Search results for: optimum block size

Authors: Hazem M. El-Bakry

Abstract:

Neural processors have shown good results for detecting a certain character in a given input matrix. In this paper, a new idead to speed up the operation of neural processors for character detection is presented. Such processors are designed based on cross correlation in the frequency domain between the input matrix and the weights of neural networks. This approach is developed to reduce the computation steps required by these faster neural networks for the searching process. The principle of divide and conquer strategy is applied through image decomposition. Each image is divided into small in size sub-images and then each one is tested separately by using a single faster neural processor. Furthermore, faster character detection is obtained by using parallel processing techniques to test the resulting sub-images at the same time using the same number of faster neural networks. In contrast to using only faster neural processors, the speed up ratio is increased with the size of the input image when using faster neural processors and image decomposition. Moreover, the problem of local subimage normalization in the frequency domain is solved. The effect of image normalization on the speed up ratio of character detection is discussed. Simulation results show that local subimage normalization through weight normalization is faster than subimage normalization in the spatial domain. The overall speed up ratio of the detection process is increased as the normalization of weights is done off line.

Keywords: Fast Character Detection, Neural Processors, Cross Correlation, Image Normalization, Parallel Processing.

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Authors: Tatyana Boikova

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The strong international competition as the factor of rising economic development efficiency should not turn into destructive force for models of social orientation. What result Europe received from the accelerated integration without a long transition period of the accepted countries. Correlative relationship between the research and development expenditure and labor productivity, inflation and the rate economy's growth of the USA and the euro zone, employment and gross value added between Old and New Europe is analyzed in this article. The article estimates the differences in economic growth of Old and New Europe. Correlation rate between cycles of the euro area and the countries of Central and the Eastern Europe very much differs, though some of these countries have high correlation as members of the Economic and Monetary Union. Besides, the majority of the countries of Central and the Eastern Europe does not correspond to criteria of an optimum currency area.

Keywords: endogenous economic growth, sustainability, competitiveness, economic development

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Authors: Philip Speranza

Abstract:

As everyday transit options are shifting from autocentric to pedestrian and bicycle oriented modes for healthy living, downtown streets are becoming more attractive places to live. However, tools and methods to measure the natural environment at the small scale of streets do not exist. Fortunately, a combination of mobile data collection technology and parametric urban design software now allows an interface to relate urban ecological conditions. This paper describes creation of an interactive tool to measure urban phenomena of air, water, and heat/light at the scale of new three-by-three block pedestrianized areas in Barcelona called Superilles. Each Superilla limits transit to the exterior of the blocks and to create more walkable and bikeable interior streets for healthy living. The research will describe the integration of data collection, analysis, and design output via a live interface using parametric software Rhino Grasshopper and the Human User Interface (UI) plugin.

Keywords: Transit, urban design, GIS, parametric design, Superilles, Barcelona, urban ecology.

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Authors: Yanwen Li, Shuguo Xie

Abstract:

In electromagnetic imaging, because of the diffraction limited system, the pixel values could change slowly near the edge of the image targets and they also change with the location in the same target. Using traditional digital image segmentation methods to segment electromagnetic gradient images could result in lots of errors because of this change in pixel values. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel image segmentation and extraction algorithm based on Mean-Shift and dictionary learning. Firstly, the preliminary segmentation results from adaptive bandwidth Mean-Shift algorithm are expanded, merged and extracted. Then the overlap rate of the extracted image block is detected before determining a segmentation region with a single complete target. Last, the gradient edge of the extracted targets is recovered and reconstructed by using a dictionary-learning algorithm, while the final segmentation results are obtained which are very close to the gradient target in the original image. Both the experimental results and the simulated results show that the segmentation results are very accurate. The Dice coefficients are improved by 70% to 80% compared with the Mean-Shift only method.

Keywords: Gradient image, segmentation and extract, mean-shift algorithm, dictionary learning.

