Search results for: Evaluation matrix
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3219

Search results for: Evaluation matrix

1839 Fracture Toughness Properties and FTIR Analysis of Corn Fiber Green Composites

Authors: Ahmed Mudhafar Hashim, Aseel Mahmood Abdullah

Abstract:

The present work introduced a green composite consisting of corn natural fiber of constant concentration of 10% by weight incorporation with poly methyl methacrylate matrix biomaterial prepared by hand lay-up technique. Corn natural fibers were treated with two concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution (3% and 5%) with different immersed time (1.5 and 3 hours) at room temperature. The fracture toughness test of untreated and alkali treated corn fiber composites were performed. The effect of chemically treated on fracture properties of composites has been analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that the alkali treatment improved the fracture properties in terms of plane strain fracture toughness KIC. It was found that the plane strain fracture toughness KIC increased by up to 62% compared to untreated fiber composites. On the other hand, increases in both concentrations of alkali solution and time of soaking to 5% NaOH and 3 hours, respectively reduced the values of KIC lower than the value of the unfilled material.

Keywords: green composites, fracture toughness, corn natural fiber, Bio-PMMA

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1838 The Effect of Addition of Dioctyl Terephthalate and Calcite on the Tensile Properties of Organoclay/Linear Low Density Polyethylene Nanocomposites

Authors: A. Gürses, Z. Eroğlu, E. Şahin, K. Güneş, Ç. Doğar

Abstract:

In recent years, polymer/clay nanocomposites have generated great interest in the polymer industry as a new type of composite material because of their superior properties, which includes high heat deflection temperature, gas barrier performance, dimensional stability, enhanced mechanical properties, optical clarity and flame retardancy when compared with the pure polymer or conventional composites. The investigation of change of the tensile properties of organoclay/linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) nanocomposites with the use of Dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) (as plasticizer) and calcite (as filler) has been aimed. The composites and organoclay synthesized were characterized using the techniques such as XRD, HRTEM and FTIR techniques. The spectroscopic results indicate that platelets of organoclay were well dispersed within the polymeric matrix. The tensile properties of the composites were compared considering the stress-strain curve drawn for each composite and pure polymer. It was observed that the composites prepared by adding the plasticizer at different ratios and a certain amount of calcite exhibited different tensile behaviors compared to pure polymer.

Keywords: Linear low density polyethylene, nanocomposite, organoclay, plasticizer.

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1837 Phenotypical and Genotypical Assessment Techniques for Identification of Some Contagious Mastitis Pathogens

Authors: A. El Behiry, R. N. Zahran, R. Tarabees, E. Marzouk, M. Al-Dubaib

Abstract:

Mastitis is one of the most economic disease affecting dairy cows worldwide. Its classic diagnosis using bacterial culture and biochemical findings is a difficult and prolonged method. In this research, using of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) permitted identification of different microorganisms with high accuracy and rapidity (only 24 hours for microbial growth and analysis). During the application of MALDI-TOF MS, one hundred twenty strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species isolated from milk of cows affected by clinical and subclinical mastitis were identified, and the results were compared with those obtained by traditional methods as API and VITEK 2 Systems. 37 of totality 39 strains (~95%) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were exactly detected by MALDI TOF MS and then confirmed by a nuc-based PCR technique, whereas accurate identification was observed in 100% (50 isolates) of the coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococcus agalactiae (31 isolates). In brief, our results demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and truthful technique which has the capability to replace conventional identification of several bacterial strains usually isolated in clinical laboratories of microbiology.

Keywords: Identification, mastitis pathogens, mass spectral, phenotypical.

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1836 Oxidation of Selected Pharmaceuticals in Water Matrices by Bromine and Chlorine

Authors: Juan L. Acero, F. Javier Benitez, Francisco J. Real, Gloria Roldan, Francisco Casas

Abstract:

The bromination of five selected pharmaceuticals (metoprolol, naproxen, amoxicillin, hydrochlorotiazide and phenacetin) in ultrapure water and in three water matrices (a groundwater, a surface water from a public reservoir and a secondary effluent from a WWTP) was investigated. The apparent rate constants for the bromination reaction were determined as a function of the pH, and the sequence obtained for the reaction rate was amoxicillin > naproxen >> hydrochlorotiazide ≈ phenacetin ≈ metoprolol. The proposal of a kinetic mechanism, which specifies the dissociation of bromine and each pharmaceutical according to their pKa values and the pH allowed the determination of the intrinsic rate constants for every elementary reaction. The influence of the main operating conditions (pH, initial bromine dose, and the water matrix) on the degradation of pharmaceuticals was established. In addition, the presence of bromide in chlorination experiments was investigated. The presence of bromide in wastewaters and drinking waters in the range of 10 to several hundred μg L-1 accelerated slightly the oxidation of the selected pharmaceuticals during chorine disinfection.

Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, bromine, chlorine, apparent andintrinsic rate constants, water matrices, degradation rates

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1835 Performance Evaluation of Bluetooth Links in the Presence of Specific Types of Interference

Authors: Radosveta Sokullu, Engin Karatepe

Abstract:

In the last couple of years Bluetooth has gained a large share in the market of home and personal appliances. It is now a well established technology a short range supplement to the wireless world of 802.11. The two main trends of research that have sprung from these developments are directed towards the coexistence and performance issues of Bluetooth and 802.11 as well as the co-existence in the very short range of multiple Bluetooth devices. Our work aims at thoroughly investigating different aspects of co-channel interference and effects of transmission power, distance and 802.11 interference on Bluetooth connections.

Keywords: Bluetooth, co-channel interference, 802.11, performance analysis

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1834 RF Link Budget Analysis at 915 MHz band for Wireless Sensor Networks

Authors: Abdellah Chehri, Hussein Mouftah, Paul Fortier, Hasnaa Aniss

Abstract:

Wireless sensor network has recently emerged as enablers of several areas. Real applications of WSN are being explored and some of them are yet to come. While the potential of sensor networks has been only beginning to be realized, several challenges still remain. One of them is the experimental evaluation of WSN. Therefore, deploying and operating a testbed to study the real behavior of WSN become more and more important. The main contribution of this work is to analysis the RF link budget behavior of wireless sensor networks in underground mine gallery.

Keywords: Sensor networks, RF Link, path loss.

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1833 Performance Evaluation of 2×2 Switched Beam Antennas with Null Locating for Wireless Mesh Networks

Authors: S. Pradittara, M. Uthansakul, P. Uthansakul

Abstract:

A concept of switched beam antennas consisting of 2×2 rectangular array spaced by λ/4 accompanied with a null locating has been proposed in the previous work. In this letter, the performance evaluations of its prototype are presented. The benefits of using proposed system have been clearly measured in term of signal quality, throughput and delays. Also, the impact of position shift which mesh router is not located on the expected beam direction has also been investigated.

Keywords: Antenna array, Beamforming, Null steering, WMNs.

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1832 Toward An Agreement on Semantic Web Architecture

Authors: Haytham Al-Feel, M.A.Koutb, Hoda Suoror

Abstract:

There are many problems associated with the World Wide Web: getting lost in the hyperspace; the web content is still accessible only to humans and difficulties of web administration. The solution to these problems is the Semantic Web which is considered to be the extension for the current web presents information in both human readable and machine processable form. The aim of this study is to reach new generic foundation architecture for the Semantic Web because there is no clear architecture for it, there are four versions, but still up to now there is no agreement for one of these versions nor is there a clear picture for the relation between different layers and technologies inside this architecture. This can be done depending on the idea of previous versions as well as Gerber-s evaluation method as a step toward an agreement for one Semantic Web architecture.

Keywords: Semantic Web Architecture, XML, RDF and Ontology.

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1831 Effect of Volume Fraction of Fibre on the Mechanical Properties of Nanoclay Reinforced E-Glass-Epoxy Composites

Authors: K. Krushnamurty, D. Rasmitha, I. Srikanth, K. Ramji, Ch. Subrahmanyam

Abstract:

E-glass-epoxy laminated composites having different fiber volume fractions (40, 50, 60 and 70) were fabricated with and without the addition of nanoclay. Flexural strength and tensile strength of the composite laminates were determined. It was observed that, with increasing the fiber volume fraction (Vf) of fiber from 40 to 60, the ability of nanoclay to enhance the tensile and flexural strength of E-glass-epoxy composites decreases significantly. At 70Vf, the tensile and flexural strength of the nanoclay reinforced E-glass-epoxy were found to be lowest when compared to the E-glass-epoxy composite made without the addition of nanoclay. Based on the obtained data and microstructure of the tested samples, plausible mechanism for the observed trends has been proposed. The enhanced mechanical properties for nanoclay reinforced E-glass-epoxy composites for 40-60 Vf, due to higher interface toughness coupled with strong interfilament bonding may have ensured the homogeneous load distribution across all the glass fibers. Results in the decrease in mechanical properties at 70Vf, may be due to the inability of the matrix to bind the nanoclay and glass-fibers.

