Search results for: Software Product Line
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4004

Search results for: Software Product Line

2954 Retrieval of Relevant Visual Data in Selected Machine Vision Tasks: Examples of Hardware-based and Software-based Solutions

Authors: Andrzej Śluzek

Abstract:

To illustrate diversity of methods used to extract relevant (where the concept of relevance can be differently defined for different applications) visual data, the paper discusses three groups of such methods. They have been selected from a range of alternatives to highlight how hardware and software tools can be complementarily used in order to achieve various functionalities in case of different specifications of “relevant data". First, principles of gated imaging are presented (where relevance is determined by the range). The second methodology is intended for intelligent intrusion detection, while the last one is used for content-based image matching and retrieval. All methods have been developed within projects supervised by the author.

Keywords: Relevant visual data, gated imaging, intrusion detection, image matching.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1375
2953 A Novel Approach for Beneficiation and Dewatering of Coal Fines for Indian Coal Preparation Plant

Authors: K.K. Sharma, K.M.K. Sinha, T.G. Charan, D.D. Haldar

Abstract:

An attempt has been made to beneficiate the Indian coking coal fines by a combination of Spiral, flotation and Oleo Flotation processes. Beneficiation studies were also carried out on - 0.5mm coal fines using flotation and oleo flotation by splitting at size 0.063mm.Size fraction of 0.5mm-0.063mm and -0.063mm size were treated in flotation and Oleo flotation respectively. The washability studies on the fraction 3-0.5 mm indicated that good separation may be achieved when it is fed in a spiral. Combined product of Spiral, Flotation and Oleo Flotation has given a significant yield at acceptable ash%. Studies were also conducted to see the dewatering of combined product by batch type centrifuge. It may further be suggested that combination of different processes may be used to treat the -3 mm fraction in an integrated manner to achieve the yield at the desired ash level. The treatment of the 3/1 mm -0.5 mm size fraction by spiral,-0.5-0.63 mm by conventional froth flotation and - 0.063 fractions by oleo flotation may provide a complete solution of beneficiation and dewatering of coal fines, and can effectively address the environmental problems caused by coal fines.

Keywords: coal fines, dewatering, environment, flotation, oleoflotation, spiral

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2102
2952 Static Analysis of Security Issues of the Python Packages Ecosystem

Authors: Adam Gorine, Faten Spondon

Abstract:

Python is considered the most popular programming language and offers its own ecosystem for archiving and maintaining open-source software packages. This system is called the Python Package Index (PyPI), the repository of this programming language. Unfortunately, one-third of these software packages have vulnerabilities that allow attackers to execute code automatically when a vulnerable or malicious package is installed. This paper contributes to large-scale empirical studies investigating security issues in the Python ecosystem by evaluating package vulnerabilities. These provide a series of implications that can help the security of software ecosystems by improving the process of discovering, fixing, and managing package vulnerabilities. The vulnerable dataset is generated using the NVD, the National Vulnerability Database, and the Snyk vulnerability dataset. In addition, we evaluated 807 vulnerability reports in the NVD and 3900 publicly known security vulnerabilities in Python Package Manager (Pip) from the Snyk database from 2002 to 2022. As a result, many Python vulnerabilities appear in high severity, followed by medium severity. The most problematic areas have been improper input validation and denial of service attacks. A hybrid scanning tool that combines the three scanners, Bandit, Snyk and Dlint, which provide a clear report of the code vulnerability, is also described.

Keywords: Python vulnerabilities, Bandit, Snyk, Dlint, Python Package Index, ecosystem, static analysis, malicious attacks.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 192
2951 The Effects of Methionine and Acetate Concentrations on Mycophenolic Acid Production by Penicillium bervicompactum MUCL 19011 in Submerged Culture

Authors: F. Ardestani, S.A. Fatemi, B. Yakhchali, M. Hosseyni, G. Najafpour

Abstract:

Mycophenolic acid “MPA" is a secondary metabolite of Penicillium bervicompactum with antibiotic and immunosuppressive properties. In this study, fermentation process was established for production of mycophenolic acid by Penicillium bervicompactum MUCL 19011 in shake flask. The maximum MPA production, product yield and productivity were 1.379 g/L, 18.6 mg/g glucose and 4.9 mg/L.h respectively. Glucose consumption, biomass and MPA production profiles were investigated during fermentation time. It was found that MPA production starts approximately after 180 hours and reaches to a maximum at 280 h. In the next step, the effects of methionine and acetate concentrations on MPA production were evaluated. Maximum MPA production, product yield and productivity (1.763 g/L, 23.8 mg/g glucose and 6.30 mg/L. h respectively) were obtained with using 2.5 g/L methionine in culture medium. Further addition of methionine had not more positive effect on MPA production. Finally, results showed that the addition of acetate to the culture medium had not any observable effect on MPA production.

