Search results for: Quality cost

Authors: Nooshin La'l Mohamadi

Abstract:

Due to the fact that in the new century customers tend to express globally increasing demands, networks of interconnected businesses have been established in societies and the management of such networks seems to be a major key through gaining competitive advantages. Supply chain management encompasses such managerial activities. Within a supply chain, a critical role is played by quality. QFD is a widely-utilized tool which serves the purpose of not only bringing quality to the ultimate provision of products or service packages required by the end customer or the retailer, but it can also initiate us into a satisfactory relationship with our initial customer; that is the wholesaler. However, the wholesalers- cooperation is considerably based on the capabilities that are heavily dependent on their locations and existing circumstances. Therefore, it is undeniable that for all companies each wholesaler possesses a specific importance ratio which can heavily influence the figures calculated in the House of Quality in QFD. Moreover, due to the competitiveness of the marketplace today, it-s been widely recognized that consumers- expression of demands has been highly volatile in periods of production. Apparently, such instability and proneness to change has been very tangibly noticed and taking it into account during the analysis of HOQ is widely influential and doubtlessly required. For a more reliable outcome in such matters, this article demonstrates the application viability of Analytic Network Process for considering the wholesalers- reputation and simultaneously introduces a mortality coefficient for the reliability and stability of the consumers- expressed demands in course of time. Following to this, the paper provides further elaboration on the relevant contributory factors and approaches through the calculation of such coefficients. In the end, the article concludes that an empirical application is needed to achieve broader validity.

Keywords: Analytic Network Process, Quality Function Deployment, QFD flaws, Supply Chain Management

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Authors: S. Areerachakul

Abstract:

Nowadays, several techniques such as; Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Neural Network (NN) are employed for developing of the predictive models to estimate parameters of water quality. The main objective of this study is to compare between the predictive ability of the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to estimate the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) on data from 11 sampling sites of Saen Saep canal in Bangkok, Thailand. The data is obtained from the Department of Drainage and Sewerage, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, during 2004-2011. The five parameters of water quality namely Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3N), Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3N), and Total Coliform bacteria (T-coliform) are used as the input of the models. These water quality indices affect the biochemical oxygen demand. The experimental results indicate that the ANN model provides a higher correlation coefficient (R=0.73) and a lower root mean square error (RMSE=4.53) than the corresponding ANFIS model.

Keywords: adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, artificial neural network, biochemical oxygen demand, surface water.

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Authors: Paula Ferreira, Madalena Araújo, M.E.J. O’Kelly

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Combining energy efficiency with renewable energy sources constitutes a key strategy for a sustainable future. The wind power sector stands out as a fundamental element for the achievement of the European renewable objectives and Portugal is no exception to the increase of the wind energy for the electricity generation. This work proposes an optimization model for the long range electricity power planning in a system similar to the Portuguese one, where the expected impacts of the increasing installed wind power on the operating performance of thermal power plants are taken into account. The main results indicate that the increasing penetration of wind power in the electricity system will have significant effects on the combined cycle gas power plants operation and on the theoretically expected cost reduction and environmental gains. This research demonstrated the need to address the impact that energy sources with variable output may have, not only on the short-term operational planning, but especially on the medium to long range planning activities, in order to meet the strategic objectives for the energy sector.

Keywords: Wind power, electricity planning model, cost, emissions.

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Authors: Miroslav Popelka, Jakub Nožička

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The whole work is based on possibility to use Lego Mindstorms robotics systems to reduce costs. Lego Mindstorms consists of a wide variety of hardware components necessary to simulate, programme and test of robotics systems in practice. To programme algorithm, which simulates space using the ultrasonic sensor, was used development environment supplied with kit. Software Matlab was used to render values afterwards they were measured by ultrasonic sensor. The algorithm created for this paper uses theoretical knowledge from area of signal processing. Data being processed by algorithm are collected by ultrasonic sensor that scans 2D space in front of it. Ultrasonic sensor is placed on moving arm of robot which provides horizontal moving of sensor. Vertical movement of sensor is provided by wheel drive. The robot follows map in order to get correct positioning of measured data. Based on discovered facts it is possible to consider Lego Mindstorm for low-cost and capable kit for real-time modelling.

