Search results for: Online project based learning

Authors: S. Kulsri, M. Jaroensutasinee, K. Jaroensutasinee

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We developed a new method based on quasimolecular modeling to simulate the cavity flow in three cavity shapes: rectangular, half-circular and bucket beer in cgs units. Each quasi-molecule was a group of particles that interacted in a fashion entirely analogous to classical Newtonian molecular interactions. When a cavity flow was simulated, the instantaneous velocity vector fields were obtained by using an inverse distance weighted interpolation method. In all three cavity shapes, fluid motion was rotated counter-clockwise. The velocity vector fields of the three cavity shapes showed a primary vortex located near the upstream corners at time t ~ 0.500 s, t ~ 0.450 s and t ~ 0.350 s, respectively. The configurational kinetic energy of the cavities increased as time increased until the kinetic energy reached a maximum at time t ~ 0.02 s and, then, the kinetic energy decreased as time increased. The rectangular cavity system showed the lowest kinetic energy, while the half-circular cavity system showed the highest kinetic energy. The kinetic energy of rectangular, beer bucket and half-circular cavities fluctuated about stable average values 35.62 x 103, 38.04 x 103 and 40.80 x 103 ergs/particle, respectively. This indicated that the half-circular shapes were the most suitable shape for a shrimp pond because the water in shrimp pond flows best when we compared with rectangular and beer bucket shape.

Keywords: Quasi-molecular modelling, particle modelling, lid driven cavity flow.

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Authors: Ali Rahmani, Abbas Maleki, Mohammad Mirzaeiheydari, Rahim Naseri

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Most parts of the world such as Iran are facing the excessive consumption of fertilizers, that are used to achieve high yield, but increase the cost of production of fertilizer and degradation of soil and water resources. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of PGPR and planting pattern on yield and yield components of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Ilam province, Iran. Bio-fertilizer including Azotobacter, Nitroxin and control treatment (without consumption) were designed as a main plot and planting pattern including 15 × 10, 15 × 15 and 15 × 20 and the number of plant in hill including 3, 4 and 5 plants in hill were considered as a sub-plots. The results showed that the effect of bio-fertilizers, planting pattern and the number of plants in hill were significant affect on yield and yield components. Interaction effect between bio-fertilizer and planting pattern had important difference on the number spikelet of panicle and harvest index. Interaction effect between bio-fertilizer and the number of plants in hill were significant affect on the number of spikelet per panicle. The maximum grain yield was obtained by inoculation with Nitroxin, planting pattern of 15 × 15 and 4 plants in hill with mean of 1110.6 g.m^-2, 959.9 g.m^-2 and 928.4 g.m^-2, respectively.

Keywords: Bio-fertilizer, Grain yield, Planting pattern, Rice.

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Authors: Kamal K. Bharadwaj, Basheer M. Al-Maqaleh

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In the recent past, there has been an increasing interest in applying evolutionary methods to Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) and a number of successful applications of Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) to KDD have been demonstrated. The most predominant representation of the discovered knowledge is the standard Production Rules (PRs) in the form If P Then D. The PRs, however, are unable to handle exceptions and do not exhibit variable precision. The Censored Production Rules (CPRs), an extension of PRs, were proposed by Michalski & Winston that exhibit variable precision and supports an efficient mechanism for handling exceptions. A CPR is an augmented production rule of the form: If P Then D Unless C, where C (Censor) is an exception to the rule. Such rules are employed in situations, in which the conditional statement 'If P Then D' holds frequently and the assertion C holds rarely. By using a rule of this type we are free to ignore the exception conditions, when the resources needed to establish its presence are tight or there is simply no information available as to whether it holds or not. Thus, the 'If P Then D' part of the CPR expresses important information, while the Unless C part acts only as a switch and changes the polarity of D to ~D. This paper presents a classification algorithm based on evolutionary approach that discovers comprehensible rules with exceptions in the form of CPRs. The proposed approach has flexible chromosome encoding, where each chromosome corresponds to a CPR. Appropriate genetic operators are suggested and a fitness function is proposed that incorporates the basic constraints on CPRs. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Censored Production Rule, Data Mining, MachineLearning, Evolutionary Algorithms.

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Authors: Kianoosh Samimi, Siham Kamali-Bernard, Ali Akbar Maghsoudi

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Due to the difficult placement and vibration between reinforcements of reinforced concrete and the defects that it may cause, the use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) is becoming more widespread. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is the most widely used binder in the construction industry. However, the manufacture of this cement results in a significant amount of CO₂ being released, which is detrimental to the environment. Thus, an alternative to reduce the cost of SCC is the use of more economical and environmental mineral additives in partial or total substitution of Portland cement. Our study is in this context and aims to develop SCCs both economic and ecological. Two natural pozzolans such as pumice and zeolite are chosen in this research. This research tries to answer questions including the microstructure of the two types of natural pozzolan and their influence on the mechanical properties as well as on the transport property of SCC. Based on the findings of this study, the studied zeolite is a clinoptilolite that presents higher pozzolan activity compared to pumice. However, the use of zeolite decreases the compressive strength of SCC composites. On the contrary, the compressive strength in SCC containing of pumice increases at both early and long term ages with a remarkable increase at long term. A correlation is obtained between the compressive strength with permeable pore and capillary absorption. Also, the results concerning compressive strength and transport property are well justified by evaporable and non-evaporable water content measurement. This paper shows that the substitution of Portland cement by 15% of pumice or 10% of zeolite in HSSCC is suitable in all aspects. 

