Search results for: System level model

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

Abstract:

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: Sajjad Hashemi, Seyyed Yasser Hashemi

Abstract:

In today's world, success of most systems depend on the use of new technologies and information technology (IT) which aimed to increase efficiency and satisfaction of users. One of the most important systems that use information technology to deliver services is the education system. But for educational services in the form of E-learning systems, hardware and software equipment should be containing high quality, which requires substantial investment. Because the vast majority of educational establishments can not invest in this area so the best way for them is reducing the costs and providing the E-learning services by using cloud computing. But according to the novelty of the cloud technology, it can create challenges and concerns that the most noted among them are security issues. Security concerns about cloud-based E-learning products are critical and security measures essential to protect valuable data of users from security vulnerabilities in products. Thus, the success of these products happened if customers meet security requirements then can overcome security threats. In this paper tried to explore cloud computing and its positive impact on E- learning and put main focus to identify security issues that related to cloud-based E-learning efforts which have been improve security and provide solutions in management challenges.

Keywords: Cloud computing, E-Learning, Security.

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Authors: P. D. Pastuszak

Abstract:

The present work is devoted to thermographic studies of curved composite panels (unidirectional GFRP) with subsurface defects. Various artificial defects, created by inserting PTFE stripe between individual layers of a laminate during manufacturing stage are studied. The analysis is conducted both with the use finite element method and experiments. To simulate transient heat transfer in 3D model with embedded various defect sizes, the ANSYS package is used. Pulsed Thermography combined with optical excitation source provides good results for flat surfaces. Composite structures are mostly used in complex components, e.g., pipes, corners and stiffeners. Local decrease of mechanical properties in these regions can have significant influence on strength decrease of the entire structure. Application of active procedures of thermography to defect detection and evaluation in this type of elements seems to be more appropriate that other NDT techniques. Nevertheless, there are various uncertainties connected with correct interpretation of acquired data. In this paper, important factors concerning Infrared Thermography measurements of curved surfaces in the form of cylindrical panels are considered. In addition, temperature effects on the surface resulting from complex geometry and embedded and real defect are also presented.

Keywords: Active thermography, finite element analysis, composite, curved structures, defects.

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Authors: Jingjing Lan, Jun Yu, Muthukumaraswamy Annamalai Arasu

Abstract:

This paper presents a digital non-linear pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller in a high-voltage (HV) buck-boost DC-DC converter for the piezoelectric transducer of the down-hole acoustic telemetry system. The proposed design controls the generation of output signal with voltage higher than the supply voltage and is targeted to work under high temperature. To minimize the power consumption and silicon area, a simple and efficient design scheme is employed to develop the PWM controller. The proposed PWM controller consists of serial to parallel (S2P) converter, data assign block, a mode and duty cycle controller (MDC), linearly PWM (LPWM) and noise shaper, pulse generator and clock generator. To improve the reliability of circuit operation at higher temperature, this design is fabricated with the 1.0-μm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS process. The implementation results validated that the proposed design has the advantages of smaller size, lower power consumption and robust thermal stability.

Keywords: DC-DC power conversion, digital control, high temperatures, pulse-width modulation.

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Authors: Zahra Morshedi

Abstract:

Environmental considerations have become an integral part of developmental thinking and decision making in many countries. It is growing rapidly in importance as a discipline of its own. Preventive approaches have been used at the evolutional process of environmental management as a broad and dynamic system for dealing with pollution and environmental degradation. In this regard, Environmental Assessment as an activity for identification and prediction of project’s impacts carried out in the world and its legal significance dates back to late 1960. In Iran, according to the Article 2 of Environmental Protection Act, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should be prepared for seven categories of project. This article has been actively implementing by Department of Environment at 1997. World Bank in 1989 attempted to introducing application of Environmental Assessment for making decision about projects which are required financial assistance in developing countries. So, preparing EIA for obtaining World Bank loan was obligated. Alborz Project is one of the World Bank Projects in Iran which is environmentally significant. Seven out of ten W.B safeguard policies were considered at this project. In this paper, Alborz project, objectives, safeguard policies and role of environmental management will be elaborated

Keywords: AILWMP, EIA, Environmental Management, Safeguard Policies.

