Search results for: Active control

Authors: B. Michelle Sweeting

Abstract:

Pepper spray use has gained momentum since 1992 and although the active ingredient is readily available, it is considered a weapon with restricted use in many regions, including The Bahamas. In light of controversy in the literature regarding the severity of presenting respiration complaints among individuals postacute exposure of pepper spray inhalation, this descriptive case series study was conducted to assess the respiratory status of persons evaluated during a mass casualty in The Bahamas. Parameters noted were patients- demographics and respiration severity determined via clinical examination findings, disposition and follow-up review of the 20 persons. Their most common complaint was difficulty breathing post exposure. Two required admission and stayed for <24 hours uneventfully. All cases remained without residual complaints upon follow-up. Results showed that although respiration difficulty was perceived as the most detrimental of presenting complaints, it was noted to be mostly subjective with benign outcome.

Keywords: Acute Pepper Spray Inhalation, Capsaicinoids, Oleoresin Capsicum, Pepper spray, Respiratory severity severity.

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Authors: M. Tarafdar Haque, S. Najafi

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Improving the reactive power and voltage profile of a distribution substation is investigated in this paper. The purpose is to properly determination of the shunt capacitors on/off status and suitable tap changer (TC) position of a substation transformer. In addition, the limitation of secondary bus voltage, the maximum allowable number of switching operation in a day for on load tap changer and on/off status of capacitors are taken into account. To achieve these goals, an artificial neural network (ANN) is designed to provide preliminary scheduling. Input of ANN is active and reactive powers of transformer and its primary and secondary bus voltages. The output of ANN is capacitors on/off status and TC position. The preliminary schedule is further refined by fuzzy dynamic programming in order to reach the final schedule. The operation of proposed method in Q/V improving is compared with the results obtained by operator operation in a distribution substation.

Keywords: Neuro-fuzzy, Dynamic programming, Reactive power, Voltage profile.

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Authors: H. J. Wattimanela, U. S. Passaribu, N. T. Puspito, S. W. Indratno

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Molluca Collision Zone is located at the junction of the Eurasian, Australian, Pacific and the Philippines plates. Between the Sangihe arc, west of the collision zone, and to the east of Halmahera arc is active collision and convex toward the Molluca Sea. This research will analyze the behavior of earthquake occurrence in Molluca Collision Zone related to the distributions of an earthquake in each partition regions, determining the type of distribution of a occurrence earthquake of partition regions, and the mean occurence of earthquakes each partition regions, and the correlation between the partitions region. We calculate number of earthquakes using partition method and its behavioral using conventional statistical methods. In this research, we used data of shallow earthquakes type and its magnitudes ≥4 SR (period 1964-2013). From the results, we can classify partitioned regions based on the correlation into two classes: strong and very strong. This classification can be used for early warning system in disaster management.

Keywords: Molluca Collision Zone, partition regions, conventional statistical methods, Earthquakes, classifications, disaster management.

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Authors: Jing Fang, Yao Cui, Mingming Wang, Shengli She, Jianping Yuan

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Wearable robotics is a potential solution in aiding gait rehabilitation of lower limbs dyskinesia patients, such as knee osteoarthritis or stroke afflicted patients. Many wearable robots have been developed in the form of rigid exoskeletons, but their bulk devices, high cost and control complexity hinder their popularity in the field of gait rehabilitation. Thus, the development of a portable, compliant and low-cost wearable robot for gait rehabilitation is necessary. Inspired by Chinese traditional folding fans and balloon inflators, the authors present an inflatable, foldable and variable stiffness knee exosuit (IFVSKE) in this paper. The pneumatic actuator of IFVSKE was fabricated in the shape of folding fans by using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fabric materials. The geometric and mechanical properties of IFVSKE were characterized with experimental methods. To assist the knee joint smartly, an intelligent control profile for IFVSKE was proposed based on the concept of full-cycle energy management of the biomechanical energy during human movement. The biomechanical energy of knee joints in a walking gait cycle of patients could be collected and released to assist the joint motion just by adjusting the inner pressure of IFVSKE. Finally, a healthy subject was involved to walk with and without the IFVSKE to evaluate the assisting effects.