Keywords: SCC, concrete, pumice, zeolite, durability, transport.

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Authors: Wai Phyo Aung

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Wheeled Mobile Robots (WMRs) are built with their Wheels- drive machine, Motors. Depend on their desire design of WMR, Technicians made used of DC Motors for motion control. In this paper, the author would like to analyze how to choose DC motor to be balance with their applications of especially for WMR. Specification of DC Motor that can be used with desire WMR is to be determined by using MATLAB Simulink model. Therefore, this paper is mainly focus on software application of MATLAB and Control Technology. As the driving system of DC motor, a Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC) based control system is designed including the assembly software technology and H-bridge control circuit. This Driving system is used to drive two DC gear motors which are used to control the motion of WMR. In this analyzing process, the author mainly focus the drive system on driving two DC gear motors that will control with Differential Drive technique to the Wheeled Mobile Robot . For the design analysis of Motor Driving System, PIC16F84A is used and five inputs of sensors detected data are tested with five ON/OFF switches. The outputs of PIC are the commands to drive two DC gear motors, inputs of Hbridge circuit .In this paper, Control techniques of PIC microcontroller and H-bridge circuit, Mechanism assignments of WMR are combined and analyzed by mainly focusing with the “Modeling and Simulink of DC Motor using MATLAB".

Keywords: Control System Design, DC Motors, DifferentialDrive, H-bridge control circuit, MATLAB Simulink model, Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC), Wheeled Mobile Robots.

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Authors: Seda Sahin, Emin Akata

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Obturator Foramen is a specific structure in Pelvic bone images and recognition of it is a new concept in medical image processing. Moreover, segmentation of bone structures such as Obturator Foramen plays an essential role for clinical research in orthopedics. In this paper, we present a novel method to analyze the similarity between the substructures of the imaged region and a hand drawn template as a preprocessing step for computation of Pelvic bone rotation on hip radiographs. This method consists of integrated usage of Marker-controlled Watershed segmentation and Zernike moment feature descriptor and it is used to detect Obturator Foramen accurately. Marker-controlled Watershed segmentation is applied to separate Obturator Foramen from the background effectively. Then, Zernike moment feature descriptor is used to provide matching between binary template image and the segmented binary image for final extraction of Obturator Foramens. Finally, Pelvic bone rotation rate calculation for each hip radiograph is performed automatically to select and eliminate hip radiographs for further studies which depend on Pelvic bone angle measurements. The proposed method is tested on randomly selected 100 hip radiographs. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method is able to segment Obturator Foramen with 96% accuracy.

Keywords: Medical image analysis, marker-controlled watershed segmentation, segmentation of bone structures on hip radiographs, pelvic bone rotation rate, zernike moment feature descriptor.

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Authors: Wanhyun Cho, Soonja Kang, Sangkyoon Kim, Soonyoung Park

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In this paper, we propose the variational EM inference algorithm for the multi-class Gaussian process classification model that can be used in the field of human behavior recognition. This algorithm can drive simultaneously both a posterior distribution of a latent function and estimators of hyper-parameters in a Gaussian process classification model with multiclass. Our algorithm is based on the Laplace approximation (LA) technique and variational EM framework. This is performed in two steps: called expectation and maximization steps. First, in the expectation step, using the Bayesian formula and LA technique, we derive approximately the posterior distribution of the latent function indicating the possibility that each observation belongs to a certain class in the Gaussian process classification model. Second, in the maximization step, using a derived posterior distribution of latent function, we compute the maximum likelihood estimator for hyper-parameters of a covariance matrix necessary to define prior distribution for latent function. These two steps iteratively repeat until a convergence condition satisfies. Moreover, we apply the proposed algorithm with human action classification problem using a public database, namely, the KTH human action data set. Experimental results reveal that the proposed algorithm shows good performance on this data set.

Keywords: Bayesian rule, Gaussian process classification model with multiclass, Gaussian process prior, human action classification, laplace approximation, variational EM algorithm.

