Search results for: small cells

Authors: Sanghoon Kim, Sun-Tae Chung, Souhwan Jung, Seoungseon Jeon, Jaemin Kim, Seongwon Cho

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In this paper, we propose a face recognition algorithm using AAM and Gabor features. Gabor feature vectors which are well known to be robust with respect to small variations of shape, scaling, rotation, distortion, illumination and poses in images are popularly employed for feature vectors for many object detection and recognition algorithms. EBGM, which is prominent among face recognition algorithms employing Gabor feature vectors, requires localization of facial feature points where Gabor feature vectors are extracted. However, localization method employed in EBGM is based on Gabor jet similarity and is sensitive to initial values. Wrong localization of facial feature points affects face recognition rate. AAM is known to be successfully applied to localization of facial feature points. In this paper, we devise a facial feature point localization method which first roughly estimate facial feature points using AAM and refine facial feature points using Gabor jet similarity-based facial feature localization method with initial points set by the rough facial feature points obtained from AAM, and propose a face recognition algorithm using the devised localization method for facial feature localization and Gabor feature vectors. It is observed through experiments that such a cascaded localization method based on both AAM and Gabor jet similarity is more robust than the localization method based on only Gabor jet similarity. Also, it is shown that the proposed face recognition algorithm using this devised localization method and Gabor feature vectors performs better than the conventional face recognition algorithm using Gabor jet similarity-based localization method and Gabor feature vectors like EBGM.

Keywords: Face Recognition, AAM, Gabor features, EBGM.

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Authors: Manop Aorpimai, Ponthep Navakitkanok

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In this paper, the development of the ephemeris generation module used for the Thaichote satellite operations is presented. It is a vital part of the flight dynamics system, which comprises, the orbit determination, orbit propagation, event prediction and station-keeping maneouvre modules. In the generation of the spacecraft ephemeris data, the estimated orbital state vector from the orbit determination module is used as an initial condition. The equations of motion are then integrated forward in time to predict the satellite states. The higher geopotential harmonics, as well as other disturbing forces, are taken into account to resemble the environment in low-earth orbit. Using a highly accurate numerical integrator based on the Burlish-Stoer algorithm the ephemeris data can be generated for long-term predictions, by using a relatively small computation burden and short calculation time. Some events occurring during the prediction course that are related to the mission operations, such as the satellite’s rise/set viewed from the ground station, Earth and Moon eclipses, the drift in groundtrack as well as the drift in the local solar time of the orbital plane are all detected and reported. When combined with other modules to form a flight dynamics system, this application is aimed to be applied for the Thaichote satellite and successive Thailand’s Earth-observation missions. 

Keywords: Flight Dynamics System, Orbit Propagation, Satellite Ephemeris, Thailand’s Earth Observation Satellite.

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Authors: Amir Gandomkar

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Global warming and continental changes have been one of the people's issues in the recent years and its consequences have appeared in the most parts of the earth planet or will appear in the future. Temperature and Precipitation are two main parameters in climatology. Any changes in these two parameters in this region cause widespread changes in the ecosystem and its natural and humanistic structure. One of the important consequences of this procedure is change in surface and underground water resources. Zayanderood watershed basin which is the main central river in Iran has faced water shortage in the recent years and also it has resulted in drought in Gavkhuni swamp and the river itself. Managers and experts in provinces which are the Zayanderood water consumers believe that global warming; raining decrease and continental changes are the main reason of water decrease. By statistical investigation of annual Precipitation and 46 years temperature of internal and external areas of Zayanderood watershed basin's stations and by using Kendal-man method, Precipitation and temperature procedure changes have been analyzed in this basin. According to obtained results, there was not any noticeable decrease or increase procedure in Precipitation and annual temperature in the basin during this period. However, regarding to Precipitation, a noticeable decrease and increase have been observed in small part of western and some parts of eastern and southern basin, respectively. Furthermore, the investigation of annual temperature procedure has shown that a noticeable increase has been observed in some parts of western and eastern basin, and also a noticeable increasing procedure of temperature in the central parts of metropolitan Esfahan can be observed.

Keywords: Zayanderood, Man_Kendal, Climate Change

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Authors: Clement M. Matasane, Mohamed T. Kahn

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Biomass resources such as animal waste, agricultural and acro-industrial residues, forestry and woodland waste, and industrial and municipal solid wastes provide alternative means to utilize its untapped potential for biomass/biofuel renewable energy systems. In addition, crop residues (i.e., grain, starch, and energy crops) are commonly available in the district and play an essential role in community farming activities. The remote sensing technology (mappings) and geographic information systems tool will be used to determine the biomass potential in the Vhembe District Municipality. The detailed assessment, estimation, and modeling in quantifying their distribution, abundance, and quality yield an effective and efficient use of their potential. This paper aims to examine the potential and prospects of deploying bioenergy systems in small or micro-systems in the district for community use and applications. This deployment of the biofuels/biomass systems will help communities for sustainable energy supply from their traditional energy use into innovative and suitable methods that improve their livelihood. The study demonstrates the potential applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in spatial mapping analysis, evaluation, modeling, and decision support for easy access to renewable energy systems.