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Authors: Nasser M. Amaitik, Mohammed J. El-Sahli

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Evaluation of educational portals is an important subject area that needs more attention from researchers. A university that has an educational portal which is difficult to use and interact by teachers or students or management staff can reduce the position and reputation of the university. Therefore, it is important to have the ability to make an evaluation of the quality of e-services the university provide to improve them over time. The present study evaluates the usability of the Information Technology Faculty portal at University of Benghazi. Two evaluation methods were used: a questionnaire-based method and an online automated tool-based method. The first method was used to measure the portal's external attributes of usability (Information, Content and Organization of the portal, Navigation, Links and Accessibility, Aesthetic and Visual Appeal, Performance and Effectiveness and educational purpose) from users' perspectives, while the second method was used to measure the portal's internal attributes of usability (number and size of HTML files, number and size of images, load time, HTML check errors, browsers compatibility problems, number of bad and broken links), which cannot be perceived by the users. The study showed that some of the usability aspects have been found at the acceptable level of performance and quality, and some others have been found otherwise. In general, it was concluded that the usability of IT faculty educational portal generally acceptable. Recommendations and suggestions to improve the weakness and quality of the portal usability are presented in this study.

Keywords: Automated tools-based evaluation, Educational portals, Evaluation criteria, Questionnaire-based evaluation, Usability evaluation.

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Authors: U. Gudaru, D. R. Patil

Abstract:

Electrical distribution systems are incurring large losses as the loads are wide spread, inadequate reactive power compensation facilities and their improper control. A comprehensive static VAR compensator consisting of capacitor bank in five binary sequential steps in conjunction with a thyristor controlled reactor of smallest step size is employed in the investigative work. The work deals with the performance evaluation through analytical studies and practical implementation on an existing system. A fast acting error adaptive controller is developed suitable both for contactor and thyristor switched capacitors. The switching operations achieved are transient free, practically no need to provide inrush current limiting reactors, TCR size minimum providing small percentages of nontriplen harmonics, facilitates stepless variation of reactive power depending on load requirement so as maintain power factor near unity always. It is elegant, closed loop microcontroller system having the features of self regulation in adaptive mode for automatic adjustment. It is successfully tested on a distribution transformer of three phase 50 Hz, Dy11, 11KV/440V, 125 KVA capacity and the functional feasibility and technical soundness are established. The controller developed is new, adaptable to both LT & HT systems and practically established to be giving reliable performance.

Keywords: Binary Sequential switched capacitor bank, TCR, Nontriplen harmonics, step less Q control, transient free

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Authors: A. Özköse

Abstract:

This study was conducted to determination of yield and yield components of some fodder beet types (Amarilla Barres, Feldherr, Kyros, Magnum ve Rota) under the Konya region conditions. Fodder beet was obtained from the Selcuk University, Faculty of Agriculture, at 2006-2007 season and the experiment was established in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Differences among the averages of the fodder beet cultivars are statistically important in terms of all the characteristics investigated. Leaf attitude value was 1.2 – 2.2 (1=erect; 5= prostrate), root shape scale value was (1=spheroidal – 9=cylindrical), root diameter 11.0 – 12.2cm, remaining part of root on the ground was 6.3 – 13.7cm, root length was 21.4 – 29.6cm, leaf yield 1592 – 1917 kg/da, root yield was 10083 – 12258 kg/da, root dry matter content was %8.2 – 18.6 and root dry matter yield was 889 – 1887 kg/da. As a result of the study, it was determined that fodder beet cultivars are different conditions in terms of yield and yield components. Therefore, determination of appropriate cultivars for each region affect crop yield importantly.

Keywords: Fodder beet, root yield, yield components.

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Authors: Pyae Pyae Hun

Abstract:

Secure electronic payment system is presented in this paper. This electronic payment system is to be secure for clients such as customers and shop owners. The security architecture of the system is designed by RC5 encryption / decryption algorithm. This eliminates the fraud that occurs today with stolen credit card numbers. The symmetric key cryptosystem RC5 can protect conventional transaction data such as account numbers, amount and other information. This process can be done electronically using RC5 encryption / decryption program written by Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. There is no danger of any data sent within the system being intercepted, and replaced. The alternative is to use the existing network, and to encrypt all data transmissions. The system with encryption is acceptably secure, but that the level of encryption has to be stepped up, as computing power increases. Results In order to be secure the system the communication between modules is encrypted using symmetric key cryptosystem RC5. The system will use simple user name, password, user ID, user type and cipher authentication mechanism for identification, when the user first enters the system. It is the most common method of authentication in most computer system.

Keywords: A 128-bit block cipher, Microsoft visual basic 6.0, RC5 encryption /decryption algorithm and TCP/IP protocol.