Keywords: LEGO Mindstorms, ultrasonic sensor, Real-time modeling, 2D object, low-cost robotics systems, sensors, Matlab, EV3 Home Edition Software.

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Authors: Layla Mujahed, Gang Feng, Jianghua Wang

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An increasing number of construction projects are adopting off-site construction techniques over traditional methods to address longstanding challenges. This research paper explores the integration of design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), modern methods of construction (MMC), and building information modeling (BIM) within the construction industry. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, using case studies and a review of the existing literature, to examine the role and combined application of each methodology in building projects of varying scales and durations. The study focuses on application mechanisms, stakeholder engagement, knowledge sharing, feedback, and performance metrics to explore the benefits, challenges, and transformative potential of integrating these methodologies. The findings indicate that the synergy among DfMA, MMC, and BIM significantly improves project efficiency, cost reduction, and overall quality. Standardization, increased collaboration among stakeholders, and the adoption of advanced technologies are also highlighted as necessary considerations to fully realize the benefits of this integration. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for industry practitioners seeking to efficiently implement these integrated approaches.

Keywords: BIM, building information modeling, case study, DfMA, design for manufacture and assembly, MMC, modern methods of construction, prefabrication.

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Authors: S. Arrizabalaga, A. Salterain, M. Domínguez, I. Alvaro

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Traditionally, Internet has provided best-effort service to every user regardless of its requirements. However, as Internet becomes universally available, users demand more bandwidth and applications require more and more resources, and interest has developed in having the Internet provide some degree of Quality of Service. Although QoS is an important issue, the question of how it will be brought into the Internet has not been solved yet. Researches, due to the rapid advances in technology are proposing new and more desirable capabilities for the next generation of IP infrastructures. But neither all applications demand the same amount of resources, nor all users are service providers. In this way, this paper is the first of a series of papers that presents an architecture as a first step to the optimization of QoS in the Internet environment as a solution to a SMSE's problem whose objective is to provide public service to internet with certain Quality of Service expectations. The service provides new business opportunities, but also presents new challenges. We have designed and implemented a scalable service framework that supports adaptive bandwidth based on user demands, and the billing based on usage and on QoS. The developed application has been evaluated and the results show that traffic limiting works at optimum and so it does exceeding bandwidth distribution. However, some considerations are done and currently research is under way in two basic areas: (i) development and testing new transfer protocols, and (ii) developing new strategies for traffic improvements based on service differentiation.

Keywords: Differentiated Services, Linux, Quality of Service, queueing disciplines, web application.

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Authors: B. Varaprasad, C. Srinivasa Rao

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In the manufacturing sector, hard turning has emerged as vital machining process for cutting hardened steels. Besides many advantages of hard turning operation, one has to implement to achieve close tolerances in terms of surface finish, high product quality, reduced machining time, low operating cost and environmentally friendly characteristics. In the present study, three-dimensional CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) based simulation of  hard turning by using commercial software DEFORM 3D has been compared to experimental results of  stresses, temperatures and tool forces in machining of AISI D3 steel using mixed Ceramic inserts (CC6050). In the present analysis, orthogonal cutting models are proposed, considering several processing parameters such as cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut. An exhaustive friction modeling at the tool-work interfaces is carried out. Work material flow around the cutting edge is carefully modeled with adaptive re-meshing simulation capability. In process simulations, feed rate and cutting speed are constant (i.e.,. 0.075 mm/rev and 155 m/min), and analysis is focused on stresses, forces, and temperatures during machining. Close agreement is observed between CAE simulation and experimental values.

Keywords: Hard-turning, computer-aided engineering, computational machining, finite element method.