Keywords: Penicillium bervicompactum, Methionine, Mycophenolic acid, Submerged culture

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1477
2950 Automatic Extraction of Features and Opinion-Oriented Sentences from Customer Reviews

Authors: Khairullah Khan, Baharum B. Baharudin, Aurangzeb Khan, Fazal_e_Malik

Abstract:

Opinion extraction about products from customer reviews is becoming an interesting area of research. Customer reviews about products are nowadays available from blogs and review sites. Also tools are being developed for extraction of opinion from these reviews to help the user as well merchants to track the most suitable choice of product. Therefore efficient method and techniques are needed to extract opinions from review and blogs. As reviews of products mostly contains discussion about the features, functions and services, therefore, efficient techniques are required to extract user comments about the desired features, functions and services. In this paper we have proposed a novel idea to find features of product from user review in an efficient way. Our focus in this paper is to get the features and opinion-oriented words about products from text through auxiliary verbs (AV) {is, was, are, were, has, have, had}. From the results of our experiments we found that 82% of features and 85% of opinion-oriented sentences include AVs. Thus these AVs are good indicators of features and opinion orientation in customer reviews.

Keywords: Classification, Customer Reviews, Helping Verbs, Opinion Mining.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2079
2949 Performance of Laboratory Experiments over the Internet: Towards an Intelligent Tutoring System on Automatic Control

Authors: Kleanthis Prekas, Maria Rangoussi, Savvas Vassiliadis, George Prekas

Abstract:

Intelligent tutoring systems constitute an evolution of computer-aided educational software. We present here the modules of an intelligent tutoring system for Automatic Control, developed in our department. Through the software application developed,students can perform complete automatic control laboratory experiments, either over the departmental local area network or over the Internet. Monitoring of access to the system (local as well as international), along with student performance statistics, has yielded strongly encouraging results (as of fall 2004), despite the advanced technical content of the presented paradigm, thus showing the potential of the system developed for education and for training.

Keywords: Automatic control, tutoring system, Internet access, laboratory experiments.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1639
2948 Feasibility Studies through Quantitative Methods: The Revamping of a Tourist Railway Line in Italy

Authors: Armando Cartenì, Ilaria Henke

Abstract:

Recently, the Italian government has approved a new law for public contracts and has been laying the groundwork for restarting a planning phase. The government has adopted the indications given by the European Commission regarding the estimation of the external costs within the Cost-Benefit Analysis, and has been approved the ‘Guidelines for assessment of Investment Projects’. In compliance with the new Italian law, the aim of this research was to perform a feasibility study applying quantitative methods regarding the revamping of an Italian tourist railway line. A Cost-Benefit Analysis was performed starting from the quantification of the passengers’ demand potentially interested in using the revamped rail services. The benefits due to the external costs reduction were also estimated (quantified) in terms of variations (with respect to the not project scenario): climate change, air pollution, noises, congestion, and accidents. Estimations results have been proposed in terms of the Measure of Effectiveness underlying a positive Net Present Value equal to about 27 million of Euros, an Internal Rate of Return much greater the discount rate, a benefit/cost ratio equal to 2 and a PayBack Period of 15 years.

Keywords: Cost-benefit analysis, evaluation analysis, demand management, external cost, transport planning, quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 860
2947 Software Architecture Recovery

Authors: Ghulam Rasool, Nadim Asif

Abstract:

The advent of modern technology shadows its impetus repercussions on successful Legacy systems making them obsolete with time. These systems have evolved the large organizations in major problems in terms of new business requirements, response time, financial depreciation and maintenance. Major difficulty is due to constant system evolution and incomplete, inconsistent and obsolete documents which a legacy system tends to have. The myriad dimensions of these systems can only be explored by incorporating reverse engineering, in this context, is the best method to extract useful artifacts and by exploring these artifacts for reengineering existing legacy systems to meet new requirements of organizations. A case study is conducted on six different type of software systems having source code in different programming languages using the architectural recovery framework.

