Search results for: Wireless Local Area NetworkWiFi.
Commenced in January 2007
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Edition: International
Paper Count: 4308

Search results for: Wireless Local Area NetworkWiFi.

1968 A Global Perspective on Urban Environmental Problems in Developing Countries: The Case of Turkey

Authors: Nükhet Konuk, N. Gamze Turan, Yüksel Ardalı

Abstract:

Cities play a vital role in the social fabric of countries and in national and regional economic growth worldwide; however, the environmental effects of such growth need to be assessed and managed better. The critical and most immediate problems faced by cities of developing countries are the health impacts of urban pollution that derive from inadequate water, sanitation, drainage and solid waste services, poor urban and industrial waste management, and air pollution. As globalization continues, earth's natural processes transform local problems into international issues. The aim of this study is to provide a broad overview of the pollution from urban wastes and emissions in Turkey which is a developing country. It is aimed to underline the significance of reorganizing the institutional tools in a worldwide perspective in order to generate coherent solutions to urban problems, and to enhance urban quality.

Keywords: Environmental pollution, developing countries, environmental degradation, urban environmental problems.

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1967 Enhanced Approaches to Rectify the Noise, Illumination and Shadow Artifacts

Authors: M. Sankari, C. Meena

Abstract:

Enhancing the quality of two dimensional signals is one of the most important factors in the fields of video surveillance and computer vision. Usually in real-life video surveillance, false detection occurs due to the presence of random noise, illumination and shadow artifacts. The detection methods based on background subtraction faces several problems in accurately detecting objects in realistic environments: In this paper, we propose a noise removal algorithm using neighborhood comparison method with thresholding. The illumination variations correction is done in the detected foreground objects by using an amalgamation of techniques like homomorphic decomposition, curvelet transformation and gamma adjustment operator. Shadow is removed using chromaticity estimator with local relation estimator. Results are compared with the existing methods and prove as high robustness in the video surveillance.

Keywords: Chromaticity Estimator, Curvelet Transformation, Denoising, Gamma correction, Homomorphic, Neighborhood Assessment.

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1966 Analysis of the Islands Tourists, Destination Information Sources and Service Satisfaction

Authors: Wen-Chieh, Hsieh

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the islands tourist travel information sources, as well as for the satisfaction of the tourist destination services. This study used questionnaires to the island of Taiwan to the Penghu Islands to engage in tourism activities tourist adopt the designated convenience sampling method, a total of 889 valid questionnaires were collected. After statistical analysis, this study found that: 1. tourists to the Penghu Islands travel information source for “friends and family came to Penghu". 2. Tourists feel the service of the outlying islands of Penghu, the highest feelings of “friendly local residents". 3. There are different demographic variables affect the tourist travel information source and service satisfaction. Based on the findings of this study not only for Penghu's tourism industry with the unit in charge of the proposed operating and suggestions for future research to other researchers.

Keywords: Island tourism, destination, travel information, service satisfaction.

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1965 Development of Monitoring Blood Bank Center Based PIC Microcontroller Using CAN Communication

Authors: Kaiwan S. Ismael, Ergun Ercelebi, Majeed Nader

Abstract:

This paper describes the design and implementation of a hardware setup for online monitoring of 24 refrigerators inside blood bank center using the microcontroller and CAN bus for communications between each node. Due to the security of locations in the blood bank hall and difficulty of monitoring of each refrigerator separately, this work proposes a solution to monitor all the blood bank refrigerators in one location. CAN-bus system is used because it has many applications and advantages, especially for this system due to easy in use, low cost, providing a reduction in wiring, fast to repair and easily expanding the project without a problem.

Keywords: Control Area Network (CAN), monitoring blood bank center, PIC microcontroller, MPLAB IDE.

