, Safety instrumented system, Safety integrity level.

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1437 Radionuclides Transport Phenomena in Vadose Zone

Authors: R. Testoni, R. Levizzari, M. De Salve

Abstract:

Radioactive waste management is fundamental to safeguard population and environment by radiological risks. Environmental assessment of a site, where nuclear activities are located, allows understanding the hydro geological system and the radionuclides transport in groundwater and subsoil. Use of dedicated software is the basis of transport phenomena investigation and for dynamic scenarios prediction; this permits to understand the evolution of accidental contamination events, but at the same time the potentiality of the software itself can be verified. The aim of this paper is to perform a numerical analysis by means of HYDRUS 1D code, so as to evaluate radionuclides transport in a nuclear site in Piedmont region (Italy). In particular, the behavior in vadose zone was investigated. An iterative assessment process was performed for risk assessment of radioactive contamination. The analysis therein developed considers the following aspects: i) hydro geological site characterization; ii) individuation of the main intrinsic and external site factors influencing water flow and radionuclides transport phenomena; iii) software potential for radionuclides leakage simulation purposes.

Keywords: HYDRUS 1D, radionuclides transport phenomena, site characterization.

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1436 The Investigation of Precipitation Conditions of Chevreul’s Salt

Authors: Turan Çalban, Fatih Sevim, Oral Laçin

Abstract:

In this study, the precipitation conditions of Chevreul’s salt were evaluated. The structure of Chevreul’s salt was examined by considering the previous studies. Thermodynamically, the most important precipitation parameters were pH, temperature, and sulphite-copper(II) ratio. The amount of Chevreul’s salt increased with increasing the temperature and sulphite-copper(II) ratio at the certain range, while it increased with decreasing the pH value at the chosen range. The best solution medium for recovery of Chevreul’s salt is sulphur dioxide gas-water system. Moreover, the soluble sulphite salts are used as efficient precipitating reagents. Chevreul’s salt is generally used to produce the highly pure copper powders from synthetic copper sulphate solutions and impure leach solutions. When the pH of the initial ammoniacal solution is greater than 8.5, ammonia in the medium is not free, and Chevreul’s salt from solution does not precipitate. In contrast, copper ammonium sulphide is precipitated. The pH of the initial solution containing ammonia for precipitating of Chevreul’s salt must be less than 8.5.

Keywords: Chevreul’s salt, copper sulphites, mixed-valence sulphite compounds, precipitating.

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1435 Analysis of the Coupled Stretching Bending Problem of Stiffened Plates by a BEM Formulation Based on Reissner's Hypothesis

Authors: Gabriela R. Fernandes, Danilo H. Konda, Luiz C. F. Sanches

Abstract:

In this work, the plate bending formulation of the boundary element method - BEM, based on the Reissner?s hypothesis, is extended to the analysis of plates reinforced by beams taking into account the membrane effects. The formulation is derived by assuming a zoned body where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab and all of them are represented by a chosen reference surface. Equilibrium and compatibility conditions are automatically imposed by the integral equations, which treat this composed structure as a single body. In order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom, the problem values defined on the interfaces are written in terms of their values on the beam axis. Initially are derived separated equations for the bending and stretching problems, but in the final system of equations the two problems are coupled and can not be treated separately. Finally are presented some numerical examples whose analytical results are known to show the accuracy of the proposed model.

Keywords: Boundary elements, Building floor structures, Platebending.

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1434 Thermodynamic Analysis of Activated Carbon- CO2 based Adsorption Cooling Cycles

Authors: Skander Jribi, Anutosh Chakraborty, Ibrahim I. El-Sharkawy, Bidyut Baran Saha, Shigeru Koyama

Abstract:

Heat powered solid sorption is a feasible alternative to electrical vapor compression refrigeration systems. In this paper, activated carbon (powder type Maxsorb and fiber type ACF-A10)- CO2 based adsorption cooling cycles are studied using the pressuretemperature- concentration (P-T-W) diagram. The specific cooling effect (SCE) and the coefficient of performance (COP) of these two cooling systems are simulated for the driving heat source temperatures ranging from 30 ºC to 90 ºC in terms of different cooling load temperatures with a cooling source temperature of 25 ºC. It is found from the present analysis that Maxsorb-CO2 couple shows higher cooling capacity and COP. The maximum COPs of Maxsorb-CO2 and ACF(A10)-CO2 based cooling systems are found to be 0.15 and 0.083, respectively. The main innovative feature of this cooling cycle is the ability to utilize low temperature waste heat or solar energy using CO2 as the refrigerant, which is one of the best alternative for applications where flammability and toxicity are not allowed.

