Search results for: key content components
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3009

Search results for: key content components

1479 Teaching Method in Situational Crisis Communication Theory: A Literature Review

Authors: Proud Arunrangsiwed

Abstract:

Crisis management strategies could be found in various curriculums, not only in schools of business, but also schools of communication. Young students, such as freshmen and sophomores of undergraduate schools, may not care about learning crisis management strategies. Moreover, crisis management strategies are not a topic art students are familiar with. The current paper discusses a way to adapt entertainment media into a crisis management lesson, and the importance of learning crisis management strategies in the school of animation. Students could learn crisis management strategies by watching movies with content about a crisis and responding to crisis responding. The students should then participate in follow up discussions related to the strategies that were used to address the crisis, as well as their success in solving the crisis.

Keywords: Situational crisis communication theory, crisis response strategies, media effect, unintentional effect.

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1478 Wind Fragility for Soundproof Wall with the Variation of Section Shape of Frame

Authors: Seong Do Kim, Woo Young Jung

Abstract:

Recently, damages due to typhoons and strong wind are on the rise. Considering this issue, we evaluated the performance of soundproofing walls based on the strong wind fragility by means of numerical analysis. Among the components of the soundproof wall, aluminum frame was the most vulnerable member, thus we have considered different section of aluminum frame in the determination of wind fragility. Wind load was randomly generated using Monte Carlo Simulation method. Moreover, limit state was based on the test standard of road construction soundproofing wall. In this study, the strong wind fragility was determined by considering the influence factors of wind exposure category, soundproof wall’s installation position, and shape of aluminum frame section. Results of this study could be used to determine the section shape of the frame that has high resistance to the wind during construction of the soundproofing wall.

Keywords: Aluminum frame soundproofing wall, Monte Carlo Simulation, numerical simulation, wind fragility.

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1477 A Constitutive Model of Ligaments and Tendons Accounting for Fiber-Matrix Interaction

Authors: Ratchada Sopakayang, Gerhard A. Holzapfel

Abstract:

In this study, a new constitutive model is developed to describe the hyperelastic behavior of collagenous tissues with a parallel arrangement of collagen fibers such as ligaments and tendons. The model is formulated using a continuum approach incorporating the structural changes of the main tissue components: collagen fibers, proteoglycan-rich matrix and fiber-matrix interaction. The mechanical contribution of the interaction between the fibers and the matrix is simply expressed by a coupling term. The structural change of the collagen fibers is incorporated in the constitutive model to describe the activation of the fibers under tissue straining. Finally, the constitutive model can easily describe the stress-stretch nonlinearity which occurs when a ligament/tendon is axially stretched. This study shows that the interaction between the fibers and the matrix contributes to the mechanical tissue response. Therefore, the model may lead to a better understanding of the physiological mechanisms of ligaments and tendons under axial loading.

Keywords: Hyperelasticity, constitutive model, fiber-matrix interaction, ligament, tendon.

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1476 Synthesis of Novel Nanostructured Catalysts for Pyrolysis of Biomass

Authors: Phuong T. Dang, Hy G. Le, Giang T. Pham, Hong T. M. Vu, Kien T, Nguyen, Canh D. Dao, Giang H. Le, Hoa T. K. Tran, Quang K. Nguyen, Tuan A. Vu

Abstract:

Nanostructured catalysts were successfully prepared by acidification of diatomite and regeneration of FCC spent catalysts. The obtained samples were characterized by IR, XRD, SEM, EDX, MAS-NMR (27Al and 29Si), NH3-TPD and tested in catalytic pyrolysis of biomass (rice straw). The results showed that the similar bio-oil yield of 41.4% can be obtained by pyrolysis with catalysts at 450oC as compared to that of the pyrolysis without catalyst at 550oC. The bio-oil yield reached a maximum of 42.55% at the pyrolysis temperature of 500oC with catalytic content of 20%. Moreover, by catalytic pyrolysis, bio-oil quality was better as reflected in higher ratio of H/C, lower ratio of O/C. This clearly indicated high application potential of these new nanostructured catalysts in the production of bio-oil with low oxygenated compounds.

