Search results for: Initial Sample Size.

Authors: Shaharin A. Sulaiman, Mizuan Minhat

Abstract:

This paper presents development of an ignition system using spark electrodes for application in a research explosion vessel. A single spark is aimed to be discharged with quantifiable ignition energy. The spark electrode system would enable study of flame propagation, ignitability of fuel-air mixtures and other fundamental characteristics of flames. The principle of the capacitive spark circuit of ASTM is studied to charge an appropriate capacitance connected across the spark gap through a large resistor by a high voltage from the source of power supply until the initiation of spark. Different spark energies could be obtained mainly by varying the value of the capacitance and the supply current. The spark sizes produced are found to be affected by the spark gap, electrode size, input voltage and capacitance value.

Keywords: Ignition, Spark Electrode, Flame

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Authors: C. Noi-Okwei

Abstract:

In this study, participants with adjustment disorder with depressed mood (aged 18-54 years) with mild depression (N=18), severe depression (N=12) were compared with healthy controls (N=20) on the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) a cognitive performance test. Using One Way Analysis of Variance and Matched Sample t-test. The results of the analysis shows that severely depressed participants performed poorly on the cognitive performance test relative to controls, however there were no significant differences on the cognitive performance test scores between the severely depressed and the mildly depressed. In addition, performance on the non-verbal performance subtest was poorer than that of the verbal subtest, suggesting that depression affects the executive functions of the person.

Keywords: adjustment disorder, cognitive performance test, Depression,

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Authors: Hermenegilde Nkurunziza, Albrecht Gebhardt, Juergen Pilz

Abstract:

The focus in this work is to assess which method allows a better forecasting of malaria cases in Bujumbura ( Burundi) when taking into account association between climatic factors and the disease. For the period 1996-2007, real monthly data on both malaria epidemiology and climate in Bujumbura are described and analyzed. We propose a hierarchical approach to achieve our objective. We first fit a Generalized Additive Model to malaria cases to obtain an accurate predictor, which is then used to predict future observations. Various well-known forecasting methods are compared leading to different results. Based on in-sample mean average percentage error (MAPE), the multiplicative exponential smoothing state space model with multiplicative error and seasonality performed better.

Keywords: Burundi, Forecasting, Malaria, Regressionmodel, State space model.

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Authors: Maria Giannopoulou

Abstract:

Open urban public spaces comprise an important element for the development of social, cultural and economic activities of the population in the modern cities. These spaces are also considered regulators of the region-s climate conditions, providing better thermal, visual and auditory conditions which can be optimized by the application of appropriate strategies of bioclimatic design. The paper focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the recent unification of the open spaces in the centre of Xanthi, a medium – size city in northern Greece, from a bioclimatic perspective, as well as in the creation of suitable methodology. It is based both on qualitative observation of the interventions by fieldwork research and assessment and on quantitative analysis and modeling of the research area.

Keywords: Bioclimatic principles, Quantitative analysis, Sustainability, TownScope III, Urban open spaces

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Authors: K. Arroudj, M. Lanez, M. N. Oudjit

Abstract:

The introduction of siliceous mineral additions in cement production allows, in addition to the ecological and economic gain, improvement of concrete performance. This improvement is mainly due to the fixing of Portlandite, released during the hydration of cement, by fine siliceous, forming denser calcium silicate hydrates and therefore a more compact cementitious matrix. This research is part of the valuation of the Dune Sand (DS) in the cement industry in Algeria. The high silica content of DS motivated us to study its effect, at ground state, on the properties of mortars in fresh and hardened state. For this purpose, cement pastes and mortars based on ground dune sand (fine quartz) has been analyzed with a replacement to cement of 15%, 20% and 25%. This substitution has reduced the amount of heat of hydration and avoids any risk of initial cracking. In addition, the grinding of the dune sand provides amorphous thin populations adsorbed at the surface of the crystal particles of quartz. Which gives to ground quartz pozzolanic character. This character results an improvement of mechanical strength of mortar (66 MPa in the presence of 25% of ground quartz).

Keywords: Mineralogical structure, Pozzolanic reactivity, quartz, mechanical strength.