Keywords: E-glass-epoxy composite laminates, fiber volume fraction, e-glass fiber, mechanical properties, delamination.

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1830 A Study on Use of User Demand Evaluation in Interactive Interface – Using Virtual Fitting-Room as an Example

Authors: Chang, Wei-Chen

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to research on thoughts transmitted from virtual fitting-room and to deduce discussion in an auxiliary narrative way. The research structure is based on 3D virtual fitting-room as the research subject. Initially, we will discuss the principles of narrate study, User Demand and so on by using a narrative design pattern to transmit their objective indications of “people-situation-reason-object", etc, and then to analyze the virtual fitting-room examples that are able to provide a new thinking for designers who engaged in clothing related industry – which comes in “story telling" and “user-centered design" forms. Clothing designs are not just to cover up the body to keep warm but to draw closer to people-s demand physiologically and psychologically through interactive designs so as to achieve cognition between people and environment. In the “outside" goal of clothing-s functional designs, we use tribal group-s behavior characteristics to “transform" the existing personal cultural stories, and “reform" them to design appropriate interactive products. Synthesizing the above matters, apart from being able to regard “narrate" as a kind of functional thinking process, we are also able to regard it as a kind of choice, arrangement and an activity of story expression, allowing interactive design-s spirit, product characteristics and experience ideas be transmitted to target tribal group in a visual image performance method. It is a far more confident and innovative attempt, and meanwhile, able to achieve entertainment, joyful and so forth fundamental interactive transmissions. Therefore, this study takes “user-centered design" thinking as a basis to establish a set of clothing designs with interactive experience patterns and to assist designers to examine the five sensual feeling of interactive demands in order to initiate a new value in textile industry.

Keywords: Virtual Fitting-room, Interactive Design, User Demand Evaluation, Intelligent Systems.

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1829 Energy Consumption Analysis of Design Patterns

Authors: Andreas Litke, Kostas Zotos, Alexander Chatzigeorgiou, George Stephanides

Abstract:

The importance of low power consumption is widely acknowledged due to the increasing use of portable devices, which require minimizing the consumption of energy. Energy dissipation is heavily dependent on the software used in the system. Applying design patterns in object-oriented designs is a common practice nowadays. In this paper we analyze six design patterns and explore the effect of them on energy consumption and performance.

Keywords: Design Patterns, Embedded Systems, Energy Consumption, Performance Evaluation, Software Design and Development, Software Engineering.

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1828 Laboratory Indices in Late Childhood Obesity: The Importance of DONMA Indices

Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma, Muhammet Demirkol, Murat Aydin, Tuba Gokkus, Burcin Nalbantoglu, Aysin Nalbantoglu, Birol Topcu

Abstract:

