Search results for: noise removal
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1394

Search results for: noise removal

464 Reactive Neural Control for Phototaxis and Obstacle Avoidance Behavior of Walking Machines

Authors: Poramate Manoonpong, Frank Pasemann, Florentin Wörgötter

Abstract:

This paper describes reactive neural control used to generate phototaxis and obstacle avoidance behavior of walking machines. It utilizes discrete-time neurodynamics and consists of two main neural modules: neural preprocessing and modular neural control. The neural preprocessing network acts as a sensory fusion unit. It filters sensory noise and shapes sensory data to drive the corresponding reactive behavior. On the other hand, modular neural control based on a central pattern generator is applied for locomotion of walking machines. It coordinates leg movements and can generate omnidirectional walking. As a result, through a sensorimotor loop this reactive neural controller enables the machines to explore a dynamic environment by avoiding obstacles, turn toward a light source, and then stop near to it.

Keywords: Recurrent neural networks, Walking robots, Modular neural control, Phototaxis, Obstacle avoidance behavior.

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463 H2 Production and Treatment of Cake Wastewater Industry via Up-Flow Anaerobic Staged Reactor

Authors: Manal A. Mohsen, Ahmed Tawfik

Abstract:

Hydrogen production from cake wastewater by anaerobic dark fermentation via upflow anaerobic staged reactor (UASR) was investigated in this study. The reactor was continuously operated for four months at constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 21.57 hr, PH value of 6 ± 0.6, temperature of 21.1°C, and organic loading rate of 2.43 gCOD/l.d. The hydrogen production was 5.7 l H2/d and the hydrogen yield was 134.8 ml H2 /g CODremoved. The system showed an overall removal efficiency of TCOD, TBOD, TSS, TKN, and Carbohydrates of 40 ± 13%, 59 ± 18%, 84 ± 17%, 28 ± 27%, and 85 ± 15% respectively during the long term operation period. Based on the available results, the system is not sufficient for the effective treatment of cake wastewater, and the effluent quality of UASR is not complying for discharge into sewerage network, therefore a post treatment is needed (not covered in this study).

Keywords: Cake wastewater industry, chemical oxygen demand (COD), hydrogen production (HP), up-flow anaerobic staged reactor (UASR).

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462 Adaptive Anisotropic Diffusion for Ultrasonic Image Denoising and Edge Enhancement

Authors: Shujun Fu, Qiuqi Ruan, Wenqia Wang, Yu Li

Abstract:

Utilizing echoic intension and distribution from different organs and local details of human body, ultrasonic image can catch important medical pathological changes, which unfortunately may be affected by ultrasonic speckle noise. A feature preserving ultrasonic image denoising and edge enhancement scheme is put forth, which includes two terms: anisotropic diffusion and edge enhancement, controlled by the optimum smoothing time. In this scheme, the anisotropic diffusion is governed by the local coordinate transformation and the first and the second order normal derivatives of the image, while the edge enhancement is done by the hyperbolic tangent function. Experiments on real ultrasonic images indicate effective preservation of edges, local details and ultrasonic echoic bright strips on denoising by our scheme.

Keywords: anisotropic diffusion, coordinate transformation, directional derivatives, edge enhancement, hyperbolic tangent function, image denoising.

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461 Groundwater Quality Improvement by Using Aeration and Filtration Methods

Authors: Nik N. Nik Daud, Nur H. Izehar, B. Yusuf, Thamer A. Mohamed, A. Ahsan

Abstract:

An experiment was conducted using two aeration methods (water-into-air and air-into-water) and followed by filtration processes using manganese greensand material. The properties of groundwater such as pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and heavy metal concentration (iron and manganese) will be assessed. The objectives of this study are i) to determine the effective aeration method and ii) to assess the effectiveness of manganese greensand as filter media in removing iron and manganese concentration in groundwater. Results showed that final pH for all samples after treatment are in range from 7.40 and 8.40. Both aeration methods increased the dissolved oxygen content. Final turbidity for groundwater samples are between 3 NTU to 29 NTU. Only three out of eight samples achieved iron concentration of 0.3mg/L and less and all samples reach manganese concentration of 0.1mg/L and less. Air-into-water aeration method gives higher percentage of iron and manganese removal compare to water-into-air method.

Keywords: Aeration, filtration, groundwater, water quality.