Keywords: Acidified diatomite, biomass, catalytic pyrolysis, bio-oil, nanostructured catalysts, regenerated FCC catalyst.

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1475 Psychological Structure of “Aitys“ as a Process of Oral Creative Competition in Kazakh Traditional Folklore

Authors: S. K. Berdibayeva, Z. Z. Beissenova, A. Z. Ayaganova

Abstract:

the aim of this study was to analyze ethnopsychological content of “Aitys" as a process of creative competition in Kazakh traditional folklore by means of Transaction analysis (three types of Ego states are Parent, Adult and Child). “Aitys" is as sources of Kazakh national self-consciousness and form of oral Kazakh national creativity. Comparative psychological analysis of classical and modern “aityses" is carried out. Empirical proved that the victory in “Aitys" is provided with a position of egostate “Adult".

Keywords: aitys, creative competition, Ego state, transaction analysis

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1474 Manufacturing Dispersions Based Simulation and Synthesis of Design Tolerances

Authors: Nassima Cheikh, Abdelmadjid Cheikh, Said Hamou

Abstract:

The objective of this work which is based on the approach of simultaneous engineering is to contribute to the development of a CIM tool for the synthesis of functional design dimensions expressed by average values and tolerance intervals. In this paper, the dispersions method known as the Δl method which proved reliable in the simulation of manufacturing dimensions is used to develop a methodology for the automation of the simulation. This methodology is constructed around three procedures. The first procedure executes the verification of the functional requirements by automatically extracting the functional dimension chains in the mechanical sub-assembly. Then a second procedure performs an optimization of the dispersions on the basis of unknown variables. The third procedure uses the optimized values of the dispersions to compute the optimized average values and tolerances of the functional dimensions in the chains. A statistical and cost based approach is integrated in the methodology in order to take account of the capabilities of the manufacturing processes and to distribute optimal values among the individual components of the chains.

Keywords: functional tolerances, manufacturing dispersions, simulation, CIM.

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1473 Designing of the Heating Process for Fiber- Reinforced Thermoplastics with Middle-Wave Infrared Radiators

Authors: B. Engel, M. Junge

Abstract:

Manufacturing components of fiber-reinforced thermoplastics requires three steps: heating the matrix, forming and consolidation of the composite and terminal cooling the matrix. For the heating process a pre-determined temperature distribution through the layers and the thickness of the pre-consolidated sheets is recommended to enable forming mechanism. Thus, a design for the heating process for forming composites with thermoplastic matrices is necessary. To obtain a constant temperature through thickness and width of the sheet, the heating process was analyzed by the help of the finite element method. The simulation models were validated by experiments with resistance thermometers as well as with an infrared camera. Based on the finite element simulation, heating methods for infrared radiators have been developed. Using the numeric simulation many iteration loops are required to determine the process parameters. Hence, the initiation of a model for calculating relevant process parameters started applying regression functions.

Keywords: Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, heating strategies, middle-wave infrared radiator.

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1472 Simulation of Loss-of-Flow Transient in a Radiant Steam Boiler with Relap5/Mod3.2

Authors: A.L.Deghal.Cheridi, A.Chaker, A.Loubar

Abstract:

loss of feedwater accident is one of the frequently sever accidents in steam boiler facilities. It threatens the system structural integrity and generates serious hazards and economic loses. The safety analysis of the thermal installations, based extensively on the numeric simulation. The simulation analysis using realistic computer codes like Relap5/Mod3.2 will help understand steam boiler thermal-hydraulic behavior during normal and abnormal conditions. In this study, we are interested on the evaluation of the radiant steam boiler assessment and response to loss-of-feedwater accident. Pressure, temperature and flow rate profiles are presented in various steam boiler system components. The obtained results demonstrate the importance and capability of the Relap5/Mod3.2 code in the thermal-hydraulic analysis of the steam boiler facilities.