Obesity in childhood establishes a ground for adulthood obesity. Especially morbid obesity is an important problem for the children because of the associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, body mass index (BMI), body fat ratios, anthropometric measurements and ratios were evaluated together with different laboratory indices upon evaluation of obesity in morbidly obese (MO) children. Children with nutritional problems participated in the study. Written informed consent was obtained from the parents. Study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee. Sixty-two MO girls aged 129.5±35.8 months and 75 MO boys aged 120.1±26.6 months were included into the scope of the study. WHO-BMI percentiles for age-and-sex were used to assess the children with those higher than 99th as morbid obesity. Anthropometric measurements of the children were recorded after their physical examination. Bio-electrical impedance analysis was performed to measure fat distribution. Anthropometric ratios, body fat ratios, Index-I and Index-II as well as insulin sensitivity indices (ISIs) were calculated. Girls as well as boys were binary grouped according to homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index of <2.5 and >2.5, fasting glucose to insulin ratio (FGIR) of <6 and >6 and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) of <0.33 and >0.33 as the frequently used cut-off points. They were evaluated based upon their BMIs, arms, legs, trunk, whole body fat percentages, body fat ratios such as fat mass index (FMI), trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio (TAFR), whole body fat ratio (WBFR), anthropometric measures and ratios [waist-to-hip, head-to-neck, thigh-to-arm, thigh-to-ankle, height/2-to-waist, height/2-to-hip circumference (C)]. SPSS/PASW 18 program was used for statistical analyses. p≤0.05 was accepted as statistically significance level. All of the fat percentages showed differences between below and above the specified cut-off points in girls when evaluated with HOMA-IR and QUICKI. Differences were observed only in arms fat percent for HOMA-IR and legs fat percent for QUICKI in boys (p≤ 0.05). FGIR was unable to detect any differences for the fat percentages of boys. Head-to-neck C was the only anthropometric ratio recommended to be used for all ISIs (p≤0.001 for both girls and boys in HOMA-IR, p≤0.001 for girls and p≤0.05 for boys in FGIR and QUICKI). Indices which are recommended for use in both genders were Index-I, Index-II, HOMA/BMI and log HOMA (p≤0.001). FMI was also a valuable index when evaluated with HOMA-IR and QUICKI (p≤0.001). The important point was the detection of the severe significance for HOMA/BMI and log HOMA while they were evaluated also with the other indices, FGIR and QUICKI (p≤0.001). These parameters along with Index-I were unique at this level of significance for all children. In conclusion, well-accepted ratios or indices may not be valid for the evaluation of both genders. This study has emphasized the limiting properties for boys. This is particularly important for the selection process of some ratios and/or indices during the clinical studies. Gender difference should be taken into consideration for the evaluation of the ratios or indices, which will be recommended to be used particularly within the scope of obesity studies.

Keywords: Anthropometry, childhood obesity, gender, insulin sensitivity index.

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1827 Curriculum Development of Successful Intelligence Promoting for Nursing Students

Authors: Saranya Chularee, Tawa Chularee

Abstract:

Successful intelligence (SI) is the integrated set of the ability needed to attain success in life, within individual-s sociocultural context. People are successfully intelligent by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses. They will find ways to strengthen their weakness and maintain their strength or even improve it. SI people can shape, select, and adapt to the environments by using balance of higher-ordered thinking abilities including; critical, creative, and applicative. Aims: The purposes of this study were to; 1) develop curriculum that promotes SI for nursing students, and 2) study the effectiveness of the curriculum development. Method: Research and Development was a method used for this study. The design was divided into two phases; 1) the curriculum development which composed of three steps (needs assessment, curriculum development and curriculum field trail), and 2) the curriculum implementation. In this phase, a pre-experimental research design (one group pretest-posttest design) was conducted. The sample composed of 49 sophomore nursing students of Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Surin, Thailand who enrolled in Nursing care of Health problem course I in 2011 academic year. Data were carefully collected using 4 instruments; 1) Modified essay questions test (MEQ) 2) Nursing Care Plan evaluation form 3) Group processing observation form (α = 0.74) and 4) Satisfied evaluation form of learning (α = 0.82). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Results: The results revealed that the sample had post-test average score of SI higher than pre-test average score (mean difference was 5.03, S.D. = 2.84). Fifty seven percentages of the sample passed the MEQ posttest at the criteria of 60 percentages. Students demonstrated the strategies of how to develop nursing care plan. Overall, students- satisfaction on teaching performance was at high level (mean = 4.35, S.D. = 0.46). Conclusion: This curriculum can promote the attribute of characteristic of SI person and was highly required to be continued.

Keywords: Curriculum Development, Nursing Education, Successful Intelligence, Thinking ability.

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1826 Development and Evaluation of a Portable Ammonia Gas Detector

Authors: Jaheon Gu, Wooyong Chung, Mijung Koo, Seonbok Lee, Gyoutae Park, Sangguk Ahn, Hiesik Kim, Jungil Park

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a portable ammonia gas detector for performing the gas safety management efficiently. The display of the detector is separated from its body. The display module is received the data measured from the detector using ZigBee. The detector has a rechargeable li-ion battery which can be use for 11~12 hours, and a Bluetooth module for sending the data to the PC or the smart devices. The data are sent to the server and can access using the web browser or mobile application. The range of the detection concentration is 0~100ppm.

Keywords: Ammonia, detector, gas safety, portable.

