Search results for: initial stress
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2061

Search results for: initial stress

531 Preservation of Coconut Toddy Sediments as a Leavening Agent for Bakery Products

Authors: B. R. Madushan, S. B. Navaratne, I. Wickramasinghe

Abstract:

Toddy sediment (TS) was cultured in a PDA medium to determine initial yeast load, and also it was undergone sun, shade, solar, dehumidified cold air (DCA) and hot air oven (at 400, 500 and 60oC) drying with a view to preserve viability of yeast. Thereafter, this study was conducted according to two factor factorial design in order to determine best preservation method. Therein the dried TS from the best drying method was taken and divided into two portions. One portion was mixed with 3: 7 ratio of TS: rice flour and the mixture was divided in to two again. While one portion was kept under in house condition the other was in a refrigerator. Same procedure was followed to the rest portion of TS too but it was at the same ratio of corn flour. All treatments were vacuum packed in triple laminate pouches and the best preservation method was determined in terms of leavening index (LI). The TS obtained from the best preservation method was used to make foods (bread and hopper) and organoleptic properties of it were evaluated against same of ordinary foods using sensory panel with a five point hedonic scale. Results revealed that yeast load or fresh TS was 58×106 CFU/g. The best drying method in preserving viability of yeast was DCA because LI of this treatment (96%) is higher than that of other three treatments. Organoleptic properties of foods prepared from best preservation method are as same as ordinary foods according to Duo trio test.

Keywords: Biological leavening agent, coconut toddy, fermentation, yeast.

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530 Migration Loneliness and Family Links: A Case Narrative

Authors: R.Narchal

Abstract:

Culture and family structure provide a sense security. Further, the chrono, macro and micro contexts of development influence developmental transitions and timetable particularly owing to variations in the macrosystem associated with non normative life events like migration. Migration threatens family links, security and attachment bonds. Rising migratory trends have prompted an increased interest in migration consequences on familial bonds, developmental autonomy, socialization process, and sense of security. This paper takes a narrative approach and applies the attachment paradigm from a lifespan perspective, to examine the settlement experiences of an India-born migrant student in Sydney, Australia. It focuses on her quest to preserve family ties; her remote secure base; her continual struggle to balance dependency and autonomy, a major developmental milestone. As positional parental power is culturally more potent in the Indian society, the paper therefore raises some important concerns related to cultural expectations, adaptation, acculturative stress and sense of security.

Keywords: Attachment, family security, migration & loneliness, narrative, remote secure base

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529 Mathematical Modeling of Drip Emitter Discharge of Trapezoidal Labyrinth Channel

Authors: N. Philipova

Abstract:

The influence of the geometric parameters of trapezoidal labyrinth channel on the emitter discharge is investigated in this work. The impact of the dentate angle, the dentate spacing, and the dentate height are studied among the geometric parameters of the labyrinth channel. Numerical simulations of the water flow movement are performed according to central cubic composite design using Commercial codes GAMBIT and FLUENT. Inlet pressure of the dripper is set up to be 1 bar. The objective of this paper is to derive a mathematical model of the emitter discharge depending on the dentate angle, the dentate spacing, the dentate height of the labyrinth channel. As a result, the obtained mathematical model is a second-order polynomial reporting 2-way interactions among the geometric parameters. The dentate spacing has the most important and positive influence on the emitter discharge, followed by the simultaneous impact of the dentate spacing and the dentate height. The dentate angle in the observed interval has no significant effect on the emitter discharge. The obtained model can be used as a basis for a future emitter design.

Keywords: Drip irrigation, labyrinth channel hydrodynamics, numerical simulations, Reynolds stress model.

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528 Features of Soil Formation in the North of Western Siberia in Cryogenic Conditions

Authors: Tatiana V. Raudina, Sergey P. Kulizhskiy

Abstract:

A large part of Russia is located in permafrost areas. These areas are widely used because there are concentrated valuable natural resources. Therefore to explore of cryosols it is important due to the significant increase of anthropogenic stress as well as the problem of global climate change. In the north of Western Siberia permafrost phenomena is widespread. Permafrost as a factor of soil formation and cryogenesis as a process have a great impact on the soil formation of these areas. Based on the research results of permafrost-affected soils tundra landscapes formed in the central part of the Tazovskiy Peninsula in cryogenic conditions, data were obtained which characterize the morphological features of soils. The specificity of soil cover distribution and manifestation of soil-forming processes within the study area are noted. Permafrost features such as frost cracking, cryoturbation, thixotropy, movement of humus are formed. The formation of these features is increased with the development of the territory. As a consequence, there is a change in the components of the environment and the destruction of the soil cover.