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1964 Seasonal Variation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Associated with PM10 in Győr, Hungary

Authors: A. Szabó Nagy, J. Szabó, Zs. Csanádi, J. Erdős

Abstract:

The main objective of this study was to assess the seasonal variation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations associated with PM10 in an urban site of Győr, Hungary. A total of 112 PM10 aerosol samples were collected in the years of 2012 and 2013 and analyzed for PAHs by gas chromatography method. The total PAH concentrations (sum of the concentrations of 19 individual PAH compounds) ranged from 0.19 to 70.16 ng/m3 with the mean value of 12.29 ng/m3. Higher concentrations of both total PAHs and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) were detected in samples collected in the heating seasons. Using BaPequivalent potency index on the carcinogenic PAH concentration data, the local population appears to be exposed to significantly higher cancer risk in the heating seasons. However, the comparison of the BaP and total PAH concentrations observed for Győr with other cities it was found that the PAH levels in Győr generally corresponded to the EU average.

Keywords: Air quality, benzo[a]pyrene, PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

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1963 Frequency Regulation Support by Variable-Speed Wind Turbines and SMES

Authors: M. Saleh, H. Bevrani

Abstract:

This paper quantifies the impact of providing a shortterm excess active power support of a variable speed wind turbine (VSWT) and effect of super magnetic energy storage (SMES) unit on frequency control, particularly temporary minimum frequency (TMF) term. To demonstrate the effect of these factors on the power system frequency, a three-area power system is considered as a test system.

Keywords: Frequency regulation, inertia, primary frequencycontrol, rotational energy, variable speed wind turbine.

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1962 Evolution of Developing Flushing Cone during the Pressurized Flushing in Reservoir Storage

Authors: Meshkati M. E., Dehghani A. A., Naser G., E mamgholizadeh S., Mosaedi A.

Abstract:

Sedimentation in reservoirs and the corresponding loss of storage capacity is one of the most serious problems in dam engineering. Pressurized flushing, a way to remove sediments from the reservoir, is flushing under a pressurized flow condition and nearly constant water level. Pressurized flushing has only local effects around the outlet. Sediment in the vicinity of the outlet openings is scoured and a funnel shaped crater is created. In this study, the temporal development of flushing cone under various hydraulic conditions was studied experimentally. Time variations of parameters such as maximum length and width of flushing and also depth of scouring cone was measured. Results indicated that an increase in flow velocity (and consequently in Froude number) established new hydraulically conditions for flushing mechanism and so a sudden growth was observed in the amount of sediment released and also scouring dimenssions. In addition, a set of nondimensional relationships were identified for temporal variations of flushing scour dimenssions, which can eventuallt be used to estimate the development of flushing cone.

Keywords: Pressure Flushing, Dam, Sediment, Scouring.

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1961 Online Purchase of Luxury Products in the U.A.E.

Authors: Prakash Vel, Jocelyn Rodrigues

Abstract:

Luxury is an identity, a philosophy and a culture which requires understanding before the adoption of e-business practices because of its intricacies and output are essentially different from other types of goods. Factors such as culture, personal characteristics, website quality, and vendor characteristics influence the online purchasing behavior of consumers thus making it a complex area of study. This paper explores the scope of e-retail for luxury consumption in the U.A.E. by identifying what motivates and de-motivates online purchase behavior of U.A.E. consumers and necessary hypotheses have been drawn to reflect behavior between online luxury preference consumers and non-online luxury preference consumers.

Keywords: e-Retail, Luxury brands, U.A.E. consumer.

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1960 A Literature Review of Servant Leadership and Criticism of Advanced Research

Authors: So-Jung Kim, Kyoung-Seok Kim, Yeong-Gyeong Choi

Abstract:

Although there are many theories and discussion of leadership, the necessity of having a new leadership paradigm was emphasized. The existing leadership characteristic of instruction and control revealed its limitations. Market competition becomes fierce and economic recession never ends worldwide. Of the leadership theories, servant leadership was introduced recently and is in line with the environmental changes of the organization. Servant leadership is a combination of two words, 'servant' and 'leader' and can be defined as the role of the leader who focuses on doing voluntary work for others with altruistic ethics, makes members, customers, and local communities a priority, and makes a commitment to satisfying their needs. This leadership received attention as one field of leadership in the late 1990s and secured its legitimacy. This study discusses the existing research trends of leadership, the concept, behavior characteristics, and lower dimensions of servant leadership, compares servant leadership with the existing leadership researches and diagnoses if servant leadership is a useful concept for further leadership researches. Finally, this study criticizes the limitations in the existing researches on servant leadership.