Keywords: Biomechanical energy management, gait rehabilitation, knee exosuit, wearable robotics.

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Authors: Inas E. Darwish, Alia M. Arab, Tarek A. Azeim, Teshreen M. Zeitoun, Wafaa A. Hewedy, Moemen A. Heiba, Iman S. Emara

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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing-remitting condition that afflicts millions of people throughout the world and impairs their daily functions and quality of life. Treatment of IBD depends largely on 5-aminosalicylic acid (5- ASA) and corticosteroids. The present study aimed to clarify the effects of 5-aminosalicylic acid, budesonide and currcumin on 90 male albino rats against trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNB) induced colitis. TNB was injected intrarectally to 50 rats. The other 40 rats served as control groups. Both 5-ASA (in a dose of 120 mg/kg) and budesonide (in a dose of 0.1 mg/kg) were administered daily for one week whereas currcumin was injected intraperitonially (in a dose of 30 mg/kg daily) for 14 days after injection of either TNB in the colitis rats (group B) or saline in control groups (group A). The study included estimation of macroscopic score index, histological examination of H&E stained sections of the colonic tissue, biochemical estimation of myeloperoxidase (MPO), nitric oxide (NO), and caspase-3 levels, in addition to studying the effect of tested drugs on colonic motility. It was found that budesonide and curcumin improved mucosal healing, reduced both NO production and caspase- 3 level. They had the best impact on the disturbed colonic motility in TNBS-model of colitis.

Keywords: Colitis, curcumin, nitric oxide.

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Authors: Yoichi Hikino, Mutsuto Kawahara

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The purpose of this study is to derive optimal shapes of a body located in viscous flows by the finite element method using the acoustic velocity and the four-step explicit scheme. The formulation is based on an optimal control theory in which a performance function of the fluid force is introduced. The performance function should be minimized satisfying the state equation. This problem can be transformed into the minimization problem without constraint conditions by using the adjoint equation with adjoint variables corresponding to the state equation. The performance function is defined by the drag and lift forces acting on the body. The weighted gradient method is applied as a minimization technique, the Galerkin finite element method is used as a spatial discretization and the four-step explicit scheme is used as a temporal discretization to solve the state equation and the adjoint equation. As the interpolation, the orthogonal basis bubble function for velocity and the linear function for pressure are employed. In case that the orthogonal basis bubble function is used, the mass matrix can be diagonalized without any artificial centralization. The shape optimization is performed by the presented method.

Keywords: Shape Optimization, Optimal Control Theory, Finite Element Method, Weighted Gradient Method, Fluid Force, Orthogonal Basis Bubble Function, Four-step Explicit Scheme, Acoustic Velocity.

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Authors: Seung You Na, Daejung Shin, Jin Young Kim, Bae-Ho Lee, Ji-Sung Lee

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There has been a growing interest in the field of bio-mimetic robots that resemble the shape of an insect or an aquatic animal, among many others. One bio-mimetic robot serves the purpose of exploring pipelines, spotting any troubled areas or malfunctions and reporting its data. Moreover, the robot is able to prepare for and react to any abnormal routes in the pipeline. In order to move effectively inside a pipeline, the robot-s movement will resemble that of a lizard. When situated in massive pipelines with complex routes, the robot places fixed sensors in several important spots in order to complete its monitoring. This monitoring task is to prevent a major system failure by preemptively recognizing any minor or partial malfunctions. Areas uncovered by fixed sensors are usually impossible to provide real-time observation and examination, and thus are dependant on periodical offline monitoring. This paper provides the Monitoring System that is able to monitor the entire area of pipelines–with and without fixed sensors–by using the bio-mimetic robot.

Keywords: Bio-mimetic robots, Plant pipes monitoring, Mobileand active monitoring.