Keywords: Gleyed and nongleyed soils, permafrost, soil cryogenesis (pedocryogenesis), soil-forming macroprocesses.

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527 An Improved Learning Algorithm based on the Conjugate Gradient Method for Back Propagation Neural Networks

Authors: N. M. Nawi, M. R. Ransing, R. S. Ransing

Abstract:

The conjugate gradient optimization algorithm usually used for nonlinear least squares is presented and is combined with the modified back propagation algorithm yielding a new fast training multilayer perceptron (MLP) algorithm (CGFR/AG). The approaches presented in the paper consist of three steps: (1) Modification on standard back propagation algorithm by introducing gain variation term of the activation function, (2) Calculating the gradient descent on error with respect to the weights and gains values and (3) the determination of the new search direction by exploiting the information calculated by gradient descent in step (2) as well as the previous search direction. The proposed method improved the training efficiency of back propagation algorithm by adaptively modifying the initial search direction. Performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing to the conjugate gradient algorithm from neural network toolbox for the chosen benchmark. The results show that the number of iterations required by the proposed method to converge is less than 20% of what is required by the standard conjugate gradient and neural network toolbox algorithm.

Keywords: Back-propagation, activation function, conjugategradient, search direction, gain variation.

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526 Thermodynamic Approach of Lanthanide-Iron Double Oxides Formation

Authors: Vera Varazashvili, Murman Tsarakhov, Tamar Mirianashvili, Teimuraz Pavlenishvili, Tengiz Machaladze, Mzia Khundadze

Abstract:

Standard Gibbs energy of formation ΔGfor(298.15) of lanthanide-iron double oxides of garnet-type crystal structure R3Fe5O12 - RIG (R – are rare earth ions) from initial oxides are evaluated. The calculation is based on the data of standard entropies S298.15 and standard enthalpies ΔH298.15 of formation of compounds which are involved in the process of garnets synthesis. Gibbs energy of formation is presented as temperature function ΔGfor(T) for the range 300-1600K. The necessary starting thermodynamic data were obtained from calorimetric study of heat capacity – temperature functions and by using the semi-empirical method for calculation of ΔH298.15 of formation. Thermodynamic functions for standard temperature – enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs energy - are recommended as reference data for technological evaluations. Through the structural series of rare earth-iron garnets the correlation between thermodynamic properties and characteristics of lanthanide ions are elucidated.

Keywords: Calorimetry, entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity, gibbs energy of formation, rare earth iron garnets.

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525 Scale Development for Measuring E-Service Quality in Banking

Authors: Vivek Agrawal, Vikas Tripathi, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

This study examines several critical dimensions of eservice quality overlooked in the existing literature and proposes a model and instrument framework for measuring customer perceived e-service quality in the banking sector. The initial design was derived from a pool of instrument dimensions and their items from the existing literature review by content analysis. Based on focused group discussion, nine dimensions were extracted. An exploratory factor analysis approach was applied to data from a survey of 323 respondents. The instrument has been designed specifically for the banking sector. Research data was collected from bank customers who use electronic banking in a developing economy. A nine-factor instrument has been proposed to measure the e-service quality. The instrument has been checked for reliability. The validity and sample place limited the applicability of the instrument across economies and service categories. Future research must be conducted to check the validity. This instrument can help bankers in developing economies like India to measure the e-service quality and make improvements. The present study offers a systematic procedure that provides insights on to the conceptual and empirical comprehension of customer perceived e-service quality and its constituents.

Keywords: Testing, instrument, e-service quality, factor analysis.