Keywords: Leadership Philosophy, Leadership Theory, Servant Leadership, Traditional Leadership.

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1959 Studying the Effect of Froude Number and Densimetric Froude Number on Local Scours around Circular Bridge Piers

Authors: Md Abdullah Al Faruque

Abstract:

A very large percentage of bridge failures are attributed to scouring around bridge piers and this directly influences public safety. Experiments are carried out in a 12-m long rectangular open channel flume made of transparent tempered glass. A 300 mm thick bed made up of sand particles is leveled horizontally to create the test bed and a 50 mm hollow plastic cylinder is used as a model bridge pier. Tests are carried out with varying flow depths and velocities. Data points of various scour parameters such as scour depth, width, and length are collected based on different flow conditions and visual observations of changes in the stream bed downstream the bridge pier are also made as the scour progresses. Result shows that all three major flow characteristics (flow depth, Froude number and densimetric Froude number) have one way or other affect the scour profile.

Keywords: Bridge pier scour, densimetric Froude number, flow depth, Froude Number, sand.

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1958 Hospitality Management to Welcome Foreign Guests in the Japanese Lodging Industry

Authors: Shunichiro Morishita

Abstract:

This study examines the factors for attracting foreign guests in the Japanese lodging industry and discusses some measures taken for accepting foreign guests. It reviews three different accommodation providers acclaimed highly by foreign guests, Yamashiroya, Sawanoya and Fuji-Hakone Guest House, and identifies their characteristics. The common points for attracting foreign guests were: 1) making the best use of the old facilities, 2) multilingual signs, guidance and websites, 3) necessary and sufficient communication in English, 4) events and opportunities to experience Japanese culture, 5) omotenashi, warm and homely Japanese hospitality. These findings indicate that foreign guests’ dissatisfaction level can be decreased through internationalization utilizing ICT and by offering multilingual support. On the other hand, their satisfaction level can be increased by encouraging interaction with other guests and local Japanese people, providing events and opportunities to experience Japanese culture and omotenashi, home-style Japanese hospitality.

Keywords: Hospitality management, foreign guests, Japanese lodging industry, Omotenashi.

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1957 Improved Lung Nodule Visualization on Chest Radiographs using Digital Filtering and Contrast Enhancement

Authors: Benjamin Y. M. Kwan, Hon Keung Kwan

Abstract:

Early detection of lung cancer through chest radiography is a widely used method due to its relatively affordable cost. In this paper, an approach to improve lung nodule visualization on chest radiographs is presented. The approach makes use of linear phase high-frequency emphasis filter for digital filtering and histogram equalization for contrast enhancement to achieve improvements. Results obtained indicate that a filtered image can reveal sharper edges and provide more details. Also, contrast enhancement offers a way to further enhance the global (or local) visualization by equalizing the histogram of the pixel values within the whole image (or a region of interest). The work aims to improve lung nodule visualization of chest radiographs to aid detection of lung cancer which is currently the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

Keywords: Chest radiographs, Contrast enhancement, Digital filtering, Lung nodule detection

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1956 Implementation of Feed-in Tariffs into Multi-Energy Systems

Authors: M. Schulze, P. Crespo Del Granado

Abstract:

This paper considers the influence of promotion instruments for renewable energy sources (RES) on a multi-energy modeling framework. In Europe, so called Feed-in Tariffs are successfully used as incentive structures to increase the amount of energy produced by RES. Because of the stochastic nature of large scale integration of distributed generation, many problems have occurred regarding the quality and stability of supply. Hence, a macroscopic model was developed in order to optimize the power supply of the local energy infrastructure, which includes electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and district heating as energy carriers. Unique features of the model are the integration of RES and the adoption of Feed-in Tariffs into one optimization stage. Sensitivity studies are carried out to examine the system behavior under changing profits for the feed-in of RES. With a setup of three energy exchanging regions and a multi-period optimization, the impact of costs and profits are determined.

