Search results for: power quality improvement

Authors: Abdolreza Roozbeh, Reza Sedaghati, Ali Asghar Baziar, Mohammad Reza Tabatabaei

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This paper presents dynamic models of distributed generators (DG) and investigates dynamic behavior of the DG units in the micro grid system. The DG units include photovoltaic and fuel cell sources. The voltage source inverter is adopted since the electronic interface which can be equipped with its controller to keep stability of the micro grid during small signal dynamics. This paper also introduces power management strategies and implements the DG load sharing concept to keep the micro grid operation in gridconnected and islanding modes of operation. The results demonstrate the operation and performance of the photovoltaic and fuel cell as distributed generators in a micro grid. The entire control system in the micro grid is developed by combining the benefits of the power control and the voltage control strategies. Simulation results are all reported, confirming the validity of the proposed control technique.

Keywords: Stability, Distributed Generation, Dynamic, Micro Grid.

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Authors: Antonio Carlos Marques Alvim, Fernando Carvalho da Silva, Aquilino Senra Martinez

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For a quick and accurate calculation of spatial neutron distribution in nuclear power reactors 3D nodal codes are usually used aiming at solving the neutron diffusion equation for a given reactor core geometry and material composition. These codes use a second order polynomial to represent the transverse leakage term. In this work, a nodal method based on the well known nodal expansion method (NEM), developed at COPPE, making use of this polynomial expansion was modified to treat the transverse leakage term for the external surfaces of peripheral reflector nodes. The proposed method was implemented into a computational system which, besides solving the diffusion equation, also solves the burnup equations governing the gradual changes in material compositions of the core due to fuel depletion. Results confirm the effectiveness of this modified treatment of peripheral nodes for practical purposes in PWR reactors.

Keywords: Transverse leakage, nodal expansion method, power density, PWR reactors

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Authors: M. Ravindra, R. Srinivasa Rao

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This paper presents a Generalized Binary Integer Linear Programming (GBILP) method for optimal allocation of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and to generate Dynamic State Estimation (DSE) solution with complete observability. The GBILP method is formulated with Zero Injection Bus (ZIB) constraints to reduce the number of locations for placement of PMUs in the case of normal and single line contingency. The integration of PMU and conventional measurements is modeled in DSE process to estimate accurate states of the system. To estimate the dynamic behavior of the power system with proposed method, load change up to 40% considered at a bus in the power system network. The proposed DSE method is compared with traditional Weighted Least Squares (WLS) state estimation method in presence of load changes to show the impact of PMU measurements. MATLAB simulations are carried out on IEEE 14, 30, 57, and 118 bus systems to prove the validity of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Observability, phasor measurement units, PMU, state estimation, dynamic state estimation, SCADA measurements, zero injection bus.

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Authors: Noda L. M., Salvador I. C, C. M. L. G. Parada, Fonseca C. R. B.

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In Brazil, neonatal mortality rate is considered incompatible with the country development conditions, and has been a Public Health concern. Reduction in infant mortality rates has also been part of the Millennium Development Goals, a commitment made by countries, members of the Organization of United Nations (OUN), including Brazil. Fetal mortality rate is considered a highly sensitive indicator of health care quality. Suitable actions, such as good quality and access to health services may contribute positively towards reduction in these fetal and neonatal rates. With appropriate antenatal follow-up and health care during gestation and delivery, some death causes could be reduced or even prevented by means of early diagnosis and intervention, as well as changes in risk factors and interventions. Objectives: To study the quality of maternal and infant health care based on fetal and neonatal mortality, as well as the possible actions to prevent those deaths in Botucatu (Brazil). Methods: Classification of prevention according to the International Classification of Diseases and the modified Wigglesworth´s classification. In order to evaluate adequacy, indicators of quality of antenatal and delivery care were established by the authors. Results: Considering fetal deaths, 56.7% of them occurred before delivery, which reveals possible shortcomings in antenatal care, and 38.2% of them were a result of intra- labor changes, which could be prevented or reduced by adequate obstetric management. These findings were different from those in the group of early neonatal deaths which were also studied. Adequacy of health services showed that antenatal and childbirth care was appropriate for 24% and 33.3% of pregnant women, respectively, which corroborates the results of prevention. These results revealed that shortcomings in obstetric and antenatal care could be the causes of deaths in the study. Early and late neonatal deaths have similar characteristics: 76% could be prevented or reduced mainly by adequate newborn care (52.9%) and adequate health care for gestational women (11.7%). When adequacy of care was evaluated, childbirth and newborn care was adequate in 25.8% and antenatal care was adequate in 16.1%. In conclusion, direct relationship was found between adequacy and quality of care rendered to pregnant women and newborns, and fetal and infant mortality. Moreover, our findings highlight that deaths could be prevented by an adequate obstetric and neonatal management.