Keywords: Radiant steam boiler, Relap5/Mod3.2 code system, Steady-state simulation, Transient simulation, Loss of feedwateraccident

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1471 A Metametadata Architecture forPedagogic Data Description

Authors: A. Ismail, M. S. Joy, J. E. Sinclair, M. I. Hamzah

Abstract:

This paper focuses on a novel method for semantic searching and retrieval of information about learning materials. Metametadata encapsulate metadata instances by using the properties and attributes provided by ontologies rather than describing learning objects. A novel metametadata taxonomy has been developed which provides the basis for a semantic search engine to extract, match and map queries to retrieve relevant results. The use of ontological views is a foundation for viewing the pedagogical content of metadata extracted from learning objects by using the pedagogical attributes from the metametadata taxonomy. Using the ontological approach and metametadata (based on the metametadata taxonomy) we present a novel semantic searching mechanism.These three strands – the taxonomy, the ontological views, and the search algorithm – are incorporated into a novel architecture (OMESCOD) which has been implemented.

Keywords: Metadata, metametadata, semantic, ontologies.

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1470 Dempster-Shafer Evidence Theory for Image Segmentation: Application in Cells Images

Authors: S. Ben Chaabane, M. Sayadi, F. Fnaiech, E. Brassart

Abstract:

In this paper we propose a new knowledge model using the Dempster-Shafer-s evidence theory for image segmentation and fusion. The proposed method is composed essentially of two steps. First, mass distributions in Dempster-Shafer theory are obtained from the membership degrees of each pixel covering the three image components (R, G and B). Each membership-s degree is determined by applying Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering to the gray levels of the three images. Second, the fusion process consists in defining three discernment frames which are associated with the three images to be fused, and then combining them to form a new frame of discernment. The strategy used to define mass distributions in the combined framework is discussed in detail. The proposed fusion method is illustrated in the context of image segmentation. Experimental investigations and comparative studies with the other previous methods are carried out showing thus the robustness and superiority of the proposed method in terms of image segmentation.

Keywords: Fuzzy C-means, Color image, data fusion, Dempster-Shafer's evidence theory

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1469 Effect of Compressibility of Brake Friction Materials on Vibration Occurrence

Authors: Mostafa Makrahy, Nouby Ghazaly, Ahmad Moaaz

Abstract:

Brakes are one of the most important safety and performance components in automobiles and airplanes. Development of brakes has mainly focused on increasing braking power and stability. Nowadays, brake noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) together with brake dust emission and pad life are very important to vehicle drivers. The main objective of this research is to define the relationship between compressibility of friction materials and their tendency to generate vibration. An experimental study of the friction-induced vibration obtained by the disc brake system of a passenger car is conducted. Three commercial brake pad materials from different manufacturers are tested and evaluated under various brake conditions against cast iron disc brake. First of all, compressibility test for the brake friction material are measured for each pad. Then, brake dynamometer is used to simulate and reproduce actual vehicle braking conditions. Finally, a comparison between the three pad specimens is conducted. The results showed that compressibility have a very significant effect on reduction the vibration occurrence.

Keywords: Automotive brake, friction material, brake dynamometer, compressibility test.

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1468 Green Function and Eshelby Tensor Based on Mindlin’s 2nd Gradient Model: An Explicit Study of Spherical Inclusion Case

Authors: A. Selmi, A. Bisharat

Abstract:

Using Fourier transform and based on the Mindlin's 2nd gradient model that involves two length scale parameters, the Green's function, the Eshelby tensor, and the Eshelby-like tensor for a spherical inclusion are derived. It is proved that the Eshelby tensor consists of two parts; the classical Eshelby tensor and a gradient part including the length scale parameters which enable the interpretation of the size effect. When the strain gradient is not taken into account, the obtained Green's function and Eshelby tensor reduce to its analogue based on the classical elasticity. The Eshelby tensor in and outside the inclusion, the volume average of the gradient part and the Eshelby-like tensor are explicitly obtained. Unlike the classical Eshelby tensor, the results show that the components of the new Eshelby tensor vary with the position and the inclusion dimensions. It is demonstrated that the contribution of the gradient part should not be neglected.

Keywords: Eshelby tensor, Eshelby-like tensor, Green’s function, Mindlin’s 2nd gradient model, Spherical inclusion.