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Authors: Pradeep M., N. S. Mahesh, Raja Hussain

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Resistance spot welding (RSW) has been used widely to join sheet metals. It has been a challenge to get required weld quality in spot welding of dissimilar thickness materials. Weld parameters are not generally available in standards for thickness beyond 4mm. This paper presents the welding process design and parameter optimization of RSW used in joining of low carbon steel sheet of thickness 0.8 mm and metal strips of cross section 10 x 5mm for electrical motor applications. Taguchi quality design was adopted for weld current and time optimization using L9 orthogonal array. Optimum process parameters (current- 3.5kA and time- 10 cycles) were obtained from the Taguchi analysis and shear test results. Confirmation experiment result revealed that the weld quality was within acceptable interval. Further, numerical simulation of RSW process was carried out with selected weld parameters to quantify the temperature at faying surface and check for formation of appropriate nugget. The nugget geometry measured after peel test and predicted from numerical validation method were similar and in accordance with the standards.

Keywords: Resistance spot welding, dissimilar thickness, weld parameters, Taguchi method, numerical modeling.

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Authors: Mohammed I. Abouheaf, Sofie Haesaert, Wei-Jen Lee, Frank L. Lewis

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Economic Dispatch is one of the most important power system management tools. It is used to allocate an amount of power generation to the generating units to meet the load demand. The Economic Dispatch problem is a large scale nonlinear constrained optimization problem. In general, heuristic optimization techniques are used to solve non-convex Economic Dispatch problem. In this paper, ideas from Reinforcement Learning are proposed to solve the non-convex Economic Dispatch problem. Q-Learning is a reinforcement learning techniques where each generating unit learn the optimal schedule of the generated power that minimizes the generation cost function. The eligibility traces are used to speed up the Q-Learning process. Q-Learning with eligibility traces is used to solve Economic Dispatch problems with valve point loading effect, multiple fuel options, and power transmission losses.

Keywords: Economic Dispatch, Non-Convex Cost Functions, Valve Point Loading Effect, Q-Learning, Eligibility Traces.

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Authors: Hadjira Bentoumi, Pascal Gautron, Kadi Bouatouch

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We present a method for fast volume rendering using graphics hardware (GPU). To our knowledge, it is the first implementation on the GPU. Based on the Shear-Warp algorithm, our GPU-based method provides real-time frame rates and outperforms the CPU-based implementation. When the number of slices is not sufficient, we add in-between slices computed by interpolation. This improves then the quality of the rendered images. We have also implemented the ray marching algorithm on the GPU. The results generated by the three algorithms (CPU-based and GPU-based Shear- Warp, GPU-based Ray Marching) for two test models has proved that the ray marching algorithm outperforms the shear-warp methods in terms of speed up and image quality.

Keywords: Volume rendering, graphics processors

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Authors: Jinn-Yi Yeh, Tai-Hsi Wu

Abstract:

Hemodialysis patients might suffer from unhealthy care behaviors or long-term dialysis treatments. Ultimately they need to be hospitalized. If the hospitalization rate of a hemodialysis center is high, its quality of service would be low. Therefore, how to decrease hospitalization rate is a crucial problem for health care. In this study we combined temporal abstraction with data mining techniques for analyzing the dialysis patients' biochemical data to develop a decision support system. The mined temporal patterns are helpful for clinicians to predict hospitalization of hemodialysis patients and to suggest them some treatments immediately to avoid hospitalization.

Keywords: Hemodialysis, Temporal abstract, Data mining, Healthcare quality.

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Authors: Keunseok Cho, Sangbae Jeong, Hyungwook Chang, Minsoo Hahn

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In this paper, a new encoding algorithm of spectral envelope based on NLMS in G.729.1 for VoIP is proposed. In the TDAC part of G.729.1, the spectral envelope and MDCT coefficients extracted in the weighted CELP coding error (lower-band) and the higher-band input signal are encoded. In order to reduce allocation bits for spectral envelope coding, a new quantization algorithm based on NLMS is proposed. Also, reduced bits are used to enhance sound quality. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by sound quality and bit reduction rates in clean and frame loss conditions.

Keywords: G.729.1, MDCT coefficient, NLMS, spectral envelope.

