Search results for: The effective length factor
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4777

Search results for: The effective length factor

1927 Effect of Oxygen and Micro-Cracking on the Flotation of Low Grade Nickel Sulphide Ore

Authors: Edison Muzenda, Ayo S Afolabi

Abstract:

This study investigated the effect of oxygen and micro-cracking on the flotation of low grade nickel sulphide ore. The ore treated contained serpentine minerals which have a history of being difficult to process efficiently. The use of oxygen as a bubbling gas has been noted to be effective because it increases the pulp potential. The desired effect of micro cracking the ore is that the nickel sulphide minerals will become activated and this activation will render these minerals more susceptible to react with potassium amyl xanthate collectors, resulting in a higher recovery of nickel and hinder the recovery of other undesired minerals contained in the ore. Higher nickel recoveries were obtained when pure oxygen was used as a bubbling gas rather than the conventional air. Microwave cracking favored the recovery of nickel.

Keywords: Flotation, Conventional air, Oven micro-cracking, Recovery.

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1926 HelpMeBreathe: A Web-Based System for Asthma Management

Authors: Alia Al Rayssi, Mahra Al Marar, Alyazia Alkhaili, Reem Al Dhaheri, Shayma Alkobaisi, Hoda Amer

Abstract:

We present in this paper a web-based system called “HelpMeBreathe” for managing asthma. The proposed system provides analytical tools, which allow better understanding of environmental triggers of asthma, hence better support of data-driven decision making. The developed system provides warning messages to a specific asthma patient if the weather in his/her area might cause any difficulty in breathing or could trigger an asthma attack. HelpMeBreathe collects, stores, and analyzes individuals’ moving trajectories and health conditions as well as environmental data. It then processes and displays the patients’ data through an analytical tool that leads to an effective decision making by physicians and other decision makers.

Keywords: Asthma, environmental triggers, map interface, peak flow, web-based system.

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1925 Energy Management Techniques in Mobile Robots

Authors: G. Gurguze, I. Turkoglu

Abstract:

Today, the developing features of technological tools with limited energy resources have made it necessary to use energy efficiently. Energy management techniques have emerged for this purpose. As with every field, energy management is vital for robots that are being used in many areas from industry to daily life and that are thought to take up more spaces in the future. Particularly, effective power management in autonomous and multi robots, which are getting more complicated and increasing day by day, will improve the performance and success. In this study, robot management algorithms, usage of renewable and hybrid energy sources, robot motion patterns, robot designs, sharing strategies of workloads in multiple robots, road and mission planning algorithms are discussed for efficient use of energy resources by mobile robots. These techniques have been evaluated in terms of efficient use of existing energy resources and energy management in robots.

Keywords: Energy management, mobile robot, robot administration, robot management, robot planning.

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1924 2D Fracture Analysis of the First Compression Piston Ring

Authors: I. Razmi, N. Choupani

Abstract:

The incidence of mechanical fracture of an automobile piston rings prompted development of fracture analysis method on this case. The three rings (two compression rings and one oil ring) were smashed into several parts during the power-test (after manufacturing the engine) causing piston and liner to be damaged. The radial and oblique cracking happened on the failed piston rings. The aim of the fracture mechanics simulations presented in this paper was the calculation of particular effective fracture mechanics parameters, such as J-integrals and stress intensity factors. Crack propagation angles were calculated as well. Two-dimensional fracture analysis of the first compression ring has been developed in this paper using ABAQUS CAE6.5-1 software. Moreover, SEM fractography was developed on fracture surfaces and is discussed in this paper. Results of numerical calculations constitute the basis for further research on real object.

Keywords: Compression piston ring, Crack, Fracture mechanics, SEM fractography.

