Search results for: Open Sewer Channel
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1552

Search results for: Open Sewer Channel

622 Effects of Operating Conditions on Calcium Carbonate Fouling in a Plate Heat Exchanger

Authors: K. Pana-Suppamassadu, P. Jeimrittiwong, P. Narataruksa, S. Tungkamani

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to investigate on the internalflow patterns in a plate heat exchanger channel, which affect the rate of sedimentation fouling on the heat transfer surface of the plate heat exchanger. The research methodologies were the computer simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the experimental works. COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS™ Version 3.3 was used to simulate the velocity flow fields to verify the low and high flow regions. The results from the CFD technique were then compared with the images obtained from the experiments in which the fouling test rig was set up with a singlechannel plate heat exchanger to monitor the fouling of calcium carbonate. Two parameters were varied i.e., the crossing angle of the two plate: 55/55, 10/10, and 55/10 degree, and the fluid flow rate at the inlet: 0.0566, 0.1132 and 0.1698 m/s. The type of plate “GX-12" (the surface area 0.12 m2, the depth 2.9 mm, the width of fluid flow 215 mm and the thickness of stainless plate of 0.5 mm) was used in this study. The results indicated that the velocity distribution for the case of 55/55 degree seems to be very well organized when compared with the others. Also, an increase in the inlet velocity resulted in the reduction of fouling rate on the surface of plate heat exchangers.

Keywords: Computational fluid dynamics, crossing angles, finite element method, plate heat exchanger.

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621 Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation of Maisotsenko Cycle

Authors: Rasikh Tariq, Fatima Z. Benarab

Abstract:

Evaporative coolers has a minimum potential to reach the wet-bulb temperature of intake air which is not enough to handle a large cooling load; therefore, it is not a feasible option to overcome cooling requirement of a building. The invention of Maisotsenko (M) cycle has led evaporative cooling technology to reach the sub-wet-bulb temperature of the intake air; therefore, it brings an innovation in evaporative cooling techniques. In this work, we developed a mathematical model of the Maisotsenko based air cooler by applying energy and mass balance laws on different air channels. The governing ordinary differential equations are discretized and simulated on MATLAB. The temperature and the humidity plots are shown in the simulation results. A parametric study is conducted by varying working air inlet conditions (temperature and humidity), inlet air velocity, geometric parameters and water temperature. The influence of these aforementioned parameters on the cooling effectiveness of the HMX is reported.  Results have shown that the effectiveness of the M-Cycle is increased by increasing the ambient temperature and decreasing absolute humidity. An air velocity of 0.5 m/sec and a channel height of 6-8mm is recommended.

Keywords: Renewable energy, indirect evaporative cooling, Maisotsenko cycle, HMX, mathematical model, numerical simulation.

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620 A Taxonomy of Internal Attacks in Wireless Sensor Network

Authors: Muhammad R Ahmed, Xu Huang, Dharmendra Sharma

Abstract:

Developments in communication technologies especially in wireless have enabled the progress of low-cost and lowpower wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The features of such WSN are holding minimal energy, weak computational capabilities, wireless communication and an open-medium nature where sensors are deployed. WSN is underpinned by application driven such as military applications, the health sector, etc. Due to the intrinsic nature of the network and application scenario, WSNs are vulnerable to many attacks externally and internally. In this paper we have focused on the types of internal attacks of WSNs based on OSI model and discussed some security requirements, characterizers and challenges of WSNs, by which to contribute to the WSN-s security research.

Keywords: Wireless sensor network, internal attacks, security, OSI model.

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619 Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network Classifier with Binary Particle Swarm Optimization Based Feature Selection for Brain-Computer Interfaces

Authors: K. Akilandeswari, G. M. Nasira

Abstract:

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) measure brain signals activity, intentionally and unintentionally induced by users, and provides a communication channel without depending on the brain’s normal peripheral nerves and muscles output pathway. Feature Selection (FS) is a global optimization machine learning problem that reduces features, removes irrelevant and noisy data resulting in acceptable recognition accuracy. It is a vital step affecting pattern recognition system performance. This study presents a new Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) based feature selection algorithm. Multi-layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) classifier with backpropagation training algorithm and Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm classify selected features.

Keywords: Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), Feature Selection (FS), Walsh–Hadamard Transform (WHT), Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm.