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Authors: Sepehr Lajevardi Esfahani, Shohre Rouhani, Zahra Ranjbar

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Graphene has gained much attention owing to its unique optical and electrical properties. Charge carriers in graphene sheets (GS) carry out a linear dispersion relation near the Fermi energy and behave as massless Dirac fermions resulting in unusual attributes such as the quantum Hall effect and ambipolar electric field effect. It also exhibits nondispersive transport characteristics with an extremely high electron mobility (15000 cm²/(Vs)) at room temperature. Recently, several progresses have been achieved in the fabrication of single- or multilayer GS for functional device applications in the fields of optoelectronic such as field-effect transistors ultrasensitive sensors and organic photovoltaic cells. In addition to device applications, graphene also can serve as reinforcement to enhance mechanical, thermal, or electrical properties of composite materials. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is an attractive method for development of various coatings and films. It readily applied to any powdered solid that forms a stable suspension. The deposition parameters were controlled in various thicknesses. In this study, the graphene electrodeposition conditions were optimized. The results were obtained from SEM, Ohm resistance measuring technique and AFM characteristic tests. The minimum sheet resistance of electrodeposited reduced graphene oxide layers is achieved at conditions of 2 V in 10 s and it is annealed at 200 °C for 1 minute.

Keywords: Electrophoretic deposition, graphene oxide, electrical conductivity, electro-optical devices.

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Authors: Arie Pujiwati, Kengo Nakamura, Noriaki Watanabe, Takeshi Komai

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Coal mining is well known to cause considerable environmental impacts, including trace element contamination of soil. This study aimed to assess the trace element (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) contamination of soil in the vicinity of coal mining activities, using the case study of Asam-asam River basin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, and to assess the human health risk, incorporating total and bioavailable (water-leachable and acid-leachable) concentrations. The results show the enrichment of As and Co in soil, surpassing the background soil value. Contamination was evaluated based on the index of geo-accumulation, I_geo and the pollution index, PI. I_geo values showed that the soil was generally uncontaminated (I_geo ≤ 0), except for elevated As and Co. Mean PI for Ni and Cu indicated slight contamination. Regarding the assessment of health risks, the Hazard Index, HI showed adverse risks (HI > 1) for Ni, Co, and As. Further, Ni and As were found to pose unacceptable carcinogenic risk (risk > 1.10^-5). Farming, settlement, and plantation were found to present greater risk than coal mines. These results show that coal mining activity in the study area contaminates the soils by particular elements and may pose potential human health risk in its surrounding area. This study is important for setting appropriate countermeasure actions and improving basic coal mining management in Indonesia.

Keywords: Coal mine, risk, soil, trace elements.

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Authors: Hsien-Chou Liao, Yu-Shiang Wang

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Surveillance system is widely used in the traffic monitoring. The deployment of cameras is moving toward a ubiquitous camera (UbiCam) environment. In our previous study, a novel service, called GPS-VT, was firstly proposed by incorporating global positioning system (GPS) and visual tracking techniques for the UbiCam environment. The first prototype is called GODTA (GPS-based Moving Object Detection and Tracking Approach). For a moving person carried GPS-enabled mobile device, he can be tracking when he enters the field-of-view (FOV) of a camera according to his real-time GPS coordinate. In this paper, GPS-VT service is applied to the tracking of vehicles. The moving speed of a vehicle is much faster than a person. It means that the time passing through the FOV is much shorter than that of a person. Besides, the update interval of GPS coordinate is once per second, it is asynchronous with the frame rate of the real-time image. The above asynchronous is worsen by the network transmission delay. These factors are the main challenging to fulfill GPS-VT service on a vehicle.In order to overcome the influence of the above factors, a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) is used to predict the possible lane before the vehicle enters the FOV of a camera. Then, a template matching technique is used for the visual tracking of a target vehicle. The experimental result shows that the target vehicle can be located and tracking successfully. The success location rate of the implemented prototype is higher than that of the previous GODTA.

Keywords: visual surveillance, visual tracking, globalpositioning system, intelligent transportation system

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Authors: K. P. K. S. Lahirushan, W. G. V. Gunasekara

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Main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of government expenditure on economic growth in Asian Countries. Consequently, main objective is to analyze whether government expenditure causes economic growth in Asian countries vice versa and then scrutinizing long-run equilibrium relationship exists between them. The study completely based on secondary data. The methodology being quantitative that includes econometrical techniques of cointegration, panel fixed effects model and granger causality in the context of panel data of Asian countries; Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, India and Bhutan with 44 observations in each country, totaling to 396 observations from 1970 to 2013. The model used is the random effects panel OLS model. As with the above methodology, the study found the fascinating outcome. At first, empirical findings exhibit a momentous positive impact of government expenditure on Gross Domestic Production in Asian region. Secondly, government expenditure and economic growth indicate a long-run relationship in Asian countries. In conclusion, there is a unidirectional causality from economic growth to government expenditure and government expenditure to economic growth in Asian countries. Hence the study is validated that it is in line with the Keynesian theory and Wagner’s law as well. Consequently, it can be concluded that role of government would play a vital role in economic growth of Asian Countries. However; if government expenditure did not figure out with the economy’s needs it might be considerably inspiration the economy in a negative way so that society bears the costs.

Keywords: Asian Countries, Government Expenditure, Keynesian theory, Wagner’s theory, Random effects panel OLS model.