Keywords: Fetal Mortality, Infant Mortality, Maternal-Child Health Services, Program Evaluation.

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Authors: Amir Gandomkar

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The development incompatible with environment cannot be sustainable. Using renewable energy sources such as solar energy, geothermal energy and wind energy can make sustainable development in a region. Iran has a lot of renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Since Iran has a special geographic position, it has lot of solar and wind energy resources. Both solar and wind energy are free, renewable and adaptable with environment. The study of 10 year wind data in Iranian South coastal and Islands synoptic stations shows that the production of wind power electricity and water pumping is possible in this region. In this research, we studied the local and temporal distribution of wind using three – hour statistics of windspeed in Iranian South coastal and Islands synoptic stations. This research shows that the production of wind power electricity is possible in this region all the year.

Keywords: Wind energy, wind regime, wind electricity, synoptic station.

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Authors: Pankaj Chandna, Surinder Deswal, Arunesh Chandra, SK Sharma

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Noise has adverse effect on human health and comfort. Noise not only cause hearing impairment, but it also acts as a causal factor for stress and raising systolic pressure. Additionally it can be a causal factor in work accidents, both by marking hazards and warning signals and by impeding concentration. Industry workers also suffer psychological and physical stress as well as hearing loss due to industrial noise. This paper proposes an approach to enable engineers to point out quantitatively the noisiest source for modification, while multiple machines are operating simultaneously. The model with the point source and spherical radiation in a free field was adopted to formulate the problem. The procedure works very well in ideal cases (point source and free field). However, most of the industrial noise problems are complicated by the fact that the noise is confined in a room. Reflections from the walls, floor, ceiling, and equipment in a room create a reverberant sound field that alters the sound wave characteristics from those for the free field. So the model was validated for relatively low absorption room at NIT Kurukshetra Central Workshop. The results of validation pointed out that the estimated sound power of noise sources under simultaneous conditions were on lower side, within the error limits 3.56 - 6.35 %. Thus suggesting the use of this methodology for practical implementation in industry. To demonstrate the application of the above analytical procedure for estimating the sound power of noise sources under simultaneous operating conditions, a manufacturing facility (Railway Workshop at Yamunanagar, India) having five sound sources (machines) on its workshop floor is considered in this study. The findings of the case study had identified the two most effective candidates (noise sources) for noise control in the Railway Workshop Yamunanagar, India. The study suggests that the modification in the design and/or replacement of these two identified noisiest sources (machine) would be necessary so as to achieve an effective reduction in noise levels. Further, the estimated data allows engineers to better understand the noise situations of the workplace and to revise the map when changes occur in noise level due to a workplace re-layout.

Keywords: Industrial noise, sound power level, multiple noise sources, sources contribution.

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Authors: T. Gómez-Navarro, M. García-Melón, D. Díaz-Martín, S. Acuna-Dutra,

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In this paper a new approach to prioritize urban planning projects in an efficient and reliable way is presented. It is based on environmental pressure indices and multicriteria decision methods. The paper introduces a rigorous method with acceptable complexity of rank ordering urban development proposals according to their environmental pressure. The technique combines the use of Environmental Pressure Indicators, the aggregation of indicators in an Environmental Pressure Index by means of the Analytic Network Process method and interpreting the information obtained from the experts during the decision-making process. The ANP method allows the aggregation of the experts- judgments on each of the indicators into one Environmental Pressure Index. In addition, ANP is based on utility ratio functions which are the most appropriate for the analysis of uncertain data, like experts- estimations. Finally, unlike the other multicriteria techniques, ANP allows the decision problem to be modelled using the relationships among dependent criteria. The method has been applied to the proposal for urban development of La Carlota airport in Caracas (Venezuela). The Venezuelan Government would like to see a recreational project develop on the abandoned area and mean a significant improvement for the capital. There are currently three options on their table which are currently under evaluation. They include a Health Club, a Residential area and a Theme Park. The participating experts coincided in the appreciation that the method proposed in this paper is useful and an improvement from traditional techniques such as environmental impact studies, lifecycle analysis, etc. They find the results obtained coherent, the process seems sufficiently rigorous and precise, and the use of resources is significantly less than in other methods.