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Authors: Ahmad Tariq Sheikh, Shahzad Amin Sheikh

Abstract:

A new distance-adjusted approach is proposed in which static square contours are defined around an estimated symbol in a QAM constellation, which create regions that correspond to fixed step sizes and weighting factors. As a result, the equalizer tap adjustment consists of a linearly weighted sum of adaptation criteria that is scaled by a variable step size. This approach is the basis of two new algorithms: the Variable step size Square Contour Algorithm (VSCA) and the Variable step size Square Contour Decision-Directed Algorithm (VSDA). The proposed schemes are compared with existing blind equalization algorithms in the SCA family in terms of convergence speed, constellation eye opening and residual ISI suppression. Simulation results for 64-QAM signaling over empirically derived microwave radio channels confirm the efficacy of the proposed algorithms. An RTL implementation of the blind adaptive equalizer based on the proposed schemes is presented and the system is configured to operate in VSCA error signal mode, for square QAM signals up to 64-QAM.

Keywords: Adaptive filtering, Blind Equalization, Square Contour Algorithm.

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Authors: T. Y. Liu, C. H Lin., Y. M Ferng

Abstract:

Wind energy is one of the clean renewable energy. However, the low frequency (20-200HZ) noise generated from the wind turbine blades, which bothers the residents, becomes the major problem to be developed. It is useful for predicting the aerodynamic noise by flow field and pressure distribution analysis on the wind turbine blades. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to use different turbulence models to analyze the flow field and pressure distributions of the wing blades.

Three-dimensional Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the flow field was used to calculate the flow phenomena for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine rotor. Two different flow cases with different wind speeds were investigated: 7m/s with 72rpm and 15m/s with 72rpm.

Four kinds of RANS-based turbulence models, Standard k-ε, Realizable k-ε, SST k-ω, and v2f, were used to predict and analyze the results in the present work. The results show that the predictions on pressure distributions with SST k-ω and v2f turbulence models have good agreements with experimental data.

Keywords: Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine, turbulence model, noise.

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Authors: Ka Yan Chan

Abstract:

Cohabitation among couples has been increasingly common in recent decades. Nonetheless, insufficient attention was given to the impact of attachment on cohabitation. This study discussed the experience of cohabitation among women with insecure attachments by collecting qualitative data through semi-structured interviews. Through thematic analysis, the study explored the characteristics of the women, the formation of cohabitation, struggles, coping mechanisms, and the impacts of cohabitation on the women. Moreover, the influences of the family-of-origin on cohabitation and the needs of the women were explored. The findings indicated that insecure attachment and the family-of-origin had significant effects on cohabitation and the interaction among the cohabitating couples. Women with insecure attachments were more likely to enter cohabitation unconsciously and without discussing what cohabitation means for their relationship with their partners. The findings also suggested that committing to marriage was not the only method for the women to feel secure in the relationship. Instead, long-lasting love and care, as well as reliability from their partners, could satisfy their emotional needs. More importantly, the findings revealed that repairing attachment problems and dealing with challenges in life stage transition is associated with positive impacts on the cohabitation experience. Additionally, to meet the needs of diverse family structures and to provide all-rounded support for enhancing the wellbeing of individuals, cohabitants, and couples, a comprehensive intervention model of relationship enrichment was discussed. 