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Authors: Ning Gong, Michael Korostelev, Qiangguo Ren, Li Bai, Saroj Biswas, Frank Ferrese

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This paper investigates the joint effect of the interconnected (n,k)-star network topology and Multi-Agent automated control on restoration and reconfiguration of power systems. With the increasing trend in development in Multi-Agent control technologies applied to power system reconfiguration in presence of faulty components or nodes. Fault tolerance is becoming an important challenge in the design processes of the distributed power system topology. Since the reconfiguration of a power system is performed by agent communication, the (n,k)-star interconnected network topology is studied and modeled in this paper to optimize the process of power reconfiguration. In this paper, we discuss the recently proposed (n,k)-star topology and examine its properties and advantages as compared to the traditional multi-bus power topologies. We design and simulate the topology model for distributed power system test cases. A related lemma based on the fault tolerance and conditional diagnosability properties is presented and proved both theoretically and practically. The conclusion is reached that (n,k)-star topology model has measurable advantages compared to standard bus power systems while exhibiting fault tolerance properties in power restoration, as well as showing efficiency when applied to power system route discovery.

Keywords: (n, k)-star Topology, Fault Tolerance, Conditional Diagnosability, Multi-Agent System, Automated Power System.

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Authors: Syuichi Kubota, Kayoko Yamamoto

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This study aims to identify the current situation and problems of environmental statement for major four home appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television receivers) sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with multiple online stores. Results of the study boil down to: (1) It is found out that environmental statement for the home appliances at online stores have four problems; (i) less information on “three Rs" and “chemical substances" than the one on “energy conservation", (ii) cost for providing environmental statement, (iii) issues associated with a label and mark placement, and (iv) issues associated with energy conservation statement. (2) Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed above, and shown are (i) the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a label and mark placement, (ii) cost burden on buyers, and (iii) need of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal regulations to businesses.

Keywords: Home Appliances, Environmentally-FriendlyProduct, Environmental Statement, Online Store, Japan.

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Authors: Roya Maqami, Kaveh Qaderi Bagajan, Mohammad Mahdi Yousefi, Saeed Moradi

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of solution-focused group therapy on improving the depressed mothers of child abuser families. This study was carried out in the form of a semi-pilot, pre-test and post-test on two groups (experimental and control). Subjects include all mothers and their children that are the members of Shush and Naser Khosro child home. Beck Depression Inventory and Child Trauma Questionnaire were used to collect data. First, child abuse questionnaire was completed by children, Then Beck Depression Inventory was completed by their mothers that 22 of them were recognized as depressed and randomly divided in two groups of experimental and control. After applying pre-test for both of these groups, the intervention of solution- focused group therapy was performed in five sessions on experimental group. Finally, post-test was applied on both groups and subsequently in a month, follow-up test was performed. T-test, multivariate variance, and repeated measurement analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, it can be concluded that this therapy leads to the improvement of depressed mother's mood. As a result, the intervention of solution-focused group therapy is useful in order to improve the depressing mood of mothers of child abuser families.

Keywords: Child Abuse, Depressed Mothers, Child Abuser Families, Solution-focused Group Therapy.

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Authors: Ebrahim Panahpour, Ali Gholami, Amir Hossein Davami

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During this day a considerable amount of Leachate is produced with high amounts of organic material and nutrients needed plants. This study has done in order to scrutinize the effect of Leachate compost on the pH, EC and organic matter percentage in the form of statistical Factorial plan through randomizing block design with three main and two minor treatments and also three replications during three six month periods. Major treatments include N: Irrigation with the region-s well water as a control, I: Frequent irrigation with well water and Leachate, C: Mixing Leachate and water well (25 percent leachate + 75 percent ordinary well water) and secondary treatments, include DI: surface drip irrigation and SDI: sub surface drip irrigation. Results of this study indicated significant differences between treatments and also there were mixing up with the control treatment in the reduction of pH, increasing soluble salts and also increasing the organic matter percentage. This increase is proportional to the amount of added Leachate and in the treatment also proportional to higher mixture of frequent treatment. Therefore, since creating an acidic pH increases the ability to absorb some nutrient elements such as phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper and manganese are increased and the other hand, organic materials also improve many physical and chemical properties of soil are used in Leachate trash Consider health issues as refined in the green belts around cities as a liquid fertilizer recommended.

Keywords: Leachate, compost, drip irrigation, liquid fertilizer, soil reaction.