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460 Adsorption of Chromium Ions from Aqueous Solution by Carbon Adsorbent

Authors: S. Heydari, H. Sharififard, M. Nabavinia, H. Kiani, M. Parvizi

Abstract:

Rapid industrialization has led to increased disposal of heavy metals into the environment. Activated carbon adsorption has proven to be an effective process for the removal of trace metal contaminants from aqueous media. This paper was investigated chromium adsorption efficiency by commercial activated carbon. The sorption studied as a function of activated carbon particle size, dose of activated carbon and initial pH of solution. Adsorption tests for the effects of these factors were designed with Taguchi approach. According to the Taguchi parameter design methodology, L9 orthogonal array was used. Analysis of experimental results showed that, the most influential factor was initial pH of solution. The optimum conditions for chromium adsorption by activated carbons were found to be as follows: initial feed pH 6, adsorbent particle size 0.412 mm and activated carbon dose 6 g/l. Under these conditions, nearly %100 of chromium ions was adsorbed by activated carbon after 2 hours.

Keywords: Chromium, Adsorption, Taguchi method, Activated carbon.

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459 Adsorption of Ferrous and Ferric Ions in Aqueous and Industrial Effluent onto Pongamia pinnata Tree Bark

Authors: M. Mamatha, H. B. Aravinda, E. T. Puttaiah, S. Manjappa

Abstract:

One of the causes of water pollution is the presence of heavy metals in water. In the present study, an adsorbent prepared from the raw bark of the Pongamia pinnata tree is used for the removal of ferrous or ferric ions from aqueous and waste water containing heavy metals. Adsorption studies were conducted at different pH, concentration of metal ion, amount of adsorbent, contact time, agitation and temperature. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were applied for the results. The Langmuir isotherms were best fitted by the equilibrium data. The maximum adsorption was found to 146mg/g in waste water at a temperature of 30°C which is in agreement as comparable to the adsorption capacity of different adsorbents reported in literature. Pseudo second order model best fitted the adsorption of both ferrous and ferric ions.

Keywords: Adsorption, Adsorption isotherms, Heavy metals, Industrial effluents.

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458 The Autoregresive Analysis for Wind Turbine Signal Postprocessing

Authors: Daniel Pereiro, Felix Martinez, Iker Urresti, Ana Gomez Gonzalez

Abstract:

Today modern simulations solutions in the wind turbine industry have achieved a high degree of complexity and detail in result. Limitations exist when it is time to validate model results against measurements. Regarding Model validation it is of special interest to identify mode frequencies and to differentiate them from the different excitations. A wind turbine is a complex device and measurements regarding any part of the assembly show a lot of noise. Input excitations are difficult or even impossible to measure due to the stochastic nature of the environment. Traditional techniques for frequency analysis or features extraction are widely used to analyze wind turbine sensor signals, but have several limitations specially attending to non stationary signals (Events). A new technique based on autoregresive analysis techniques is introduced here for a specific application, a comparison and examples related to different events in the wind turbine operations are presented.

Keywords: Wind turbine, signal processing, mode extraction.

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457 An Empirical Mode Decomposition Based Method for Action Potential Detection in Neural Raw Data

Authors: Sajjad Farashi, Mohammadjavad Abolhassani, Mostafa Taghavi Kani

Abstract:

Information in the nervous system is coded as firing patterns of electrical signals called action potential or spike so an essential step in analysis of neural mechanism is detection of action potentials embedded in the neural data. There are several methods proposed in the literature for such a purpose. In this paper a novel method based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) has been developed. EMD is a decomposition method that extracts oscillations with different frequency range in a waveform. The method is adaptive and no a-priori knowledge about data or parameter adjusting is needed in it. The results for simulated data indicate that proposed method is comparable with wavelet based methods for spike detection. For neural signals with signal-to-noise ratio near 3 proposed methods is capable to detect more than 95% of action potentials accurately.

Keywords: EMD, neural data processing, spike detection, wavelet decomposition.

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456 Centralized Cooperative Spectrum Sensing with MIMO in the Reporting Network over κ − μ Fading Channel

Authors: S Hariharan, K Chaitanya, P Muthuchidambaranathan

Abstract:

The IEEE 802.22 working group aims to drive the Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) bands for data communication to the rural area without interfering the TV broadcast. In this paper, we arrive at a closed-form expression for average detection probability of Fusion center (FC) with multiple antenna over the κ − μ fading channel model. We consider a centralized cooperative multiple antenna network for reporting. The DVB-T samples forwarded by the secondary user (SU) were combined using Maximum ratio combiner at FC, an energy detection is performed to make the decision. The fading effects of the channel degrades the detection probability of the FC, a generalized independent and identically distributed (IID) κ − μ and an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is considered for reporting and sensing respectively. The proposed system performance is verified through simulation results.

