Search results for: Large PV power plant
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5597

Search results for: Large PV power plant

3137 Monitorization of Junction Temperature Using a Thermal-Test-Device

Authors: B. Arzhanov, A. Correia, P. Delgado, J. Meireles

Abstract:

Due to the higher power loss levels in electronic components, the thermal design of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) of an assembled device becomes one of the most important quality factors in electronics. Nonetheless, some of leading causes of the microelectronic component failures are due to higher temperatures, the leakages or thermal-mechanical stress, which is a concern, is the reliability of microelectronic packages. This article presents an experimental approach to measure the junction temperature of exposed pad packages. The implemented solution is in a prototype phase, using a temperature-sensitive parameter (TSP) to measure temperature directly on the die, validating the numeric results provided by the Mechanical APDL (Ansys Parametric Design Language) under same conditions. The physical device-under-test is composed by a Thermal Test Chip (TTC-1002) and assembly in a QFN cavity, soldered to a test-board according to JEDEC Standards. Monitoring the voltage drop across a forward-biased diode, is an indirectly method but accurate to obtain the junction temperature of QFN component with an applied power range between 0,3W to 1.5W. The temperature distributions on the PCB test-board and QFN cavity surface were monitored by an infra-red thermal camera (Goby-384) controlled and images processed by the Xeneth software. The article provides a set-up to monitorize in real-time the junction temperature of ICs, namely devices with the exposed pad package (i.e. QFN). Presenting the PCB layout parameters that the designer should use to improve thermal performance, and evaluate the impact of voids in solder interface in the device junction temperature.

Keywords: Quad Flat No-Lead packages, exposed pads, junction temperature, thermal management, measurements.

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3136 Self-Tuning Robot Control Based on Subspace Identification

Authors: Mathias Marquardt, Peter Dünow, Sandra Baßler

Abstract:

The paper describes the use of subspace based identification methods for auto tuning of a state space control system. The plant is an unstable but self balancing transport robot. Because of the unstable character of the process it has to be identified from closed loop input-output data. Based on the identified model a state space controller combined with an observer is calculated. The subspace identification algorithm and the controller design procedure is combined to a auto tuning method. The capability of the approach was verified in a simulation experiments under different process conditions.

Keywords: Auto tuning, balanced robot, closed loop identification, subspace identification.

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3135 DNA Methylation Changes Caused by Lawsone

Authors: Zuzana Poborilova, Anna B. Ohlsson, Torkel Berglund, Anna Vildova, Petr Babula

Abstract:

Lawsone is a pigment that occurs naturally in plants. It has been used as a skin and hair dye for a long time. Moreover, its different biological activities have been reported. The present study focused on the effect of lawsone on a plant cell model represented by tobacco BY-2 cell suspension culture, which is used as a model comparable with the HeLa cells. It has been shown that lawsone inhibits the cell growth in the concentration-dependent manner. In addition, changes in DNA methylation level have been determined. We observed decreasing level of DNA methylation in the presence of increasing concentrations of lawsone. These results were accompanied with overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Since epigenetic modifications can be caused by different stress factors, there could be a connection between the changes in the level of DNA methylation and ROS production caused by lawsone.

Keywords: DNA methylation, Lawsone, Naphthoquinone, Reactive Oxygen Species.

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3134 Comparison of Methods of Estimation for Use in Goodness of Fit Tests for Binary Multilevel Models

Authors: I. V. Pinto, M. R. Sooriyarachchi

Abstract:

It can be frequently observed that the data arising in our environment have a hierarchical or a nested structure attached with the data. Multilevel modelling is a modern approach to handle this kind of data. When multilevel modelling is combined with a binary response, the estimation methods get complex in nature and the usual techniques are derived from quasi-likelihood method. The estimation methods which are compared in this study are, marginal quasi-likelihood (order 1 & order 2) (MQL1, MQL2) and penalized quasi-likelihood (order 1 & order 2) (PQL1, PQL2). A statistical model is of no use if it does not reflect the given dataset. Therefore, checking the adequacy of the fitted model through a goodness-of-fit (GOF) test is an essential stage in any modelling procedure. However, prior to usage, it is also equally important to confirm that the GOF test performs well and is suitable for the given model. This study assesses the suitability of the GOF test developed for binary response multilevel models with respect to the method used in model estimation. An extensive set of simulations was conducted using MLwiN (v 2.19) with varying number of clusters, cluster sizes and intra cluster correlations. The test maintained the desirable Type-I error for models estimated using PQL2 and it failed for almost all the combinations of MQL. Power of the test was adequate for most of the combinations in all estimation methods except MQL1. Moreover, models were fitted using the four methods to a real-life dataset and performance of the test was compared for each model.

