Search results for: Placement test.

Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

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The goal of this paper is to present the diagnostic contribution that the screening instrument, Mini-Mental State Examination-2: Expanded Version (MMSE-2:EV), brings in detecting the cognitive impairment or in monitoring the progress of degenerative disorders. The diagnostic signification is underlined by the interpretation of the MMSE-2:EV scores, resulted from the test application to patients with mild and major neurocognitive disorders. The cases were selected from current practice, in order to cover vast and significant neurocognitive pathology: mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, Parkinson’s disease, conversion of the mild cognitive impairment into Alzheimer’s disease. The MMSE-2:EV version was used: it was applied one month after the initial assessment, three months after the first reevaluation and then every six months, alternating the blue and red forms. Correlated with age and educational level, the raw scores were converted in T scores and then, with the mean and the standard deviation, the z scores were calculated. The differences of raw scores between the evaluations were analyzed from the point of view of statistic signification, in order to establish the progression in time of the disease. The results indicated that the psycho-diagnostic approach for the evaluation of the cognitive impairment with MMSE-2:EV is safe and the application interval is optimal. In clinical settings with a large flux of patients, the application of the MMSE-2:EV is a safe and fast psychodiagnostic solution. The clinicians can draw objective decisions and for the patients: it does not take too much time and energy, it does not bother them and it doesn’t force them to travel frequently.

Keywords: MMSE-2, dementia, cognitive impairment, neuropsychology.

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Authors: Chaiyakrit Raoupatham, Ram Hari Dhakal, Chalermchai Wanichlamlert

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Fresh concrete has one of dynamic properties known as slump. Slump of concrete is design to compatible with placing method. Due to hydration reaction of cement, the slump of concrete is loss through time. Therefore, delayed concrete probably get reject because slump is unacceptable. In order to recover the slump of delayed concrete the second dose of superplasticizer (naphthalene based type F) is added into the system, the slump recovery can be done as long as the concrete is not setting. By adding superplasticizer as solution for recover unusable slump loss concrete may affects other concrete properties. Therefore, this paper was observed setting times and compressive strength of concrete after being re-dose with chemical admixture type F (superplasticizer, naphthalene based) for slump recovery. The concrete used in this study was fly ash concrete with fly ash replacement of 0%, 30% and 50% respectively. Concrete mix designed for test specimen was prepared with paste content (ratio of volume of cement to volume of void in the aggregate) of 1.2 and 1.3, water-to-binder ratio (w/b) range of 0.3 to 0.58, initial dose of superplasticizer (SP) range from 0.5 to 1.6%. The setting times of concrete were tested both before and after re-dosed with different amount of second dose and time of dosing. The research was concluded that addition of second dose of superplasticizer would increase both initial and final setting times accordingly to dosage of addition. As for fly ash concrete, the prolongation effect was higher as the replacement of fly ash increase. The prolongation effect can reach up to maximum about 4 hours. In case of compressive strength, the re-dosed concrete has strength fluctuation within acceptable range of ±10%.

Keywords: Compressive strength, Fly ash concrete, Second dose of superplasticizer, Slump recovery, Setting times.

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Authors: R.N.Pise, S.A.Kulkarni, R.V.Pawar

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MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) is an emerging technology that aims to address many of the existing issues associated with packet forwarding in today-s Internetworking environment. It provides a method of forwarding packets at a high rate of speed by combining the speed and performance of Layer 2 with the scalability and IP intelligence of Layer 3. In a traditional IP (Internet Protocol) routing network, a router analyzes the destination IP address contained in the packet header. The router independently determines the next hop for the packet using the destination IP address and the interior gateway protocol. This process is repeated at each hop to deliver the packet to its final destination. In contrast, in the MPLS forwarding paradigm routers on the edge of the network (label edge routers) attach labels to packets based on the forwarding Equivalence class (FEC). Packets are then forwarded through the MPLS domain, based on their associated FECs , through swapping the labels by routers in the core of the network called label switch routers. The act of simply swapping the label instead of referencing the IP header of the packet in the routing table at each hop provides a more efficient manner of forwarding packets, which in turn allows the opportunity for traffic to be forwarded at tremendous speeds and to have granular control over the path taken by a packet. This paper deals with the process of MPLS forwarding mechanism, implementation of MPLS datapath , and test results showing the performance comparison of MPLS and IP routing. The discussion will focus primarily on MPLS IP packet networks – by far the most common application of MPLS today.

Keywords: Forwarding equivalence class, incoming label map, label, next hop label forwarding entry.

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Authors: Bremananth R., Veerabadran C. S., Andy W. H. Khong

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Automatic reading of handwritten cheque is a computationally complex process and it plays an important role in financial risk management. Machine vision and learning provide a viable solution to this problem. Research effort has mostly been focused on recognizing diverse pitches of cheques and demand drafts with an identical outline. However most of these methods employ templatematching to localize the pitches and such schemes could potentially fail when applied to different types of outline maintained by the bank. In this paper, the so-called outline problem is resolved by a cheque information tree (CIT), which generalizes the localizing method to extract active-region-of-entities. In addition, the weight based density plot (WBDP) is performed to isolate text entities and read complete pitches. Recognition is based on texture features using neural classifiers. Legal amount is subsequently recognized by both texture and perceptual features. A post-processing phase is invoked to detect the incorrect readings by Type-2 grammar using the Turing machine. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using cheque and demand drafts of 22 different banks. The test data consists of a collection of 1540 leafs obtained from 10 different account holders from each bank. Results show that this approach can easily be deployed without significant design amendments.

