Search results for: saltaffectedsoils and sodium adsorption ratio.
Commenced in January 2007
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Edition: International
Paper Count: 2261

Search results for: saltaffectedsoils and sodium adsorption ratio.

1031 Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography in Rats with Gadobenate Dimeglumine at 3T

Authors: Jo-Chi Jao, Yen-Ku Chen, Twei-Shiun Jaw, Po-Chou Chen

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the magnetic resonance (MR) signal enhancement ratio (ER) of contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) in normal rats with gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) using a clinical 3T scanner and an extremity coil. The relaxivities of Gd-BOPTA with saline only and with 4.5% human serum albumin (HSA) were also measured. Compared with Gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA), Gd-BOPTA had higher relaxivities. The maximum ER of aorta (ERa), kidney, liver and muscle with Gd-BOPTA were higher than those with Gd-DTPA. The maximum ERa appeared at 1.2 min and decayed to half at 10 min after Gd-BOPTA injection. This information is helpful for the design of CE-MRA study of rats.

Keywords: Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Gd-BOPTA, Gd-DTPA, Rat.

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1030 Preparation and Characterization of Newly Developed Trabecular Structures in Titanium Alloy to Optimize Osteointegration

Authors: M. Regis, E. Marin, S. Fusi, M. Pressacco, L. Fedrizzi

Abstract:

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process was used to prepare porous scaffolds with controlled porosity to ensure optimal levels of osteointegration for different trabeculae sizes. Morphological characterization by means of SEM analyses was carried out to assess pore dimensions; tensile, compression and adhesion tests have been carried out to determine the mechanical behavior. The results indicate that EBM process allows the creation of regular and repeatable porous scaffolds. Mechanical properties greatly depend on pore dimension and on bulk-pore ratio. Adhesion resistance meets the normative requirements, and the overall performance of the produced structures is compatible with potential orthopaedic applications.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, orthopaedic implants, osteointegration, trabecular structures

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1029 Effects of Centrifugation, Encapsulation Method and Different Coating Materials on the Total Antioxidant Activity of the Microcapsules of Powdered Cherry Laurels

Authors: B. Cilek Tatar, G. Sumnu, M. Oztop, E. Ayaz

Abstract:

Encapsulation protects sensitive food ingredients against heat, oxygen, moisture and pH until they are released to the system. It can mask the unwanted taste of nutrients that are added to the foods for fortification purposes. Cherry laurels (Prunus laurocerasus) contain phenolic compounds which decrease the proneness to several chronic diseases such as types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this research was to study the effects of centrifugation, different coating materials and homogenization methods on microencapsulation of powders obtained from cherry laurels. In this study, maltodextrin and mixture of maltodextrin:whey protein with a ratio of 1:3 (w/w) were chosen as coating materials. Total solid content of coating materials was kept constant as 10% (w/w). Capsules were obtained from powders of freeze-dried cherry laurels through encapsulation process by silent crusher homogenizer or microfluidization. Freeze-dried cherry laurels were core materials and core to coating ratio was chosen as 1:10 by weight. To homogenize the mixture, high speed homogenizer was used at 4000 rpm for 5 min. Then, silent crusher or microfluidizer was used to complete encapsulation process. The mixtures were treated either by silent crusher for 1 min at 75000 rpm or microfluidizer at 50 MPa for 3 passes. Freeze drying for 48 hours was applied to emulsions to obtain capsules in powder form. After these steps, dry capsules were grounded manually into a fine powder. The microcapsules were analyzed for total antioxidant activity with DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging method. Prior to high speed homogenization, the samples were centrifuged (4000 rpm, 1 min). Centrifugation was found to have positive effect on total antioxidant activity of capsules. Microcapsules treated by microfluidizer were found to have higher total antioxidant activities than those treated by silent crusher. It was found that increasing whey protein concentration in coating material (using maltodextrin:whey protein 1:3 mixture) had positive effect on total antioxidant activity for both silent crusher and microfluidization methods. Therefore, capsules prepared by microfluidization of centrifuged mixtures can be selected as the best conditions for encapsulation of cherry laurel powder by considering their total antioxidant activity. In this study, it was shown that capsules prepared by these methods can be recommended to be incorporated into foods in order to enhance their functionality by increasing antioxidant activity.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, cherry laurel, microencapsulation, microfluidization.