Keywords: Goodness-of-fit test, marginal quasi-likelihood, multilevel modelling, type-I error, penalized quasi-likelihood, power, quasi-likelihood.

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3133 Electoral Violence in Africa: Experience from Ethiopia

Authors: Wondwosen Teshome

Abstract:

It is impossible to think about democracy without elections. The litmus test of any electoral process in any country is the possibility of a one time minority to become a majority at another time and a peaceful transition of power. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa though the multi-party elections appeared to be competitive they failed the acid test of democracy: peaceful regime change in a free and fair election. Failure to solve electoral disputes might lead to bloody electoral conflicts as witnessed in many emerging democracies in Africa. The aim of this paper is to investigate electoral conflicts in Africa since the end of the Cold War by using the 2005 post-election violence in Ethiopia as a case study. In Ethiopia, the coming to power of the EPRDF in 1991 marked the fall of the Derg dictatorial military government and the beginning of a multi-party democracy. The country held multi-party parliamentary elections in 1995, 2000, and 2005 where the ruling EPRDF party “won" the elections through violence, involving intimidation, manipulation, detentions of political opponents, torture, and political assassinations. The 2005 electoral violence was the worst electoral violence in the country-s political history that led to the death of 193 protestors and the imprisonment of more than 40, 000 people. It is found out that the major causes of the 2005 Ethiopian election were the defeat of the ruling party in the election and its attempt to reverse the poll results by force; the Opposition-s lack of decisive leadership; the absence of independent courts and independent electoral management body; and the ruling party-s direct control over the army and police.

Keywords: Africa, Ethiopia, Election, Electoral violence, NEBE.

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3132 Identification of MIMO Systems Using Neuro-Fuzzy Models with a Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm

Authors: Sana Bouzaida, Anis Sakly, Faouzi M'Sahli

Abstract:

In this paper, a TSK-type Neuro-fuzzy Inference System that combines the features of fuzzy sets and neural networks has been applied for the identification of MIMO systems. The procedure of adapting parameters in TSK model employs a Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) which is inspired from the memetic evolution of a group of frogs when seeking for food. To demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed controller, two nonlinear systems have been considered as the MIMO plant, and results have been compared with other learning methods based on Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA).

Keywords: Identification, Shuffled frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA), TSK-type neuro-fuzzy model.

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3131 Optimizing the Components of Grid-Independent Microgrids for Rural Electrification Utilizing Solar Panel and Supercapacitor

Authors: Astiaj Khoramshahi, Hossein Ahmadi Danesh Ashtiani, Ahmad Khoshgard, Hamidreza Damghani, Leila Damghani

Abstract:

Rural electrification rates are generally low in Iran and many parts of the world that lack sustainable renewable energy resources. Many homes are based on polluting solutions such as crude oil and diesel generators for lighting, heating, and charging electrical gadgets. Small-scale portable solar battery packs are accessible to the public; however, they have low capacity and are challenging to be distributed in developing countries. To design a battery-based microgrid power systems, the load profile is one of the key parameters. Additionally, the reliability of the system should be taken into account. A conventional microgrid system can be either AC or coupling DC. Both AC and DC microgrids have advantages and disadvantages depending on their application and can be either connected to the main grid or perform independently. This article proposes a tool for optimal sizing of microgrid-independent systems via respective analysis. To show such an analysis, the type of power generation, number of panels, battery capacity, microgrid size, and group of available consumers should be considered. Therefore, the optimization of different design scenarios is based on number of solar panels and super saving sources, ranges of the depth of discharges, to calculate size and estimate the overall cost. Generally, it is observed that there is an inverse relationship between the depth spectrum of discharge and the solar microgrid costs.

Keywords: Storage, super-storage, grid-independent, economic factors, microgrid.

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3130 Characterization Non-Deterministic of Optical Channels

Authors: V. A. C. Vale, E. T. L. Cöuras Ford

Abstract:

The use of optical technologies in the telecommunications has been increasing due to its ability to transmit large amounts of data over long distances. However, as in all systems of data transmission, optical communication channels suffer from undesirable and non-deterministic effects, being essential to know the same. Thus, this research allows the assessment of these effects, as well as their characterization and beneficial uses of these effects.

Keywords: Optical communication, optical fiber, non-deterministic effects.