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1467 Application of Modified Maxwell-Stefan Equation for Separation of Aqueous Phenol by Pervaporation

Authors: Ujjal K Ghosh, Ling Teen

Abstract:

Pervaporation has the potential to be an alternative to the other traditional separation processes such as distillation, adsorption, reverse osmosis and extraction. This study investigates the separation of phenol from water using a polyurethane membrane by pervaporation by applying the modified Maxwell-Stephen model. The modified Maxwell-Stefan model takes into account the non-ideal multi-component solubility effect, nonideal diffusivity of all permeating components, concentration dependent density of the membrane and diffusion coupling to predict various fluxes. Four cases has been developed to investigate the process parameters effects on the flux and weight fraction of phenol in the permeate values namely feed concentration, membrane thickness, operating temperature and operating downstream pressure. The model could describe semi-quantitatively the performance of the pervaporation membrane for the given system as a very good agreement between the observed and theoretical fluxes was observed.

Keywords: Pervaporation, Phenol, Polyurethane, Modified Maxwell-Stefan equation, Solution Diffusion

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1466 Published Financial Statement as a Correlate of Investment Decision among Commercial Bank Stakeholders in Nigeria

Authors: Popoola, C. F., Akinsanya, K., Babarinde, S. B., Farinde, D. A.

Abstract:

This study investigated published financial statement as correlate of investment decision among commercial bank stakeholders in Nigeria. A correlation research design was used in the study. 180 users of published financial statement were purposively sampled from Lagos and Ibadan. Data generated were analyzed using Pearson correlation and regression. The findings of the study revealed that, balance sheet is negatively related with investment decision (r= -.483; p<.01) while income statement (r= .249; p<.001), notes on the account (r= .230; p<.001), cash flow statement (r= .202; p<.001), value added statement (r= .328; p<.001) and five-year financial summary (r= .191; p<.01) are positively related with investment decision. Findings also revealed that components of published financial statement significantly predicted good investment decision (R2= .983; F(5,175)=284.5; p<.05) for commercial bank stakeholders. Therefore, it was suggested that Nigeria banks and professional bodies should instigate programs that will increase the knowledge of stakeholders on published financial statement.

Keywords: Commercial banks, Financial statement, Income Statement, Investment decision, Stakeholders.

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1465 Analytical and Experimental Methods of Design for Supersonic Two-Stage Ejectors

Authors: S. Daneshmand, C. Aghanajafi, A. Bahrami

Abstract:

In this paper the supersonic ejectors are experimentally and analytically studied. Ejector is a device that uses the energy of a fluid to move another fluid. This device works like a vacuum pump without usage of piston, rotor or any other moving component. An ejector contains an active nozzle, a passive nozzle, a mixing chamber and a diffuser. Since the fluid viscosity is large, and the flow is turbulent and three dimensional in the mixing chamber, the numerical methods consume long time and high cost to analyze the flow in ejectors. Therefore this paper presents a simple analytical method that is based on the precise governing equations in fluid mechanics. According to achieved analytical relations, a computer code has been prepared to analyze the flow in different components of the ejector. An experiment has been performed in supersonic regime 1.5Keywords: Ejector, Wind Tunnel, Supersonic, Diffuser, Machnumber, Mixing Chamber

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1464 Removal of Deposits and Improvement of Shelf Life in CO2-Rich Mineral Water by Ozone-Microbubbles

Authors: Un Hwa Choe, Jong Hyon Choe, Yong Jun Kim

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to effectively remove Fe2+ by using ozone microbubbles in bottled mineral water to prevent sediment from occurring during storage and increase shelf life. By considering the characteristics of mineral water with low solubility of ozone and high CO2 content, a suitable ozone injection step was chosen and a mineral water treatment method using microbubbles was proposed. As a result of the treatment of the bottled mineral water with ozone microbubbles, the iron ion concentration was reduced from 0.14 mg/L to 0.01 mg/L, and the shelf life increased to 360 days. During the treatment, the concentrations of K+ and Na+ were almost unchanged, and the deposition time was reduced to one-third compared to the natural oxidation.

Keywords: CO2–rich mineral water, ozone-micro bubble, shelf life, bottled mineral water, water treatment.