Keywords: IEEE 802.22, Cooperative spectrum sensing, Multiple antenna, κ − μ .

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455 Treatment of Cutting Oily-Wastewater by Sono Fenton Process: Experimental Approach and Combined Process

Authors: P. Painmanakul, T. Chintateerachai, S. Lertlapwasin, N. Rojvilavan, T. Chalermsinsuwan, N. Chawaloesphonsiya, O. Larpparisudthi

Abstract:

Conventional coagulation, advance oxidation process (AOPs), and the combined process were evaluated and compared for its suitability to treat the stabilized cutting-oil wastewater. The 90% efficiency was obtained from the coagulation at Al2(SO4)3 dosage of 150 mg/L and pH 7. On the other hands, efficiencies of AOPs for 30 minutes oxidation time were 10% for acoustic oxidation, 12% for acoustic oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, 76% for Fenton, and 92% sono-Fenton processes. The highest efficiency for effective oil removal of AOPs required large amount of chemical. Therefore, AOPs were studied as a post-treatment after conventional separation process. The efficiency was considerable as the effluent COD can pass the standard required for industrial wastewater discharge with less chemical and energy consumption.

 

Keywords: Cutting oily-wastewater, Advance oxidation process, Sono-Fenton, Combined process.

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454 Mean Shift-based Preprocessing Methodology for Improved 3D Buildings Reconstruction

Authors: Nikolaos Vassilas, Theocharis Tsenoglou, Djamchid Ghazanfarpour

Abstract:

In this work, we explore the capability of the mean shift algorithm as a powerful preprocessing tool for improving the quality of spatial data, acquired from airborne scanners, from densely built urban areas. On one hand, high resolution image data corrupted by noise caused by lossy compression techniques are appropriately smoothed while at the same time preserving the optical edges and, on the other, low resolution LiDAR data in the form of normalized Digital Surface Map (nDSM) is upsampled through the joint mean shift algorithm. Experiments on both the edge-preserving smoothing and upsampling capabilities using synthetic RGB-z data show that the mean shift algorithm is superior to bilateral filtering as well as to other classical smoothing and upsampling algorithms. Application of the proposed methodology for 3D reconstruction of buildings of a pilot region of Athens, Greece results in a significant visual improvement of the 3D building block model.

Keywords: 3D buildings reconstruction, data fusion, data upsampling, mean shift.

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453 Compton Scattering of Annihilation Photons as a Short Range Quantum Key Distribution Mechanism

Authors: Roman Novak, Matjaz Vencelj

Abstract:

The angular distribution of Compton scattering of two quanta originating in the annihilation of a positron with an electron is investigated as a quantum key distribution (QKD) mechanism in the gamma spectral range. The geometry of coincident Compton scattering is observed on the two sides as a way to obtain partially correlated readings on the quantum channel. We derive the noise probability density function of a conceptually equivalent prepare and measure quantum channel in order to evaluate the limits of the concept in terms of the device secrecy capacity and estimate it at roughly 1.9 bits per 1 000 annihilation events. The high error rate is well above the tolerable error rates of the common reconciliation protocols; therefore, the proposed key agreement protocol by public discussion requires key reconciliation using classical error-correcting codes. We constructed a prototype device based on the readily available monolithic detectors in the least complex setup.

Keywords: Compton scattering, gamma-ray polarization, quantumcryptography, quantum key distribution

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452 Chelate Enhanced Modified Fenton Treatment for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contaminated Soils

Authors: Venny, S. Gan, H. K. Ng

Abstract:

This work focuses on the remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-contaminated soil via Fenton treatment coupled with novel chelating agent (CA). The feasibility of chelated modified Fenton (MF) treatment to promote PAH oxidation in artificially contaminated soils was investigated in laboratory scale batch experiments at natural pH. The effects of adding inorganic and organic CA are discussed. Experiments using different iron catalyst to CA ratios were conducted, resulting in hydrogen peroxide: soil: iron: CA weight ratios that varied from 0.049: 1: 0.072: 0.008 to 0.049: 1: 0.072: 0.067. The results revealed that (1) inorganic CA could provide much higher PAH removal efficiency and (2) most of the proposed CAs were more efficient than commonly utilised CAs even at mild ratio. This work highlights the potential of novel chelating agents in maintaining a suitable environment throughout the Fenton treatment, particularly in soils with high buffer capacity.