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1923 Investigating Financial Literacy among Emiratis

Authors: Ashraf Khalil, Salam Abdallah, Khalil Al-hilo, Ebere Iroadu

Abstract:

Financial literacy is one of the key factors needed in making informed financial decisions. As businesses continue to be more profit driven, more financial and economic intrigues arise that continue to put individuals at the risk of spending more and more without considering the short term and long term effects. We conducted a study to assess financial literacy and financial decision making among Emiratis. Our results show that financial literacy is lacking among Emiratis. Also, almost half of respondents owe loans to other peoples and 1/5 of them have bank loans. We expect that the outcome of this research will be useful for designing educational programs and policies to promote financial planning and security among Emiratis. We also posit that deeper and more informed understanding of this problem is a precursor for developing effective financial education programs with the aim of improving financial decision- making among Emiratis.

Keywords: Financial literacy, loans, financial planning, Emiratis.

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1922 Ultra-Poor Revisited: A Case of Southern Thailand

Authors: Sirirat Taneerananon

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of a study of the ultra-poor in the south of Thailand, revisited after 10 years since the original study in 2000. The original study was conducted in four provinces. The first two namely Phatthalung and Nakorn were chosen to represent the Thai Buddhists and the others, Satun and Pattani were chosen to represent the Thai Muslims. For this study, only the results from the three provinces except Pattani are reported as it was difficult and dangerous to conduct fieldwork in Pattani due to the continued unrest in the area since 2005.

The objectives of the study are to find out the changes of the poverty situation after 10 years and to see the impacts of the poverty reduction projects implemented by the government on the poor. The research methodology used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The same villages in the four provinces studied in 1999 were again chosen. In each village, five ultra-poor people and heads of the villages were interviewed. The results show that the poverty situation of the ultra-poor groups has not changed much since they lacked the basic key factor to get themselves out of poverty: The ownership of land. Their chronic poverty situation has been passed on from the last generation. In the province of Phatthalung, the ultra-poor have improved in terms of economic situation because of the big increase in the price of rubber. However, the same could not be said for other provinces. Even though the government’s projects have not reduced the poverty directly, the projects have significantly contributed to the improvement of the quality of life of the poor and the people in the areas. 

Keywords: Poverty, Southern Thailand, Ultra-poor.

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1921 Correlation of Viscosity in Nanofluids using Genetic Algorithm-neural Network (GA-NN)

Authors: Hajir Karimi, Fakheri Yousefi, Mahmood Reza Rahimi

Abstract:

An accurate and proficient artificial neural network (ANN) based genetic algorithm (GA) is developed for predicting of nanofluids viscosity. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the neural network parameters for minimizing the error between the predictive viscosity and the experimental one. The experimental viscosity in two nanofluids Al2O3-H2O and CuO-H2O from 278.15 to 343.15 K and volume fraction up to 15% were used from literature. The result of this study reveals that GA-NN model is outperform to the conventional neural nets in predicting the viscosity of nanofluids with mean absolute relative error of 1.22% and 1.77% for Al2O3-H2O and CuO-H2O, respectively. Furthermore, the results of this work have also been compared with others models. The findings of this work demonstrate that the GA-NN model is an effective method for prediction viscosity of nanofluids and have better accuracy and simplicity compared with the others models.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, nanofluids, neural network, viscosity

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1920 Performance of an Improved Fluidized System for Processing Green Tea

Authors: Nickson Kipng’etich Lang’at, Thomas Thoruwa, John Abraham, John Wanyoko

Abstract:

Green tea is made from the top two leaves and buds of a shrub, Camellia sinensis, of the family Theaceae and the order Theales. The green tea leaves are picked and immediately sent to be dried or steamed to prevent fermentation. Fluid bed drying technique is a common drying method used in drying green tea because of its ease in design and construction and fluidization of fine tea particles. Major problems in this method are significant loss of chemical content of the leaf and green appearance of tea, retention of high moisture content in the leaves and bed channeling and defluidization. The energy associated with the drying technology has been shown to be a vital factor in determining the quality of green tea. As part of the implementation, prototype dryer was built that facilitated sequence of operations involving steaming, cooling, pre-drying and final drying. The major findings of the project were in terms of quality characteristics of tea leaves and energy consumption during processing. The optimal design achieved a moisture content of 4.2 ± 0.84%. With the optimum drying temperature of 100 ºC, the specific energy consumption was 1697.8 kj.Kg-1 and evaporation rate of 4.272 x 10-4 Kg.m-2.s-1. The energy consumption in a fluidized system can be further reduced by focusing on energy saving designs.