Keywords: Agricultural crops, waste materials, biomass potentials, bioenergy potentials, GIS mappings, environmental data, renewable energy deployment, sustainable energy supply.

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Authors: A. Khalina, K. Shaharuddin, M. S. Wahab, M. P. Saiman, H. A. Aisyah

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This paper investigates the effect of alkali treatment and mechanical properties of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) fibre for the development of yarn. Two different fibre sources are used for the yarn production. Kenaf fibres were treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the concentration of 3, 6, 9, and 12% prior to fibre opening process and tested for their tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Then, the selected fibres were introduced to fibre opener at three different opening processing parameters; namely, speed of roller feeder, small drum, and big drum. The diameter size, surface morphology, and fibre durability towards machine of the fibres were characterized. The results show that concentrations of NaOH used have greater effects on fibre mechanical properties. From this study, the tensile and modulus properties of the treated fibres for both types have improved significantly as compared to untreated fibres, especially at the optimum level of 6% NaOH. It is also interesting to highlight that 6% NaOH is the optimum concentration for the alkaline treatment. The untreated and treated fibres at 6% NaOH were then introduced to fibre opener, and it was found that the treated fibre produced higher fibre diameter with better surface morphology compared to the untreated fibre. Higher speed parameter during opening was found to produce higher yield of opened-kenaf fibres.

Keywords: Alkaline treatment, Kenaf fibre, Tensile strength, Yarn production.

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Authors: Larry Powell, Seth Polsley, Drew Casey, Tracy Hammond

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Human activity recognition (HAR) systems have shown positive performance when recognizing repetitive activities like walking, running, and sleeping. Water-based activities are a reasonably new area for activity recognition. However, water-based activity recognition has largely focused on supporting the elite and competitive swimming population, which already has amazing coordination and proper form. Beginner swimmers are not perfect, and activity recognition needs to support the individual motions to help beginners. Activity recognition algorithms are traditionally built around short segments of timed sensor data. Using a time window input can cause performance issues in the machine learning model. The window’s size can be too small or large, requiring careful tuning and precise data segmentation. In this work, we present a method that uses a time window as the initial segmentation, then separates the data based on the change in the sensor value. Our system uses a multi-phase segmentation method that pulls all peaks and valleys for each axis of an accelerometer placed on the swimmer’s lower back. This results in high recognition performance using leave-one-subject-out validation on our study with 20 beginner swimmers, with our model optimized from our final dataset resulting in an F-Score of 0.95.

Keywords: Time window, peak/valley segmentation, feature extraction, beginner swimming, activity recognition.

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Authors: Hailu Dessalegn, T. Srinivas

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We propose new multiple-channel piezoelectric (PZT) actuated tunable optical filter based on racetrack multi-ring resonators for wavelength de-multiplexing network applications. We design tunable eight-channel wavelength de-multiplexer consisting of eight cascaded PZT actuated tunable multi-ring resonator filter with a channel spacing of 1.6nm. The filter for each channel is basically structured on a suspended beam, sandwiched with piezoelectric material and built in integrated ring resonators which are placed on the middle of the beam to gain uniform stress and linearly varying longitudinal strain. A reference single mode serially coupled multi stage racetrack ring resonator with the same radii and coupling length is designed with a line width of 0.8974nm with a flat top pass band at 1dB of 0.5205nm and free spectral range of about 14.9nm. In each channel, a small change in the perimeter of the rings is introduced to establish the shift in resonance wavelength as per the defined channel spacing. As a result, when a DC voltage is applied, the beams will elongate, which involves mechanical deformation of the ring resonators that induces a stress and a strain, which brings a change in refractive index and perimeter of the rings leading to change in the output spectrum shift providing the tunability of central wavelength in each channel. Simultaneous wave length shift as high as 45.54pm/

Keywords: Optical MEMS, piezoelectric (PZT) actuation, tunable optical filter, wavelength de-multiplexer.

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Authors: Warunpun Kongsom, Chaiwat Kongsom

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The objective of this study was to investigate the awareness, knowledge and consumer behavior towards organic products in Thailand. For this study, a purposive sampling technique was used to identify a sample group of 2,575 consumers over the age of 20 years who intended or made purchases from 1) green shops; 2) supermarkets with branches; and, 3) green markets. A questionnaire was used for data collection across the country. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The results showed that more than 92% of consumers were aware of organic agriculture, but had less knowledge about it. More than 60% of consumers knew that organic agriculture production and processing did not allow the use of chemicals. And about 40% of consumers were confused between the food safety logo and the certified organic logo, and whether GMO was allowed in organic agriculture practice or not. In addition, most consumers perceived that organic agricultural products, good agricultural practice (GAP) products, agricultural chemicals free products, and hydroponic vegetable products had the same standard. In the view of organic consumers, the organic Thailand label was the most seen and reliable among various organic labels. Less than 3% of consumers thought that the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Global Organic Mark (GOM) was the most seen and reliable. For the behaviors of organic consumers, they purchased organic products mainly at the supermarket and green shop (55.4%), one to two times per month, and with a total expenditure of about 200 to 400 baht each time. The main reason for buying organic products was safety and free from agricultural chemicals. The considered factors in organic product selection were price (29.5%), convenience (22.4%), and a reliable certification system (21.3%). The demands for organic products were mainly rice, vegetables and fruits. Processed organic products were relatively small in quantity.