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Authors: D. Sun, T. F. Lu, A. Zander, M. Trinkle

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This paper investigates the potential use of airborne ultrasonic phased arrays for imaging in outdoor environments as a means of overcoming the limitations experienced by kinect sensors, which may fail to work in the outdoor environments due to the oversaturation of the infrared photo diodes. Ultrasonic phased arrays have been well studied for static media, yet there appears to be no comparable examination in the literature of the impact of a flowing medium on the focusing behaviour of near field focused ultrasonic arrays. This paper presents a method for predicting the sound pressure fields produced by a single ultrasound element or an ultrasonic phased array influenced by airflows. The approach can be used to determine the actual focal point location of an array exposed in a known flow field. From the presented simulation results based upon this model, it can be concluded that uniform flows in the direction orthogonal to the acoustic propagation have a noticeable influence on the sound pressure field, which is reflected in the twisting of the steering angle of the array. Uniform flows in the same direction as the acoustic propagation have negligible influence on the array. For an array impacted by a turbulent flow, determining the location of the focused sound field becomes difficult due to the irregularity and continuously changing direction and the speed of the turbulent flow. In some circumstances, ultrasonic phased arrays impacted by turbulent flows may not be capable of producing a focused sound field.

Keywords: Airborne, airflow, focused sound field, ultrasonic phased array.

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Authors: Satyasen Panda, Urmila Bhanja

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This paper presents a SAC-OCDMA code with zero cross correlation property to minimize the Multiple Access Interface (MAI) as New Zero Cross Correlation code (NZCC), which is found to be more scalable compared to the other existing SAC-OCDMA codes. This NZCC code is constructed using address segment and data segment. In this work, the proposed NZCC code is implemented in an optical system using the Opti-System software for the spectral amplitude coded optical code-division multiple-access (SAC-OCDMA) scheme. The main contribution of the proposed NZCC code is the zero cross correlation, which reduces both the MAI and PIIN noises. The proposed NZCC code reveals properties of minimum cross-correlation, flexibility in selecting the code parameters and supports a large number of users, combined with high data rate and longer fiber length. Simulation results reveal that the optical code division multiple access system based on the proposed NZCC code accommodates maximum number of simultaneous users with higher data rate transmission, lower Bit Error Rates (BER) and longer travelling distance without any signal quality degradation, as compared to the former existing SAC-OCDMA codes.

Keywords: Cross Correlation, Optical Code Division Multiple Access, Spectral Amplitude Coding Optical Code Division Multiple Access, Multiple Access Interference, Phase Induced Intensity Noise, New Zero Cross Correlation code.

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Authors: Lorena Antonovici, Maria Nicoleta Turliuc

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The process of becoming a vegetarian involves changes in several life aspects, including health. Despite its relevance, however, little research has been carried out to analyze vegetarians' self-perceived health, and even less empirical attention has received in the Romanian population. This study aimed to assess health-related beliefs and practices among vegetarian adults in a Romanian sample. We have undertaken 20 semi-structured interviews (10 males, 10 females) based on a snowball sample with a mean age of 31 years. The interview guide was divided into three sections: causes of adopting the diet, general aspects (beliefs, practices, tensions, and conflicts) and consequences of adopting the diet (significant changes, positive aspects, and difficulties, physical and mental health). Additional anamnestic data were reported by means of a questionnaire. Data analyses were performed using Tropes text analysis software (v. 8.2) and SPSS software (v. 24.0.) Findings showed that most of the participants considered a vegetarian diet as a natural and healthy choice as opposed to meat-eating, which is not healthy, and its consumption should be moderated among omnivores. A higher proportion of participants (65%) had an average body mass index (BMI), and several women even assumed having certain affections that no longer occur after following a vegetarian diet. Moreover, participants admitted having better moods and mental health status, given their self-contentment with the dietary choice. Relatives were perceived as more skeptical about their practices than others, and especially women had this view. This study provides a valuable insight into health-related beliefs and practices and how a vegetarian diet might interact.

Keywords: Health-related beliefs, health, practices, vegetarians.

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Authors: Chih-I. Tsai, Yu-Chien. Lin

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Through experiences of clinical practices, it is discovered that locations on the body at a level of four fingerbreadth above and below the joints are the points at which muscles connect to tendons, and since the muscles and tendons possess opposite characteristics, muscles are full of blood but lack qi, while tendons are full of qi but lack blood, these points on our body become easily blocked. It is proposed that through doing acupuncture or creating localized pressure to the areas four fingerbreadths above and below our joints, with an elastic bandage, we could help the energy, also known as qi, to flow smoothly in our body and further improve our health. Based on the Four Fingers Theory, we understand that human height is 22 four fingerbreadths. In addition, qi and blood travel through 24 meridians, 50 times each day, and they flow through 6 cun with every human breath. We can also understand the average number of human heartbeats is 75 times per minute. And the function of qi-blood circulation system in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the same as the blood circulation in Western Medical Science. Informed by Four Fingers Theory, this study further examined its applications in acupuncture practices. The research question is how Four Fingers Theory proves what has been mentioned in Nei Jing that there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. In responding to the research question, there are 66 acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee. Four Fingers Theory facilitated the creation of the acupuncture naming and teaching system. It is expected to serve as an approachable and effective way to deliver knowledge of acupuncture to the public worldwide.