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Authors: Hossein Ali Asadi Gharneh, Kazem Arzani, Abdolali Shojaeian

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fifteen cultivars of Strawberries (Queen Eliza, Sequia, Paros, Mcdonance, Selva, Chandler, Mrak, Ten beauty, Aliso, Pajero, Kordestan, Camarosa, Blackmore, Gaviota and Fresno) were investigated in 2011, under hydroponic system condition. Yield and fruit Firmness was determinate. Chemical analyses of soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid (AA) and pH were done. 4 cultivars (Aliso, Selva, Paros and Gaviota) yielded more than 250 g/plant, while cultivar Black more, Fresno and Kordestan produced less than 100g/plant. The amounts of fruit firmness indicated that 'Camarosa' fruit was firmer than others cultivars. Cultivar 'Fresno' had the highest pH (3.27). Ttitratable acidity varied from 1.03g/l00g for cultivar 'Sequia' and 'Gaviota' to 1.48g/l00g for cultivar 'Chandler'. Fresno, Kordestan, Aliso and Chandler showed the highest soluble solid concentration. Ascorbic acid averaged for most cultivars between 30.26 and 79.73 mg/100gf.w. Present results showed that different cultivars of strawberry contain highly variable in fruit quality.

Keywords: Yield, Fruit quality, Ascorbic acid, Hydroponic system

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Authors: C. A. C. Castro, D. C. Urashima, E. P. Silva, P. M. L.Silva

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Since 1920, the industry has almost completely changed the rivets production techniques for the manufacture of permanent welding join production of structures and manufacture of other products. The welding arc is the process more widely used in industries. This is accomplished by the heat of an electric arc which melts the base metal while the molten metal droplets are transferred through the arc to the welding pool, protected from the atmosphere by a gas curtain. The GMAW (Gas metal arc welding) process is influenced by variables such as: current, polarity, welding speed, electrode: extension, position, moving direction; type of joint, welder's ability, among others. It is remarkable that the knowledge and control of these variables are essential for obtaining satisfactory quality welds, knowing that are interconnected so that changes in one of them requiring changes in one or more of the other to produce the desired results. The optimum values are affected by the type of base metal, the electrode composition, the welding position and the quality requirements. Thus, this paper proposes a new methodology, adding the variable vibration through a mechanism developed for GMAW welding, in order to improve the mechanical and metallurgical properties which does not affect the ability of the welder and enables repeatability of the welds made. For confirmation metallographic analysis and mechanical tests were made.

Keywords: HAZ, GMAW, vibration, welding.

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Authors: C. Silveira, A. Ascenso, J. Ferreira, A. I. Miranda, P. Tuccella, G. Curci

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Poor air quality is one of the main environmental causes of premature deaths worldwide, and mainly in cities, where the majority of the population lives. It is a consequence of successive land cover (LC) and use changes, as a result of the intensification of human activities. Knowing these landscape modifications in a comprehensive spatiotemporal dimension is, therefore, essential for understanding variations in air pollutant concentrations. In this sense, the use of air quality models is very useful to simulate the physical and chemical processes that affect the dispersion and reaction of chemical species into the atmosphere. However, the modelling performance should always be evaluated since the resolution of the input datasets largely dictates the reliability of the air quality outcomes. Among these data, the updated LC is an important parameter to be considered in atmospheric models, since it takes into account the Earth’s surface changes due to natural and anthropic actions, and regulates the exchanges of fluxes (emissions, heat, moisture, etc.) between the soil and the air. This work aims to evaluate the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), when different LC classifications are used as an input. The influence of two LC classifications was tested: i) the 24-classes USGS (United States Geological Survey) LC database included by default in the model, and the ii) CLC (Corine Land Cover) and specific high-resolution LC data for Portugal, reclassified according to the new USGS nomenclature (33-classes). Two distinct WRF-Chem simulations were carried out to assess the influence of the LC on air quality over Europe and Portugal, as a case study, for the year 2015, using the nesting technique over three simulation domains (25 km², 5 km² and 1 km² horizontal resolution). Based on the 33-classes LC approach, particular emphasis was attributed to Portugal, given the detail and higher LC spatial resolution (100 m x 100 m) than the CLC data (5000 m x 5000 m). As regards to the air quality, only the LC impacts on tropospheric ozone concentrations were evaluated, because ozone pollution episodes typically occur in Portugal, in particular during the spring/summer, and there are few research works relating to this pollutant with LC changes. The WRF-Chem results were validated by season and station typology using background measurements from the Portuguese air quality monitoring network. As expected, a better model performance was achieved in rural stations: moderate correlation (0.4 – 0.7), BIAS (10 – 21µg.m^-3) and RMSE (20 – 30 µg.m^-3), and where higher average ozone concentrations were estimated. Comparing both simulations, small differences grounded on the Leaf Area Index and air temperature values were found, although the high-resolution LC approach shows a slight enhancement in the model evaluation. This highlights the role of the LC on the exchange of atmospheric fluxes, and stresses the need to consider a high-resolution LC characterization combined with other detailed model inputs, such as the emission inventory, to improve air quality assessment.