Keywords: Environmental pressure indicators, multicriteria decision analysis, analytic network process.

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Authors: Zulkufly Ramly

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This paper attempts to investigate the effect of corporate governance and shareholder monitoring mechanisms on cost of debt of Malaysian listed firms. We assess the quality of corporate governance using comprehensive corporate governance index, which consists of 139 items in six broad categories. We classify shareholder monitoring mechanisms into concentrated ownership, family, insider and government ownerships. Using panel sample from 2003 to 2007, regression results show that high corporate governance quality and concentrated ownership lower firm cost of debt. Debt issuers consider board structure and procedures, board compensation practices, accountability and audit, transparency and social and environmental activities as integral components of a good corporate governance framework.

Keywords: Corporate governance index, cost of debt, ownership structure, Malaysia.

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Authors: Shashank.B. Thakre, L.B. Bhuyar, Samir.J. Deshmukh

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The value of overall oxygen transfer Coefficient (KLa), which is the best measure of oxygen transfer in water through aeration, is obtained by a simple approach, which sufficiently explains the utility of the method to eliminate the discrepancies due to inaccurate assumption of saturation dissolved oxygen concentration. The rate of oxygen transfer depends on number of factors like intensity of turbulence, which in turns depends on the speed of rotation, size, and number of blades, diameter and immersion depth of the rotor, and size and shape of aeration tank, as well as on physical, chemical, and biological characteristic of water. An attempt is made in this paper to correlate the overall oxygen transfer Coefficient (KLa), as an independent parameter with other influencing parameters mentioned above. It has been estimated that the simulation equation developed predicts the values of KLa and power with an average standard error of estimation of 0.0164 and 7.66 respectively and with R2 values of 0.979 and 0.989 respectively, when compared with experimentally determined values. The comparison of this model is done with the model generated using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and both the models were found to be in good agreement with each other.

Keywords: CFD Model, Overall oxygen transfer coefficient, Power, Mathematical Model, Validation.

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Authors: Seok Hong Min, Tae Kwon Ha

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With the increasing interest on Ti alloys, the extraction process of Ti from its typical ore, TiO₂, has long been and will be important issue. As an intermediate product for the production of pigment or titanium metal sponge, tetrachloride (TiCl₄) is produced by fluidized bed using high TiO₂ feedstock. The purity of TiCl₄ after chlorination is subjected to the quality of the titanium feedstock. Since the impurities in the TiCl₄ product are reported to final products, the purification process of the crude TiCl₄ is required. The purification process includes fractional distillation and chemical treatment, which depends on the nature of the impurities present and the required quality of the final product. In this study, thermodynamic analysis on the impurity effect in the chlorination process, which is the first step of extraction of Ti from TiO₂, has been conducted. All thermodynamic calculations were performed using the FactSage thermodynamical software.

Keywords: Rutile, titanium, chlorination process, impurities, thermodynamic calculation, FactSage.

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Authors: Ahmed S. Al-Abdulwahab

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Generation system reliability assessment is an important task which can be performed using deterministic or probabilistic techniques. The probabilistic approaches have significant advantages over the deterministic methods. However, more complicated modeling is required by the probabilistic approaches. Power generation model is a basic requirement for this assessment. One form of the generation models is the well known capacity outage probability table (COPT). Different analytical techniques have been used to construct the COPT. These approaches require considerable mathematical modeling of the generating units. The unit-s models are combined to build the COPT which will add more burdens on the process of creating the COPT. Decimal to Binary Conversion (DBC) technique is widely and commonly applied in electronic systems and computing This paper proposes a novel utilization of the DBC to create the COPT without engaging in analytical modeling or time consuming simulations. The simple binary representation , “0 " and “1 " is used to model the states o f generating units. The proposed technique is proven to be an effective approach to build the generation model.

Keywords: Decimal to Binary, generation, reliability.

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Authors: Stephanie Russo Fabris, Edmara Thays Neres Menezes, Ruirogeres dos Santos Cruz, Lucio Leonardo Siqueira Santos, Suzana Leitao Russo

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The statistical process control (SPC) is one of the most powerful tools developed to assist ineffective control of quality, involves collecting, organizing and interpreting data during production. This article aims to show how the use of CEP industries can control and continuously improve product quality through monitoring of production that can detect deviations of parameters representing the process by reducing the amount of off-specification products and thus the costs of production. This study aimed to conduct a technological forecasting in order to characterize the research being done related to the CEP. The survey was conducted in the databases Spacenet, WIPO and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Among the largest are the United States depositors and deposits via PCT, the classification section that was presented in greater abundance to F.