Keywords: cohabitation, family-of-origin, insecure attachment, relationship enrichment

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Authors: Christopher C. Ihueze, Charles C. Okpala, Christian E. Okafor, Peter O. Ogbobe

Abstract:

This paper focuses on robust design and optimization of industrial production wastes. Past literatures were reviewed to case study Clamason Industries Limited (CIL) - a leading ladder-tops manufacturer. A painstaking study of the firm-s practices at the shop floor revealed that Over-production, Waiting time, Excess inventory, and Defects are the major wastes that are impeding their progress and profitability. Design expert8 software was used to apply Taguchi robust design and response surface methodology in order to model, analyse and optimise the wastes cost in CIL. Waiting time and overproduction rank first and second in contributing to the costs of wastes in CIL. For minimal wastes cost the control factors of overproduction, waiting-time, defects and excess-inventory must be set at 0.30, 390.70, 4 and 55.70 respectively for CIL. The optimal value of cost of wastes for the months studied was 22.3679. Finally, a recommendation was made that for the company to enhance their profitability and customer satisfaction, they must adopt the Shingeo Shingo-s Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED), which will immediately tackle the waste of waiting by drastically reducing their setup time.

Keywords: Excess-inventory, setup time, single minute exchange of dies, optimal value, over-production, robust design.

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Authors: Ibrahim F. Elbaba, Paul T. Williams

Abstract:

Hydrogen is regarded to play an important role in future energy systems because it can be produced from abundant resources and its combustion only generates water. The disposal of waste tyres is a major problem in environmental management throughout the world. The use of waste materials as a source of hydrogen is particularly of interest in that it would also solve a waste treatment problem. There is much interest in the use of alternative feedstocks for the production of hydrogen since more than 95% of current production is from fossil fuels. The pyrolysis of waste tyres for the production of liquid fuels, activated carbons and gases has been extensively researched. However, combining pyrolysis with gasification is a novel process that can gasify the gaseous products from pyrolysis. In this paper, an experimental investigation into the production of hydrogen and other gases from the bench scale pyrolysis-gasification of tyres has been investigated. Experiments were carried using a two stage system consisting of pyrolysis of the waste tyres followed by catalytic steam gasification of the evolved gases and vapours in a second reactor. Experiments were conducted at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C using Ni/Al2O3 as a catalyst. The results showed that there was a dramatic increase in gas yield and the potential H2 production when the gasification temperature was increased from 600 to 900 oC. Overall, the process showed that high yields of hydrogen can be produced from waste tyres.

Keywords: Catalyst, Hydrogen, Pyrolysis, Gasification, Tyre, Waste

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Authors: N. Akhavan, Sh. Tavousi Tafreshi, A. Ghasemi

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Seismic behavior of irregular structures through the past decades indicate that the stated buildings do not have appropriate performance. Among these subjects, the current paper has investigated the behavior of special steel moment frame with different configuration of soft storey vertically. The analyzing procedure has been evaluated with respect to incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), and numeric process was carried out by OpenSees finite element analysis package. To this end, nine 2D steel frames, with different numbers of stories and irregularity positions, which were subjected to seven pairs of ground motion records orthogonally with respect to Ibarra-Krawinkler deterioration model, have been investigated. This paper aims at evaluating the response of two-dimensional buildings incorporating soft storey which subjected to bi-directional seismic excitation. The IDAs were implemented for different stages of PGA with various ground motion records, in order to determine maximum inter-storey drift ratio. According to statistical elements and fracture range (standard deviation), the vulnerability or exceedance from above-mentioned cases has been examined. For this reason, fragility curves for different placement of soft storey in the first, middle and the last floor for 4, 8, and 16 storey buildings have been generated and compared properly.

Keywords: Special steel moment frame, soft storey, incremental dynamic analysis, fragility curve.

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Authors: Hui-Chuan Chu, Min-Ju Liao, Wei-Kai Cheng, William Wei-Jen Tsai, Yuh-Min Chen

Abstract:

Avoiding learning failures in mathematics e-learning environments caused by emotional problems in students with autism has become an important topic for combining of special education with information and communications technology. This study presents an adaptive emotional adjustment model in mathematics e-learning for students with autism, emphasizing the lack of emotional perception in mathematics e-learning systems. In addition, an emotion classification for students with autism was developed by inducing emotions in mathematical learning environments to record changes in the physiological signals and facial expressions of students. Using these methods, 58 emotional features were obtained. These features were then processed using one-way ANOVA and information gain (IG). After reducing the feature dimension, methods of support vector machines (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), and classification and regression trees (CART) were used to classify four emotional categories: baseline, happy, angry, and anxious. After testing and comparisons, in a situation without feature selection, the accuracy rate of the SVM classification can reach as high as 79.3-%. After using IG to reduce the feature dimension, with only 28 features remaining, SVM still has a classification accuracy of 78.2-%. The results of this research could enhance the effectiveness of eLearning in special education.