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Authors: O. Younis, J. Pallares, F. X. Grau

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This paper presents and discusses the numerical simulations of transient laminar natural convection cooling of high Prandtl number fluids in cubical cavities, in which the six walls of the cavity are subjected to a step change in temperature. The effect of the fluid Prandtl number on the heat transfer coefficient is studied for three different fluids (Golden Syrup, Glycerin and Glycerin-water solution 50%). The simulations are performed at two different Rayleigh numbers (5·106 and 5·107) and six different Prandtl numbers (3 · 105 ≥Pr≥ 50). Heat conduction through the cavity glass walls is also considered. The propsed correlations of the averaged heat transfer coefficient (N u) showed that it is dependant on the initial Ra and almost independent on P r. The instantaneous flow patterns, temperature contours and time evolution of volume averaged temperature and heat transfer coefficient are presented and analyzed.

Keywords: Transient natural convection, High Prandtl number, variable viscosity.

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Authors: Klara Krizova, Rudolf Hela

Abstract:

The paper reflects current state of popularization of static elasticity modulus of concrete. This parameter is undoubtedly very important for designing of concrete structures, and very often neglected and rarely determined before designing concrete technology itself. The paper describes assessment and comparison of four mix designs with almost constant dosage of individual components. The only difference is area of origin of small size fraction of aggregate 0/4. Development of compressive strength and static elasticity modulus at the age of 7, 28 and 180 days were observed. As the experiment showed, designing of individual components and their quality are the basic factor influencing elasticity modulus of current concrete.

Keywords: Concrete, Aggregate, Strength, Elasticity Modulus, Quality

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Authors: Merve Küçük, M. Lütfi Öveçoğlu

Abstract:

Zinc oxide particles were synthesized using the sol-gel method and dip coated on polyester fabric. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed a single crystal phase of ZnO particles. Chemical characteristics of the polyester fabric surface were investigated using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) measurements. Morphology of ZnO coated fabric was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). After particle analysis, the aqueous ZnO solution resulted in a narrow size distribution at submicron levels. The deposit of ZnO on polyester fabrics yielded a homogeneous spread of spherical particles. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) results also affirmed the presence of ZnO particles on the polyester fabrics.

Keywords: Dip coating, polyester fabrics, sol-gel, zinc oxide.

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Authors: Babak Tashakori Bafghi, Laleh Tashakori, Reza Allahyari Soeini, Mohammad Mokhtari

Abstract:

Supplier selection is a multi criteria decision-making process that comprises tangible and intangible factors. The majority of previous supplier selection techniques do not consider strategic perspective. Besides, uncertainty is one of the most important obstacles in supplier selection. For the first, time in this paper, the idea of the algorithm " Knapsack " is used to select suppliers Moreover, an attempt has to be made to take the advantage of a simple numerical method for solving model .This is an innovation to resolve any ambiguity in choosing suppliers. This model has been tried in the suppliers selected in a competitive environment and according to all desired standards of quality and quantity to show the efficiency of the model, an industry sample has been uses.

Keywords: Knapsack, linear programming, supplier select, supply chain management.

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Authors: Samera Salimpour Abkenar

Abstract:

In this work, silk yarns were treated using ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) and cross-linked with citric acid (CA) via pad-dry-cure method. Elemental and FESEM analyses confirmed the presence of ß-CD on the treated silk samples even after five washing cycles. Then, the treated samples were dyed using natural dyes (carrot, orange and tomato). Results showed that the color strength (K/S) of the treated samples had been markedly enhanced compared with the control sample (after treatment with metal mordant). Finally, the color strength (K/S value) and color fastness (fading, staining and light fastness) of the treated samples with ß-CD were investigated and compared.

Keywords: ß-cyclodextrin, dyeing, natural dyes, silk yarn.

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Authors: Pradeep Singh, Shrish Verma

Abstract:

Software fault prediction models are created by using the source code, processed metrics from the same or previous version of code and related fault data. Some company do not store and keep track of all artifacts which are required for software fault prediction. To construct fault prediction model for such company, the training data from the other projects can be one potential solution. Earlier we predicted the fault the less cost it requires to correct. The training data consists of metrics data and related fault data at function/module level. This paper investigates fault predictions at early stage using the cross-project data focusing on the design metrics. In this study, empirical analysis is carried out to validate design metrics for cross project fault prediction. The machine learning techniques used for evaluation is Naïve Bayes. The design phase metrics of other projects can be used as initial guideline for the projects where no previous fault data is available. We analyze seven datasets from NASA Metrics Data Program which offer design as well as code metrics. Overall, the results of cross project is comparable to the within company data learning.

Keywords: Software Metrics, Fault prediction, Cross project, Within project.

