Search results for: Polymer modified bitumen
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1312

Search results for: Polymer modified bitumen

202 Illumination Invariant Face Recognition using Supervised and Unsupervised Learning Algorithms

Authors: Shashank N. Mathur, Anil K. Ahlawat, Virendra P. Vishwakarma

Abstract:

In this paper, a comparative study of application of supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms on illumination invariant face recognition has been carried out. The supervised learning has been carried out with the help of using a bi-layered artificial neural network having one input, two hidden and one output layer. The gradient descent with momentum and adaptive learning rate back propagation learning algorithm has been used to implement the supervised learning in a way that both the inputs and corresponding outputs are provided at the time of training the network, thus here is an inherent clustering and optimized learning of weights which provide us with efficient results.. The unsupervised learning has been implemented with the help of a modified Counterpropagation network. The Counterpropagation network involves the process of clustering followed by application of Outstar rule to obtain the recognized face. The face recognition system has been developed for recognizing faces which have varying illumination intensities, where the database images vary in lighting with respect to angle of illumination with horizontal and vertical planes. The supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms have been implemented and have been tested exhaustively, with and without application of histogram equalization to get efficient results.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, back propagation, Counterpropagation networks, face recognition, learning algorithms.

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201 Passive Flow Control in Twin Air-Intakes

Authors: Akshoy R. Paul, Pritanshu Ranjan, Ravi R. Upadhyay, Anuj Jain

Abstract:

Aircraft propulsion systems often use Y-shaped subsonic diffusing ducts as twin air-intakes to supply the ambient air into the engine compressor for thrust generation. Due to space constraint, the diffusers need to be curved, which causes severe flow non-uniformity at the engine face. The present study attempt to control flow in a mild-curved Y-duct diffuser using trapezoidalshaped vortex generators (VG) attached on either both the sidewalls or top and bottom walls of the diffuser at the inflexion plane. A commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code is modified and is used to simulate the effects of SVG in flow of a Y-duct diffuser. A few experiments are conducted for CFD code validation, while the rest are done computationally. The best combination of Yduct diffuser is found with VG-2 arranged in co-rotating sequence and attached to both the sidewalls, which ensures highest static pressure recovery, lowest total pressure loss, minimum flow distortion and less flow separation in Y-duct diffuser. The decrease in VG height while attached to top and bottom walls further improves axial flow uniformity at the diffuser outlet by a great margin as compared to the bare duct.

Keywords: Twin air-intake, Vortex generator (VG), Turbulence model, Pressure recovery, Distortion coefficient

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200 Enhancing Hand Efficiency of Smart Glass Cleaning Robot through Generative Design Module

Authors: Pankaj Gupta, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Nitesh Pandey

Abstract:

This article explores the domain of generative design in order to enhance the development of robot designs for innovative and efficient maintenance approaches for tall buildings. This study aims to optimize the design of robotic hands by focusing on minimizing mass and volume while ensuring they can withstand the specified pressure with equal strength. The research procedure is structured and systematic. The purpose of optimization is to enhance the efficiency of the robot and reduce the manufacturing expenses. The project seeks to investigate the application of generative design in order to optimize products. Autodesk Fusion 360 offers the capability to immediately apply the generative design functionality to the solid model. The effort involved creating a solid model of the Smart Glass Cleaning Robot and optimizing one of its components, the Hand, using generative techniques. The article has thoroughly examined the designs, outcomes, and procedure. These loads serve as a benchmark for creating designs that can endure the necessary level of pressure and preserve their structural integrity. The efficacy of the generative design process is contingent upon the selection of materials, as different materials possess distinct physical attributes. The study utilizes five different materials, namely Steel, Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminum, and CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer), in order to investigate a range of design possibilities.

Keywords: Generative design, mass and volume optimization, material strength analysis, generative design, smart glass cleaning robot.