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1028 A Novel Pilot Scheme for Frequency Offset and Channel Estimation in 2x2 MIMO-OFDM

Authors: N. Promsuwanna, P. Uthansakul, M. Uthansakul

Abstract:

The Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) due to timevarying fading channel is the main cause of the loss of orthogonality among OFDM subcarriers which is linked to inter-carrier interference (ICI). Hence, it is necessary to precisely estimate and compensate the CFO. Especially for mobile broadband communications, CFO and channel gain also have to be estimated and tracked to maintain the system performance. Thus, synchronization pilots are embedded in every OFDM symbol to track the variations. In this paper, we present the pilot scheme for both channel and CFO estimation where channel estimation process can be carried out with only one OFDM symbol. Additional, the proposed pilot scheme also provides better performance in CFO estimation comparing with the conventional orthogonal pilot scheme due to the increasing of signal-tointerference ratio.

Keywords: MIMO, OFDM, carrier frequency offset, channel, estimation.

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1027 Evaluation of a Multi-Resolution Dyadic Wavelet Transform Method for usable Speech Detection

Authors: Wajdi Ghezaiel, Amel Ben Slimane Rahmouni, Ezzedine Ben Braiek

Abstract:

Many applications of speech communication and speaker identification suffer from the problem of co-channel speech. This paper deals with a multi-resolution dyadic wavelet transform method for usable segments of co-channel speech detection that could be processed by a speaker identification system. Evaluation of this method is performed on TIMIT database referring to the Target to Interferer Ratio measure. Co-channel speech is constructed by mixing all possible gender speakers. Results do not show much difference for different mixtures. For the overall mixtures 95.76% of usable speech is correctly detected with false alarms of 29.65%.

Keywords: Co-channel speech, usable speech, multi-resolutionanalysis, speaker identification

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1026 Production and Purification of Monosaccharides by Hydrolysis of Sugar Cane Bagasse in an Ionic Liquid Medium

Authors: T. R. Bandara, H. Jaelani, G. J. Griffin

Abstract:

The conversion of lignocellulosic waste materials, such as sugar cane bagasse, to biofuels such as ethanol has attracted significant interest as a potential element for transforming transport fuel supplies to totally renewable sources. However, the refractory nature of the cellulosic structure of lignocellulosic materials has impeded progress on developing an economic process, whereby the cellulose component may be effectively broken down to glucose monosaccharides and then purified to allow downstream fermentation. Ionic liquid (IL) treatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been shown to disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose thus potentially enabling the cellulose to be more readily hydrolysed to monosaccharides. Furthermore, conventional hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials yields byproducts that are inhibitors for efficient fermentation of the monosaccharides. However, selective extraction of monosaccharides from an aqueous/IL phase into an organic phase utilizing a combination of boronic acids and quaternary amines has shown promise as a purification process. Hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse immersed in an aqueous solution with IL (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) was conducted at different pH and temperature below 100 ºC. It was found that the use of a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to acidify the solution inhibited the hydrolysis of bagasse. At high pH (i.e. basic conditions), using sodium hydroxide, catalyst yields were reduced for total reducing sugars (TRS) due to the rapid degradation of the sugars formed. For purification trials, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) apparatus was constructed, whereby a synthetic solution containing xylose and glucose in an aqueous IL phase was transported across a membrane impregnated with phenyl boronic acid/Aliquat 336 to an aqueous phase. The transport rate of xylose was generally higher than that of glucose indicating that a SLM scheme may not only be useful for purifying sugars from undesirable toxic compounds, but also for fractionating sugars to improve fermentation efficiency.

Keywords: Biomass, bagasse, hydrolysis, monosaccharide, supported liquid membrane, purification.