Keywords: Distributed generation, optimization methods, power system modeling, renewable energy.

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1955 Gated Communities and Sense of Community: A Review on the Social Features of Gated Communities

Authors: R. Rafiemanzelat

Abstract:

Since the mid-1970s, gated communities distributed in Latin America. They are a kind of residential development where there are privatized public spaces, and access to the area is restricted. They have specific impacts on the neighborhoods that located outside their walls such as threatening security, limiting access, and spreading social inequality. This research mainly focused on social features of gated community as; segregation, fragmentation, exclusion, specifically on sense of community and typology of gated communities. The conclusion will clarify the pros and cons of gated communities and how it could be successful or not.

Keywords: Walled community, gated community, urban development, urban sociology, sense of community.

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1954 South African MNEs Entry Strategies in Africa

Authors: N.M. Museisi

Abstract:

This is a cross-cultural study that determines South African multinational enterprises (MNEs) entry strategies as they invest in Africa. An integrated theoretical framework comprising the transaction cost theory, Uppsala model, eclectic paradigm and the distance framework was adopted. A sample of 40 South African MNEs with 415 existing FDI entries in Africa was drawn. Using an ordered logistic regression model, the impact of culture on the choice of degree of control by South African MNEs in Africa was determined. Cultural distance was one of significant factors that influenced South African MNEs- choice of degree of control. Furthermore, South African MNEs are risk averse in all countries in Africa but minimize the risks differently across sectors. Service sectors chooses to own their subsidiaries 100% and avoid dealing with the locals while manufacturing, resources and construction choose to have a local partner to share the risk.

Keywords: Cross-cultural, emerging MNEs, entry strategies, internationalization.

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1953 A Case Study of Collective Action in Fishermen's Wives Group (KUNITA), Malaysia

Authors: Nor Hafizah S., Salfarina A. G., Intan Hashimah H., Juliana A. W.

Abstract:

Collective action can be an effective means for local development as well as important strategy to enhance livelihoods especially among rural people. This article explores the level of collective action among members of Fishermen-s Wives Group (KUNITA) in Malaysia. KUNITA was established by the Malaysian Fishery Development Authority (LKIM) with an objective to increase the socio-economic status of fishermen-s families. The members who are mostly the wives and daughters of fishermen are strongly encouraged by LKIM to venture into entrepreneurship activities. The objective of this research was to see the level of collective action among members in KUNITA groups in the state of Selangor. The finding shows that high level of collective action among KUNITA members is strongly based on volunteerism. However, the level of cooperation among members in the group is relatively low. The findings present significant challenges for the group in maintaining the sustainability of KUNITA organization.

Keywords: Collective action, entrepreneurship, fishermen' swives group, LKIM.

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1952 Proposal for a Model of Economic Integration for the Development of Industry in Cabinda, Angola

Authors: T. H. Bitebe, T. M. Lima, F. Charrua-Santos, C. J. Matias Oliveira

Abstract:

This study aims to present a proposal for an economic integration model for the development of the manufacturing industry in Cabinda, Angola. It seeks to analyze the degree of economic integration of Cabinda and the dynamics of the manufacturing industry. Therefore, in the same way, to gather information to support the decision-making for public financing programs that will aim at the disengagement of the manufacturing industry in Angola and Cabinda in particular. The Cabinda Province is the 18th of Angola, the enclave is located in a privileged area of the African and arable land.

Keywords: Economic integration, industrial development, Cabinda industry, Angola.