Keywords: Cheque reading, Connectivity checking, Text localization, Texture analysis, Turing machine, Signature verification.

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Authors: Emin Z. Mahmud

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This paper presents the observations from a series of shaking-table tests done on a 1:1 scaled confined masonry wall model, with opening for a door – specimens CMDuS (confined masonry wall with opening for a door before strengthening) and CMDS (confined masonry wall with opening for a door after strengthening). Frequency and stiffness changes before and after GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic) wall strengthening are analyzed. Definition of dynamic properties of the models was the first step of the experimental testing, which enabled acquiring important information about the achieved stiffness (natural frequencies) of the model. The natural frequency was defined in the Y direction of the model by applying resonant frequency search tests. It is important to mention that both specimens CMDuS and CMDS are subjected to the same effects. The tests are realized in the laboratory of the Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (IZIIS), Skopje. The specimens were examined separately on the shaking table, with uniaxial, in-plane excitation. After testing, samples were strengthened with GFRP and re-tested. The initial frequency of the undamaged model CMDuS is 13.55 Hz, while at the end of the testing, the frequency decreased to 6.38 Hz. This emphasizes the reduction of the initial stiffness of the model due to damage, especially in the masonry and tie-beam to tie-column connection. After strengthening of the damaged wall, the natural frequency increases to 10.89 Hz. This highlights the beneficial effect of the strengthening. After completion of dynamic testing at CMDS, the natural frequency is reduced to 6.66 Hz.

Keywords: Behavior of masonry structures, Eurocode, fundamental frequency, masonry, shaking table test, strengthening.

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Authors: Wilson Handoko, Farshid Pahlevani, Isha Singla, Himanish Kumar, Veena Sahajwalla

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Aluminium bronze alloys are well known for their superior abrasion, tensile strength and non-magnetic properties, due to the co-presence of iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) as alloying elements and have been commonly used in many industrial applications. However, continuous exposure to the marine environment will accelerate the risk of a tendency to Al bronze alloys parts failures. Although a higher level of corrosion resistance properties can be achieved by modifying its elemental composition, it will come at a price through the complex manufacturing process and increases the risk of reducing the ductility of Al bronze alloy. In this research, the use of ironmaking slag and waste plastic as the input source for surface modification of Al bronze alloy was implemented. Microstructural analysis conducted using polarised light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that is equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). An electrochemical corrosion test was carried out through Tafel polarisation method and calculation of protection efficiency against the base-material was determined. Results have indicated that uniform modified surface which is as the result of selective diffusion process, has enhanced corrosion resistance properties up to 12.67%. This approach has opened a new opportunity to access various industrial utilisations in commercial scale through minimising the dependency on natural resources by transforming waste sources into the protective coating in environmentally friendly and cost-effective ways.

Keywords: Aluminium bronze, waste-based surface modification, Tafel polarisation, corrosion resistance.

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Authors: A.L. Seetharam, B.L. Udaya Simha

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The Bangalore City is facing the acute problem of pollution in the atmosphere due to the heavy increase in the traffic and developmental activities in recent years. The present study is an attempt in the direction to assess trend of the ambient air quality status of three stations, viz., AMCO Batteries Factory, Mysore Road, GRAPHITE INDIA FACTORY, KHB Industrial Area, Whitefield and Ananda Rao Circle, Gandhinagar with respect to some of the major criteria pollutants such as Total Suspended particular matter (SPM), Oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and Oxides of sulphur (SO2). The sites are representative of various kinds of growths viz., commercial, residential and industrial, prevailing in Bangalore, which are contributing to air pollution. The concentration of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) at all locations showed a falling trend due to use of refined petrol and diesel in the recent years. The concentration of Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) showed an increasing trend but was within the permissible limits. The concentration of the Suspended particular matter (SPM) showed the mixed trend. The correlation between model and observed values is found to vary from 0.4 to 0.7 for SO2, 0.45 to 0.65 for NOx and 0.4 to 0.6 for SPM. About 80% of data is observed to fall within the error band of ±50%. Forecast test for the best fit models showed the same trend as actual values in most of the cases. However, the deviation observed in few cases could be attributed to change in quality of petro products, increase in the volume of traffic, introduction of LPG as fuel in many types of automobiles, poor condition of roads, prevailing meteorological conditions, etc.

Keywords: Bangalore, urban air pollution, time series analysis.