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199 Real-time 3D Feature Extraction without Explicit 3D Object Reconstruction

Authors: Kwangjin Hong, Chulhan Lee, Keechul Jung, Kyoungsu Oh

Abstract:

For the communication between human and computer in an interactive computing environment, the gesture recognition is studied vigorously. Therefore, a lot of studies have proposed efficient methods about the recognition algorithm using 2D camera captured images. However, there is a limitation to these methods, such as the extracted features cannot fully represent the object in real world. Although many studies used 3D features instead of 2D features for more accurate gesture recognition, the problem, such as the processing time to generate 3D objects, is still unsolved in related researches. Therefore we propose a method to extract the 3D features combined with the 3D object reconstruction. This method uses the modified GPU-based visual hull generation algorithm which disables unnecessary processes, such as the texture calculation to generate three kinds of 3D projection maps as the 3D feature: a nearest boundary, a farthest boundary, and a thickness of the object projected on the base-plane. In the section of experimental results, we present results of proposed method on eight human postures: T shape, both hands up, right hand up, left hand up, hands front, stand, sit and bend, and compare the computational time of the proposed method with that of the previous methods.

Keywords: Fast 3D Feature Extraction, Gesture Recognition, Computer Vision.

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198 A Preference-Based Multi-Agent Data Mining Framework for Social Network Service Users' Decision Making

Authors: Ileladewa Adeoye Abiodun, Cheng Wai Khuen

Abstract:

Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) emerged in the pursuit to improve our standard of living, and hence can manifest complex human behaviors such as communication, decision making, negotiation and self-organization. The Social Network Services (SNSs) have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. The domains of MAS and SNS have lots of similarities such as architecture, features and functions. Exploring social network users- behavior through multiagent model is therefore our research focus, in order to generate more accurate and meaningful information to SNS users. An application of MAS is the e-Auction and e-Rental services of the Universiti Cyber AgenT(UniCAT), a Social Network for students in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar, Malaysia, built around the Belief- Desire-Intention (BDI) model. However, in spite of the various advantages of the BDI model, it has also been discovered to have some shortcomings. This paper therefore proposes a multi-agent framework utilizing a modified BDI model- Belief-Desire-Intention in Dynamic and Uncertain Situations (BDIDUS), using UniCAT system as a case study.

Keywords: Distributed Data Mining, Multi-Agent Systems, Preference-Based, SNS.

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197 An Authentic Algorithm for Ciphering and Deciphering Called Latin Djokovic

Authors: Diogen Babuc

Abstract:

The question that is a motivation of writing is how many devote themselves to discovering something in the world of science where much is discerned and revealed, but at the same time, much is unknown. The insightful elements of this algorithm are the ciphering and deciphering algorithms of Playfair, Caesar, and Vigen`ere. Only a few of their main properties are taken and modified, with the aim of forming a specific functionality of the algorithm called Latin Djokovic. Specifically, a string is entered as input data. A key k is given, with a random value between the values a and b = a+3. The obtained value is stored in a variable with the aim of being constant during the run of the algorithm. In correlation to the given key, the string is divided into several groups of substrings, and each substring has a length of k characters. The next step involves encoding each substring from the list of existing substrings. Encoding is performed using the basis of Caesar algorithm, i.e. shifting with k characters. However, that k is incremented by 1 when moving to the next substring in that list. When the value of k becomes greater than b + 1, it will return to its initial value. The algorithm is executed, following the same procedure, until the last substring in the list is traversed. Using this polyalphabetic method, ciphering and deciphering of strings are achieved. The algorithm also works for a 100-character string. The x character is not used when the number of characters in a substring is incompatible with the expected length. The algorithm is simple to implement, but it is questionable if it works better than the other methods, from the point of view of execution time and storage space.

Keywords: Ciphering and deciphering, Authentic Algorithm, Polyalphabetic Cipher, Random Key, methods comparison.