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Authors: D. Karimi, M.J. Nategh

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One of the main concerns about parallel mechanisms is the presence of singular points within their workspaces. In singular positions the mechanism gains or loses one or several degrees of freedom. It is impossible to control the mechanism in singular positions. Therefore, these positions have to be avoided. This is a vital need especially in computer controlled machine tools designed and manufactured on the basis of parallel mechanisms. This need has to be taken into consideration when selecting design parameters. A prerequisite to this is a thorough knowledge about the effect of design parameters and constraints on singularity. In this paper, quality condition index was introduced as a criterion for evaluating singularities of different configurations of a hexapod mechanism obtainable by different design parameters. It was illustrated that this method can effectively be employed to obtain the optimum configuration of hexapod mechanism with the aim of avoiding singularity within the workspace. This method was then employed to design the hexapod table of a CNC milling machine.

Keywords: Hexapod, Machine Tool, Singularity, Workspace.

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Authors: Kangkang Tang

Abstract:

A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). With 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, peak hydration temperatures determined in a suspended concrete slab reduced by 20%. This beneficiary effect has not been further improved with 70% of CEM I replaced with GGBS. Partial replacement of CEM I with GGBS has a retardation effect on the early-age strength of concrete. More GGBS concrete mixes will be conducted to identify an ‘optimum’ replacement level which will lead to a reduced thermal loading, without significantly compromising the early-age strength of concrete.

Keywords: GGBS, thermal effect, sustainable construction, CEM I.

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Authors: M. Kalichová

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to analyse the most important parameters determining the quality of the motion structure of the basic classical dance jump – grand jeté.Research sample consisted of 8 students of the Dance Conservatory in Brno. Using the system Simi motion we performed a 3D kinematic analysis of the jump. On the basis of the comparison of structure quality and measured data of the grand jeté, we defined the optimal values of the relevant parameters determining the quality of the performance. The take-off speed should achieve about 2.4 m·s-1, the optimum take-off angle is 28 - 30º. The take-off leg should swing backward at the beginning of the flight phase with the minimum speed of 3.3 m·s-1.If motor abilities of dancers achieve the level necessary for optimal performance of a classical dance jump, there is room for certain variability of the structure of the dance jump.

Keywords: biomechanical analysis, classical dance, grand jeté, jump

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Authors: L. Abdelmalek, M. Zerikat, M. Rahli

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In this paper, we present a comparative study of the genetic algorithms and Hessian-s methods for optimal research of the active powers in an electric network of power. The objective function which is the performance index of production of electrical energy is minimized by satisfying the constraints of the equality type and inequality type initially by the Hessian-s methods and in the second time by the genetic Algorithms. The results found by the application of AG for the minimization of the electric production costs of power are very encouraging. The algorithms seem to be an effective technique to solve a great number of problems and which are in constant evolution. Nevertheless it should be specified that the traditional binary representation used for the genetic algorithms creates problems of optimization of management of the large-sized networks with high numerical precision.

Keywords: Genetic algorithm, Flow of optimum loadimpedances, Hessians method, Optimal distribution.

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Authors: Mohammed H. Mohammed, Mats Emborg, Roland Pusch, Sven Knutsson

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Concrete performance is strongly affected by the particle packing degree since it determines the distribution of the cementitious component and the interaction of mineral particles. By using packing theory designers will be able to select optimal aggregate materials for preparing concrete with low cement content, which is beneficial from the point of cost. Optimum particle packing implies minimizing porosity and thereby reducing the amount of cement paste needed to fill the voids between the aggregate particles, taking also the rheology of the concrete into consideration. For reaching good fluidity superplasticizers are required. The results from pilot tests at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) show various forms of the proposed theoretical models, and the empirical approach taken in the study seems to provide a safer basis for developing new, improved packing models.

Keywords: Aggregate mix, Computer program, Concrete mix design, Models of packing.

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Authors: I. Barsoum, F. Khan

Abstract:

the current study presents a modeling framework to determine the torsion strength of an induction hardened splined shaft by considering geometry and material aspects with the aim to optimize the static torsion strength by selection of spline geometry and hardness depth. Six different spline geometries and seven different hardness profiles including non-hardened and throughhardened shafts have been considered. The results reveal that the torque that causes initial yielding of the induction hardened splined shaft is strongly dependent on the hardness depth and the geometry of the spline teeth. Guidelines for selection of the appropriate hardness depth and spline geometry are given such that an optimum static torsion strength of the component can be achieved.