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Authors: Nour Charara, Iman Jarkass, Maria Sokhn, Elena Mugellini, Omar Abou Khaled

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Intelligent Video-Surveillance (IVS) systems are being more and more popular in security applications. The analysis and recognition of abnormal behaviours in a video sequence has gradually drawn the attention in the field of IVS, since it allows filtering out a large number of useless information, which guarantees the high efficiency in the security protection, and save a lot of human and material resources. We present in this paper ADABeV, an intelligent video-surveillance framework for event recognition in crowded scene to detect the abnormal human behaviour. This framework is attended to be able to achieve real-time alarming, reducing the lags in traditional monitoring systems. This architecture proposal addresses four main challenges: behaviour understanding in crowded scenes, hard lighting conditions, multiple input kinds of sensors and contextual-based adaptability to recognize the active context of the scene.

Keywords: Behavior recognition, Crowded scene, Data fusion, Pattern recognition, Video-surveillance

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Authors: Xueqin Shan, Chuanming Wu, Wenhua Hou, Xiaosu Ye

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Successful public-private-partnership (PPP) implementation can not be achieved without the active participation of private sector companies. This paper examines the decision-making of private sector companies in public works delivered by the PPP model on the basis of social responsibility theory. It proposes that private sector companies should indentify objectives of entering into PPP projects, and shoulder relevant social responsibilities, while a minimum return should also be guaranteed in their favor, so as to compensate for their assumed risk and support them to take on responsibilities in the future. The paper also gives a calculation regarding the appropriate scale and reasonable degree of private sector involvement in PPP projects through the cost-benefit analysis in a specific case study, with the purpose to guide the private sector companies to create a cooperation environment resembling “symbiosis" and facilitate the smooth implementation of public works delivered by the PPP model.

Keywords: Social Responsibility Theory, Cost-benefit Analysis, PPP Projects, Private Sector Companies, Decision-making Modell

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Authors: M. Meftahi, M. Hoseinzadeh, S. A. Naeini

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Selection of soil bearing capacity is an important issue that should be investigated under different conditions. The bearing capacity of foundation around of soil slope is based on the active and passive forces. On the other hand, due to extension of urban structures, it is inevitable to put the foundations together. Concerning the two cases mentioned above, investigating the behavior of adjacent foundations which are constructed besides soil slope is essential. It should be noted that, according to the conditions, the bearing capacity of adjacent foundations can be less or more than mat foundations. Also, soil reinforcement increases the bearing capacity of adjacent foundations, and the amount of its increase depends on the distance between foundations. In this research, based on numerical studies, a method is presented for evaluating ultimate bearing capacity of adjacent foundations at different intervals. In the present study, the effect of foundation width, the center to center distance of adjacent foundations and reinforced soil has been investigated on the bearing capacity of adjacent foundations beside soil slope. The results indicate that, due to interference of failure surfaces created under foundation, it depends on their intervals and the ultimate bearing capacity of foundation varies.

Keywords: Adjacent foundation, bearing capacity, reinforcements, settlement, numerical analysis.

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Authors: Dike H. Ogbuagu, Etsede J. Oritsematosan

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This work investigated possible inductions of CaC₂, often misused by fruit vendors to stimulate artificial ripening, on mammalian sperm morphology and viability. Thirty isogenic strains of male albino mice, Mus musculus (age≈ 8weeks; weight= 32.52.0g) were acclimatized (ambient temperature 28.0±1.0°C) for 2 weeks and fed standard growers mash and water ad libutum. They were later exposed to graded toxicant concentrations (w/w) of 2.5000, 1.2500, 0.6250, and 0.3125% in 4 cages. A control cage was also established. After 5 weeks, 3 animals from each cage were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and the cauda epididymis excised. Sperm morphology and viability were determined by microscopic procedures. The ANOVA, means plots, Student’s t-test and variation plots were used to analyze data. The common abnormalities observed included Double Head, Pin Head, Knobbed Head, No Tail and With Hook. The higher toxicant concentrations induced significantly lower body weights [F_(829.899) ˃ F_crit(4.19)] and more abnormalities [F_(26.52) ˃ F_crit(4.00)] at P˂0.05. Sperm cells in the control setup were significantly more viable than those in the 0.625% (t=0.005) and 2.500% toxicant doses (t=0.018) at the 95% confidence limit. CaC₂ appeared to induced morphological abnormalities and reduced viability in sperm cells of M. musculus.