Keywords: Emotion classification, Physiological and facial Expression measures, Students with autism, Mathematics e-learning.

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Authors: A. Shayeghi, H. Shayeghi, H. Eimani Kalasar

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In recent years, tuned mass damper (TMD) control systems for civil engineering structures have attracted considerable attention. This paper emphasizes on the application of particle swarm application (PSO) to design and optimize the parameters of the TMD control scheme for achieving the best results in the reduction of the building response under earthquake excitations. The Integral of the Time multiplied Absolute value of the Error (ITAE) based on relative displacement of all floors in the building is taken as a performance index of the optimization criterion. The problem of robustly TMD controller design is formatted as an optimization problem based on the ITAE performance index to be solved using the PSO technique which has a story ability to find the most optimistic results. An 11- story realistic building, located in the city of Rasht, Iran is considered as a test system to demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed method. The results analysis through the time-domain simulation and some performance indices reveals that the designed PSO based TMD controller has an excellent capability in reduction of the seismically excited example building.

Keywords: TMD, Particle Swarm Optimization, Tall Buildings, Structural Dynamics.

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Authors: Sakulsri Srisaracam

Abstract:

Social media has become an important source of information for the public and the media profession. Some social issues raised on social media are picked up by journalists to report on other platforms. This relationship between social media and mainstream media can sometimes drive public debate or stimulate social movements. The question to examine is in what situations can social media conversations raise awareness and stimulate change on public issues. This study addresses the communication patterns of social media conversations driving covert issues into mainstream media and leading to social advocacy movements. In methodological terms, the study findings are based on a content analysis of Facebook, Twitter, news websites and television media reports on three different case studies – saving Bryde’s whale, protests against a government proposal to downsize the Office of Knowledge Management and Development in Thailand, and a dengue fever campaign. These case studies were chosen because they represent issues that most members of the public do not pay much attention to but social media conversations stimulated public debate and calls to action. This study found: 1) Collective social media conversations can stimulate public debate and encourage change at three levels – awareness, public debate, and action of policy and social change. The level depends on the communication patterns of online users and media coverage. 2) Patterns of communication have to be designed to combine social media conversations, online opinion leaders, mainstream media coverage and call to both online and offline action to motivate social change. Thus, this result suggests that social media is a powerful platform for collective communication and setting the agenda on public issues for mainstream media. However, for social change to succeed, social media should be used to mobilize online movements to move offline too.

Keywords: Public issue, social media conversation, social media, social movement.

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Authors: Kamaci O., Altunkaynak S.

Abstract:

Kepsut-Dursunbey volcanic field (KDVF) is located in NW Turkey and contains various products of the post-collisional Neogene magmatic activity. Two distinct volcanic suites have been recognized; the Kepsut volcanic suite (KVS) and the Dursunbey volcanic suite (DVS). The KVS includes basaltic trachyandesitebasaltic andesite-andesite lavas and associated pyroclastic rocks. The DVS consists of dacite-rhyodacite lavas and extensive pumice-ash fall and flow deposits. Petrographical features (i.e. existence of xenocrysts, glomerocrysts, and mixing-compatible textures) and mineral chemistry of phenocryst assemblages of both suites provide evidence for magma mixing/AFC. Calculated crystallization pressures and temperatures give values of 5.7–7.0 kbar and 927–982 °C for the KVS and 3.7–5.3 kbar and 783-787°C for the DVS, indicating separate magma reservoirs and crystallization in magma chambers at deep and mid crustal levels, respectively. These observations support the establishment and evolution of KDVF magma system promoted by episodic basaltic inputs which may generate and mix with crustal melts.