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618 A Comparison of Adaline and MLP Neural Network based Predictors in SIR Estimation in Mobile DS/CDMA Systems

Authors: Nahid Ardalani, Ahmadreza Khoogar, H. Roohi

Abstract:

In this paper we compare the response of linear and nonlinear neural network-based prediction schemes in prediction of received Signal-to-Interference Power Ratio (SIR) in Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS/CDMA) systems. The nonlinear predictor is Multilayer Perceptron MLP and the linear predictor is an Adaptive Linear (Adaline) predictor. We solve the problem of complexity by using the Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) principle to select the optimal predictors. The optimized Adaline predictor is compared to optimized MLP by employing noisy Rayleigh fading signals with 1.8 GHZ carrier frequency in an urban environment. The results show that the Adaline predictor can estimates SIR with the same error as MLP when the user has the velocity of 5 km/h and 60 km/h but by increasing the velocity up-to 120 km/h the mean squared error of MLP is two times more than Adaline predictor. This makes the Adaline predictor (with lower complexity) more suitable than MLP for closed-loop power control where efficient and accurate identification of the time-varying inverse dynamics of the multi path fading channel is required.

Keywords: Power control, neural networks, DS/CDMA mobilecommunication systems.

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617 Considerations for Effectively Using Probability of Failure as a Means of Slope Design Appraisal for Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Rock Masses

Authors: Neil Bar, Andrew Heweston

Abstract:

Probability of failure (PF) often appears alongside factor of safety (FS) in design acceptance criteria for rock slope, underground excavation and open pit mine designs. However, the design acceptance criteria generally provide no guidance relating to how PF should be calculated for homogeneous and heterogeneous rock masses, or what qualifies a ‘reasonable’ PF assessment for a given slope design. Observational and kinematic methods were widely used in the 1990s until advances in computing permitted the routine use of numerical modelling. In the 2000s and early 2010s, PF in numerical models was generally calculated using the point estimate method. More recently, some limit equilibrium analysis software offer statistical parameter inputs along with Monte-Carlo or Latin-Hypercube sampling methods to automatically calculate PF. Factors including rock type and density, weathering and alteration, intact rock strength, rock mass quality and shear strength, the location and orientation of geologic structure, shear strength of geologic structure and groundwater pore pressure influence the stability of rock slopes. Significant engineering and geological judgment, interpretation and data interpolation is usually applied in determining these factors and amalgamating them into a geotechnical model which can then be analysed. Most factors are estimated ‘approximately’ or with allowances for some variability rather than ‘exactly’. When it comes to numerical modelling, some of these factors are then treated deterministically (i.e. as exact values), while others have probabilistic inputs based on the user’s discretion and understanding of the problem being analysed. This paper discusses the importance of understanding the key aspects of slope design for homogeneous and heterogeneous rock masses and how they can be translated into reasonable PF assessments where the data permits. A case study from a large open pit gold mine in a complex geological setting in Western Australia is presented to illustrate how PF can be calculated using different methods and obtain markedly different results. Ultimately sound engineering judgement and logic is often required to decipher the true meaning and significance (if any) of some PF results.

Keywords: Probability of failure, point estimate method, Monte-Carlo simulations, sensitivity analysis, slope stability.

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616 Impact of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth under the Contributions of Level of External Debt in Developing Countries

Authors: Zohreh Bang Tavakoli, Shuktika Chatterjee

Abstract:

This study investigates the fiscal policy impact on countries’ economic growth in developing countries with a different external debt level. The fiscal policy effectiveness has been re-emphasized in the global financial crisis of 2008 with the external debt as its new contemporary driver. Different theories have proposed the economic consequence of fiscal policy, specifically for developing countries. However, fiscal policy literature is lacking research regarding the fiscal policy’s effectiveness with the external debt’s contributions through comprehensive study. Also, high levels of external debt will influence economic growth. Through foreign resources and channel of investment in which high level of debt decreases the amount of foreign investment in the developing countries. The finding of this study suggests that only countries with a low external debt level and appropriate fiscal policies and good quality institutions can gain the proper quantity and quality of foreign investors in which will help the economic growth. For this, this research is examining the impact of fiscal policy on developing countries' economic growth in the situation of different external debt levels.