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524 An Improved K-Means Algorithm for Gene Expression Data Clustering

Authors: Billel Kenidra, Mohamed Benmohammed

Abstract:

Data mining technique used in the field of clustering is a subject of active research and assists in biological pattern recognition and extraction of new knowledge from raw data. Clustering means the act of partitioning an unlabeled dataset into groups of similar objects. Each group, called a cluster, consists of objects that are similar between themselves and dissimilar to objects of other groups. Several clustering methods are based on partitional clustering. This category attempts to directly decompose the dataset into a set of disjoint clusters leading to an integer number of clusters that optimizes a given criterion function. The criterion function may emphasize a local or a global structure of the data, and its optimization is an iterative relocation procedure. The K-Means algorithm is one of the most widely used partitional clustering techniques. Since K-Means is extremely sensitive to the initial choice of centers and a poor choice of centers may lead to a local optimum that is quite inferior to the global optimum, we propose a strategy to initiate K-Means centers. The improved K-Means algorithm is compared with the original K-Means, and the results prove how the efficiency has been significantly improved.

Keywords: Microarray data mining, biological pattern recognition, partitional clustering, k-means algorithm, centroid initialization.

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523 Operational Risk – Scenario Analysis

Authors: Milan Rippel, Petr Teply

Abstract:

This paper focuses on operational risk measurement techniques and on economic capital estimation methods. A data sample of operational losses provided by an anonymous Central European bank is analyzed using several approaches. Loss Distribution Approach and scenario analysis method are considered. Custom plausible loss events defined in a particular scenario are merged with the original data sample and their impact on capital estimates and on the financial institution is evaluated. Two main questions are assessed – What is the most appropriate statistical method to measure and model operational loss data distribution? and What is the impact of hypothetical plausible events on the financial institution? The g&h distribution was evaluated to be the most suitable one for operational risk modeling. The method based on the combination of historical loss events modeling and scenario analysis provides reasonable capital estimates and allows for the measurement of the impact of extreme events on banking operations.

Keywords: operational risk, scenario analysis, economic capital, loss distribution approach, extreme value theory, stress testing

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522 Prooxidant Effect of the Crude Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Ficus odorata Blanco Merr. in vitro: It’s Medical Significance

Authors: Librado A. Santiago, Anna Beatriz R. Mayor

Abstract:

Alongside with antioxidant, pro-oxidant activity is also observed in phytochemical compounds. In the study, Ficus odorata, an endemic medicinal plant in the Philippines, was screened for the potential medical application of its pro-oxidant activity.

Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of terpenes, glycosides and phenolic acids. The crude extract was found to contain low gallic acid and quercetin equivalence. The TLC chromatogram of the crude extract showed that none of the 11 spots obtained has antioxidant activity nor correspond to gallic acid and quercetin standards. Experiments showed that the crude extract has stimulatory activity towards DPPH radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and nitric oxide. Moreover, the extract exhibited a low ferric reducing power.

The prooxidant activity was evident in the crude ethanolic leaf extract of F. odorata, which may provide a better understanding of the plant’s pharmacological importance in the prevention of diseases.

Keywords: Ficus odorata Blanco, Free Radicals, Oxidative Stress, Prooxidant, Antioxidant.

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521 Sweet Corn Water Productivity under Several Deficit Irrigation Regimes Applied during Vegetative Growth Stage using Treated Wastewater as Water Irrigation Source

Authors: Hirich A., Rami A., Laajaj K., Choukr-Allah R., Jacobsen S-E., El youssfi L., El Omari H.

Abstract:

Yield and Crop Water Productivity are crucial issues in sustainable agriculture, especially in high-demand resource crops such as sweet corn. This study was conducted to investigate agronomic responses such as plant growth, yield and soil parameters (EC and Nitrate accumulation) to several deficit irrigation treatments (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0% of ETm) applied during vegetative growth stage, rainfed treatment was also tested. The finding of this research indicates that under deficit irrigation during vegetative growth stage applying 75% of ETm lead to increasing of 19.4% in terms of fresh ear yield, 9.4% in terms of dry grain yield, 10.5% in terms of number of ears per plant, 11.5% for the 1000 grains weight and 19% in terms of crop water productivity compared with fully irrigated treatment. While those parameters in addition to root, shoot and plant height has been affected by deficit irrigation during vegetative growth stage when increasing water stress degree more than 50% of ETm.