Keywords: Artificial ripening, Calcium carbide, fruit vendors, sperm morphology, sperm viability.

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Authors: A. Ukaew, C. Chauypen

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Design concepts of real-time embedded system can be realized initially by introducing novel design approaches. In this literature, model based design approach and in-the-loop testing were employed early in the conceptual and preliminary phase to formulate design requirements and perform quick real-time verification. The design and analysis methodology includes simulation analysis, model based testing, and in-the-loop testing. The design of conceptual driveby- wire, or DBW, algorithm for electronic control unit, or ECU, was presented to demonstrate the conceptual design process, analysis, and functionality evaluation. The concepts of DBW ECU function can be implemented in the vehicle system to improve electric vehicle, or EV, conversion drivability. However, within a new development process, conceptual ECU functions and parameters are needed to be evaluated. As a result, the testing system was employed to support conceptual DBW ECU functions evaluation. For the current setup, the system components were consisted of actual DBW ECU hardware, electric vehicle models, and control area network or CAN protocol. The vehicle models and CAN bus interface were both implemented as real-time applications where ECU and CAN protocol functionality were verified according to the design requirements. The proposed system could potentially benefit in performing rapid real-time analysis of design parameters for conceptual system or software algorithm development.

Keywords: Drive-by-wire ECU, in-the-loop testing, modelbased design, real-time embedded system.

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Authors: Alaa A. Shamaun Al-Abboodi, Yunis A. A. Bapeer

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400 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross-308) randomly divided to 2 main groups, 1st main group (GA) was feeding basal diet with medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) at rate of 0.15% and divided to four subgroups, 3 subgroups vaccinated with different routes with Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and non-vaccinated group. The 2nd main group (GB) feeding basal diet without MCFA and divided the same as 1st main group. The parameters used in this study included: ND antibody titers at 1, 10, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age and values of CD4 and CD8 at 1, 20, 30 and 42 days of age. This experiment detected increase in ND antibodies titers in (G1, G2, G3) groups were fed on basal diet MCFA comparing to groups were fed without adding MCFA (G5, G6, G7) and control groups (G4, G8). The results of cellular immune response (CD4 and CD8) T-cells in broiler chicks indicated that there was obviously significant relationship between dietary Fatty Acid (FA) versus the diet without FA on the level of CD4 parameter, for the entire experimental period. The effect of different ages was statistically significant in creating different values of CD4 level, whereas the CD4 level decreases markedly with age. However, analyzing the data of different vaccination methods, oculonasal method of vaccination led to the highest value of CD4 compared with the oral, S/C and control groups. There were statistical differences in CD8 values due to supplementation of FA versus the basal diet and due to the effect of different age periods. As for the age effect, the CD8 value at 20 days of age was significantly higher than at 42 and 30 days.

Keywords: Broiler, CD4 and CD8, fatty acids, Newcastle disease.

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Authors: Mohamed Zellagui, Abdelaziz Chaghi

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This paper presents the impact study of apparent reactance injected by series Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) i.e. Thyristor Controlled Series Reactor (TCSR) on the measured impedance of a 400 kV single electrical transmission line in the presence of phase to earth fault with fault resistance. The study deals with an electrical transmission line of Eastern Algerian transmission networks at Group Sonelgaz (Algerian Company of Electrical and Gas) compensated by TCSR connected at midpoint of the line. This compensator used to inject active and reactive powers is controlled by three TCSR-s. The simulations results investigate the impacts of the TCSR on the parameters of short circuit calculation and parameters of measured impedance by distance relay in the presence of earth fault for three cases study.

Keywords: TCSR, Transmission line, Apparent reactance, Earth fault, Symmetrical components, Distance protection, Measured impedance.

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Authors: Jiri Barta, Albert Srnik

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The paper deals with the perspectives and possibilities of "smart solutions" to critical infrastructure protection. It means that common computer aided technologies are used from the perspective of new, better protection of selected infrastructure objects. The paper is focused on the co-product of the Czech Defence Research Project - ADAPTIV. This project is carrying out by the University of Defence, Faculty of Economics and Management at the Department of Civil Protection. The project creates system and technology for adaptive cybernetic camouflage of armed forces objects, armaments, vehicles and troops and of mobilization infrastructure. These adaptive camouflage system and technology will be useful for army tactic activities protection and for decoys generation also. The fourth chapter of the paper concerns the possibilities of using the introduced technology to the protection of selected civil (economically important), critical infrastructure objects. The aim of this section is to introduce the scientific capabilities and potential of the University of Defence research results and solutions for the practice.