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3129 Salt-Tolerance of Tissue-Cultured Date Palm Cultivars under Controlled Environment

Authors: L. Al-Mulla, N. R. Bhat, M. Khalil

Abstract:

A study was conducted in greenhouse environment to determine the response of five tissue-cultured date palm cultivars, Al- Ahamad, Nabusaif, Barhee, Khalas, and Kasab to irrigation water salinity of 1.6, 5, 10, or 20 dS/ m. The salinity level of 1.6dS/m, was used as a control. The effects of high salinity on plant survival were manifested at 360 days after planting (DAP) onwards. Three cultivars, Khalas, Kasab and Barhee were able to tolerate 10 dS/m salinity level at 24 months after the start of study. Khalas tolerated the highest salinity level of 20 dS/ m and 'Nabusaif' was found to be the least tolerant cv. The average heights of palms and the number of fronds were decreased with increasing salinity levels as time progressed.

Keywords: Acclimatization, Irrigation water salinity, Kuwait, Land degradation.

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3128 Modification of Electrical and Switching Characteristics of a Non Punch-Through Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor by Gamma Irradiation

Authors: Hani Baek, Gwang Min Sun, Chansun Shin, Sung Ho Ahn

Abstract:

Fast neutron irradiation using nuclear reactors is an effective method to improve switching loss and short circuit durability of power semiconductor (insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) and insulated gate transistors (IGT), etc.). However, not only fast neutrons but also thermal neutrons, epithermal neutrons and gamma exist in the nuclear reactor. And the electrical properties of the IGBT may be deteriorated by the irradiation of gamma. Gamma irradiation damages are known to be caused by Total Ionizing Dose (TID) effect and Single Event Effect (SEE), Displacement Damage. Especially, the TID effect deteriorated the electrical properties such as leakage current and threshold voltage of a power semiconductor. This work can confirm the effect of the gamma irradiation on the electrical properties of 600 V NPT-IGBT. Irradiation of gamma forms lattice defects in the gate oxide and Si-SiO2 interface of the IGBT. It was confirmed that this lattice defect acts on the center of the trap and affects the threshold voltage, thereby negatively shifted the threshold voltage according to TID. In addition to the change in the carrier mobility, the conductivity modulation decreases in the n-drift region, indicating a negative influence that the forward voltage drop decreases. The turn-off delay time of the device before irradiation was 212 ns. Those of 2.5, 10, 30, 70 and 100 kRad(Si) were 225, 258, 311, 328, and 350 ns, respectively. The gamma irradiation increased the turn-off delay time of the IGBT by approximately 65%, and the switching characteristics deteriorated.

Keywords: NPT-IGBT, gamma irradiation, switching, turn-off delay time, recombination, trap center.

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3127 A Novel Multiple Valued Logic OHRNS Modulo rn Adder Circuit

Authors: Mehdi Hosseinzadeh, Somayyeh Jafarali Jassbi, Keivan Navi

Abstract:

Residue Number System (RNS) is a modular representation and is proved to be an instrumental tool in many digital signal processing (DSP) applications which require high-speed computations. RNS is an integer and non weighted number system; it can support parallel, carry-free, high-speed and low power arithmetic. A very interesting correspondence exists between the concepts of Multiple Valued Logic (MVL) and Residue Number Arithmetic. If the number of levels used to represent MVL signals is chosen to be consistent with the moduli which create the finite rings in the RNS, MVL becomes a very natural representation for the RNS. There are two concerns related to the application of this Number System: reaching the most possible speed and the largest dynamic range. There is a conflict when one wants to resolve both these problem. That is augmenting the dynamic range results in reducing the speed in the same time. For achieving the most performance a method is considere named “One-Hot Residue Number System" in this implementation the propagation is only equal to one transistor delay. The problem with this method is the huge increase in the number of transistors they are increased in order m2 . In real application this is practically impossible. In this paper combining the Multiple Valued Logic and One-Hot Residue Number System we represent a new method to resolve both of these two problems. In this paper we represent a novel design of an OHRNS-based adder circuit. This circuit is useable for Multiple Valued Logic moduli, in comparison to other RNS design; this circuit has considerably improved the number of transistors and power consumption.

Keywords: Computer Arithmetic, Residue Number System, Multiple Valued Logic, One-Hot, VLSI.

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3126 Mechanisms of Ginger Bioactive Compounds Extract Using Soxhlet and Accelerated Water Extraction

Authors: M. N. Azian, A. N. Ilia Anisa, Y. Iwai

Abstract:

The mechanism for extraction bioactive compounds from plant matrix is essential for optimizing the extraction process. As a benchmark technique, a soxhlet extraction has been utilized for discussing the mechanism and compared with an accelerated water extraction. The trends of both techniques show that the process involves extraction and degradation. The highest yields of 6-, 8-, 10-gingerols and 6-shogaol in soxhlet extraction were 13.948, 7.12, 10.312 and 2.306 mg/g, respectively. The optimum 6-, 8-, 10-gingerols and 6-shogaol extracted by the accelerated water extraction at 140oC were 68.97±3.95 mg/g at 3min, 18.98±3.04 mg/g at 5min, 5.167±2.35 mg/g at 3min and 14.57±6.27 mg/g at 3min, respectively. The effect of temperature at 3mins shows that the concentration of 6-shogaol increased rapidly as decreasing the recovery of 6-gingerol.