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1825 A Comprehensive Review on Different Mixed Data Clustering Ensemble Methods

Authors: S. Sarumathi, N. Shanthi, S. Vidhya, M. Sharmila

Abstract:

An extensive amount of work has been done in data clustering research under the unsupervised learning technique in Data Mining during the past two decades. Moreover, several approaches and methods have been emerged focusing on clustering diverse data types, features of cluster models and similarity rates of clusters. However, none of the single clustering algorithm exemplifies its best nature in extracting efficient clusters. Consequently, in order to rectify this issue, a new challenging technique called Cluster Ensemble method was bloomed. This new approach tends to be the alternative method for the cluster analysis problem. The main objective of the Cluster Ensemble is to aggregate the diverse clustering solutions in such a way to attain accuracy and also to improve the eminence the individual clustering algorithms. Due to the massive and rapid development of new methods in the globe of data mining, it is highly mandatory to scrutinize a vital analysis of existing techniques and the future novelty. This paper shows the comparative analysis of different cluster ensemble methods along with their methodologies and salient features. Henceforth this unambiguous analysis will be very useful for the society of clustering experts and also helps in deciding the most appropriate one to resolve the problem in hand.

Keywords: Clustering, Cluster Ensemble Methods, Coassociation matrix, Consensus Function, Median Partition.

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1824 Effect of Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone and Ethyl Cellulose Concentration on Release Profile and Kinetics of Glibenclamide Extended Release Dosage Form System

Authors: Amit Kumar, Peeyush Sharma, Anil Bhandari

Abstract:

The aim of present work was to optimize the effect of Ethyl Cellulose (EC) and Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) concentration in extended release solid dispersion of Glibenclamide using combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers such as Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone and Ethyl cellulose. The advantage of solid dispersion technique provides a unique approach to particle size reduction and increased rates of dissolution. The compatibility studies of the drug and polymers were studied by TLC and results suggested no interaction between drug and polymers. Solid dispersions of Glibenclamide were prepared by common solvent evaporation method using Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone and Ethyl cellulose. The results indicated that homogeneous or heterogeneous conditions during the preparation methods employed governed the internal structures of the polymer matrices while retaining the drug in an amorphous form. F2 formulation prepared by solid dispersion method, displayed extended drug release followed by Higuchi matrix model indicating diffusion release of GLB from polymer matrices.

Keywords: Ethyl Cellulose, Glibenclamide, Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone, Solid Dispersion.

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1823 Statistical Analysis and Predictive Learning of Mechanical Parameters for TiO2 Filled GFRP Composite

Authors: S. Srinivasa Moorthy, K. Manonmani

Abstract:

The new, polymer composites consisting of e-glass fiber reinforcement with titanium oxide filler in the double bonded unsaturated polyester resin matrix were made. The glass fiber and titanium oxide reinforcement composites were made in three different fiber lengths (3cm, 5cm, and 7cm), filler content (2 wt%, 4 wt%, and 6 wt%) and fiber content (20 wt%, 40 wt%, and 60 wt%). 27 different compositions were fabricated and a sequence of experiments were carried out to determine tensile strength and impact strength. The vital influencing factors fiber length, fiber content and filler content were chosen as 3 factors in 3 levels of Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array. The influences of parameters were determined for tensile strength and impact strength by Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and S/N ratio. Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) an expert system was devised to predict the properties of hybrid reinforcement GFRP composites. The predict models were experimentally proved with the maximum coincidence.

Keywords: Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Artificial neural network (ANN), Polymer composites, Taguchi’s orthogonal array.

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1822 MC and IC – What Is the Relationship?

Authors: O. V. Missioura

Abstract:

MC (Management Control)& IC (Internal Control) – what is the relationship? (an empirical study into the definitions between MC and IC) based on the wider considerations of Internal Control and Management Control terms, attention is focused not only on the financial aspects but also more on the soft aspects of the business, such as culture, behaviour, standards and values. The limited considerations of Management Control are focused mainly in the hard, financial aspects of business operation. The definitions of Management Control and Internal Control are often used interchangeably and the results of this empirical study reveal that Management Control is part of Internal Control, there is no causal link between the two concepts. Based on the interpretation of the respondents, the term Management Control has moved from a broad term to a more limited term with the soft aspects of the influencing of behaviour, performance measurements, incentives and culture. This paper is an exploratory study based on qualitative research and on a qualitative matrix method analysis of the thematic definition of the terms Management Control and Internal Control.