Keywords: Activated carbon, Adsorption cooling system, Carbon dioxide, Performance evaluation.

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1433 Environmental Pollution and Health Risks of Residents Living Near Ewekoro Cement Factory, Ewekoro, Nigeria

Authors: Michael Ajide Oyinloye

Abstract:

Generally the natural environment is made up of air, water and soil. The release of emission of industrial waste into anyone of the components of the environment causes pollution. Industrial pollution significantly threatens the inherent right of people, to the enjoyment of a safe and secure environment. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of environmental pollution and health risks of residents living near Ewekoro cement factory. The research made use of IKONOS imagery for Geographical Information System (GIS) to buffer and extract buildings that are less than 1km to the factory, within 1km to 5km and above 5km to the factory. Also questionnaire was used to elicit information on the socio-economic factors, effect of environmental pollution on residents and measures adopted to control industrial pollution on the residents. Findings show that most buildings that fall between less than 1km and 1km to 5km to the factory have high health risk in the study area. The study recommended total relocation for the residents of the study area to reduce health risk problems.

Keywords: Environmental pollution, Ewekoro, GIS, Health risk, Satellite imagery.

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1432 PM10 Concentration Emitted from Blasting and Crushing Processes of Limestone Mines in Saraburi Province, Thailand

Authors: Kanokrat Makkwao, Tassanee Prueksasit

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate PM10 emitted from different limestone mines in Saraburi province, Thailand. The blasting and crushing were the main processes selected for PM10 sampling. PM10 was collected in two mines including, a limestone mine for cement manufacturing (mine A) and a limestone mine for construction (mine B). The IMPACT samplers were used to collect PM10. At blasting, the points aligning with the upwind and downwind direction were assigned for the sampling. The ranges of PM10 concentrations at mine A and B were 0.267-5.592 and 0.130-0.325 mg/m³, respectively, and the concentration at blasting from mine A was significantly higher than mine B (p < 0.05). During crushing at mine A, the PM10 concentration with the range of 1.153-3.716 and 0.085-1.724 mg/m³ at crusher and piles in respectively were observed whereas the PM10 concentration measured at four sampling points in mine B, including secondary crusher, tertiary crusher, screening point, and piles, were ranged 1.032-16.529, 10.957-74.057, 0.655-4.956, and 0.169-1.699 mg/m³, respectively. The emission of PM10 concentration at the crushing units was different in the ranges depending on types of machine, its operation, dust collection and control system, and environmental conditions.

Keywords: Blasting, crushing, limestone mines, PM10 concentration.

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1431 A Study of Numerical Reaction-Diffusion Systems on Closed Surfaces

Authors: Mei-Hsiu Chi, Jyh-Yang Wu, Sheng-Gwo Chen

Abstract:

The diffusion-reaction equations are important Partial Differential Equations in mathematical biology, material science, physics, and so on. However, finding efficient numerical methods for diffusion-reaction systems on curved surfaces is still an important and difficult problem. The purpose of this paper is to present a convergent geometric method for solving the reaction-diffusion equations on closed surfaces by an O(r)-LTL configuration method. The O(r)-LTL configuration method combining the local tangential lifting technique and configuration equations is an effective method to estimate differential quantities on curved surfaces. Since estimating the Laplace-Beltrami operator is an important task for solving the reaction-diffusion equations on surfaces, we use the local tangential lifting method and a generalized finite difference method to approximate the Laplace-Beltrami operators and we solve this reaction-diffusion system on closed surfaces. Our method is not only conceptually simple, but also easy to implement.

Keywords: Close surfaces, high-order approach, numerical solutions, reaction-diffusion systems.

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1430 Additive Manufacturing with Ceramic Filler Concerning Filament Creation and Strength

Authors: Wolfram Irsa, Lorenz Boruch

Abstract:

