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Authors: Sanaz Haddadian, Rahele Hedayati

Abstract:

A 10bit, 40 MSps, sample and hold, implemented in 0.18-μm CMOS technology with 3.3V supply, is presented for application in the front-end stage of an analog-to-digital converter. Topology selection, biasing, compensation and common mode feedback are discussed. Cascode technique has been used to increase the dc gain. The proposed opamp provides 149MHz unity-gain bandwidth (wu), 80 degree phase margin and a differential peak to peak output swing more than 2.5v. The circuit has 55db Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), using the improved fully differential two stage operational amplifier of 91.7dB gain. The power dissipation of the designed sample and hold is 4.7mw. The designed system demonstrates relatively suitable response in different process, temperature and supply corners (PVT corners).

Keywords: Analog Integrated Circuit Design, Sample & Hold Amplifier and CMOS Technology.

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Authors: Valeri A. Makarov, Nazareth P. Castellanos

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Statistical analysis of electrophysiological recordings obtained under, e.g. tactile, stimulation frequently suggests participation in the network dynamics of experimentally unobserved “hidden" neurons. Such interneurons making synapses to experimentally recorded neurons may strongly alter their dynamical responses to the stimuli. We propose a mathematical method that formalizes this possibility and provides an algorithm for inferring on the presence and dynamics of hidden neurons based on fitting of the experimental data to spike trains generated by the network model. The model makes use of Integrate and Fire neurons “chemically" coupled through exponentially decaying synaptic currents. We test the method on simulated data and also provide an example of its application to the experimental recording from the Dorsal Column Nuclei neurons of the rat under tactile stimulation of a hind limb.

Keywords: Integrate and fire neuron, neural network models, spike trains.

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Authors: A. A. Purohit, M. M. Vaidya, M. D. Kudale

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Among the various developing countries in the world like China, Malaysia, Korea etc., India is also developing its infrastructures in the form of Road/Rail/Airports and Waterborne facilities at an exponential rate. Mumbai, the financial epicenter of India is overcrowded and to relieve the pressure of congestion, Navi Mumbai suburb is being developed on the east bank of Thane creek near Mumbai. The government due to limited space at existing Mumbai Airports (domestic and international) to cater for the future demand of airborne traffic, proposes to build a new international airport near Panvel at Navi Mumbai. Considering the precedence of extreme rainfall on 26^th July 2005 and nearby townships being in a low-lying area, wherein new airport is proposed, it is inevitable to study this complex confluence area from a hydrodynamic consideration under both tidal and extreme events (predicted discharge hydrographs), to avoid inundation of the surrounding due to the proposed airport reclamation (1160 hectares) and to determine the safe grade elevation (SGE). The model studies conducted using the application of unstructured mesh to simulate the Panvel estuarine area (93 km²), calibration, validation of a model for hydraulic field measurements and determine the maxima water levels around the airport for various extreme hydrodynamic events, namely the simultaneous occurrence of highest tide from the Arabian Sea and peak flood discharges (Probable Maximum Precipitation and 26^th July 2005) from five rivers, the Gadhi, Kalundri, Taloja, Kasadi and Ulwe, meeting at the proposed airport area revealed that: (a) The Ulwe River flowing beneath the proposed airport needs to be diverted. The 120m wide proposed Ulwe diversion channel having a wider base width of 200 m at SH-54 Bridge on the Ulwe River along with the removal of the existing bund in Moha Creek is inevitable to keep the SGE of the airport to a minimum. (b) The clear waterway of 80 m at SH-54 Bridge (Ulwe River) and 120 m at Amra Marg Bridge near Moha Creek is also essential for the Ulwe diversion and (c) The river bank protection works on the right bank of Gadhi River between the NH-4B and SH-54 bridges as well as upstream of the Ulwe River diversion channel are essential to avoid inundation of low lying areas. The maxima water levels predicted around the airport keeps SGE to a minimum of 11m with respect to Chart datum of Ulwe Bundar and thus development is not only technologically-economically feasible but also sustainable. The unstructured mesh modeling is a promising tool to simulate complex extreme hydrodynamic events and provides a reliable solution to evolve optimal SGE of airport.