Keywords: fiscal policy, external debt, gross domestic product, developing countries

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615 Social Media as a Tool for Political Communication: A Case Study of India

Authors: Srikanth Bade

Abstract:

This paper discusses how the usage of social media has altered certain discourses and communicated with the political institutions for major actions in Indian scenario. The advent of new technology in the form of social media has engrossed the general public to discuss in the open forum. How they promulgated their ideas into action is captured in this study. Moreover, these discourses happening in the social media is analyzed from certain philosophical traditions by adopting a framework. Hence, this paper analyses the role of social media in political communication and change the political discourse. Also, this paper tries to address the issue that whether the deliberation made through social media had indeed communicated the issue of political matters to the decision making authorities.

Keywords: Collective action and social capital, political communication, political discourse, social media.

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614 Problems of Innovation Development of Wireless Data Transfer Branch in the Cellular Market of Kazakhstan

Authors: Yessengeldy Kuanyshpayev

Abstract:

Now in some countries of the world the cellular market is on the point of saturation, in others - positive dynamics of development kept on. The reasons for it are also different, but there are united by their general susceptibility to innovation changes, if they are really innovative. If to take as an example the cellular market of Kazakhstan it is defined by the low percent of smart phones at consumers, the low population density, undercapacity of the 3G channel, and absence of universal access to the LTE technology that limits dynamical growth of this branch. These moments are aggravated by failures of starting commercial projects by private companies which prevent to be implemented and widely adopted to a new product among consumers. The object of the research is possible integration of wireless and program technologies at which introduction the idea can regenerate in an innovation. The analysis of existing projects in the market and the possible union of the technologies through a prism of theoretical bases of innovative activity shows that efficiency of the company by development and introduction of innovations is possible only thanks to strict observance of all terms and conditions of the innovative process which main term is profit. Despite that fact that on a global scale the innovativeness issue of companies is very popular, there are no researches about possibility of innovative breaks in the field of wireless access to the Internet in the cellular market of Kazakhstan.

Keywords: Cellular market, commercialization, innovation, the effectiveness of company.

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613 OSEME: A Smart Learning Environment for Music Education

Authors: Konstantinos Sofianos, Michael Stefanidakis

Abstract:

Nowadays, advances in information and communication technologies offer a range of opportunities for new approaches, methods, and tools in education and training. Teacher-centered learning has changed to student-centered learning. E-learning has now matured and enables the design and construction of intelligent learning systems. A smart learning system fully adapts to a student's needs and provides them with an education based on their preferences, learning styles, and learning backgrounds. It is a wise friend and available at anytime, anywhere, and with any digital device. In this paper, we propose an intelligent learning system, which includes an ontology with all elements of the learning process (learning objects, learning activities) and a massive open online course (MOOC) system. This intelligent learning system can be used in music education.

Keywords: Intelligent learning systems, e-learning, music education, ontology, semantic web.

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612 Methodology of Restoration Research in Czech Republic

Authors: M. Rehor, V. Ondracek

Abstract:

Restoration research has become important on principle recently in Czech Republic. The reason is simple. More than 70 % of mined brown coal comes from the North Bohemian Basin these days. Open cast brown coal mining has lead to large damage on the landscape. Reclamation of phytotoxic areas is one of the serious problems in the North Bohemian Basin. It mainly concerns the areas with the occurrence of overburden rocks from the coal bed enriched with coal. The presented paper includes the characteristics of the important phytotoxic areas and the methodology of their reclamation. The results are documented with the long term monitoring of physical, mineralogical, chemical and pedological parameters of rocks in the testing areas.

Keywords: Brown coal, dump, methodology, restoration.

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611 An Efficient Burst Errors Combating for Image Transmission over Mobile WPANs

Authors: Mohsen A. M. El-Bendary, Mostafa A. R. El-Tokhy

Abstract:

This paper presents an efficient burst error spreading tool. Also, it studies a vital issue in wireless communications, which is the transmission of images over wireless networks. IEEE ZigBee 802.15.4 is a short-range communication standard that could be used for small distance multimedia transmissions. In fact, the ZigBee network is a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), which needs a strong interleaving mechanism for protection against error bursts. Also, it is low power technology and utilized in the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) implementation. This paper presents the chaotic interleaving scheme as a data randomization tool for this purpose. This scheme depends on the chaotic Baker map. The mobility effects on the image transmission are studied with different velocity through utilizing the Jakes’ model. A comparison study between the proposed chaotic interleaving scheme and the traditional block and convolutional interleaving schemes for image transmission over a correlated fading channel is presented. The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed chaotic interleaving scheme over the traditional schemes.