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Authors: Doaa Hegazy, Joachim Denzler

Abstract:

SoftBoost is a recently presented boosting algorithm, which trades off the size of achieved classification margin and generalization performance. This paper presents a performance evaluation of SoftBoost algorithm on the generic object recognition problem. An appearance-based generic object recognition model is used. The evaluation experiments are performed using a difficult object recognition benchmark. An assessment with respect to different degrees of label noise as well as a comparison to the well known AdaBoost algorithm is performed. The obtained results reveal that SoftBoost is encouraged to be used in cases when the training data is known to have a high degree of noise. Otherwise, using Adaboost can achieve better performance.

Keywords: SoftBoost algorithm, AdaBoost algorithm, Generic object recognition.

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Authors: Ahmad Gholami, Saeed Sharafi, Hamid Abbasdokht

Abstract:

The heterotrophic seedling growth can be defined as a product of two components: (1) the weight of mobilized seed reserve, and (2) conversion efficiency of utilized seed reserve to seedling tissue. The first component can be further divided into (1) initial seed weight, and (2) the fraction of seed reserve, which is mobilized. The objective of this study was the identification of the sensitive seedling growth component(s) in response to drought and salinity stresses. Two experiments were separately conducted using various salinity levels (osmotic pressure) of 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 1.5 MPa created using NaCl as first experiment and by polyethylene glycol (drought stress) of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.2 and 1.4 MPa in second experiment. Seeds of five crops species (Hordeum vulgare, Brassica napus, Zea mays, Medicago sativa and Medicago scutellata) were used in each experiment. In both experiments, seedling growth, fraction of seed reserve utilization and weight of mobilized seed reserve decreased with increasing drought and salt intensity. However, drought and salinity stresses had no effect on the conversion efficiency. It was concluded that the sensitive component of seedling growth is the weight of mobilized seed reserve.

Keywords: Salinity, Drought, Seed reserve, Seedling, Cropsspecies

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Authors: B. J. C. Perera, D. A. Sachindra, W. Godoy., A.F. Barton, F. Huang

Abstract:

Many water supply systems in Australia are currently undergoing significant reconfiguration due to reductions in long term average rainfall and resulting low inflows to water supply reservoirs since the second half of the 20th century. When water supply systems undergo change, it is necessary to develop new operating rules, which should consider climate, because the climate change is likely to further reduce inflows. In addition, water resource systems are increasingly intended to be operated to meet complex and multiple objectives representing social, economic, environmental and sustainability criteria. This is further complicated by conflicting preferences on these objectives from diverse stakeholders. This paper describes a methodology to develop optimum operating rules for complex multi-reservoir systems undergoing significant change, considering all of the above issues. The methodology is demonstrated using the Grampians water supply system in northwest Victoria, Australia. Initial work conducted on the project is also presented in this paper.

Keywords: Climate change, Multi-objective planning, Pareto optimal; Stakeholder preference, Statistical downscaling, Water supply systems.

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Authors: Pattama Ratana-Arporn, Pongtep Wilaipun

Abstract:

White scar oyster (Crassostrea belcheri) is often eaten raw and being the leading vehicle for foodborne disease, especially Salmonella Weltevreden which exposed the prominent and most resistant to radiation. Gamma irradiation at a low dose of 1 kGy was enough to eliminate S. Weltevreden contaminated in oyster meat at a level up to 5 log CFU/g while it still retain the raw characteristics and equivalent sensory quality as the non-irradiated one. Process development of ready-to-eat chilled oyster meat was conducted by shucking the meat, individually packed in plastic bags, subjected to 1 kGy gamma radiation at chilled condition and then stored in 4oC refrigerated temperature. Microbiological determination showed the absence of S. Weltevreden (5 log CFU/g initial inoculated) along the whole storage time of 30 days. Sensory evaluation indicated the decreasing in sensory scores along storage time which determining the product shelf life to be 18 days compared to 15 days of nonirradiated one. The most advantage of developed process was to provide the safe raw oyster to consumers and in addition sensory quality retained and 3-day extension shelf life also exist.

