Search results for: time and frequency signal analysis

Authors: Dominic Wentworth-Linton, Shian Gao

Abstract:

This project was aimed at investigating the effect of velocity stacks on the intakes of internal combustion engines for motorsport applications. The intake systems in motorsport are predominantly fuel injection with a plate mounted for the stacks. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, the relationship between the stack length and power and torque delivery across the engine’s rev range was investigated and the results were used to choose the best option for its intended motorsport discipline. The test results are expected to vary with engine geometry and its natural manufacturer characteristics. The test was also relevant in bridging between computational data and real simulation as the results show flow, pressure and velocity readings but the behaviour of the engine is inferred from the nature of each test. The results of the data analysis were tested in a real-life simulation on a dynamometer to prove the theory of stack length on power and torque delivery, which helps determine the most suitable stack for the Vauxhall engine for rallying in the Caribbean.

Keywords: CFD simulation, internal combustion engine, intake system, dynamometer test.

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Authors: Ahmed M. Farag, Wael F. Mohamed, Atef A. Ata, Burhamy M. Burhamy

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The main objective of the present paper is to derive an easy numerical technique for the analysis of the free vibration through the stepped regions of plates. Based on the utilities of the step by step integration initial values IV and Finite differences FD methods, the present improved Initial Value Finite Differences (IVFD) technique is achieved. The first initial conditions are formulated in convenient forms for the step by step integrations while the upper and lower edge conditions are expressed in finite difference modes. Also compatibility conditions are created due to the sudden variation of plate thickness. The present method (IVFD) is applied to solve the fourth order partial differential equation of motion for stepped plate across two different panels under the sudden step compatibility in addition to different types of end conditions. The obtained results are examined and the validity of the present method is proved showing excellent efficiency and rapid convergence.

Keywords: Vibrations, Step by Step Integration, Stepped plate, Boundary.

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Authors: A. N. Jannah, R. Abd-Shukor, H. Abdullah

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The effect of nano Co3O4 addition on the superconducting properties of (Bi, Pb)-2223 system was studied. The samples were prepared by the acetate coprecipitation method. The Co3O4 with different sizes (10-30 nm and 30-50 nm) from x=0.00 to 0.05 was added to Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy(Co3O4)x. Phase analysis by XRD method, microstructural examination by SEM and dc electrical resistivity by four point probe method were done to characterize the samples. The X-ray diffraction patterns of all the samples indicated the majority Bi-2223 phase along with minor Bi-2212 and Bi-2201 phases. The volume fraction was estimated from the intensities of Bi- 2223, Bi-2212 and Bi-2201 phase. The sample with x=0.01 wt% of the added Co3O4 (10-30 nm size) showed the highest volume fraction of Bi-2223 phase (72%) and the highest superconducting transition temperature, Tc (~102 K). The non-added sample showed the highest Tc(~103 K) compared to added samples with nano Co3O4 (30-50 nm size) added samples. Both the onset critical temperature Tc(onset) and zero electrical resistivity temperature Tc(R=0) were in the range of 103-115 ±1K and 91-103 ±1K respectively for samples with added Co3O4 (10-30 nm and 30-50 nm).

Keywords: Bi(Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductor, coprecipitation, nano Co3O4, transition temperature TC.

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Authors: Seyed-Yaser Nabavi-Chashmi, Davood Asadi, Karim Ahmadi, Eren Demir

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The landing phase of a UAV is very critical as there are many uncertainties in this phase, which can easily entail a hard landing or even a crash. In this paper, the estimation of relative distance and velocity to the ground, as one of the most important processes during the landing phase, is studied. Using accurate measurement sensors as an alternative approach can be very expensive for sensors like LIDAR, or with a limited operational range, for sensors like ultrasonic sensors. Additionally, absolute positioning systems like GPS or IMU cannot provide distance to the ground independently. The focus of this paper is to determine whether we can measure the relative distance and velocity of UAV and ground in the landing phase using just low-resolution images taken by a monocular camera. The Lucas-Konda feature detection technique is employed to extract the most suitable feature in a series of images taken during the UAV landing. Two different approaches based on Extended Kalman Filters (EKF) have been proposed, and their performance in estimation of the relative distance and velocity are compared. The first approach uses the kinematics of the UAV as the process and the calculated optical flow as the measurement. On the other hand, the second approach uses the feature’s projection on the camera plane (pixel position) as the measurement while employing both the kinematics of the UAV and the dynamics of variation of projected point as the process to estimate both relative distance and relative velocity. To verify the results, a sequence of low-quality images taken by a camera that is moving on a specifically developed testbed has been used to compare the performance of the proposed algorithm. The case studies show that the quality of images results in considerable noise, which reduces the performance of the first approach. On the other hand, using the projected feature position is much less sensitive to the noise and estimates the distance and velocity with relatively high accuracy. This approach also can be used to predict the future projected feature position, which can drastically decrease the computational workload, as an important criterion for real-time applications.