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Authors: J. P. Panda, K. Sasmal, H. V. Warrior

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Eddy viscosity models in turbulence modeling can be mainly classified as linear and nonlinear models. Linear formulations are simple and require less computational resources but have the disadvantage that they cannot predict actual flow pattern in complex geophysical flows where streamline curvature and swirling motion are predominant. A constitutive equation of Reynolds stress anisotropy is adopted for the formulation of eddy viscosity including all the possible higher order terms quadratic in the mean velocity gradients, and a simplified model is developed for actual oceanic flows where only the vertical velocity gradients are important. The new model is incorporated into the one dimensional General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM). Two realistic oceanic test cases (OWS Papa and FLEX' 76) have been investigated. The new model predictions match well with the observational data and are better in comparison to the predictions of the two equation k-epsilon model. The proposed model can be easily incorporated in the three dimensional Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to simulate a wide range of oceanic processes. Practically, this model can be implemented in the coastal regions where trasverse shear induces higher vorticity, and for prediction of flow in estuaries and lakes, where depth is comparatively less. The model predictions of marine turbulence and other related data (e.g. Sea surface temperature, Surface heat flux and vertical temperature profile) can be utilized in short term ocean and climate forecasting and warning systems.

Keywords: Eddy viscosity, turbulence modeling, GOTM, CFD.

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Authors: Feng-Yi Huang, Yuan-Jye Tseng

Abstract:

In the traditional concept of product life cycle management, the activities of design, manufacturing, and assembly are performed in a sequential way. The drawback is that the considerations in design may contradict the considerations in manufacturing and assembly. The different designs of components can lead to different assembly sequences. Therefore, in some cases, a good design may result in a high cost in the downstream assembly activities. In this research, an integrated design evaluation and assembly sequence planning model is presented. Given a product requirement, there may be several design alternative cases to design the components for the same product. If a different design case is selected, the assembly sequence for constructing the product can be different. In this paper, first, the designed components are represented by using graph based models. The graph based models are transformed to assembly precedence constraints and assembly costs. A particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach is presented by encoding a particle using a position matrix defined by the design cases and the assembly sequences. The PSO algorithm simultaneously performs design evaluation and assembly sequence planning with an objective of minimizing the total assembly costs. As a result, the design cases and the assembly sequences can both be optimized. The main contribution lies in the new concept of integrated design evaluation and assembly sequence planning model and the new PSO solution method. The test results show that the presented method is feasible and efficient for solving the integrated design evaluation and assembly planning problem. In this paper, an example product is tested and illustrated.

Keywords: assembly sequence planning, design evaluation, design for assembly, particle swarm optimization

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Authors: Mohamed Fathy Heweage, Xiao Wen, Ayman Mokhtar, Ahmed Eldamarawy

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In this paper, we are interested in modeling, simulation, and measurement of the laser spot position with a quadrant detector. We enhance detection and tracking of semi-laser weapon decoding system based on microcontroller. The system receives the reflected pulse through quadrant detector and processes the laser pulses through a processing circuit, a microcontroller decoding laser pulse reflected by the target. The seeker accuracy will be enhanced by the decoding system, the laser detection time based on the receiving pulses number is reduced, a gate is used to limit the laser pulse width. The model is implemented based on Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) technique with two microcontroller units (MCU). MCU1 generates laser pulses with different codes. MCU2 decodes the laser code and locks the system at the specific code. The codes EW selected based on the two selector switches. The system is implemented and tested in Proteus ISIS software. The implementation of the full position determination circuit with the detector is produced. General system for the spot position determination was performed with the laser PRF for incident radiation and the mechanical system for adjusting system at different angles. The system test results show that the system can detect the laser code with only three received pulses based on the narrow gate signal, and good agreement between simulation and measured system performance is obtained.

Keywords: 4-quadrant detector, pulse code detection, laser guided weapons, pulse repetition frequency, ATmega 32 microcontrollers.

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Authors: D. Koren, V. Kilar

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The modern energy-efficient houses are often founded on a thermal insulation (TI) layer placed under the building’s RC foundation slab.The purpose of the paper is to identify the potential problems of the buildings founded on TI layer from the seismic point of view. The two main goals of the study were to assess the seismic behavior of such buildings, and to search for the critical structural parameters affecting the response of the superstructure as well as of the extruded polystyrene (XPS) layer. As a test building a multi-storeyed RC frame structure with and without the XPS layer under the foundation slab has been investigated utilizing nonlinear dynamic (time-history) and static (pushover) analyses. The structural response has been investigated with reference to the following performance parameters: i) Building’s lateral roof displacements, ii) Edge compressive and shear strains of the XPS, iii) Horizontal accelerations of the superstructure, iv) Plastic hinge patterns of the superstructure, v) Part of the foundation in compression, and vi) Deformations of the underlying soil and vertical displacements of the foundation slab (i.e. identifying the potential uplift). The results have shown that in the case of higher and stiff structures lying on firm soil the use of XPS under the foundation slab might induce amplified structural peak responses compared to the building models without XPS under the foundation slab. The analysis has revealed that the superstructure as well as the XPS response is substantially affected by the stiffness of the foundation slab.

Keywords: Extruded polystyrene (XPS), foundation on thermal insulation, energy-efficient buildings, nonlinear seismic analysis, seismic response, soil–structure interaction.