Keywords: Land cover, tropospheric ozone, WRF-Chem, air quality assessment.

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Authors: M. H. M. Rusli, A. Jaffar, M. T. Ali, S. Muhamud @ Kayat

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Lean manufacturing is a production philosophy made popular by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). It is globally known as the Toyota Production System (TPS) and has the ultimate aim of reducing cost by thoroughly eliminating wastes or muda. TPS embraces the Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing; achieving cost reduction through lead time reduction. JIT manufacturing can be achieved by implementing Pull system in the production. Furthermore, TPS aims to improve productivity and creating continuous flow in the production by arranging the machines and processes in cellular configurations. This is called as Cellular Manufacturing Systems (CMS). This paper studies on integrating the CMS with the Pull system to establish a Big Island-Pull system production for High Mix Low Volume (HMLV) products in an automotive component industry. The paper will use the build-in JIT system steps adapted from TMC to create the Pull system production and also create a shojinka line which, according to takt time, has the flexibility to adapt to demand changes simply by adding and taking out manpower. This will lead to optimization in production.

Keywords: Big Island layout, Lean manufacturing, Material and Information Flow Chart, Pull system production, TPS.

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Authors: J. P. Dubois, H. M. Chiu

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In this paper, we study statistical multiplexing of VBR video in ATM networks. ATM promises to provide high speed realtime multi-point to central video transmission for telemedicine applications in rural hospitals and in emergency medical services. Video coders are known to produce variable bit rate (VBR) signals and the effects of aggregating these VBR signals need to be determined in order to design a telemedicine network infrastructure capable of carrying these signals. We first model the VBR video signal and simulate it using a generic continuous-data autoregressive (AR) scheme. We carry out the queueing analysis by the Fluid Approximation Model (FAM) and the Markov Modulated Poisson Process (MMPP). The study has shown a trade off: multiplexing VBR signals reduces burstiness and improves resource utilization, however, the buffer size needs to be increased with an associated economic cost. We also show that the MMPP model and the Fluid Approximation model fit best, respectively, the cell region and the burst region. Therefore, a hybrid MMPP and FAM completely characterizes the overall performance of the ATM statistical multiplexer. The ramifications of this technology are clear: speed, reliability (lower loss rate and jitter), and increased capacity in video transmission for telemedicine. With migration to full IP-based networks still a long way to achieving both high speed and high quality of service, the proposed ATM architecture will remain of significant use for telemedicine.

Keywords: ATM, multiplexing, queueing, telemedicine, VBR.