Keywords: Automatic landing, multirotor, nonlinear control, parameters estimation, optical flow.

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Authors: Zhankun Wang, Timothy Makubuya

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The efficiency of public sports service of prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang from 2008 to 2012 was evaluated by applying the DEA method, then its influencing factors were also analyzed through Tobit model. Upon analysis, the results revealed the following; (i) the change in average efficiency of public sports service in Zhejiang present a smooth uptrend and at a relatively high level from 2008 to 2012 (ii) generally, the productivity of public sports service in Zhejiang improved from 2008 to 2012, the productivity efficiency varied greatly in different years, and the regional difference of production efficiency increased. (iii) The correlations for urbanization rate, aging rate, per capita GDP and the population density were significantly positive with the public sports service efficiency in Zhejiang, of which the most significant was the aging rate. However, the population density and per capita GDP had less impact on the efficiency of public sports service in Zhejiang. In addition, whether the efficiency of public sports services in different areas in Zhejiang reciprocates to overall benefits in public wellbeing in both rural and urban settings is still arguable.

Keywords: DEA Model, public sports service, efficiency, Tobit model, Malmquist productivity index, Zhejiang.

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Authors: Stefaan Pauwels, Koen Inghelbrecht, Dries Heyman, Pieter Marius

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Literature reveals that many investors rely on technical trading rules when making investment decisions. If stock markets are efficient, one cannot achieve superior results by using these trading rules. However, if market inefficiencies are present, profitable opportunities may arise. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of technical trading rules in 34 emerging stock markets. The performance of the rules is evaluated by utilizing White-s Reality Check and the Superior Predictive Ability test of Hansen, along with an adjustment for transaction costs. These tests are able to evaluate whether the best model performs better than a buy-and-hold benchmark. Further, they provide an answer to data snooping problems, which is essential to obtain unbiased outcomes. Based on our results we conclude that technical trading rules are not able to outperform a naïve buy-and-hold benchmark on a consistent basis. However, we do find significant trading rule profits in 4 of the 34 investigated markets. We also present evidence that technical analysis is more profitable in crisis situations. Nevertheless, this result is relatively weak.

Keywords: technical trading rules, Reality Check, Superior Predictive Ability, emerging stock markets, data snooping

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Authors: Mantai Chen, Johnny Ching Ming Ho

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The stress-strain relationship of concrete under flexure is one of the essential parameters in assessing ultimate flexural strength capacity of RC beams. Currently, the concrete stress-strain curve in flexure is obtained by incorporating a constant scale-down factor of 0.85 in the uniaxial stress-strain curve. However, it was revealed that strain gradient would improve the maximum concrete stress under flexure and concrete stress-strain curve is strain gradient dependent. Based on the strain-gradient-dependent concrete stress-strain curve, the investigation of the combined effects of strain gradient and concrete strength on flexural strength of RC beams was extended to high strength concrete up to 100 MPa by theoretical analysis. As an extension and application of the authors’ previous study, a new flexural strength design method incorporating the combined effects of strain gradient and concrete strength is developed. A set of equivalent rectangular concrete stress block parameters is proposed and applied to produce a series of design charts showing that the flexural strength of RC beams are improved with strain gradient effect considered.

Keywords: Beams, Equivalent concrete stress block, Flexural strength, Strain gradient.