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Authors: Wenjun Zhang, Yunqing Du, Ming L. Wang

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Noninvasive diagnostics of diseases via breath analysis has attracted considerable scientific and clinical interest for many years and become more and more promising with the rapid advancements in nanotechnology and biotechnology. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, which are mainly blood borne, particularly provide highly valuable information about individuals’ physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Additionally, breath analysis is noninvasive, real-time, painless, and agreeable to patients. We have developed a wireless sensor array based on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) for the detection of a number of physiological indicators in breath. Seven DNA sequences were used to functionalize SWNT sensors to detect trace amount of methanol, benzene, dimethyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide, acetone, and ethanol, which are indicators of heavy smoking, excessive drinking, and diseases such as lung cancer, breast cancer, and diabetes. Our test results indicated that DNA functionalized SWNT sensors exhibit great selectivity, sensitivity, and repeatability; and different molecules can be distinguished through pattern recognition enabled by this sensor array. Furthermore, the experimental sensing results are consistent with the Molecular Dynamics simulated ssDNAmolecular target interaction rankings. Thus, the DNA-SWNT sensor array has great potential to be applied in chemical or biomolecular detection for the noninvasive diagnostics of diseases and personal health monitoring.

Keywords: Breath analysis, DNA-SWNT sensor array, diagnosis, noninvasive.

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Authors: Se Kyung Oh, Young Hwan Yoon, Ary Bachtiar Krishna

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Nowadays, a passenger car suspension must has high performance criteria with light weight, low cost, and low energy consumption. Pilot controlled proportional valve is designed and analyzed to get small pressure change rate after blow-off, and to get a fast response of the damper, a reverse damping mechanism is adapted. The reverse continuous variable damper is designed as a HS-SH damper which offers good body control with reduced transferred input force from the tire, compared with any other type of suspension system. The damper structure is designed, so that rebound and compression damping forces can be tuned independently, of which the variable valve is placed externally. The rate of pressure change with respect to the flow rate after blow-off becomes smooth when the fixed orifice size increases, which means that the blow-off slope is controllable using the fixed orifice size. Damping forces are measured with the change of the solenoid current at the different piston velocities to confirm the maximum hysteresis of 20 N, linearity, and variance of damping force. The damping force variance is wide and continuous, and is controlled by the spool opening, of which scheme is usually adapted in proportional valves. The reverse continuous variable damper developed in this study is expected to be utilized in the semi-active suspension systems in passenger cars after its performance and simplicity of the design is confirmed through a real car test.

Keywords: Blow-off, damping force, pilot controlledproportional valve, reverse continuous damper.

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Authors: Jungho Choi, Youngwan Cho

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This paper presents an algorithm for the recognition and tracking of moving objects, 1/10 scale model car is used to verify performance of the algorithm. Presented algorithm for the recognition and tracking of moving objects in the paper is as follows. SURF algorithm is merged with Lucas-Kanade algorithm. SURF algorithm has strong performance on contrast, size, rotation changes and it recognizes objects but it is slow due to many computational complexities. Processing speed of Lucas-Kanade algorithm is fast but the recognition of objects is impossible. Its optical flow compares the previous and current frames so that can track the movement of a pixel. The fusion algorithm is created in order to solve problems which occurred using the Kalman Filter to estimate the position and the accumulated error compensation algorithm was implemented. Kalman filter is used to create presented algorithm to complement problems that is occurred when fusion two algorithms. Kalman filter is used to estimate next location, compensate for the accumulated error. The resolution of the camera (Vision Sensor) is fixed to be 640x480. To verify the performance of the fusion algorithm, test is compared to SURF algorithm under three situations, driving straight, curve, and recognizing cars behind the obstacles. Situation similar to the actual is possible using a model vehicle. Proposed fusion algorithm showed superior performance and accuracy than the existing object recognition and tracking algorithms. We will improve the performance of the algorithm, so that you can experiment with the images of the actual road environment.

Keywords: SURF, Optical Flow Lucas-Kanade, Kalman Filter, object recognition, object tracking.

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Authors: Khairul Bariah Sulaiman, Tajul Aris Yang

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Fermentation is well known as an essential process to develop chocolate flavor in dried cocoa beans. Besides developing the precursor of cocoa flavor, it also induces the color changes in the beans. The fermentation process is influenced by various factors such as planting material, preconditioning of cocoa pod and fermentation technique. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate color of Malaysian cocoa beans and how the duration of pods storage and fermentation technique using shallow box will effect on its color characteristics. There are two factors being studied i.e. duration of cocoa pod storage (0, 2, 4 and 6 days) and duration of cocoa fermentation (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days). The experiment is arranged in 4 x 6 factorial designs with 24 treatments and arrangement is in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD). The produced beans are inspected for color changes under artificial light during cut test and divided into four groups of color namely fully brown, purple brown, fully purple and slaty. Cut tests indicated that cocoa beans which are directly dried without undergone fermentation has the highest slaty percentage. However, application of pods storage before fermentation process is found to decrease the slaty percentage. In contrast, the percentages of fully brown beans start to dominate after two days of fermentation, especially from four and six days of pods storage batch. Whereas, almost all batches of cocoa beans have a percentage of fully purple less than 20%. Interestingly, the percentage of purple brown beans are scattered in the entire beans batch regardless any specific trend. Meanwhile, statistical analysis using General Linear Model showed that the pods storage has a significant effect on the color characteristic of the Malaysian dried beans compared to fermentation duration.

Keywords: Cocoa beans, color, fermentation, shallow box.