Keywords: Consumer behavior, consumer knowledge, organic products, Thailand.

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Authors: Yazan M. Alatrash, Han-ok Kang, Hyun-gi Yoon, Shen Zhang, Juhyeon Yoon

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Flow coastdown phenomena are very important to secure nuclear fuel integrity during loss of off-site power accidents. In this study, primary coolant flow coastdown phenomena are investigated for the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) using a simulation software package, Modular Modeling System (MMS). Two MMS models are built. The first one is a simple model to investigate the characteristics of the primary coolant pump only. The second one is a model for a simulation of the Primary Coolant System (PCS) loop, in which all the detailed design data of the JRTR PCS system are modeled, including the geometrical arrangement data. The same design data for a PCS pump are used for both models. Coastdown curves obtained from the two models are compared to study the PCS loop coolant inertia effect on a flow coastdown. Results showed that the loop coolant inertia effect is found to be small in the JRTR PCS loop, i.e., about one second increases in a coastdown half time required to halve the coolant flow rate. The effects of different flywheel inertia on the flow coastdown are also investigated. It is demonstrated that the coastdown half time increases with the flywheel inertia linearly. The designed coastdown half time is proved to be well above the design requirement for the fuel integrity.

Keywords: Flow Coastdown, Loop Coolant Inertia, Modeling, Research Reactor.

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Authors: Mazyar Ahrari, Ramin Khajavi, Mehdi Kamali Dolatabadi, Tayebeh Toliyat, Abosaeed Rashidi

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Fabric as the first and most common layer that is in permanent contact with human skin is a very good interface to provide coverage, as well as heat and cold insulation. Phase change materials (PCMs) are organic and inorganic compounds which have the capability of absorbing and releasing noticeable amounts of latent heat during phase transitions between solid and liquid phases at a low temperature range. PCMs come across phase changes (liquid-solid and solid-liquid transitions) during absorbing and releasing thermal heat; so, in order to use them for a long time, they should have been encapsulated in polymeric shells, so-called microcapsules. Microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation methods have been developed in order to reduce the reactivity of a PCM with outside environment, promoting the ease of handling, decreasing the diffusion and evaporation rates. Methods of incorporation of PCMs in textiles such as electrospinning and determining thermal properties had been summarized. Paraffin waxes catch a lot of attention due to their high thermal storage density, repeatability of phase change, thermal stability, small volume change during phase transition, chemical stability, non-toxicity, non-flammability, non-corrosive and low cost and they seem to play a key role in confronting with climate change and global warming. In this article, we aimed to review the researches concentrating on the characteristics of PCMs and new materials and methods of microencapsulation.

Keywords: Thermoregulation, phase change materials, microencapsulation, thermal energy storage, nanoencapsulation.

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Authors: F. Esfandyari Darabad, Z. Samadi

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Natural environments have always been affected by one of the most important natural hazards, which is called, the mass movements that cause instability. Identifying the unstable regions and separating them so as to detect and determine the risk of environmental factors is one of the important issues in mountainous areas development. In this study, the northwest of Sabalan hillsides overlooking the Meshkin city and the surrounding area of that have been delimitated, in order to analyze the range processes such as landslides and debris flows based on structural and geomorphological conditions, by means of using GIS. This area due to the high slope of the hillsides and height of the region and the poor localization of roads and so because of them destabilizing the ranges own an inappropriate situation. This study is done with the purpose of identifying the effective factors in the range motion and determining the areas with high potential for zoning these movements by using GIS. The results showed that the most common range movements in the area, are debris flows, rocks falling and landslides. The effective factors in each one of the mass movements, considering a small amount of weight for each factor, the weight map of each factor and finally, the map of risk zoning for the range movements were provided. Based on the zoning map resulted in the study area, the risking level of damaging has specified into the four zones of very high risk, high risk, medium risk, low risk, in which areas with very high and high risk are settled near the road and along the Khyav river and in the  mountainous district.

Keywords: Debris flow, environmental hazards, GIS, landslide.