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196 Preparation of Polymer-Stabilized Magnetic Iron Oxide as Selective Drug Nanocarriers to Human Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Authors: Kheireddine El-Boubbou

Abstract:

Drug delivery to target human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) using a nanoparticulate chemotherapeutic formulation that can deliver drugs selectively to AML cancer is hugely needed. In this work, we report the development of a nanoformulation made of polymeric-stabilized multifunctional magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (PMNP) loaded with the anticancer drug Doxorubicin (Dox) as a promising drug carrier to treat AML. Dox@PMNP conjugates simultaneously exhibited high drug content, maximized fluorescence, and excellent release properties. Nanoparticulate uptake and cell death following addition of Dox@PMNPs were then evaluated in different types of human AML target cells, as well as on normal human cells. While the unloaded MNPs were not toxic to any of the cells, Dox@PMNPs were found to be highly toxic to the different AML cell lines, albeit at different inhibitory concentrations (IC50 values), but showed very little toxicity towards the normal cells. In comparison, free Dox showed significant potency concurrently to all the cell lines, suggesting huge potentials for the use of Dox@PMNPs as selective AML anticancer cargos. Live confocal imaging, fluorescence and electron microscopy confirmed that Dox is indeed delivered to the nucleus in relatively short periods of time, causing apoptotic cell death. Importantly, this targeted payload may potentially enhance the effectiveness of the drug in AML patients and may further allow physicians to image leukemic cells exposed to Dox@PMNPs using MRI.

Keywords: Magnetic nanoparticles, drug delivery, acute myeloid leukemia, iron oxide, cancer nanotherapy.

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195 Power Flow Tracing Based Reactive Power Ancillary Service (AS) in Restructured Power Market

Authors: M. Susithra, R. Gnanadass

Abstract:

Ancillary services are support services which are essential for humanizing and enhancing the reliability and security of the electric power system. Reactive power ancillary service is one of the important ancillary services in a restructured electricity market which determines the cost of supplying ancillary services and finding of how this cost would change with respect to operating decisions. This paper presents a new formation that can be used to minimize the Independent System Operator (ISO)’s total payment for reactive power ancillary service. The modified power flow tracing algorithm estimates the availability of reserve reactive power for ancillary service. In order to find optimum reactive power dispatch, Biogeography based optimization method (BPO) is proposed. Market Reactive Clearing Price (MRCP) is then estimated and it encourages generator companies (GENCOs) to participate in an ancillary service. Finally, optimal weighting factor and real time utilization factor of reactive power give the minimum ISO’s total payment. The effectiveness of proposed design is verified using IEEE 30 bus system.

Keywords: Biogeography based optimization method, Power flow tracing method, Reactive generation capability curve and Reactive power ancillary service.

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194 Protein Secondary Structure Prediction Using Parallelized Rule Induction from Coverings

Authors: Leong Lee, Cyriac Kandoth, Jennifer L. Leopold, Ronald L. Frank

Abstract:

Protein 3D structure prediction has always been an important research area in bioinformatics. In particular, the prediction of secondary structure has been a well-studied research topic. Despite the recent breakthrough of combining multiple sequence alignment information and artificial intelligence algorithms to predict protein secondary structure, the Q3 accuracy of various computational prediction algorithms rarely has exceeded 75%. In a previous paper [1], this research team presented a rule-based method called RT-RICO (Relaxed Threshold Rule Induction from Coverings) to predict protein secondary structure. The average Q3 accuracy on the sample datasets using RT-RICO was 80.3%, an improvement over comparable computational methods. Although this demonstrated that RT-RICO might be a promising approach for predicting secondary structure, the algorithm-s computational complexity and program running time limited its use. Herein a parallelized implementation of a slightly modified RT-RICO approach is presented. This new version of the algorithm facilitated the testing of a much larger dataset of 396 protein domains [2]. Parallelized RTRICO achieved a Q3 score of 74.6%, which is higher than the consensus prediction accuracy of 72.9% that was achieved for the same test dataset by a combination of four secondary structure prediction methods [2].

Keywords: data mining, protein secondary structure prediction, parallelization.