Keywords: Chelating agent, Fenton, hydroxyl radicals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.

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451 The Effect of Fly Ash in Dewatering of Marble Processing Wastewaters

Authors: H. A. Taner, V. Önen

Abstract:

In the thermal power plants established to meet the energy need, lignite with low calorie and high ash content is used. Burning of these coals results in wastes such as fly ash, slag and flue gas. This constitutes a significant economic and environmental problems. However, fly ash can find evaluation opportunities in various sectors. In this study, the effectiveness of fly ash on suspended solid removal from marble processing wastewater containing high concentration of suspended solids was examined. Experiments were carried out for two different suspensions, marble and travertine. In the experiments, FeCl3, Al2(SO4)3 and anionic polymer A130 were used also to compare with fly ash. Coagulant/flocculant type/dosage, mixing time/speed and pH were the experimental parameters. The performances in the experimental studies were assessed with the change in the interface height during sedimentation resultant and turbidity values of treated water. The highest sedimentation efficiency was achieved with anionic flocculant. However, it was determined that fly ash can be used instead of FeCl3 and Al2(SO4)3 in the travertine plant as a coagulant.

Keywords: Dewatering, flocculant, fly ash, marble plant waste water.

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450 X-Corner Detection for Camera Calibration Using Saddle Points

Authors: Abdulrahman S. Alturki, John S. Loomis

Abstract:

This paper discusses a corner detection algorithm for camera calibration. Calibration is a necessary step in many computer vision and image processing applications. Robust corner detection for an image of a checkerboard is required to determine intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. In this paper, an algorithm for fully automatic and robust X-corner detection is presented. Checkerboard corner points are automatically found in each image without user interaction or any prior information regarding the number of rows or columns. The approach represents each X-corner with a quadratic fitting function. Using the fact that the X-corners are saddle points, the coefficients in the fitting function are used to identify each corner location. The automation of this process greatly simplifies calibration. Our method is robust against noise and different camera orientations. Experimental analysis shows the accuracy of our method using actual images acquired at different camera locations and orientations.

Keywords: Camera Calibration, Corner Detector, Saddle Points, X-Corners.

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449 Treatment of Leaden Sludge of Algiers Refinery by Electrooxidation

Authors: K. Ighilahriz, M. Taleb Ahmed, R. Maachi

Abstract:

Oil industries are responsible for most cases of contamination of our ecosystem by oil and heavy metals. They are toxic and considered carcinogenic and dangerous even when they exist in trace amounts. At Algiers refinery, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil generate considerable waste in storage tanks; these residues result from the gravitational settling. The composition of these residues is essentially a mixture of hydrocarbon and lead. We propose in this work the application of electrooxidation treatment for the leachate of the leaden sludge. The effect of pH, current density and the electrolysis time were studied, the effectiveness of the processes is evaluated by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD). The dissolution is the best way to mobilize pollutants from leaden mud, so we conducted leaching before starting the electrochemical treatment. The process was carried out in batch mode using graphite anode and a stainless steel cathode. The results clearly demonstrate the compatibility of the technique used with the type of pollution studied. In fact, it allowed COD removal about 80%.

Keywords: Electrooxidation, leaching, leaden sludge, the oil industry.

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448 Selective Solvent Extraction of Calcium and Magnesium from Concentrate Nickel Solutions Using Mixtures of Cyanex 272 and D2EHPA

Authors: Alexandre S. Guimarães, Marcelo B. Mansur

Abstract:

The performance of organophosphorus extractants Cyanex 272 and D2EHPA on the purification of concentrate nickel sulfate solutions was evaluated. Batch scale tests were carried out at pH range of 2 to 7 using a laboratory solution simulating concentrate nickel liquors as those typically obtained when sulfate intermediates from nickel laterite are re-leached and treated for the selective removal of cobalt, zinc, manganese and copper with Cyanex 272 ([Ca] = 0.57 g/L, [Mg] = 3.2 g/L, and [Ni] = 88 g/L). The increase on the concentration of D2EHPA favored the calcium extraction. The extraction of magnesium is dependent on the pH and of ratio of extractants D2EHPA and Cyanex 272 in the organic phase. The composition of the investigated organic phase did not affect nickel extraction. The number of stages is dependent on the magnesium extraction. The most favorable operating condition to selectively remove calcium and magnesium was determined.