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Authors: Keivan Beheshti Maal, Rasoul Shafiei, Noushin Kabiri

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Vinegar or sour wine is a product of alcoholic and subsequent acetous fermentation of sugary precursors derived from several fruits or starchy substrates. This delicious food additive and supplement contains not less than 4 grams of acetic acid in 100 cubic centimeters at 20°C. Among the large number of bacteria that are able to produce acetic acid, only few genera are used in vinegar industry most significant of which are Acetobacter and Gluconobacter. In this research we isolated and identified an Acetobacter strain from Iranian apricot, a very delicious and sensitive summer fruit to decay, we gathered from fruit's stores in Isfahan, Iran. The main culture media we used were Carr, GYC, Frateur and an industrial medium for vinegar production. We isolated this strain using a novel miniature fermentor we made at Pars Yeema Biotechnologists Co., Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT), Isfahan, Iran. The microscopic examinations of isolated strain from Iranian apricot showed gram negative rods to cocobacilli. Their catalase reaction was positive and oxidase reaction was negative and could ferment ethanol to acetic acid. Also it showed an acceptable growth in 5%, 7% and 9% ethanol concentrations at 30°C using modified Carr media after 24, 48 and 96 hours incubation respectively. According to its tolerance against high concentrations of ethanol after four days incubation and its high acetic acid production, 8.53%, after 144 hours, this strain could be considered as a suitable industrial strain for a production of a new type of vinegar, apricot vinegar, with a new and delicious taste. In conclusion this is the first report of isolation and identification of an Acetobacter strain from Iranian apricot with a very good tolerance against high ethanol concentrations as well as high acetic acid productivity in an acceptable incubation period of time industrially. This strain could be used in vinegar industry to convert apricot spoilage to a beneficiary product and mentioned characteristics have made it as an amenable strain in food and agricultural biotechnology.

Keywords: Acetic Acid Bacteria, Acetobacter, Fermentation, Food and Agricultural Biotechnology, Iranian Apricot, Vinegar.

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Authors: Simon Huston, Ebraheim Lahbash, Ali Parsa

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The development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into a regional trade, tourism, finance and logistics hub has transformed its real estate markets. However, speculative activity and price volatility remain concerns. UAE residential market values (MV) are exposed to fluctuations in capital flows and migration which, in turn, are affected by geopolitical uncertainty, oil price volatility and global investment market sentiment. Internally, a complex interplay between administrative boundaries, land tenure, building quality and evolving location characteristics fragments UAE residential property markets. In short, the UAE Residential Valuation System (UAE-RVS) confronts multiple challenges to collect, filter and analyze relevant information in complex and dynamic spatial and capital markets. A robust (RVS) can mitigate the risk of unhelpful volatility, speculative excess or investment mistakes. The research outlines the institutional, ontological, dynamic and epistemological issues at play. We highlight the importance of system capabilities, valuation standard salience and stakeholders trust.

Keywords: Valuation, property rights, information, institutions, trust, salience.

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Authors: Robert Koch, Mario Golling, Gabi Dreo Rodosek

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Tracing and locating the geographical location of users (Geolocation) is used extensively in todays Internet. Whenever we, e.g., request a page from google we are - unless there was a specific configuration made - automatically forwarded to the page with the relevant language and amongst others, dependent on our location identified, specific commercials are presented. Especially within the area of Network Security, Geolocation has a significant impact. Because of the way the Internet works, attacks can be executed from almost everywhere. Therefore, for an attribution, knowledge of the origination of an attack - and thus Geolocation - is mandatory in order to be able to trace back an attacker. In addition, Geolocation can also be used very successfully to increase the security of a network during operation (i.e. before an intrusion actually has taken place). Similar to greylisting in emails, Geolocation allows to (i) correlate attacks detected with new connections and (ii) as a consequence to classify traffic a priori as more suspicious (thus particularly allowing to inspect this traffic in more detail). Although numerous techniques for Geolocation are existing, each strategy is subject to certain restrictions. Following the ideas of Endo et al., this publication tries to overcome these shortcomings with a combined solution of different methods to allow improved and optimized Geolocation. Thus, we present our architecture for improved Geolocation, by designing a new algorithm, which combines several Geolocation techniques to increase the accuracy.