Keywords: Statistical Process Control, Industries

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Authors: S.C.Swain, A.K.Balirsingh, S. Mahapatra, S. Panda

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This paper presents a systematic approach for designing Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) based supplementary damping controllers for damping low frequency oscillations in a single-machine infinite-bus power system. The design problem of the proposed controller is formulated as an optimization problem and RCGA is employed to search for optimal controller parameters. By minimizing the time-domain based objective function, in which the deviation in the oscillatory rotor speed of the generator is involved; stability performance of the system is improved. Simulation results are presented and compared with a conventional method of tuning the damping controller parameters to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed design approach.

Keywords: Low frequency Oscillations, Phase CompensationTechnique, Real Coded Genetic Algorithm, Single-machine InfiniteBus Power System, Static Synchronous Series Compensator.

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Authors: Hae-Yeoun Lee

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Reversible watermarking that not only protects the copyright but also preserve the original quality of the digital content have been intensively studied. In particular, the demand for reversible watermarking has increased. In this paper, we propose a reversible watermarking scheme based on interpolation-error shifting and error pre-compensation. The intensity of a pixel is interpolated from the intensities of neighboring pixels, and the difference histogram between the interpolated and the original intensities is obtained and modified to embed the watermark message. By restoring the difference histogram, the embedded watermark is extracted and the original image is recovered by compensating for the interpolation error. The overflow and underflow are prevented by error pre-compensation. To show the performance of the method, the proposed algorithm is compared with other methods using various test images.

Keywords: Reversible watermarking, High capacity, High quality, Interpolated error shifting, Error pre-compensation.

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Authors: Rania Mustafa

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This audit was conducted at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital Radiology and Accident and Emergency [A&E] Department to assess the appropriateness of clinical information in X-ray requests, specifically in cases of acute ankle injuries. As per the Ottawa Ankle Rules and the recommendations of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE] and the Royal College of Radiology, we aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of referrals and the thoroughness of clinical information provided by Emergency Department [ED] clinicians for ankle radiography. Our goal was to achieve 100% compliance with these guidelines. The audit involved a comprehensive analysis spanning the period from August 2022 to January 2023, encompassing patient records, radiographic orders, and clinical assessments. Data collection included patient demographics, presenting complaints, clinical assessments, adherence to Ottawa Ankle Rules criteria, and subsequent radiography orders. Here we conducted two audit cycles, involving 38 patients in the first cycle and 86 patients in the second cycle. The data were furtherly filtered to include all patients who were referred from the ED for an ankle Xray with a history of acute trauma and age of more than 18 years. The key finding was that in August 2022, 60% of cases met the Ottawa Ankle Rules criteria accurately, indicating a need for improvement in adherence. However, by January 2023, there was a notable improvement, with 95% of cases accurately meeting the criteria. This significant change reflects an increased alignment with best practices for ankle radiography referrals.

Keywords: Ankle, injuries, Ottawa Ankle Rule, X-rays.

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Authors: Renata L. C. Leão, João E. Nascimento, Natalia C. E. S. Nascimento, Elaine S. Vasconcelos, Mércia L. Oliveira

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The quality control procedures of a radiopharmaceutical include the assessment of its chemical purity. The method suggested by international pharmacopeias consists of a thin layer chromatographic run. In this paper, the method proposed by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is compared to a direct method to determine the final concentration of aminopolyether in Fludeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) preparations. The approach (no chromatographic run) was achieved by placing the thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plate directly on an iodine vapor chamber. Both methods were validated and they showed adequate results to determine the concentration of aminopolyether in ¹⁸F-FDG preparations. However, the direct method is more sensitive, faster and simpler when compared to the reference method (with chromatographic run), and it may be chosen for use in routine quality control of ¹⁸F-FDG.

Keywords: Chemical purity, Kryptofix 222, thin layer chromatography, validation.