Keywords: Leaf area, yield, crop water productivity, water saving

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520 Clustering Categorical Data Using the K-Means Algorithm and the Attribute’s Relative Frequency

Authors: Semeh Ben Salem, Sami Naouali, Moetez Sallami

Abstract:

Clustering is a well known data mining technique used in pattern recognition and information retrieval. The initial dataset to be clustered can either contain categorical or numeric data. Each type of data has its own specific clustering algorithm. In this context, two algorithms are proposed: the k-means for clustering numeric datasets and the k-modes for categorical datasets. The main encountered problem in data mining applications is clustering categorical dataset so relevant in the datasets. One main issue to achieve the clustering process on categorical values is to transform the categorical attributes into numeric measures and directly apply the k-means algorithm instead the k-modes. In this paper, it is proposed to experiment an approach based on the previous issue by transforming the categorical values into numeric ones using the relative frequency of each modality in the attributes. The proposed approach is compared with a previously method based on transforming the categorical datasets into binary values. The scalability and accuracy of the two methods are experimented. The obtained results show that our proposed method outperforms the binary method in all cases.

Keywords: Clustering, k-means, categorical datasets, pattern recognition, unsupervised learning, knowledge discovery.

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519 Improvement of Salt Tolerance in Saudi Arabian Wheat by Seed Priming or Foliar Spray with Salicylic Acid

Authors: Saad M. Howladar, Mike Dennett

Abstract:

The effect of exogenous application; seed priming or foliar spraying of salicylic acid (SA) on Yecora Rojo and Paragon wheat cv. under NaCl-salinity. Gas exchange parameters, growth parameters, yield and yield components were reduced in both cultivars under salinity stress with foliar spray and soaking seeds. Exogenous application of SA through foliar spraying or seed soaking showed a slight increases or decreases with the application method or between cultivars. SA foliar spraying exhibited a slight improvement over SA seed soaking in most parameters, particularly in Paragon. Although, seed soaking was less effective than foliar spraying, it was a slightly better with Yecora Rojo in some parameters. However, the low SA concentration; 0.5mM tended to improve most parameters in both cultivars. From data of the experiment, it has been concluded that the effect of SA depends on cultivar genotype and SA concentration.

Keywords: Salinity, Salicylic acid, Growth parameters, yield components, Wheat cultivars.

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518 Advantages of Composite Materials in Aircraft Structures

Authors: Muniyasamy Kalanchiam, Moorthy Chinnasamy

Abstract:

In the competitive environment of aircraft industries it becomes absolutely necessary to improve the efficiency, performance of the aircrafts to reduce the development and operating costs considerably, in order to capitalize the market. An important contribution to improve the efficiency and performance can be achieved by decreasing the aircraft weight through considerable usage of composite materials in primary aircraft structures. In this study, a type of composite material called Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) is explored for the usage is aircraft skin panels. Even though there were plenty of studies and research has been already carried out, here a practical example of an aircraft skin panel is taken and substantiated the benefits of composites material usage over the metallic skin panel. A crown skin panel of a commercial aircraft is designed using both metal and composite materials. Stress analysis has been carried out for both and margin of safety is estimated for the critical load cases. The skin panels are compared for manufacturing, tooling, assembly and cost parameters. Detail step by step comparison between metal and composite constructions are studied and results are tabulated for better understanding.

Keywords: Composites, CFRP, Aircraft Structure, Skin panel.

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517 Using Mean-Shift Tracking Algorithms for Real-Time Tracking of Moving Images on an Autonomous Vehicle Testbed Platform

Authors: Benjamin Gorry, Zezhi Chen, Kevin Hammond, Andy Wallace, Greg Michaelson

Abstract:

This paper describes new computer vision algorithms that have been developed to track moving objects as part of a long-term study into the design of (semi-)autonomous vehicles. We present the results of a study to exploit variable kernels for tracking in video sequences. The basis of our work is the mean shift object-tracking algorithm; for a moving target, it is usual to define a rectangular target window in an initial frame, and then process the data within that window to separate the tracked object from the background by the mean shift segmentation algorithm. Rather than use the standard, Epanechnikov kernel, we have used a kernel weighted by the Chamfer distance transform to improve the accuracy of target representation and localization, minimising the distance between the two distributions in RGB color space using the Bhattacharyya coefficient. Experimental results show the improved tracking capability and versatility of the algorithm in comparison with results using the standard kernel. These algorithms are incorporated as part of a robot test-bed architecture which has been used to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Keywords: Hume, functional programming, autonomous vehicle, pioneer robot, vision.