Keywords: Mechanism, bioactive compounds, soxhlet extraction, accelerated water extraction.

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3125 Study of Hydrothermal Behavior of Thermal Insulating Materials Based On Natural Fibers

Authors: J. Zach, J. Hroudova, J. Brozovsky

Abstract:

Thermal insulation materials based on natural fibers represent a very promising area of materials based on natural easy renewable row sources. These materials may be in terms of the properties of most competing synthetic insulations, but show somewhat higher moisture sensitivity and thermal insulation properties are strongly influenced by the density and orientation of fibers. The paper described the problem of hygrothermal behavior of thermal insulation materials based on natural plant and animal fibers. This is especially the dependence of the thermal properties of these materials on the type of fiber, bulk density, temperature, moisture and the fiber orientation.

Keywords: Thermal insulating materials, hemp fibers, sheep wool fibers, thermal conductivity, moisture.

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3124 Millennials' Viewpoints about Sustainable Hotels' Practices in Egypt: Promoting Responsible Consumerism

Authors: Jailan Mohamed El Demerdash

Abstract:

Millennials are a distinctive and dominant consumer group whose behavior, preferences and purchase decisions are broadly explored but not fully understood yet. Making up the largest market segment in the world, and in Egypt, they have the power to reinvent the hospitality industry and contribute to forming prospective demand for green hotels by showing willingness to adopting their environmental-friendly practices. The current study aims to enhance better understanding of Millennials' perception about sustainable initiatives and to increase the prediction power of their intentions regarding green hotel practices in Egypt. In doing so, the study is exploring the relation among different factors; Millennials' environmental awareness, their acceptance of green practices and their willingness to pay more for them. Millennials' profile, their preferences and environmental decision-making process are brought under light to stimulate actions of hospitality decision-makers and hoteliers. Bearing in mind that responsible consumerism is depending on understanding the different influences on consumption. The study questionnaire was composed of four sections and it was distributed to random Egyptian travelers' blogs and Facebook groups, with approximately 8000 members. Analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was used to examine the study variables. The findings indicated that Millennials' environmental awareness will not be a significant factor in their acceptance of hotel green practices, as well as, their willingness to pay more for them. However, Millennials' acceptance of the level of hotel green practices will have an impact on their willingness to pay more. Millennials were found to have a noticeable level of environmental awareness but lack commitment to tolerating hotel green practices and their associated high prices.

Keywords: Millennials, environment, awareness, green practices, paying more, Egypt.

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3123 A Low-Power Two-Stage Seismic Sensor Scheme for Earthquake Early Warning System

Authors: Arvind Srivastav, Tarun Kanti Bhattacharyya

Abstract:

The north-eastern, Himalayan, and Eastern Ghats Belt of India comprise of earthquake-prone, remote, and hilly terrains. Earthquakes have caused enormous damages in these regions in the past. A wireless sensor network based earthquake early warning system (EEWS) is being developed to mitigate the damages caused by earthquakes. It consists of sensor nodes, distributed over the region, that perform majority voting of the output of the seismic sensors in the vicinity, and relay a message to a base station to alert the residents when an earthquake is detected. At the heart of the EEWS is a low-power two-stage seismic sensor that continuously tracks seismic events from incoming three-axis accelerometer signal at the first-stage, and, in the presence of a seismic event, triggers the second-stage P-wave detector that detects the onset of P-wave in an earthquake event. The parameters of the P-wave detector have been optimized for minimizing detection time and maximizing the accuracy of detection.Working of the sensor scheme has been verified with seven earthquakes data retrieved from IRIS. In all test cases, the scheme detected the onset of P-wave accurately. Also, it has been established that the P-wave onset detection time reduces linearly with the sampling rate. It has been verified with test data; the detection time for data sampled at 10Hz was around 2 seconds which reduced to 0.3 second for the data sampled at 100Hz.

Keywords: Earthquake early warning system, EEWS, STA/LTA, polarization, wavelet, event detector, P-wave detector.