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193 Development and Optimization of Colon Targeted Drug Delivery System of Ayurvedic Churna Formulation Using Eudragit L100 and Ethyl Cellulose as Coating Material

Authors: Anil Bhandari, Imran Khan Pathan, Peeyush K. Sharma, Rakesh K. Patel, Suresh Purohit

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to prepare time and pH dependent release tablets of Ayurvedic Churna formulation and evaluate their advantages as colon targeted drug delivery system. The Vidangadi Churna was selected for this study which contains Embelin and Gallic acid. Embelin is used in Helminthiasis as therapeutic agent. Embelin is insoluble in water and unstable in gastric environment so it was formulated in time and pH dependent tablets coated with combination of two polymers Eudragit L100 and ethyl cellulose. The 150mg of core tablet of dried extract and lactose were prepared by wet granulation method. The compression coating was used in the polymer concentration of 150mg for both the layer as upper and lower coating tablet was investigated. The results showed that no release was found in 0.1 N HCl and pH 6.8 phosphate buffers for initial 5 hours and about 98.97% of the drug was released in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer in total 17 Hours. The in vitro release profiles of drug from the formulation could be best expressed first order kinetics as highest linearity (r2= 0.9943). The results of the present study have demonstrated that the time and pH dependent tablets system is a promising vehicle for preventing rapid hydrolysis in gastric environment and improving oral bioavailability of Embelin and Gallic acid for treatment of Helminthiasis.

Keywords: Embelin, Gallic acid, Vidangadi Churna, Colon targeted drug delivery.

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192 Modeling of Session Initiation Protocol Invite Transaction using Colored Petri Nets

Authors: Sabina Baraković, Dragan Jevtić, Jasmina Baraković Husić

Abstract:

Wireless mobile communications have experienced the phenomenal growth through last decades. The advances in wireless mobile technologies have brought about a demand for high quality multimedia applications and services. For such applications and services to work, signaling protocol is required for establishing, maintaining and tearing down multimedia sessions. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application layer signaling protocols, based on request/response transaction model. This paper considers SIP INVITE transaction over an unreliable medium, since it has been recently modified in Request for Comments (RFC) 6026. In order to help in assuring that the functional correctness of this modification is achieved, the SIP INVITE transaction is modeled and analyzed using Colored Petri Nets (CPNs). Based on the model analysis, it is concluded that the SIP INVITE transaction is free of livelocks and dead codes, and in the same time it has both desirable and undesirable deadlocks. Therefore, SIP INVITE transaction should be subjected for additional updates in order to eliminate undesirable deadlocks. In order to reduce the cost of implementation and maintenance of SIP, additional remodeling of the SIP INVITE transaction is recommended.

Keywords: Colored Petri Nets, SIP INVITE, state space, dead marking

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191 Resilient Modulus and Deformation Responses of Waste Glass in Flexible Pavement System

Authors: M. Al-Saedi, A. Chegenizadeh, H. Nikraz

Abstract:

Experimental investigations are conducted to assess a layered structure of glass (G) - rock (R) blends under the impact of repeated loading. Laboratory tests included sieve analyses, modified compaction test and repeated load triaxial test (RLTT) is conducted on different structures of stratified GR samples to reach the objectives of this study. Waste materials are such essential components in the climate system, and also commonly used in minimising the need for natural materials in many countries. Glass is one of the most widely used groups of waste materials which have been extensively using in road applications. Full range particle size and colours of glass are collected and mixed at different ratios with natural rock material trying to use the blends in pavement layers. Whole subsurface specimen sequentially consists of a single layer of R and a layer of G-R blend. 12G/88R and 45G/55R mix ratios are employed in this research, the thickness of G-R layer was changed, and the results were compared between the pure rock and the layered specimens. The relations between resilient module (Mr) and permanent deformation with sequence number are presented. During the earlier stages of RLTT, the results indicated that the 45G/55R specimen shows higher moduli than R specimen.

Keywords: Rock base course, layered structure, glass, resilient modulus.

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190 Pharmaceutical Microencapsulation Technology for Development of Controlled Release Drug Delivery systems

Authors: Mahmood Ahmad, Asadullah Madni, Muhammad Usman, Abubakar Munir, Naveed Akhtar, Haji M. Shoaib Khan

Abstract:

This article demonstrated development of controlled release system of an NSAID drug, Diclofenac sodium employing different ratios of Ethyl cellulose. Diclofenac sodium and ethyl cellulose in different proportions were processed by microencapsulation based on phase separation technique to formulate microcapsules. The prepared microcapsules were then compressed into tablets to obtain controlled release oral formulations. In-vitro evaluation was performed by dissolution test of each preparation was conducted in 900 ml of phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.2 maintained at 37 ± 0.5 °C and stirred at 50 rpm. At predetermined time intervals (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 and 24 hrs). The drug concentration in the collected samples was determined by UV spectrophotometer at 276 nm. The physical characteristics of diclofenac sodium microcapsules were according to accepted range. These were off-white, free flowing and spherical in shape. The release profile of diclofenac sodium from microcapsules was found to be directly proportional to the proportion of ethylcellulose and coat thickness. The in-vitro release pattern showed that with ratio of 1:1 and 1:2 (drug: polymer), the percentage release of drug at first hour was 16.91 and 11.52 %, respectively as compared to 1:3 which is only 6.87 % with in this time. The release mechanism followed higuchi model for its release pattern. Tablet Formulation (F2) of present study was found comparable in release profile the marketed brand Phlogin-SR, microcapsules showed an extended release beyond 24 h. Further, a good correlation was found between drug release and proportion of ethylcellulose in the microcapsules. Microencapsulation based on coacervation found as good technique to control release of diclofenac sodium for making the controlled release formulations.

Keywords: Diclofenac sodium, Microencapsulationtechnology, Ethylcellulose, In-Vitro Release Profile

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189 Comparative Study in Evaluating the Antioxidation Efficiency for Native Types Antioxidants Extracted from Crude Oil with the Synthesized Class

Authors: Mohammad Jamil Abd AlGhani

Abstract:

The natural native antioxidants N,N-P-methyl phenyl acetone and N,N-phenyl acetone were isolated from the Iraqi crude oil region of Kirkuk by ion exchange and their structure was characterized by spectral and chemical analysis methods. Tetraline was used as a liquid hydrocarbon to detect the efficiency of isolated molecules at elevated temperature (393 K) that it has physicochemical specifications and structure closed to hydrocarbons fractionated from crude oil. The synthesized universal antioxidant 2,6-ditertiaryisobutyl-p-methyl phenol (Unol) with known stochiometric coefficient of inhibition equal to (2) was used as a model for comparative evaluation at the same conditions. Modified chemiluminescence method was used to find the amount of absorbed oxygen and the induction periods in and without the existence of isolated antioxidants molecules. The results of induction periods and quantity of absorbed oxygen during the oxidation process were measured by manometric installation. It was seen that at specific equal concentrations of N,N-phenyl acetone and N, N-P-methyl phenyl acetone in comparison with Unol at 393 K were with (2) and (2.5) times efficient than do Unol. It means that they had the ability to inhibit the formation of new free radicals and prevent the chain reaction to pass from the propagation to the termination step rather than decomposition of formed hydroperoxides.

Keywords: Antioxidants, chemiluminescence, inhibition, unol.

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188 An Image Enhancement Method Based on Curvelet Transform for CBCT-Images

Authors: Shahriar Farzam, Maryam Rastgarpour

Abstract:

Image denoising plays extremely important role in digital image processing. Enhancement of clinical image research based on Curvelet has been developed rapidly in recent years. In this paper, we present a method for image contrast enhancement for cone beam CT (CBCT) images based on fast discrete curvelet transforms (FDCT) that work through Unequally Spaced Fast Fourier Transform (USFFT). These transforms return a table of Curvelet transform coefficients indexed by a scale parameter, an orientation and a spatial location. Accordingly, the coefficients obtained from FDCT-USFFT can be modified in order to enhance contrast in an image. Our proposed method first uses a two-dimensional mathematical transform, namely the FDCT through unequal-space fast Fourier transform on input image and then applies thresholding on coefficients of Curvelet to enhance the CBCT images. Consequently, applying unequal-space fast Fourier Transform leads to an accurate reconstruction of the image with high resolution. The experimental results indicate the performance of the proposed method is superior to the existing ones in terms of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Effective Measure of Enhancement (EME).

Keywords: Curvelet transform, image enhancement, CBCT, image denoising.

