Search results for: Sandwich structure.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2650

Search results for: Sandwich structure.

850 Research Topic Map Construction

Authors: Hei-Chia Wang, Che-Tsung Yang

Abstract:

While the explosive increase in information published on the Web, researchers have to filter information when searching for conference related information. To make it easier for users to search related information, this paper uses Topic Maps and social information to implement ontology since ontology can provide the formalisms and knowledge structuring for comprehensive and transportable machine understanding that digital information requires. Besides enhancing information in Topic Maps, this paper proposes a method of constructing research Topic Maps considering social information. First, extract conference data from the web. Then extract conference topics and the relationships between them through the proposed method. Finally visualize it for users to search and browse. This paper uses ontology, containing abundant of knowledge hierarchy structure, to facilitate researchers getting useful search results. However, most previous ontology construction methods didn-t take “people" into account. So this paper also analyzes the social information which helps researchers find the possibilities of cooperation/combination as well as associations between research topics, and tries to offer better results.

Keywords: Ontology, topic maps, social information, co-authorship.

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849 IT/IS Organisation Design in the Digital Age – A Literature Review

Authors: Dominik Krimpmann

Abstract:

Information technology and information systems are currently at a tipping point. The digital age fundamentally transforms a large number of industries in the ways they work. Lines between business and technology blur. Researchers have acknowledged that this is the time in which the IT/IS organisation needs to re-strategize itself. In this paper, the author provides a structured review of the IS and organisation design literature addressing the question of how the digital age changes the design categories of an IT/IS organisation design. The findings show that most papers just analyse single aspects of either IT/IS relevant information or generic organisation design elements but miss a holistic ‘big-picture’ onto an IT/IS organisation design. This paper creates a holistic IT/IS organisation design framework bringing together the IS research strand, the digital strand and the generic organisation design strand. The research identified four IT/IS organisation design categories (strategy, structure, processes and people) and discusses the importance of two additional categories (sourcing and governance). The authors findings point to a first anchor point from which further research needs to be conducted to develop a holistic IT/IS organisation design framework.

Keywords: IT/IS strategy, IT/IS organisation design, digital age, organisational effectiveness, literature review.

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848 Garden Culture in Islamic Civilization: A Glance at the Birth, Development and Current Situation

Authors: Parisa Göker

Abstract:

With the birth of Islam, the definitions of paradise in Quran have spread across three continents since 7th century, showing itself in the palace gardens as a reflection of Islamic Culture. The design characteristics of Islamic gardens come forth with the influence of religious beliefs, as well as taking its form as per the cultural, climatic and soil characteristics of its geography, and showing its difference. It is possible to see these differences from the garden examples that survived to present time from the civilizations in the lands of Islamic proliferation. The main material of this research is the Islamic gardens in Iran and Spain. Field study was carried out in Alhambra Palace in Spain, Granada and Shah Goli garden in Iran, Tabriz. In this study, the birth of Islamic gardens, spatial perception of paradise, design principles, spatial structure, along with the structural/plantation materials used are examined. Also the characteristics and differentiation of the gardens examined in different cultures and geographies have been revealed. In the conclusion section, Iran and Spain Islamic garden samples were evaluated and their properties were determined.

Keywords: Islamic civilization, Islamic architecture, cultural landscape, Islamic garden.

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847 Mecano-Reliability Approach Applied to a Water Storage Tank Placed on Ground

Authors: Amar Aliche, Hocine Hammoum, Karima Bouzelha, Arezki Ben Abderrahmane

Abstract:

Traditionally, the dimensioning of storage tanks is conducted with a deterministic approach based on partial coefficients of safety. These coefficients are applied to take into account the uncertainties related to hazards on properties of materials used and applied loads. However, the use of these safety factors in the design process does not assure an optimal and reliable solution and can sometimes lead to a lack of robustness of the structure. The reliability theory based on a probabilistic formulation of constructions safety can respond in an adapted manner. It allows constructing a modelling in which uncertain data are represented by random variables, and therefore allows a better appreciation of safety margins with confidence indicators. The work presented in this paper consists of a mecano-reliability analysis of a concrete storage tank placed on ground. The classical method of Monte Carlo simulation is used to evaluate the failure probability of concrete tank by considering the seismic acceleration as random variable.