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Authors: Yunseok Noh, Chang-Uk Kwak, Sun-Joong Kim, Seong-Bae Park

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Scripts are one of the basic text resources to understand broadcasting contents. Topic modeling is the method to get the summary of the broadcasting contents from its scripts. Generally, scripts represent contents descriptively with directions and speeches, and provide scene segments that can be seen as semantic units. Therefore, a script can be topic modeled by treating a scene segment as a document. Because scene segments consist of speeches mainly, however, relatively small co-occurrences among words in the scene segments are observed. This causes inevitably the bad quality of topics by statistical learning method. To tackle this problem, we propose a method to improve topic quality with additional word co-occurrence information obtained using scene similarities. The main idea of improving topic quality is that the information that two or more texts are topically related can be useful to learn high quality of topics. In addition, more accurate topical representations lead to get information more accurate whether two texts are related or not. In this paper, we regard two scene segments are related if their topical similarity is high enough. We also consider that words are co-occurred if they are in topically related scene segments together. By iteratively inferring topics and determining semantically neighborhood scene segments, we draw a topic space represents broadcasting contents well. In the experiments, we showed the proposed method generates a higher quality of topics from Korean drama scripts than the baselines.

Keywords: Broadcasting contents, generalized P´olya urn model, scripts, text similarity, topic model.

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Authors: Ibrahim H. Kilic, A. B. Tugrul

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Energy is a fundamental component in economic development and energy consumption is an index of prosperity and the standard of living. The consumption of energy per capita has increased significantly over the last decades, as the standard of living has improved. Turkey’s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of wind power. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. Information such as installation capacity of wind power plants in installation, under construction and license stages in the country are reported in detail. Some suggestions are presented in order to increase the wind power installation capacity of Turkey. Turkey’s economic and social development has led to a massive increase in demand for electricity over the last decades. Since the Turkey has no major oil or gas reserves, it is highly dependent on energy imports and is exposed to energy insecurity in the future. But Turkey does have huge potential for renewable energy utilization. There has been a huge growth in the construction of wind power plants and small hydropower plants in recent years. To meet the growing energy demand, the Turkish Government has adopted incentives for investments in renewable energy production. Wind energy investments evaluated the impact of feed-in tariffs (FIT) based on three scenarios that are optimistic, realistic and pessimistic with APLUS software that is developed for rational evaluation for energy market. Results of the three scenarios are evaluated in the view of electricity market for Turkey.

Keywords: APLUS, energy policy, renewable energy, wind power, Turkey.

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Authors: Anshu Manik, Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, Siddhartha K. Khaitan

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Rutting is one of the major load-related distresses in airport flexible pavements. Rutting in paving materials develop gradually with an increasing number of load applications, usually appearing as longitudinal depressions in the wheel paths and it may be accompanied by small upheavals to the sides. Significant research has been conducted to determine the factors which affect rutting and how they can be controlled. Using the experimental design concepts, a series of tests can be conducted while varying levels of different parameters, which could be the cause for rutting in airport flexible pavements. If proper experimental design is done, the results obtained from these tests can give a better insight into the causes of rutting and the presence of interactions and synergisms among the system variables which have influence on rutting. Although traditionally, laboratory experiments are conducted in a controlled fashion to understand the statistical interaction of variables in such situations, this study is an attempt to identify the critical system variables influencing airport flexible pavement rut depth from a statistical DoE perspective using real field data from a full-scale test facility. The test results do strongly indicate that the response (rut depth) has too much noise in it and it would not allow determination of a good model. From a statistical DoE perspective, two major changes proposed for this experiment are: (1) actual replication of the tests is definitely required, (2) nuisance variables need to be identified and blocked properly. Further investigation is necessary to determine possible sources of noise in the experiment.

Keywords: Airport Pavement, Design of Experiments, Rutting, NAPTF.

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Authors: M. N. Hasnine, M. K. H. Chayon, M. M. Rahman

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Organizational tendencies towards computer-based information processing have been observed noticeably in the third-world countries. Many enterprises are taking major initiatives towards computerized working environment because of massive benefits of computer-based information processing. However, designing and developing information resource management software for small and mid-size enterprises under budget costs and strict deadline is always challenging for software engineers. Therefore, we introduced an approach to design mid-size enterprise software by using the Waterfall model, which is one of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycles), in a cost effective way. To fulfill research objectives, in this study, we developed mid-sized enterprise software named “BSK Management System” that assists enterprise software clients with information resource management and perform complex organizational tasks. Waterfall model phases have been applied to ensure that all functions, user requirements, strategic goals, and objectives are met. In addition, Rich Picture, Structured English, and Data Dictionary have been implemented and investigated properly in engineering manner. Furthermore, an assessment survey with 20 participants has been conducted to investigate the usability and performance of the proposed software. The survey results indicated that our system featured simple interfaces, easy operation and maintenance, quick processing, and reliable and accurate transactions.

Keywords: End-user Application Development, Enterprise Software Design, Information Resource Management, Usability.