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Authors: R. H. Khawaja, T. R. Blackburn, M. Rehan Arif

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The power transformer is the most expensive, indispensable and arguably the most important equipment item in a power system Insulation failure in transformers can cause long term interruption to supply and loss of revenue and the condition assessment of the insulation is thus an important maintenance procedure. Oil-impregnated transformer insulation consists of mainly organic materials including mineral oil and cellulose-base paper and pressboard. The operating life of cellulose-based insulation, as with most organic insulation, depends heavily on its operating temperature rise above ambient. This paper reports results of a laboratory-based experimental investigation of partial discharge (PD) activity at high temperature in oil-impregnated insulation. The experiments reported here are part an on-going programme aimed at investigating the way in which insulation deterioration can be monitored and quantified by use of partial discharge diagnostics. Partial discharge patterns were recorded and analysed during increasing and decreasing phases of the temperature. The effect of ageing of the insulation on the PD patterns in oil and oil-impregnated insulation are also considered.

Keywords: Ageing, high temperature, PD, oil-impregnated insulation.

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Authors: A. Seddiki, M. Djebbouri, D. Guerchi

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Medical imaging produces human body pictures in digital form. Since these imaging techniques produce prohibitive amounts of data, compression is necessary for storage and communication purposes. Many current compression schemes provide a very high compression rate but with considerable loss of quality. On the other hand, in some areas in medicine, it may be sufficient to maintain high image quality only in region of interest (ROI). This paper discusses a contribution to the lossless compression in the region of interest of Scintigraphic images based on SPIHT algorithm and global transform thresholding using Huffman coding.

Keywords: Global Thresholding Transform, Huffman Coding, Region of Interest, SPIHT Coding, Scintigraphic images.

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Authors: P. R. Rahul, A. Kannan

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Ultrasound-aided adsorption of phenol by Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) was investigated at different frequencies ranging from 35 kHz, 58 kHz, and 192 kHz. Other factors influencing adsorption such as Adsorbent dosage (g/L), the initial concentration of the phenol solution (ppm) and RPM was also considered along with the frequency variable. However, this study involved calorimetric measurements which helped is determining the effect of frequency on the % removal of phenol from the power dissipated to the system was normalized. It was found that low frequency (35 kHz) cavitation effects had a profound influence on the % removal of phenol per unit power. This study also had cavitation mapping of the ultrasonic baths, and it showed that the effect of cavitation on the adsorption system is irrespective of the position of the vessel. Hence, the vessel was placed at the center of the bath. In this study, novel temperature control and monitoring system to make sure that the system is under proper condition while operations. From the BET studies, it was found that there was only 5% increase in the surface area and hence it was concluded that ultrasound doesn’t profoundly alter the equilibrium value of the adsorption system. DOE studies indicated that adsorbent dosage has a higher influence on the % removal in comparison with other factors.

Keywords: Ultrasound, adsorption, granulated activated carbon, phenol.

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Authors: Rajkumar Samanta, Abhishek Pal

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The demand of high quality services has fueled dimensional research and development in wireless communications and networking. As a result, different wireless technologies like Wireless LAN, CDMA, GSM, UMTS, MANET, Bluetooth and satellite networks etc. have emerged in the last two decades. Future networks capable of carrying multimedia traffic need IP convergence, portability, seamless roaming and scalability among the existing networking technologies without changing the core part of the existing communications networks. To fulfill these goals, the present networking systems are required to work in cooperation to ensure technological independence, seamless roaming, high security and authentication, guaranteed Quality of Services (QoS). In this paper, a conceptual framework for a cooperative network (CN) is proposed for integration of heterogeneous existing networks to meet out the requirements of the next generation wireless networks.

Keywords: Cooperative Network, Wireless Network, Integration.

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Authors: Anil Kumar Tripathi, Ratneshwer

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All the software engineering researches and best industry practices aim at providing software products with high degree of quality and functionality at low cost and less time. These requirements are addressed by the Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE) as well. CBSE, which deals with the software construction by components’ assembly, is a revolutionary extension of Software Engineering. CBSE must define and describe processes to assure timely completion of high quality software systems that are composed of a variety of pre built software components. Though these features provide distinct and visible benefits in software design and programming, they also raise some challenging problems. The aim of this work is to summarize the pertinent issues and considerations in CBSE to make an understanding in forms of concepts and observations that may lead to development of newer ways of dealing with the problems and challenges in CBSE.

Keywords: Software Component, Component Based Software Engineering, Software Process, Testing, Maintenance.