Keywords: Airport, hydrodynamics, hydrographs, safe grade elevation, tides.

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Authors: Manduth Ramchander

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Evaluating expressions involving multiplication and division can give rise to the fallacy that brackets can be arbitrarily inserted into expressions involving multiplication and division. The aim of this article was to draw upon mathematical theory to prove that brackets cannot be arbitrarily inserted into expressions involving multiplication and division and in particular in expressions where division precedes multiplication. In doing so, it demonstrates that the notion that two different answers are possible, when evaluating expressions involving multiplication and division, is indeed a false one. Searches conducted in a number of scholarly databases unearthed the rules to be applied when removing brackets from expressions, which revealed that consideration needs to be given to sign changes when brackets are removed. The rule pertaining to expressions involving multiplication and division was then extended upon, in its reverse format, to prove that brackets cannot be arbitrarily inserted into expressions involving multiplication and division. The application of the rule demonstrates that an expression involving multiplication and division can have only one correct answer. It is recommended that both the rule and its reverse be included in the curriculum, preferably at the juncture when manipulation with brackets is introduced.

Keywords: Brackets, multiplication, division, operations, order.

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Authors: Brigitte Rafael, Stefan M. Oertl

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Music segmentation is a key issue in music information retrieval (MIR) as it provides an insight into the internal structure of a composition. Structural information about a composition can improve several tasks related to MIR such as searching and browsing large music collections, visualizing musical structure, lyric alignment, and music summarization. The authors of this paper present the MTSSM framework, a twolayer framework for the multi-track segmentation of symbolic music. The strength of this framework lies in the combination of existing methods for local track segmentation and the application of global structure information spanning via multiple tracks. The first layer of the MTSSM uses various string matching techniques to detect the best candidate segmentations for each track of a multi-track composition independently. The second layer combines all single track results and determines the best segmentation for each track in respect to the global structure of the composition.

Keywords: Pattern Recognition, Music Information Retrieval, Machine Learning.

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Authors: M. Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, N. Mohd Shahril Nik Mohd Nor, H. Abdul Hadi, M. Zulhilmi Suhaimi

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This paper reports the empirical investigation on the effect of involuntary displacement of indigenous tribes on their sociocultural and food practices. A descriptive research design using the quantitative approach was applied and individual of indigenous tribes as unit of analysis. Through a self-administered survey among two selected Malaysia indigenous tribes, one hundred fifty questionnaires were successfully collected. With the application of descriptive and inferential statistic some useful insights pertaining to the issue investigated was significantly obtained. Findings revealed that improvement on the socio-culture, economy and knowledge is apparent on the indigenous groups’ resulted from displacement program. Displacement also has a slight impact on indigenous groups’ food practices. These positive indications provide significant implications, not only for the indigenous groups themselves, but also for the responsible authorities.

Keywords: Displacement, indigenous tribes, Socio-culture, Food, Practices.

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Authors: M. Battira, R. Bessaih

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We numerically study the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) stability of oscillatory natural convection flow in a rectangular cavity, with free top surface, filled with a liquid metal, having an aspect ratio equal to A=L/H=5, and subjected to a transversal temperature gradient and a uniform magnetic field oriented in x and z directions. The finite volume method was used in order to solve the equations of continuity, momentum, energy, and potential. The stability diagram obtained in this study highlights the dependence of the critical value of the Grashof number Grcrit , with the increase of the Hartmann number Ha for two orientations of the magnetic field. This study confirms the possibility of stabilization of a liquid metal flow in natural convection by application of a magnetic field and shows that the flow stability is more important when the direction of magnetic field is longitudinal than when the direction is transversal.

Keywords: Natural convection, Magnetic field, Oscillatory, Cavity, Liquid metal.