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Authors: N. Clavijo Buriticá, L. M. Correa Lópezand J. R., Sánchez Rodríguez

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The environmental impact caused by industries is an issue that, in the last 20 years, has become very important in terms of society, economics and politics in Colombia. Particularly, the tannery process is extremely polluting because of uneffective treatments and regulations given to the dumping process and atmospheric emissions. Considering that, this investigation is intended to propose a management model based on the integration of Lean Supply Chain, Green Supply Chain, Cleaner Production and ISO 14001-2004, that prioritizes the strategic components of the organizations. As a result, a management model will be obtained and it will provide a strategic perspective through a systemic approach to the tanning process. This will be achieved through the use of Multicriteria Decision tools, along with Quality Function Deployment and Fuzzy Logic. The strategic approach that embraces the management model using the alignment of Lean Supply Chain, Green Supply Chain, Cleaner Production and ISO 14001-2004, is an integrated perspective that allows a gradual frame of the tactical and operative elements through the correct setting of the information flow, improving the decision making process. In that way, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) could improve their productivity, competitiveness and as an added value, the minimization of the environmental impact. This improvement is expected to be controlled through a Dashboard that helps the Organization measure its performance along the implementation of the model in its productive process.

Keywords: Integration, environmental impact, management, systemic organization.

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Authors: Irena Palić

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The main objective of the research in this paper is to empirically assess the causal relationship of private savings and economic growth in the Republic of Croatia. Households’ savings are approximated by household deposits in banks, while domestic income is approximated by industrial production volume indices. Vector Autoregression model and Granger causality tests are used to in order to analyse the relationship among private savings and economic growth. Since ADF unit root tests have shown that both mentioned series are non stationary at levels, series are first differenced in order to become stationary. Therefore, VAR model is estimated with percentage change in private savings and percentage change in domestic income, which can be interpreted as economic growth in case of positive percentage change in domestic income. The Granger causality test has shown that there is no causal relationship among private savings and economic growth in Croatia. The impulse response functions have shown that the impact of shock in domestic income on private savings change is stronger than the impact of private saving on growth. Variance decompositions show that both economic growth and private saving change explain the largest part of its own forecast variance. The research has shown that the link between private savings economic and growth in Croatia is weak, what is in line with relevant empirical research in small open economies.

Keywords: Economic growth, Granger causality, innovation analysis, private savings, Vector Autoregression model.

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Authors: Carolin Lutz, Jörg Matthes, Patrick Waibel, Ulrich Precht, Krassimir Garbev, Günter Beuchle, Uwe Schweike, Peter Stemmermann, Hubert B. Keller

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Online measurement of the product quality is a challenging task in cement production, especially in the production of Celitement, a novel environmentally friendly hydraulic binder. The mineralogy and chemical composition of clinker in ordinary Portland cement production is measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), where only crystalline constituents can be detected. But only a small part of the Celitement components can be measured via XRD, because most constituents have an amorphous structure. This paper describes the development of algorithms suitable for an on-line monitoring of the final processing step of Celitement based on NIR-data. For calibration intermediate products were dried at different temperatures and ground for variable durations. The products were analyzed using XRD and thermogravimetric analyses together with NIR-spectroscopy to investigate the dependency between the drying and the milling processes on one and the NIR-signal on the other side. As a result, different characteristic parameters have been defined. A short overview of the Celitement process and the challenging tasks of the online measurement and evaluation of the product quality will be presented. Subsequently, methods for systematic development of near-infrared calibration models and the determination of the final calibration model will be introduced. The application of the model on experimental data illustrates that NIR-spectroscopy allows for a quick and sufficiently exact determination of crucial process parameters.

Keywords: Calibration model, celitement, cementitious material, NIR spectroscopy.

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Authors: Amon Lasomboon

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Since the world printing industry has to confront globalization with a constant change, the Thai printing industry, as a small but increasingly significant part of the world printing industry, cannot inevitably escape but has to encounter with the similar change and also the need to revamp its production processes, designs and technology to make them more appealing to both international and domestic market. The essential question is what is the Thai competitive edge in the printing industry in changing environment? This research is aimed to study the Thai level of competitive edge in terms of marketing, technology, environment friendly, and the level of satisfaction of the process of using printing machines. To access the extent to which is the trends in competitiveness of Thai printing industry, both quantitative and qualitative study were conducted. The quantitative analysis was restricted to 100 respondents. The qualitative analysis was restricted to a focus group of 10 individuals from various backgrounds in the Thai printing industry. The findings from the quantitative analysis revealed that the overall mean scores are 4.53, 4.10, and 3.50 for the competitiveness of marketing, the competitiveness of technology, and the competitiveness of being environment friendly respectively. However, the level of satisfaction for the process of using machines has a mean score only 3.20. The findings from the qualitative analysis have revealed that target customers have increasingly reordered due to their contentment in both low prices and the acceptable quality of the products. Moreover, the Thai printing industry has a tendency to convert to ambient green technology which is friendly to the environment. The Thai printing industry is choosing to produce or substitute with products that are less damaging to the environment. It is also found that the Thai printing industry has been transformed into a very competitive industry which bargaining power rests on consumers who have a variety of choices.