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Authors: Ayo Afolabi, Rudzani Sigwadi, Ambali Abdulkareem

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All around the world pulp and paper industries are the biggest plant production with the environmental pollution as the biggest challenge facing the pulp manufacturing operations. The concern among these industries is to produce a high volume of papers with the high quality standard and of low cost without affecting the environment. This result obtained from this bleaching study show that the activation of peroxide was an effective method of reducing the total applied charge of chlorine dioxide which is harmful to our environment and also show that softwood and hardwood Kraft pulps responded linearly to the peroxide treatments. During the bleaching process the production plant produce chlorines. Under the trial stages chloride dioxide has been reduced by 3 kg/ton to reduce the brightness from 65% ISO to 60% ISO of pulp and the dosing point returned to the E stage charges by pre-treating Kraft pulps with hydrogen peroxide. The pulp and paper industry has developed elemental chlorine free (ECF) and totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching, in their quest for being environmental friendly, they have been looking at ways to turn their ECF process into a TCF process while still being competitive. This prompted the research to investigate the capability of the hydrogen peroxide as catalyst to reduce chloride dioxide.

Keywords: bleaching, chloride dioxide, elemental chlorine free (ECF), hydrogen peroxide, totally chlorine free (TCF).

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Authors: Z. Didar, A. Pourfarzad, M. H. Haddad Khodaparast

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Nowadays, consumption of whole flours and flours with high extraction rate is recommended, because of their high amount of fibers, vitamins and minerals. Despite nutritional benefits of whole flour, concentration of some undesirable components such as phytic acid is higher than white flour. In this study, effect of several lactic acid bacteria sourdough on Toast bread is investigated. Sourdough from lactic acid bacteria (Lb. plantarum, Lb. reuteri) with different dough yield (250 and 300) is made and incubated at 30°C for 20 hour, then added to dough in the ratio of 10, 20 and 30% replacement. Breads that supplemented with Lb. plantarum sourdough had lower phytic acid. Higher replacement of sourdough and higher DY cause higher decrease in phytic acid content. Sourdough from Lb. plantarum, DY = 300 and 30% replacement cause the highest decrease in phytic acid content (49.63 mg/100g). As indicated by panelists, Lb. reuteri sourdough can present the greatest effect on overall quality score of the breads. DY reduction cause a decrease in bread quality score. Sensory score of Toast bread is 81.71 in the samples that treated with Lb. reuteri sourdough with DY = 250 and 20% replacement.

Keywords: Phytic Acid, Sourdough, Toast Bread, Whole Wheat Flour, Lactic Acid Bacteria.

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Authors: Brian H. Marsh

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Self-propelled forage harvesters in the 850 horsepower range were tested over three years for fuel consumption, throughput and quality of chop for corn silage. Cut length had a significant effect on fuel consumption, throughput and some aspects of chop quality. Measure cut length was often different than theoretical length of cut. Where cut length was equivalent fuel consumption and throughput were equivalent across brands. Shortening cut length from 17 to 11mm increases fuel consumption 53 percent measured as Mg of silage harvested per gallon of fuel used and a 42 percent decrease in capacity as tons of fresh material per hour run time.

Keywords: Corn silage, forage harvester, fuel use, length of cut.

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Authors: Mukul Bandodkar, Virat Chourasia

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Visually impaired people find it extremely difficult to acquire basic and vital information necessary for their living. Therefore, they are at a very high risk of being socially excluded as a result of poor access to information. In recent years, several attempts have been made in improving the communication methods for visually impaired people which involve tactile sensation such as finger Braille, manual alphabets and the print on palm method and several other electronic devices. But, there are some problems which arise in such methods such as lack of privacy and lack of compatibility to computer environment. This paper describes a low cost Braille hand glove for blind people using slot sensors and vibration motors with the help of which they can read and write emails, text messages and read e-books. This glove allows the person to type characters based on different Braille combination using six slot sensors. The vibration in six different positions of the glove which matches to the Braille code allows them to read characters.

Keywords: Braille, Braille Hand-Glove, Slot sensors, Vibration motors.