Keywords: Four Fingers theory, Meridians circulation, 66 Acupoints under a human’s elbow and knee, acupuncture.

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Authors: Amira Mabrouk, Chokri Abdennadher

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The reduction of road congestion which is inherent to the use of vehicles is an obvious priority to public authority. Therefore, assessing the willingness to pay of an individual in order to save trip-time is akin to estimating the change in price which was the result of setting up a new transport policy to increase the networks fluidity and improving the level of social welfare. This study holds an innovative perspective. In fact, it initiates an economic calculation that has the objective of giving an estimation of the monetized time value during the trips made in Sfax. This research is founded on a double-objective approach. The aim of this study is to i) give an estimation of the monetized value of time; an hour dedicated to trips, ii) determine whether or not the consumer considers the environmental variables to be significant, iii) analyze the impact of applying a public management of the congestion via imposing taxation of city tolls on urban dwellers. This article is built upon a rich field survey led in the city of Sfax. With the use of the contingent valuation method, we analyze the “declared time preferences” of 450 drivers during rush hours. Based on the fond consideration of attributed bias of the applied method, we bring to light the delicacy of this approach with regards to the revelation mode and the interrogative techniques by following the NOAA panel recommendations bearing the exception of the valorization point and other similar studies about the estimation of transportation externality.

Keywords: Willingness to pay, value of time, contingent valuation, time value, city toll, transport.

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Authors: M. Raciti Castelli, A. Fedrigo, E. Benini

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A multiple-option analytical model for the evaluation of the energy performance and distribution of aerodynamic forces acting on a vertical-axis Darrieus wind turbine depending on both rotor architecture and operating conditions is presented. For this purpose, a numerical algorithm, capable of generating the desired rotor conformation depending on design geometric parameters, is coupled to a Single/Double-Disk Multiple-Streamtube Blade Element – Momentum code. Both single and double-disk configurations are analyzed and model predictions are compared to literature experimental data in order to test the capability of the code for predicting rotor performance. Effective airfoil characteristics based on local blade Reynolds number are obtained through interpolation of literature low-Reynolds airfoil databases. Some corrections are introduced inside the original model with the aim of simulating also the effects of blade dynamic stall, rotor streamtube expansion and blade finite aspect ratio, for which a new empirical relationship to better fit the experimental data is proposed. In order to predict also open field rotor operation, a freestream wind shear profile is implemented, reproducing the effect of atmospheric boundary layer.

Keywords: Wind turbine, BE-M, dynamic stall, streamtube expansion, airfoil finite aspect ratio

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Authors: M. V. G. Silva, J. Gazzola, I. M. Dal Fabbro, A. C. L. Lino

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Computer aided design accounts with the support of parametric software in the design of machine components as well as of any other pieces of interest. The complexities of the element under study sometimes offer certain difficulties to computer design, or ever might generate mistakes in the final body conception. Reverse engineering techniques are based on the transformation of already conceived body images into a matrix of points which can be visualized by the design software. The literature exhibits several techniques to obtain machine components dimensional fields, as contact instrument (MMC), calipers and optical methods as laser scanner, holograms as well as moiré methods. The objective of this research work was to analyze the moiré technique as instrument of reverse engineering, applied to bodies of nom complex geometry as simple solid figures, creating matrices of points. These matrices were forwarded to a parametric software named SolidWorks to generate the virtual object. Volume data obtained by mechanical means, i.e., by caliper, the volume obtained through the moiré method and the volume generated by the SolidWorks software were compared and found to be in close agreement. This research work suggests the application of phase shifting moiré methods as instrument of reverse engineering, serving also to support farm machinery element designs.

Keywords: Reverse engineering, Moiré technique, three dimensional image generation.

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Authors: Oriyomi M. Okeyinka, David A. Oloke, Jamal M. Khatib

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Large quantities of solid wastes being generated worldwide from sources such as household, domestic, industrial, commercial and construction demolition activities, leads to environmental concerns. Utilization of these wastes in making building construction materials can reduce the magnitude of the associated problems. When these waste products are used in place of other conventional materials, natural resources and energy are preserved and expensive and/or potentially harmful waste disposal is avoided. Recycling which is regarded as the third most preferred waste disposal option, with its numerous environmental benefits, stand as a viable option to offset the environmental impact associated with the construction industry. This paper reviews the results of laboratory tests and important research findings, and the potential of using these wastes in building construction materials with focus on sustainable development. Research gaps, which includes; the need to develop standard mix design for solid waste based building materials; the need to develop energy efficient method of processing solid waste use in concrete; the need to study the actual behavior or performance of such building materials in practical application and the limited real life application of such building materials have also been identified. A research is being proposed to develop an environmentally friendly, lightweight building block from recycled waste paper, without the use of cement, and with properties suitable for use as walling unit. This proposed research intends to incorporate, laboratory experimentation and modeling to address the identified research gaps.