Keywords: Competitiveness, Printing Industry

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Authors: A. Nait Salah, M. Kaddami

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This work describes an investigation on the effect of filler metals diameter to weld joint, and low alloy carbon steel A516 Grade 70 is the base metal. Commercially SA516 Grade70 is frequently used for the manufacturing of pressure vessels, boilers and storage tank, etc. In fabrication industry, the hardness of the weld joint is between the important parameters to check, after heat treatment of the weld. Submerged arc welding (SAW) is used with two filler metal diameters, and this solid wire electrode is used for SAW non-alloy and for fine grain steels (SFA 5.17). The different diameters were selected (Ø = 2.4 mm and Ø = 4 mm) to weld two specimens. Both specimens were subjected to the same preparation conditions, heat treatment, macrograph, metallurgy micrograph, and micro-hardness test. Samples show almost similar structure with highest hardness. It is important to indicate that the thickness used in the base metal is 22 mm, and all specifications, preparation and controls were according to the ASME section IX. It was observed that two different filler metal diameters performed on two similar specimens demonstrated that the mechanical property (hardness) increases with decreasing diameter. It means that even the heat treatment has the same effect with the same conditions, the filler metal diameter insures a depth weld penetration and better homogenization. Hence, the SAW welding technique mentioned in the present study is favorable to implicate for the industry using the small filler metal diameter.

Keywords: ASME, base metal, filler metal, micro-hardness test, submerged arc welding.

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Authors: Hemant I. Joshi, Vivek J. Pandya

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This paper discusses the simulation and experimental work of small Smart Grid containing ten consumers. Smart Grid is characterized by a two-way flow of real-time information and energy. RTP (Real Time Pricing) based tariff is implemented in this work to reduce peak demand, PAR (peak to average ratio) and cost of energy consumed. In the experimental work described here, working of Smart Plug, HEC (Home Energy Controller), HAN (Home Area Network) and communication link between consumers and utility server are explained. Algorithms for Smart Plug, HEC, and utility server are presented and explained in this work. After receiving the Real Time Price for different time slots of the day, HEC interacts automatically by running an algorithm which is based on Linear Programming Problem (LPP) method to find the optimal energy consumption schedule. Algorithm made for utility server can handle more than one off-peak time period during the day. Simulation and experimental work are carried out for different cases. At the end of this work, comparison between simulation results and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the minimization method adopted.

Keywords: Smart Grid, Real Time Pricing, Peak to Average Ratio, Home Area Network, Home Energy Controller, Smart Plug, Utility Server, Linear Programming Problem.

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Authors: Farah Haroon, Haroon Rasheed, Kazi M Ahmed

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IEEE 802.15.4a impulse radio-time hopping ultra wide band (IR-TH UWB) physical layer, due to small duty cycle and very short pulse widths is robust against multipath propagation. However, scattering and reflections with the large number of obstacles in indoor channel environments, give rise to dense multipath fading. It imposes serious problem to optimum Rake receiver architectures, for which very large number of fingers are needed. Presence of strong noise also affects the reception of fine pulses having extremely low power spectral density. A robust SRake receiver for IEEE 802.15.4a IRTH UWB in dense multipath and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is proposed to efficiently recover the weak signals with much reduced complexity. It adaptively increases the signal to noise (SNR) by decreasing noise through a recursive least square (RLS) algorithm. For simulation, dense multipath environment of IEEE 802.15.4a industrial non line of sight (NLOS) is employed. The power delay profile (PDF) and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) for the respective channel environment are found. Moreover, the error performance of the proposed architecture is evaluated in comparison with conventional SRake and AWGN correlation receivers. The simulation results indicate a substantial performance improvement with very less number of Rake fingers.

Keywords: Adaptive noise cancellation, dense multipath propoagation, IEEE 802.15.4a, IR-TH UWB, industrial NLOS environment, SRake receiver

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Authors: Juan A. Ferriz-Papi, Simon Thomas

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The construction industry generates large amounts of waste, usually mixed, which can be composed of different origin materials, most of them catalogued as non-hazardous. The European Union targets for this waste for 2020 have been already achieved by the UK, but it is mainly developed in downcycling processes (backfilling) whereas upcycling (such as recycle in new concrete batches) still keeps at a low percentage. The aim of this paper is to explore further in the use of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) in concrete mixes so as to improve upcycling. A review of most recent research and legislation applied in the UK is developed regarding the production of concrete blocks. As a case study, initial tests were developed with a CDW recycled aggregate sample from a CDW plant in Swansea. Composition by visual inspection and sieving tests of two samples were developed and compared to original aggregates. More than 70% was formed by soil waste from excavation, and the rest was a mix of waste from mortar, concrete, and ceramics with small traces of plaster, glass and organic matter. Two concrete mixes were made with 80% replacement of recycled aggregates and different water/cement ratio. Tests were carried out for slump, absorption, density and compression strength. The results were compared to a reference sample and showed a substantial reduction of quality in both mixes. Despite that, the discussion brings to identify different aspects to solve, such as heterogeneity or composition, and analyze them for the successful use of these recycled aggregates in the production of concrete blocks. The conclusions obtained can help increase upcycling processes ratio with mixed CDW as recycled aggregates in concrete mixes.