Keywords: mineral chemistry, mixing, basaltic inputs, NW Turkey

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Authors: M. Boulakroune, M. Challal, H. Louazene, S. Fentiz

Abstract:

This paper presents two types of microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) at microwave frequencies. The first one is a tunable BPF using planar patch resonators based on a varactor diode. The filter is formed by a triple mode circular patch resonator with two pairs of slots, in which the varactor diodes are connected. Indeed, this filter is initially centered at 2.4 GHz; the center frequency of the tunable patch filter could be tuned up to 1.8 GHz simultaneously with the bandwidth, reaching high tuning ranges. Lossless simulations were compared to those considering the substrate dielectric, conductor losses and the equivalent electrical circuit model of the tuning element in order to assess their effects. Within these variations, simulation results showed insertion loss better than 2 dB and return loss better than 10 dB over the passband. The second structure is a BPF for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications based on multiple-mode resonator (MMR) and rectangular-shaped defected ground structure (DGS). This filter, which is compact size of 25.2 x 3.8 mm2, provides in the pass band an insertion loss of 0.57 dB and a return loss greater than 12 dB. The proposed filters presents good performances and the simulation results are in satisfactory agreement with the experimentation ones reported elsewhere.

Keywords: Defected ground structure, varactor diode, microstrip bandpass filter, multiple-mode resonator.

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

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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: Youngji Yoo, Seung Hwan Park, Daewoong An, Sung-Shick Kim, Jun-Geol Baek

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The yield management system is very important to produce high-quality semiconductor chips in the semiconductor manufacturing process. In order to improve quality of semiconductors, various tests are conducted in the post fabrication (FAB) process. During the test process, large amount of data are collected and the data includes a lot of information about defect. In general, the defect on the wafer is the main causes of yield loss. Therefore, analyzing the defect data is necessary to improve performance of yield prediction. The wafer bin map (WBM) is one of the data collected in the test process and includes defect information such as the fail bit patterns. The fail bit has characteristics of spatial point patterns. Therefore, this paper proposes the feature extraction method using the spatial point pattern analysis. Actual data obtained from the semiconductor process is used for experiments and the experimental result shows that the proposed method is more accurately recognize the fail bit patterns.

Keywords: Semiconductor, wafer bin map (WBM), feature extraction, spatial point patterns, contour map.

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Authors: Meriem Benzarti, Mohamed Ben Tkaya, Cyril Pailler Mattei, Hassan Zahouani

Abstract:

Hair is a non homogenous complex material which can be associated with a polymer. It is made up 95% of Keratin. Hair has a great social significance for human beings. In the High Middle Ages, for example, long hairs have been reserved for kings and nobles. Most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial which can vary depending on ethnic origin or on age, hair colour for example can be a sign of ethnic ancestry or age (dark hair for Asiatic, blond hair for Caucasian and white hair for old people in general). In this context, different approaches have been conducted to determine the differences in mechanical properties and characterize the fracture topography at the surface of hair depending on its type and its age. A tensile testing machine was especially designed to achieve tensile tests on hair. This device is composed of a microdisplacement system and a force sensor whose peak load is limited to 3N. The curves and the values extracted from each experiment, allow us to compare the evolution of the mechanical properties from one hair to another. Observations with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and with an interferometer were made on different hairs. Thus, it is possible to access the cuticle state and the fracture topography for each category.

Keywords: Hair, relaxation test, SEM, interferometer, mechanical properties.