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187 A Maximum Power Point Tracker for PV Panels Using SEPIC Converter

Authors: S. Ganesh, J. Janani, G. Besliya Angel

Abstract:

Photovoltaic (PV) energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques should be used in photovoltaic systems to maximize the PV panel output power by tracking continuously the maximum power point which depends on panel’s temperature and on irradiance conditions. Incremental conductance control method has been used as MPPT algorithm. The methodology is based on connecting a pulse width modulated dc/dc SEPIC converter, which is controlled by a microprocessor based unit. The SEPIC converter is one of the buck-boost converters which maintain the output voltage as constant irrespective of the solar isolation level. By adjusting the switching frequency of the converter the maximum power point has been achieved. The main difference between the method used in the proposed MPPT systems and other technique used in the past is that PV array output power is used to directly control the dc/dc converter thus reducing the complexity of the system. The resulting system has high efficiency, low cost and can be easily modified. The tracking capability has been verified experimentally with a 10 W solar panel under a controlled experimental setup. The SEPIC converter and their control strategies has been analyzed and simulated using Simulink/Matlab software.

Keywords: Maximum Power Point Tracking, Microprocessor, PV Module, SEPIC Converter.

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186 Vapor Phase Transesterification of Dimethyl Malonate with Phenol over Cordierite Honeycomb Coated with Zirconia and Its Modified Forms

Authors: Prathap S. Raghavendra, Mohamed S. Z. Shamshuddin, Thimmaraju N., Venkatesh

Abstract:

The transesterification of dimethyl malonate (DMM) with phenol has been studied in vapour phase over cordierite honeycomb coated with solid acid catalysts such as ZrO2, Mo(VI)/ZrO2 and SO42-/ZrO2. The catalytic materials were prepared honeycomb coated, powder forms, and characterized for their total surface acidity by NH3-TPD and crystalinity by powder XRD methods. Phenyl methyl malonate (PMM) and diphenyl malonate (DPM) were obtained as the reaction products. A good conversion of DMM (up to 82%) of MPM with 95% selectivity was observed when the reactions were carried out at a catalyst bed temperature of 200 °C and flow-rate of 10 mL/h in presence of Mo(VI)/ZrO2 as catalyst. However, over SO4^2-/ZrO2 catalyst, the yield of DPM was found to be higher. The results have been interpreted based on the variation of acidic properties and powder XRD phases of zirconia on incorporation of Mo(VI) or SO42– ions. Transesterification reactions were also carried out over powder forms of the catalytic materials and the yield of the desired phenyl ester products were compared with that of the HC coated catalytic materials. The solid acids were found to be reusable when used for at least 5 reaction cycles.

Keywords: Cordierite honeycomb, methyl phenyl malonate, vapour phase transesterification, zirconia.

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185 Motivational Antecedents that Influenced a Higher Education Institution in the Philippines to Adopt Enterprise Architecture

Authors: Ma. Eliza Jijeth V. dela Cruz

Abstract:

Technology is a recent prodigy in people’s everyday life that has taken off. It infiltrated almost every aspect of one’s lives, changing how people work, how people learn and how people perceive things. Academic Institutions, just like other organizations, have deeply modified its strategies to integrate technology into the institutional vision and corporate strategy that has never been greater. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) continues to be recognized as a major factor in organizations realizing its aims and objectives. Consequently, ICT has an important role in the mobilization of an academic institution’s strategy to support the delivery of operational, strategic or transformational objectives. This ICT strategy should align the institution with the radical changes of the ICT world through the use of Enterprise Architecture (EA). Hence, EA’s objective is to optimize the islands of legacy processes to be integrated that is receptive to change and supportive of the delivery of the strategy. In this paper, the focus is to explore the motivational antecedents during the adoption of EA in a Higher Education Institution in the Philippines for its ICT strategic plan. The seven antecedents (viewpoint, stakeholders, human traits, vision, revolutionary innovation, techniques and change components) provide understanding into EA adoption and the antecedents that influences the process of EA adoption.

Keywords: Enterprise architecture, adoption, antecedents, higher education institution.