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Authors: F. Loffredo, M. Quarto, M. Pugliese, A. Mazzella, F. De Cicco, V. Roca

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of radon remedial action in a school on the Ischia island, South Italy, affected by indoor radon concentration higher than the value of 500 Bq/m³. This value is the limit imposed by the Italian legislation, to above which corrective actions in schools are necessary. Before the application of remedial action, indoor radon concentrations were measured in 9 rooms of the school. The measurements were performed with LR-115 passive alpha detectors (SSNTDs) and E-Perm. The remedial action was conducted in one of the office affected by high radon concentration using a Radonstop paint applied after the construction of a concrete slab under the floor. The effect of remedial action was the reduction of the concentration of radon of 41% and moreover it has demonstrated to be durable over time. The chosen method is cheap and easy to apply and it could be designed for various types of building. This method can be applied to new and existing buildings that show high dose values.

Keywords: E-Perm, LR 115 detectors, radon remediation, school.

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Authors: Nikhil, Ari Visa, Chin-Chao Chen, Chiu-Yue Lin, Jaakko A. Puhakka, Olli Yli-Harja

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A predictive clustering hybrid regression (pCHR) approach was developed and evaluated using dataset from H2- producing sucrose-based bioreactor operated for 15 months. The aim was to model and predict the H2-production rate using information available about envirome and metabolome of the bioprocess. Selforganizing maps (SOM) and Sammon map were used to visualize the dataset and to identify main metabolic patterns and clusters in bioprocess data. Three metabolic clusters: acetate coupled with other metabolites, butyrate only, and transition phases were detected. The developed pCHR model combines principles of k-means clustering, kNN classification and regression techniques. The model performed well in modeling and predicting the H2-production rate with mean square error values of 0.0014 and 0.0032, respectively.

Keywords: Biohydrogen, bioprocess modeling, clusteringhybrid regression.

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Authors: Antonio D. Lee, Steven X. Jiang

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A variety of techniques and methods are available to evaluate cognitive performance in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) applications. However, traditional cognitive performance evaluation techniques typically incorporate either the conscious or systematic aspect, failing to take into consideration the subconscious or intuitive aspect. This leads to incomplete measures and produces ineffective designs. In order to fill the gaps in past research, this study developed a theoretical framework to facilitate the integration of situation awareness (SA) and intuitive pattern recognition (IPR) to enhance the cognitive performance representation in USAR applications. This framework provides guidance to integrate both SA and IPR in order to evaluate the cognitive performance of the USAR responders. The application of this framework will help improve the system design.

Keywords: Cognitive performance, intuitive pattern recognition, situation awareness, urban search and rescue.

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Authors: Mohammad S. Laghari, Gulzar A. Khuwaja

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Many problems in computer vision and image processing present potential for parallel implementations through one of the three major paradigms of geometric parallelism, algorithmic parallelism and processor farming. Static process scheduling techniques are used successfully to exploit geometric and algorithmic parallelism, while dynamic process scheduling is better suited to dealing with the independent processes inherent in the process farming paradigm. This paper considers the application of parallel or multi-computers to a class of problems exhibiting spatial data characteristic of the geometric paradigm. However, by using processor farming paradigm, a dynamic scheduling technique is developed to suit the MIMD structure of the multi-computers. A hybrid scheme of scheduling is also developed and compared with the other schemes. The specific problem chosen for the investigation is the Hough transform for line detection.

Keywords: Hough transforms, parallel computer, parallel paradigms, scheduling.

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Authors: Florin Leon, Silvia Curteanu

Abstract:

The Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) algorithm is inspired by the behavior of bacteria such as Escherichia coli or Myxococcus xanthus when searching for food, more precisely the chemotaxis behavior. Bacteria perceive chemical gradients in the environment, such as nutrients, and also other individual bacteria, and move toward or in the opposite direction to those signals. The application example considered as a case study consists in establishing the dependency between the reaction yield of hydrogels based on polyacrylamide and the working conditions such as time, temperature, monomer, initiator, crosslinking agent and inclusion polymer concentrations, as well as type of the polymer added. This process is modeled with a neural network which is included in an optimization procedure based on BFO. An experimental study of BFO parameters is performed. The results show that the algorithm is quite robust and can obtain good results for diverse combinations of parameter values.