Keywords: Reverse Engineering, Architecture recovery, Architecture artifacts, Reengineering.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2922
2946 Two Spherical Three Degrees of Freedom Parallel Robots 3-RCC and 3-RRS Static Analysis

Authors: Alireza Abbasi Moshaii, Mehdi Tale Masouleh, Esmail Zarezadeh, Kamran Farajzadeh

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is static analysis of two three-degree of freedom parallel mechanisms: 3-RCC and 3- RRS. Geometry of these mechanisms is expressed and static equilibrium equations are derived for the whole chains. For these mechanisms due to the equal number of equations and unknowns, the solution is as same as 3-RCC mechanism. A mathematical software is used to solve the equations. In order to prove the results obtained from solving the equations of mechanisms, the CAD model of these robots has been simulated and their static is analysed in ADAMS software. Due to symmetrical geometry of the mechanisms, the force and external torque acting on the end-effecter have been considered asymmetric to prove the generality of the solution method. Finally, the results of both softwares, for both mechanisms are extracted and compared as graphs. The good achieved comparison between the results indicates the accuracy of the analysis.

Keywords: Robotic, Static analysis, 3-RCC, 3-RRS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1948
2945 Comparison of Imputation Techniques for Efficient Prediction of Software Fault Proneness in Classes

Authors: Geeta Sikka, Arvinder Kaur Takkar, Moin Uddin

Abstract:

Missing data is a persistent problem in almost all areas of empirical research. The missing data must be treated very carefully, as data plays a fundamental role in every analysis. Improper treatment can distort the analysis or generate biased results. In this paper, we compare and contrast various imputation techniques on missing data sets and make an empirical evaluation of these methods so as to construct quality software models. Our empirical study is based on NASA-s two public dataset. KC4 and KC1. The actual data sets of 125 cases and 2107 cases respectively, without any missing values were considered. The data set is used to create Missing at Random (MAR) data Listwise Deletion(LD), Mean Substitution(MS), Interpolation, Regression with an error term and Expectation-Maximization (EM) approaches were used to compare the effects of the various techniques.

Keywords: Missing data, Imputation, Missing Data Techniques.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1652
2944 Shaping the Input Side Current Waveform of a 3-ϕ Rectifier into a Pure Sine Wave

Authors: Sikder Mohammad Faruk, Mir Mofajjal Hossain, Muhibul Haque Bhuyan

Abstract:

In this investigative research paper, we have presented the simulation results of a three-phase rectifier circuit to improve the input side current using the passive filters, such as capacitors and inductors at the output and input terminals of the rectifier circuit respectively. All simulation works were performed in a personal computer using the PSPICE simulator software, which is a virtual circuit design and simulation software package. The output voltages and currents were measured across a resistive load of 1 k. We observed that the output voltage levels, input current wave shapes, harmonic contents through the harmonic spectrum, and total harmonic distortion improved due to the use of such filters.

Keywords: input current wave, three-phase rectifier, passive filter, PSPICE Simulation

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 470
2943 Embedded Systems Energy Consumption Analysis Through Co-modelling and Simulation

Authors: José Antonio Esparza Isasa, Finn Overgaard Hansen, Peter Gorm Larsen

Abstract:

This paper presents a new methodology to study power and energy consumption in mechatronic systems early in the development process. This new approach makes use of two modeling languages to represent and simulate embedded control software and electromechanical subsystems in the discrete event and continuous time domain respectively within a single co-model. This co-model enables an accurate representation of power and energy consumption and facilitates the analysis and development of both software and electro-mechanical subsystems in parallel. This makes the engineers aware of energy-wise implications of different design alternatives and enables early trade-off analysis from the beginning of the analysis and design activities.