Keywords: Evaporation rate, fluid bed dryer, maceration, specific energy consumption.

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1919 Integrated Waste-to-Energy Approach: An Overview

Authors: Tsietsi J. Pilusa, Tumisang G. Seodigeng

Abstract:

This study evaluates the benefits of advanced waste management practices in unlocking waste-to-energy opportunities within the solid waste industry. The key drivers of sustainable waste management practices, specifically with respect to packaging waste-to-energy technology options are discussed. The success of a waste-to-energy system depends significantly on the appropriateness of available technologies, including those that are well established as well as those that are less so. There are hard and soft interventions to be considered when packaging an integrated waste treatment solution. Technology compatibility with variation in feedstock (waste) quality and quantities remains a key factor. These factors influence the technology reliability in terms of production efficiencies and product consistency, which in turn, drives the supply and demand network. Waste treatment technologies rely on the waste material as feedstock; the feedstock varies in quality and quantities depending on several factors; hence, the technology fails, as a result. It is critical to design an advanced waste treatment technology in an integrated approach to minimize the possibility of technology failure due to unpredictable feedstock quality, quantities, conversion efficiencies, and inconsistent product yield or quality. An integrated waste-to-energy approach offers a secure system design that considers sustainable waste management practices.

Keywords: Emerging markets, evaluation tool, interventions, waste treatment technologies.

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1918 Modeling of Catalyst Deactivation in Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation of Phenol in Fixed Bed Three-Phase Reactor

Authors: Akram Golestani, Mohammad Kazemeini, Farhad Khorasheh, Moslem Fattahi

Abstract:

Modeling and simulation of fixed bed three-phase catalytic reactors are considered for wet air catalytic oxidation of phenol to perform a comparative numerical analysis between tricklebed and packed-bubble column reactors. The modeling involves material balances both for the catalyst particle as well as for different fluid phases. Catalyst deactivation is also considered in a transient reactor model to investigate the effects of various parameters including reactor temperature on catalyst deactivation. The simulation results indicated that packed-bubble columns were slightly superior in performance than trickle beds. It was also found that reaction temperature was the most effective parameter in catalyst deactivation.

Keywords: Catalyst deactivation, Catalytic wet air oxidation, Trickle-bed, Wastewater.

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1917 Inclusive Education of Roma Students from Socially Disadvantaged Background as a Determinant of Their Social Inclusion in the Slovak Republic

Authors: L. Horňák

Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to analyze a longstanding problem in Slovakia – the effective education of Roma students coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Although it is a relatively small country, there are over 630 communities in the Slovak Republic. The efficiency of the projects was verified by interviews with participants; questionnaires; and direct observations. Evaluation reports which summarized and evaluated the outcomes of the projects only confirmed their success. Slovakia realizes that appropriate social inclusion of marginalized citizens coming from the Roma ethnic group can only be achieved through education based on equality of all students and acceptance of diversity.

Keywords: Inclusive education, marginalized communities, Roma student, equality in education, socially disadvantaged backgrounds, social inclusion.

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1916 What Managers Think of Informal Networks and Knowledge Sharing by Means of Personal Networking?

Authors: Mahmood Q.K. Ghaznavi, Martin Perry, Paul Toulson, Keri Logan

Abstract:

The importance of nurturing, accumulating, and efficiently deploying knowledge resources through formal structures and organisational mechanisms is well understood. Recent trends in knowledge management (KM) highlight that the effective creation and transfer of knowledge can also rely upon extra-organisational channels, such as, informal networks. The perception exists that the role of informal networks in knowledge creation and performance has been underestimated in the organisational context. Literature indicates that many managers fail to comprehend and successfully exploit the potential role of informal networks to create value for their organisations. This paper investigates: 1) whether managers share work-specific knowledge with informal contacts within and outside organisational boundaries; and 2) what do they think is the importance of this knowledge collaboration in their learning and work outcomes.