Keywords: Solvent extraction, organophosphorus extractants, alkaline earth metals, nickel.

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447 Detection of Voltage Sag and Voltage Swell in Power Quality Using Wavelet Transforms

Authors: Nor Asrina Binti Ramlee

Abstract:

Voltage sag, voltage swell, high-frequency noise and voltage transients are kinds of disturbances in power quality. They are also known as power quality events. Equipment used in the industry nowadays has become more sensitive to these events with the increasing complexity of equipment. This leads to the importance of distributing clean power quality to the consumer. To provide better service, the best analysis on power quality is very vital. Thus, this paper presents the events detection focusing on voltage sag and swell. The method is developed by applying time domain signal analysis using wavelet transform approach in MATLAB. Four types of mother wavelet namely Haar, Dmey, Daubechies, and Symlet are used to detect the events. This project analyzed real interrupted signal obtained from 22 kV transmission line in Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The signals will be decomposed through the wavelet mothers. The best mother is the one that is capable to detect the time location of the event accurately.

Keywords: Power quality, voltage sag, voltage swell, wavelet transform.

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446 Robust UKF Insensitive to Measurement Faults for Pico Satellite Attitude Estimation

Authors: Halil Ersin Soken, Chingiz Hajiyev

Abstract:

In the normal operation conditions of a pico satellite, conventional Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) gives sufficiently good estimation results. However, if the measurements are not reliable because of any kind of malfunction in the estimation system, UKF gives inaccurate results and diverges by time. This study, introduces Robust Unscented Kalman Filter (RUKF) algorithms with the filter gain correction for the case of measurement malfunctions. By the use of defined variables named as measurement noise scale factor, the faulty measurements are taken into the consideration with a small weight and the estimations are corrected without affecting the characteristic of the accurate ones. Two different RUKF algorithms, one with single scale factor and one with multiple scale factors, are proposed and applied for the attitude estimation process of a pico satellite. The results of these algorithms are compared for different types of measurement faults in different estimation scenarios and recommendations about their applications are given.

Keywords: attitude algorithms, Kalman filters, robustestimation.

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445 Analysis of Hollow Rollers Implementation in Flexible Manufacturing of Large Bearings

Authors: S. Barabas, A.Fota.

Abstract:

In this paper is study the possibility of successfully implementing of hollow roller concept in order to minimize inertial mass of the large bearings, with major results in diminution of the material consumption, increasing of power efficiency (in wind power station area), increasing of the durability and life duration of the large bearings systems, noise reduction in working, resistance to vibrations, an important diminution of losses by abrasion and reduction of the working temperature. In this purpose was developed an original solution through which are reduced mass, inertial forces and moments of large bearings by using of hollow rollers. The research was made by using the method of finite element analysis applied on software type Solidworks - Nastran. Also, is study the possibility of rapidly changing the manufacturing system of solid and hollow cylindrical rollers.

Keywords: Large bearings, Von Mises stress, hollow rollers, flexible manufacturing system

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444 Analysis of the Theoretical Values of Several Characteristic Parameters of Surface Topography in Rotational Turning

Authors: J. Kundrák, I. Sztankovics, K. Gyáni

Abstract:

In addition to the increase of the material removal rate or surface rate, or the improvement of the surface quality, which are the main aims of the development of manufacturing technology, a growing number of other manufacturing requirements have appeared in the machining of workpiece surfaces. Among these it is becoming increasingly dominant to generate a surface topography in finishing operations which meets more closely the needs of operational requirements.

These include the examination of the surface periodicity and/or ensuring that the twist-structure values are within the limits (or even preventing its occurrence) in specified cases such as on the sealing surfaces of rotating shafts or on the inside working surfaces of needle roller bearings. In the view of the measurement the twist has different parameters from surface roughness, which must be determined for the machining procedures. Therefore in this paper the alteration of the theoretical values of the parameters determining twist structure are studied as a function of the kinematic properties.