Keywords: Bacterial foraging optimization, hydrogels, neural networks, modeling.

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Authors: M. Siosemarde, F. Kave, E. Pazira, H. Sedghi, S. J. Ghaderi

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Researchers have long had trouble in measurement of Exchangeable Sodium Ratio (ESR) at salt-affected soils. this parameter are often determined using laborious and time consuming laboratory tests, but it may be more appropriate and economical to develop a method which uses a more simple soil salinity index. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between exchangeable sodium ratio (ESR) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) in some salt-affected soils of Khuzestan plain. To this purpose, two experimental areas (S1, S2) of Khuzestan province-IRAN were selected and four treatments with three replications by series of double rings were applied. The treatments were included 25cm, 50cm, 75cm and 100cm water application. The statistical results of the study indicated that in order to predict soil ESR based on soil SAR the linear regression model ESR=0.2048+0.0066 SAR (R2=0.53) & ESR=0.0564+0.0171 SAR (R2=0.76) can be recommended in Pilot S1 and S2 respectively.

Keywords: exchangeable sodium ratio, Khuzestan plain, saltaffectedsoils and sodium adsorption ratio.

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Authors: Sepehr Aslani, Homayoun Mahdavi-Nasab

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Automated motion detection and tracking is a challenging task in traffic surveillance. In this paper, a system is developed to gather useful information from stationary cameras for detecting moving objects in digital videos. The moving detection and tracking system is developed based on optical flow estimation together with application and combination of various relevant computer vision and image processing techniques to enhance the process. To remove noises, median filter is used and the unwanted objects are removed by applying thresholding algorithms in morphological operations. Also the object type restrictions are set using blob analysis. The results show that the proposed system successfully detects and tracks moving objects in urban videos.

Keywords: Optical flow estimation, moving object detection, tracking, morphological operation, blob analysis.

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Authors: Arpita Soni, Sapna Mittal

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Austenite and Martensite indicate the phases of solids undergoing phase transformation which we usually associate with materials and not with living organisms. This article provides an overview of bacterial proteins and structures that are undergoing phase transformation and suggests its probable effect on mechanical behavior. The context is mainly within the role of phase transformations occurring in the flagellum of bacteria. The current knowledge of molecular mechanism leading to phase variation in living organisms is reviewed. Since in bacteria, each flagellum is driven by a separate motor, similarity to a Differential drive in case of four-wheeled vehicles is suggested. It also suggests the application of the mechanism in which bacteria changes its direction of movement to facilitate single point turning of a multi-wheeled vehicle. Finally, examples are presented to illustrate that the motion due to phase transformation of flagella in bacteria can start a whole new research on motion mechanisms.

Keywords: Flagella, Phase Transformation, Nanobots, Differential Drive, Single point turn, Biomimetics

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Authors: Yahya H. Zweiri

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The back-propagation algorithm calculates the weight changes of an artificial neural network, and a two-term algorithm with a dynamically optimal learning rate and a momentum factor is commonly used. Recently the addition of an extra term, called a proportional factor (PF), to the two-term BP algorithm was proposed. The third term increases the speed of the BP algorithm. However, the PF term also reduces the convergence of the BP algorithm, and optimization approaches for evaluating the learning parameters are required to facilitate the application of the three terms BP algorithm. This paper considers the optimization of the new back-propagation algorithm by using derivative information. A family of approaches exploiting the derivatives with respect to the learning rate, momentum factor and proportional factor is presented. These autonomously compute the derivatives in the weight space, by using information gathered from the forward and backward procedures. The three-term BP algorithm and the optimization approaches are evaluated using the benchmark XOR problem.

Keywords: Neural Networks, Backpropagation, Optimization.