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Authors: Hesham Abd Elkhalek, Sherif M. Hafez, Yasser M. El Fahham

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Allocating limited budget to maintain bridge networks and selecting effective maintenance strategies for each bridge represent challenging tasks for maintenance managers and decision makers. In Egypt, bridges are continuously deteriorating. In many cases, maintenance works are performed due to user complaints. The objective of this paper is to develop a practical and reliable framework to manage the maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation (MR&R) activities of Bridges network considering performance and budget limits. The model solves an optimization problem that maximizes the average condition of the entire network given the limited available budget using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The framework contains bridge inventory, condition assessment, repair cost calculation, deterioration prediction, and maintenance optimization. The developed model takes into account multiple parameters including serviceability requirements, budget allocation, element importance on structural safety and serviceability, bridge impact on network, and traffic. A questionnaire is conducted to complete the research scope. The proposed model is implemented in software, which provides a friendly user interface. The framework provides a multi-year maintenance plan for the entire network for up to five years. A case study of ten bridges is presented to validate and test the proposed model with data collected from Transportation Authorities in Egypt. Different scenarios are presented. The results are reasonable, feasible and within acceptable domain.

Keywords: Bridge Management Systems (BMS), cost optimization condition assessment, fund allocation, Markov chain.

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Authors: Almas Tayebi, Tayeb Saki Nejad, Alireza Shoukofar

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The trial in the city, located 170 kilometers from the Iranian city of Ahvaz was Omidiyeh. The main factor in this project includes 4 levels in control (without hormones), use of hormones in the seed, vegetative and flowering stage respectively. And sub-plots included 3 varieties of vetch in three levels, with local names, was the jewel in the study of light and Auxin in the vegetative and reproductive different times in different varieties of vetch was investigated. This test has been taken in the plots in a randomized complete block with four replications. In order to study the effects of the hormone Auxin in the growth stages (seed, vegetative and flowering) to control (no hormone Auxin) on three local varieties of vetch, the essence of light and plant height, number of pods per plant, seed number The pods, seeds per plant, grain weight, grain yield, plant dry weight and protein content were measured. Among the vetch varieties for plant height, number of pods per plant, a seed per plant, grain weight, grain yield, and plant dry weight and protein levels of 1 percent of plant and seed number per pod per plant at 5% level of There was no significant difference. Interactions for grain yield per plant, grain yield and protein levels of 1 percent and the number of seeds per pod and seed weight are significant differences in levels 5 and plant height and plant dry weight of the interaction were INFLUENCE There was no significant difference in them.

Keywords: Auxin hormones, various periods of growth, production components, vetch

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Authors: Cristina M. R. Caridade, Ana Rita F. Morais

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The use of computational tools has become essential in the context of interactive learning, especially in engineering education. In the medical industry, teaching medical image processing techniques is a crucial part of training biomedical engineers, as it has integrated applications with health care facilities and hospitals. The aim of this article is to present a teaching-learning simulation tool, developed in MATLAB using Graphical User Interface, for medical image fusion that explores different image fusion methodologies and processes in combination with image pre-processing techniques. The application uses different algorithms and medical fusion techniques in real time, allowing to view original images and fusion images, compare processed and original images, adjust parameters and save images. The tool proposed in an innovative teaching and learning environment, consists of a dynamic and motivating teaching simulation for biomedical engineering students to acquire knowledge about medical image fusion techniques, necessary skills for the training of biomedical engineers. In conclusion, the developed simulation tool provides a real-time visualization of the original and fusion images and the possibility to test, evaluate and progress the student’s knowledge about the fusion of medical images. It also facilitates the exploration of medical imaging applications, specifically image fusion, which is critical in the medical industry. Teachers and students can make adjustments and/or create new functions, making the simulation environment adaptable to new techniques and methodologies.

Keywords: Image fusion, image processing, teaching-learning simulation tool, biomedical engineering education.

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Authors: M. Abdullahi, S. Sadiku, Bashar S. Mohammed, J. I. Aguwa

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The properties of hollow sandcrete blocks produced in Minna, Nigeria are presented. Sandcrete block is made of cement, water and sand binded together in certain mix proportions. For the purpose of this work, fifty (50) commercial sandcrete block industries were visited in Minna, Nigeria to obtain block samples and aggregates used for the manufacture, and to take inventory of the mix composition and the production process. Sieve analysis tests were conduction on the soil sample from various block industries to ascertain their quality to be used for block making. The mix ratios were also investigated. Five (5) nine inches (9’’ or 225mm) blocks were obtained from each block industry and tested for dimensional compliance and compressive strength. The results of the soil test shows that the grading fall within the limit for natural aggregate and can easily are used to obtain workable mix. Physical examinations of the block sizes show slight deviation from the standard requirement in NIS 87:2000. Compressive strength of hollow sandcrete blocks in range of 0.12 N/mm2 to 0.54 N/mm2 was obtained which is below the recommendable value of 3.45 N/mm2 for load bearing hollow sandcrete blocks. This indicates that these blocks are below the standard for load-bearing sandcrete blocks and cannot be used as load bearing walling units. The mix composition also indicated low cement content resulting in low compressive strength. Most of the commercial block industries visited does not take curing very serious. Water were only sprinkled ones or twice before the blocks were stacked and made readily available for sale. It is recommended that a mix ratio of 1:4 to 1:6 should be used for the production of sandcrete blocks and proper curing practice should be adhered. Blocks should also be cured for 14 days before making them available for consumers.