Keywords: Kinematic parameters, rotational turning, surface topography, twist structure

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443 Photo Catalytic Oxidation Degradation of Volatile Organic Compound with Nano-TiO2/LDPE Composite Film

Authors: Kowit Suwannahong, Wipada Sanongra, Jittiporn Kruenate, Sarun Phibanchon, Siriuma Jawjit, Wipawee Khamwichit

Abstract:

The photocatalytic activity efficiency of TiO2 for the degradation of Toluene in photoreactor can be enhanced by nano- TiO2/LDPE composite film. Since the amount of TiO2 affected the efficiency of the photocatalytic activity, this work was mainly concentrated on the effort to embed the high amount of TiO2 in the Polyethylene matrix. The developed photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and SEM. The SEM images revealed the high homogeneity of the deposition of TiO2 on the polyethylene matrix. The XRD patterns interpreted that TiO2 embedded in the PE matrix exhibited mainly in anatase form. In addition, the photocatalytic results show that the toluene removal efficiencies of 30±5%, 49±4%, 68±5%, 42±6% and 33±5% were obtained when using the catalyst loading at 0%, 10%, 15%, 25% and 50% (wt. cat./wt. film), respectively.

Keywords: Photocatalytic oxidation, Toluene, nano-TiO2/LDPE composite film.

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442 Environmental Interference Cancellation of Speech with the Radial Basis Function Networks: An Experimental Comparison

Authors: Nima Hatami

Abstract:

In this paper, we use Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFN) for solving the problem of environmental interference cancellation of speech signal. We show that the Second Order Thin- Plate Spline (SOTPS) kernel cancels the interferences effectively. For make comparison, we test our experiments on two conventional most used RBFN kernels: the Gaussian and First order TPS (FOTPS) basis functions. The speech signals used here were taken from the OGI Multi-Language Telephone Speech Corpus database and were corrupted with six type of environmental noise from NOISEX-92 database. Experimental results show that the SOTPS kernel can considerably outperform the Gaussian and FOTPS functions on speech interference cancellation problem.

Keywords: Environmental interference, interference cancellation of speech, Radial Basis Function networks, Gaussian and TPS kernels.

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441 Generation of Photo-Mosaic Images through Block Matching and Color Adjustment

Authors: Hae-Yeoun Lee

Abstract:

Mosaic refers to a technique that makes image by gathering lots of small materials in various colors. This paper presents an automatic algorithm that makes the photo-mosaic image using photos. The algorithm is composed of 4 steps: partition and feature extraction, block matching, redundancy removal and color adjustment. The input image is partitioned in the small block to extract feature. Each block is matched to find similar photo in database by comparing similarity with Euclidean difference between blocks. The intensity of the block is adjusted to enhance the similarity of image by replacing the value of light and darkness with that of relevant block. Further, the quality of image is improved by minimizing the redundancy of tiles in the adjacent blocks. Experimental results support that the proposed algorithm is excellent in quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.

Keywords: Photo-mosaic, Euclidean distance, Block matching, Intensity adjustment.

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440 Verification of the Simultaneous Local Extraction Method of Base and Thermal Resistance of Bipolar Transistors

Authors: Robert Setekera, Luuk Tiemeijer, Ramses van der Toorn

Abstract:

In this paper an extensive verification of the extraction method (published earlier) that consistently accounts for self-heating and Early effect to accurately extract both base and thermal resistance of bipolar junction transistors is presented. The method verification is demonstrated on advanced RF SiGe HBTs were the extracted results for the thermal resistance are compared with those from another published method that ignores the effect of Early effect on internal base-emitter voltage and the extracted results of the base resistance are compared with those determined from noise measurements. A self-consistency of our method in the extracted base resistance and thermal resistance using compact model simulation results is also carried out in order to study the level of accuracy of the method.

Keywords: Avalanche, Base resistance, Bipolar transistor, Compact modeling, Early voltage, Thermal resistance, Self-heating, parameter extraction.

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439 Antioxidant Capacity of Maize Corn under Drought Stress from the Different Zones of Growing

Authors: Astghik R. Sukiasyan

Abstract:

The semidental sweet maize of Armenian population under drought stress and pollution by some heavy metals (HMs) in sites along the river Debet was studied. Accordingly, the objective of this work was to investigate the antioxidant status of maize plant in order to identify simple and reliable criteria for assessing the degree of adaptation of plants to abiotic stress of drought and HMs. It was found that in the case of removal from the mainstream of the river, the antioxidant status of the plant varies. As parameters, the antioxidant status of the plant has been determined by the activity of malondialdehyde (MDA) and Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP), taking into account the characteristics of natural drought of this region. The possibility of using some indicators which characterized the antioxidant status of the plant was concluded. The criteria for assessing the extent of environmental pollution could be HMs. This fact can be used for the early diagnosis of diseases in the population who lives in these areas and uses corn as the main food.