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1951 Numerical and Infrared Mapping of Temperature in Heat Affected Zone during Plasma Arc Cutting of Mild Steel

Authors: Dalvir Singh, Somnath Chattopadhyaya

Abstract:

During welding or flame cutting of metals, the prediction of heat affected zone (HAZ) is critical. There is need to develop a simple mathematical model to calculate the temperature variation in HAZ and derivative analysis can be used for this purpose. This study presents analytical solution for heat transfer through conduction in mild steel plate. The homogeneous and nonhomogeneous boundary conditions are single variables. The full field analytical solutions of temperature measurement, subjected to local heating source, are derived first by method of separation of variables followed with the experimental visualization using infrared imaging. Based on the present work, it is suggested that appropriate heat input characteristics controls the temperature distribution in and around HAZ.

Keywords: Conduction Heat Transfer, Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), Infra-Red Imaging, Numerical Method, Orthogonal Function, Plasma Arc Cutting, Separation of Variables, Temperature Measurement.

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1950 Heat Transfer and Frictional Characteristics in Rectangular Channel with Inclined Perforated Baffles

Authors: Se Kyung Oh, Ary Bachtiar Krishna Putra, Soo Whan Ahn

Abstract:

A numerical study on the turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics in the rectangular channel with different types of baffles is carried out. The inclined baffles have the width of 19.8 cm, the square diamond type hole having one side length of 2.55 cm, and the inclination angle of 5o. Reynolds number is varied between 23,000 and 57,000. The SST turbulence model is applied in the calculation. The validity of the numerical results is examined by the experimental data. The numerical results of the flow field depict that the flow patterns around the different baffle type are entirely different and these significantly affect the local heat transfer characteristics. The heat transfer and friction factor characteristics are significantly affected by the perforation density of the baffle plate. It is found that the heat transfer enhancement of baffle type II (3 hole baffle) has the best values.

Keywords: Turbulent flow, rectangular channel, inclined baffle, heat transfer, friction factor.

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1949 Recovery of Post-Consumer PET Bottles in a Composite Material Preparation

Authors: Rafenomananjara Tsinjo Nirina, Tomoo Sekito, Andrianaivoravelona Jaconnet Oliva

Abstract:

Manufacturing a composite material from post-consumer bottles is an interesting outlet since Madagascar is still facing the challenges of managing plastic waste on the one hand and appropriate waste treatment facilities are not yet developed on the other hand. New waste management options are needed to divert End-Of-Life (EOL) soft plastic wastes from landfills and incineration. Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles might be considered as a valuable resource and recovered into polymer concrete. The methodology is easy to implement and appropriate to the local context in Madagascar. This approach will contribute to the production of ecological building materials that might be profitable for the environment and the construction sector. This work aims to study the feasibility of using the post-consumer PET bottles as an alternative binding agent instead of the conventional Portland cement and water. Then, the mechanical and physical properties of the materials were evaluated.

Keywords: PET recycling, polymer concrete, ecological building materials, pollution mitigation.

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1948 Impact of Viscous and Heat Relaxation Loss on the Critical Temperature Gradients of Thermoacoustic Stacks

Authors: Zhibin Yu, Artur J. Jaworski, Abdulrahman S. Abduljalil

Abstract:

A stack with a small critical temperature gradient is desirable for a standing wave thermoacoustic engine to obtain a low onset temperature difference (the minimum temperature difference to start engine-s self-oscillation). The viscous and heat relaxation loss in the stack determines the critical temperature gradient. In this work, a dimensionless critical temperature gradient factor is obtained based on the linear thermoacoustic theory. It is indicated that the impedance determines the proportion between the viscous loss, heat relaxation losses and the power production from the heat energy. It reveals the effects of the channel dimensions, geometrical configuration and the local acoustic impedance on the critical temperature gradient in stacks. The numerical analysis shows that there exists a possible optimum combination of these parameters which leads to the lowest critical temperature gradient. Furthermore, several different geometries have been tested and compared numerically.