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1025 Effects of Tap Changing Transformer and Shunt Capacitor on Voltage Stability Enhancement of Transmission Networks

Authors: Pyone Lai Swe, Wanna Swe, Kyaw Myo Lin

Abstract:

Voltage stability has become an important issue to many power systems around the world due to the weak systems and long line on power system networks. In this paper, MATLAB load flow program is applied to obtain the weak points in the system combined with finding the voltage stability limit. The maximum permissible loading of a system, within the voltage stability limit, is usually determined. The methods for varying tap ratio (using tap changing transformer) and applying different values of shunt capacitor injection to improve the voltage stability within the limit are also provided.

Keywords: Load flow, Voltage stability, Tap changingtransformer, Shunt capacitor injection, Voltage stability limit

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1024 Advanced Deployable/Retractable Solar Panel System for Satellite Applications

Authors: Zane Brough, Claudio Paoloni

Abstract:

Modern low earth orbit (LEO) satellites that require multi-mission flexibility are highly likely to be repositioned between different operational orbits. While executing this process the satellite may experience high levels of vibration and environmental hazards, exposing the deployed solar panel to dangerous stress levels, fatigue and space debris, hence it is desirable to retract the solar array before satellite repositioning to avoid damage or failure.

A novel concept of deployable/retractable hybrid solar array systemcomposed of both rigid and flexible solar panels arranged within a petal formation, aimed to provide a greater power to volume ratio while dramatically reducing mass and cost is proposed.

Keywords: Deployable Solar Panel, Satellite, Retractable Solar Panel, Hybrid Solar Panel.

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1023 Impacts of Financial Development and Operating Scale on Bank Efficiencies in Taiwan

Authors: Ying-Hsiu Chen, Pao-Peng Hsu

Abstract:

This paper adopts a two-stage data envelopment analysis to explore the impacts of financial development and bank operating scale on bank efficiencies. The sample comprises unbalanced panel data of 32 Taiwanese listed domestic commercial banks over the period 1998 to 2013. Empirical results show that pure technical efficiency is positively related to financial development, whereas the effect of financial development on scale efficiency is insignificant. Enlargement of bank operating scale improves bank efficiencies, but the efficiency gains are decreased gradually when the scale increases. Increases in capital adequacy ratio and market power of loans lead into a growth of bank efficiencies.

Keywords: Financial development, Operating scale, Efficiency, DEA.

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1022 Supercompression for Full-HD and 4k-3D (8k)Digital TV Systems

Authors: Mario Mastriani

Abstract:

In this work, we developed the concept of supercompression, i.e., compression above the compression standard used. In this context, both compression rates are multiplied. In fact, supercompression is based on super-resolution. That is to say, supercompression is a data compression technique that superpose spatial image compression on top of bit-per-pixel compression to achieve very high compression ratios. If the compression ratio is very high, then we use a convolutive mask inside decoder that restores the edges, eliminating the blur. Finally, both, the encoder and the complete decoder are implemented on General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) cards. Specifically, the mentio-ned mask is coded inside texture memory of a GPGPU.

Keywords: General-Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units, Image Compression, Interpolation, Super-resolution.

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1021 Underwriting Risks as Determinants of Insurance Cycles: Case of Croatia

Authors: D. Jakovčević, M. Mihelja Žaja

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence and relative share of underwriting risks in explaining the variation in insurance cycles in subsequent periods. Through the insurance contracts they underwrite, insurance companies assume risks. Underwriting risks include pricing risk, reserve risk, reinsurance risk and occurrence risk. These risks pose major risks for property and liability insurers, and therefore their impact on the insurance cycle is important. The main goal of this paper is to determine the relative proportion of underwriting risks in explaining the variation of insurance cycle. In order to fulfill the main goal of the paper vector autoregressive model, VAR, will be applied.

Keywords: Insurance cycle, insurance risks, combined ratio, Republic of Croatia.

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1020 Video Coding Algorithm for Video Sequences with Abrupt Luminance Change

Authors: Sang Hyun Kim

Abstract:

In this paper, a fast motion compensation algorithm is proposed that improves coding efficiency for video sequences with brightness variations. We also propose a cross entropy measure between histograms of two frames to detect brightness variations. The framewise brightness variation parameters, a multiplier and an offset field for image intensity, are estimated and compensated. Simulation results show that the proposed method yields a higher peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) compared with the conventional method, with a greatly reduced computational load, when the video scene contains illumination changes.