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Authors: Okay Gunes

Abstract:

In this article, a new method is proposed for the measuring of well-being inequality through a model composed of superimposing satisfaction waves. The displacement of households’ satisfactory state (i.e. satisfaction) is defined in a satisfaction string. The duration of the satisfactory state for a given period is measured in order to determine the relationship between utility and total satisfactory time, itself dependent on the density and tension of each satisfaction string. Thus, individual cardinal total satisfaction values are computed by way of a one-dimensional form for scalar sinusoidal (harmonic) moving wave function, using satisfaction waves with varying amplitudes and frequencies which allow us to measure wellbeing inequality. One advantage to using satisfaction waves is the ability to show that individual utility and consumption amounts would probably not commute; hence, it is impossible to measure or to know simultaneously the values of these observables from the dataset. Thus, we crystallize the problem by using a Heisenberg-type uncertainty resolution for self-adjoint economic operators. We propose to eliminate any estimation bias by correlating the standard deviations of selected economic operators; this is achieved by replacing the aforementioned observed uncertainties with households’ perceived uncertainties (i.e. corrected standard deviations) obtained through the logarithmic psychophysical law proposed by Weber and Fechner.

Keywords: Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, superimposing satisfaction waves, Weber–Fechner law, well-being inequality.

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Authors: Jiantao Weng, Yujie Zhao

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With the improvement of living quality and demand for nighttime activities in China, the current situation of outdoor lighting environment at night needs to be assessed. Lighting environment at night plays an important role to guarantee night safety. Two typical residential communities in Hangzhou were selected. A comprehensive test method of outdoor lighting environment at night was established. The road, fitness area, landscape, playground and entrance were included. Field measurements and questionnaires were conducted in these two residential communities. The characteristics of residents’ habits and the subjective evaluation on different aspects of outdoor lighting environment at night were collected via questionnaire. A safety evaluation system on the outdoor lighting environment at night in the residential community was established. The results show that there is a big difference in illumination in different areas. The lighting uniformities of roads cannot meet the requirement of lighting standard in China. Residents pay more attention to the lighting environment of the fitness area and road than others. This study can provide guidance for the design and management of outdoor lighting environment at night.

Keywords: Residential community, lighting environment, night, field measurement.

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Authors: Peerapong Uthansakul, Sakkarin Chaokuntod, Monthippa Uthansakul

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In literatures, many researches proposed various methods to reduce PAPR (Peak to Average Power Ratio). Among those, DSI (Dummy Sequence Insertion) is one of the most attractive methods for WiMAX systems because it does not require side information transmitted along with user data. However, the conventional DSI methods find dummy sequence by performing an iterative procedure until achieving PAPR under a desired threshold. This causes a significant delay on finding dummy sequence and also effects to the overall performances in WiMAX systems. In this paper, the new method based on DSI is proposed by finding dummy sequence without the need of iterative procedure. The fast DSI method can reduce PAPR without either delays or required side information. The simulation results confirm that the proposed method is able to carry out PAPR performances as similar to the other methods without any delays. In addition, the simulations of WiMAX system with adaptive modulations are also investigated to realize the use of proposed methods on various fading schemes. The results suggest the WiMAX designers to modify a new Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) criteria for adaptation.

Keywords: WiMAX, OFDM, PAPR, Dummy SequenceInsertion method.

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Authors: Alireza Osareh, Bita Shadgar

Abstract:

Segmenting the lungs in medical images is a challenging and important task for many applications. In particular, automatic segmentation of lung cavities from multiple magnetic resonance (MR) images is very useful for oncological applications such as radiotherapy treatment planning. However, distinguishing of the lung areas is not trivial due to largely changing lung shapes, low contrast and poorly defined boundaries. In this paper, we address lung segmentation problem from pulmonary magnetic resonance images and propose an automated method based on a robust regionaided geometric snake with a modified diffused region force into the standard geometric model definition. The extra region force gives the snake a global complementary view of the lung boundary information within the image which along with the local gradient flow, helps detect fuzzy boundaries. The proposed method has been successful in segmenting the lungs in every slice of 30 magnetic resonance images with 80 consecutive slices in each image. We present results by comparing our automatic method to manually segmented lung cavities provided by an expert radiologist and with those of previous works, showing encouraging results and high robustness of our approach.

Keywords: Active contours, breast cancer, fuzzy c-means segmentation, treatment planning.