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Authors: U. Pangnakorn, S. Chuenchooklin

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Effect of biopesticide from wood vinegar and extracted substances from 3 medicinal plants such as: non taai yak (Stemona tuberosa Lour), boraphet (Tinospora crispa Mier) and derris (Derris elliptica Roxb) were tested on the age five years of pomelo. The selected pomelo was carried out for insects’ pest control and its quality. The experimental site was located at farmer’s orchard in Phichit Province, Thailand. This study was undertaken during the drought season (December to March). The extracted from plants and wood vinegar were evaluated in 6 treatments: 1) water as control; 2) wood vinegar; 3) S. tuberosa Lour; 4) T. crispa Mier; 5) D. elliptica Roxb; 6) mixed (wood vinegar + S. tuberosa Lour + T. crispa Mier + D. elliptica Roxb). The experiment was RCB with 6 treatments and 3 replications per treatment. The results showed that T. crispa Mier was the highest effectiveness for reduction population of thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) and citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton) at 14.10 and 15.37 respectively, followed by treatment of mixed, D. elliptica Roxb, S. tuberosa Lour and wood vinegar with significance different. Additionally, T. crispa Mier promoted the high quality of harvested pomelo in term of thickness of skin at 12.45 mm and S. tuberosa Lour gave the high quality of the pomelo in term of firmness (276.5 kg/cm2) and brix (11.0%).

Keywords: Wood vinegar, Medicinal plants, Pomelo (Citrus maxima Merr.), Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood), Citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton).

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Authors: E. Oskoueian, E. Maroufyan, Y.M. Goh, E. Ramezani-Fard, M. Ebrahimi

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The fish meat plays an important role in the human health as it contains high quality protein. The tilapia fish considered as the third largest group of farmed fish. The oxidative deterioration of fish meat may occur during the cooking process. The proper cooking process and using natural antioxidant to prevent oxidation and enhance the quality of the tilapia fish fillet is necessary. Hence, this research was carried out to evaluate the potential of clove essential oil to prevent lipid peroxidation and enhance the antioxidant activity of tilapia fish fillet cooked using microwaving and grilling methods. The results showed that cooking using microwave significantly (p<0.05) increased the lipid peroxidation and decreased the DPPH and ferric reducing activity power of the fish fillet as compared to grilling method. The fortification of fish fillet using clove essential oil prevented from lipid peroxidation and enhanced the antioxidant activity of the fish fillet significantly (p<0.05). Consequently, fortification of tilapia fish fillet using clove essential oil followed by cooking using griller to have high quality cooked fish meat is recommended.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, fillet, fish, fortification, lipid peroxidation.

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Authors: Noorfakhriah Yaakub, Madzlan Napiah

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Public bus service plays a significant role in our society as people movers and to facilitate travels within towns and districts. The quality of service of public bus is always being regarded as poor, or rather, underestimated as second class means of transportation. Reliability of service, or the ability to deliver service as planned, is one key element in perceiving the quality of bus service and the punctuality index is one of the performance parameters in determining the service reliability. This study concentrates on evaluating the reliability performance of bus operation using punctuality index assessment. A week data for each of six city bus routes is recorded using the on-board methodology to calculate the punctuality index for city bus service in Kota Bharu. The results revealed that the punctuality index for the whole city bus network is 94.25% (LOS B).

Keywords: Punctuality Index, Reliability Performance, Service Performance.

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Authors: Chuang-Chun Chiou, Chien-Ju Liu, Jenteng Tsai

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Due to the rise of aging population, effective utilization of healthcare resources has become an important issue. With the advance of ICT technology, the application of tele-healthcare service has received more attention than ever. The main purpose of this research is to investigate how to conduct innovative design for tele-healthcare service based on user-s perspectives. First, the healthcare service blueprint was used to describe the processes of tele-healthcare service delivery, and then construct PZB service quality gap model based on the literature and practitioners- interviews. Next, TRIZ theory is applied to implement service innovation. We found the proposed service innovation procedures can effectively improve the quality of service design.