Keywords: IP geolocation, prosecution of computer fraud, attack attribution, target-analysis

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Authors: Chin Chin Wong, Chor Min Tan, Pang Leang Hiew

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Business scenario is an important technique that may be used at various stages of the enterprise architecture to derive its characteristics based on the high-level requirements of the business. In terms of wireless deployments, they are used to help identify and understand business needs involving wireless services, and thereby to derive the business requirements that the architecture development has to address by taking into account of various wireless challenges. This study assesses the deployment of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) solutions for several business scenarios in Asia Pacific region. This paper focuses on the overview of the business and technology environments, whereby examples of existing (or suggested) wireless solutions (to be) adopted in Asia Pacific region will be discussed. Interactions of several players, enabling technologies, and key processes in the wireless environments are studied. The analysis and discussions associated to this study are divided into two divisions: healthcare and education, where the merits of wireless solutions in improving living quality are highlighted.

Keywords: Broadband Wireless Access, business scenarios, network deployment, Wireless Local Area Network.

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Authors: Deepak D, Anjaiah D, Yagnesh Sharma N.

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It is well known that the abrasive particles in the abrasive water suspension has significant effect on the erosion characteristics of the inside surface of the nozzle. Abrasive particles moving with the flow cause severe skin friction effect, there by altering the nozzle diameter due to wear which in turn reflects on the life of the nozzle for effective machining. Various commercial abrasives are available for abrasive water jet machining. The erosion characteristic of each abrasive is different. In consideration of this aspect, in the present work, the effect of abrasive materials namely garnet, aluminum oxide and silicon carbide on skin friction coefficient due to wall shear stress and jet kinetic energy has been analyzed. It is found that the abrasive material of lower density produces a relatively higher skin friction effect and higher jet exit kinetic energy.

Keywords: Abrasive water suspension jet, Skin friction coefficient, Jet kinetic energy, Particulate loading, Stokes number.

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Authors: Goksen Arik, Mihriban Korukluoglu

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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and some yeast species are common microorganisms found in dairy products and most of them are responsible for the fermentation of foods. Such cultures are isolated and used as a starter culture in the food industry because of providing standardisation of the final product during the food processing. Choice of starter culture is the most important step for the production of fermented food. Isolated LAB and yeast cultures which have the ability to create a biofilm layer can be preferred as a starter in the food industry. The biofilm formation could be beneficial to extend the period of usage time of microorganisms as a starter. On the other hand, it is an undesirable property in pathogens, since biofilm structure allows a microorganism become more resistant to stress conditions such as antibiotic presence. It is thought that the resistance mechanism could be turned into an advantage by promoting the effective microorganisms which are used in the food industry as starter culture and also which have potential to stimulate the gastrointestinal system. Development of the biofilm layer is observed in some LAB and yeast strains. The resistance could make LAB and yeast strains dominant microflora in the human gastrointestinal system; thus, competition against pathogen microorganisms can be provided more easily. Based on this circumstance, in the study, 10 LAB and 10 yeast strains were isolated from various dairy products, such as cheese, yoghurt, kefir, and cream. Samples were obtained from farmer markets and bazaars in Bursa, Turkey. As a part of this research, all isolated strains were identified and their ability of biofilm formation was detected with two different methods and compared with each other. The first goal of this research was to determine whether isolates have the potential for biofilm production, and the second was to compare the validity of two different methods, which are known as “Tube method” and “96-well plate-based method”. This study may offer an insight into developing a point of view about biofilm formation and its beneficial properties in LAB and yeast cultures used as a starter in the food industry.

Keywords: Biofilm, dairy products, lactic acid bacteria, yeast.

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Authors: R. K. Saxena, Ravi Saxena

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In view of their importance and usefulness in reliability theory and probability distributions, several generalizations of the inverse Gaussian distribution and the Krtzel function are investigated in recent years. This has motivated the authors to introduce and study a new generalization of the inverse Gaussian distribution and the Krtzel function associated with a product of a Bessel function of the third kind )(zKQ and a Z - Fox-Wright generalized hyper geometric function introduced in this paper. The introduced function turns out to be a unified gamma-type function. Its incomplete forms are also discussed. Several properties of this gamma-type function are obtained. By means of this generalized function, we introduce a generalization of inverse Gaussian distribution, which is useful in reliability analysis, diffusion processes, and radio techniques etc. The inverse Gaussian distribution thus introduced also provides a generalization of the Krtzel function. Some basic statistical functions associated with this probability density function, such as moments, the Mellin transform, the moment generating function, the hazard rate function, and the mean residue life function are also obtained.KeywordsFox-Wright function, Inverse Gaussian distribution, Krtzel function & Bessel function of the third kind.