Keywords: WPANs, Burst Errors, Mobility, Interleaving Techniques, Fading channels.

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610 Electrical Properties of n-CdO/p-Si Heterojunction Diode Fabricated by Sol Gel

Authors: S.Aksoy, Y.Caglar

Abstract:

n-CdO/p-Si heterojunction diode was fabricated using sol-gel spin coating technique which is a low cost and easily scalable method for preparing of semiconductor films. The structural and morphological properties of CdO film were investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra indicated that the film was of polycrystalline nature. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images indicate that the surface morphology CdO film consists of the clusters formed with the coming together of the nanoparticles. The electrical characterization of Au/n-CdO/p–Si/Al heterojunction diode was investigated by current-voltage. The ideality factor of the diode was found to be 3.02 for room temperature. The reverse current of the diode strongly increased with illumination intensity of 100 mWcm-2 and the diode gave a maximum open circuit voltage Voc of 0.04 V and short-circuits current Isc of 9.92×10-9 A.

Keywords: CdO, heterojunction semiconductor devices, ideality factor, current-voltage characteristics

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609 Hamiltonian Related Properties with and without Faults of the Dual-Cube Interconnection Network and Their Variations

Authors: Shih-Yan Chen, Shin-Shin Kao

Abstract:

In this paper, a thorough review about dual-cubes, DCn, the related studies and their variations are given. DCn was introduced to be a network which retains the pleasing properties of hypercube Qn but has a much smaller diameter. In fact, it is so constructed that the number of vertices of DCn is equal to the number of vertices of Q2n +1. However, each vertex in DCn is adjacent to n + 1 neighbors and so DCn has (n + 1) × 2^2n edges in total, which is roughly half the number of edges of Q2n+1. In addition, the diameter of any DCn is 2n +2, which is of the same order of that of Q2n+1. For selfcompleteness, basic definitions, construction rules and symbols are provided. We chronicle the results, where eleven significant theorems are presented, and include some open problems at the end.

Keywords: Hypercubes, dual-cubes, fault-tolerant hamiltonian property, dual-cube extensive networks, dual-cube-like networks.

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608 Toward Strengthening Social Resilience: A Case Study on Recovery of Capture Fisheries after Asia's Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia

Authors: Zulhamsyah Imran, Masahiro Yamao

Abstract:

Social resilience has role to govern the local community and coastal fisheries resources toward sustainable fisheries development in tsunami affected area. This paper asses, explore and investigates of indigenous institutions, external and internal facilitators toward strengthening social resilience. Identification of the genuine organizations role had been conducted twice by using Rapid Assessment Appraisal, Focus Group Discussion, and in-depth interview for collecting primary and secondary data. Local wisdom had a contribution and adaptable to rebound social resilience. The Panglima Laot Lhok (sea commander) had determined and adapted role on recovery of the fishing community, particularly facilitated aid delivery to fishermen, as shown in anchovy fisheries relief case in Krueng Raya Bay. Toke Bangku (financial trader) had stimulated for reinforcement of advance payment and market channel. The other institutions supported upon linking and bridging connectivity among stakeholders. Collaborative governance can avoid conflict, reduce donor dependency and strengthen social resilience within fishing community.

Keywords: Fishing community, indigenous institution, adaptive role, collaborative, social resilience.

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607 Collaborative Team Work in Higher Education: A Case Study

Authors: Swapna Bhargavi Gantasala

Abstract:

If teamwork is the key to organizational learning, productivity and growth, then, why do some teams succeed in achieving these, while others falter at different stages? Building teams in higher education institutions has been a challenge and an open-ended constructivist approach was considered on an experimental basis for this study to address this challenge. For this research, teams of students from the MBA program were chosen to study the effect of teamwork in learning, the motivation levels among student team members, and the effect of collaboration in achieving team goals. The teams were built on shared vision and goals, cohesion was ensured, positive induction in the form of faculty mentoring was provided for each participating team and the results have been presented with conclusions and suggestions.

Keywords: Collaboration, Leadership, Motivation, Reinforcement Teamwork.