Keywords: Motion estimation, Fast motion compensation, Brightness variation compensation, Brightness change detection, Cross entropy.

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1019 Conjugate Free Convection in a Square Cavity Filled with Nanofluid and Heated from Below by Spatial Wall Temperature

Authors: Ishak Hashim, Ammar Alsabery

Abstract:

The problem of conjugate free convection in a square cavity filled with nanofluid and heated from below by spatial wall temperature is studied numerically using the finite difference method. Water-based nanofluid with copper nanoparticles are chosen for the investigation. Governing equations are solved over a wide range of nanoparticle volume fraction (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.2), wave number ((0 ≤ λ ≤ 4) and thermal conductivity ratio (0.44 ≤ Kr ≤ 6). The results presented for values of the governing parameters in terms of streamlines, isotherms and average Nusselt number. It is found that the flow behavior and the heat distribution are clearly enhanced with the increment of the non-uniform heating.

Keywords: Conjugate free convection, nanofluid, spatial temperature.

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1018 Temperature Effect on the Mechanical Properties of Pd3Rh and PdRh3 Ordered Alloys

Authors: J. Davoodi , J. Moradi

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to calculate the mechanical properties of Pd3Rh and PdRh3 ordered alloys. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique was used to obtain temperature dependence of the energy, the Yong modulus, the shear modulus, the bulk modulus, Poisson-s ratio and the elastic stiffness constants at the isobaric-isothermal (NPT) ensemble in the range of 100-325 K. The interatomic potential energy and force on atoms were calculated by Quantum Sutton-Chen (Q-SC) many body potential. Our MD simulation results show the effect of temperature on the cohesive energy and mechanical properties of Pd3Rh as well as PdRh3 alloys. Our computed results show good agreement with the experimental results where they have been available.

Keywords: Pd-Rh alloy; Mechanical properties; Moleculardynamics simulation

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1017 Performance Study of ZigBee-Based Wireless Sensor Networks

Authors: Afif Saleh Abugharsa

Abstract:

The IEEE 802.15.4 standard is designed for low-rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPAN) with focus on enabling wireless sensor networks. It aims to give a low data rate, low power consumption, and low cost wireless networking on the device-level communication. The objective of this study is to investigate the performance of IEEE 802.15.4 based networks using simulation tool. In this project the network simulator 2 NS2 was used to several performance measures of wireless sensor networks. Three scenarios were considered, multi hop network with a single coordinator, star topology, and an ad hoc on demand distance vector AODV. Results such as packet delivery ratio, hop delay, and number of collisions are obtained from these scenarios.

Keywords: ZigBee, wireless sensor networks, IEEE 802.15.4, low power, low data rate

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1016 Supercritical Methanol for Biodiesel Production from Jatropha Oil in the Presence of Heterogeneous Catalysts

Authors: Velid Demir, Mesut Akgün

Abstract:

The lanthanum and zinc oxide were synthesized and then loaded with 6 wt% over γ-Al2O3 using the wet impregnation method. The samples were calcined at 900 °C to ensure a coherent structure with high catalytic performance. Characterization of the catalysts was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The effect of catalysts on biodiesel content from jatropha oil was studied under supercritical conditions. The results showed that ZnO/γ-Al2O3 was the superior catalyst for jatropha oil with 98.05% biodiesel under reaction conditions of 7 min reaction time, 1:40 oil to methanol molar ratio, 6 wt% of catalyst loading, 90 bar of reaction pressure, and 300 °C of reaction temperature, compared to 95.50% with La2O3/γ-Al2O3 at the same parameters. For this study, ZnO/γ-Al2O3 was the most suitable catalyst due to performance and cost considerations.

Keywords: Biodiesel, heterogeneous catalyst, Jatropha oil, supercritical methanol, transesterification.