Keywords: Recycling, solid waste, construction, building materials.

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Authors: Chaiwat Waree

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This research aims at development of the Multiple Intelligences Measurement of Elementary Students. The structural accuracy test and normality establishment are based on the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Gardner. This theory consists of eight aspects namely linguistics, logic and mathematics, visual-spatial relations, body and movement, music, human relations, self-realization/selfunderstanding and nature. The sample used in this research consists of elementary school students (aged between 5-11 years). The size of the sample group was determined by Yamane Table. The group has 2,504 students. Multistage Sampling was used. Basic statistical analysis and construct validity testing were done using confirmatory factor analysis. The research can be summarized as follows; 1. Multiple Intelligences Measurement consisting of 120 items is content-accurate. Internal consistent reliability according to the method of Kuder-Richardson of the whole Multiple Intelligences Measurement equals .91. The difficulty of the measurement test is between .39-.83. Discrimination is between .21-.85. 2). The Multiple Intelligences Measurement has construct validity in a good range, that is 8 components and all 120 test items have statistical significance level at .01. Chi-square value equals 4357.7; p=.00 at the degree of freedom of 244 and Goodness of Fit Index equals 1.00. Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index equals .92. Comparative Fit Index (CFI) equals .68. Root Mean Squared Residual (RMR) equals 0.064 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation equals 0.82. 3). The normality of the Multiple Intelligences Measurement is categorized into 3 levels. Those with high intelligence are those with percentiles of more than 78. Those with moderate/medium intelligence are those with percentiles between 24 and 77.9. Those with low intelligence are those with percentiles from 23.9 downwards.

Keywords: Multiple Intelligences, Measurement, Elementary Students.

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Authors: Erika Martinez Ramirez, Rene V. Mayorga

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Nowadays, more engineering systems are using some kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the development of their processes. Some well-known AI techniques include artificial neural nets, fuzzy inference systems, and neuro-fuzzy inference systems among others. Furthermore, many decision-making applications base their intelligent processes on Fuzzy Logic; due to the Fuzzy Inference Systems (FIS) capability to deal with problems that are based on user knowledge and experience. Also, knowing that users have a wide variety of distinctiveness, and generally, provide uncertain data, this information can be used and properly processed by a FIS. To properly consider uncertainty and inexact system input values, FIS normally use Membership Functions (MF) that represent a degree of user satisfaction on certain conditions and/or constraints. In order to define the parameters of the MFs, the knowledge from experts in the field is very important. This knowledge defines the MF shape to process the user inputs and through fuzzy reasoning and inference mechanisms, the FIS can provide an “appropriate" output. However an important issue immediately arises: How can it be assured that the obtained output is the optimum solution? How can it be guaranteed that each MF has an optimum shape? A viable solution to these questions is through the MFs parameter optimization. In this Paper a novel parameter optimization process is presented. The process for FIS parameter optimization consists of the five simple steps that can be easily realized off-line. Here the proposed process of FIS parameter optimization it is demonstrated by its implementation on an Intelligent Interface section dealing with the on-line customization / personalization of internet portals applied to E-commerce.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Fuzzy Logic, Fuzzy InferenceSystems, Nonlinear Optimization.

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Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

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This paper presents an approach for the classification of an unstructured format description for identification of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support file format selection with just the unstructured text description that comprises the most important format features for a particular organisation. Subsequently, the file format indentification method employs file format classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with an estimation of required file format. Our goal is to make use of a format specification knowledge base aggregated from a different Web sources in order to select file format for a particular institution. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert, the file format for his institution. The proposed methods facilitate the selection of file format and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is meant to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and specifications of file formats. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the file formats is presented as a file format vocabulary that comprises most common terms that are characteristic for all researched formats. The goal is to suggest a particular file format based on this vocabulary for analysis by an expert. The sample file format calculation and the calculation results including probabilities are presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: Data mining, digital libraries, digital preservation, file format.

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Authors: Diako Azizi, Ahmad Gholami, Vahid Abbasi

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High voltage generators are being subject to higher voltage rating and are being designed to operate in harsh conditions. Stator windings are the main component of generators in which Electrical, magnetically and thermal stresses remain major failures for insulation degradation accelerated aging. A large number of generators failed due to stator winding problems, mainly insulation deterioration. Insulation degradation assessment plays vital role in the asset life management. Mostly the stator failure is catastrophic causing significant damage to the plant. Other than generation loss, stator failure involves heavy repair or replacement cost. Electro thermal analysis is the main characteristic for improvement design of stator slot-s insulation. Dielectric parameters such as insulation thickness, spacing, material types, geometry of winding and slot are major design consideration. A very powerful method available to analyze electro thermal performance is Finite Element Method (FEM) which is used in this paper. The analysis of various stator coil and slot configurations are used to design the better dielectric system to reduce electrical and thermal stresses in order to increase the power of generator in the same volume of core. This paper describes the process used to perform classical design and improvement analysis of stator slot-s insulation.