Keywords: Fox-Wright function, Inverse Gaussian distribution, Krtzel function & Bessel function of the third kind.

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Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Hardeep Singh

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Automatic reusability appraisal could be helpful in evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software components and in identification of reusable components from existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the software from scratch. But the issue of how to identify reusable components from existing systems has remained relatively unexplored. In this paper, we have mentioned two-tier approach by studying the structural attributes as well as usability or relevancy of the component to a particular domain. Latent semantic analysis is used for the feature vector representation of various software domains. It exploits the fact that FeatureVector codes can be seen as documents containing terms -the idenifiers present in the components- and so text modeling methods that capture co-occurrence information in low-dimensional spaces can be used. Further, we devised Neuro- Fuzzy hybrid Inference System, which takes structural metric values as input and calculates the reusability of the software component. Decision tree algorithm is used to decide initial set of fuzzy rules for the Neuro-fuzzy system. The results obtained are convincing enough to propose the system for economical identification and retrieval of reusable software components.

Keywords: Clustering, ID3, LSA, Neuro-fuzzy System, SVD

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Authors: Mamoun Sqali, Mohamed Wassim Trojet

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The requirements analysis, modeling, and simulation have consistently been one of the main challenges during the development of complex systems. The scenarios and the state machines are two successful models to describe the behavior of an interactive system. The scenarios represent examples of system execution in the form of sequences of messages exchanged between objects and are a partial view of the system. In contrast, state machines can represent the overall system behavior. The automation of processing scenarios in the state machines provide some answers to various problems such as system behavior validation and scenarios consistency checking. In this paper, we propose a method for translating scenarios in state machines represented by Discreet EVent Specification and procedure to detect implied scenarios. Each induced DEVS model represents the behavior of an object of the system. The global system behavior is described by coupling the atomic DEVS models and validated through simulation. We improve the validation process with integrating formal methods to eliminate logical inconsistencies in the global model. For that end, we use the Z notation.

Keywords: Scenarios, DEVS, synthesis, validation and verification, simulation, formal verification, z notation.

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Authors: Hu-Hsiao Hsu, Po-Ren Chung, Ming-Chin Ho, Chieh-Feng Tsai, Che-Ming Chiang, Shin-Ku Lee

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Lighting upgrades involve relatively lower costs which allow the benefits to be spread more widely than is possible with any other energy efficiency measure. In order to popularize the adoption of CFL in Taiwan, the authority proposes to implement a new energy efficient lamp comparative label system. The current study was accordingly undertaken to investigate the factors affecting the performance and the deviation of actual and labeled performance of commercially available integrated CFLs. In this paper, standard test methods to determine the electrical and photometric performances of CFL were developed based on CIE 84-1989 and CIE 60901-1987, then 55 selected CFLs from market were tested. The results show that with higher color temperature of CFLs lower efficacy are achieved. It was noticed that the most packaging of CFL often lack the information of Color Rendering Index. Also, there was no correlation between price and performance of the CFLs was indicated in this work. The results of this paper might help consumers to make more informed CFL-purchasing decisions.

Keywords: Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), Efficacy, Color Rendering Index (CRI), Energy saving.

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Authors: Panagiotis I. Mallios, Vassilis S. Moustakis

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The research reported herein presents a conceptual model that explores the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention, with a focus on the Greek startup ecosystem. The significance of the study is that social media gained importance in explaining the entrepreneurial process, and through them, nascent and potential entrepreneurs seem to get inspired and motivated to initiate their businesses. The research methodology employed in this study included a qualitative research approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with a sample of 15 startup entrepreneurs providing valuable retrospective information. The data collected were analyzed using the content analysis method. The major findings of the study are that social media factors such as usefulness, influence, and credibility have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intention. We also found that social media can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to access resources, knowledge and networks that can help them in their venture creation. Overall, this research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by uncovering the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention and has implications for entrepreneurial education, policymakers, and official partners, highlighting the potential of social media to enhance the startup ecosystem.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurship, social media, startup ecosystem.