Keywords: Static strength, splined shaft, torsion, induction hardening, hardness profile, finite element, optimization, design.

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Authors: S. M. Giripunje, Shikha Jindal

Abstract:

Zinc sulphide (ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized successfully via simple sonochemical method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis revealed the average size of QDs of the order of 3.7 nm. The band gap of the QDs was tuned to 5.2 eV by optimizing the synthesis parameters. UV-Vis absorption spectra of ZnS QD confirm the quantum confinement effect. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of single phase ZnS QDs. To fabricate the diode, blend of ZnS QDs and P3HT was prepared and the heterojunction of PEDOT:PSS and the blend was formed by spin coating on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. The diode behaviour of the heterojunction was analysed, wherein the ideality factor was found to be 2.53 with turn on voltage 0.75 V and the barrier height was found to be 1.429 eV. ZnS-Graphene QDs nanocomposite was characterised for the surface morphological study. It was found that the synthesized ZnS QDs appear as quasi spherical particles on the graphene sheets. The average particle size of ZnS-graphene nanocomposite QDs was found to be 8.4 nm. From voltage-current characteristics of ZnS-graphene nanocomposites, it is observed that the conductivity of the composite increases by 10⁴ times the conductivity of ZnS QDs. Thus the addition of graphene QDs in ZnS QDs enhances the mobility of the charge carriers in the composite material. Thus, the graphene QDs, with high specific area for a large interface, high mobility and tunable band gap, show a great potential as an electron-acceptors in photovoltaic devices.

Keywords: Graphene, mobility, nanocomposites, photovoltaics, quantum dots, zinc sulphide.

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Authors: Se Kyung Oh, Young Hwan Yoon, Ary Bachtiar Krishna

Abstract:

Nowadays, a passenger car suspension must has high performance criteria with light weight, low cost, and low energy consumption. Pilot controlled proportional valve is designed and analyzed to get small pressure change rate after blow-off, and to get a fast response of the damper, a reverse damping mechanism is adapted. The reverse continuous variable damper is designed as a HS-SH damper which offers good body control with reduced transferred input force from the tire, compared with any other type of suspension system. The damper structure is designed, so that rebound and compression damping forces can be tuned independently, of which the variable valve is placed externally. The rate of pressure change with respect to the flow rate after blow-off becomes smooth when the fixed orifice size increases, which means that the blow-off slope is controllable using the fixed orifice size. Damping forces are measured with the change of the solenoid current at the different piston velocities to confirm the maximum hysteresis of 20 N, linearity, and variance of damping force. The damping force variance is wide and continuous, and is controlled by the spool opening, of which scheme is usually adapted in proportional valves. The reverse continuous variable damper developed in this study is expected to be utilized in the semi-active suspension systems in passenger cars after its performance and simplicity of the design is confirmed through a real car test.

Keywords: Blow-off, damping force, pilot controlledproportional valve, reverse continuous damper.

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Authors: R. Asokan, A. M. Natarajan

Abstract:

Mobile adhoc network (MANET) is a collection of mobile devices which form a communication network with no preexisting wiring or infrastructure. Multiple routing protocols have been developed for MANETs. As MANETs gain popularity, their need to support real time applications is growing as well. Such applications have stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements such as throughput, end-to-end delay, and energy. Due to dynamic topology and bandwidth constraint supporting QoS is a challenging task. QoS aware routing is an important building block for QoS support. The primary goal of the QoS aware protocol is to determine the path from source to destination that satisfies the QoS requirements. This paper proposes a new energy and delay aware protocol called energy and delay aware TORA (EDTORA) based on extension of Temporally Ordered Routing Protocol (TORA).Energy and delay verifications of query packet have been done in each node. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol has a higher performance than TORA in terms of network lifetime, packet delivery ratio and end-to-end delay.