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606 Knowledge Management and e-Learning –An Agent-Based Approach

Authors: Teodora Bakardjieva, Galya Gercheva

Abstract:

In this paper an open agent-based modular framework for personalized and adaptive curriculum generation in e-learning environment is proposed. Agent-based approaches offer several potential advantages over alternative approaches. Agent-based systems exhibit high levels of flexibility and robustness in dynamic or unpredictable environments by virtue of their intrinsic autonomy. The presented framework enables integration of different types of expert agents, various kinds of learning objects and user modeling techniques. It creates possibilities for adaptive e-learning process. The KM e-learning system is in a process of implementation in Varna Free University and will be used for supporting the educational process at the University.

Keywords: agents, e-Learning, knowledge management, knowledge sharing, artificial intelligence

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605 CLASS, A New Tool for Nuclear Scenarios: Description and First Application

Authors: B. Mouginot, J.B. Clavel, N Thiolliere

Abstract:

The presented work is motivated by a french law regarding nuclear waste management. In order to avoid the limitation coming with the usage of the existing scenario codes, as COSI, VISION or FAMILY, the Core Library for Advance Scenario Simulation (CLASS) is being develop. CLASS is an open source tool, which allows any user to simulate an electronuclear scenario. The main CLASS asset, is the possibility to include any type of reactor, even a complitely new concept, through the generation of its ACSII evolution database. In the present article, the CLASS working basis will be presented as well as a simple exemple in order to show his potentiel. In the considered exemple, the effect of the transmutation will be assessed on Minor Actinide Inventory produced by PWR reactors.

Keywords: Electronuclear scenario, reactor, simulation, nuclear waste.

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604 Smart Grids Cyber Security Issues and Challenges

Authors: Imen Aouini, Lamia Ben Azzouz

Abstract:

The energy need is growing rapidly due to the population growth and the large new usage of power. Several works put considerable efforts to make the electricity grid more intelligent to reduce essentially energy consumption and provide efficiency and reliability of power systems. The Smart Grid is a complex architecture that covers critical devices and systems vulnerable to significant attacks. Hence, security is a crucial factor for the success and the wide deployment of Smart Grids. In this paper, we present security issues of the Smart Grid architecture and we highlight open issues that will make the Smart Grid security a challenging research area in the future.

Keywords: Smart grids, smart meters, home area network, neighbor area network.

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603 Effect of Temperature of Exposure on Properties of Cement Mortar with MSWI Bottom Ash

Authors: Z. Pavlík, M. Keppert, J. Žumár, M. Pavlíková, A. Trník, R. Černý

Abstract:

Effect of high temperature exposure on properties of cement mortar containing municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash as partial natural aggregate replacement is analyzed in the paper. The measurements of mechanical properties, bulk density, matrix density, total open porosity, sorption and desorption isotherms are done on samples exposed to the temperatures of 20°C to 1000°C. TGA analysis is performed as well. Finally, the studied samples are analyzed by IR spectroscopy in order to evaluate TGA data.

Keywords: Cement mortar, high temperature exposure, MSWI bottom ash, natural aggregate replacement, mechanical properties

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602 Studies on the Feasibility of Cow Dung as a Non-Conventional Energy Source

Authors: Raj Kumar Rajak, Bharat Mishra

Abstract:

Bio-batteries represent an entirely new long-term, reasonable, reachable and ecofriendly approach to produce sustainable energy. In the present experimental work, we have studied the effect of generation of power by bio-battery using different electrode pairs. The tests show that it is possible to generate electricity using cow dung as an electrolyte. C-Mg electrode pair shows maximum voltage and SCC (Short Circuit Current) while C-Zn electrode pair shows less OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) and SCC. We have chosen C-Zn electrodes because Mg electrodes are not economical. By the studies of different electrodes and cow dung, it is found that C-Zn electrode battery is more suitable. This result shows that the bio-batteries have the potency to full fill the need of electricity demand for lower energy equipment.

Keywords: Bio-batteries, electricity, cow dung, electrodes, non-conventional.

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601 An Example of Open Robot Controller Architecture - For Power Distribution Line Maintenance Robot System -

Authors: Yingxin He, Kyouichi Tatsuno

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose an architecture for easily constructing a robot controller. The architecture is a multi-agent system which has eight agents: the Man-machine interface, Task planner, Task teaching editor, Motion planner, Arm controller, Vehicle controller, Vision system and CG display. The controller has three databases: the Task knowledge database, the Robot database and the Environment database. Based on this controller architecture, we are constructing an experimental power distribution line maintenance robot system and are doing the experiment for the maintenance tasks, for example, “Bolt insertion task".