Keywords: Reliability approach, storage tanks, Monte Carlo simulation, seismic acceleration.

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846 Research of Potential Cluster Development in Pannonian Croatia

Authors: Mirjana Radman-Funarić, Katarina Potnik Galić

Abstract:

The paper presents an analysis of linkages and structures of co-operation and their intensity like the potential for the establishment of clusters in the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatian. Starting from the theoretical elaboration of the need for entrepreneurs to organize through the cluster model and the terms of their self-actualization, related to the importance of traditional values in terms of benefits, social capital and assess where the company now is, in order to prove the need to create their own identity in terms of clustering. The institutional dimensions of social capital where the public sector has the best role in creating the social structure of clusters, and social dimensions of social capital in terms of trust, cooperation and networking will be analyzed to what extent the trust and coherency are present between companies in the Brod posavina and Pozega slavonia County, expressed through the readiness of inclusion in clusters in the NUTS II region - Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, as a homogeneous economic entity, with emphasis on limiting factors that stand in the way of greater competitiveness.

Keywords: Analysis of linkages, structures of co-operation, Cluster, Region

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845 Analysis of the Coupled Stretching Bending Problem of Stiffened Plates by a BEM Formulation Based on Reissner's Hypothesis

Authors: Gabriela R. Fernandes, Danilo H. Konda, Luiz C. F. Sanches

Abstract:

In this work, the plate bending formulation of the boundary element method - BEM, based on the Reissner?s hypothesis, is extended to the analysis of plates reinforced by beams taking into account the membrane effects. The formulation is derived by assuming a zoned body where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab and all of them are represented by a chosen reference surface. Equilibrium and compatibility conditions are automatically imposed by the integral equations, which treat this composed structure as a single body. In order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom, the problem values defined on the interfaces are written in terms of their values on the beam axis. Initially are derived separated equations for the bending and stretching problems, but in the final system of equations the two problems are coupled and can not be treated separately. Finally are presented some numerical examples whose analytical results are known to show the accuracy of the proposed model.

Keywords: Boundary elements, Building floor structures, Platebending.

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844 The Performance of PtSn/Al₂O₃ with Cylindrical Particles for Acetic Acid Hydrogenation

Authors: Mingchuan Zhou, Haitao Zhang, Hongfang Ma, Weiyong Ying

Abstract:

Alumina supported PtSn catalysts with cylindrical particles were prepared and characterized by using low temperature N2 adsorption/desorption and X-ray diffraction. Low temperature N2 adsorption/desorption demonstrate that the tableting changed the texture properties of catalysts. XRD pattern indicate that the crystal structure of supports had no change after reaction. The performances over particles of PtSn/Al2O3 catalysts were investigated with regards to reaction temperature, pressure, and H2/AcOH mole ratio. After tableting, the conversion of acetic acid and selectivity of ethanol and acetyl acetate decreased. High reaction temperature and pressure can improve conversion of acetic acid. H2/AcOH mole ratio of 9.36 showed the best performance on acetic acid hydrogenation. High pressure had benefits for the selectivity of ethanol and other two parameters had no obvious effect on selectivity.  

Keywords: Acetic acid hydrogenation, ethanol, PtSn, cylindrical particles.

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843 Contact Angle Measurement of the Vinyl Ester Matrix Nanocomposites Based On Layered Silicate

Authors: A. I. Alateyah, H. N. Dhakal, Z. Y. Zhang

Abstract:

Contact angle measurement was utilized in order to study the subject of the wettability and surface chemistry of the nanocomposites materials. Water and glycerol droplets were used in this study. The incorporation of layered silicate into the vinyl ester matrix helped to improve the wettability and reduced the θ values of both liquids used. The addition of 2 wt.% clay loading reduced the θ values of water and glycerol by up to 21% and 6% respectively. Likewise, the incorporation of 4 wt.% clay loading reduced the water and glycerol θ values by 49% and 38% respectively. Also this study confirms the findings in the literature regarding the relationship between the intercalation nanocomposites level and the wettability. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were utilised in order to characterise the interlamellar structure of nanocomposites.