Keywords: EDTORA, Mobile Adhoc Networks, QoS, Routing, TORA

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Authors: M.Ghazvini, S. A. Monadjemi, N. Movahhedinia, K. Jamshidi

Abstract:

In this article, a method has been offered to classify normal and defective tiles using wavelet transform and artificial neural networks. The proposed algorithm calculates max and min medians as well as the standard deviation and average of detail images obtained from wavelet filters, then comes by feature vectors and attempts to classify the given tile using a Perceptron neural network with a single hidden layer. In this study along with the proposal of using median of optimum points as the basic feature and its comparison with the rest of the statistical features in the wavelet field, the relational advantages of Haar wavelet is investigated. This method has been experimented on a number of various tile designs and in average, it has been valid for over 90% of the cases. Amongst the other advantages, high speed and low calculating load are prominent.

Keywords: Defect detection, tile and ceramic quality inspection, wavelet transform, classification, neural networks, statistical features.

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Authors: Tarek Aboueldah, Hanan Farag

Abstract:

Parallel Job Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP) is a multi-objective and multi constrains NP-optimization problem. Traditional Artificial Intelligence techniques have been widely used; however, they could be trapped into the local minimum without reaching the optimum solution. Thus, we propose a hybrid Artificial Intelligence (AI) model with Discrete Breeding Swarm (DBS) added to traditional AI to avoid this trapping. This model is applied in the cost minimization of the Car Sequencing and Operator Allocation (CSOA) problem. The practical experiment shows that our model outperforms other techniques in cost minimization.

Keywords: Parallel Job Shop Scheduling Problem, Artificial Intelligence, Discrete Breeding Swarm, Car Sequencing and Operator Allocation, cost minimization.

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Authors: Nayera E. El-Gharably, Khaled S. El-Kilany, Aziz E. El-Sayed

Abstract:

A key element of many distribution systems is the routing and scheduling of vehicles servicing a set of customers. A wide variety of exact and approximate algorithms have been proposed for solving the vehicle routing problems (VRP). Exact algorithms can only solve relatively small problems of VRP, which is classified as NP-Hard. Several approximate algorithms have proven successful in finding a feasible solution not necessarily optimum. Although different parts of the problem are stochastic in nature; yet, limited work relevant to the application of discrete event system simulation has addressed the problem. Presented here is optimization using simulation of VRP; where, a simplified problem has been developed in the ExtendSimTM simulation environment; where, ExtendSimTM evolutionary optimizer is used to minimize the total transportation cost of the problem. Results obtained from the model are very satisfactory. Further complexities of the problem are proposed for consideration in the future.

Keywords: Discrete event system simulation, optimization using simulation, vehicle routing problem.

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Authors: Zainab S. Mahmood, Aisha H. Abdalla, Wan Haslina Hassan, Farhat Anwar

Abstract:

The wide use of the Internet-based applications bring many challenges to the researchers to guarantee the continuity of the connections needed by the mobile hosts and provide reliable Internet access for them. One of proposed solutions by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is to connect the local, multi-hop, and infrastructure-less Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) with Internet structure. This connection is done through multi-interface devices known as Internet Gateways. Many issues are related to this connection like gateway discovery, handoff, address auto-configuration and selecting the optimum gateway when multiple gateways exist. Many studies were done proposing gateway selection schemes with a single selection criterion or weighted multiple criteria. In this research, a review of some of these schemes is done showing the differences, the features, the challenges and the drawbacks of each of them.

Keywords: Internet Gateway, MANET, Mobility, Selection criteria.

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Authors: Mohie Eldin Mohamed Afifiy Elmashad

Abstract:

Desert regions around the Nile valley in Upper Egypt contain great extent of swelling soil. Many different comment procedures of treatment of the swelling soils for construction such as pre-swelling, load balance OR soil replacement. One of the measure factors which affect the level of the aggressiveness of the swelling soil is the direction of the infiltration water directions within the swelling soils. In this paper a physical model was installed to measure the effect of water on the swelling soil with replacement using fatty acid distillation residuals (FADR) mixed with sand as thick sand-FADR mixture to prevent the water pathway arrive to the swelling soil. Testing program have been conducted on different artificial samples with different sand to FADR contents ratios (4%, 6%, and 9%) to get the optimum value fulfilling the impermeable replacement. The tests show that a FADR content of 9% is sufficient to produce impermeable replacement.