Keywords: Electromagnetic field, field distribution, insulation, winding, finite element method

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Authors: Murtaza Adil, Sen Yang, Zhou Chao, Song Xiaoping

Abstract:

The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) recently has attracted constant interest in ferromagnetic systems for obtaining enhanced large magnetoelastic response. In the present study, structural and magnetoelastic properties of MPB involved ferromagnetic Tb_1-xGd_xFe₂ (0≤x≤1) system has been investigated. The change of easy magnetic direction from <111> to <100> with increasing x up MPB composition of x=0.9 is detected by step-scanned [440] synchrotron X-ray diffraction reflections. The Gd substitution for Tb changes the composition for the anisotropy compensation near MPB composition of x=0.9, which was confirmed by the analysis of detailed scanned XRD, magnetization curves and the calculation of the first anisotropy constant K₁. The spin configuration diagram accompanied with different crystal structures for Tb_1-xGd_xFe₂ was designed. The calculated first anisotropy constant K₁ shows a minimum value at MPB composition of x=0.9. In addition, the large ratio between magnetostriction, and the absolute values of the first anisotropy constant │λ_S∕K₁│ appears at MPB composition, which makes it a potential material for magnetostrictive application. Based on experimental results, a theoretically approach was also proposed to signify that the facilitated magnetization rotation and enhanced magnetoelastic effect near MPB composition are a consequence of the anisotropic flattening of free energy of ferromagnetic crystal. Our work specifies the universal existence of MPB in ferromagnetic materials which is important for substantial improvement of magnetic and magnetostrictive properties and may provide a new route to develop advanced functional materials.

Keywords: Free energy, lattice distortion, magnetic anisotropy, magnetostriction, morphotropic phase boundary.

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Authors: Mohamed El Morsy, Gabriela Achtenová

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This paper presents modern vibration signalprocessing techniques for vehicle gearbox fault diagnosis, via the wavelet analysis and the Squared Envelope (SE) technique. The wavelet analysis is regarded as a powerful tool for the detection of sudden changes in non-stationary signals. The Squared Envelope (SE) technique has been extensively used for rolling bearing diagnostics. In the present work a scheme of using the Squared Envelope technique for early detection of gear tooth pit. The pitting defect is manufactured on the tooth side of a fifth speed gear on the intermediate shaft of a vehicle gearbox. The objective is to supplement the current techniques of gearbox fault diagnosis based on using the raw vibration and ordered signals. The test stand is equipped with three dynamometers; the input dynamometer serves as the internal combustion engine, the output dynamometers introduce the load on the flanges of output joint shafts. The gearbox used for experimental measurements is the type most commonly used in modern small to mid-sized passenger cars with transversely mounted powertrain and front wheel drive; a five-speed gearbox with final drive gear and front wheel differential. The results show that the approaches methods are effective for detecting and diagnosing localized gear faults in early stage under different operation conditions, and are more sensitive and robust than current gear diagnostic techniques.

Keywords: Wavelet analysis, Squared Envelope, gear faults.

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Authors: A. Alshebani, Y. Swesi, S. Mrayed, F. Altaher

Abstract:

This paper present some preliminary work on the preparation and physicochemical caracterization of nanocomposite MFI-alumina structures based on alumina hollow fibres. The fibers are manufactured by a wet spinning process. α-alumina particles were dispersed in a solution of polysulfone in NMP. The resulting slurry is pressed through the annular gap of a spinneret into a precipitation bath. The resulting green fibres are sintered. The mechanical strength of the alumina hollow fibres is determined by a three-point-bending test while the pore size is characterized by bubble-point testing. The bending strength is in the range of 110 MPa while the average pore size is 450 nm for an internal diameter of 1 mm and external diameter of 1.7 mm. To characterize the MFI membranes various techniques were used for physicochemical characterization of MFI–ceramic hollow fibres membranes: The nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy combined with X emission microanalysis. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Microanalysis by the X-ray were used to observe the morphology of the hollow fibre membranes (thickness, infiltration into the carrier, defects, homogeneity). No surface film, has been obtained, as observed by SEM and EDX analysis and confirmed by high temperature variation of N2 and CO2 gas permeances before cation exchange. Local analysis and characterise (SEM and EDX) and overall (by ICP elemental analysis) were conducted on two samples exchanged to determine the quantity and distribution of the cation of cesium on the cross section fibre of the zeolite between the cavities.

Keywords: Physicochemical characterization of MFI, Ceramic hollow fibre, CO2, Ion-exchange.