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1463 Suspended Matter Model on Alsat-1 Image by MLP Network and Mathematical Morphology: Prototypes by K-Means

Authors: S. Loumi, H. Merrad, F. Alilat, B. Sansal

Abstract:

In this article, we propose a methodology for the characterization of the suspended matter along Algiers-s bay. An approach by multi layers perceptron (MLP) with training by back propagation of the gradient optimized by the algorithm of Levenberg Marquardt (LM) is used. The accent was put on the choice of the components of the base of training where a comparative study made for four methods: Random and three alternatives of classification by K-Means. The samples are taken from suspended matter image, obtained by analytical model based on polynomial regression by taking account of in situ measurements. The mask which selects the zone of interest (water in our case) was carried out by using a multi spectral classification by ISODATA algorithm. To improve the result of classification, a cleaning of this mask was carried out using the tools of mathematical morphology. The results of this study presented in the forms of curves, tables and of images show the founded good of our methodology.

Keywords: Classification K-means, mathematical morphology, neural network MLP, remote sensing, suspended particulate matter

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1462 Applying a Noise Reduction Method to Reveal Chaos in the River Flow Time Series

Authors: Mohammad H. Fattahi

Abstract:

Chaotic analysis has been performed on the river flow time series before and after applying the wavelet based de-noising techniques in order to investigate the noise content effects on chaotic nature of flow series. In this study, 38 years of monthly runoff data of three gauging stations were used. Gauging stations were located in Ghar-e-Aghaj river basin, Fars province, Iran. Noise level of time series was estimated with the aid of Gaussian kernel algorithm. This step was found to be crucial in preventing removal of the vital data such as memory, correlation and trend from the time series in addition to the noise during de-noising process.

Keywords: Chaotic behavior, wavelet, noise reduction, river flow.

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1461 Towards Better Quality in Healthcare and Operations Management: A Developmental Literature Review

Authors: Towards Better Quality in Healthcare, Operations Management: A Developmental Literature Review

Abstract:

This work presents the various perspectives, dimensions, components and definitions given to quality in the operations management (OM) and healthcare services (HCS) literature in time, highlighting gaps and learning opportunities between the two disciplines through a thorough search into their rich and distinct body of knowledge. Greater and new insights about the general nature of quality are obtained with findings such as in OM, quality has been approached in six fairly distinct paradigms (excellence, value, conformity to specifications, attributes, satisfaction and meeting or exceeding customer expectations), whereas in HCS, two approaches are prominent (Donabedian’s structure, process and outcomes model and Lohr and Schroeder’s circumscribed definition). The two disciplines views on quality seem to have progressed much in parallel with little cross-learning from each other. This work then proposes an encompassing definition of quality as a lever and suggests further research and development avenues for a better use of the concept of quality by academics and practitioners alike toward the goals of greater organizational performance and improved management in healthcare and possibly other service domains.

Keywords: Healthcare, management, operations, quality, services.

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1460 Enhancement of Essential Oil from Agarwood by Subcritical Water Extraction and Pretreatments on Hydrodistillation

Authors: Nuttawan Yoswathana, M. N. Eshiaghi, K. Jaturapornpanich

Abstract:

The traditional method for essential oil extraction from agarwood (Aquilaria Crassna) is to soak it in water and follow with hydrodistillation. The effect of various agarwood pretreatments: ethanol, acid, alkaline, enzymes, and ultrasound, and the effect of subcritical water extraction(SWE) was studied to compare with the traditional method. The major compositions of agarwood oil from hydrodistillation were aroma compounds as follow: aristol-9-en-8- one (21.53%), selina-3, 7(11)-diene (12.96%), τ-himachalene (9.28%), β-guaiene (5.79%), hexadecanoic acid (4.90%) and guaia- 3,9-diene (4.21%). Whereas agarwood oil from pretreatments with ethanol and ultrasound, and SWE got fatty acid compounds. Extraction of agarwood oil using these pretreatments could improve the agarwood oil yields up to 2 times that of the traditional method. The components of the pretreated sample with diluted acid (H2SO4) at pH 4 gave quite similar results as the traditional method. Therefore, the enhancement of essential oil from agarwood depends on requirement of type of extracted oil that involved extraction methods.

Keywords: Agarwood, aquilaria crassna, hydrodistillation, subcritical water extraction.