Keywords: Informal network, knowledge management, knowledge sharing, performance.

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1915 Effect of Low Frequency Memory on High Power 12W LDMOS Transistors Intermodulation Distortion

Authors: A. Alghanim, J. Benedikt, P. J. Tasker

Abstract:

The increasing demand for higher data rates in wireless communication systems has led to the more effective and efficient use of all allocated frequency bands. In order to use the whole bandwidth at maximum efficiency, one needs to have RF power amplifiers with a higher linear level and memory-less performance. This is considered to be a major challenge to circuit designers. In this thesis the linearity and memory are studied and examined via the behavior of the intermodulation distortion (IMD). A major source of the in-band distortion can be shown to be influenced by the out-of-band impedances presented at either the input or the output of the device, especially those impedances terminated the low frequency (IF) components. Thus, in order to regulate the in-band distortion, the out of-band distortion must be controllable. These investigations are performed on a 12W LDMOS device characterised at 2.1 GHz within a purpose built, high-power measurement system.

Keywords: Low Frequency Memory, IntermodulationDistortion (IMD).

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1914 Face Recognition Using Discrete Orthogonal Hahn Moments

Authors: Fatima Akhmedova, Simon Liao

Abstract:

One of the most critical decision points in the design of a face recognition system is the choice of an appropriate face representation. Effective feature descriptors are expected to convey sufficient, invariant and non-redundant facial information. In this work we propose a set of Hahn moments as a new approach for feature description. Hahn moments have been widely used in image analysis due to their invariance, nonredundancy and the ability to extract features either globally and locally. To assess the applicability of Hahn moments to Face Recognition we conduct two experiments on the Olivetti Research Laboratory (ORL) database and University of Notre-Dame (UND) X1 biometric collection. Fusion of the global features along with the features from local facial regions are used as an input for the conventional k-NN classifier. The method reaches an accuracy of 93% of correctly recognized subjects for the ORL database and 94% for the UND database.

Keywords: Face Recognition, Hahn moments, Recognition-by-parts, Time-lapse.

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1913 Catalytic Activity of Aluminum Impregnated Catalysts for the Degradation of Waste Polystyrene

Authors: J. Shah, M. Rasul Jan, Adnan

Abstract:

The aluminum impregnated catalysts of Al-alumina (Al-Al2O3), Al-montmorillonite (Al-Mmn) and Al-activated charcoal (Al-AC) of various percent loadings were prepared by wet impregnation method and characterized by SEM, XRD and N2 adsorption/desorption (BET). The catalytic properties were investigated in the degradation of waste polystyrene (WPS). The results of catalytic degradation of Al metal, 20% Al-Al2O3, 5% Al-Mmn and 20% Al-AC were compared with each other for optimum conditions. Among the catalyst used 20% Al-Al2O3 was found the most effective catalyst. The BET surface area of 20% Al-Al2O3 determined was 70.2 m2/g. The SEM data revealed the catalyst with porous structure throughout the frame work with small nanosized crystallites. The yield of liquid products with 20% Al-Al2O3 (91.53 ± 2.27 wt%) was the same as compared to Al metal (91.20 ± 0.35 wt%) but the selectivity of hydrocarbons and yield of styrene monomer (56.32 wt%) was higher with 20% Al-Al2O3 catalyst.

 

Keywords: Impregnation, catalytic degradation, waste polystyrene, styrene.