Keywords: Management Control (MC), Internal Control (IC), definition, causal link, COSO 1992/2004, CoCo (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants), Russian CG code (КОДЕКС) , limited and broad concepts MC and IC.

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1821 The Impact of Bank Consolidation on the Performance of SMES in Nigeria

Authors: Okolo Chimaobi Valentine

Abstract:

This paper seeks to assess the implications of bank consolidation on the performance of small and medium scale enterprises in the Nigerian economy. Multiple linear regression technique and correlation matrix test were employed to measure the extent to which small and medium scale enterprises asset size, survival and access to credit were influenced. The result showed that bank deposit (BD) and bank credit (L or BC) impacted on asset size and survival of small and medium scale enterprises. None of the variables had significant impact on SMEs access to credit. There is a shift of focus by commercial banks away from small and medium scale enterprises (small customers), which is evidenced by the significant negative influence of bank credit to both the survival and asset size of small and medium enterprises. While micro finance banks work hard at providing funds to small and medium scale entrepreneurs, their capacity to meet the needs of these entrepreneurs is constrained. CBN should make policies that will boost micro finance bank’s capital and also monitor closely the management of the banks to ensure prudent financing of small and medium scale investments.

Keywords: Bank consolidation, small and medium enterprises.

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1820 Enhancing the Connectedness in Ad–hoc Mesh Networks using the Terranet Technology

Authors: Obeidat I., Bsoul M., Khasawneh A., Kilani Y.

Abstract:

This paper simulates the ad-hoc mesh network in rural areas, where such networks receive great attention due to their cost, since installing the infrastructure for regular networks in these areas is not possible due to the high cost. The distance between the communicating nodes is the most obstacles that the ad-hoc mesh network will face. For example, in Terranet technology, two nodes can communicate if they are only one kilometer far from each other. However, if the distance between them is more than one kilometer, then each node in the ad-hoc mesh networks has to act as a router that forwards the data it receives to other nodes. In this paper, we try to find the critical number of nodes which makes the network fully connected in a particular area, and then propose a method to enhance the intermediate node to accept to be a router to forward the data from the sender to the receiver. Much work was done on technological changes on peer to peer networks, but the focus of this paper will be on another feature which is to find the minimum number of nodes needed for a particular area to be fully connected and then to enhance the users to switch on their phones and accept to work as a router for other nodes. Our method raises the successful calls to 81.5% out of 100% attempt calls.

Keywords: Adjacency matrix, Ad-hoc mesh network, Connectedness, Terranet technology

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1819 A Comparative Study on Different Approaches to Evaluate Ship Equilibrium Point

Authors: Alessandro A. Zizzari, Francesca Calabrese, Giovanni Indiveri, Andrea Coraddu, Diego Villa

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to present a comparative study on two different methods for the evaluation of the equilibrium point of a ship, core issue for designing an On Board Stability System (OBSS) module that, starting from geometry information of a ship hull, described by a discrete model in a standard format, and the distribution of all weights onboard calculates the ship floating conditions (in draught, heel and trim).

Keywords: Algorithms, Computer applications, Equilibrium, Marine applications, Stability System.

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1818 Treatment of Inorganic Filler Surface by Silane-Coupling Agent: Investigation of Treatment Condition and Analysis of Bonding State of Reacted Agent

Authors: Hiroshi Hirano, Joji Kadota, Toshiyuki Yamashita, Yasuyuki Agari

Abstract:

It is well known that enhancing interfacial adhesion between inorganic filler and matrix resin in a composite lead to favorable properties such as excellent mechanical properties, high thermal resistance, prominent electric insulation, low expansion coefficient, and so on. But it should be avoided that much excess of coupling agent is reacted due to a negative impact of their final composite-s properties. There is no report to achieve classification of the bonding state excepting investigation of coating layer thickness. Therefore, the analysis of the bonding state of the coupling agent reacted with the filler surface such as BN particles with less functional group and silica particles having much functional group was performed by thermal gravimetric analysis and pyrolysis GC/MS. The reacted number of functional groups on the silane-coupling agent was classified as a result of the analysis. Thus, we succeeded in classifying the reacted number of the functional groups as a result of this study.