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516 Fighter Aircraft Evaluation and Selection Process Based on Triangular Fuzzy Numbers in Multiple Criteria Decision Making Analysis Using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)

Authors: C. Ardil

Abstract:

This article presents a multiple criteria evaluation approach to uncertainty, vagueness, and imprecision analysis for ranking alternatives with fuzzy data for decision making using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The fighter aircraft evaluation and selection decision making problem is modeled in a fuzzy environment with triangular fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy decision information related to the fighter aircraft selection problem is taken into account in ordering the alternatives and selecting the best candidate. The basic fuzzy TOPSIS procedure steps transform fuzzy decision matrices into matrices of alternatives evaluated according to all decision criteria. A practical numerical example illustrates the proposed approach to the fighter aircraft selection problem.

Keywords: triangular fuzzy number (TFN), multiple criteria decision making analysis, decision making, aircraft selection, MCDMA, fuzzy TOPSIS

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515 Left Ventricular Model to Study the Combined Viscoelastic, Heart Rate, and Size Effects

Authors: Elie H. Karam, Antoine B. Abche

Abstract:

It is known that the heart interacts with and adapts to its venous and arterial loading conditions. Various experimental studies and modeling approaches have been developed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. This paper presents a model of the left ventricle derived based on nonlinear stress-length myocardial characteristics integrated over truncated ellipsoidal geometry, and second-order dynamic mechanism for the excitation-contraction coupling system. The results of the model presented here describe the effects of the viscoelastic damping element of the electromechanical coupling system on the hemodynamic response. Different heart rates are considered to study the pacing effects on the performance of the left-ventricle against constant preload and afterload conditions under various damping conditions. The results indicate that the pacing process of the left ventricle has to take into account, among other things, the viscoelastic damping conditions of the myofilament excitation-contraction process. The effects of left ventricular dimensions on the hemdynamic response have been examined. These effects are found to be different at different viscoelastic and pacing conditions.

Keywords: Myocardial sarcomere, cardiac pump, excitationcontractioncoupling, viscoelasicity

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514 The Significant Effect of Wudu’ and Zikr in the Controlling of Emotional Pressure Using Biofeedback Emwave Technique

Authors: Mohd Anuar Awang Idris, Muhammad Nubli Abdul Wahab, Nora Yusma Mohamed Yusoff

Abstract:

Wudu’ (Ablution) and Zikr are amongst some of the spiritual tools which may help an individual control his mind, emotion and attitude. These tools are deemed to be able to deliver a positive impact on an individual’s psychophysiology. The main objective of this research is to determine the effects of Wudu’ (Ablution) and Zikr therapy using the biofeedback emWave application and technology. For this research, 13 students were selected as samples from the students’ representative body at the University Tenaga National, Malaysia. The DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) questionnaire was used to help with the assessment and measurement of each student’s ability in controlling his or her emotions before and after the therapies. The biofeedback emWave technology was utilized to monitor the student’s psychophysiology level. In addition, the data obtained from the Heart rate variability (HRV) test have also been used to affirm that Wudu’ and Zikr had had significant impacts on the student’s success in controlling his or her emotional pressure.

Keywords: Biofeedback emWave, emotion, psychophysiology, wudu’, zikr.

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513 Numerical Investigations on Dynamic Stall of a Pitching-Plunging Helicopter Blade Airfoil

Authors: Xie Kai, Laith K. Abbas, Chen Dongyang, Yang Fufeng, Rui Xiaoting

Abstract:

Effect of plunging motion on the pitch oscillating NACA0012 airfoil is investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A simulation model based on overset grid technology and k - ω shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model is established, and the numerical simulation results are compared with available experimental data and other simulations. Two cases of phase angle φ = 0, μ which represents the phase difference between the pitching and plunging motions of an airfoil are performed. Airfoil vortex generation, moving, and shedding are discussed in detail. Good agreements have been achieved with the available literature. The upward plunging motion made the equivalent angle of attack less than the actual one during pitching analysis. It is observed that the formation of the stall vortex is suppressed, resulting in a decrease in the lift coefficient and a delay of the stall angle. However, the downward plunging motion made the equivalent angle of attack higher the actual one.