Keywords: Swelling soil, FADR, soil improvement, permeability

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Authors: M. Rokonuzzaman, Z. Gürdal

Abstract:

This paper describes the design optimization of ferrocement-laminated plate made up of reinforcing steel wire mesh(es) and cement mortar. For the improvement of the designing process, the plate is modeled as a multi-layer medium, dividing the ferrocement plate into layers of mortar and ferrocement. The mortar layers are assumed to be isotropic in nature and the ferrocement layers are assumed to be orthotropic. The ferrocement layers are little stiffer, but much more costlier, than the mortar layers due the presence of steel wire mesh. The optimization is performed for minimum weight design of the laminate using a genetic algorithm. The optimum designs are discussed for different plate configurations and loadings, and it is compared with the worst designs obtained at the final generation. The paper provides a procedure for the designers in decision-making process.

Keywords: Buckling, Ferrocement-Laminated Plate, Genetic Algorithm, Plate Theory.

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Authors: Kyoung Hoon Kim

Abstract:

This paper presents a comparative exergy analysis of ammonia-water Rankine cycles with and without regeneration and Kalina cycle for recovery of low-temperature heat source. Special attention is paid to the effect of system parameters such as ammonia mass fraction and turbine inlet pressure on the exergetical performance of the systems. Results show that maximum exergy efficiency can be obtained in the regenerative Rankine cycle for high turbine inlet pressures. However, Kalina cycle shows better exergy efficiency for low turbine inlet pressures, and the optimum ammonia mass fractions of Kalina cycle are lower than Rankine cycles.

Keywords: Ammonia-water, Rankine cycle, Kalina cycle, exergy, exergy destruction, low-temperature heat source.

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Authors: S.Shokri, S.Zahedi, M.Ahmadi Marvast, B. Baloochi, H.Ganji

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In this research, a systematic investigation was carried out to determine the optimum conditions of HDS reactor. Moreover, a suitable model was developed for a rigorous RTO (real time optimization) loop of HDS (Hydro desulfurization) process. A systematic experimental series was designed based on CCD (Central Composite design) and carried out in the related pilot plant to tune the develop model. The designed variables in the experiments were Temperature, LHSV and pressure. However, the hydrogen over fresh feed ratio was remained constant. The ranges of these variables were respectively equal to 320-380ºC, 1- 21/hr and 50-55 bar. a power law kinetic model was also developed for our further research in the future .The rate order and activation energy , power of reactant concentration and frequency factor of this model was respectively equal to 1.4, 92.66 kJ/mol and k0=2.7*109 .

Keywords: Statistical model, Multiphase Reactors, Gas oil, Hydrodesulfurization, Optimization, Kinetics

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Authors: Zulfajri Basri Hasanuddin

Abstract:

There is an increasing demand for broadband services in Indonesia. Therefore, the answer is the use of Ka-Band which has some advantages such as wider bandwidth, the higher transmission speeds, and smaller size of antenna in the ground. However, rain attenuation is the primary factor in the degradation of signal at the Kaband. In this paper, the author will determine whether the Ka-band frequency can be implemented in Indonesia which has high intensity of rainfall.

Keywords: Ka-Band, Link Budget, Link Availability, BER, Eb/No, C/N.

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Authors: A. Nassef, S. Samy, W. H. El Garaihy

Abstract:

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) of commercial Al-Mg-Si alloy was conducted using two strain rates. The ECAP processing was conducted at room temperature and at 250°C. Route A was adopted up to a total number of four passes in the present work. Structural evolution of the aluminum alloy discs was investigated before and after ECAP processing using optical microscopy (OM). Following ECAP, simple compression tests and Vicker’s hardness were performed. OM micrographs showed that, the average grain size of the as-received Al-Mg-Si disc tends to be larger than the size of the ECAP processed discs. Moreover, significant difference in the grain morphologies of the as-received and processed discs was observed. Intensity of deformation was observed via the alignment of the Al-Mg-Si consolidated particles (grains) in the direction of shear, which increased with increasing the number of passes via ECAP. Increasing the number of passes up to 4 resulted in increasing the grains aspect ratio up to ~5. It was found that the pressing temperature has a significant influence on the microstructure, Hv-values, and compressive strength of the processed discs. Hardness measurements demonstrated that 1-pass resulted in increase of Hv-value by 42% compared to that of the as-received alloy. 4-passes of ECAP processing resulted in additional increase in the Hv-value. A similar trend was observed for the yield and compressive strength. Experimental data of the Hv-values demonstrated that there is a lack of any significant dependence on the processing strain rate.