Keywords: Energy consumption, embedded systems, modeldriven engineering, power awareness.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2059
2942 Expert System for Chose Material used Gears

Authors: E.V. Butilă, F. Gîrbacia

Abstract:

In order to give high expertise the computer aided design of mechanical systems involves specific activities focused on processing two type of information: knowledge and data. Expert rule based knowledge is generally processing qualitative information and involves searching for proper solutions and their combination into synthetic variant. Data processing is based on computational models and it is supposed to be inter-related with reasoning in the knowledge processing. In this paper an Intelligent Integrated System is proposed, for the objective of choosing the adequate material. The software is developed in Prolog – Flex software and takes into account various constraints that appear in the accurate operation of gears.

Keywords: Expert System, computer aided design, gear boxdesign, chose material, Prolog, Flex

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1678
2941 A Composite Developed from a Methyl Methacrylate and Embedded Eppawala Hydroxyapatite for Orthopedics

Authors: H. K. G. K. D. K. Hapuhinna, R. D. Gunaratne, H. M. J. C. Pitawala

Abstract:

This study aimed to find out chemical and structural suitability of synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite composite as bone cement, by comparing and contrasting it with human bone as well as commercially available bone cement, which is currently used in orthopedic surgeries. Therefore, a mixture of commercially available bone cement and its liquid monomer, commercially available methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a mixture of solid state synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite powder with commercially available MMA were prepared as the direct substitution for bone cement. Then physical and chemical properties including composition, crystallinity, presence of functional groups, thermal stability, surface morphology, and microstructural features were examined compared to human bone. Results show that there is a close similarity between synthesized product and human bone and it has exhibited high thermal stability, good crystalline and porous properties than the commercial product. Finally, the study concluded that synthesized hydroxyapatite composite can be used directly as a substitution for commercial bone cement.

Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, bone cement, methyl methacrylate, orthopedics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 602
2940 Utilizing Adaptive Software to Enhance Information Management

Authors: J. Soini, P. Sillberg, J. Raitaniemi

Abstract:

The task of strategic information technology management is to focus on adapting technology to ensure competitiveness. A key factor for success in this sector is awareness and readiness to deploy new technologies and exploit the services they offer. Recently, the need for more flexible and dynamic user interfaces (UIs) has been recognized, especially in mobile applications. An ongoing research project (MOP), initiated by TUT in Finland, is looking at how mobile device UIs can be adapted for different needs and contexts. It focuses on examining the possibilities to develop adapter software for solving the challenges related to the UI and its flexibility in mobile devices. This approach has great potential for enhancing information transfer in mobile devices, and consequently for improving information management. The technology presented here could be one of the key emerging technologies in the information technology sector in relation to mobile devices and telecommunications.

Keywords: Emerging technologies, Flexible user interfaces, Information management, Information technology, Mobile technology.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1640
2939 LFC Design of a Deregulated Power System with TCPS Using PSO

Authors: H. Shayeghi, H.A. Shayanfar, A. Jalili

Abstract:

In the LFC problem, the interconnections among some areas are the input of disturbances, and therefore, it is important to suppress the disturbances by the coordination of governor systems. In contrast, tie-line power flow control by TCPS located between two areas makes it possible to stabilize the system frequency oscillations positively through interconnection, which is also expected to provide a new ancillary service for the further power systems. Thus, a control strategy using controlling the phase angle of TCPS is proposed for provide active control facility of system frequency in this paper. Also, the optimum adjustment of PID controller's parameters in a robust way under bilateral contracted scenario following the large step load demands and disturbances with and without TCPS are investigated by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), that has a strong ability to find the most optimistic results. This newly developed control strategy combines the advantage of PSO and TCPS and has simple stricture that is easy to implement and tune. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy a three-area restructured power system is considered as a test system under different operating conditions and system nonlinearities. Analysis reveals that the TCPS is quite capable of suppressing the frequency and tie-line power oscillations effectively as compared to that obtained without TCPS for a wide range of plant parameter changes, area load demands and disturbances even in the presence of system nonlinearities.