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1015 Biogas Potentiality of Agro-wastes Jatropha Fruit Coat

Authors: M.S. Dhanya, N. Gupta, H.C. Joshi, Lata

Abstract:

The present investigation was undertaken to explore the biogas potentiality of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas, Euphorbiaceae) Fruit Coat (JFC) alone and in combination with cattle dung (CD) in various proportions at 15 per cent total solids by batch phase anaerobic digestion for a period of ten weeks HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time) under a temperature of 35°C+1°C. The maximum biogas production was noticed in Cattle dung and Jatropha Fruit Coat in 2:1 ratio with 403.84 L/kg dry matter followed by 3:1,1:2, 1:1 and 1:3 having 329.66, 219.77, 217.79, 203.64 L /kg dm respectively as compared to 178.49 L/kg dm in CD alone. The JFC alone found to produce 91 per cent of total biogas that obtained from Cattle dung. The per cent methane content of the biogas in all the treatments was found on par with Cattle dung.

Keywords: Jatropha Fruit Coat, Cattle dung, Hydraulic Retention Time, Dry matter

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1014 The Effect of Carbon on Molybdenum in the Preparation of Microwave Induced Molybdenum Carbide

Authors: Abd. Rahim Yacob, Mohd Khairul Asyraf Amat Mustajab, Nurshaira Haifa Suhaimi

Abstract:

This study shows the effect of carbon towards molybdenum carbide alloy when exposed to Microwave. This technique is also known as Microwave Induced Alloying (MIA) for the preparation of molybdenum carbide. In this study ammonium heptamolybdate solution and carbon black powder were heterogeneously mixed and exposed to microwave irradiation for 2 minutes. The effect on amount of carbon towards the produced alloy on morphological and oxidation states changes during microwave is presented. In this experiment, it is expected carbon act as a reducing agent with the ratio 2:7 molybdenum to carbon as the optimum for the production of molybdenum carbide alloy. All the morphological transformations and changes in this experiment were followed and characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and FESEM.

Keywords: Carbon, molybdenum carbide, microwave induced alloying.

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1013 Phase Noise Impact on BER in Space Communication

Authors: Ondrej Baran, Miroslav Kasal, Petr Vagner, Tomas Urbanec

Abstract:

This paper deals with the modeling and the evaluation of a multiplicative phase noise influence on the bit error ratio in a general space communication system. Our research is focused on systems with multi-state phase shift keying modulation techniques and it turns out, that the phase noise significantly affects the bit error rate, especially for higher signal to noise ratios. These results come from a system model created in Matlab environment and are shown in a form of constellation diagrams and bit error rate dependencies. The change of a user data bit rate is also considered and included into simulation results. Obtained outcomes confirm theoretical presumptions.

Keywords: Additive thermal noise, AWGN, BER, bit error rate, multiplicative phase noise, phase shift keying.

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1012 Adaptive Fuzzy Control on EDF Scheduling

Authors: Xiangbin Zhu

Abstract:

EDF (Early Deadline First) algorithm is a very important scheduling algorithm for real- time systems . The EDF algorithm assigns priorities to each job according to their absolute deadlines and has good performance when the real-time system is not overloaded. When the real-time system is overloaded, many misdeadlines will be produced. But these misdeadlines are not uniformly distributed, which usually focus on some tasks. In this paper, we present an adaptive fuzzy control scheduling based on EDF algorithm. The improved algorithm can have a rectangular distribution of misdeadline ratios among all real-time tasks when the system is overloaded. To evaluate the effectiveness of the improved algorithm, we have done extensive simulation studies. The simulation results show that the new algorithm is superior to the old algorithm.

Keywords: Fuzzy control, real-time systems, EDF, misdeadline ratio.

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1011 Learning an Overcomplete Dictionary using a Cauchy Mixture Model for Sparse Decay

Authors: E. S. Gower, M. O. J. Hawksford

Abstract:

An algorithm for learning an overcomplete dictionary using a Cauchy mixture model for sparse decomposition of an underdetermined mixing system is introduced. The mixture density function is derived from a ratio sample of the observed mixture signals where 1) there are at least two but not necessarily more mixture signals observed, 2) the source signals are statistically independent and 3) the sources are sparse. The basis vectors of the dictionary are learned via the optimization of the location parameters of the Cauchy mixture components, which is shown to be more accurate and robust than the conventional data mining methods usually employed for this task. Using a well known sparse decomposition algorithm, we extract three speech signals from two mixtures based on the estimated dictionary. Further tests with additive Gaussian noise are used to demonstrate the proposed algorithm-s robustness to outliers.