Keywords: Compressive strength, dimensions, mix proportions, sandcrete blocks.

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Authors: Peiman Ariaii, Hamid Tavakolipour, Mohsen Pirdashti, Rabehe Izadi Amoli

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Raisin Concentrate (RC) are the most important products obtained in the raisin processing industries. These RC products are now used to make the syrups, drinks and confectionery productions and introduced as natural substitute for sugar in food applications. Iran is a one of the biggest raisin exporter in the world but unfortunately despite a good raw material, no serious effort to extract the RC has been taken in Iran. Therefore, in this paper, we determined and analyzed affected parameters on extracting RC process and then optimizing these parameters for design the extracting RC process in two types of raisin (round and long) produced in Khorasan region. Two levels of solvent (1:1 and 2:1), three levels of extraction temperature (60°C, 70°C and 80°C), and three levels of concentration temperature (50°C, 60°C and 70°C) were the treatments. Finally physicochemical characteristics of the obtained concentrate such as color, viscosity, percentage of reduction sugar, acidity and the microbial tests (mould and yeast) were counted. The analysis was performed on the basis of factorial in the form of completely randomized design (CRD) and Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) was used for the comparison of the means. Statistical analysis of results showed that optimal conditions for production of concentrate is round raisins when the solvent ratio was 2:1 with extraction temperature of 60°C and then concentration temperature of 50°C. Round raisin is cheaper than the long one, and it is more economical to concentrate production. Furthermore, round raisin has more aromas and the less color degree with increasing the temperature of concentration and extraction. Finally, according to mentioned factors the concentrate of round raisin is recommended.

Keywords: Raisin concentrate, optimization, process parameters, round raisin, Iran.

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Authors: Harish Krishnamurthy, Anna Lafontant, Ren Yi

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Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have been an interesting topic for most enthusiasts and hence people all over the United States report such findings online at the National UFO Report Center (NUFORC). Some of these reports are a hoax and among those that seem legitimate, our task is not to establish that these events confirm that they indeed are events related to flying objects from aliens in outer space. Rather, we intend to identify if the report was a hoax as was identified by the UFO database team with their existing curation criterion. However, the database provides a wealth of information that can be exploited to provide various analyses and insights such as social reporting, identifying real-time spatial events and much more. We perform analysis to localize these time-series geospatial events and correlate with known real-time events. This paper does not confirm any legitimacy of alien activity, but rather attempts to gather information from likely legitimate reports of UFOs by studying the online reports. These events happen in geospatial clusters and also are time-based. We look at cluster density and data visualization to search the space of various cluster realizations to decide best probable clusters that provide us information about the proximity of such activity. A random forest classifier is also presented that is used to identify true events and hoax events, using the best possible features available such as region, week, time-period and duration. Lastly, we show the performance of the scheme on various days and correlate with real-time events where one of the UFO reports strongly correlates to a missile test conducted in the United States.

Keywords: Time-series clustering, feature extraction, hoax prediction, geospatial events.

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Authors: J. Schmidt, O. Kornadt

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The major part of light weight timber constructions consists of insulation. Mineral wool is the most commonly used insulation due to its cost efficiency and easy handling. The fiber orientation and porosity of this insulation material enables flowthrough. The air flow resistance is low. If leakage occurs in the insulated bay section, the convective flow may cause energy losses and infiltration of the exterior wall with moisture and particles. In particular the infiltrated moisture may lead to thermal bridges and growth of health endangering mould and mildew. In order to prevent this problem, different numerical calculation models have been developed. All models developed so far have a potential for completion. The implementation of the flow-through properties of mineral wool insulation may help to improve the existing models. Assuming that the real pressure difference between interior and exterior surface is larger than the prescribed pressure difference in the standard test procedure for mineral wool ISO 9053 / EN 29053, measurements were performed using the measurement setup for research on convective moisture transfer “MSRCMT". These measurements show, that structural inhomogeneities of mineral wool effect the permeability only at higher pressure differences, as applied in MSRCMT. Additional microscopic investigations show, that the location of a leak within the construction has a crucial influence on the air flow-through and the infiltration rate. The results clearly indicate that the empirical values for the acoustic resistance of mineral wool should not be used for the calculation of convective transfer mechanisms.