Keywords: decontamination, food safety, irradiation, oyster, Salmonella Weltevreden

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Authors: Muhammad Kashif Siddiq, Fang Jian Cheng, Yu Wen Bo

Abstract:

State-dependent Riccati equation based controllers are becoming increasingly popular because of having attractive properties like optimality, stability and robustness. This paper focuses on the design of a roll autopilot for a fin stabilized and canard controlled 122mm artillery rocket using state-dependent Riccati equation technique. Initial spin is imparted to rocket during launch and it quickly decays due to straight tail fins. After the spin phase, the roll orientation of rocket is brought to zero with the canard deflection commands generated by the roll autopilot. Roll autopilot has been developed by considering uncoupled roll, pitch and yaw channels. The canard actuator is modeled as a second-order nonlinear system. Elements of the state weighing matrix for Riccati equation have been chosen to be state dependent to exploit the design flexibility offered by the Riccati equation technique. Simulation results under varying conditions of flight demonstrate the wide operating range of the proposed autopilot.

Keywords: Fin stabilized 122mm artillery rocket, Roll Autopilot, Six degree of freedom trajectory model, State-dependent Riccati equation.

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Authors: Walter Hussak, John Keane

Abstract:

The usual correctness condition for a schedule of concurrent database transactions is some form of serializability of the transactions. For general forms, the problem of deciding whether a schedule is serializable is NP-complete. In those cases other approaches to proving correctness, using proof rules that allow the steps of the proof of serializability to be guided manually, are desirable. Such an approach is possible in the case of conflict serializability which is proved algebraically by deriving serial schedules using commutativity of non-conflicting operations. However, conflict serializability can be an unnecessarily strong form of serializability restricting concurrency and thereby reducing performance. In practice, weaker, more general, forms of serializability for extended models of transactions are used. Currently, there are no known methods using proof rules for proving those general forms of serializability. In this paper, we define serializability for an extended model of partitioned transactions, which we show to be as expressive as serializability for general partitioned transactions. An algebraic method for proving general serializability is obtained by giving an initial-algebra specification of serializable schedules of concurrent transactions in the model. This demonstrates that it is possible to conduct algebraic proofs of correctness of concurrent transactions in general cases.

Keywords: Algebraic Specification, Partitioned Transactions, Serializability.

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Authors: E. Kharaishvili, M. Chavleishvili, M. Natsvaladze

Abstract:

The article presents the trends in Georgian wine market development and evaluates the competitive advantages of Georgia to enter the wine market based on its customs, traditions and historical practices combined with modern technologies. In order to analyze the supply of wine, dynamics of vineyard land area and grape varieties are discussed, trends in wine production are presented, trends in export and import are evaluated, local wine market, its micro and macro environments are studied and analyzed based on the interviews with experts and analysis of initial recording materials. For strengthening its position on the international market, the level of competitiveness of Georgian wine is defined, which is evaluated by “ex-ante” and “ex-post” methods, as well as by four basic and two additional factors of the Porter’s diamond method; potential advantages and disadvantages of Georgian wine are revealed. Conclusions are made by identifying the factors that hinder the development of Georgian wine market. Based on the conclusions, relevant recommendations are developed.

Keywords: Georgian wine market, competitive advantage, bio wine, export-import, Porter's diamond model.

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Jabraeil Jamali, Ahmad Khademzadeh, Hasan Asil, Amir Asil

Abstract:

This method decrease usage power (expenditure) in networks on chips (NOC). This method data coding for data transferring in order to reduces expenditure. This method uses data compression reduces the size. Expenditure calculation in NOC occurs inside of NOC based on grown models and transitive activities in entry ports. The goal of simulating is to weigh expenditure for encoding, decoding and compressing in Baseline networks and reduction of switches in this type of networks. KeywordsNetworks on chip, Compression, Encoding, Baseline networks, Banyan networks.

Keywords: Networks on chip, Compression, Encoding, Baseline networks, Banyan networks

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Authors: Pitcha Wongskeo, Pramoch Rangsunvigit, Sumaeth Chavadej

Abstract:

The possibility of using cassava residue containing 49.66% starch, 21.47% cellulose, 12.97% hemicellulose, and 21.86% lignin as a raw material to produce glucose using enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated. In the experiment, each reactor contained the cassava residue, bacteria cells, and production medium. The effects of particles size (40 mesh and 60 mesh) and strains of bacteria (A002 and M015) isolated from Thai higher termites, Microcerotermes sp., on the glucose concentration at 37°C were focused. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a refractive index detector was used to determine the quantity of glucose. The maximum glucose concentration obtained at 37°C using strain A002 and 60 mesh of the cassava residue was 1.51 g/L at 10 h.