Keywords: expectation-maximization, Pitman estimator, sparsedecomposition

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1010 Temperature Distribution Enhancement in a Conical Diffuser Fitted with Helical Screw-Tape with and without Center-Rod

Authors: Ehan Sabah Shukri, Wirachman Wisnoe

Abstract:

Temperature distribution investigation in a conical diffuser fitted with helical screw-tape with and without center-rod is studied numerically. A helical screw-tape is inserted in the diffuser to create swirl flow that helps to enhance the temperature distribution rate with inlet Reynolds number 4.3 x 104. Three pitch lengths ratios (Y/L = 0.153, 0.23 and 0.307) for the helical screw-tape with and without center-rod are simulated and compared. The geometry of the conical diffuser and the inlet condition for both arrangements are kept constant. Numerical findings show that the helical screw-tape inserts without center-rod perform significantly better than the helical tape inserts with center-rod in the conical diffuser.

Keywords: Diffuser, temperature distribution, CFD, pitch length ratio.

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1009 Characterization of the Airtightness Level in School Classrooms in Mediterranean Climate

Authors: Miguel A. Campano, Jesica Fernández-Agüera, Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo, Juan J. Sendra

Abstract:

An analysis of the air tightness level is performed on a representative sample of school classrooms in Southern Spain, which allows knowing the infiltration level of these classrooms, mainly through its envelope, which can affect both energy demand and occupant's thermal comfort. By using a pressurization/depressurization equipment (Blower-Door test), a characterization of 45 multipurpose classrooms have been performed in nine non-university educational institutions of the main climate zones of Southern Spain. In spite of having two doors and a high ratio between glass surface and outer surface, it is possible to see in these classrooms that there is an adequate level of airtightness, since all the n50 values obtained are lower than 9.0 ACH, with an average value around 7.0 ACH.

Keywords: Air infiltration, energy efficiency, school buildings, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, ventilation.

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1008 Mechanical Properties of Recycled Plasticized PVB/PVC Blends

Authors: Michael Tupý, Dagmar Měřínská, Alice Tesaříková-Svobodová, Christian Carrot, Caroline Pillon, Vít Petránek

Abstract:

The mechanical properties of blends consisting of plasticized poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) and plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) are studied, in order to evaluate the possibility of using recycled PVB waste derived from windshields. PVC was plasticized with 38% of diisononyl phthalate (DINP), while PVB was plasticized with 28% of triethylene glycol, bis(2-ethylhexanoate) (3GO). The optimal process conditions for the PVB/PVC blend in 1:1 ratio were determined. Entropy was used in order to theoretically predict the blends miscibility. The PVB content of each blend composition used was ranging from zero to 100%. Tensile strength and strain were tested. In addition, a comparison between recycled and original PVB, used as constituents of the blend, was performed.

Keywords: Poly(vinyl butyral), poly(vinyl chloride), windshield, polymer waste, mechanical properties.

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1007 Copolymers of Pyrrole and α,ω-Dithienyl Terminated Poly(ethylene glycol)

Authors: Nesrin Köken, Esin A. Güvel, Nilgün Kızılcan

Abstract:

This work presents synthesis of α,ω-dithienyl terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEGTh) capable for further chain extension by either chemical or electrochemical polymeriztion. PEGTh was characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR. Further copolymerization of PEGTh and pyrrole (Py) was performed by chemical oxidative polymerization using ceric (IV) salt as an oxidant (PPy-PEGTh). PEG without end group modification was used directly to prepare copolymers with Py by Ce (IV) salt (PPy-PEG). Block copolymers with mole ratio of pyrrole to PEGTh (PEG) 50:1 and 10:1 were synthesized. The electrical conductivities of copolymers PPy-PEGTh and PPy-PEG were determined by four point probe technique. Influence of the synthetic route and content of the insulating segment on conductivity and yield of the copolymers were investigated.

Keywords: Chemical oxidative polymerization, conducting copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol), polypyrrole.