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1459 Identifying and Adopting Latter Instruments Determining the Sustainable Company Competitiveness

Authors: Andrej Miklošík, Petra Horváthová, Štefan Žák

Abstract:

Nowadays companies in all sectors are looking for the sources of competitive advantages. Holistic marketing approach searches for their emergence based on the integration of all components and elements across the organization. Modern marketing sees the sources of competitive advantage in implementing the latest managerial practices, motivation, intelligent project management, knowledge management, collaborative marketing, CSR and, in the recent years, also in the business process optimization. With the use of modern tools including business process management and business process modelling the company can markedly increase its internal efficiency which can lead not only to lowering the costs but to creating the environment for optimal customer care, positive corporate culture and for origination of innovations as well. In the article the authors analyze the recent trend in this area and introduce suggestions to companies to identify and optimize the key processes that have a significant impact of the company´s competitiveness.

Keywords: business process optimization, competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility, knowledge management

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1458 Adaptive Fourier Decomposition Based Signal Instantaneous Frequency Computation Approach

Authors: Liming Zhang

Abstract:

There have been different approaches to compute the analytic instantaneous frequency with a variety of background reasoning and applicability in practice, as well as restrictions. This paper presents an adaptive Fourier decomposition and (α-counting) based instantaneous frequency computation approach. The adaptive Fourier decomposition is a recently proposed new signal decomposition approach. The instantaneous frequency can be computed through the so called mono-components decomposed by it. Due to the fast energy convergency, the highest frequency of the signal will be discarded by the adaptive Fourier decomposition, which represents the noise of the signal in most of the situation. A new instantaneous frequency definition for a large class of so-called simple waves is also proposed in this paper. Simple wave contains a wide range of signals for which the concept instantaneous frequency has a perfect physical sense. The α-counting instantaneous frequency can be used to compute the highest frequency for a signal. Combination of these two approaches one can obtain the IFs of the whole signal. An experiment is demonstrated the computation procedure with promising results.

Keywords: Adaptive Fourier decomposition, Fourier series, signal processing, instantaneous frequency

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1457 Assessment of Hargreaves Equation for Estimating Monthly Reference Evapotranspiration in the South of Iran

Authors: Ali Dehgan Moroozeh, B. Farhadi Bansouleh

Abstract:

Evapotranspiration is one of the most important components of the hydrological cycle. Evapotranspiration (ETo) is an important variable in water and energy balances on the earth’s surface, and knowledge of the distribution of ET is a key factor in hydrology, climatology, agronomy and ecology studies. Many researchers have a valid relationship, which is a function of climate factors, to estimate the potential evapotranspiration presented to the plant water stress or water loss, prevent. The FAO-Penman method (PM) had been recommended as a standard method. This method requires many data and these data are not available in every area of world. So, other methods should be evaluated for these conditions. When sufficient or reliable data to solve the PM equation are not available then Hargreaves equation can be used. The Hargreaves equation (HG) requires only daily mean, maximum and minimum air temperature extraterrestrial radiation .In this study, Hargreaves method (HG) were evaluated in 12 stations in the North West region of Iran. Results of HG and M.HG methods were compared with results of PM method. Statistical analysis of this comparison showed that calibration process has had significant effect on efficiency of Hargreaves method.

Keywords: Evapotranspiration, Hargreaves equation, FAOPenman method.

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1456 Supercritical Methanol for Biodiesel Production from Jatropha Oil in the Presence of Heterogeneous Catalysts

Authors: Velid Demir, Mesut Akgün

Abstract:

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

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

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1455 Biogas Potentiality of Agro-wastes Jatropha Fruit Coat

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

Abstract:

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

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

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1454 Properties of Al2O3 – hBN Composites

Authors: K. Broniszewski, J. Woźniak, K. Czechowski, P. Orłowski, A. Olszyna

Abstract:

Alumina matrix composites with addition of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), acting as solid lubricant, were produced. Main purpose of solid lubricants is to dispose the necessity of using cooling lubricants in machining process. Hot pressing was used as a consolidating process for Al2O3-x%wt.hBN (x=1/ 2,5/ 5 /7,5 /10) composites. Properties of sinters such as relative density, hardness, Young-s modulus and fracture toughness were examined. Obtained samples characterize by high relative density. Hardness and fracture toughness values allow the use of alumina – hBN composites for machining steels even in hardened condition. However it was observed that high weight content of hBN can negatively influence the mechanical properties of composites.