Keywords: convection, convective transfer, infiltration, mineralwool, permeability, resistance, leakage

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Authors: Laura X. Martinez, Andrés F. Rodríguez, Ruth A. Catacoli

Abstract:

One of the most important factors for air pollution is that the concentrations of PM₁₀ maintain a constant trend, with the exception of some places where that frequently surpasses the allowed ranges established by Colombian legislation. The community that surrounds the Universidad Libre Bogotá is inhabited by a considerable number of students and workers, all of whom are possibly being exposed to PM₁₀ for long periods of time while on campus. Thus, the chemical characterization of PM₁₀ found in the ambient air at the Universidad Libre Bogotá was identified as a problem. A Hi-Vol sampler and EPA Test Method 5 were used to determine if the quality of air is adequate for the human respiratory system. Additionally, quartz fiber filters were utilized during sampling. Samples were taken three days a week during a dry period throughout the months of November and December 2015. The gravimetric analysis method was used to determine PM₁₀ concentrations. The chemical characterization includes non-conventional carcinogenic pollutants. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) was used for the determination of metals and VOCs were analyzed using the FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) method. In this way, concentrations of PM₁₀, ranging from values of 13 µg/m³ to 66 µg/m³, were obtained; these values were below standard conditions. This evidence concludes that the PM₁₀ concentrations during an exposure period of 24 hours are lower than the values established by Colombian law, Resolution 610 of 2010; however, when comparing these with the limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), these concentrations could possibly exceed permissible levels.

Keywords: Air quality, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particulate matter.

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Authors: Miled Amel, Ben Maad Hatem, Askri Faouzi, Ben Nasrallah Sassi

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Metal hydride water pumping system uses hydrogen as working fluid to pump water for low head and high discharge. The principal operation of this pump is based on the desorption of hydrogen at high pressure and its absorption at low pressure by a metal hydride. This work is devoted to study a concept of the dynamic behavior of a metal hydride pump using unsteady model and LaNi5 as hydriding alloy. This study shows that with MHP, it is possible to pump 340l/kg-cycle of water in 15 000s using 1 Kg of LaNi5 at a desorption temperature of 360 K, a pumping head equal to 5 m and a desorption gear ratio equal to 33. This study reveals also that the error given by the steady model, using LaNi5 is about 2%.A dimensional mathematical model and the governing equations of the pump were presented to predict the coupled heat and mass transfer within the MHP. Then, a numerical simulation is carried out to present the time evolution of the specific water discharge and to test the effect of different parameters (desorption temperature, absorption temperature, desorption gear ratio) on the performance of the water pumping system (specific water discharge, pumping efficiency and pumping time). In addition, a comparison between results obtained with steady and unsteady model is performed with different hydride mass. Finally, a geometric configuration of the reactor is simulated to optimize the pumping time.

Keywords: Dynamic behavior, unsteady model, LaNi5, performance of the water pumping system.

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Authors: Md Omar Faruq Howlader, Tariq Pervez Sattar, Sandra Dudley

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This paper describes the design process of a 200 MHz Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and a battery powered concrete vertical concrete surface climbing mobile robot. The key design feature is a miniaturized 200 MHz dipole antenna using additional radiating arms and procedure records a reduction of 40% in length compared to a conventional antenna. The antenna set is mounted in front of the robot using a servo mechanism for folding and unfolding purposes. The robot’s adhesion mechanism to climb the reinforced concrete wall is based on neodymium permanent magnets arranged in a unique combination to concentrate and maximize the magnetic flux to provide sufficient adhesion force for GPR installation. The experiments demonstrated the robot’s capability of climbing reinforced concrete wall carrying the attached prototype GPR system and perform floor-to-wall transition and vice versa. The developed GPR’s performance is validated by its capability of detecting and localizing an aluminium sheet and a reinforcement bar (rebar) of 12 mm diameter buried under a test rig built of wood to mimic the concrete structure environment. The present robotic GPR system proves the concept of feasibility of undertaking inspection procedure on large concrete structures in hazardous environments that may not be accessible to human inspectors.

Keywords: Climbing robot, dipole antenna, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), mobile robots, robotic GPR.

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Authors: Gurjeet Singh, M. K. Pradhan, Ajay Verma

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The plastic industry plays very important role in the economy of any country. It is generally among the leading share of the economy of the country. Since metals and their alloys are very rarely available on the earth. Therefore, to produce plastic products and components, which finds application in many industrial as well as household consumer products is beneficial. Since 50% plastic products are manufactured by injection moulding process. For production of better quality product, we have to control quality characteristics and performance of the product. The process parameters plays a significant role in production of plastic, hence the control of process parameter is essential. In this paper the effect of the parameters selection on injection moulding process has been described. It is to define suitable parameters in producing plastic product. Selecting the process parameter by trial and error is neither desirable nor acceptable, as it is often tends to increase the cost and time. Hence, optimization of processing parameter of injection moulding process is essential. The experiments were designed with Taguchi’s orthogonal array to achieve the result with least number of experiments. Plastic material polypropylene is studied. Tensile strength test of material is done on universal testing machine, which is produced by injection moulding machine. By using Taguchi technique with the help of MiniTab-14 software the best value of injection pressure, melt temperature, packing pressure and packing time is obtained. We found that process parameter packing pressure contribute more in production of good tensile plastic product.

Keywords: Injection moulding, tensile strength, Taguchi method, poly-propylene.