Keywords: LFC, TCPS, Dregulated Power System, PowerSystem Control, PSO.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2051
2938 STATISTICA Software: A State of the Art Review

Authors: S. Sarumathi, N. Shanthi, S. Vidhya, P. Ranjetha

Abstract:

Data mining idea is mounting rapidly in admiration and also in their popularity. The foremost aspire of data mining method is to extract data from a huge data set into several forms that could be comprehended for additional use. The data mining is a technology that contains with rich potential resources which could be supportive for industries and businesses that pay attention to collect the necessary information of the data to discover their customer’s performances. For extracting data there are several methods are available such as Classification, Clustering, Association, Discovering, and Visualization… etc., which has its individual and diverse algorithms towards the effort to fit an appropriate model to the data. STATISTICA mostly deals with excessive groups of data that imposes vast rigorous computational constraints. These results trials challenge cause the emergence of powerful STATISTICA Data Mining technologies. In this survey an overview of the STATISTICA software is illustrated along with their significant features.

Keywords: Data Mining, STATISTICA Data Miner, Text Miner, Enterprise Server, Classification, Association, Clustering, Regression.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2594
2937 Pushover Analysis of Short Structures

Authors: M.O. Makhmalbaf, M. GhanooniBagha, M.A. Tutunchian, M. Zabihi Samani

Abstract:

In this paper first, Two buildings have been modeled and then analyzed using nonlinear static analysis method under two different conditions in Nonlinear SAP 2000 software. In the first condition the interaction of soil adjacent to the walls of basement are ignored while in the second case this interaction have been modeled using Gap elements of nonlinear SAP2000 software. Finally, comparing the results of two models, the effects of soil-structure on period, target point displacement, internal forces, shape deformations and base shears have been studied. According to the results, this interaction has always increased the base shear of buildings, decreased the period of structure and target point displacement, and often decreased the internal forces and displacements.

Keywords: Seismic Rehabilitation, Soil-Structure Interaction, Short Structure, Nonlinear Static Analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1937
2936 An Ontology Model for Systems Engineering Derived from ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015: Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes

Authors: Lan Yang, Kathryn Cormican, Ming Yu

Abstract:

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2015, Systems and Software Engineering - System Life Cycle Processes is an international standard that provides generic top-level process descriptions to support systems engineering (SE). However, the processes defined in the standard needs improvement to lift integrity and consistency. The goal of this research is to explore the way by building an ontology model for the SE standard to manage the knowledge of SE. The ontology model gives a whole picture of the SE knowledge domain by building connections between SE concepts. Moreover, it creates a hierarchical classification of the concepts to fulfil different requirements of displaying and analysing SE knowledge.

Keywords: Knowledge management, model-based systems engineering, ontology modelling, systems engineering ontology.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1841
2935 The Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a Lightpipe using a Simulation Software

Authors: M. Paroncini, F. Corvaro, G. Nardini, S. Pistolesi

Abstract:

A lightpipe is an about 99 percent specular reflective mirror pipe or duct that is used for the transmission of the daylight from the outside into a building. The lightpipes are usually used in the daylighting buildings, in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors. This paper is about the performances of a lightpipe installed in a laboratory (3 m x 2.6 m x 3 m) without windows. The aim is to analyse the luminous intensity distribution for several sky/sun conditions. The lightpipe was monitored during the year 2006. The lightpipe is 1 m long and the diameter of the top collector and of the internal diffuser device is 0.25 m. In the laboratory there are seven illuminance sensors: one external is located on the roof of the laboratory and six internal sensors are connected to a data acquisition system. The internal sensors are positioned under the internal diffusive device at an height of 0.85 m from the floor to simulate a working plane. The numerical data are obtained through a simulation software. This paper shows the comparison between the experimental and numerical results concerning the behavior of the lightpipe.

Keywords: Daylighting, Desktop Radiance, Lightpipe.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1551
2934 Applications for Accounting of Inherited Object-Oriented Class Members

Authors: Jehad Al Dallal

Abstract:

A class in an Object-Oriented (OO) system is the basic unit of design, and it encapsulates a set of attributes and methods. In OO systems, instead of redefining the attributes and methods that are included in other classes, a class can inherit these attributes and methods and only implement its unique attributes and methods, which results in reducing code redundancy and improving code testability and maintainability. Such mechanism is called Class Inheritance. However, some software engineering applications may require accounting for all the inherited class members (i.e., attributes and methods). This paper explains how to account for inherited class members and discusses the software engineering applications that require such consideration.