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Authors: Shivani Chaturvedi, Santosh Satya, S. K. Tiwari

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Recent research on seeds of bio-diesel plants like Jatropha curcas, constituting 40-50% bio-crude oil indicates its potential as one of the most promising alternatives to conventional sources of energy. Also, limited studies on utilization of de-oiled cake have revealed that Jatropha bio-waste has good potential to be used as organic fertilizers produced via aerobic and anaerobic treatment. However, their commercial exploitation has not yet been possible. The present study aims at developing appropriate bio-processes and formulations utilizing Jatropha seed cake as organic fertilizer, for improving the growth of Polianthes tuberose L. (Tuberose). Pot experiments were carried out by growing tuberose plants on soil treated with composted formulations of Jatropha de-oiled cake, Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizers were also blended in soil. The treatment was carried out through soil amendment as well as foliar spray. The growth and morphological parameters were monitored for entire crop cycle. The growth Length and number of leaves, spike length, rachis length, number of bulb per plant and earliness of sprouting of bulb and yield enhancement were comparable to that achieved under inorganic fertilizer. Furthermore, performance of inorganic fertilizer also showed an improvement when blended with composted bio-waste. These findings would open new avenues for Jatropha based bio-wastes to be composted and used as organic fertilizers for commercial floriculture.

Keywords: Organic fertilizer, Jaropha cake, Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.).

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Authors: Marco Raciti Castelli, Giulia Simioni, Ernesto Benini

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This paper presents a model for the evaluation of energy performance and aerodynamic forces acting on a three-bladed small vertical axis Darrieus wind turbine depending on blade chord curvature with respect to rotor axis. The adopted survey methodology is based on an analytical code coupled to a solid modeling software, capable of generating the desired blade geometry depending on the blade design geometric parameters, which is linked to a finite volume CFD code for the calculation of rotor performance. After describing and validating the model with experimental data, the results of numerical simulations are proposed on the bases of two different blade profile architectures, which are respectively characterized by a straight chord and by a curved one, having a chord radius equal to rotor external circumference. A CFD campaign of analysis is completed for three blade-candidate airfoil sections, that is the recently-developed DU 06-W-200 cambered blade profile, a classical symmetrical NACA 0021 and its derived cambered airfoil, characterized by a curved chord, having a chord radius equal to rotor external circumference. The effects of blade chord curvature on angle of attack, blade tangential and normal forces are first investigated and then the overall rotor torque and power are analyzed as a function of blade azimuthal position, achieving a numerical quantification of the influence of blade camber on overall rotor performance.

Keywords: VAWT, NACA 0021, DU 06-W-200, cambered airfoil

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Authors: Dae Gon Woo, Ji Hyung Park, Chi Hoon Kim, Tae Woo Lee, Beob Yi Lee, Han Sung Kim

Abstract:

The aim of the present study is to analyze the generation of osteoporotic vertebral bone induced by lack of calcium during growth period and analyze its effects for disc degeneration, based on biomechanical and histomorphometrical study. Mechanical and histomorphological characteristics of lumbar vertebral bones and discs of rats with calcium free diet (CFD) were detected and tracked by using high resolution in-vivo micro-computed tomography (in-vivo micro-CT), finite element (FE) and histological analysis. Twenty female Sprague-Dawley rats (6 weeks old, approximate weight 170g) were randomly divided into two groups (CFD group: 10, NOR group: 10). The CFD group was maintained on a refmed calcium-controlled semisynthetic diet without added calcium, to induce osteoporosis. All lumbar (L 1-L6) were scanned by using in vivo micro-CT with 35i.un resolution at 0, 4, 8 weeks to track the effects of CFD on the generation of osteoporosis. The fmdings of the present study indicated that calcium insufficiency was the main factor in the generation of osteoporosis and it induced lumbar vertebral disc degeneration. This study is a valuable experiment to firstly evaluate osteoporotic vertebral bone and disc degeneration induced by lack of calcium during growth period from a biomechanical and histomorphometrical point of view.

Keywords: Calcium free diet, Disc degeneration, Osteoporosis, in-vivo micro-CT, Finite element analysis, Histology.

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Authors: C. Snae Namahoot, M. Brueckner

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Thailand-s health system is challenged by the rising number of patients and decreasing ratio of medical practitioners/patients, especially in rural areas. This may tempt inexperienced GPs to rush through the process of anamnesis with the risk of incorrect diagnosis. Patients have to travel far to the hospital and wait for a long time presenting their case. Many patients try to cure themselves with traditional Thai medicine. Many countries are making use of the Internet for medical information gathering, distribution and storage. Telemedicine applications are a relatively new field of study in Thailand; the infrastructure of ICT had hampered widespread use of the Internet for using medical information. With recent improvements made health and technology professionals can work out novel applications and systems to help advance telemedicine for the benefit of the people. Here we explore the use of telemedicine for people with health problems in rural areas in Thailand and present a Telemedicine Diagnosis System for Rural Thailand (TEDIST) for diagnosing certain conditions that people with Internet access can use to establish contact with Community Health Centers, e.g. by mobile phone. The system uses a Web-based input method for individual patients- symptoms, which are taken by an expert system for the analysis of conditions and appropriate diseases. The analysis harnesses a knowledge base and a backward chaining component to find out, which health professionals should be presented with the case. Doctors have the opportunity to exchange emails or chat with the patients they are responsible for or other specialists. Patients- data are then stored in a Personal Health Record.

Keywords: Biomedical engineering, data acquisition, expert system, information management system, and information retrieval.

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