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Authors: N. Moradian, E. Timofeev, R. Tahir

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In this work, startability of the Busemann intake family with weak/strong conical shock, as most efficient intakes, via overboard mass spillage method is theoretically analyzed. Masterix and Candifix codes are used to numerically simulate few models of this type of intake and verify the theoretical results. Portions of the intake corresponding to various flow capture angles are considered to have mass spillage in the starting process of this intake. This approach allows for overboard mass spillage via a V-shaped slot with the tip of V coinciding with the focal point of the Busemann flow. The theoretical results, achieved using two different theories, of self-started Busemann takes with weak/strong conical shock show that significant improve in intake startability using overboard spillage technique. The starting phenomena of Busemann intakes with weak conical shock and seven different capture angles are numerically simulated at freestream Mach number of 3 to find the minimum area ratios of self-started intakes. The numerical results confirm the theoretical ones achieved by authors.

Keywords: Busemann intake, conical shock, overboard spillage, startability.

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Authors: Yehia Manawi, Ahmad Kayvani Fard

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Membrane distillation is an emerging technology which has been used to produce freshwater and purify different types of aqueous mixtures. Qatar is an arid country where almost 100% of its freshwater demand is supplied through the energy-intensive thermal desalination process. The country’s need for water has reached an all-time high which stipulates finding an alternative way to augment freshwater without adding any drastic affect to the environment. The objective of this paper was to investigate the potential of using the industrial low grade waste heat to produce freshwater using membrane distillation. The main part of this work was conducting a heat audit on selected Qatari chemical industries to estimate the amounts of freshwater produced if such industrial waste heat were to be recovered. By the end of this work, the main objective was met and the heat audit conducted on the Qatari chemical industries enabled us to estimate both the amounts of waste heat which can be potentially recovered in addition to the amounts of freshwater which can be produced if such waste heat were to be recovered.

By the end, the heat audit showed that around 605 Mega Watts of waste heat can be recovered from the studied Qatari chemical industries which resulted in a total daily production of 5078.7 cubic meter of freshwater.

This water can be used in a wide variety of applications such as human consumption or industry. The amount of produced freshwater may look small when compared to that produced through thermal desalination plants; however, one must bear in mind that this water comes from waste and can be used to supply water for small cities or remote areas which are not connected to the water grid. The idea of producing freshwater from the two widely-available wastes (thermal rejected brine and waste heat) seems promising as less environmental and economic impacts will be associated with freshwater production which may in the near future augment the conventional way of producing freshwater currently being thermal desalination. This work has shown that low grade waste heat in the chemical industries in Qatar and perhaps the rest of the world can contribute to additional production of freshwater using membrane distillation without significantly adding to the environmental impact.

Keywords: Membrane distillation, desalination, heat recovery, environment.

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Authors: Tsung-Yen Tsai, Naveen Bunekar, Ming Hsuan Chang, Wen-Kuang Wang, Satoshi Onda

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The structure-property relationship and initiator effect on bulk polymerized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)–oragnomodified layered silicate nanocomposites was investigated. In this study, we used 2, 2'-azobis (4-methoxy-2,4-dimethyl valeronitrile and benzoyl peroxide initiators for bulk polymerization. The bulk polymerized nanocomposites’ morphology was investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The type of initiator strongly influences the physiochemical properties of the polymer nanocomposite. The thermal degradation of PMMA in the presence of nanofiller was studied. 5 wt% weight loss temperature (T5d) increased as compared to pure PMMA. The peak degradation temperature increased for the nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis were performed to investigate the glass transition temperature and the nature of the constrained region as the reinforcement mechanism respectively. Furthermore, the optical properties such as UV-Vis and Total Luminous Transmission of nanocomposites are examined.

Keywords: Initiator, bulk polymerization, layered silicates, methyl methacrylate.

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Authors: Linda Ana Maria Ungureanu

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This article details the manner in which European law establishes the protection and ownership rights over works created in off-world environments or in relation to space exploration. In this sense, the analysis is focused on identifying the legal treatment applicable to creative works based on the provisions regulated under the International Space Treaties, on one side, and the International Intellectual Property (IP) Treaties and subsequent EU legislation, on the other side, with a special interest on European Space Agency (ESA) Rules and Regulations. Furthermore, the article analyses the manner in which ESA regulates the ownership regime applicable for creative works, taking into account the relationship existing between the inventor/creator and ESA and the environment in which the creative work was developed. Moreover, the article sets a series of de lege ferenda proposals for the regulation of IP matters in the context of space exploration, the main purpose being to identify legal measures and steps that need to be taken in order to ensure that creative activities are fostered and understood as a significant catalyst for encouraging space exploration.