Keywords: Robot controller, Software library, Maintenance robot, Robot language, Agent system.

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600 Corporate Governance Role of Audit Committees in the Banking Sector: Evidence from Libya

Authors: Abdulaziz Abdulsaleh

Abstract:

This study aims at identifying the practices that should be taken into consideration by audit committees as a tool of corporate governance in Libyan commercial banks by investigating various perceptions on this topic. The study is based on a questionnaire submitted to audit committees ‘members at Libyan commercial banks, directors of internal audit departments as well as members of board of directors at these banks in addition to a number of external auditors and academic staff from Libyan universities. The study reveals that the role of audit committees has to be shifted from traditional areas of accounting to a broader role including functions related to financial reporting, audit planning, support the independence of internal and external auditors, acting as a channel of communication between external auditors and board of directors, reviewing external audit, and evaluating internal control systems. Although the study is a starting point in developing a framework of good audit committees’ practices in Libya, it is believed that the adoption of its results can result in enhancing the corporate governance practices not only in the banking sector but also in the entire corporate sector in Libya.

Keywords: Audit committees, Corporate Governance, Commercial Banks, Libya.

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599 Agrowaste: Phytosterol from Durian Seed

Authors: D. Mohd Nazrul Hisham, J. Mohd Lip, R. Suri, H. Mohamed Shafit, Z.Kharis, K. Shazlin, A. Normah, M.F. Nurul Nabilah

Abstract:

Presence of phytosterol compound in Durian seed (Durio zibethinus) or known as King of fruits has been discovered from screening work using reagent test. Further analysis work has been carried out using mass spectrometer in order to support the priliminary finding. Isolation and purification of the major phytosterol has been carried out using an open column chromatography. The separation was monitored using thin layer chromatography (TLC). Major isolated compounds and purified phytosterol were identified using mass spectrometer and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This novel finding could promote utilization of durian seeds as a functional ingredient in food products through production of standardized extract based on phytosterol content.

Keywords: Agrowaste, durian, seed, phytosterol

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598 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Memory Overcommit Techniques on KVM-based Hosting Platform

Authors: Chin-Hung Li

Abstract:

Determining how many virtual machines a Linux host could run can be a challenge. One of tough missions is to find the balance among performance, density and usability. Now KVM hypervisor has become the most popular open source full virtualization solution. It supports several ways of running guests with more memory than host really has. Due to large differences between minimum and maximum guest memory requirements, this paper presents initial results on same-page merging, ballooning and live migration techniques that aims at optimum memory usage on KVM-based cloud platform. Given the design of initial experiments, the results data is worth reference for system administrators. The results from these experiments concluded that each method offers different reliability tradeoff.

Keywords: Kernel-based Virtual Machine, Overcommit, Virtualization.

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597 Performance Assessment of the Gold Coast Desalination Plant Offshore Multiport Brine Diffuser during ‘Hot Standby’ Operation

Authors: M. J. Baum, B. Gibbes, A. Grinham, S. Albert, D. Gale, P. Fisher

Abstract:

Alongside the rapid expansion of Seawater Reverse Osmosis technologies there is a concurrent increase in the production of hypersaline brine by-products. To minimize environmental impact, these by-products are commonly disposed into open-coastal environments via submerged diffuser systems as inclined dense jet outfalls. Despite the widespread implementation of this process, diffuser designs are typically based on small-scale laboratory experiments under idealistic quiescent conditions. Studies concerning diffuser performance in the field are limited. A set of experiments were conducted to assess the near field characteristics of brine disposal at the Gold Coast Desalination Plant offshore multiport diffuser. The aim of the field experiments was to determine the trajectory and dilution characteristics of the plume under various discharge configurations with production ranging 66 – 100% of plant operative capacity. The field monitoring system employed an unprecedented static array of temperature and electrical conductivity sensors in a three-dimensional grid surrounding a single diffuser port. Complimenting these measurements, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers were also deployed to record current variability over the depth of the water column and wave characteristics. Recorded data suggested the open-coastal environment was highly active over the experimental duration with ambient velocities ranging 0.0 – 0.5 m∙s-1, with considerable variability over the depth of the water column observed. Variations in background electrical conductivity corresponding to salinity fluctuations of ± 1.7 g∙kg-1 were also observed. Increases in salinity were detected during plant operation and appeared to be most pronounced 10 – 30 m from the diffuser, consistent with trajectory predictions described by existing literature. Plume trajectories and respective dilutions extrapolated from salinity data are compared with empirical scaling arguments. Discharge properties were found to adequately correlate with modelling projections. Temporal and spatial variation of background processes and their subsequent influence upon discharge outcomes are discussed with a view to incorporating the influence of waves and ambient currents in the design of brine outfalls into the future.