Keywords: Hydrolysis, termites, glucose, cassava

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Authors: Md R. Islam, Rafiqul A. Tarefder

Abstract:

This study investigates the effect of moisture conditioning on the Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS) of asphalt concrete. As a first step, cylindrical samples of 100 mm diameter and 50 mm thick were prepared using a Superpave gyratory compactor. Next, the samples were conditioned using Moisture Induced Susceptibility Test (MIST) device at different numbers of moisture conditioning cycles. In the MIST device, samples are subjected water pressure through the sample pores cyclically. The MIST conditioned samples were tested for ITS. Results show that the ITS does not change significantly with MIST conditioning at the specific pressure and cycles adopted in this study.

Keywords: Asphalt concrete, tensile strength, moisture, laboratory test.

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Authors: Ghaffar Tari

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of mean size of industry on survival of new firms in East-Azarbaijan province through 1981-2006 using hazard function. So the effect of two variables including mean employment of industry and mean capital of industry are investigated on firm's survival. The Industry & Mine Ministry database has used for data gathering and the data are analyzed using the semi-parametric cox regression model. The results of this study shows that there is a meaningful negative relationship between mean capital of industry and firm's survival, but the mean employment of industry has no meaningful effect on survival of new firms.

Keywords: Firm's Survival, Hazard Function, Mean Capital of Industry, Mean Employment of Industry.

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Authors: N. M. Nusi, M. Othman, M. Suleiman, F. Ismail, N. Alias

Abstract:

In this paper, an alternating implicit block method for solving two dimensional scalar wave equation is presented. The new method consist of two stages for each time step implemented in alternating directions which are very simple in computation. To increase the speed of computation, a group of adjacent points is computed simultaneously. It is shown that the presented method increase the maximum time step size and more accurate than the conventional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and other existing method of natural ordering.

Keywords: FDTD, Scalar wave equation, alternating direction implicit (ADI), alternating group explicit (AGE), asymmetric approximation.

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Authors: Wen-Bao Qiao, Jean-Charles Créput

Abstract:

To accelerate the solution for large scale traveling salesman problems (TSP), a parallel 2-opt local search algorithm with simple implementation based on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is presented and tested in this paper. The parallel scheme is based on technique of data decomposition by dynamically assigning multiple K processors on the integral tour to treat K edges’ 2-opt local optimization simultaneously on independent sub-tours, where K can be user-defined or have a function relationship with input size N. We implement this algorithm with doubly linked list on GPU. The implementation only requires O(N) memory. We compare this parallel 2-opt local optimization against sequential exhaustive 2-opt search along integral tour on TSP instances from TSPLIB with more than 10000 cities.

Keywords: Doubly linked list, parallel 2-opt, tour division, GPU.

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Authors: Junko Hara, Yoshishige Kawabe, Takeshi Komai, Chihiro Inoue

Abstract:

The chemical degradation of dieldrin in ferric sulfide and iron powder aqueous suspension was investigated in laboratory batch type experiments. To identify the reaction mechanism, reduced copper was used as reductant. More than 90% of dieldrin was degraded using both reaction systems after 29 days. Initial degradation rate of the pesticide using ferric sulfide was superior to that using iron powder. The reaction schemes were completely dissimilar even though the ferric ion plays an important role in both reaction systems. In the case of metallic iron powder, dieldrin undergoes partial dechlorination. This reaction proceeded by reductive hydrodechlorination with the generation of H+, which arise by oxidation of ferric iron. This reductive reaction was accelerated by reductant but mono-dechlorination intermediates were accumulated. On the other hand, oxidative degradation was observed in the reaction with ferric sulfide, and the stable chemical structure of dieldrin was decomposed into water-soluble intermediates. These reaction intermediates have no chemical structure of drin class. This dehalogenation reaction assumes to occur via the adsorbed hydroxyl radial generated on the surface of ferric sulfide.

Keywords: Dieldrin, kinetics, pesticide residue, soil remediation

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Authors: Sepideh Jabbari Behnam, Zahrasadat Saide Zarabadi

Abstract:

A city is an intertwined texture from the relationship of different components in a whole which is united in a one, so designing the whole complex and its planning is not an easy matter. By considering that a city is a complex system with infinite components and communications, providing flexible layouts that can respond to the unpredictable character of the city, which is a result of its complexity, is inevitable. Parametric design approach as a new approach can produce flexible and transformative layouts in any stage of design. This study aimed to introduce parametric design as a modern approach to respond to complex urban issues by using descriptive and analytical methods. This paper firstly introduces complex systems and then giving a brief characteristic of complex systems. The flexible design and layout flexibility is another matter in response and simulation of complex urban systems that should be considered in design, which is discussed in this study. In this regard, after describing the nature of the parametric approach as a flexible approach, as well as a tool and appropriate way to respond to features such as limited predictability, reciprocating nature, complex communications, and being sensitive to initial conditions and hierarchy, this paper introduces parametric design.