Keywords: Vinyl ester, nanocomposites, layered silicate, characterisations, contact angle measurement, wettability.

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842 Comparing and Combining the Axial with the Network Maps for Analyzing Urban Street Pattern

Authors: Nophaket Napong

Abstract:

Rooted in the study of social functioning of space in architecture, Space Syntax (SS) and the more recent Network Pattern (NP) researches demonstrate the 'spatial structures' of city, i.e. the hierarchical patterns of streets, junctions and alley ends. Applying SS and NP models, planners can conceptualize the real city-s patterns. Although, both models yield the optimal path of the city their underpinning displays of the city-s spatial configuration differ. The Axial Map analyzes the topological non-distance-based connectivity structure, whereas, the Central-Node Map and the Shortcut-Path Map, in contrast, analyze the metrical distance-based structures. This research contrasts and combines them to understand various forms of city-s structures. It concludes that, while they reveal different spatial structures, Space Syntax and Network Pattern urban models support each the other. Combining together they simulate the global access and the locally compact structures namely the central nodes and the shortcuts for the city.

Keywords: Street pattern, space syntax, syntactic and metrical models, network pattern models.

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841 Complementary Split Ring Resonator-Loaded Microstrip Patch Antenna Useful for Microwave Communication

Authors: Subal Kar, Madhuja Ghosh, Amitesh Kumar, Arijit Majumder

Abstract:

Complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) loaded microstrip square patch antenna has been optimally designed with the help of high frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The antenna has been fabricated on the basis of the simulation design data and experimentally tested in anechoic chamber to evaluate its gain, bandwidth, efficiency and polarization characteristics. The CSRR loaded microstrip patch antenna has been found to realize significant size miniaturization (to the extent of 24%) compared to the conventional-type microstrip patch antenna both operating at the same frequency (5.2 GHz). The fabricated antenna could realize a maximum gain of 4.17 dB, 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 34 MHz, efficiency 50.73% and with maximum cross-pol of 10.56 dB down at the operating frequency. This practically designed antenna with its miniaturized size is expected to be useful for airborne and space borne applications at microwave frequency.

Keywords: Split ring resonator, metamaterial, CSRR loaded patch antenna, microstrip patch antenna, LC resonator.

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840 Modal Analysis of a Cantilever Beam Using an Inexpensive Smartphone Camera: Motion Magnification Technique

Authors: Hasan Hassoun, Jaafar Hallal, Denis Duhamel, Mohammad Hammoud, Ali Hage Diab

Abstract:

This paper aims to prove the accuracy of an inexpensive smartphone camera as a non-contact vibration sensor to recover the vibration modes of a vibrating structure such as a cantilever beam. A video of a vibrating beam is filmed using a smartphone camera and then processed by the motion magnification technique. Based on this method, the first two natural frequencies and their associated mode shapes are estimated experimentally and compared to the analytical ones. Results show a relative error of less than 4% between the experimental and analytical approaches for the first two natural frequencies of the beam. Also, for the first two-mode shapes, a Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) value of above 0.9 between the two approaches is obtained. This slight error between the different techniques ensures the viability of a cheap smartphone camera as a non-contact vibration sensor, particularly for structures vibrating at relatively low natural frequencies.

Keywords: Modal Analysis, motion magnification, smartphone camera, structural vibration, vibration modes.

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839 Fuzzy Group Decision Making for the Assessment of Health-Care Waste Disposal Alternatives in Istanbul

Authors: Mehtap Dursun, E. Ertugrul Karsak, Melis Almula Karadayi

Abstract:

Disposal of health-care waste (HCW) is considered as an important environmental problem especially in large cities. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques are apt to deal with quantitative and qualitative considerations of the health-care waste management (HCWM) problems. This research proposes a fuzzy multi-criteria group decision making approach with a multilevel hierarchical structure including qualitative as well as quantitative performance attributes for evaluating HCW disposal alternatives for Istanbul. Using the entropy weighting method, objective weights as well as subjective weights are taken into account to determine the importance weighting of quantitative performance attributes. The results obtained using the proposed methodology are thoroughly analyzed.