Innovative solutions in additive manufacturing applying material extrusion for functional parts necessitates innovative filaments with persistent quality. Uniform homogeneity and consistent dispersion of particles embedded in filaments generally require multiple cycles of extrusion or well-prepared primal matter by injection molding, kneader machines, or mixing equipment. These technologies commit to dedicated equipment that are rarely at disposal in production laboratories unfamiliar with research in polymer materials. This stands in contrast to laboratories which investigate on complex material topics and technology science to leverage on the potential of 3-D printing. Consequently, scientific studies in labs are often constrained to compositions and concentrations of fillers offered from the market. Therefore, we present a prototypal laboratory methodology scalable to tailored primal matter for extruding ceramic composite filaments with fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology. A desktop single-screw extruder serves as core device for the experiments. Custom-made filament encapsulates the ceramic fillers and serves with polylactide (PLA), which is a thermoplastic polyester, as primal matter and is processed in the melting area of the extruder preserving the defined concentration of the fillers. Validated results demonstrate that this approach enables continuously produced and uniform composite filaments with consistent homogeneity. It is 3-D printable with controllable dimensions, which is a prerequisite for any scalable application. Additionally, digital microscopy confirms steady dispersion of the ceramic particles in the composite filament. This permits a 2D reconstruction of the planar distribution of the embedded ceramic particles in the PLA matrices. The innovation of the introduced method lies in the smart simplicity of preparing the composite primal matter. It circumvents the inconvenience of numerous extrusion operations and expensive laboratory equipment. Nevertheless, it delivers consistent filaments of controlled, predictable, and reproducible filler concentration, which is the prerequisite for any industrial application. The introduced prototypal laboratory methodology seems capable for other polymer matrices and suitable to further utilitarian particle types, beyond and above of ceramic fillers. This inaugurates a roadmap for supplementary laboratory development of peculiar composite filaments, providing value for industries and societies. This low-threshold entry of sophisticated preparation of composite filaments - enabling businesses creating their own dedicated filaments - will support the mutual efforts for establishing 3D printing to new functional devices.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, ceramic composites, complex filament, industrial application.

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1429 Improvement of Passengers Ride Comfort in Rail Vehicles Equipped with Air Springs

Authors: H. Sayyaadi, N. Shokouhi

Abstract:

In rail vehicles, air springs are very important isolating component, which guarantee good ride comfort for passengers during their trip. In the most new rail–vehicle models, developed by researchers, the thermo–dynamical effects of air springs are ignored and secondary suspension is modeled by simple springs and dampers. As the performance of suspension components have significant effects on rail–vehicle dynamics and ride comfort of passengers, a complete nonlinear thermo–dynamical air spring model, which is a combination of two different models, is introduced. Result from field test shows remarkable agreement between proposed model and experimental data. Effects of air suspension parameters on the system performances are investigated here and then these parameters are tuned to minimize Sperling ride comfort index during the trip. Results showed that by modification of air suspension parameters, passengers comfort is improved and ride comfort index is reduced about 10%.

Keywords: Air spring, Ride comfort improvement, Thermo– dynamical effects.

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1428 Numerical Solutions of Boundary Layer Flow over an Exponentially Stretching/Shrinking Sheet with Generalized Slip Velocity

Authors: Ezad Hafidz Hafidzuddin, Roslinda Nazar, Norihan M. Arifin, Ioan Pop

Abstract:

In this paper, the problem of steady laminar boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a permeable exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet with generalized slip velocity is considered. The similarity transformations are used to transform the governing nonlinear partial differential equations to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The transformed equations are then solved numerically using the bvp4c function in MATLAB. Dual solutions are found for a certain range of the suction and stretching/shrinking parameters. The effects of the suction parameter, stretching/shrinking parameter, velocity slip parameter, critical shear rate and Prandtl number on the skin friction and heat transfer coefficients as well as the velocity and temperature profiles are presented and discussed.

Keywords: Boundary Layer, Exponentially Stretching/Shrinking Sheet, Generalized Slip, Heat Transfer, Numerical Solutions.

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1427 Neural Network Based Icing Identification and Fault Tolerant Control of a 340 Aircraft

Authors: F. Caliskan

Abstract:

This paper presents a Neural Network (NN) identification of icing parameters in an A340 aircraft and a reconfiguration technique to keep the A/C performance close to the performance prior to icing. Five aircraft parameters are assumed to be considerably affected by icing. The off-line training for identifying the clear and iced dynamics is based on the Levenberg-Marquard Backpropagation algorithm. The icing parameters are located in the system matrix. The physical locations of the icing are assumed at the right and left wings. The reconfiguration is based on the technique known as the control mixer approach or pseudo inverse technique. This technique generates the new control input vector such that the A/C dynamics is not much affected by icing. In the simulations, the longitudinal and lateral dynamics of an Airbus A340 aircraft model are considered, and the stability derivatives affected by icing are identified. The simulation results show the successful NN identification of the icing parameters and the reconfigured flight dynamics having the similar performance before the icing. In other words, the destabilizing icing affect is compensated.