Keywords: Recycled aggregate, concrete, concrete block, construction and demolition waste, recycling.

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Authors: Chatcai Tangsri, Onjaree Na-Takuatoong

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This paper aims to present the key factors that support the decision to use the technology and to present the knowledge transformation flow of visually impaired students after the use of virtual knowledge system as proposed as a new service innovation to universities in Thailand. Correspondents of 27 visually impaired students are involved in this research. Total of 25 students are selected from university that mainly conducts non-classroom teaching environment; while another 2 visually impaired students are selected from classroom teaching environment. All of them are fully involved in the study along 8 weeks duration. All correspondents are classified into 5 small groups in various conditions. The research results revealed that the involvement from knowledge facilitator can push out for the behavioral actual use of the virtual knowledge system although there is no any developed intention to use behaviors. Secondly, the situations that the visually impaired students inadequate of the knowledge sources that usually provided by assistants i.e. peers, audio files etc. In this case, they will use the virtual knowledge system for both knowledge access and knowledge transfer request. With this evidence, the need of knowledge would play a stronger role than all technology acceptance factors. Finally, this paper revealed that the knowledge transfer in normal method that students have a chance to physically meet up is still confirmed as their preference method. In term of other aspects of technology acceptance, it will be discussed together with challenges and recommendations at the end of this paper.

Keywords: Knowledge system, Visually impaired students, Higher education, Knowledge management enable technology, Synchronous/Asynchronous knowledge access, Synchronous/Asynchronous knowledge transfer.

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Authors: Mohamed El Morsy, Gabriela Achtenová

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This paper presents modern vibration signalprocessing techniques for vehicle gearbox fault diagnosis, via the wavelet analysis and the Squared Envelope (SE) technique. The wavelet analysis is regarded as a powerful tool for the detection of sudden changes in non-stationary signals. The Squared Envelope (SE) technique has been extensively used for rolling bearing diagnostics. In the present work a scheme of using the Squared Envelope technique for early detection of gear tooth pit. The pitting defect is manufactured on the tooth side of a fifth speed gear on the intermediate shaft of a vehicle gearbox. The objective is to supplement the current techniques of gearbox fault diagnosis based on using the raw vibration and ordered signals. The test stand is equipped with three dynamometers; the input dynamometer serves as the internal combustion engine, the output dynamometers introduce the load on the flanges of output joint shafts. The gearbox used for experimental measurements is the type most commonly used in modern small to mid-sized passenger cars with transversely mounted powertrain and front wheel drive; a five-speed gearbox with final drive gear and front wheel differential. The results show that the approaches methods are effective for detecting and diagnosing localized gear faults in early stage under different operation conditions, and are more sensitive and robust than current gear diagnostic techniques.

Keywords: Wavelet analysis, Squared Envelope, gear faults.

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Authors: Marco Raciti Castelli, Giulia Simioni, Ernesto Benini

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This paper presents a model for the evaluation of energy performance and aerodynamic forces acting on a three-bladed small vertical axis Darrieus wind turbine depending on blade chord curvature with respect to rotor axis. The adopted survey methodology is based on an analytical code coupled to a solid modeling software, capable of generating the desired blade geometry depending on the blade design geometric parameters, which is linked to a finite volume CFD code for the calculation of rotor performance. After describing and validating the model with experimental data, the results of numerical simulations are proposed on the bases of two different blade profile architectures, which are respectively characterized by a straight chord and by a curved one, having a chord radius equal to rotor external circumference. A CFD campaign of analysis is completed for three blade-candidate airfoil sections, that is the recently-developed DU 06-W-200 cambered blade profile, a classical symmetrical NACA 0021 and its derived cambered airfoil, characterized by a curved chord, having a chord radius equal to rotor external circumference. The effects of blade chord curvature on angle of attack, blade tangential and normal forces are first investigated and then the overall rotor torque and power are analyzed as a function of blade azimuthal position, achieving a numerical quantification of the influence of blade camber on overall rotor performance.