Keywords: ADAPTIV, Adaptive camouflage technology, CAMouflage, Cybernetic Active Camouflage

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

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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 250^oC, 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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Authors: C. Cole, M. Osmani, A. Wheatley, M. Quddus

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EU and UK Government targets for minimising and recycling household waste has led the responsible authorities to research the alternatives to landfill. In the work reported here the local waste collection authority (Charnwood Borough Council) has adopted the aspirational strategy of becoming a “Zero Waste Borough” to lead the drive for public participation. The work concludes that the separate collection of food waste would be needed to meet the two regulatory standards on recycling and biologically active wastes.

An analysis of a neighbouring Authority (Newcastle-Under-Lyne Borough Council (NBC), a similar sized local authority that has a successful weekly food waste collection service was undertaken. Results indicate that the main challenges for Charnwood Borough Council would be gaining householder co-operation, the extra costs of collection and organising alternative treatment. The analysis also demonstrated that there was potential offset value via anaerobic digestion for CBC to overcome these difficulties and improve its recycling performance.

Keywords: England, Food Waste Collections, Household Waste, Local Authority.

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Authors: A. Hung, K. Mithraratne, M. Sagar, P. Hunter

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A biophysically based multilayer continuum model of the facial soft tissue composite has been developed for simulating wrinkle formation. The deformed state of the soft tissue block was determined by solving large deformation mechanics equations using the Galerkin finite element method. The proposed soft tissue model is composed of four layers with distinct mechanical properties. These include stratum corneum, epidermal-dermal layer (living epidermis and dermis), subcutaneous tissue and the underlying muscle. All the layers were treated as non-linear, isotropic Mooney Rivlin materials. Contraction of muscle fibres was approximated using a steady-state relationship between the fibre extension ratio, intracellular calcium concentration and active stress in the fibre direction. Several variations of the model parameters (stiffness and thickness of epidermal-dermal layer, thickness of subcutaneous tissue layer) have been considered.

Keywords: Bio-physically based, soft tissue mechanics, facialtissue composite, wrinkling.

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Authors: Petr Teply

Abstract:

The New Basel Capital Accord (Basel II) influences how financial institutions around the world, and especially European Union institutions, determine the amount of capital to reserve. However, as the recent global crisis has shown, the revision of Basel II is needed to reflect current trends, such as increased volatility and correlation, in the world financial markets. The overall objective of Basel II is to increase the safety and soundness of the international financial system. Basel II builds on three main pillars: Pillar I deals with the minimum capital requirements for credit, market and operational risk, Pillar II focuses on the supervisory review process and finally Pillar III promotes market discipline through enhanced disclosure requirements for banks. The aim of this paper is to provide the historical background, key features and impact of Basel II on financial markets. Moreover, we discuss new proposals for international bank regulation (sometimes referred to as Basel III) which include requirements for higher quality, constituency and transparency of banks' capital and risk management, regulation of OTC markets and introduction of new liquidity standards for internationally active banks.

Keywords: Basel II, Basel III, risk management, bank regulation

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Authors: N. L. S. Ahmad, Y. L. Thong, P. Nambiar

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An in vitro study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of small field of view (FOV) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in determining endodontic working length. The objectives were to determine the accuracy of CBCT in measuring the estimated preoperative working lengths (EPWL), endodontic working lengths (EWL) and file lengths. Access cavities were prepared in 27 molars. For each root canal, the baseline electronic working length was determined using an EAL (Raypex 5). The teeth were then divided into overextended, non-modified and underextended groups and the lengths were adjusted accordingly. Imaging and measurements were made using the respective software of the RVG (Kodak RVG 6100) and CBCT units (Kodak 9000 3D). Root apices were then shaved and the apical constrictions viewed under magnification to measure the control working lengths. The paired t-test showed a statistically significant difference between CBCT EPWL and control length but the difference was too small to be clinically significant. From the Bland Altman analysis, the CBCT method had the widest range of 95% limits of agreement, reflecting its greater potential of error. In measuring file lengths, RVG had a bigger window of 95% limits of agreement compared to CBCT. Conclusions: (1) The clinically insignificant underestimation of the preoperative working length using small FOV CBCT showed that it is acceptable for use in the estimation of preoperative working length. (2) Small FOV CBCT may be used in working length determination but it is not as accurate as the currently practiced method of using the EAL. (3) It is also more accurate than RVG in measuring file lengths.