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Authors: S. Sookpeng, C. J. Martin, D. J. Gentle

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Automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) systems are available for all CT manufacturers and are used for the majority of patients. Understanding how the systems work and their influence on patient dose and image quality is important for CT users, in order to gain the most effective use of the systems. In the present study, a new phantom was used for evaluating dose distribution and image quality under the ATCM operation for the Toshiba Aquilion 64 CT scanner using different ATCM options and a fixed mAs technique. A routine chest, abdomen and pelvis (CAP) protocol was selected for study and Gafchromic film was used to measure entrance surface dose (ESD), peripheral dose and central axis dose in the phantom. The results show the dose reductions achievable with various ATCM options, in relation with the target noise. The doses and image noise distribution were more uniform when the ATCM system was implemented compared with the fixed mAs technique. The lower limit set for the tube current will affect the modulations especially for the lower dose option. This limit prevented the tube current being reduced further and therefore the lower dose ATCM setting resembled a fixed mAs technique. Selection of a lower tube current limit is likely to reduce doses for smaller patients in scans of chest and neck regions.

Keywords: Computed Tomography (CT), Automatic Tube Current Modulation (ATCM), Automatic Exposure Control (AEC).

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Authors: Bharat Raj Singh, Onkar Singh

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This paper deals with new concept of using compressed atmospheric air as a zero pollution power source for running motorbikes. The motorbike is equipped with an air turbine in place of an internal combustion engine, and transforms the energy of the compressed air into shaft work. The mathematical modeling and performance evaluation of a small capacity compressed air driven vaned type novel air turbine is presented in this paper. The effect of isobaric admission and adiabatic expansion of high pressure air for different rotor to casing diameter ratios with respect to different vane angles (number of vanes) have been considered and analyzed. It is found that the shaft work output is optimum for some typical values of rotor / casing diameter ratios at a particular value of vane angle (no. of vanes). In this study, the maximum power is obtained as 4.5kW - 5.3kW (5.5-6.25 HP) when casing diameter is taken 100 mm, and rotor to casing diameter ratios are kept from 0.65 to 0.55. This value of output is sufficient to run motorbike.

Keywords: zero pollution, compressed air, air turbine, vane angle, rotor / casing diameter ratio

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Authors: Cláudio Santos, Madalena Araújo, Nuno Correia

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The inherent complexity in nowadays- business environments is forcing organizations to be attentive to the dynamics in several fronts. Therefore, the management of technological innovation is continually faced with uncertainty about the future. These issues lead to a need for a systemic perspective, able to analyze the consequences of interactions between different factors. The field of technology foresight has proposed methods and tools to deal with this broader perspective. In an attempt to provide a method to analyze the complex interactions between events in several areas, departing from the identification of the most strategic competencies, this paper presents a methodology based on the Delphi method and Quality Function Deployment. This methodology is applied in a sheet metal processing equipment manufacturer, as a case study.

Keywords: Competencies, Delphi Method, Quality Function Deployment, Technology Foresight.

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Authors: Mahmoud Shaker, Ala'a Imran

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Greenhouse is a building, which provides controlled climate conditions to the plants to keep them from external hard conditions. Greenhouse technology gives freedom to the farmer to select any crop type in any time during year. The quality and productivity of plants inside greenhouse is highly dependent on the management quality and a good management scheme is defined by the quality of the information collected from the greenhouse environment. Therefore, Continuous monitoring of environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture gives information to the grower to better understand, how each factor affects growth and how to manage maximal crop productiveness. In this piper, we designed and implemented climate monitoring with irrigation control system based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology. The designed system is characterized with friendly to use, easy to install by any greenhouse user, multi-sensing nodes, multi-PAN ID, low cast, water irrigation control and low operation complexity. The system consists of two node types (sensing and control) with star topology on one PAN ID. Moreover, greenhouse manager can modifying system parameters such as (sensing node addresses, irrigation upper and lower control limits) by updating corresponding data in SDRAM memory. In addition, the designed system uses 2*16 characters. LCD to display the micro climate parameters values of each plants row inside the greenhouse.

Keywords: ZigBee, WSN, Arduino platform, Greenhouse automation, micro climate monitoring, smart Irrigation control.