Keywords: Critical temperature gradient, heat relaxation, stack, viscous effect.

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1947 Some Physical Properties of Musk Lime (Citrus Microcarpa)

Authors: M.H.R.O. Abdullah, P.E. Ch'ng, N.A. Yunus

Abstract:

Some physical properties of musk lime (Citrus microcarpa) were determined in this study. The average moisture content (wet basis) of the fruit was found to be 85.10 (±0.72) %. The mean of length, width and thickness of the fruit was 26.36 (±0.97), 26.40 (±1.04) and 25.26 (±0.94) mm respectively. The average value for geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, mass, surface area, volume, true density, bulk density and porosity was 26.00 (±0.82) mm, 98.67 (±2.04) %, 100.23 (±3.28) %, 10.007 (±0.878) g, 2125.07 (±133.93) mm2, 8800.00 (±731.82) mm3, 1002.87 (±39.16) kgm-3, 501.70 (±22.58) kgm-3 and 49.89 (±3.15) % respectively. The coefficient of static friction on four types of structural surface was found to be varying from 0.238 (±0.025) for glass to 0.247 (±0.024) for steel surface.

Keywords: Musk lime, Citrus microcarpa, physical properties.

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1946 Effect of Stiffeners on the Behavior of Slender Built up Steel I-Beams

Authors: M. E. Abou-Hashem El Dib, M. K. Swailem, M. M. Metwally, A. I. El Awady

Abstract:

This paper presents the effect of stiffeners on the behavior of slender steel I-beams. Nonlinear three dimensional finite element models are developed to represent the stiffened steel I-beams. The well established finite element (ANSYS 13.0) program is used to simulate the geometric and material nonlinear nature of the problem. Verification is achieved by comparing the obtained numerical results with the results of previous published experimental work. The parameters considered in the analysis are the horizontal stiffener's position and the horizontal stiffener's dimensions as well as the number of vertical stiffeners. The studied dimensions of the horizontal stiffeners include the stiffener width, the stiffener thickness and the stiffener length. The results of the achieved numerical parametric study for slender steel I-beams show the significant effect of stiffeners on the beam behavior and its failure load.

Keywords: Steel I-beams, local buckling, slender, stiffener, thin walled section.

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1945 Chaotic Dynamics of Cost Overruns in Oil and Gas Megaprojects: A Review

Authors: O. J. Olaniran, P. E. D. Love, D. J. Edwards, O. Olatunji, J. Matthews

Abstract:

Cost overruns are a persistent problem in oil and gas megaprojects. Whilst the extant literature is filled with studies on incidents and causes of cost overruns, underlying theories to explain their emergence in oil and gas megaprojects are few. Yet, a way to contain the syndrome of cost overruns is to understand the bases of ‘how and why’ they occur. Such knowledge will also help to develop pragmatic techniques for better overall management of oil and gas megaprojects. The aim of this paper is to explain the development of cost overruns in hydrocarbon megaprojects through the perspective of chaos theory. The underlying principles of chaos theory and its implications for cost overruns are examined and practical recommendations proposed. In addition, directions for future research in this fertile area provided.

Keywords: Chaos theory, oil and gas, cost overruns, megaprojects.

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1944 A Review on Application of Waste Tire in Concrete

Authors: M. A. Yazdi, J. Yang, L. Yihui, H. Su

Abstract:

The application of recycle waste tires into civil engineering practices, namely asphalt paving mixtures and cementbased materials has been gaining ground across the world. This review summarizes and compares the recent achievements in the area of plain rubberized concrete (PRC), in details. Different treatment methods have been discussed to improve the performance of rubberized Portland cement concrete. The review also includes the effects of size and amount of tire rubbers on mechanical and durability properties of PRC. The microstructure behaviour of the rubberized concrete was detailed.

Keywords: Waste rubber aggregates, Microstructure, Treatment methods, Size and content effects.