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3122 Life Estimation of Induction Motor Insulation under Non-Sinusoidal Voltage and Current Waveforms Using Fuzzy Logic

Authors: Triloksingh G. Arora, Mohan V. Aware, Dhananjay R. Tutakne

Abstract:

Thyristor based firing angle controlled voltage regulators are extensively used for speed control of single phase induction motors. This leads to power saving but the applied voltage and current waveforms become non-sinusoidal. These non-sinusoidal waveforms increase voltage and thermal stresses which result into accelerated insulation aging, thus reducing the motor life. Life models that allow predicting the capability of insulation under such multi-stress situations tend to be very complex and somewhat impractical. This paper presents the fuzzy logic application to investigate the synergic effect of voltage and thermal stresses on intrinsic aging of induction motor insulation. A fuzzy expert system is developed to estimate the life of induction motor insulation under multiple stresses. Three insulation degradation parameters, viz. peak modification factor, wave shape modification factor and thermal loss are experimentally obtained for different firing angles. Fuzzy expert system consists of fuzzyfication of the insulation degradation parameters, algorithms based on inverse power law to estimate the life and defuzzyficaton process to output the life. An electro-thermal life model is developed from the results of fuzzy expert system. This fuzzy logic based electro-thermal life model can be used for life estimation of induction motors operated with non-sinusoidal voltage and current waveforms.

Keywords: Aging, Dielectric losses, Insulation and Life Estimation.

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3121 CFD Simulations of a Co-current Spray Dryer

Authors: Saad Nahi Saleh

Abstract:

This paper presents the prediction of air flow, humidity and temperature patterns in a co-current pilot plant spray dryer fitted with a pressure nozzle using a three dimensional model. The modelling was done with a Computational Fluid Dynamic package (Fluent 6.3), in which the gas phase is modelled as continuum using the Euler approach and the droplet/ particle phase is modelled by the Discrete Phase model (Lagrange approach).Good agreement was obtained with published experimental data where the CFD simulation correctly predicts a fast downward central flowing core and slow recirculation zones near the walls. In this work, the effects of the air flow pattern on droplets trajectories, residence time distribution of droplets and deposition of the droplets on the wall also were investigated where atomizing of maltodextrin solution was used.

Keywords: Spray, CFD, multiphase, drying, droplet, particle.

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3120 Effect of Euphorbia Pulcherrima Leaf and Inflorescence Extract on Various Cytomorphological Parameters of Aspergillus fumigatus

Authors: Arti Goel, Kanika Sharma

Abstract:

Microorganisms can be removed, inhibited or killed by physical agents, physical processes or chemical agents but they have their inherent disadvantages such as increased resistance against antibiotics etc. Since, plants have endless ability to synthesize aromatic substances which act as the master agents for plant defense mechanisms against microorganisms, insects and herbivores. Thus, secondary metabolites or phytochemicals obtained from plants can be used as agents of disease control nowadays. In the present study effect of different concentrations of acetone fraction of leaves and alcohol fraction of inflorescence of Euphorbia pulcherrima on various cytomorphological parameters i.e. cell number, mycelium width, conidial size, conidiophore size etc. of Aspergillus fumigatus has been studied. Change in mycelium/ hyphal cell width, conidium size, conidiophore size etc. was measured with the help of a previously calibrated oculometer. To study effect on morphology, fungal mycelium along with conidiophore and conidia were stained with cotton blue and mounted in lactophenol and observed microscopically. Inhibitory action of the acetone extract of Euphorbia pulcherrima leaf on growth of Aspergillus fumigatus was investigated. Control containing extract free medium supported profuse growth of the fungus. Although decrease in growth was observed even at 3.95μg/ml but significant inhibition of growth was started at7.81μg/ml concentration of the extract. Complete inhibition was observed at 15.62μg/ml and above. Microscopic examination revealed that at 3.95, 7.81 and 15.62μg/ml extract concentration hyphal cell width was found to be increased from 1.44μm in control to 3.86, 5.24 and 8.98 μm respectively giving a beaded appearance to the mycelium. Vesicle size was reduced from 24.78x20.08μm (control) to 11.34x10.06μm at 3.95μg/ml concentration. At 7.81 and 15.62μg/ml concentration no phialides and sterigmata were observed. Inhibitory action of the alcohol extract of inflorescence on the growth of Aspergillus fumigatus was also studied. Control containing extract free medium supported profuse growth of the fungus. Although decrease in growth was observed even at 3.95μg/ml but complete inhibition was observed at 62.5μg/ml and above. Microscopic examination revealed that hyphal cell width of Aspergillus fumigatus was found to be increased from 1.67μm in control to 5.84μm at MIC i.e. at 62.5μg/ml. Vesicle size was reduced from 44.76x 24.22μm (control) to 11.36x 6.80μm at 15.62μg/ml concentrations. At 31.25 μg/ml and 62.5μg/ml concentration no phialides and sterigmata was found. Spore germination was completely found to be inhibited at 3.95μg/ml concentration. Similarly 92.87% reduction in vesicle size was observed at 15.62μg/ml concentration. It is evident from the results that plant extracts inhibit fungal growth and this inhibition is concentration dependent. 