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Authors: Srinath Shetty K., Shivashankar R., Rashmi P. Shetty

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Earth reinforcing techniques have become useful and economical to solve problems related to difficult grounds and provide satisfactory foundation performance. In this context, this paper uses radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) for predicting the bearing pressure of strip footing on reinforced granular bed overlying weak soil. The inputs for the neural network models included plate width, thickness of granular bed and number of layers of reinforcements, settlement ratio, water content, dry density, cohesion and angle of friction. The results indicated that RBFNN model exhibited more than 84 % prediction accuracy, thereby demonstrating its application in a geotechnical problem.

Keywords: Bearing pressure, granular bed, radial basis function neural network, strip footing.

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Authors: Ravindra Mallya, B. Satish Shenoy, B. Raghuvir Pai

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The study deals with the challenges in developing a test rig to test the performance of water lubricated journal bearing. The test rig is designed to simulate the working conditions of the bearing in order to understand their performance before they are put in operation. The bearing that is studied is the commercially available water lubricated bearing which has a rubber liner bonded with a rigid metal shell. The lubricant enters the bearing axially through a pressurized inlet tank and exits to an outlet tank which is at sufficiently low pressure. The load on the bearing is applied through the dead weight system which acts both in upward and downward direction so that net load acts on the bearing. The issues in feeding the lubricant into the bearing from the inlet side and preventing the leakage of the lubricant is discussed. The application of the load on the test bearing while maintaining the bearing afloat is also discussed.

Keywords: Axial groove, hydrodynamic pressure, journal bearing, test rig, water lubrication.

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Authors: Sadi Vural, Hiromi Tomii, Hironori Yamauchi

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As far as the latest technological improvements are concerned, digital systems more become popular than the past. Despite this growing demand to the digital systems, content copy and attack against the digital cinema contents becomes a serious problem. To solve the above security problem, we propose “traceable watermarking using Hash functions for digital cinema system. Digital Cinema is a great application for traceable watermarking since it uses watermarking technology during content play as well as content transmission. The watermark is embedded into the randomly selected movie frames using CRC-32 techniques. CRC-32 is a Hash function. Using it, the embedding position is distributed by Hash Function so that any party cannot break off the watermarking or will not be able to change. Finally, our experimental results show that proposed DWT watermarking method using CRC-32 is much better than the convenient watermarking techniques in terms of robustness, image quality and its simple but unbreakable algorithm.

Keywords: Decoder, Digital content, JPEG2000 Frame, System-On-Chip, traceable watermark, Hash Function, CRC-32.

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Authors: Muhammad Naveed, Richard Stechow, Sebastian Bolz, Katharina Hobusch, Sabine Weiß

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Solid particle erosion has been identified as a critical wear phenomenon which takes place during operation of aeroengines in dusty environment. The present work discusses the erosion behavior of Ti-44.5Al-6.25Nb-0.8Mo-0.1B alloy (TNB-V4) which finds its application in low pressure gas turbines and can be used for high pressure compressors too. Prior to the erosion tests, the alloy was heat treated to improve the mechanical properties. Afterwards, specimens were eroded at impact angles of 30° and 90° at room and high temperatures (100 °C-400 °C). Volume loss and erosion behavior are studied through gravimetric analysis, whereas erosion mechanisms are characterized through scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate a clear difference in the erosion mechanism for different impact angles. The influence of the test temperature on the erosion behavior of the alloy is also discussed in the present contribution.

Keywords: Solid particle erosion, gamma TiAl, TNB-V4, high temperature erosion.

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Authors: T. Sopapirm, K-N. Areerak, K-L. Areerak, A. Srikaew

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The paper presents the applications of artificial intelligence technique called adaptive tabu search to design the controller of a buck converter. The averaging model derived from the DQ and generalized state-space averaging methods is applied to simulate the system during a searching process. The simulations using such averaging model require the faster computational time compared with that of the full topology model from the software packages. The reported model is suitable for the work in the paper in which the repeating calculation is needed for searching the best solution. The results will show that the proposed design technique can provide the better output waveforms compared with those designed from the classical method.