Keywords: Dynamic stall, pitching-plunging, computational fluid dynamics, helicopter blade rotor, airfoil.

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512 Minimum-Fuel Optimal Trajectory for Reusable First-Stage Rocket Landing Using Particle Swarm Optimization

Authors: Kevin Spencer G. Anglim, Zhenyu Zhang, Qingbin Gao

Abstract:

Reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) present a more environmentally-friendly approach to accessing space when compared to traditional launch vehicles that are discarded after each flight. This paper studies the recyclable nature of RLVs by presenting a solution method for determining minimum-fuel optimal trajectories using principles from optimal control theory and particle swarm optimization (PSO). This problem is formulated as a minimum-landing error powered descent problem where it is desired to move the RLV from a fixed set of initial conditions to three different sets of terminal conditions. However, unlike other powered descent studies, this paper considers the highly nonlinear effects caused by atmospheric drag, which are often ignored for studies on the Moon or on Mars. Rather than optimizing the controls directly, the throttle control is assumed to be bang-off-bang with a predetermined thrust direction for each phase of flight. The PSO method is verified in a one-dimensional comparison study, and it is then applied to the two-dimensional cases, the results of which are illustrated.

Keywords: Minimum-fuel optimal trajectory, particle swarm optimization, reusable rocket, SpaceX.

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511 Modeling and Simulation of Two-Phase Interleaved Boost Converter Using Open-Source Software Scilab/Xcos

Authors: Yin Yin Phyo, Tun Lin Naing

Abstract:

This paper investigated the simulation of two-phase interleaved boost converter (IBC) with free and open-source software Scilab/Xcos. By using interleaved method, it can reduce current stress on components, components size, input current ripple and output voltage ripple. The required mathematical model is obtained from the equivalent circuit of its different four modes of operation for simulation. The equivalent circuits are considered in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The average values of the system variables are derived from the state-space equation to find the equilibrium point. Scilab is now becoming more and more popular among students, engineers and scientists because it is open-source software and free of charge. It gives a great convenience because it has powerful computation and simulation function. The waveforms of output voltage, input current and inductors current are obtained by using Scilab/Xcos.

Keywords: Two-phase boost converter, continuous conduction mode, free and open-source, interleaved method, dynamic simulation.

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510 Molecular Dynamic Simulation and Receptor-based Pharmacophore Modeling on Human Renin for Discovery of Novel Inhibitors

Authors: Chanin Park, Sundarapandian Thangapandian, Yuno Lee, Minky Son, Shalini John, Young-sik Sohn, Keun Woo Lee

Abstract:

Hypertension is characterized with stress on the heart and blood vessels thus increasing the risk of heart attack and renal diseases. The Renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a major role in blood pressure control. Renin is the enzyme that controls the RAS at the rate-limiting step. Our aim is to develop new drug-like leads which can inhibit renin and thereby emerge as therapeutics for hypertension. To achieve this, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and receptor-based pharmacophore modeling were implemented, and three rennin-inhibitor complex structures were selected based on IC50 value and scaffolds of inhibitors. Three pharmacophore models were generated considering conformations induced by inhibitor. The compounds mapped to these models were selected and subjected to drug-like screening. The identified hits were docked into the active site of renin. Finally, hit1 satisfying the binding mode and interaction energy was selected as possible lead candidate to be used in novel renin inhibitors.

Keywords: Renin inhibitor, Molecular dynamics simulation, Structure-based pharmacophore modeling

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509 Determination of Strain Rate Sensitivity (SRS) for Grain Size Variants on Nanocrystalline Material Produced by ARB and ECAP

Authors: P. B. Sob, A. A. Alugongo, T. B. Tengen

Abstract:

Mechanical behavior of 6082T6 aluminum is investigated at different temperatures. The strain rate sensitivity is investigated at different temperatures on the grain size variants. The sensitivity of the measured grain size variants on 3-D grain is discussed. It is shown that the strain rate sensitivities are negative for the grain size variants during the deformation of nanostructured materials. It is also observed that the strain rate sensitivities vary in different ways with the equivalent radius, semi minor axis radius, semi major axis radius and major axis radius. From the obtained results, it is shown that the variation of strain rate sensitivity with temperature suggests that the strain rate sensitivity at the low and the high temperature ends of the 6082T6 aluminum range is different. The obtained results revealed transition at different temperature from negative strain rate sensitivity as temperature increased on the grain size variants.