Keywords: Aircraft Icing, Stability Derivatives, Neural NetworkIdentification, Reconfiguration.

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1426 Risk Factors in a Road Construction Site

Authors: V.R Gannapathy, S.K Subramaniam, A.B Mohamad Diah, M.K Suaidi, A.H Hamidon

Abstract:

The picture of a perfect road construction site is the one that utilizes conventional vertical road signs and a flagman to optimize the traffic flow with minimum hazel to the public. Former research has been carried out by Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and Ministry of Works to further enhance smoothness in traffic operations and particularly in safety issues within work zones. This paper highlights on hazardous zones in a certain road construction or road maintenance site. Most cases show that the flagman falls into high risk of fatal accidents within work zone. Various measures have been taken by both the authorities and contractors to overcome such miseries, yet it-s impossible to eliminate the usage of a flagman since it is considered the best practice. With the implementation of new technologies in automating the traffic flow in road construction site, it is possible to eliminate the usage of a flagman. The intelligent traffic light system is designed to solve problems which contribute hazardous at road construction site and to be inline with the road safety regulation which is taken into granted.

Keywords: Intelligent Traffic Light, Critical Zones, Safety Regulation, Flagman

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1425 Improved Neutron Leakage Treatment on Nodal Expansion Method for PWR Reactors

Authors: Antonio Carlos Marques Alvim, Fernando Carvalho da Silva, Aquilino Senra Martinez

Abstract:

For a quick and accurate calculation of spatial neutron distribution in nuclear power reactors 3D nodal codes are usually used aiming at solving the neutron diffusion equation for a given reactor core geometry and material composition. These codes use a second order polynomial to represent the transverse leakage term. In this work, a nodal method based on the well known nodal expansion method (NEM), developed at COPPE, making use of this polynomial expansion was modified to treat the transverse leakage term for the external surfaces of peripheral reflector nodes. The proposed method was implemented into a computational system which, besides solving the diffusion equation, also solves the burnup equations governing the gradual changes in material compositions of the core due to fuel depletion. Results confirm the effectiveness of this modified treatment of peripheral nodes for practical purposes in PWR reactors.

Keywords: Transverse leakage, nodal expansion method, power density, PWR reactors

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1424 Detecting and Tracking Vehicles in Airborne Videos

Authors: Hsu-Yung Cheng, Chih-Chang Yu

Abstract:

In this work, we present an automatic vehicle detection system for airborne videos using combined features. We propose a pixel-wise classification method for vehicle detection using Dynamic Bayesian Networks. In spite of performing pixel-wise classification, relations among neighboring pixels in a region are preserved in the feature extraction process. The main novelty of the detection scheme is that the extracted combined features comprise not only pixel-level information but also region-level information. Afterwards, tracking is performed on the detected vehicles. Tracking is performed using efficient Kalman filter with dynamic particle sampling. Experiments were conducted on a wide variety of airborne videos. We do not assume prior information of camera heights, orientation, and target object sizes in the proposed framework. The results demonstrate flexibility and good generalization abilities of the proposed method on a challenging dataset.

Keywords: Vehicle Detection, Airborne Video, Tracking, Dynamic Bayesian Networks

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1423 Trace Emergence of Ants- Traffic Flow, based upon Exclusion Process

Authors: Ali Lemouari, Mohamed Benmohamed

Abstract:

Biological evolution has generated a rich variety of successful solutions; from nature, optimized strategies can be inspired. One interesting example is the ant colonies, which are able to exhibit a collective intelligence, still that their dynamic is simple. The emergence of different patterns depends on the pheromone trail, leaved by the foragers. It serves as positive feedback mechanism for sharing information. In this paper, we use the dynamic of TASEP as a model of interaction at a low level of the collective environment in the ant-s traffic flow. This work consists of modifying the movement rules of particles “ants" belonging to the TASEP model, so that it adopts with the natural movement of ants. Therefore, as to respect the constraints of having no more than one particle per a given site, and in order to avoid collision within a bidirectional circulation, we suggested two strategies: decease strategy and waiting strategy. As a third work stage, this is devoted to the study of these two proposed strategies- stability. As a final work stage, we applied the first strategy to the whole environment, in order to get to the emergence of traffic flow, which is a way of learning.

Keywords: Ants system, emergence, exclusion process, pheromone.