Keywords: Entropy weighting method, group decision making, health-care waste management, hierarchical fuzzy multi-criteriadecision making

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838 An Efficient Pixel Based Cervical Disc Localization

Authors: J. Preetha, S. Selvarajan

Abstract:

When neck pain is associated with pain, numbness, or weakness in the arm, shoulder, or hand, further investigation is needed as these are symptoms indicating pressure on one or more nerve roots. Evaluation necessitates a neurologic examination and imaging using an MRI/CT scan. A degenerating disc loses some thickness and is less flexible, causing inter-vertebrae space to narrow. A radiologist diagnoses an Intervertebral Disc Degeneration (IDD) by localizing every inter-vertebral disc and identifying the pathology in a disc based on its geometry and appearance. Accurate localizing is necessary to diagnose IDD pathology. But, the underlying image signal is ambiguous: a disc’s intensity overlaps the spinal nerve fibres. Even the structure changes from case to case, with possible spinal column bending (scoliosis). The inter-vertebral disc pathology’s quantitative assessment needs accurate localization of the cervical region discs. In this work, the efficacy of multilevel set segmentation model, to segment cervical discs is investigated. The segmented images are annotated using a simple distance matrix.

Keywords: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration (IDD), Cervical Disc Localization, multilevel set segmentation.

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837 Transient Free Laminar Convection in the Vicinity of a Thermal Conductive Vertical Plate

Authors: Anna Bykalyuk, Frédéric Kuznik, Kévyn Johannes

Abstract:

In this paper the influence of a vertical plate’s thermal capacity is numerically investigated in order to evaluate the evolution of the thermal boundary layer structure, as well as the convective heat transfer coefficient and the velocity and temperature profiles. Whereas the heat flux of the heated vertical plate is evaluated under time depending boundary conditions. The main important feature of this problem is the unsteadiness of the physical phenomena. A 2D CFD model is developed with the Ansys Fluent 14.0 environment and is validated using unsteady data obtained for plasterboard studied under a dynamic temperature evolution. All the phenomena produced in the vicinity of the thermal conductive vertical plate (plasterboard) are analyzed and discussed. This work is the first stage of a holistic research on transient free convection that aims, in the future, to study the natural convection in the vicinity of a vertical plate containing Phase Change Materials (PCM).

Keywords: CFD modeling, natural convection, thermal conductive plate, time-depending boundary conditions.

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836 Assessment of EU Competitiveness Factors by Multivariate Methods

Authors: L. Melecký

Abstract:

Measurement of competitiveness between countries or regions is an important topic of many economic analysis and scientific papers. In European Union (EU), there is no mainstream approach of competitiveness evaluation and measuring. There are many opinions and methods of measurement and evaluation of competitiveness between states or regions at national and European level. The methods differ in structure of using the indicators of competitiveness and ways of their processing. The aim of the paper is to analyze main sources of competitive potential of the EU Member States with the help of Factor analysis (FA) and to classify the EU Member States to homogeneous units (clusters) according to the similarity of selected indicators of competitiveness factors by Cluster analysis (CA) in reference years 2000 and 2011. The theoretical part of the paper is devoted to the fundamental bases of competitiveness and the methodology of FA and CA methods. The empirical part of the paper deals with the evaluation of competitiveness factors in the EU Member States and cluster comparison of evaluated countries by cluster analysis. 

Keywords: Competitiveness, cluster analysis, EU, factor analysis, multivariate methods.