Keywords: Al-Mg-Si alloy, Equal channel angular pressing, Grain refinement, Severe plastic deformation.

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Authors: Astiaj Khoramshahi, Hossein Ahmadi Danesh Ashtiani, Ahmad Khoshgard, Hamidreza Damghani, Leila Damghani

Abstract:

Rural electrification rates are generally low in Iran and many parts of the world that lack sustainable renewable energy resources. Many homes are based on polluting solutions such as crude oil and diesel generators for lighting, heating, and charging electrical gadgets. Small-scale portable solar battery packs are accessible to the public; however, they have low capacity and are challenging to be distributed in developing countries. To design a battery-based microgrid power systems, the load profile is one of the key parameters. Additionally, the reliability of the system should be taken into account. A conventional microgrid system can be either AC or coupling DC. Both AC and DC microgrids have advantages and disadvantages depending on their application and can be either connected to the main grid or perform independently. This article proposes a tool for optimal sizing of microgrid-independent systems via respective analysis. To show such an analysis, the type of power generation, number of panels, battery capacity, microgrid size, and group of available consumers should be considered. Therefore, the optimization of different design scenarios is based on number of solar panels and super saving sources, ranges of the depth of discharges, to calculate size and estimate the overall cost. Generally, it is observed that there is an inverse relationship between the depth spectrum of discharge and the solar microgrid costs.

Keywords: Storage, super-storage, grid-independent, economic factors, microgrid.

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Authors: Miloš Šeda

Abstract:

Finding the minimal logical functions has important applications in the design of logical circuits. This task is solved by many different methods but, frequently, they are not suitable for a computer implementation. We briefly summarise the well-known Quine-McCluskey method, which gives a unique procedure of computing and thus can be simply implemented, but, even for simple examples, does not guarantee an optimal solution. Since the Petrick extension of the Quine-McCluskey method does not give a generally usable method for finding an optimum for logical functions with a high number of values, we focus on interpretation of the result of the Quine-McCluskey method and show that it represents a set covering problem that, unfortunately, is an NP-hard combinatorial problem. Therefore it must be solved by heuristic or approximation methods. We propose an approach based on genetic algorithms and show suitable parameter settings.

Keywords: Boolean algebra, Karnaugh map, Quine-McCluskey method, set covering problem, genetic algorithm.

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Authors: T. Sungkaworn, W. Triampo, P. Nalakarn, D. Triampo, I. M. Tang, Y. Lenbury, P. Picha

Abstract:

Semiconductor nanomaterials like TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) approximately less than 100 nm in diameter have become a new generation of advanced materials due to their novel and interesting optical, dielectric, and photo-catalytic properties. With the increasing use of NPs in commerce, to date few studies have investigated the toxicological and environmental effects of NPs. Motivated by the importance of TiO2-NPs that may contribute to the cancer research field especially from the treatment prospective together with the fractal analysis technique, we have investigated the effect of TiO2-NPs on colony morphology in the dark condition using fractal dimension as a key morphological characterization parameter. The aim of this work is mainly to investigate the cytotoxic effects of TiO2-NPs in the dark on the growth of human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell colonies from morphological aspect. The in vitro studies were carried out together with the image processing technique and fractal analysis. It was found that, these colonies were abnormal in shape and size. Moreover, the size of the control colonies appeared to be larger than those of the treated group. The mean Df +/- SEM of the colonies in untreated cultures was 1.085±0.019, N= 25, while that of the cultures treated with TiO2-NPs was 1.287±0.045. It was found that the circularity of the control group (0.401±0.071) is higher than that of the treated group (0.103±0.042). The same tendency was found in the diameter parameters which are 1161.30±219.56 μm and 852.28±206.50 μm for the control and treated group respectively. Possible explanation of the results was discussed, though more works need to be done in terms of the for mechanism aspects. Finally, our results indicate that fractal dimension can serve as a useful feature, by itself or in conjunction with other shape features, in the classification of cancer colonies.

Keywords: Tumor growth, Cell colonies, TiO2, Nanoparticles, Fractal, Morphology, Aggregation.

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