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Authors: M.M. Al Emran Hasan, M.Ektesabi, A.Kapoor

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Recently electric vehicles are becoming popular as an alternative of conventional fossil fuel vehicles. Conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle uses fossil fuel which contributing a major part of overall carbon emission in the environment. Carbon and other green house gas emission are responsible for global warming and resulting climate change. It becomes vital to evaluate performance of vehicle based on emission. In this paper an effort has been made to depict the picture of emission caused by vehicle and scenario of Australia has taken into account. Effort has been made to compare the fossil based vehicle with electric vehicle in phases. The study also evaluates advancement in electric vehicle technology, required infrastructure for sustainability and future scope of developments. This paper also includes the evaluation of electric vehicle concept for pollution control and sustainable transport systems in future. This study can be a benchmark for development of electric vehicle as low carbon emission alternative for the cities of tomorrow.

Keywords: Electric Vehicle, Fossil Fuel, Internal CombustionEngine, Green House Gas, In wheel motor, Smart grid

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Authors: Himanshu V. Gajjar, Anish H. Gandhi, Harit K. Raval

Abstract:

Air bending is one of the important metal forming processes, because of its simplicity and large field application. Accuracy of analytical and empirical models reported for the analysis of bending processes is governed by simplifying assumption and do not consider the effect of dynamic parameters. Number of researches is reported on the finite element analysis (FEA) of V-bending, Ubending, and air V-bending processes. FEA of bending is found to be very sensitive to many physical and numerical parameters. FE models must be computationally efficient for practical use. Reported work shows the 3D FEA of air bending process using Hyperform LSDYNA and its comparison with, published 3D FEA results of air bending in Ansys LS-DYNA and experimental results. Observing the planer symmetry and based on the assumption of plane strain condition, air bending problem was modeled in 2D with symmetric boundary condition in width. Stress-strain results of 2D FEA were compared with 3D FEA results and experiments. Simplification of air bending problem from 3D to 2D resulted into tremendous reduction in the solution time with only marginal effect on stressstrain results. FE model simplification by studying the problem symmetry is more efficient and practical approach for solution of more complex large dimensions slow forming processes.

Keywords: Air V-bending, Finite element analysis, HyperformLS-DYNA, Planner symmetry.

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Authors: T. C. Manjunath, B. Bandyopadhyay

Abstract:

This paper deals with the design of a periodic output feedback controller for a flexible beam structure modeled with Timoshenko beam theory, Finite Element Method, State space methods and embedded piezoelectrics concept. The first 3 modes are considered in modeling the beam. The main objective of this work is to control the vibrations of the beam when subjected to an external force. Shear piezoelectric sensors and actuators are embedded into the top and bottom layers of a flexible aluminum beam structure, thus making it intelligent and self-adaptive. The composite beam is divided into 5 finite elements and the control actuator is placed at finite element position 1, whereas the sensor is varied from position 2 to 5, i.e., from the nearby fixed end to the free end. 4 state space SISO models are thus developed. Periodic Output Feedback (POF) Controllers are designed for the 4 SISO models of the same plant to control the flexural vibrations. The effect of placing the sensor at different locations on the beam is observed and the performance of the controller is evaluated for vibration control. Conclusions are finally drawn.

Keywords: Smart structure, Timoshenko beam theory, Periodic output feedback control, Finite Element Method, State space model, SISO, Embedded sensors and actuators, Vibration control.

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Authors: Thet Thet Han Yee, Su Su Win, Nyein Nyein Soe

Abstract:

Energy consumption is one of the indices in determining the levels of development of a nation. Therefore, availability of energy supply to all sectors of life in any country is crucial for its development. These exists shortage of all kinds of energy, particularly electricity which is badly needed for economic development. Electricity from the sun which is quite abundant in most of the developing countries is used in rural areas to meet basic electricity needs of a rural community. Today-s electricity supply in Myanmar is generated by fuel generators and hydroelectric power plants. However, far-flung areas which are away from National Grids cannot enjoy the electricity generated by these sources. Since Myanmar is a land of plentiful sunshine, especially in central and southern regions of the country, the first form of energy- solar energy could hopefully become the final solution to its energy supply problem. The direct conversion of solar energy into electricity using photovoltaic system has been receiving intensive installation not only in developed countries but also in developing countries. It is mainly intended to present solar energy potential and application in Myanmar. It is also wanted to get the benefits of using solar energy for people in remote areas which are not yet connected to the national grids because of the high price of fossil fuel.