Keywords: Antimicrobial Activity, Aspergillus fumigatus, cytomorphology, Euphorbia pulcherrima.

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3119 Improving RBF Networks Classification Performance by using K-Harmonic Means

Authors: Z. Zainuddin, W. K. Lye

Abstract:

In this paper, a clustering algorithm named KHarmonic means (KHM) was employed in the training of Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFNs). KHM organized the data in clusters and determined the centres of the basis function. The popular clustering algorithms, namely K-means (KM) and Fuzzy c-means (FCM), are highly dependent on the initial identification of elements that represent the cluster well. In KHM, the problem can be avoided. This leads to improvement in the classification performance when compared to other clustering algorithms. A comparison of the classification accuracy was performed between KM, FCM and KHM. The classification performance is based on the benchmark data sets: Iris Plant, Diabetes and Breast Cancer. RBFN training with the KHM algorithm shows better accuracy in classification problem.

Keywords: Neural networks, Radial basis functions, Clusteringmethod, K-harmonic means.

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3118 A Localized Interpolation Method Using Radial Basis Functions

Authors: Mehdi Tatari

Abstract:

Finding the interpolation function of a given set of nodes is an important problem in scientific computing. In this work a kind of localization is introduced using the radial basis functions which finds a sufficiently smooth solution without consuming large amount of time and computer memory. Some examples will be presented to show the efficiency of the new method.

Keywords: Radial basis functions, local interpolation method, closed form solution.

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3117 Oscillation Effect of the Multi-stage Learning for the Layered Neural Networks and Its Analysis

Authors: Isao Taguchi, Yasuo Sugai

Abstract:

This paper proposes an efficient learning method for the layered neural networks based on the selection of training data and input characteristics of an output layer unit. Comparing to recent neural networks; pulse neural networks, quantum neuro computation, etc, the multilayer network is widely used due to its simple structure. When learning objects are complicated, the problems, such as unsuccessful learning or a significant time required in learning, remain unsolved. Focusing on the input data during the learning stage, we undertook an experiment to identify the data that makes large errors and interferes with the learning process. Our method devides the learning process into several stages. In general, input characteristics to an output layer unit show oscillation during learning process for complicated problems. The multi-stage learning method proposes by the authors for the function approximation problems of classifying learning data in a phased manner, focusing on their learnabilities prior to learning in the multi layered neural network, and demonstrates validity of the multi-stage learning method. Specifically, this paper verifies by computer experiments that both of learning accuracy and learning time are improved of the BP method as a learning rule of the multi-stage learning method. In learning, oscillatory phenomena of a learning curve serve an important role in learning performance. The authors also discuss the occurrence mechanisms of oscillatory phenomena in learning. Furthermore, the authors discuss the reasons that errors of some data remain large value even after learning, observing behaviors during learning.

Keywords: data selection, function approximation problem, multistage leaning, neural network, voluntary oscillation.

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3116 Investigation of Phytoextraction Coefficient Different Combination of Heavy Metals in Barley and Alfalfa

Authors: F. Zaefarian, M. Rezvani, F. Rejali, M.R. Ardakani

Abstract:

Two seperate experiments by barley and alfalfa were conducted to a 2×8 factorial completely randomised design, with four replicates. Factors were inoculation (M) with Gomus mosseae or uninoculation (M0) and seven levels of contaminants (Co, Cd, Pb and combinations) plus an uncontaminated control treatment (C). Heavy metals in plant tissues and soil were quantified by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) (Variant- Liberty 150AX Turbo). Phytoextraction coefficient of contaminants calculated by concentration of heavy metals in the shoot (mgkg-1) / concentration of heavy metals in soil (mgkg-1). In the barley, the highest rate of phytoextraction coefficient of Pb, Cd and Co was in M0Pb, M0PbCoCd and MCo, respectively (P<0.05). In the alfalfa plants, the highest phytoextraction coefficient of Cd, Co and Pb obtained in the treatments M0CoCd, M0Co and M0PbCd, respectively.