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1912 Characterization of Metallurgical and Mechanical Properties of the Welded AISI 304L Using Pulsed and Non-Pulsed Current TIG Welding

Authors: A. A. Ugla

Abstract:

The present paper aims to investigate the effects of the welding process parameters and cooling state on the weld bead geometry, mechanical properties and microstructure characteristics for weldments of AISI 304L stainless steel. The welding process was carried out using TIG welding with pulsed/non-pulsed current techniques. The cooling state was introduced as an input parameter to investigate the main effects on the structure morphology and thereby the mechanical property. This paper clarifies microstructure- mechanical property relationship of the welded specimens. In this work, the selected pulse frequency levels were 5-500 Hz in order to study the effect of low and high frequencies on the weldment characteristics using filler metal of ER 308LSi. The key findings of this work clarified that the pulse frequency has a significant effect on the breaking of the dendrite arms during the welding process and so strongly influences on the tensile strength and microhardness. The cooling state also significantly affects on the microstructure texture and thereby, the mechanical properties. The most important factor affects the bead geometry and aspect ratio is the travel speed and pulse frequency.

Keywords: Microstructure, mechanical properties, pulse frequency, high pulse frequency, austenitic stainless steel, TIG welding.

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1911 Application of BP Neural Network Model in Sports Aerobics Performance Evaluation

Authors: Shuhe Shao

Abstract:

This article provides partial evaluation index and its standard of sports aerobics, including the following 12 indexes: health vitality, coordination, flexibility, accuracy, pace, endurance, elasticity, self-confidence, form, control, uniformity and musicality. The three-layer BP artificial neural network model including input layer, hidden layer and output layer is established. The result shows that the model can well reflect the non-linear relationship between the performance of 12 indexes and the overall performance. The predicted value of each sample is very close to the true value, with a relative error fluctuating around of 5%, and the network training is successful. It shows that BP network has high prediction accuracy and good generalization capacity if being applied in sports aerobics performance evaluation after effective training.

Keywords: BP neural network, sports aerobics, performance, evaluation.

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1910 An Optimal Bayesian Maintenance Policy for a Partially Observable System Subject to Two Failure Modes

Authors: Akram Khaleghei Ghosheh Balagh, Viliam Makis, Leila Jafari

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a new maintenance model for a partially observable system subject to two failure modes, namely a catastrophic failure and a failure due to the system degradation. The system is subject to condition monitoring and the degradation process is described by a hidden Markov model. A cost-optimal Bayesian control policy is developed for maintaining the system. The control problem is formulated in the semi-Markov decision process framework. An effective computational algorithm is developed, illustrated by a numerical example.

Keywords: Partially observable system, hidden Markov model, competing risks, multivariate Bayesian control.

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1909 Temporal Signal Processing by Inference Bayesian Approach for Detection of Abrupt Variation of Statistical Characteristics of Noisy Signals

Authors: Farhad Asadi, Hossein Sadati

Abstract:

In fields such as neuroscience and especially in cognition modeling of mental processes, uncertainty processing in temporal zone of signal is vital. In this paper, Bayesian online inferences in estimation of change-points location in signal are constructed. This method separated the observed signal into independent series and studies the change and variation of the regime of data locally with related statistical characteristics. We give conditions on simulations of the method when the data characteristics of signals vary, and provide empirical evidence to show the performance of method. It is verified that correlation between series around the change point location and its characteristics such as Signal to Noise Ratios and mean value of signal has important factor on fluctuating in finding proper location of change point. And one of the main contributions of this study is related to representing of these influences of signal statistical characteristics for finding abrupt variation in signal. There are two different structures for simulations which in first case one abrupt change in temporal section of signal is considered with variable position and secondly multiple variations are considered. Finally, influence of statistical characteristic for changing the location of change point is explained in details in simulation results with different artificial signals.

Keywords: Time series, fluctuation in statistical characteristics, optimal learning.