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1943 Effective Photodegradation of Tetracycline by a Heteropoly Acid/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Based on Uio-66

Authors: Anasheh Maridiroosi, Ali Reza Mahjoub, Hanieh Fakhri

Abstract:

Heteropoly acid nanoparticles anchored on graphene oxide based on UiO-66 were synthesized via in-situ growth hydrothermal method and tested for photodegradation of a tetracycline as critical pollutant. Results showed that presence of graphene oxide and UiO-66 with high specific surface area, great electron mobility and various functional groups make an excellent support for heteropoly acid and improve photocatalytic efficiency up to 95% for tetracycline. Furthermore, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis verified 79% mineralization of this pollutant under optimum condition.

Keywords: Heteropoly acid, graphene oxide, MOF, tetracycline.

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1942 Using Automated Database Reverse Engineering for Database Integration

Authors: M. R. Abbasifard, M. Rahgozar, A. Bayati, P. Pournemati

Abstract:

One important problem in today organizations is the existence of non-integrated information systems, inconsistency and lack of suitable correlations between legacy and modern systems. One main solution is to transfer the local databases into a global one. In this regards we need to extract the data structures from the legacy systems and integrate them with the new technology systems. In legacy systems, huge amounts of a data are stored in legacy databases. They require particular attention since they need more efforts to be normalized, reformatted and moved to the modern database environments. Designing the new integrated (global) database architecture and applying the reverse engineering requires data normalization. This paper proposes the use of database reverse engineering in order to integrate legacy and modern databases in organizations. The suggested approach consists of methods and techniques for generating data transformation rules needed for the data structure normalization.

Keywords: Reverse Engineering, Database Integration, System Integration, Data Structure Normalization

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1941 A new Configurable Decimation Filter using Pascal-s Triangle Theorem

Authors: A. Chahardah Cherik, E. Farshidi

Abstract:

This paper presents a new configurable decimation filter for sigma-delta modulators. The filter employs the Pascal-s triangle-s theorem for building the coefficients of non-recursive decimation filters. The filter can be connected to the back-end of various modulators with different output accuracy. In this work two methods are shown and then compared from area occupation viewpoint. First method uses the memory and the second one employs Pascal-s triangle-s method, aiming to reduce required gates. XILINX ISE v10 is used for implementation and confirmation the filter.

Keywords: Decimation filter, sigma delta, Pascal's triangle'stheorem, memory

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1940 Enhancement of a 3D Sound Using Psychoacoustics

Authors: Kyosik Koo, Hyungtai Cha

Abstract:

Generally, in order to create 3D sound using binaural systems, we use head related transfer functions (HRTF) including the information of sounds which is arrived to our ears. But it can decline some three-dimensional effects in the area of a cone of confusion between front and back directions, because of the characteristics of HRTF. In this paper, we propose a new method to use psychoacoustics theory that reduces the confusion of sound image localization. In the method, HRTF spectrum characteristic is enhanced by using the energy ratio of the bark band. Informal listening tests show that the proposed method improves the front-back sound localization characteristics much better than the conventional methods

Keywords: HRTF, 3D sound, Psychoacoustics, Localization

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1939 Verification of the Simultaneous Local Extraction Method of Base and Thermal Resistance of Bipolar Transistors

Authors: Robert Setekera, Luuk Tiemeijer, Ramses van der Toorn

Abstract:

In this paper an extensive verification of the extraction method (published earlier) that consistently accounts for self-heating and Early effect to accurately extract both base and thermal resistance of bipolar junction transistors is presented. The method verification is demonstrated on advanced RF SiGe HBTs were the extracted results for the thermal resistance are compared with those from another published method that ignores the effect of Early effect on internal base-emitter voltage and the extracted results of the base resistance are compared with those determined from noise measurements. A self-consistency of our method in the extracted base resistance and thermal resistance using compact model simulation results is also carried out in order to study the level of accuracy of the method.

Keywords: Avalanche, Base resistance, Bipolar transistor, Compact modeling, Early voltage, Thermal resistance, Self-heating, parameter extraction.

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