Keywords: Accuracy, CBCT, endodontic, measurement.

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Authors: Nurliyani, Eni Harmayani, Marsetyawan HNE Soesatyo

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Goat milk has an hypoallergenic effects, and allergic diseases related to abnormal of intestinal flora. Probiotic microorganisms do exert an activity on the immune system in the skin of the individual.The purpose of this study are to determine the number of leukocyte and lymphocyte proliferation in rat supplemented with fermented goat milk (acidophilus milk and kefir) and sensitized with dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Female Wistar rats 6-8 weeks olds were divided into 3 treatment groups. The first group supplemented goat milk kefir, second group acidophilus goat milk, and third group as control. During 28-day experiment, on day 15 rat sensitized with allergen DNCB on the dorsal of the body, and on day 24 was challenged with DNCB on the ear. Sampling of blood and tissue of intestinal Peyer'patch (PP) were performed on day 14 (before DNCB sensitized) and on day 28 (after DNCB sensitized). The results showed the number of neutrophils in rats supplemented with acidophilus milk was higher (P<0.05) in after DNCB sensitized than before, but the lymphocyte count was lower. The number of monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils before and after DNCB sensitized have the same average for all treatments of milk fermented and control. Fermented goat milk (kefir and acidophilus milk) did not affect on rat PP lymphocyte proliferation culture supernatant, whereas the rat that had been DNCB sensitized showed higher in proliferative response to PHA mitogen (P <0.05) than before sensitized. In conclusion, supplementation of acidophilus goat milk with a dose of 2.0 ml / head / day on DNCB sensitized rat, can increase the number of neutrophils that play a role in innate immunity, however it was not able to increase lymphocyte proliferation that related to adaptive immunity.

Keywords: Leukocytes, Lymphocyte proliferation, Kefir, Acidophilus milk, Dinitrochlorobenzene

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Authors: Nagalingam Arun Prasanth, Ahmed Syed Adnan, S. H. Yeo

Abstract:

Surface topography plays a significant role in the functional performance of engineered parts. It is important to have a control on the surface geometry and understanding on the surface details to get the desired performance. Hence, in the current research contribution, a non-contact micro-texturing technique has been explored and developed. The technique involves ultrasonic excitation of a tool as a prime source of surface texturing for aluminum alloy workpieces. The specimen surface is polished first and is then immersed in a liquid bath containing 10% weight concentration of Ti6Al4V grade 5 spherical powders. A submerged slurry jet is used to recirculate the spherical powders under the ultrasonic horn which is excited at an ultrasonic frequency and amplitude of 40 kHz and 70 µm respectively. The distance between the horn and workpiece surface was remained fixed at 200 µm using a precision control stage. Texturing effects were investigated for different process timings of 1, 3 and 5 s. Thereafter, the specimens were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath for 5 mins to remove loose debris on the surface. The developed surfaces are characterized by optical and contact surface profiler. The optical microscopic images show a texture of circular spots on the workpiece surface indented by titanium spherical balls. Waviness patterns obtained from contact surface profiler supports the texturing effect produced from the proposed technique. Furthermore, water droplet tests were performed to show the efficacy of the proposed technique to develop hydrophilic surfaces and to quantify the texturing effect produced.

Keywords: Surface texturing, surface modification, topography, ultrasonic.