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1908 A PN Sequence Generator based on Residue Arithmetic for Multi-User DS-CDMA Applications

Authors: Chithra R, Pallab Maji, Sarat Kumar Patra, Girija Sankar Rath

Abstract:

The successful use of CDMA technology is based on the construction of large families of encoding sequences with good correlation properties. This paper discusses PN sequence generation based on Residue Arithmetic with an effort to improve the performance of existing interference-limited CDMA technology for mobile cellular systems. All spreading codes with residual number system proposed earlier did not consider external interferences, multipath propagation, Doppler effect etc. In literature the use of residual arithmetic in DS-CDMA was restricted to encoding of already spread sequence; where spreading of sequence is done by some existing techniques. The novelty of this paper is the use of residual number system in generation of the PN sequences which is used to spread the message signal. The significance of cross-correlation factor in alleviating multi-access interference is also discussed. The RNS based PN sequence has superior performance than most of the existing codes that are widely used in DS-CDMA applications. Simulation results suggest that the performance of the proposed system is superior to many existing systems.

Keywords: Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DSCDMA), Multiple-Access Interference (MAI), PN Sequence, Residue Number System (RNS).

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1907 Optimal Placement of Capacitors for Achieve the Best Total Generation Cost by Genetic Algorithm

Authors: Mohammad Reza Tabatabaei, Mohammad Bagher Haddadi, Mojtaba Saeedimoghadam, Ali Vaseghi Ardekani

Abstract:

Economic Dispatch (ED) is one of the most challenging problems of power system since it is difficult to determine the optimum generation scheduling to meet the particular load demand with the minimum fuel costs while all constraints are satisfied. The objective of the Economic Dispatch Problems (EDPs) of electric power generation is to schedule the committed generating units outputs so as to meet the required load demand at minimum operating cost while satisfying all units and system equality and inequality constraints. In this paper, an efficient and practical steady-state genetic algorithm (SSGAs) has been proposed for solving the economic dispatch problem. The objective is to minimize the total generation fuel cost and keep the power flows within the security limits. To achieve that, the present work is developed to determine the optimal location and size of capacitors in transmission power system where, the Participation Factor Algorithm and the Steady State Genetic Algorithm are proposed to select the best locations for the capacitors and determine the optimal size for them.

Keywords: Economic Dispatch, Lagrange, Capacitors Placement, Losses Reduction, Genetic Algorithm.

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1906 The Shaping of a Triangle Steel Plate into an Equilateral Vertical Steel by Finite-Element Modeling

Authors: Tsung-Chia Chen

Abstract:

The orthogonal processes to shape the triangle steel plate into a equilateral vertical steel are examined by an incremental elasto-plastic finite-element method based on an updated Lagrangian formulation. The highly non-linear problems due to the geometric changes, the inelastic constitutive behavior and the boundary conditions varied with deformation are taken into account in an incremental manner. On the contact boundary, a modified Coulomb friction mode is specially considered. A weighting factor r-minimum is employed to limit the step size of loading increment to linear relation. In particular, selective reduced integration was adopted to formulate the stiffness matrix. The simulated geometries of verticality could clearly demonstrate the vertical processes until unloading. A series of experiments and simulations were performed to validate the formulation in the theory, leading to the development of the computer codes. The whole deformation history and the distribution of stress, strain and thickness during the forming process were obtained by carefully considering the moving boundary condition in the finite-element method. Therefore, this modeling can be used for judging whether a equilateral vertical steel can be shaped successfully. The present work may be expected to improve the understanding of the formation of the equilateral vertical steel.

Keywords: Elasto-plastic, finite element, orthogonal pressing process, vertical steel.

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1905 A System of Automatic Speech Recognition based on the Technique of Temporal Retiming

Authors: Samir Abdelhamid, Noureddine Bouguechal

Abstract:

We report in this paper the procedure of a system of automatic speech recognition based on techniques of the dynamic programming. The technique of temporal retiming is a technique used to synchronize between two forms to compare. We will see how this technique is adapted to the field of the automatic speech recognition. We will expose, in a first place, the theory of the function of retiming which is used to compare and to adjust an unknown form with a whole of forms of reference constituting the vocabulary of the application. Then we will give, in the second place, the various algorithms necessary to their implementation on machine. The algorithms which we will present were tested on part of the corpus of words in Arab language Arabdic-10 [4] and gave whole satisfaction. These algorithms are effective insofar as we apply them to the small ones or average vocabularies.