Keywords: Inorganic filler, boron nitride, surface treatment, coupling agent, analysis of bonding state

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1817 Investigation of Electrical, Thermal and Structural Properties on Polyacrylonitrile Nano-Fiber

Authors: N. Demirsoy, N. Uçar, A. Önen, N. Kızıldağ, Ö. F. Vurur, O. Eren, İ. Karacan

Abstract:

Polymer composite nano-fibers including (1, 3 wt %) silver nano-particles have been produced by electrospinning method. Polyacrylonitrile/N,N-dimethylformamide (PAN/DMF) solution have been prepared and the amount of silver nitrate have been adjusted to PAN weight. Silver nano-particles were obtained from reduction of silver ions into silver nano-particles by chemical reduction by hydrazine hydroxide (N2H5OH). The different amount of silver salt was loaded into polymer matrix to obtain polyacrylonitrile composite nano-fiber containing silver nano-particles. The effect of the amount of silver nano-particles on the properties of composite nano-fiber web was investigated. Electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal properties were examined by Microtest LCR Meter 6370 (0.01 mΩ-100 MΩ), Tensile tester, Differential scanning calorimeter DSC (Q10) and SEM respectively. Also antimicrobial efficiency test (ASTM E2149-10) was done against to Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. It has been seen that breaking strength, conductivity, antimicrobial effect, enthalpy during cyclization increase by use of silver nano-particles while the diameter of nano-fiber decreases.

Keywords: Composite polyacrylonitrile nano-fiber, electrical conductivity, electrospinning, mechanical and thermal properties, silver nano-particles.

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1816 Well-Being and Helping Technology for Retired Population in Finland

Authors: R. Pääkkönen, L. Korpinen

Abstract:

This study aimed to evaluate parameters influencing well-being and how to maintain well-being as long as possible after retirement. There is contradictory information on the health changes after retirement in Finland. This work is based on interviews, statistics, and literature evaluation of Finland. Most often, balance, multitasking reaction time, and adaptation of vision in dim and darks areas are worsened. Slowing is one characteristic that is difficult to measure properly. The most important is try to determine ways to manage daily activities and symptoms of disease after retirement. Medicine is advancing, problems are often also on the economic side. Information of technical aids is important. It is worth planning a retirement age.

Keywords: Retirement, working, aging, wellness.

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1815 High Strain Rate Characteristics of the Advanced Blast Energy Absorbers

Authors: Martina Drdlová, Michal Frank, Jaroslav Buchar, Josef Krátký

Abstract:

The main aim of the presented experiments is to improve behaviour of sandwich structures under dynamic loading, such as crash or explosion. Several cellular materials are widely used as core of the sandwich structures and their properties influence the response of the entire element under impact load. To optimize their performance requires the characterisation of the core material behaviour at high strain rates and identification of the underlying mechanism. This work presents the study of high strain-rate characteristics of a specific porous lightweight blast energy absorbing foam using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) technique adapted to perform tests on low strength materials. Two different velocities, 15 and 30 m.s-1 were used to determine the strain sensitivity of the material. Foams were designed using two types of porous lightweight spherical raw materials with diameters of 30- 100 *m, combined with polymer matrix. Cylindrical specimens with diameter of 15 mm and length of 7 mm were prepared and loaded using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus to assess the relation between the composition of the material and its shock wave attenuation capacity.

Keywords: Blast, foam, microsphere, resin.

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1814 Modeling of Steady State Creep in Thick-Walled Cylinders under Internal Pressure

Authors: Tejeet Singh, Ishavneet Singh

Abstract:

The present study focused on carrying out the creep analysis in an isotropic thick-walled composite cylindrical pressure vessel composed of aluminum matrix reinforced with silicon-carbide in particulate form. The creep behavior of the composite material has been described by the threshold stress based creep law. The values of stress exponent appearing in the creep law were selected as 3, 5 and 8. The constitutive equations were developed using well known von-Mises yield criteria. Models were developed to find out the distributions of creep stress and strain rate in thick-walled composite cylindrical pressure vessels under internal pressure. In order to obtain the stress distributions in the cylinder, the equilibrium equation of the continuum mechanics and the constitutive equations are solved together. It was observed that the radial stress, tangential stress and axial stress increases along with the radial distance. The cross-over was also obtained almost at the middle region of cylindrical vessel for tangential and axial stress for different values of stress exponent. The strain rates were also decreasing in nature along the entire radius.

Keywords: Steady state creep, composite, cylinder, pressure.