Keywords: Buck converter, adaptive tabu search, DQ method, generalized state-space averaging method, modeling and simulation

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Authors: Masoud Nasri, Ali Gholami, Ali Najafi

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In recent years, most of the regions in the world are exposed to degradation and erosion caused by increasing population and over use of land resources. The understanding of the most important factors on soil erosion and sediment yield are the main keys for decision making and planning. In this study, the sediment yield and soil erosion were estimated and the priority of different soil erosion factors used in the MPSIAC method of soil erosion estimation is evaluated in AliAbad watershed in southwest of Isfahan Province, Iran. Different information layers of the parameters were created using a GIS technique. Then, a multivariate procedure was applied to estimate sediment yield and to find the most important factors of soil erosion in the model. The results showed that land use, geology, land and soil cover are the most important factors describing the soil erosion estimated by MPSIAC model.

Keywords: land degradation, Soil erosion, Sediment yield, Aliabad, GIS technique, Land use.

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Authors: Irene Luque Ruiz, Manuel Urbano Cuadrado, Miguel Ángel Gómez-Nieto

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In this paper we study different similarity based approaches for the development of QSAR model devoted to the prediction of activity of antiobesity drugs. Classical similarity approaches are compared regarding to dissimilarity models based on the consideration of the calculation of Euclidean distances between the nonisomorphic fragments extracted in the matching process. Combining the classical similarity and dissimilarity approaches into a new similarity measure, the Approximate Similarity was also studied, and better results were obtained. The application of the proposed method to the development of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) has provided reliable tools for predicting of inhibitory activity of drugs. Acceptable results were obtained for the models presented here.

Keywords: Graph similarity, Nonisomorphic dissimilarity, Approximate similarity, Drugs activity prediction.

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Authors: Humberto N. Teixeira, Isabel S. Lopes, Sérgio D. Sousa

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This article proposes a new methodology to be used by SMEs (Small and Medium enterprises) to characterize their performance in quality, highlighting weaknesses and area for improvement. The methodology aims to identify the principal causes of quality problems and help to prioritize improvement initiatives. This is a self-assessment methodology that intends to be easy to implement by companies with low maturity level in quality. The methodology is organized in six different steps which includes gathering information about predetermined processes and subprocesses of quality management, defined based on the well-known Juran-s trilogy for quality management (Quality planning, quality control and quality improvement) and, predetermined results categories, defined based on quality concept. A set of tools for data collecting and analysis, such as interviews, flowcharts, process analysis diagrams and Failure Mode and effects Analysis (FMEA) are used. The article also presents the conclusions obtained in the application of the methodology in two cases studies.

Keywords: Continuous improvement, Diagnosis, Quality Management, Self-assessment, SMEs

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Authors: Ahmed A. Hassan, Al-Ramadan Baqer

Abstract:

Kenya Amboseli National Park hosts the largest elephant’s population in the country, protected and managed by the government under the Kenya Wildlife Service. The park has been experiencing highly organized poaching, in terms of both total elephant deaths and the level of sophistication employed by the poachers. The main objective of this study is to use GIS to map the entire park properly. GIS map of the park was produced including all leading roads, neighboring land use, main gates and water points with geographic co-ordinates well documented. The result obtained indicates the three main gates and the airport as the hotspot points that the tusks can be ferried out of the park. Therefore, this study recommends the government to put strong security measures on these areas. These procedures can lower the poaching threat and assist the game warders properly manage the endangered species.

Keywords: Elephants, GIS, poaching, Amboseli National Park.

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Authors: Xi Yang, Bulent Chavdar, Alan Vonseggern, Taylan Altan

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Fracture in hot precision forging of engine valves was investigated in this paper. The entire valve forging procedure was described and the possible cause of the fracture was proposed. Finite Element simulation was conducted for the forging process, with commercial Finite Element code DEFORMTM. The effects of material properties, the effect of strain rate and temperature were considered in the FE simulation. Two fracture criteria were discussed and compared, based on the accuracy and reliability of the FE simulation results. The selected criterion predicted the fracture location and shows the trend of damage increasing with good accuracy, which matches the experimental observation. Additional modification of the punch shapes was proposed to further reduce the tendency of fracture in forging. Finite Element comparison shows a great potential of such application in the mass production.