Keywords: Object-oriented design, inheritance, internal quality attribute, external quality attribute, class flattening.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1340
2933 Determination of Lithology, Porosity and Water Saturation for Mishrif Carbonate Formation

Authors: F. S. Kadhim, A. Samsuri, H. Alwan

Abstract:

Well logging records can help to answer many questions from a wide range of special interested information and basic petrophysical properties to formation evaluation of oil and gas reservoirs. The accurate calculations of porosity in carbonate reservoirs are the most challenging aspects of the well logging analysis. Many equations have been developed over the years based on known physical principles or on empirically derived relationships, which are used to calculate porosity, estimate lithology, and water saturation; however these parameters are calculated from well logs by using modern technique in a current study. Nasiriya oil field is one of the giant oilfields in the Middle East, and the formation under study is the Mishrif carbonate formation which is the shallowest hydrocarbon bearing zone in this oilfield. Neurolog software was used to digitize the scanned copies of the available logs. Environmental corrections had been made as per Schlumberger charts 2005, which supplied in the Interactive Petrophysics software. Three saturation models have been used to calculate water saturation of carbonate formations, which are simple Archie equation, Dual water model, and Indonesia model. Results indicate that the Mishrif formation consists mainly of limestone, some dolomite, and shale. The porosity interpretation shows that the logging tools have a good quality after making the environmental corrections. The average formation water saturation for Mishrif formation is around 0.4- 0.6.This study is provided accurate behavior of petrophysical properties with depth for this formation by using modern software.

Keywords: Lithology, Porosity, Water Saturation, Carbonate Formation, Mishrif Formation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4051
2932 Design and Development of a Mechanical Force Gauge for the Square Watermelon Mold

Authors: M. Malek Yarand, H. Saebi Monfared

Abstract:

This study aimed at designing and developing a mechanical force gauge for the square watermelon mold for the first time. It also tried to introduce the square watermelon characteristics and its production limitations. The mechanical force gauge performance and the product itself were also described. There are three main designable gauge models: a. hydraulic gauge, b. strain gauge, and c. mechanical gauge. The advantage of the hydraulic model is that it instantly displays the pressure and thus the force exerted by the melon. However, considering the inability to measure forces at all directions, complicated development, high cost, possible hydraulic fluid leak into the fruit chamber and the possible influence of increased ambient temperature on the fluid pressure, the development of this gauge was overruled. The second choice was to calculate pressure using the direct force a strain gauge. The main advantage of these strain gauges over spring types is their high precision in measurements; but with regard to the lack of conformity of strain gauge working range with water melon growth, calculations were faced with problems. Finally the mechanical pressure gauge has advantages, including the ability to measured forces and pressures on the mold surface during melon growth; the ability to display the peak forces; the ability to produce melon growth graph thanks to its continuous force measurements; the conformity of its manufacturing materials with the required physical conditions of melon growth; high air conditioning capability; the ability to permit sunlight reaches the melon rind (no yellowish skin and quality loss); fast and straightforward calibration; no damages to the product during assembling and disassembling; visual check capability of the product within the mold; applicable to all growth environments (field, greenhouses, etc.); simple process; low costs and so forth.

Keywords: Mechanical Force Gauge, Mold, Reshaped Fruit, Square Watermelon.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3105
2931 Effect of Flour Concentration and Retrogradation Treatment on Physical Properties of Instant Sinlek Brown Rice

Authors: Supat Chaiyakul, Direk Sukkasem, Patnachapa Natthapanpaisith

Abstract:

Sinlek rice flour beverage or instant product is a dietary supplement for dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing. It is also consumed by individuals who need to consume supplements to maintain their calorific needs. This product provides protein, fat, iron, and a high concentration of carbohydrate from rice flour. However, the application of native flour is limited due to its high viscosity. Starch modification by controlling starch retrogradation was used in this study. The research studies the effects of rice flour concentration and retrogradation treatment on the physical properties of instant Sinlek brown rice. The native rice flour, gelatinized rice flour, and flour gels retrograded under 4 °C for 3 and 7 days were investigated. From the statistical results, significant differences between native and retrograded flour were observed. The concentration of rice flour was the main factor influencing the swelling power, solubility, and pasting properties. With the increase in rice flour content from 10 to 15%, swelling power, peak viscosity, trough, and final viscosity decreased; but, solubility, pasting temperature, peak time, breakdown, and setback increased. The peak time, pasting temperature, peak viscosity, trough, and final viscosity decreased as the storage period increased from 3 to 7 days. The retrograded rice flour powders had lower pasting temperature, peak viscosity, breakdown, and final viscosity than the gelatinized and native flour powders. Reduction of starch viscosity by gelatinization and controlling starch retrogradation could allow for increased quantities of rice flour in instant rice beverages. Also, the treatment could increase the energy and nutrient densities of rice beverages without affecting the viscosity of this product.