Keywords: Brine disposal, desalination, field study, inclined dense jets, negatively buoyant discharge.

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596 Numerical Heat Transfer Performance of Water-Based Graphene Nanoplatelets

Authors: Ahmad Amiri, Hamed K. Arzani, S. N. Kazi, B. T. Chew

Abstract:

Since graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) is a promising material due to desirable thermal properties, this paper is related to the thermophysical and heat transfer performance of covalently functionalized GNP-based water/ethylene glycol nanofluid through an annular channel. After experimentally measuring thermophysical properties of prepared samples, a computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out to examine the heat transfer and pressure drop of well-dispersed and stabilized nanofluids. The effect of concentration of GNP and Reynolds number at constant wall temperature boundary condition under turbulent flow regime on convective heat transfer coefficient has been investigated. Based on the results, for different Reynolds numbers, the convective heat transfer coefficient of the prepared nanofluid is higher than that of the base fluid. Also, the enhancement of convective heat transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity increase with the increase of GNP concentration in base-fluid. Based on the results of this investigation, there is a significant enhancement on the heat transfer rate associated with loading well-dispersed GNP in base-fluid.

Keywords: Nanofluid, turbulent flow, forced convection flow, graphene, annular, annulus.

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595 Study on a Nested Cartesian Grid Method

Authors: Yih-Ferng Peng

Abstract:

In this paper, the local grid refinement is focused by using a nested grid technique. The Cartesian grid numerical method is developed for simulating unsteady, viscous, incompressible flows with complex immersed boundaries. A finite volume method is used in conjunction with a two-step fractional-step procedure. The key aspects that need to be considered in developing such a nested grid solver are imposition of interface conditions on the inter-block and accurate discretization of the governing equation in cells that are with the inter-block as a control surface. A new interpolation procedure is presented which allows systematic development of a spatial discretization scheme that preserves the spatial accuracy of the underlying solver. The present nested grid method has been tested by two numerical examples to examine its performance in the two dimensional problems. The numerical examples include flow past a circular cylinder symmetrically installed in a Channel and flow past two circular cylinders with different diameters. From the numerical experiments, the ability of the solver to simulate flows with complicated immersed boundaries is demonstrated and the nested grid approach can efficiently speed up the numerical solutions.

Keywords: local grid refinement, Cartesian grid, nested grid, fractional-step method.

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594 Dynamic Adaptability Using Reflexivity for Mobile Agent Protection

Authors: Salima Hacini, Haoua Cheribi, Zizette Boufaïda

Abstract:

The paradigm of mobile agent provides a promising technology for the development of distributed and open applications. However, one of the main obstacles to widespread adoption of the mobile agent paradigm seems to be security. This paper treats the security of the mobile agent against malicious host attacks. It describes generic mobile agent protection architecture. The proposed approach is based on the dynamic adaptability and adopts the reflexivity as a model of conception and implantation. In order to protect it against behaviour analysis attempts, the suggested approach supplies the mobile agent with a flexibility faculty allowing it to present an unexpected behaviour. Furthermore, some classical protective mechanisms are used to reinforce the level of security.

Keywords: Dynamic adaptability, malicious host, mobile agent security, reflexivity.

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593 Finding Sparse Features in Face Detection Using Genetic Algorithms

Authors: H. Sagha, S. Kasaei, E. Enayati, M. Dehghani

Abstract:

Although Face detection is not a recent activity in the field of image processing, it is still an open area for research. The greatest step in this field is the work reported by Viola and its recent analogous is Huang et al. Both of them use similar features and also similar training process. The former is just for detecting upright faces, but the latter can detect multi-view faces in still grayscale images using new features called 'sparse feature'. Finding these features is very time consuming and inefficient by proposed methods. Here, we propose a new approach for finding sparse features using a genetic algorithm system. This method requires less computational cost and gets more effective features in learning process for face detection that causes more accuracy.

Keywords: Face Detection, Genetic Algorithms, Sparse Feature.

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