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835 Design of Ultra Fast Polymer Electro-Optic waveguide Switch for Intelligent Optical Networks

Authors: S.Ponmalar, S.Sundaravadivelu

Abstract:

Traditional optical networks are gradually evolving towards intelligent optical networks due to the need for faster bandwidth provisioning, protection and restoration of the network that can be accomplished with devices like optical switch, add drop multiplexer and cross connects. Since dense wavelength multiplexing forms the physical layer for intelligent optical networking, the roll of high speed all optical switch is important. This paper analyzes such an ultra-high speed polymer electro-optic switch. The performances of the 2x2 optical waveguide switch with rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal grating profiles on various device parameters are analyzed. The simulation result shows that trapezoidal grating is the optimized structure which has the coupling length of 81μm and switching voltage of 11V for the operating wavelength of 1550nm. The switching time for this proposed switch is 0.47 picosecond. This makes the proposed switch to be an important element in the intelligent optical network.

Keywords: Intelligent optical network, optical switch, electrooptic effect, coupled mode theory, waveguide grating structures

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834 Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol over Copper-Zinc Oxide-Based Catalyst

Authors: S. F. H. Tasfy, N. A. M. Zabidi, M. S. Shaharun

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide is highly thermochemical stable molecules where it is very difficult to activate the molecule and achieve higher catalytic conversion into alcohols or other hydrocarbon compounds. In this paper, series of the bimetallic Cu/ZnO-based catalyst supported by SBA-15 were systematically prepared via impregnation technique with different Cu: Zn ratio for hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), temperature programmed desorption, reduction, oxidation and pulse chemisorption (TPDRO), and surface area determination was also performed. All catalysts were tested with respect to the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol in microactivity fixed-bed reactor at 250oC, 2.25 MPa, and H2/CO2 ratio of 3. The results demonstrate that the catalytic structure, activity, and methanol selectivity was strongly affected by the ratio between Cu: Zn, Where higher catalytic activity of 14 % and methanol selectivity of 92 % was obtained over Cu/ZnO-SBA-15 catalyst with Cu:Zn ratio of 7:3 wt. %. Comparing with the single catalyst, the synergetic between Cu and Zn provides additional active sites to adsorb more H2 and CO2 and accelerate the CO2 conversion, resulting in higher methanol production under mild reaction conditions.

Keywords: Hydrogenation of carbon dioxide, methanol synthesis, Cu/ZnO-based catalyst, mesoporous silica (SBA-15), and metal ratio.

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833 A Serializability Condition for Multi-step Transactions Accessing Ordered Data

Authors: Rafat Alshorman, Walter Hussak

Abstract:

In mobile environments, unspecified numbers of transactions arrive in continuous streams. To prove correctness of their concurrent execution a method of modelling an infinite number of transactions is needed. Standard database techniques model fixed finite schedules of transactions. Lately, techniques based on temporal logic have been proposed as suitable for modelling infinite schedules. The drawback of these techniques is that proving the basic serializability correctness condition is impractical, as encoding (the absence of) conflict cyclicity within large sets of transactions results in prohibitively large temporal logic formulae. In this paper, we show that, under certain common assumptions on the graph structure of data items accessed by the transactions, conflict cyclicity need only be checked within all possible pairs of transactions. This results in formulae of considerably reduced size in any temporal-logic-based approach to proving serializability, and scales to arbitrary numbers of transactions.

Keywords: multi-step transactions, serializability, directed graph.

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832 Behaviour of Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate Concrete Exposed to High Temperatures

Authors: Lenka Bodnárová, Rudolf Hela, Michala Hubertová, Iveta Nováková

Abstract:

This paper is concerning the issues of behaviour of lightweight expanded clay aggregates concrete exposed to high temperature. Lightweight aggregates from expanded clay are produced by firing of row material up to temperature 1050°C. Lightweight aggregates have suitable properties in terms of volume stability, when exposed to temperatures up to 1050°C, which could indicate their suitability for construction applications with higher risk of fire. The test samples were exposed to heat by using the standard temperature-time curve ISO 834. Negative changes in resulting mechanical properties, such as compressive strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength were evaluated. Also visual evaluation of the specimen was performed. On specimen exposed to excessive heat, an explosive spalling could be observed, due to evaporation of considerable amount of unbounded water from the inner structure of the concrete.