Keywords: Hot forging, engine valve, fracture, tooling.

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Authors: K. Ighilahriz, M. Taleb Ahmed, R. Maachi

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Oil industries are responsible for most cases of contamination of our ecosystem by oil and heavy metals. They are toxic and considered carcinogenic and dangerous even when they exist in trace amounts. At Algiers refinery, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil generate considerable waste in storage tanks; these residues result from the gravitational settling. The composition of these residues is essentially a mixture of hydrocarbon and lead. We propose in this work the application of electrooxidation treatment for the leachate of the leaden sludge. The effect of pH, current density and the electrolysis time were studied, the effectiveness of the processes is evaluated by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD). The dissolution is the best way to mobilize pollutants from leaden mud, so we conducted leaching before starting the electrochemical treatment. The process was carried out in batch mode using graphite anode and a stainless steel cathode. The results clearly demonstrate the compatibility of the technique used with the type of pollution studied. In fact, it allowed COD removal about 80%.

Keywords: Electrooxidation, leaching, leaden sludge, the oil industry.

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Authors: Nabli L., Dhouibi H., Collart Dutilleul S., Craye E.

Abstract:

The existence of maximal durations drastically modifies the performance evaluation in Discrete Event Systems (DES). The same particularity may be found on systems where the associated constraints do not concern the time. For example weight measures, in chemical industry, are used in order to control the quantity of consumed raw materials. This parameter also takes a fundamental part in the product quality as the correct transformation process is based upon a given percentage of each essence. Weight regulation therefore increases the global productivity of the system by decreasing the quantity of rejected products. In this paper we present an approach based on mixing different characteristics theories, the fuzzy system and Petri net system to describe the behaviour. An industriel application on a tobacco manufacturing plant, where the critical parameter is the weight is presented as an illustration.

Keywords: Petri Net, Manufacturing systems, Performance evaluation, Fuzzy logic, Tolerant system.

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Authors: Maziar Asefi

Abstract:

Built environments have a large impact on environmental sustainability and if it is not considered properly can negatively affect our planet. The application of transformable intelligent building systems that automatically respond to environmental conditions is one of the best ways that can intelligently assist us to create sustainable environment. The significance of this issue is evident as energy crisis and environmental changes has made the sustainability the main concerns in many societies. The aim of this research is to review and evaluate the importance and influence of transformable intelligent structure on the creation of sustainable architecture. Intelligent systems in current buildings provide convenience through automatically responding to changes in environmental conditions, reducing energy dissipation and increase of the lifecycle of buildings. This paper by analyzing significant intelligent building systems will evaluate the potentials of transformable intelligent systems in the creation of sustainable architecture and environment.

Keywords: Transformable, Sustainable architecture, Intelligent building system, Environment condition

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Authors: Saif N. Al-Bahry, Yahya M. Al-Wahaibi, Abdulkadir E. Elshafie, Ali S. Al-Bemani, Sanket J. Joshi

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Environmental pollution is a global problem and best possible solution is identifying and utilizing native microorganisms. One possible application of microbial product -biosurfactant is in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites. We have screened forty two different petroleum contaminated sites from Oman, for biosurfactant producing spore-forming bacterial isolates. Initial screening showed that out of 42 soil samples, three showed reduction in surface tension (ST) and interfacial tension (IFT) within 24h of incubation at 40°C. Out of those 3 soil samples, one was further selected for isolation of bacteria and 14 different bacteria were isolated in pure form. Of those 14 spore-forming, rod shaped bacteria, two showed highest reduction in ST and IFT in the range of 70mN/m to <35mN/m and 26.69mN/m to <9mN/m, respectively within 24h. These bacterial biosurfactants may be utilized for bioremediation of oil-spills.

Keywords: Bioremediation, biosurfactant, hydrocarbon pollution, spore-forming bacteria.

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