Keywords: Nanostructured materials, grain size variants, temperature, yield stress, strain rate sensitivity.

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508 Evaluation of Groundwater Unit Hydrograph of Kavar-Maharloo Aquifer

Authors: Mohammad Hosein Hojati, Fardin Boustani

Abstract:

Groundwater is one of the most important water resources in Fars province. Based on this study, 95 percent of the total annual water consumption in Fars is used for agriculture, whereas the percentages for domestic and industrial uses are 4 and 1 percent, respectively. Population growth, urban and industrial growth, and agricultural development in Fars have created a condition of water stress. In this province, farmers and other users are pumping groundwater faster than its natural replenishment rate, causing a continuous drop in groundwater tables and depletion of this resource. In this research variation of groundwater level, their effects and ways to help control groundwater levels in aquifer of the Kavar- Maharloo plains in Fars plain were evaluated .Excessive exploitation of groundwater in this aquifer caused the groundwater levels fall too fast or to unacceptable levels. The average drawdown of the groundwater level in this plain were 17 meters during 1995 to 2006. The purpose of this study is to evaluate water level changes in the Kavar-Maharloo Aquifer in the Fars province in order to determine the areas of greatest depletion, the cause of depletion, and predict the remaining life of the aquifer.

Keywords: Aquifer , ground water depletion, water table

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507 Non-Singular Gravitational Collapse of a Homogeneous Scalar Field in Deformed Phase Space

Authors: Amir Hadi Ziaie

Abstract:

In the present work, we revisit the collapse process of a spherically symmetric homogeneous scalar field (in FRW background) minimally coupled to gravity, when the phase-space deformations are taken into account. Such a deformation is mathematically introduced as a particular type of noncommutativity between the canonical momenta of the scale factor and of the scalar field. In the absence of such deformation, the collapse culminates in a spacetime singularity. However, when the phase-space is deformed, we find that the singularity is removed by a non-singular bounce, beyond which the collapsing cloud re-expands to infinity. More precisely, for negative values of the deformation parameter, we identify the appearance of a negative pressure, which decelerates the collapse to finally avoid the singularity formation. While in the un-deformed case, the horizon curve monotonically decreases to finally cover the singularity, in the deformed case the horizon has a minimum value that this value depends on deformation parameter and initial configuration of the collapse. Such a setting predicts a threshold mass for black hole formation in stellar collapse and manifests the role of non-commutative geometry in physics and especially in stellar collapse and supernova explosion.

Keywords: Gravitational collapse, non-commutative geometry, spacetime singularity, black hole physics.

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506 Fiction and Reality in Animation: Taking Final Flight of the Osiris as an Example

Authors: Syong-Yang Chung, Xin-An Chen

Abstract:

This study aims to explore the less well-known animation “Final Flight of the Osiris”, consisting of an initial exploration of the film color, storyline, and the simulacrum meanings of the roles, which leads to a further exploration of the light-shadow contrast and the psychological images presented by the screen colors and the characters. The research is based on literature review, and all data was compiled for the analysis of the visual vocabulary evolution of the characters. In terms of the structure, the relational study of the animation and the historical background of that time came first, including The Wachowskis’ and Andy Jones’ impact towards the cinematographic version and the animation version of “The Matrix”. Through literature review, the film color, the meaning and the relevant points were clarified. It was found in this research that “Final Flight of the Osiris” separates the realistic and virtual spaces by the changing the color tones; the "self" of the audience gradually dissolves into the "virtual" in the simulacra world, and the "Animatrix" has become a virtual field for the audience to understand itself about "existence" and "self".

Keywords: The Matrix, The Final Flight of Osiris, Wachowski sisters, simulacrum.