Keywords: Continuous speech recognition, temporal retiming, phonetic decoding, algorithms, vocal signal, dynamic programming.

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1904 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Vigilance – A Test of Temporal Decrement in the Attention Networks Test (ANT)

Authors: M. K. Zholdassova, G. Matthews, A. M. Kustubayeva, S. M. Jakupov

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to test whether the Attention Networks Test (ANT) showed temporal decrements in performance. Vigilance tasks typically show such decrements, which may reflect impairments in executive control resulting from cognitive fatigue. The ANT assesses executive control, as well as alerting and orienting. Thus, it was hypothesized that ANT executive control would deteriorate over time. Manipulations including task condition (trial composition) and masking were included in the experimental design in an attempt to increase performance decrements. However, results showed that there is no temporal decrement on the ANT. The roles of task demands, cognitive fatigue and participant motivation in producing this result are discussed. The ANT may not be an effective tool for investigating temporal decrement in attention.

Keywords: ANT, executive control, task engagement, vigilancedecrement

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1903 Experiment Study on the Influence of Tool Materials on the Drilling of Thick Stacked Plate of 2219 Aluminum Alloy

Authors: G. H. Li, M. Liu, H. J. Qi, Q. Zhu, W. Z. He

Abstract:

The drilling and riveting processes are widely used in the assembly of carrier rocket, which makes the efficiency and quality of drilling become the important factor affecting the assembly process. According to the problem existing in the drilling of thick stacked plate (thickness larger than 10mm) of carrier rocket, such as drill break, large noise and burr etc., experimental study of the influence of tool material on the drilling was carried out. The cutting force was measured by a piezoelectric dynamometer, the aperture was measured with an outline projector, and the burr is observed and measured by a digital stereo microscope. Through the measurement, the effects of tool material on the drilling were analyzed from the aspects of drilling force, diameter, and burr. The results show that, compared with carbide drill and coated carbide one, the drilling force of high speed steel is larger. But, the application of high speed steel also has some advantages, e.g. a higher number of hole can be obtained, the height of burr is small, the exit is smooth and the slim burr is less, and the tool experiences wear but not fracture. Therefore, the high speed steel tool is suitable for the drilling of thick stacked plate of 2219 Aluminum alloy.

Keywords: 2219 aluminum alloy, thick stacked plate, drilling, tool material.

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1902 An Insurer’s Investment Model with Reinsurance Strategy under the Modified Constant Elasticity of Variance Process

Authors: K. N. C. Njoku, Chinwendu Best Eleje, Christian Chukwuemeka Nwandu

Abstract:

One of the problems facing most insurance companies is how best the burden of paying claims to its policy holders can be managed whenever need arises. Hence there is need for the insurer to buy a reinsurance contract in order to reduce risk which will enable the insurer to share the financial burden with the reinsurer. In this paper, the insurer’s and reinsurer’s strategy is investigated under the modified constant elasticity of variance (M-CEV) process and proportional administrative charges. The insurer considered investment in one risky asset and one risk free asset where the risky asset is modeled based on the M-CEV process which is an extension of constant elasticity of variance (CEV) process. Next, a nonlinear partial differential equation in the form of Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation is obtained by dynamic programming approach. Using power transformation technique and variable change, the explicit solutions of the optimal investment strategy and optimal reinsurance strategy are obtained. Finally, some numerical simulations of some sensitive parameters were obtained and discussed in details where we observed that the modification factor only affects the optimal investment strategy and not the reinsurance strategy for an insurer with exponential utility function.

Keywords: Reinsurance strategy, Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation, power transformation, M-CEV process, exponential utility.