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1422 Effect of TCSR on Measured Impedance by Distance Protection in Presence Single Phase to Earth Fault

Authors: Mohamed Zellagui, Abdelaziz Chaghi

Abstract:

This paper presents the impact study of apparent reactance injected by series Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) i.e. Thyristor Controlled Series Reactor (TCSR) on the measured impedance of a 400 kV single electrical transmission line in the presence of phase to earth fault with fault resistance. The study deals with an electrical transmission line of Eastern Algerian transmission networks at Group Sonelgaz (Algerian Company of Electrical and Gas) compensated by TCSR connected at midpoint of the line. This compensator used to inject active and reactive powers is controlled by three TCSR-s. The simulations results investigate the impacts of the TCSR on the parameters of short circuit calculation and parameters of measured impedance by distance relay in the presence of earth fault for three cases study.

Keywords: TCSR, Transmission line, Apparent reactance, Earth fault, Symmetrical components, Distance protection, Measured impedance.

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1421 On Mobile Checkpointing using Index and Time Together

Authors: Awadhesh Kumar Singh

Abstract:

Checkpointing is one of the commonly used techniques to provide fault-tolerance in distributed systems so that the system can operate even if one or more components have failed. However, mobile computing systems are constrained by low bandwidth, mobility, lack of stable storage, frequent disconnections and limited battery life. Hence, checkpointing protocols having lesser number of synchronization messages and fewer checkpoints are preferred in mobile environment. There are two different approaches, although not orthogonal, to checkpoint mobile computing systems namely, time-based and index-based. Our protocol is a fusion of these two approaches, though not first of its kind. In the present exposition, an index-based checkpointing protocol has been developed, which uses time to indirectly coordinate the creation of consistent global checkpoints for mobile computing systems. The proposed algorithm is non-blocking, adaptive, and does not use any control message. Compared to other contemporary checkpointing algorithms, it is computationally more efficient because it takes lesser number of checkpoints and does not need to compute dependency relationships. A brief account of important and relevant works in both the fields, time-based and index-based, has also been included in the presentation.

Keywords: Checkpointing, forced checkpoint, mobile computing, recovery, time-coordinated.

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1420 System Security Impact on the Dynamic Characteristics of Measurement Sensors in Smart Grids

Authors: Yiyang Su, Jörg Neumann, Jan Wetzlich, Florian Thiel

Abstract:

Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric power more and more information and communication technologies are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids. Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased and has converged into several standards which will be presented here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this, integration of security measures into measurement architectures of smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.

Keywords: Cyber security, performance, protocols, security standards, smart grid.

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1419 Adsorption Refrigeration Working Pairs: The State-of-the-Art in the Application

Authors: Ahmed N. Shmroukh, Ahmed Hamza H. Ali, Ali K. Abel-Rahman

Abstract:

Adsorption refrigeration working pair is a vital and is the main component in the adsorption refrigeration machine. Therefore the development key is laying on the adsorption pair that leads to the improvement of the adsorption refrigeration machine. In this study the state-of-the-art in the application of the adsorption refrigeration working pairs in both classical and modern adsorption pairs are presented, compared and summarized. It is found that the maximum adsorption capacity for the classical working pairs was 0.259kg/kg for activated carbon/methanol and that for the modern working pairs was 2kg/kg for maxsorb III/R-134a. The study concluded that, the performances of the adsorption working pairs of adsorption cooling systems are still need further investigations as well as developing adsorption pairs having higher sorption capacity with low or no impact on environmental, to build compact, efficient, reliable and long life performance adsorption chillier. Also, future researches need to be focused on designing the adsorption system that provide efficient heating and cooling for the adsorbent materials through distributing the adsorbent material over heat exchanger surface, to allow good heat and mass transfer between the adsorbent and the refrigerant.

Keywords: Adsorption, Adsorbent/Adsorbate Pairs, Refrigeration.

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1418 Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Used for TNEP Considering Network Adequacy Restriction

Authors: H. Shayeghi, M. Mahdavi, A. Kazemi

Abstract:

Transmission network expansion planning (TNEP) is a basic part of power system planning that determines where, when and how many new transmission lines should be added to the network. Up till now, various methods have been presented to solve the static transmission network expansion planning (STNEP) problem. But in all of these methods, transmission expansion planning considering network adequacy restriction has not been investigated. Thus, in this paper, STNEP problem is being studied considering network adequacy restriction using discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm. The goal of this paper is obtaining a configuration for network expansion with lowest expansion cost and a specific adequacy. The proposed idea has been tested on the Garvers network and compared with the decimal codification genetic algorithm (DCGA). The results show that the network will possess maximum efficiency economically. Also, it is shown that precision and convergence speed of the proposed DPSO based method for the solution of the STNEP problem is more than DCGA approach.