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Authors: Kang, Eun Sung, Song, Hyeong Wook, Kim, Hong Kyu

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the visual preference of patterns in pedestrian roads. In this study, animation was applied for the estimation of dynamic streetscape. Six patterns of pedestrian were selected in order to analyze the visual preference. The shapes are straight, s-curve, and zigzag. The ratio of building's height and road's width are 2:1 and 1:1. Twelve adjective pairs used in the field investigation were selected from adjectives which are used usually in the estimation of streetscape. They are interesting-boring, simple-complex, calm-noisy, open-enclosed, active-inactive, lightly-depressing, regular-irregular, unique-usual, rhythmic-not rhythmic, united-not united, stable-unstable, tidy-untidy. Dynamic streetscape must be considered important in pedestrian shopping mall and park because it will be an attraction. So, s-curve pedestrian road, which is the most beautiful as a result of this study, should be designed in this area. Also, the ratio of building's height and road's width along pedestrian road should be reduced.

Keywords: Visual preference, streetscape, animation, simulation, pedestrian.

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Authors: Muhammad Aqil, Ichiro Kita, Akira Yano, Nishiyama Soichi

Abstract:

This paper presents an alternate approach that uses artificial neural network to simulate the flood level dynamics in a river basin. The algorithm was developed in a decision support system environment in order to enable users to process the data. The decision support system is found to be useful due to its interactive nature, flexibility in approach and evolving graphical feature and can be adopted for any similar situation to predict the flood level. The main data processing includes the gauging station selection, input generation, lead-time selection/generation, and length of prediction. This program enables users to process the flood level data, to train/test the model using various inputs and to visualize results. The program code consists of a set of files, which can as well be modified to match other purposes. This program may also serve as a tool for real-time flood monitoring and process control. The running results indicate that the decision support system applied to the flood level seems to have reached encouraging results for the river basin under examination. The comparison of the model predictions with the observed data was satisfactory, where the model is able to forecast the flood level up to 5 hours in advance with reasonable prediction accuracy. Finally, this program may also serve as a tool for real-time flood monitoring and process control.

Keywords: Decision Support System, Neural Network, Flood Level

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Authors: Shao-Hsia Chang, Nan-Ying Yu

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to test how advanced digital technology enables a more effective training on the handwriting of children with handwriting deficit. This study implemented the graphomotor apparatuses to a computer-assisted instruction system. In a randomized controlled trial, the experiments for verifying the intervention effect were conducted. Forty two children with handwriting deficit were assigned to computer-assisted instruction, sensorimotor training or control (no intervention) group. Handwriting performance was measured using the Elementary reading/writing test and computerized handwriting evaluation before and after 6 weeks of intervention. Analysis of variance of change scores were conducted to show whether statistically significant difference across the three groups. Significant difference was found among three groups. Computer group shows significant difference from the other two groups. Significance was denoted in near-point, far-point copy, dictation test, and writing from phonetic symbols. Writing speed and mean stroke velocity in near-, far-point and short paragraph copy were found significantly difference among three groups. Computer group shows significant improvement from the other groups. For clinicians and school teachers, the results of this study provide a motor control based insight for the improvement of handwriting difficulties.

Keywords: Dysgraphia, computerized handwriting evaluation, sensorimotor program, computer assisted program.

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Authors: Mohammad Shariful Islam, Shamima Nasrin, Md. Shahidul Islam, Farzana Rahman Moury

Abstract:

Protection of slope and embankment from erosion has become an important issue in Bangladesh. The constructions of strong structures require large capital, integrated designing, high maintenance cost. Strong structure methods have negative impact on the environment and sometimes not function for the design period. Plantation of vetiver system along the slopes is an alternative solution. Vetiver not only serves the purpose of slope protection but also adds green environment reducing pollution. Vetiver is available in almost all the districts of Bangladesh. This paper presents the application of vetiver system with geo-jute, for slope protection and erosion control of embankments and slopes. In-situ shear tests have been conducted on vetiver rooted soil system to find the shear strength. The shear strength and effective soil cohesion of vetiver rooted soil matrix are respectively 2.0 times and 2.1 times higher than that of the bared soil. Similar trends have been found in direct shear tests conducted on laboratory reconstituted samples. Field trials have been conducted in road embankment and slope protection with vetiver at different sites. During the time of vetiver root growth the soil protection has been accomplished by geo-jute. As the geo-jute degrades with time, vetiver roots grow and take over the function of geo-jutes. Slope stability analyses showed that vegetation increase the factor of safety significantly.

Keywords: Erosion, geo-jute, green technology, vegetation.

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