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Authors: N. Chegeni, M. J. Tahmasebi Birgani

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Nowadays, in most radiotherapy departments, the commercial treatment planning systems (TPS) used to calculate dose distributions needs to be verified; therefore, quick, easy-to-use and low cost dose distribution algorithms are desirable to test and verify the performance of the TPS. In this paper, we put forth an analytical method to calculate the phantom scatter contribution and depth dose on the central axis based on the equivalent square concept. Then, this method was generalized to calculate the profiles at any depth and for several field shapes regular or irregular fields under symmetry and asymmetry photon beam conditions. Varian 2100 C/D and Siemens Primus Plus Linacs with 6 and 18 MV photon beam were used for irradiations. Percentage depth doses (PDDs) were measured for a large number of square fields for both energies, and for 45^º wedges which were employed to obtain the profiles in any depth. To assess the accuracy of the calculated profiles, several profile measurements were carried out for some treatment fields. The calculated and measured profiles were compared by gamma-index calculation. All γ–index calculations were based on a 3% dose criterion and a 3 mm dose-to-agreement (DTA) acceptance criterion. The γ values were less than 1 at most points. However, the maximum γ observed was about 1.10 in the penumbra region in most fields and in the central area for the asymmetric fields. This analytical approach provides a generally quick and fairly accurate algorithm to calculate dose distribution for some treatment fields in conventional radiotherapy.

Keywords: Dose distribution, equivalent field, asymmetric field, irregular field.

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Authors: Saeed Khorasanizadeh

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Adhesion strength of exterior or interior coating of steel pipes is too important. Increasing of coating adhesion on surfaces can increase the life time of coating, safety factor of transmitting line pipe and decreasing the rate of corrosion and costs. Preparation of steel pipe surfaces before doing the coating process is done by shot and grit blasting. This is a mechanical way to do it. Some effective parameters on that process, are particle size of abrasives, distance to surface, rate of abrasive flow, abrasive physical properties, shapes, selection of abrasive, kind of machine and its power, standard of surface cleanness degree, roughness, time of blasting and weather humidity. This search intended to find some better conditions which improve the surface preparation, adhesion strength and corrosion resistance of coating. So, this paper has studied the effect of varying abrasive flow rate, changing the abrasive particle size, time of surface blasting on steel surface roughness and over blasting on it by using the centrifugal blasting machine. After preparation of numbers of steel samples (according to API 5L X52) and applying epoxy powder coating on them, to compare strength adhesion of coating by Pull-Off test. The results have shown that, increasing the abrasive particles size and flow rate, can increase the steel surface roughness and coating adhesion strength but increasing the blasting time can do surface over blasting and increasing surface temperature and hardness too, change, decreasing steel surface roughness and coating adhesion strength.

Keywords: surface preparation, abrasive particles, adhesionstrength

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Authors: E. Soboleva, E. Sergachyova, S. G. Davydenko, T. V. Meledina

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Problem of food preservation is extremely important for mankind. Viscous damage ("illness") of bread results from development of Bacillus spp. bacteria. High temperature resistant spores of this microorganism are steady against 120°C) and remain in bread during pastries, potentially causing spoilage of the final product. Scientists are interested in further characterization of bread spoiling Bacillus spp. species. Our aim was to find weather yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that are able to produce natural antimicrobial killer factor can preserve bread illness. By diffusion method, we showed yeast antagonistic activity against spore-forming bacteria. Experimental technological parameters were the same as for bakers' yeasts production on the industrial scale. Risograph test during dough fermentation demonstrated gas production. The major finding of the study was a clear indication of the presence of killer yeast strain antagonistic activity against rope in bread causing bacteria. After demonstrating antagonistic effect of S. cerevisiae on bacteria using solid nutrient medium, we tested baked bread under provocative conditions. We also measured formation of carbon dioxide in the dough, dough-making duration and quality of the final products, when using different strains of S. cerevisiae. It is determined that the use of yeast S. cerevisiae RCAM 01730 killer strain inhibits appearance of rope in bread. Thus, natural yeast antimicrobial killer toxin, produced by some S. cerevisiae strains is an anti-rope in bread protector.

Keywords: Bakers' yeasts, rope in bread, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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Authors: Mi Sook Lee

Abstract:

The number of the companies accepting RFID in Korea has been increased continuously due to the domestic development of information technology. The acceptance of RFID by companies in Korea enabled them to do business with many global enterprises in a much more efficient and effective way. According to a survey[33, p76], many companies in Korea have used RFID for inventory or distribution manages. But, the use of RFID in the companies in Korea is in the early stages and its potential value hasn-t fully been realized yet. At this time, it would be very important to investigate the factors that affect RFID acceptance. For this study, many previous studies were referenced and some RFID experts were interviewed. Through the pilot test, four factors were selected - Security Trust, Employee Knowledge, Partner Influence, Service Provider Trust - affecting RFID acceptance and an extended technology acceptance model(e-TAM) was presented with those factors. The proposed model was empirically tested using data collected from employees in companies or public enterprises. In order to analyze some relationships between exogenous variables and four variables in TAM, structural equation modeling(SEM) was developed and SPSS12.0 and AMOS 7.0 were used for analyses. The results are summarized as follows: 1) security trust perceived by employees positively influences on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use; 2) employee-s knowledge on RFID positively influences on only perceived ease of use; 3) a partner-s influence for RFID acceptance positively influences on only perceived usefulness; 4) service provider trust very positively influences on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use 5) the relationships between TAM variables are the same as the previous studies.

Keywords: RFID, TAM, Security Trust, Employee Knowledge, Partner Influence, Service Provider Trust.

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