Keywords: DPSO algorithm, Adequacy restriction, STNEP.

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1417 Should Local Governments Expect Benefits from Special Economic Zones? The Case of Poland

Authors: R. Pastusiak, M. Jasiniak, A. Kaźmierska

Abstract:

The impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has been analyzed for many years by researchers. There are lot of theoretical studies proving the SEZs importance for regional development, however, there is lack of empirical studies (and they are mainly focused on China market) that are based on available data. The theoretical studies indicate the various impacts of enterprises operating within SEZs on the economy. The article proves that, in case of Poland, locating SEZs in municipalities is an important part of increasing municipalities’ income. Therefore SEZs have a positive impact on regional development. Municipality income is understood as taxes paid by taxpayers who depend on SEZ companies’ performance. The analysis includes the Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Personal Income Tax (PIT) and real estate tax. The effects of SEZs on regional development were narrowed to a few variables that are most significant for the financial system. The analysis indicates the significant impact of SEZs on the amount of taxes influencing the municipality budget.

Keywords: Government, local finance, municipal finance, Special Economic Zones.

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1416 The Impact of Gamification on Self-Assessment for English Language Learners in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Wala A. Bagunaid, Maram Meccawy, Arwa Allinjawi, Zilal Meccawy

Abstract:

Continuous self-assessment becomes crucial in self-paced online learning environments. Students often depend on themselves to assess their progress; which is considered an essential requirement for any successful learning process. Today’s education institutions face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Thus, personalized e-learning systems aim to help and guide the students. Gamification provides an opportunity to help students for self-assessment and social comparison with other students through attempting to harness the motivational power of games and apply it to the learning environment. Furthermore, Open Social Student Modeling (OSSM) as considered as the latest user modeling technologies is believed to improve students’ self-assessment and to allow them to social comparison with other students. This research integrates OSSM approach and gamification concepts in order to provide self-assessment for English language learners at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). This is achieved through an interactive visual representation of their learning progress.

Keywords: E-learning system, gamification, motivation, social comparison, visualization.

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1415 The Need for Selective Credit Policy Implementation: Case of Croatia

Authors: Drago Jakovcevic, Mihovil Andelinovic, Igor Husak

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to explore the economic circumstances in which the selective credit policy, the least used instrument of four types of instruments on disposal to central banks, should be used. The most significant example includes the use of selective credit policies in response to the emergence of the global financial crisis by the FED. Specifics of the potential use of selective credit policies as the instigator of economic growth in Croatia, a small open economy, are determined by high euroization of financial system, fixed exchange rate and long-term trend growth of external debt that is related to the need to maintain high levels of foreign reserves. In such conditions, the classic forms of selective credit policies are unsuitable for the introduction. Several alternative approaches to implement selective credit policies are examined in this paper. Also, thorough analysis of distribution of selective monetary policy loans among economic sectors in Croatia is conducted in order to minimize the risk of investing funds and maximize the return, in order to influence the GDP growth.

Keywords: Global crisis, Selective credit policy, Small open economy.

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1414 Fabrication of Poly(Ethylene Oxide)/Chitosan/Indocyanine Green Nanoprobe by Co-Axial Electrospinning Method for Early Detection

Authors: Zeynep R. Ege, Aydin Akan, Faik N. Oktar, Betul Karademir, Oguzhan Gunduz

Abstract:

Early detection of cancer could save human life and quality in insidious cases by advanced biomedical imaging techniques. Designing targeted detection system is necessary in order to protect of healthy cells. Electrospun nanofibers are efficient and targetable nanocarriers which have important properties such as nanometric diameter, mechanical properties, elasticity, porosity and surface area to volume ratio. In the present study, indocyanine green (ICG) organic dye was stabilized and encapsulated in polymer matrix which polyethylene oxide (PEO) and chitosan (CHI) multilayer nanofibers via co-axial electrospinning method at one step. The co-axial electrospun nanofibers were characterized as morphological (SEM), molecular (FT-IR), and entrapment efficiency of Indocyanine Green (ICG) (confocal imaging). Controlled release profile of PEO/CHI/ICG nanofiber was also evaluated up to 40 hours.

Keywords: Chitosan, coaxial electrospinning, controlled releasing, indocyanine green, nanoprobe, polyethylene oxide.

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