Keywords: Instant rice, pasting properties, pregelatinization, retrogradation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1609
2930 Numerical Simulations of Cross-Flow around Four Square Cylinders in an In-Line Rectangular Configuration

Authors: Shams Ul Islam, Chao Ying Zhou, Farooq Ahmad

Abstract:

A two-dimensional numerical simulation of crossflow around four cylinders in an in-line rectangular configuration is studied by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Special attention is paid to the effect of the spacing between the cylinders. The Reynolds number ( Re ) is chosen to be e 100 R = and the spacing ratio L / D is set at 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0 and 10.0. Results show that, as in the case of four cylinders in an inline rectangular configuration , flow fields show four different features depending on the spacing (single square cylinder, stable shielding flow, wiggling shielding flow and a vortex shedding flow) are observed in this study. The effects of spacing ratio on physical quantities such as mean drag coefficient, Strouhal number and rootmean- square value of the drag and lift coefficients are also presented. There is more than one shedding frequency at small spacing ratios. The mean drag coefficients for downstream cylinders are less than that of the single cylinder for all spacing ratios. The present results using the LBM are compared with some existing experimental data and numerical studies. The comparison shows that the LBM can capture the characteristics of the bluff body flow reasonably well and is a good tool for bluff body flow studies.

Keywords: Four square cylinders, Lattice Boltzmann method, rectangular configuration, spacing ratios, vortex shedding.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2688
2929 Arabic Literature as a Tool for Educational Transformation in Nigeria

Authors: Abdulfatah A Raji

Abstract:

This paper started with the definitions of literature, Arabic literature, transformation and went further to highlight the components of educational transformation. The general history of Arabic literature was discussed with focus on how it undergoes some transformations from pre-Islamic period through Quranic era, Abbasid literature to renaissance period in which the modernization of Arabic literature started in Egypt. It also traces the spread of Arabic literature in Nigeria from the pre-colonial era during the Kanuri rulers to Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio and the development of literature which manifested to the Teacher’s Colleges and Bayero University in Northern Nigeria. Also, the establishment of primary and post-primary schools by Muslim organizations in many cities and towns of the Western part of Nigeria. Literary criticism was also discussed in line with Arabic literature. Poetry work of eminent poets were cited to show its importance in line with educational transformation in Nigerian literature and lessons from the cited Arabic poetry works were also highlighted to include: motivation to behave well and to tolerate others, better spirits of interaction, love and co-existence among different sexes, religion etc. All these can help in developing a better educational transformation in Nigeria which can in turn help in how to conduct researches for national development. The paper recommended compulsory Arabic literature at all levels of the nations’ educational system as well as publication of Arabic books and journals to encourage peace in this era of conflicts and further transform Nigeria’s educational system for better.

Keywords: Arabic, literature, peace, development, Nigeria

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1551
2928 Expression of Leucaena Leucocephala de Wit Chitinase in Transgenic Koshihikari Rice

Authors: M. Kaomek, J. R. Ketudat-Cairns

Abstract:

The cDNA encoding the 326 amino acids of a Class I basic chitinase gene from Leucaena leucocephala de Wit (KB3, Genbank accession: AAM49597) was cloned under the control of CaMV35S promoter in pCAMBIA 1300 and transferred to Koshihikari. Calli of Koshihikari rice was transformed with agrobacterium with this construct expressing the chitinase and β- glucouronidase (GUS). The frequencies of calli 90 % has been obtained from rice seedlings cultured on NB medium. The high regeneration frequencies, 74% was obtained from calli cultured on regeneration medium containing 4 mg/l BAP, and 7 g/l phytagel at 25°C. Various factors were studied in order to establish a procedure for the transformation of Koshihikari Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Supplementation of 50 mM acetosyringone to the medium during coculivation was important to enhance the frequency to transient transformation. The 4 week-old scutellum-derived calli were excellent starting materials. Selection medium based on NB medium supplement with 40 mg/l hygromycin and 400 mg/l cefotaxime were an optimized medium for selection of transformed rice calli. The percentage of transformation 70 was obtained. Recombinant calli and regenerated rice plants were checked the expression of chitinase and gus by PCR, northern blot gel, southern blot gel, and gus assay. Chitinase and gus were expressed in all parts of recombinant rice. The rice line expressing the KB3 chiitnase was more resistant to the blast fungus Fusarium monoliforme than control line.

Keywords: chitinase, Leucaena leucocephala de Wit, Koshihikari, transgenic rice.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1562
2927 Comparative Optical Analysis of Offset Reflector Antenna in GRASP

Authors: Ghulam Ahmad

Abstract:

In this paper comparison of Reflector Antenna analyzing techniques based on wave and ray nature of optics is presented for an offset reflector antenna using GRASP (General Reflector antenna Analysis Software Package) software. The results obtained using PO (Physical Optics), PTD (Physical theory of Diffraction), and GTD (Geometrical Theory of Diffraction) are compared. The validity of PO and GTD techniques in regions around the antenna, caustic behavior of GTD in main beam, and deviation of GTD in case of near-in sidelobes of radiation pattern are discussed. The comparison for far-out sidelobes predicted by PO, PO + PTD and GTD is described. The effect of Direct Radiations from feed which results in feed selection for the system is addressed.

Keywords: Geometrical optics & geometrical theory of diffraction, offset reflector antenna, physical optics & physical theory of diffraction, PO & GO comaprison.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2102
2926 Antecedents of Word-of-Mouth for Meat with Traceability: Evidence from Thai Consumers

Authors: Kawpong Polyorat, Nathamon Buaprommee

Abstract:

Because of the outbreak of mad cow disease and bird flu, consumers have become more concerned with quality and safety of meat and poultry. As a consequence, meat traceability has been implemented as a tool to raise the standard in the meat production industry. In Thailand, while traceability is relatively common among the manufacturer-wholesaler-retailers cycle, it is rarely used as a marketing tool specifically designed to persuade consumers who are the actual meat endusers. Therefore, the present study attempts to understand what influences consumers to spread their words-of-mouth (WOM) regarding meat with traceability by conducting a study in Thailand where research in this area is rather scant. Data were collected from one hundred and sixty-seven consumers in the northeastern region and analyzed with SEM. The study results reveal that perceived usefulness of traceability system, social norms, and product class knowledge are significant antecedents where consumers spread positive words regarding meat with traceability system. A number of theoretical and managerial implications as well as future study directions are offered at the end of this study report.

Keywords: Perceived usefulness, product knowledge, social norms, traceability, word-of-mouth,

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1628
2925 Development of an Omaha System-Based Remote Intervention Program for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Front-Line Nurses

Authors: Tianqiao Zhang, Ye Tian, Yanliang Yin, Yichao Tian, Suzhai Tian, Weige Sun, Ruoliang Tang

Abstract:

Heavy biomechanical loads at workplaces may lead to high risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). However, there is a lack of investigations on the efficacy of the ergonomic interventions with theoretical frameworks. This study aimed to formulate an Omaha System based remote intervention program on the WMSDs among nurses by systematic literature review, interviews, expert consultation. After screening title and abstract, 11 articles out of the initial search results (i.e., n=1,418) were included, 12 nurses were interviewed, and 10 experts were consulted to review the initial intervention program. Modification to the draft included (1) supplementing traditional Chinese medicine practices, (2) adding the use of assistive patient handling equipment, (3) revising the on-line training method, (4) editing and proofreading the main text of the initial program, (5) adding quizzes and exercise scales, (6) it was determined that the associated coursework should be announced promptly with multiple follow-up reminders, and (7) removing bodyweight superman exercise, and peaceful/calm meditation. In the end, the final intervention program was developed.

Keywords: Omaha System, nurses, remote intervention, musculoskeletal disease.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 222