Keywords: Alumina. Composites, Hexagonal boron nitride, Machining

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1453 PI Control for Positive Output Elementary Super Lift Luo Converter

Authors: K. Ramash Kumar, S. Jeevananthan

Abstract:

The object of this paper is to design and analyze a proportional – integral (PI) control for positive output elementary super lift Luo converter (POESLLC), which is the start-of-the-art DC-DC converter. The positive output elementary super lift Luo converter performs the voltage conversion from positive source voltage to positive load voltage. This paper proposes a development of PI control capable of providing the good static and dynamic performance compared to proportional – integralderivative (PID) controller. Using state space average method derives the dynamic equations describing the positive output elementary super lift luo converter and PI control is designed. The simulation model of the positive output elementary super lift Luo converter with its control circuit is implemented in Matlab/Simulink. The PI control for positive output elementary super lift Luo converter is tested for transient region, line changes, load changes, steady state region and also for components variations.

Keywords: DC-DC converter, Positive output elementarysuper lift Luo converter (POESLLC), Proportional – Integral (PI)control.

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1452 A Neural-Network-Based Fault Diagnosis Approach for Analog Circuits by Using Wavelet Transformation and Fractal Dimension as a Preprocessor

Authors: Wenji Zhu, Yigang He

Abstract:

This paper presents a new method of analog fault diagnosis based on back-propagation neural networks (BPNNs) using wavelet decomposition and fractal dimension as preprocessors. The proposed method has the capability to detect and identify faulty components in an analog electronic circuit with tolerance by analyzing its impulse response. Using wavelet decomposition to preprocess the impulse response drastically de-noises the inputs to the neural network. The second preprocessing by fractal dimension can extract unique features, which are the fed to a neural network as inputs for further classification. A comparison of our work with [1] and [6], which also employs back-propagation (BP) neural networks, reveals that our system requires a much smaller network and performs significantly better in fault diagnosis of analog circuits due to our proposed preprocessing techniques.

Keywords: Analog circuits, fault diagnosis, tolerance, wavelettransform, fractal dimension, box dimension.

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1451 Input Textural Feature Selection By Mutual Information For Multispectral Image Classification

Authors: Mounir Ait kerroum, Ahmed Hammouch, Driss Aboutajdine

Abstract:

Texture information plays increasingly an important role in remotely sensed imagery classification and many pattern recognition applications. However, the selection of relevant textural features to improve this classification accuracy is not a straightforward task. This work investigates the effectiveness of two Mutual Information Feature Selector (MIFS) algorithms to select salient textural features that contain highly discriminatory information for multispectral imagery classification. The input candidate features are extracted from a SPOT High Resolution Visible(HRV) image using Wavelet Transform (WT) at levels (l = 1,2). The experimental results show that the selected textural features according to MIFS algorithms make the largest contribution to improve the classification accuracy than classical approaches such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA).

Keywords: Feature Selection, Texture, Mutual Information, Wavelet Transform, SVM classification, SPOT Imagery.

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1450 The Biomechanics of Cycling with a Transtibial Prosthesis: A Case Study of a Professional Cyclist

Authors: D. Koutny, D. Palousek, P. Stoklasek, J. Rosicky, L. Tepla, M. Prochazkova, Z. Svoboda, P. Krejci

Abstract:

The article deals with biomechanics of cyclist with unilateral transtibial amputation. Transtibial amputation completely removes ankle and part of muscles of a lower leg which are responsible for production of force during pedaling and causes significant geometric and power asymmetry between the limbs during cycling movement. The primary goal of this work is to assess the effects of length adjustment of the crank on the kinematics and muscle activity of cyclist. The paper presents experimental work, which aims to find a suitable ratio of the length of kinematic components to improve overall athletic performance. The study presents the results of the kinematic analysis of the cycling movement with different crank length realized by tracking camera system together with the results of muscle activity measurements captured by electromyography and measurement of forces in the cranks by strain gauges.

Keywords: Amputation, electromyography, kinematics of cycling, leg asymmetry, motion capture, transtibial prosthesis.

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