Keywords: Antioxidant status, maize corn, drought stress, heavy metal.

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438 Design Management Applications to Improve Work Environment for Female Academics in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Nouf Saad Alnassar, Susan Grant, Ray Holland

Abstract:

This research study examines cases of Saudi Arabian universities and female academics for work environment issues within the context of design management applications. The study proposes use of design research, ergonomics and systems design thinking to develop the university design which facilitates removal of physical and cognitive barriers for female academics. Review of literature demonstrates that macro and micro ergonomic combined with design management and system design strategies can significantly improve the workplace design for female academics. The university design model would be prepared based on the analyses of primary data obtained from archived documents, participants' observation logs, photo audits, focus groups and semi-structured interviews of currently employed female academics in the selected case universities.

Keywords: Design management, workplace design, university design, ergonomics.

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437 Supervisory Fuzzy Learning Control for Underwater Target Tracking

Authors: C.Kia, M.R.Arshad, A.H.Adom, P.A.Wilson

Abstract:

This paper presents recent work on the improvement of the robotics vision based control strategy for underwater pipeline tracking system. The study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and a fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The main goal is to implement the supervisory fuzzy learning control technique to reduce the errors on navigation decision due to the pipeline occlusion problem. The system developed is capable of interpreting underwater images containing occluded pipeline, seabed and other unwanted noise. The algorithm proposed in previous work does not explore the cooperation between fuzzy controllers, knowledge and learnt data to improve the outputs for underwater pipeline tracking. Computer simulations and prototype simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. The system accuracy level has also been discussed.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, Underwater target tracking, Autonomous underwater vehicles, Artificial intelligence, Simulations, Robot navigation, Vision system.

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436 Development of a Microsensor to Minimize Post Cataract Surgery Complications

Authors: M. Mottaghi, F. Ghalichi, H. Badri Ghavifekr, H. Niroomand Oskui

Abstract:

This paper presents design and characterization of a microaccelerometer designated for integration into cataract surgical probe to detect hardness of different eye tissues during cataract surgery. Soft posterior lens capsule of eye can be easily damaged in comparison with hard opaque lens since the surgeon can not see directly behind cutting needle during the surgery. Presence of microsensor helps the surgeon to avoid rupturing posterior lens capsule which if occurs leads to severe complications such as glaucoma, infection, or even blindness. The microsensor having overall dimensions of 480 μm x 395 μm is able to deliver significant capacitance variations during encountered vibration situations which makes it capable to distinguish between different types of tissue. Integration of electronic components on chip ensures high level of reliability and noise immunity while minimizes space and power requirements. Physical characteristics and results on performance testing, proves integration of microsensor as an effective tool to aid the surgeon during this procedure.

Keywords: Cataract surgery, MEMS, Microsensor, Phacoemulsification.

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435 Hydrogen Production from Alcohol Wastewater by Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactors under Mesophilic Temperature

Authors: Thipsalin Poontaweegeratigarn, Sumaeth Chavadej, Pramoch Rangsunvigit

Abstract:

In this work, biohydrogen production via dark fermentation from alcohol wastewater using upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors (UASB) with a working volume of 4 L was investigated to find the optimum conditions for a maximum hydrogen yield. The system was operated at different COD loading rates (23, 31, 46 and 62 kg/m3d) at mesophilic temperature (37 ºC) and pH 5.5. The seed sludge was pretreated before being fed to the UASB system by boiling at 95 ºC for 15 min. When the system was operated under the optimum COD loading rate of 46 kg/m3d, it provided the hydrogen content of 27%, hydrogen yield of 125.1 ml H2/g COD removed and 95.1 ml H2/g COD applied, hydrogen production rate of 18 l/d, specific hydrogen production rate of 1080 ml H2/g MLVSS d and 1430 ml H2/ L d, and COD removal of 24%.

Keywords: Hydrogen production, Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB), Optimum condition, Alcohol wastewater

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