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1901 Cytotoxic Effect of Crude Extract of Sea Pen Virgularia gustaviana on HeLa and MDA-MB-231 Cancer Cell Lines

Authors: Sharareh Sharifi, Pargol Ghavam Mostafavi, Ali Mashinchian Moradi, Mohammad Hadi Givianrad, Hassan Niknejad

Abstract:

Marine organisms such as soft coral, sponge, ascidians, and tunicate containing rich source of natural compound have been studied in last decades because of their special chemical compounds with anticancer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate anti-cancer property of ethyl acetate extracted from marine sea pen Virgularia gustaviana found from Persian Gulf coastal (Bandar Abbas). The extraction processes were carried out with ethyl acetate for five days. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used for qualitative identification of crude extract. The viability of HeLa and MDA-Mb-231 cancer cells was investigated using MTT assay at the concentration of 25, 50, and a 100 µl/ml of ethyl acetate is extracted. The crude extract of Virgularia gustaviana demonstrated ten fractions with different Retention factor (Rf) by TLC and Retention time (Rt) evaluated by HPLC. The crude extract dose-dependently decreased cancer cell viability compared to control group. According to the results, the ethyl acetate extracted from Virgularia gustaviana inhibits the growth of cancer cells, an effect which needs to be further investigated in the future studies.

Keywords: Virgularia gustaviana, Cembrane Diterpene, anti-cancer, HeLa cancer Cell, MDA-Md-231 Cancer cell.

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1900 Dynamic Performance Indicators for Aged-Care Construction Projects

Authors: Norman Wu, Darren Sun

Abstract:

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are used for post result evaluation in the construction industry, and they normally do not have provisions for changes. This paper proposes a set of dynamic key performance indicators (d-KPIs) which predicts the future performance of the activity being measured and presents the opportunity to change practice accordingly. Critical to the predictability of a construction project is the ability to achieve automated data collection. This paper proposes an effective way to collect the process and engineering management data from an integrated construction management system. The d-KPI matrix, consisting of various indicators under seven categories, developed from this study can be applied to close monitoring of the development projects of aged-care facilities. The d-KPI matrix also enables performance measurement and comparison at both project and organization levels.

Keywords: Aged-care project, construction, dynamic KPI, healthcare system.

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1899 Color Image Segmentation using Adaptive Spatial Gaussian Mixture Model

Authors: M.Sujaritha, S. Annadurai

Abstract:

An adaptive spatial Gaussian mixture model is proposed for clustering based color image segmentation. A new clustering objective function which incorporates the spatial information is introduced in the Bayesian framework. The weighting parameter for controlling the importance of spatial information is made adaptive to the image content to augment the smoothness towards piecewisehomogeneous region and diminish the edge-blurring effect and hence the name adaptive spatial finite mixture model. The proposed approach is compared with the spatially variant finite mixture model for pixel labeling. The experimental results with synthetic and Berkeley dataset demonstrate that the proposed method is effective in improving the segmentation and it can be employed in different practical image content understanding applications.

Keywords: Adaptive; Spatial, Mixture model, Segmentation, Color.

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1898 Interaxial Distance and Convergence Control for Efficient Stereoscopic Shooting using Horizontal Moving 3D Camera Rig

Authors: Seong-Mo An, Rohit Ramesh, Young-Sook Lee, Wan-Young Chung

Abstract:

The proper assessment of interaxial distance and convergence control are important factors in stereoscopic imaging technology to make an efficient 3D image. To control interaxial distance and convergence for efficient 3D shooting, horizontal 3D camera rig is designed using some hardware components like 'LM Guide', 'Goniometer' and 'Rotation Stage'. The horizontal 3D camera rig system can be properly aligned by moving the two cameras horizontally in same or opposite directions, by adjusting the camera angle and finally considering horizontal swing as well as vertical swing. In this paper, the relationship between interaxial distance and convergence angle control are discussed and intensive experiments are performed in order to demonstrate an easy and effective 3D shooting.

Keywords: Interaxial, Convergence, Stereoscopic, Horizontal 3D Camera Rig

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