Keywords: Electricity supply in Myanmar, National Grids, solarenergy.

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Authors: Sareh Rajabi, Taha Anjamrooz, Salwa Bheiry

Abstract:

Sustainability of construction projects is an important issue to be addressed since the sector will continue to be developed in the coming years, especially in developing countries. Thus, it is significant to discover approaches and solutions for improving sustainability. Currently, the construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources. This is the same in other countries in the Gulf region, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has limited natural resources such as water, electricity, etc. Recently, the UAE has taken several actions in order to implement sustainable initiatives within its construction industry. Within the industry, the contractors’ role is significant in promoting sustainable development by taking the responsibility to minimize their negative impacts on the environment and society, and maximize their economic distribution. In this research, sustainability will be studied as an important key to bring competitive advantages to contracting organizations. The contractors should understand the need to improve their sustainable performance in order to expand their business competitiveness. Competitiveness at the construction project level refers to a contractor’s ability to compete for a project. There is less focus on how to improve contractors’ competitiveness by implementing sustainable construction practices. Based on an inclusive literature review on the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness, this research will conduct a study of sustainable practice in the construction industry and the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness in order to develop a framework for evaluating how contractors can improve their competitiveness in terms of more efficient processes, enhancements in productivity, and lower costs of compliance in order to reduce the initial project cost and obtain market opportunities in the UAE. The research findings will provide a framework that can be a useful guideline for contractors to develop their sustainability policy, strategy and practice for meeting the increased requirements for sustainable development in construction.

Keywords: Sustainable construction practice, sustainability, competitiveness, construction industry, contractors.

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Authors: M. M. Qasaymeh, M. A. Khodeir

Abstract:

Subspace channel estimation methods have been studied widely, where the subspace of the covariance matrix is decomposed to separate the signal subspace from noise subspace. The decomposition is normally done by using either the eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) or the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the auto-correlation matrix (ACM). However, the subspace decomposition process is computationally expensive. This paper considers the estimation of the multipath slow frequency hopping (FH) channel using noise space based method. In particular, an efficient method is proposed to estimate the multipath time delays by applying multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm which is based on the null space extracted by the rank revealing LU (RRLU) factorization. As a result, precise information is provided by the RRLU about the numerical null space and the rank, (i.e., important tool in linear algebra). The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed novel method by approximately decreasing the computational complexity to the half as compared with RRQR methods keeping the same performance.

Keywords: Time Delay Estimation, RRLU, RRQR, MUSIC, LS-ESPRIT, LS-ESPRIT, Frequency Hopping.

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Authors: Kripesh Adhikari, Hamid Bouchachia, Hammadi Nait-Charif

Abstract:

Falls are one of the major causes of injury and death among elderly people aged 65 and above. A support system to identify such kind of abnormal activities have become extremely important with the increase in ageing population. Pose estimation is a challenging task and to add more to this, it is even more challenging when pose estimations are performed on challenging poses that may occur during fall. Location of the body provides a clue where the person is at the time of fall. This paper presents a vision-based tracking strategy where available joints are grouped into three different feature points depending upon the section they are located in the body. The three feature points derived from different joints combinations represents the upper region or head region, mid-region or torso and lower region or leg region. Tracking is always challenging when a motion is involved. Hence the idea is to locate the regions in the body in every frame and consider it as the tracking strategy. Grouping these joints can be beneficial to achieve a stable region for tracking. The location of the body parts provides a crucial information to distinguish normal activities from falls.

Keywords: Fall detection, machine learning, deep learning, pose estimation, tracking.

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