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Authors: Yi-Pin Hsu, Shin-Yu Lin

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In order to protect original data, watermarking is first consideration direction for digital information copyright. In addition, to achieve high quality image, the algorithm maybe can not run on embedded system because the computation is very complexity. However, almost nowadays algorithms need to build on consumer production because integrator circuit has a huge progress and cheap price. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm which efficient inserts watermarking on digital image and very easy to implement on digital signal processor. In further, we select a general and cheap digital signal processor which is made by analog device company to fit consumer application. The experimental results show that the image quality by watermarking insertion can achieve 46 dB can be accepted in human vision and can real-time execute on digital signal processor.

Keywords: watermarking, digital signal processor, embedded system

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Authors: Sz. Klátyik, B. Darvas, M. Mörtl, M. Ottucsák, E. Takács, H. Bánáti, L. Simon, G. Gyurcsó, A. Székács

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Environmental and health safety of condiments used for spicing food products in food processing or by culinary means receive relatively low attention, even though possible contamination of spices may affect food quality and safety. Contamination surveys mostly focus on microbial contaminants or their secondary metabolites, mycotoxins. Chemical contaminants, particularly pesticide residues, however, are clearly substantial factors in the case of given condiments in the Capsicum family including spice paprika and chilli. To assess food safety and support the quality of the Hungaricum product spice paprika, the pesticide residue status of spice paprika and chilli is assessed on the basis of reported pesticide contamination cases and non-compliances in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Union since 1998.

Keywords: Spice paprika, Capsicum, pesticide residues, RASFF.

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Authors: Sagar Pramodrao Kadu, Rajendra H. Sarda

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The concerns about clean environment and high oil prices driving forces for the research on alternative fuels. The research efforts directed towards improving the performance of C.I engines using vegetable oil as fuel. The paper deals results of performance of a four stroke, single cylinder C.I. engine by preheated neat Karanja oil is done from 30 o C to 100 o C. The performance of the engine was studied for a speed range between 1500 to 4000 rpm, with the engine operated under full load conditions. The performance parameters considered for comparing are brake specific fuel consumption, thermal efficiency, brake power, Nox emission of the engine. The engine offers lower thermal efficiency when it is powered by preheated neat Karanja oil at higher speed. The power developed and Nox emission increase with the increase in the fuel inlet temperature and the specific fuel consumption is higher than diesel fuel operation at all elevated fuel inlet temperature.

Keywords: Alternative fuel, Compression ignition engine, neatKaranja oil, preheating.

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Authors: Theodore Grosch, Felipe Koji Godinho Hoshino

Abstract:

In wireless communications, 3GPP LTE is one of the solutions to meet the greater transmission data rate demand. One issue inherent to this technology is the PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio) of OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation. This high PAPR affects the efficiency of power amplifiers. One approach to mitigate this effect is the Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) technique. In this work, we simulate the impact of Hard Limited Clipping Crest Factor Reduction technique on BER (Bit Error Rate) in OFDM based Systems. In general, the results showed that CFR has more effects on higher digital modulation schemes, as expected. More importantly, we show the worst-case degradation due to CFR on QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM signals in a linear system. For example, hard clipping of 9 dB results in a 2 dB increase in signal to noise energy at a 1% BER for 64-QAM modulation.

Keywords: Bit error rate, crest factor reduction, OFDM, physical layer simulation.

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Authors: Sharareh Mohseni, Reihaneh Ahmadzadeh Ghavidel

Abstract:

Tomato powder has good potential as substitute of tomato paste and other tomato products. In order to protect physicochemical properties and nutritional quality of tomato during dehydration process, investigation was carried out using different drying methods and pretreatments. Solar drier and continuous conveyor (tunnel) drier were used for dehydration where as calcium chloride (CaCl2), potassium metabisulphite (KMS), calcium chloride and potassium metabisulphite (CaCl2 +KMS), and sodium chloride (NaCl) selected for treatment.. lycopene content, dehydration ratio, rehydration ratio and non-enzymatic browning in addition to moisture, sugar and titrable acidity were studied. Results show that pre-treatment with CaCl2 and NaCl increased water removal and moisture mobility in tomato slices during drying of tomatoes. Where CaCl2 used along with KMS the NEB was recorded the least compared to other treatments and the best results were obtained while using the two chemicals in combination form. Storage studies in LDPE polymeric and metalized polyesters films showed less changes in the products packed in metallized polyester pouches and even after 6 months lycopene content did not decrease more than 20% as compared to the control sample and provide extension of shelf life in acceptable condition for 6 months. In most of the quality characteristics tunnel drier samples presented better values in comparison to solar drier.

Keywords: Dehydration, Tomato powder, Lycopene, Browning

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