Keywords: Tele-homecare, Service blueprint, TRIZ, PZB model

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Authors: Maris Klavins, Valery Rodinov

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The aim of this study was to analyze long term changes of surface water quality in Latvia, spatial variability of water chemical composition, possible impacts of different pollution sources as well as to analyze the measures to protect national water resources - river basin management. Within this study, the concentrations of major water ingredients and microelements in major rivers and lakes of Latvia have been determined. Metal concentrations in river and lake waters were compared with water chemical composition. The mean concentrations of trace metals in inland waters of Latvia are appreciably lower than the estimated world averages for river waters and close to or lower than background values, unless regional impacts determined by local geochemistry. This may be explained by a comparatively lower level of anthropogenic load. In the same time in several places, direct anthropogenic impacts are evident, regarding influences of point sources both transboundary transport impacts. Also, different processes related to pollution of surface waters in Latvia have been analyzed. At first the analysis of changes and composition of pollutant emissions in Latvia has been realized, and the obtained results were compared with actual composition of atmospheric precipitation and their changes in time.

Keywords: Water quality, trend analysis, pollution, human impact.

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Authors: Jaroslav Masek, Juraj Camaj, Eva Nedeliakova

Abstract:

The paper is focused on the operational model for transport the single wagon consignments on railway network by using two different models of train formation. The paper gives an overview of possibilities of improving the quality of transport services. Paper deals with two models used in problematic of train formatting - time continuously and time discrete. By applying these models in practice, the transport company can guarantee a higher quality of service and expect increasing of transport performance. The models are also applicable into others transport networks. The models supplement a theoretical problem of train formation by new ways of looking to affecting the organization of wagon flows.

Keywords: Train formation, wagon flows, marshalling yard, railway technology.

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Authors: Laurent Enel, Franck Guillem

Abstract:

This paper considers the benefits gained by using an efficient quality of service management such as DiffServ technique to improve the performance of military communications. Low delay and no blockage must be achieved especially for real time tactical data. All traffic flows generated by different applications do not need same bandwidth, same latency, same error ratio and this scalable technique of packet management based on priority levels is analysed. End to end architectures supporting various traffic flows and including lowbandwidth and high-delay HF or SHF military links as well as unprotected Internet sub domains are studied. A tuning of Diffserv parameters is proposed in accordance with different loads of various traffic and different operational situations.

Keywords: Military data networks, Quality of service, Tacticalsystems.

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Authors: Yusuf Ziya Ayık, Ferhat Kahveci

Abstract:

Currently, database management systems have various tools such as backup and maintenance, and also provide statistical information such as resource usage and security. In terms of query performance, this paper covers query optimization, views, indexed tables, pre-computation materialized view, query performance analysis in which query plan alternatives can be created and the least costly one selected to optimize a query. Indexes and views can be created for related table columns. The literature review of this study showed that, in the course of time, despite the growing capabilities of the database management system, only database administrators are aware of the need for dealing with archival and transactional data types differently. These data may be constantly changing data used in everyday life, and also may be from the completed questionnaire whose data input was completed. For both types of data, the database uses its capabilities; but as shown in the findings section, instead of repeating similar heavy calculations which are carrying out same results with the same query over a survey results, using materialized view results can be in a more simple way. In this study, this performance difference was observed quantitatively considering the cost of the query.

Keywords: Materialized view, pre-computation, query cost, query performance.

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Authors: R.Abbaszadeh, A.Rajabipour, M.Delshad, M.J.Mahjub, H.Ahmadi

Abstract:

It is difficult to judge ripeness by outward characteristics such as size or external color. In this paper a nondestructive method was studied to determine watermelon (Crimson Sweet) quality. Responses of samples to excitation vibrations were detected using laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) technology. Phase shift between input and output vibrations were extracted overall frequency range. First and second were derived using frequency response spectrums. After nondestructive tests, watermelons were sensory evaluated. So the samples were graded in a range of ripeness based on overall acceptability (total desired traits consumers). Regression models were developed to predict quality using obtained results and sample mass. The determination coefficients of the calibration and cross validation models were 0.89 and 0.71 respectively. This study demonstrated feasibility of information which is derived vibration response curves for predicting fruit quality. The vibration response of watermelon using the LDV method is measured without direct contact; it is accurate and timely, which could result in significant advantage for classifying watermelons based on consumer opinions.

Keywords: Laser Doppler vibrometry, Phase shift, Overallacceptability, Regression model , Resonance frequency, Watermelon

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