Keywords: Expanded clay aggregate, explosive spalling, high temperature, lightweight concrete, temperature-time curve ISO 834.

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831 Vocal Communication in Sooty-headed Bulbul; Pycnonotus aurigaster

Authors: Surakan Payakkhabut

Abstract:

Studies of vocal communication in Sooty-headed Bulbul were carried out from January to December 2011. Vocal recordings and behavioral observations were made in their natural habitats at some localities of Lampang, Thailand. After editing, cuts of high quality recordings were analyzed with the help of Avisoft- SASLab Pro (version 4.40) software. More than one thousand element repertoires in five groups were found within two vocal structures. The two structures were short sounds with single element and phrases composed of elements, the frequency ranged from 1-10 kHz. Most phrases were composed of 2 to 5 elements that were often dissimilar in structure, however, these phrases were not as complex as song phrases. The elements and phrases were combined to form many patterns. The species used ten types of calls; i.e. alert, alarm, aggressive, begging, contact, courtship, distress, exciting, flying and invitation. Alert and contact calls were used more frequently than other calls. Aggressive, alarm and distress calls could be used for interspecific communication among some other bird species in the same habitats.

Keywords: Vocal communication, Call, Bird, Sooty-headed Bulbul

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830 The Role of the Shamanistic Music in the Kazakh Folk Culture

Authors: T. H. Gabitov, M. Serikkyzy, G. A. Abdurazakova, A. A. Merkhayeva, N. ZH. Mukhabayev

Abstract:

The relics of traditional folk culture in Kazakhstan are ceremonies or their fragments - such as weddings, funerals, shamanism. The world of spiritual creatures, spirits-protectors, spirits-helpers, injury spirits, spirits of illnesses, etc., is described in detail in shamanic rites (in Kazakh culture it is called bakslyk). The study of these displays of folk culture, which reflect the peoples` ethnic mentality or notions about the structure, values and hierarchies of the universe, includes collection and recording of the field materials and their interpretation, i.e. reconstruction of those meanings which were initially embodied or “coded" in folklore. A distinctive feature of Kazakh nomadic culture is its self-preservation and actualization, almost untouched the ancient mythologies of the world, in particular, the mythologies connected with music, musical instruments and the creator of music. Within the frameworks of the traditional culture the word and the music keep the sacral meaning. The ritual melodies and what they carry – the holly, and at the same time unexplored, powerful and threatening, uncontrolled by people world – keep on attributing the soul to all, connected with culture.

Keywords: Shamanism, ritual, folk culture, music.

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829 The Determinants of Voluntary Disclosure in Croatia

Authors: Zeljana Aljinovic Barac, Marina Granic, Tina Vuko

Abstract:

Study investigates the level and extent of voluntary disclosure practice in Croatia. The research was conducted on the sample of 130 medium and large companies. Findings indicate that two thirds of the companies analyzed disclose below-average number of additional information. The explanatory analyses has shown that firm size, listing status and industrial sector significantly and positively affect the level and extent of voluntary disclosure in the annual report of Croatian companies. On the other hand, profitability and ownership structure were found statistically insignificant. Unlike previous studies, this paper deals with level of voluntary disclosure of medium and large companies, as well as companies whose shares are not listed on the organized capital market, which can be found as our contribution. Also, the research makes contribution by providing the insights into voluntary disclosure practices in Croatia, as a case of macro-oriented accounting system economy, i.e. bank oriented economy with an emerging capital market.

Keywords: Annual report, Croatian companies, Disclosure index, Voluntary disclosure.

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828 New Feed-Forward/Feedback Generalized Minimum Variance Self-tuning Pole-placement Controller

Authors: S. A. Mohamed, A. S. Zayed, O. A. Abolaeha

Abstract:

A new Feed-Forward/Feedback Generalized Minimum Variance Pole-placement Controller to incorporate the robustness of classical pole-placement into the flexibility of generalized minimum variance self-tuning controller for Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) has been proposed in this paper. The design, which provides the user with an adaptive mechanism, which ensures that the closed loop poles are, located at their pre-specified positions. In addition, the controller design which has a feed-forward/feedback structure overcomes the certain limitations existing in similar poleplacement control designs whilst retaining the simplicity of adaptation mechanisms used in other designs. It tracks set-point changes with the desired speed of response, penalizes excessive control action, and can be applied to non-minimum phase systems. Besides, at steady state, the controller has the ability to regulate the constant load disturbance to zero. Example simulation results using both simulated and real plant models demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Keywords: Pole-placement, Minimum variance control, self-tuning control and feedforward control.