Keywords: ESA guidelines, EU legislation, intellectual property law, international IP treaties.

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Sedighi, Behnam Nilforooshan Dardashti

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The high temperature degree and uniform Temperature Distribution (TD) on surface of cookware which contact with food are effective factors for improving cookware application. Additionally, the ability of pan material in retaining the heat and nonreactivity with foods are other significant properties. It is difficult for single material to meet a wide variety of demands such as superior thermal and chemical properties. Multi-Layer Plate (MLP) makes more regular TD. In this study the main objectives are to find the best structure (single or multi-layer) and materials to provide maximum temperature degree and uniform TD up side surface of pan. And also heat retaining of used metals with goal of improving the thermal quality of pan to economize the energy. To achieve this aim were employed Finite Element Method (FEM) for analyzing transient thermal behavior of applied materials. The analysis has been extended for different metals, we achieved the best temperature profile and heat retaining in Copper/ Stainless Steel MLP.

Keywords: Cookware, Energy optimization, Heat retaining, Laminated plate, Temperature distribution

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Authors: L. S. Godlevsky, N. V. Kresyun, V. P. Martsenyuk, K. S. Shakun, T. V. Tatarchuk, K. O. Prybolovets, L. F. Kalinichenko, M. Karpinski, T. Gancarczyk

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Structures of eye bottom were extracted using multiscale texture gradient method and color characteristics of macular zone and vessels were verified in CIELAB scale. The difference of average values of L*, a* and b* coordinates of CIE (International Commision of Illumination) scale in patients with diabetes and healthy volunteers was compared. The average value of L* in diabetic patients exceeded such one in the group of practically healthy persons by 2.71 times (P < 0.05), while the value of a* index was reduced by 3.8 times when compared with control one (P < 0.05). b* index exceeded such one in the control group by 12.4 times (P < 0.05). The integrated index on color difference (ΔE) exceeded control value by 2.87 times (P < 0.05). More pronounced differences with ΔE were followed by a shorter period of MA appearance with a correlation level at -0.56 (P < 0.05). The specificity of diagnostics raised by 2.17 times (P < 0.05) and negative prognostic index exceeded such one determined with the expert method by 2.26 times (P < 0.05).

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, multiscale texture gradient, color spectrum analysis.

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Authors: Ch. Antonopoulos, Th. Kapourniotis, V. Triantafillou

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Optimum communication and performance in Wireless Sensor Networks, constitute multi-facet challenges due to the specific networking characteristics as well as the scarce resource availability. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that isolated layer based approaches often do not meet the demands posed by WSNs applications due to omission of critical inter-layer interactions and dependencies. As a counterpart, cross-layer is receiving high interest aiming to exploit these interactions and increase network performance. However, in order to clearly identify existing dependencies, comprehensive performance studies are required evaluating the effect of different critical network parameters on system level performance and behavior.This paper-s main objective is to address the need for multi-parametric performance evaluations considering critical network parameters using a well known network simulator, offering useful and practical conclusions and guidelines. The results reveal strong dependencies among considered parameters which can be utilized by and drive future research efforts, towards designing and implementing highly efficient protocols and architectures.

Keywords: Wireless sensor network, Communication Systems, cross-layer architectures, simulation based performance evaluation

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Authors: Ilham S. M. Elsayed

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate Alahsa Governorate status and its vulnerability to generate urban heat islands. Alahsa Governorate is a famous oasis in the Arabic Peninsula including several oil centers. Extensive literature review was done to collect previous relative data on the urban heat island of Alahsa Governorate. Data used for the purpose of this research were collected from authorized bodies who control weather station networks over Alahsa Governorate, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Although, the number of weather station networks within the region is very limited and the analysis using GIS software and its techniques is difficult and limited, the data analyzed confirm an increase in temperature for more than 2 °C from 2004 to 2014. Such increase is considerable whenever human health and comfort are the concern. The increase of temperature within one decade confirms the availability of urban heat islands. The study concludes that, Alahsa Governorate is vulnerable to create urban heat islands and more attention should be drawn to strategic planning of the governorate that is developing with a high pace and considerable increasing levels of urbanization.