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1006 Studying Effects of Alternative Biodiesel Fuel in Performance and Pollutants of Diesel Engines

Authors: Shakila Motamedi, Seyed Azizollah Ghotb, Fatemeh Torfi, Najaf Hedayat

Abstract:

Since injection engines have a considerable portion, in consumption of energy and environmental pollution, using an alternative source of energy with lower pollutant effects in this regard is necessary. Biodiesel fuel is a suitable alternative for gasoline in diesel engines. In this research the property of biodiesel, the function and the pollution effects of diesel engine, when using 100% biodiesel, using 100% gasoline and mixing ratio of both fuels for comparing them, have been investigated. The researches have shown, using biodiesel fuel in prevalent diesel engine, will reduce the pollutants such as Co, half burned carbohydrate and suspended particles and a little increase in oxidation will achieve while power consumption, particularly fuel and thermal efficiency of diesel fuel has the same.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Diesel Engine, Environment, Gasoline

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1005 Influence of Slenderness Ratio on the Ductility of Reinforced Concrete Portal Structures

Authors: Kahil Amar, Nekmouche Aghiles, Titouche Billal, Hamizi Mohand, Hannachi Naceur Eddine

Abstract:

The ductility is an important parameter in the nonlinear behavior of portal structures reinforced concrete. It may be explained by the ability of the structure to deform in the plastic range, or the geometric characteristics in the map may influence the overall ductility. Our study is based on the influence of geometric slenderness (Lx / Ly) on the overall ductility of these structures, a study is made on a structure has 05 floors with varying the column section of 900 cm², 1600 cm² and 1225 cm². A slight variation in global ductility is noticed as (Lx/Ly) varies; however, column sections can control satisfactorily the plastic behavior of buildings.

Keywords: Ductility, nonlinear behavior, pushover analysis, geometric slenderness, structural behavior.

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1004 Optimization of Bit Error Rate and Power of Ad-hoc Networks Using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: Anjana Choudhary

Abstract:

The ad hoc networks are the future of wireless technology as everyone wants fast and accurate error free information so keeping this in mind Bit Error Rate (BER) and power is optimized in this research paper by using the Genetic Algorithm (GA). The digital modulation techniques used for this paper are Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), M-ary Phase Shift Keying (M-ary PSK), and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). This work is implemented on Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (WLAN). Then it is analyze which modulation technique is performing well to optimize the BER and power of WLAN.

Keywords: Bit Error Rate, Genetic Algorithm, Power, Phase Shift Keying, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, Signal to Noise Ratio, Wireless Ad Hoc Networks.

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1003 A New Technique for Progressive ECG Transmission using Discrete Radon Transform

Authors: Amine Naït-Ali

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to present a new method which can be used for progressive transmission of electrocardiogram (ECG). The idea consists in transforming any ECG signal to an image, containing one beat in each row. In the first step, the beats are synchronized in order to reduce the high frequencies due to inter-beat transitions. The obtained image is then transformed using a discrete version of Radon Transform (DRT). Hence, transmitting the ECG, leads to transmit the most significant energy of the transformed image in Radon domain. For decoding purpose, the receptor needs to use the inverse Radon Transform as well as the two synchronization frames. The presented protocol can be adapted for lossy to lossless compression systems. In lossy mode we show that the compression ratio can be multiplied by an average factor of 2 for an acceptable quality of reconstructed signal. These results have been obtained on real signals from MIT database.

Keywords: Discrete Radon Transform, ECG compression, synchronization.

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1002 An Efficient Gaussian Noise Removal Image Enhancement Technique for Gray Scale Images

Authors: V. Murugan, R. Balasubramanian

Abstract:

Image enhancement is a challenging issue in many applications. In the last two decades, there are various filters developed. This paper proposes a novel method which removes Gaussian noise from the gray scale images. The proposed technique is compared with Enhanced Fuzzy Peer Group Filter (EFPGF) for various noise levels. Experimental results proved that the proposed filter achieves better Peak-Signal-to-Noise-Ratio PSNR than the existing techniques. The proposed technique achieves 1.736dB gain in PSNR than the EFPGF technique.

Keywords: Gaussian noise, adaptive bilateral filter, fuzzy peer group filter, switching bilateral filter, PSNR

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