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827 Analysis of Web User Identification Methods

Authors: Renáta Iváncsy, Sándor Juhász

Abstract:

Web usage mining has become a popular research area, as a huge amount of data is available online. These data can be used for several purposes, such as web personalization, web structure enhancement, web navigation prediction etc. However, the raw log files are not directly usable; they have to be preprocessed in order to transform them into a suitable format for different data mining tasks. One of the key issues in the preprocessing phase is to identify web users. Identifying users based on web log files is not a straightforward problem, thus various methods have been developed. There are several difficulties that have to be overcome, such as client side caching, changing and shared IP addresses and so on. This paper presents three different methods for identifying web users. Two of them are the most commonly used methods in web log mining systems, whereas the third on is our novel approach that uses a complex cookie-based method to identify web users. Furthermore we also take steps towards identifying the individuals behind the impersonal web users. To demonstrate the efficiency of the new method we developed an implementation called Web Activity Tracking (WAT) system that aims at a more precise distinction of web users based on log data. We present some statistical analysis created by the WAT on real data about the behavior of the Hungarian web users and a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the three methods

Keywords: Data preparation, Tracking individuals, Web useridentification, Web usage mining

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826 An Improved Greedy Routing Algorithm for Grid using Pheromone-Based Landmarks

Authors: Lada-On Lertsuwanakul, Herwig Unger

Abstract:

This paper objects to extend Jon Kleinberg-s research. He introduced the structure of small-world in a grid and shows with a greedy algorithm using only local information able to find route between source and target in delivery time O(log2n). His fundamental model for distributed system uses a two-dimensional grid with longrange random links added between any two node u and v with a probability proportional to distance d(u,v)-2. We propose with an additional information of the long link nearby, we can find the shorter path. We apply the ant colony system as a messenger distributed their pheromone, the long-link details, in surrounding area. The subsequence forwarding decision has more option to move to, select among local neighbors or send to node has long link closer to its target. Our experiment results sustain our approach, the average routing time by Color Pheromone faster than greedy method.

Keywords: Routing algorithm, Small-World network, Ant Colony Optimization, and Peer-to-peer System.

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825 Effect of Core Puncture Diameter on Bio-Char Kiln Efficiency

Authors: W. Intagun, T. Khamdaeng, P. Prom-ngarm, N. Panyoyai

Abstract:

Biochar has been used as a soil amendment since it has high porous structure and has proper nutrients and chemical properties for plants. Product yields produced from biochar kiln are dependent on process parameters and kiln types used. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of core puncture diameter on biochar kiln efficiency, i.e., yields of biochar and produced gas. Corncobs were used as raw material to produce biochar. Briquettes from agricultural wastes were used as fuel. Each treatment was performed by changing the core puncture diameter. From the experiment, it is revealed that the yield of biochar at the core puncture diameter of 3.18 mm, 4.76 mm, and 6.35 mm was 10.62 wt. %, 24.12 wt. %, and 12.24 wt. %, of total solid yields, respectively. The yield of produced gas increased with increasing the core puncture diameter. The maximum percentage by weight of the yield of produced gas was 81.53 wt. % which was found at the core puncture diameter of 6.35 mm. The core puncture diameter was furthermore found to affect the temperature distribution inside the kiln and its thermal efficiency. In conclusion, the high efficient biochar kiln can be designed and constructed by using the proper core puncture diameter.

Keywords: Anila stove, biochar, soil conditioning materials, temperature distribution.