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505 A Novel Solution Methodology for Transit Route Network Design Problem

Authors: Ghada Moussa, Mamoud Owais

Abstract:

Transit route Network Design Problem (TrNDP) is the most important component in Transit planning, in which the overall cost of the public transportation system highly depends on it. The main purpose of this study is to develop a novel solution methodology for the TrNDP, which goes beyond pervious traditional sophisticated approaches. The novelty of the solution methodology, adopted in this paper, stands on the deterministic operators which are tackled to construct bus routes. The deterministic manner of the TrNDP solution relies on using linear and integer mathematical formulations that can be solved exactly with their standard solvers. The solution methodology has been tested through Mandl’s benchmark network problem. The test results showed that the methodology developed in this research is able to improve the given network solution in terms of number of constructed routes, direct transit service coverage, transfer directness and solution reliability. Although the set of routes resulted from the methodology would stand alone as a final efficient solution for TrNDP, it could be used as an initial solution for meta-heuristic procedures to approach global optimal. Based on the presented methodology, a more robust network optimization tool would be produced for public transportation planning purposes.

Keywords: Integer programming, Transit route design, Transportation, Urban planning.

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504 Study on Electrohydrodynamic Capillary Instability with Heat and Mass Transfer

Authors: D. K. Tiwari, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, G. S. Agrawal

Abstract:

The effect of an axial electric field on the capillary instability of a cylindrical interface in the presence of heat and mass transfer has been investigated using viscous potential flow theory. In viscous potential flow, the viscous term in Navier-Stokes equation vanishes as vorticity is zero but viscosity is not zero. Viscosity enters through normal stress balance in the viscous potential flow theory and tangential stresses are not considered. A dispersion relation that accounts for the growth of axisymmetric waves is derived and stability is discussed theoretically as well as numerically. Stability criterion is given by critical value of applied electric field as well as critical wave number. Various graphs have been drawn to show the effect of various physical parameters such as electric field, heat transfer capillary number, conductivity ratio, permittivity ratio on the stability of the system. It has been observed that the axial electric field and heat and mass transfer both have stabilizing effect on the stability of the system.

Keywords: Capillary instability, Viscous potential flow, Heat and mass transfer, Axial electric field.

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503 On Discretization of Second-order Derivatives in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Authors: R. Fatehi, M.A. Fayazbakhsh, M.T. Manzari

Abstract:

Discretization of spatial derivatives is an important issue in meshfree methods especially when the derivative terms contain non-linear coefficients. In this paper, various methods used for discretization of second-order spatial derivatives are investigated in the context of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. Three popular forms (i.e. "double summation", "second-order kernel derivation", and "difference scheme") are studied using one-dimensional unsteady heat conduction equation. To assess these schemes, transient response to a step function initial condition is considered. Due to parabolic nature of the heat equation, one can expect smooth and monotone solutions. It is shown, however in this paper, that regardless of the type of kernel function used and the size of smoothing radius, the double summation discretization form leads to non-physical oscillations which persist in the solution. Also, results show that when a second-order kernel derivative is used, a high-order kernel function shall be employed in such a way that the distance of inflection point from origin in the kernel function be less than the nearest particle distance. Otherwise, solutions may exhibit oscillations near discontinuities unlike the "difference scheme" which unconditionally produces monotone results.

Keywords: Heat conduction, Meshfree methods, Smoothed ParticleHydrodynamics (SPH), Second-order derivatives.

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502 Influence of the Compression Force and Powder Particle Size on Some Physical Properties of Date Fruit (Phoenix dactylifera) Tablets

Authors: Djemaa Megdoud, Messaoud Boudaa, Fatima Ouamrane, Salem Benamara

Abstract:

In recent years, the compression of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit powders (DP) to obtain date tablets (DT) has been suggested as a promising form of valorization of non commercial valuable date fruit (DF) varieties. To further improve and characterize DT, the present study aims to investigate the influence of the DP particle size and compression force on some physical properties of DT. The results show that independently of particle size, the hardness (y) of tablets increases with the increase of the compression force (x) following a logarithmic law (y = a ln (bx) where a and b are the constants of model). Further, a full factorial design (FFD) at two levels, applied to investigate the erosion %, reveals that the effects of time and particle size are the same in absolute value and they are beyond the effect of the compression. Regarding the disintegration time, the obtained results also by means of a FFD show that the effect of the compression force exceeds 4 times that of the DP particle size. As final stage, the color parameters in the CIELab system of DT immediately after their obtaining are differently influenced by the size of the initial powder.

Keywords: Powder, valorization, tablets, date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.), hardness, erosion, disintegration time, color.

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