Keywords: phytoextraction coefficient, heavy metals, barley, alfalfa

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3115 Evaluation of Efficient CSI Based Channel Feedback Techniques for Adaptive MIMO-OFDM Systems

Authors: Muhammad Rehan Khalid, Muhammad Haroon Siddiqui, Danish Ilyas

Abstract:

This paper explores the implementation of adaptive coding and modulation schemes for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) feedback systems. Adaptive coding and modulation enables robust and spectrally-efficient transmission over time-varying channels. The basic premise is to estimate the channel at the receiver and feed this estimate back to the transmitter, so that the transmission scheme can be adapted relative to the channel characteristics. Two types of codebook based channel feedback techniques are used in this work. The longterm and short-term CSI at the transmitter is used for efficient channel utilization. OFDM is a powerful technique employed in communication systems suffering from frequency selectivity. Combined with multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver, OFDM proves to be robust against delay spread. Moreover, it leads to significant data rates with improved bit error performance over links having only a single antenna at both the transmitter and receiver. The coded modulation increases the effective transmit power relative to uncoded variablerate variable-power MQAM performance for MIMO-OFDM feedback system. Hence proposed arrangement becomes an attractive approach to achieve enhanced spectral efficiency and improved error rate performance for next generation high speed wireless communication systems.

Keywords: Adaptive Coded Modulation, MQAM, MIMO, OFDM, Codebooks, Feedback.

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3114 Antioxidant Capacity and Total Phenolic Content of Aqueous Acetone and Ethanol Extract of Edible Parts of Moringa oleifera and Sesbania grandiflora

Authors: Perumal Siddhuraju, Arumugam Abirami, Gunasekaran Nagarani, Marimuthu Sangeethapriya

Abstract:

Aqueous ethanol and aqueous acetone extracts of Moringa oleifera (outer pericarp of immature fruit and flower) and Sesbania grandiflora white variety (flower and leaf) were examined for radical scavenging capacities and antioxidant activities. Ethanol extract of S. grandiflora (flower and leaf) and acetone extract of M. oleifera (outer pericarp of immature fruit and flower) contained relatively higher levels of total dietary phenolics than the other extracts. The antioxidant potential of the extracts were assessed by employing different in vitro assays such as reducing power assay, DPPH˙, ABTS˙+ and ˙OH radical scavenging capacities, antihemolytic assay by hydrogen peroxide induced method and metal chelating ability. Though all the extracts exhibited dose dependent reducing power activity, acetone extract of all the samples were found to have more hydrogen donating ability in DPPH˙ (2.3% - 65.03%) and hydroxyl radical scavenging systems (21.6% - 77.4%) than the ethanol extracts. The potential of multiple antioxidant activity was evident as it possessed antihemolytic activity (43.2 % to 68.0 %) and metal ion chelating potency (45.16 - 104.26 mg EDTA/g sample). The result indicate that acetone extract of M. oleifera (OPIF and flower) and S. grandiflora (flower and leaf) endowed with polyphenols, could be utilized as natural antioxidants/nutraceuticals.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, Moringa oleifera, Polyphenolics, Sesbania grandiflora, Underutilized vegetables.

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3113 Bendability Analysis for Bending of C-Mn Steel Plates on Heavy Duty 3-Roller Bending Machine

Authors: Himanshu V. Gajjar, Anish H. Gandhi, Tanvir A Jafri, Harit K. Raval

Abstract:

Bendability is constrained by maximum top roller load imparting capacity of the machine. Maximum load is encountered during the edge pre-bending stage of roller bending. Capacity of 3-roller plate bending machine is specified by maximum thickness and minimum shell diameter combinations that can be pre-bend for given plate material of maximum width. Commercially available plate width or width of the plate that can be accommodated on machine decides the maximum rolling width. Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) provide the machine capacity chart based on reference material considering perfectly plastic material model. Reported work shows the bendability analysis of heavy duty 3-roller plate bending machine. The input variables for the industry are plate thickness, shell diameter and material property parameters, as it is fixed by the design. Analytical models of equivalent thickness, equivalent width and maximum width based on power law material model were derived to study the bendability. Equation of maximum width provides bendability for designed configuration i.e. material property, shell diameter and thickness combinations within the machine limitations. Equivalent thicknesses based on perfectly plastic and power law material model were compared for four different materials grades of C-Mn steel in order to predict the bend-ability. Effect of top roller offset on the bendability at maximum top roller load imparting capacity is reported.

Keywords: 3-Roller bending, Bendability, Equivalent thickness, Equivalent width, Maximum width.

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3112 Increase of Atmosphere CO2 Concentration and Its Effects on Culture/Weed Interaction

Authors: J. I. Santos, A. E. Cesarin, C. A. R. Sales, M. B. B. Triano, P. F. R. B. Martins, A. F. Braga, N. J. Neto, A., A. M. Barroso, P. L. C. A. Alves, C. A. M. Huaman

Abstract:

Climate change projections based on the emission of greenhouse effect gases suggest an increase in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in up to 750 ppm. In this scenario, we have significant changes in plant development, and consequently, in agricultural systems. This study aims to evaluate the interaction between culture (Glycine max) and weed (Amaranthus viridis and Euphorbia heterophylla) in two conditions of CO2, 400 and 800 ppm. The results showed that the coexistence of culture with both weed species resulted in a mutual loss, with decrease in dry mass productivity of culture + weeds, in both conditions of CO2. However, when the culture is grown in association with E. heterophylla, total dry mass of culture + weed was smaller at 800 ppm. Soybean was more aggressive in comparison to the A. viridis in both the concentrations of CO2, but not in relation to the E. heterophylla.