Keywords: Complexity theory, complex system, flexibility, parametric design.

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Authors: Ilona Shiller

Abstract:

This study examines regional convergence in per capita personal income in the US and Canada. We find that the disparity in real per capita income levels across US states (Canadian provinces) has declined, but income levels are not identical. Income levels become more aligned once costs of living are accounted for in relative per capita income series. US states (Canadian provinces) converge at an annual rate of between 1.3% and 2.04% (between 2.15% and 2.37%). A pattern of σ and β-convergence in per capita personal income across regions evident over the entire sample period, is reversed over 1979-1989 (1976-1990) period. The reversal may be due to sectoral or region-specific shocks that have highly persistent effects. The latter explanation might be true for half of the US and most of Canada.

Keywords: regional convergence, regional disparities, per capita income.

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Authors: F. Imanshoar, M. R. M. Tabatabai, Y. Hassanzadeh, M. Rostamipoor

Abstract:

Subsurface erosion in river banks and its details, in spite of its occurrence in various parts of the world has rarely been paid attention by researchers. In this paper, quantitative concept of the subsurface bank erosion has been investigated for vertical banks. Vertical banks were simulated experimentally by considering a sandy erodible layer overlaid by clayey one under uniformly distributed constant overhead pressure. Results of the experiments are indicated that rate of sandy layer erosion is decreased by an increase in overburden; likewise, substituting 20% of coarse (3.5 mm) sand layer bed material by fine material (1.4 mm) may lead to a decrease in erosion rate by one-third. This signifies the importance of the bed material composition effect on sandy layers erosion due to subsurface erosion in river banks.

Keywords: Subsurface Erosion, Vertical Banks, Bed Material Size

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Authors: V. Goremikins, K. Rocens, D. Serdjuks

Abstract:

Suspended cable structures are most preferable for large spans covering due to rational use of structural materials, but the problem of suspended cable structures is initial shape change under the action of non-symmetrical load. The problem can be solved by increasing of relation of dead weight and imposed load, but this methods cause increasing of materials consumption.Prestressed cable truss usage is another way how the problem of shape change under the action of non-symmetrical load can be fixed. The better results can be achieved if we replace top chord with cable truss with cross web. Rational structure of the cable truss for prestressed cable truss top chord was developed using optimization realized in FEM program ANSYS 12 environment. Single cable and cable truss model work was discovered.Analytical and model testing results indicate, that usage of cable truss with the cross web as a top chord of prestressed cable truss instead of single cable allows to reduce total displacements by 13-16% in the case of non-symmetrical load. In case of uniformly distributed load single cable is preferable.

Keywords: Cable trusses, Non-symmetrical load, Cable truss models, Vertical displacements

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Authors: N. Sanmanee, K. Panishkan, K. Obsuwan, S. Dharmvanij

Abstract:

The increments of aromatic structures are widely used to monitor the degree of humification. Compost derived from mix manures mixed with agricultural wastes was studied. The compost collected at day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 49, 77, 91, 105, and 119 was divided into 3 stages, initial stage at day 0, thermophilic stage during day 1-48, and mature stage during day 49-119. The change of highest absorptions at wavelength range between 210-235 nm during day 0- 49 implied that small molecules such as nitrates and carboxylic occurred faster than the aromatic molecules that were found at wavelength around 280 nm. The ratio of electron-transfer band at wavelength 253 nm by the benzonoid band at wavelength 230 nm (E253/E230) also gradually increased during the fermenting period indicating the presence of O-containing functional groups. This was in agreement with the shift change from aliphatic to aromatic structures as shown by the relationship with C/N and H/C ratios (r = - 0.631 and -0.717, p< 0.05) since both were decreasing. Although the amounts of humic acid (HA) were not different much during the humification process, the UV spectral deconvolution showed better qualitative characteristics to help in determining the compost quality. From this study, the compost should be used at day 49 and should not be kept longer than 3 months otherwise the quality of HA would decline regardless of the amounts of HA that might be rising. This implied that other processes, such as mineralization had an influence on the humification process changing HA-s structure and its qualities.

Keywords: Compost maturity, UV spectroscopy, humification, humic acid

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