Keywords: Urban heat island, Alahsa Governorate, weather station, population density.

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Authors: Md. Zahangir Alom, Mei-Lan Piao, Md. Ashraful Alam, Nam Kim, Jae-Hyeung Park

Abstract:

A new approach for facial expressions recognition based on face context and adaptively weighted sub-pattern PCA (Aw-SpPCA) has been presented in this paper. The facial region and others part of the body have been segmented from the complex environment based on skin color model. An algorithm has been proposed to accurate detection of face region from the segmented image based on constant ratio of height and width of face (δ= 1.618). The paper also discusses on new concept to detect the eye and mouth position. The desired part of the face has been cropped to analysis the expression of a person. Unlike PCA based on a whole image pattern, Aw-SpPCA operates directly on its sub patterns partitioned from an original whole pattern and separately extracts features from them. Aw-SpPCA can adaptively compute the contributions of each part and a classification task in order to enhance the robustness to both expression and illumination variations. Experiments on single standard face with five types of facial expression database shows that the proposed method is competitive.

Keywords: Aw-SpPC, Expressoin Recognition, Face context, Face Detection, PCA

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Authors: Zullina H. Shaari, Amzairi Amar, Abdul Mutalib Embong, Hezlina Hashim

Abstract:

University websites are considered as one of the brand primary touch points for multiple stakeholders, but most of them did not have great designs to create favorable impressions. Some of the elements that web designers should carefully consider are the appearance, the content, the functionality, usability and search engine optimization. However, priority should be placed on website simplicity and negative space. In terms of content, previous research suggests that universities should include reputation, learning environment, graduate career prospects, image destination, cultural integration, and virtual tour on their websites. The study examines how top 200 world ranking science and technology-based universities present their brands online and whether the websites capture the content dimensions. Content analysis of the websites revealed that the top ranking universities captured these dimensions at varying degree. Besides, the UK-based university had better priority on website simplicity and negative space compared to the Malaysian-based university.

Keywords: Science and technology programs, top-ranked universities, online brands, university websites.

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Authors: Amirali Ebrahimi, T. A. G. Langrish

Abstract:

The effect of various humidities on process yields and degrees of crystallinity for spray-dried powders from spray drying of lactose with humid air in a straight-through system have been studied. It has been suggested by Williams–Landel–Ferry kinetics (WLF) that a higher particle temperature and lower glass-transition temperature would increase the crystallization rate of the particles during the spray-drying process. Freshly humidified air produced by a Buchi-B290 spray dryer as a humidifier attached to the main spray dryer decreased the particle glass-transition temperature (Tg), while allowing the particle temperature (Tp) to reach higher values by using an insulated drying chamber. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and moisture sorption analysis were used to measure the degree of crystallinity for the spray-dried lactose powders. The results showed that higher Tp-Tg, as a result of applying humid air, improved the process yield from 21 ± 4 to 26 ± 2% and crystallinity of the particles by decreasing the latent heat of crystallization from 43 ± 1 to 30 ± 11 J/g and the sorption peak height from 7.3 ± 0.7% to 6 ± 0.7%.

Keywords: Lactose, crystallization, spray drying, humid air.

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Authors: Meng-Hao Tsai, Tsuei-Chiang Huang

Abstract:

Interior brick-infill partitions are usually considered as non-structural components, and only their weight is accounted for in practical structural design. In this study, the brick-infill panels are simulated by compression struts to clarify their effect on the progressive collapse potential of an earthquake-resistant RC building. Three-dimensional finite element models are constructed for the RC building subjected to sudden column loss. Linear static analyses are conducted to investigate the variation of demand-to-capacity ratio (DCR) of beam-end moment and the axial force variation of the beams adjacent to the removed column. Study results indicate that the brick-infill effect depends on their location with respect to the removed column. As they are filled in a structural bay with a shorter span adjacent to the column-removed line, more significant reduction of DCR may be achieved. However, under certain conditions, the brick infill may increase the axial tension of the two-span beam bridging the removed column.

Keywords: Progressive collapse, brick-infill partition, compression strut.

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