Keywords: VAWT, NACA 0021, DU 06-W-200, cambered airfoil

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Authors: Padmanabhan Balasubramanian, C. Ardil

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In this paper, we consider the problem of logic simplification for a special class of logic functions, namely complementary Boolean functions (CBF), targeting low power implementation using static CMOS logic style. The functions are uniquely characterized by the presence of terms, where for a canonical binary 2-tuple, D(mj) ∪ D(mk) = { } and therefore, we have | D(mj) ∪ D(mk) | = 0 [19]. Similarly, D(Mj) ∪ D(Mk) = { } and hence | D(Mj) ∪ D(Mk) | = 0. Here, 'mk' and 'Mk' represent a minterm and maxterm respectively. We compare the circuits minimized with our proposed method with those corresponding to factored Reed-Muller (f-RM) form, factored Pseudo Kronecker Reed-Muller (f-PKRM) form, and factored Generalized Reed-Muller (f-GRM) form. We have opted for algebraic factorization of the Reed-Muller (RM) form and its different variants, using the factorization rules of [1], as it is simple and requires much less CPU execution time compared to Boolean factorization operations. This technique has enabled us to greatly reduce the literal count as well as the gate count needed for such RM realizations, which are generally prone to consuming more cells and subsequently more power consumption. However, this leads to a drawback in terms of the design-for-test attribute associated with the various RM forms. Though we still preserve the definition of those forms viz. realizing such functionality with only select types of logic gates (AND gate and XOR gate), the structural integrity of the logic levels is not preserved. This would consequently alter the testability properties of such circuits i.e. it may increase/decrease/maintain the same number of test input vectors needed for their exhaustive testability, subsequently affecting their generalized test vector computation. We do not consider the issue of design-for-testability here, but, instead focus on the power consumption of the final logic implementation, after realization with a conventional CMOS process technology (0.35 micron TSMC process). The quality of the resulting circuits evaluated on the basis of an established cost metric viz., power consumption, demonstrate average savings by 26.79% for the samples considered in this work, besides reduction in number of gates and input literals by 39.66% and 12.98% respectively, in comparison with other factored RM forms.

Keywords: Reed-Muller forms, Logic function, Hammingdistance, Algebraic factorization, Low power design.

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Authors: J. Subbalakshmi, G. Dhruvasamhith, S. M. Hussain

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Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most extensively studied material among the conducting polymers due to its simple synthesis by chemical and electrochemical routes. PANIs have advantages of chemical stability and high conductivity making their commercial applications quite attractive. However, to our knowledge, very little work has been reported on the tensile strength properties of templated PANIs processed with polyvinyl alcohol and also, detailed study has not been carried out. We have investigated the effect of small molecule and polymers as templates on PANI. Stable aqueous colloidal suspensions of trisodium citrate (TSC), poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) templated PANIs were prepared through chemical synthesis, processed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and were fabricated into films by solution casting. Absorption and infra-red spectra were studied to gain insight into the possible molecular interactions. Surface morphology was studied through scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Interestingly, tensile testing studies revealed least strain for pure PVA when compared to the blends of templated PANI. Furthermore, among the blends, TSC templated PANI possessed maximum elasticity. The ultimate tensile strength for PVA processed, PEG-templated PANI was found to be five times more than other blends considered in this study. We establish structure–property correlation with morphology, spectral characterization and tensile testing studies.

Keywords: Processed films, polyvinyl alcohol, spectroscopy, surface morphology, templated polyanilines, tensile test.

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Authors: Norsakinah Mohammad Osman, Ali Etemad, Patimah Ismail

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex metabolic disorder that characterized by the presence of high glucose in blood that cause from insulin resistance and insufficiency due to deterioration β-cell Langerhans functions. T2DM is commonly caused by the combination of inherited genetic variations as well as our own lifestyle. Metallothionein (MT) is a known cysteine-rich protein responsible in helping zinc homeostasis which is important in insulin signaling and secretion as well as protection our body from reactive oxygen species (ROS). MT scavenged ROS and free radicals in our body happen to be one of the reasons of T2DM and its complications. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of MT1A and MT2A polymorphisms between T2DM and control subjects among Malay populations. This study involved 150 T2DM and 120 Healthy individuals of Malay ethnic with mixed genders. The genomic DNA was extracted from buccal cells and amplified for MT1A and MT2A loci; the 347bp and 238bp banding patterns were respectively produced by mean of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The PCR products were digested with Mlucl and Tsp451 restriction enzymes respectively and producing fragments lengths of (158/189/347bp) and (103/135/238bp) respectively. The ANOVA test was conducted and it shown that there was a significant difference between diabetic and control subjects for age, BMI, WHR, SBP, FPG, HBA1C, LDL, TG, TC and family history with (P<0.05). While the HDL, CVD risk ratio and DBP does not show any significant difference with (P>0.05). The genotype frequency for AA, AG and GG of MT1A polymorphisms was 72.7%, 22.7% and 4.7% in cases and 15%, 55% and 30% in control respectively. As for MT2A, genotype frequency of GG, GC and CC was 42.7%, 27.3% and 30% in case and 5%, 40% and 55% for control respectively. Both polymorphisms show significant difference between two investigated groups with (P=0.000). The Post hoc test was conducted and shows a significant difference between the genotypes within each polymorphism (P=0. 000). The MT1A and MT2A polymorphisms were believed to be the reliable molecular markers to distinguish the T2DM subjects from healthy individuals in Malay populations.

Keywords: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), Metallothionein (MT), MT1A (rs11076161), MT2A (rs10636), Malay, Genetic Polymorphism.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

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Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, investment attracting policies, investor, reinvestment.

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