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824 RASPE – Risk Advisory Smart System for Pipeline Projects in Egypt

Authors: Nael Y. Zabel, Maged E. Georgy, Moheeb E. Ibrahim

Abstract:

A knowledge-based expert system with the acronym RASPE is developed as an application tool to help decision makers in construction companies make informed decisions about managing risks in pipeline construction projects. Choosing to use expert systems from all available artificial intelligence techniques is due to the fact that an expert system is more suited to representing a domain’s knowledge and the reasoning behind domain-specific decisions. The knowledge-based expert system can capture the knowledge in the form of conditional rules which represent various project scenarios and potential risk mitigation/response actions. The built knowledge in RASPE is utilized through the underlying inference engine that allows the firing of rules relevant to a project scenario into consideration. Paper provides an overview of the knowledge acquisition process and goes about describing the knowledge structure which is divided up into four major modules. The paper shows one module in full detail for illustration purposes and concludes with insightful remarks.

Keywords: Expert System, Knowledge Management, Pipeline Projects, Risk Mismanagement.

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823 Numerical Study of a Butterfly Valve for Vibration Analysis and Reduction

Authors: Malik I. Al-Amayreh, Mohammad I. Kilani, Ahmed S. Al-Salaymeh

Abstract:

This work presents a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of a butterfly valve used to control the flow of combustible gas mixture in an industrial process setting.The work uses CFD simulation to analyze the flow characteristics in the vicinity of the valve, including the pressure distributions and Frequency spectrum of the pressure pulsations downstream the valves and the vortex shedding allow predicting the torque fluctuations acting on the valve shaft and the possibility of generating mechanical vibration and resonance.These fluctuations are due to aerodynamic torque resulting from fluid turbulence and vortex shedding in the valve vicinity. The valve analyzed is located in a pipeline between two opposing 90o elbows, which exposes the valve and the surrounding structure to the turbulence generated upstream and downstream the elbows at either end of the pipe.CFD simulations show that the best location for the valve from a vibration point of view is in the middle of the pipe joining the elbows.

Keywords: Butterfly Valve Vibration Analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Fluid Flow Circuit Design, Fluid Mechanics.

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822 An Experimental Study on Development of the Connection System of Concrete Barriers Applicable to Modular Bridge

Authors: Seung-Kyung Kye, Sang-Seung Lee, Dooyong Cho, Sun-Kyu Park

Abstract:

Although many studies on the assembly technology of the bridge construction have dealt mostly with on the pier, girder or the deck of the bridge, studies on the prefabricated barrier have rarely been performed. For understanding structural characteristics and application of the concrete barrier in the modular bridge, which is an assembly of structure members, static loading test was performed. Structural performances as a road barrier of the three methods, conventional cast-in-place(ST), vertical bolt connection(BVC) and horizontal bolt connection(BHC) were evaluated and compared through the analyses of load-displacement curves, strain curves of the steel, concrete strain curves and the visual appearances of crack patterns. The vertical bolt connection(BVC) method demonstrated comparable performance as an alternative to conventional cast-in-place(ST) while providing all the advantages of prefabricated technology. Necessities for the future improvement in nuts enforcement as well as legal standard and regulation are also addressed.

Keywords: Modular Bridge, Concrete Barrier, Bolt Connection

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821 Mathematical Model and Control Strategy on DQ Frame for Shunt Active Power Filters

Authors: P. Santiprapan, K-L. Areerak, K-N. Areerak

Abstract:

This paper presents the mathematical model and control strategy on DQ frame of shunt active power filter. The structure of the shunt active power filter is the voltage source inverter (VSI). The pulse width modulation (PWM) with PI controller is used in the paper. The concept of DQ frame to apply with the shunt active power filter is described. Moreover, the detail of the PI controller design for two current loops and one voltage loop are fully explained. The DQ axis with Fourier (DQF) method is applied to calculate the reference currents on DQ frame. The simulation results show that the control strategy and the design method presented in the paper can provide the good performance of the shunt active power filter. Moreover, the %THD of the source currents after compensation can follow the IEEE Std.519-1992.

Keywords: shunt active power filter, mathematical model, DQ control strategy, DQ axis with Fourier, pulse width modulation control.

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