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1813 Improved Computational Efficiency of Machine Learning Algorithms Based on Evaluation Metrics to Control the Spread of Coronavirus in the UK

Authors: Swathi Ganesan, Nalinda Somasiri, Rebecca Jeyavadhanam, Gayathri Karthick

Abstract:

The COVID-19 crisis presents a substantial and critical hazard to worldwide health. Since the occurrence of the disease in late January 2020 in the UK, the number of infected people confirmed to acquire the illness has increased tremendously across the country, and the number of individuals affected is undoubtedly considerably high. The purpose of this research is to figure out a predictive machine learning (ML) archetypal that could forecast the COVID-19 cases within the UK. This study concentrates on the statistical data collected from 31st January 2020 to 31st March 2021 in the United Kingdom. Information on total COVID-19 cases registered, new cases encountered on a daily basis, total death registered, and patients’ death per day due to Coronavirus is collected from World Health Organization (WHO). Data preprocessing is carried out to identify any missing values, outliers, or anomalies in the dataset. The data are split into 8:2 ratio for training and testing purposes to forecast future new COVID-19 cases. Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), and linear regression (LR) algorithms are chosen to study the model performance in the prediction of new COVID-19 cases. From the evaluation metrics such as r-squared value and mean squared error, the statistical performance of the model in predicting the new COVID-19 cases is evaluated. RF outperformed the other two ML algorithms with a training accuracy of 99.47% and testing accuracy of 98.26% when n = 30. The mean square error obtained for RF is 4.05e11, which is lesser compared to the other predictive models used for this study. From the experimental analysis, RF algorithm can perform more effectively and efficiently in predicting the new COVID-19 cases, which could help the health sector to take relevant control measures for the spread of the virus.

Keywords: COVID-19, machine learning, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, linear regression, support vector machine, random forest.

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1812 Counterpropagation Neural Network for Solving Power Flow Problem

Authors: Jayendra Krishna, Laxmi Srivastava

Abstract:

Power flow (PF) study, which is performed to determine the power system static states (voltage magnitudes and voltage angles) at each bus to find the steady state operating condition of a system, is very important and is the most frequently carried out study by power utilities for power system planning, operation and control. In this paper, a counterpropagation neural network (CPNN) is proposed to solve power flow problem under different loading/contingency conditions for computing bus voltage magnitudes and angles of the power system. The counterpropagation network uses a different mapping strategy namely counterpropagation and provides a practical approach for implementing a pattern mapping task, since learning is fast in this network. The composition of the input variables for the proposed neural network has been selected to emulate the solution process of a conventional power flow program. The effectiveness of the proposed CPNN based approach for solving power flow is demonstrated by computation of bus voltage magnitudes and voltage angles for different loading conditions and single line-outage contingencies in IEEE 14-bus system.

Keywords: Admittance matrix, counterpropagation neural network, line outage contingency, power flow

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1811 The Evaluation and Application of FMEA in Sepahan Oil Co

Authors: Hekmatpanah M., Fadavinia, A.

Abstract:

Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is an effective technique for preventing potential problems and actions needed to error cause removal. On the other hand, the oil producing companies paly a critical role in the oil industry of Iran as a developing country out of which, Sepahan Oil Co. has a considerable contribution. The aim of this research is to show how FMEA could be applied and improve the quality of products at Sepahan Oil Co. For this purpose, the four liter production line of the company has been selected for investigation. The findings imply that the application of FMEA has reduced the scraps from 50000 ppm to 5000 ppm and has resulted in a 0.92 percent decrease of the oil waste.

Keywords: FMEA, Iran, Sepahan Oil Co., Canning, Waste, Scrap

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1810 Evaluation of a PSO Approach for Optimum Design of a First-Order Controllers for TCP/AQM Systems

Authors: Sana Testouri, Karim Saadaoui, Mohamed Benrejeb

Abstract:

This paper presents a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method for determining the optimal parameters of a first-order controller for TCP/AQM system. The model TCP/AQM is described by a second-order system with time delay. First, the analytical approach, based on the D-decomposition method and Lemma of Kharitonov, is used to determine the stabilizing regions of a firstorder controller. Second, the optimal parameters of the controller are obtained by the PSO algorithm. Finally, the proposed method is implemented in the Network Simulator NS-2 and compared with the PI controller.

Keywords: AQM, first-order controller, time delay, stability, PSO.

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