Keywords: Plants interaction, increase of [CO2], plants of metabolism C3, Glycine max.

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3111 Investigation of Pre-Treatment Parameters of Rye and Triticale for Bioethanol Production

Authors: Algirdas Jasinskas, Egidijus Šarauskis, Raimondas Šarauskis, Antanas Sakalauskas

Abstract:

This paper presents the new results of energy plant – rye and triticale at yellow ripeness and ripe, pre-treatment in high pressure steam reactor and monosaccharide extraction. There were investigated the influence of steam pressure (20 to 22 bar), retention duration (180 to 240 s) and catalytic sulphuric acid concentration strength (0 to 0.5 %) on the pre-treatment process, contents of monosaccharides (glucose, arabinose, xylose, mannose) and undesirable by-compounds (furfural and HMF) in the reactor. The study has determined that the largest amount of monosaccharides (37.2 % of glucose, 2.7 % of arabinose, 8.4 % of xylose, and 1.3 % of mannose) was received in the rye at ripe, the samples of which were mixed with 0.5 % concentration of catalytic sulphuric acid, and hydrolysed in the reactor, where the pressure was 20 bar, whereas the reaction time – 240 s.

Keywords: Bioethanol, Pre-treatment, Rye, Triticale.

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3110 Nonlinear Finite Element Modeling of Deep Beam Resting on Linear and Nonlinear Random Soil

Authors: M. Seguini, D. Nedjar

Abstract:

An accuracy nonlinear analysis of a deep beam resting on elastic perfectly plastic soil is carried out in this study. In fact, a nonlinear finite element modeling for large deflection and moderate rotation of Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on linear and nonlinear random soil is investigated. The geometric nonlinear analysis of the beam is based on the theory of von Kàrmàn, where the Newton-Raphson incremental iteration method is implemented in a Matlab code to solve the nonlinear equation of the soil-beam interaction system. However, two analyses (deterministic and probabilistic) are proposed to verify the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed model where the theory of the local average based on the Monte Carlo approach is used to analyze the effect of the spatial variability of the soil properties on the nonlinear beam response. The effect of six main parameters are investigated: the external load, the length of a beam, the coefficient of subgrade reaction of the soil, the Young’s modulus of the beam, the coefficient of variation and the correlation length of the soil’s coefficient of subgrade reaction. A comparison between the beam resting on linear and nonlinear soil models is presented for different beam’s length and external load. Numerical results have been obtained for the combination of the geometric nonlinearity of beam and material nonlinearity of random soil. This comparison highlighted the need of including the material nonlinearity and spatial variability of the soil in the geometric nonlinear analysis, when the beam undergoes large deflections.

Keywords: Finite element method, geometric nonlinearity, material nonlinearity, soil-structure interaction, spatial variability.

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3109 Sloshing Control in Tilting Phases of the Pouring Process

Authors: Maria P. Tzamtzi, Fotis N. Koumboulis

Abstract:

We propose a control design scheme that aims to prevent undesirable liquid outpouring and suppress sloshing during the forward and backward tilting phases of the pouring process, for the case of liquid containers carried by manipulators. The proposed scheme combines a partial inverse dynamics controller with a PID controller, tuned with the use of a “metaheuristic" search algorithm. The “metaheuristic" search algorithm tunes the PID controller based on simulation results of the plant-s linearization around the operating point corresponding to the critical tilting angle, where outpouring initiates. Liquid motion is modeled using the well-known pendulumtype model. However, the proposed controller does not require measurements of the liquid-s motion within the tank.

Keywords: Robotic systems, Controller design, Sloshingsuppression, Metaheuristic optimization.

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3108 A Combinatorial Model for ECG Interpretation

Authors: Costas S. Iliopoulos, Spiros Michalakopoulos

Abstract:

A new, combinatorial model for analyzing and inter- preting an electrocardiogram (ECG) is presented. An application of the model is QRS peak detection. This is demonstrated with an online algorithm, which is shown to be space as well as time efficient. Experimental results on the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database show that this novel approach is promising. Further uses for this approach are discussed, such as taking advantage of its small memory requirements and interpreting large amounts of pre-recorded ECG data.

Keywords: Combinatorics, ECG analysis, MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database, QRS Detection, String Algorithms

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