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184 A Study on Flammability of Bio Oil Combustible Vapour Mixtures

Authors: Mohanad El-Harbawi, Nurul Amirah Hanim Bt. Umar, Norizan Ali, Yoshimitsu Uemura

Abstract:

Study of fire and explosion is very important mainly in oil and gas industries due to several accidents which have been reported in the past and present. In this work, we have investigated the flammability of bio oil vapour mixtures. This mixture may contribute to fire during the storage and transportation process. Bio oil sample derived from Palm Kernell shell was analysed using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to examine the composition of the sample. Mole fractions of 12 selected components in the liquid phase were obtained from the GC-FID data and used to calculate mole fractions of components in the gas phase via modified Raoult-s law. Lower Flammability Limits (LFLs) and Upper Flammability Limits (UFLs) for individual components were obtained from published literature. However, stoichiometric concentration method was used to calculate the flammability limits of some components which their flammability limit values are not available in the literature. The LFL and UFL values for the mixture were calculated using the Le Chatelier equation. The LFLmix and UFLmix values were used to construct a flammability diagram and subsequently used to determine the flammability of the mixture. The findings of this study can be used to propose suitable inherently safer method to prevent the flammable mixture from occurring and to minimizing the loss of properties, business, and life due to fire accidents in bio oil productions.

Keywords: Gas chromatography, compositions, lower and upper flammability limits (LFL & UFL), flammability diagram.

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183 Fabrication of Nanoengineered Radiation Shielding Multifunctional Polymeric Sandwich Composites

Authors: Nasim Abuali Galehdari, Venkat Mani, Ajit D. Kelkar

Abstract:

Space Radiation has become one of the major factors in successful long duration space exploration. Exposure to space radiation not only can affect the health of astronauts but also can disrupt or damage materials and electronics. Hazards to materials include degradation of properties, such as, modulus, strength, or glass transition temperature. Electronics may experience single event effects, gate rupture, burnout of field effect transistors and noise. Presently aluminum is the major component in most of the space structures due to its lightweight and good structural properties. However, aluminum is ineffective at blocking space radiation. Therefore, most of the past research involved studying at polymers which contain large amounts of hydrogen. Again, these materials are not structural materials and would require large amounts of material to achieve the structural properties needed. One of the materials to alleviate this problem is polymeric composite materials, which has good structural properties and use polymers that contained large amounts of hydrogen. This paper presents steps involved in fabrication of multi-functional hybrid sandwich panels that can provide beneficial radiation shielding as well as structural strength. Multifunctional hybrid sandwich panels were manufactured using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process and were subjected to radiation treatment. Study indicates that various nanoparticles including Boron Nano powder, Boron Carbide and Gadolinium nanoparticles can be successfully used to block the space radiation without sacrificing the structural integrity.

Keywords: Multi-functional, polymer composites, radiation shielding, sandwich composites.

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182 Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of Biomimetic Scaffold of Gelatin/Zn-Incorporated 58S Bioactive Glass

Authors: Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, Amirhossein Moghanian

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The main purpose of this research was to design a biomimetic system by freeze-drying method for evaluating the effect of adding 5 and 10 mol. % of zinc (Zn) in 58S bioactive glass and gelatin (5ZnBG/G and 10ZnBG/G) in terms of structural and biological changes. The structural analyses of samples were performed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Also, 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity tests were carried out for investigation of MC3T3-E1 cell behaviors. The SEM results demonstrated the spherical shape of the formed hydroxyapatite (HA) phases and also HA characteristic peaks were detected by XRD spectroscopy after 3 days of immersion in the simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Meanwhile, FTIR spectra proved that the intensity of P–O peaks for 5ZnBG/G was more than 10ZnBG/G and control samples. Moreover, the results of ALP activity test illustrated that the optimal amount of Zn (5ZnBG/G) caused a considerable enhancement in bone cell growth. Taken together, the scaffold with 5 mol.% Zn was introduced as an optimal sample because of its higher biocompatibility, in vitro bioactivity and growth of MC3T3-E1 cells in comparison with other samples in bone tissue engineering.

Keywords: Scaffold, gelatin, modified bioactive glass, ALP, bone tissue engineering.

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181 Evaluation of Microleakage of a New Generation Nano-Ionomer in Class II Restoration of Primary Molars

Authors: Ghada Salem, Nihal Kabel

Abstract:

Objective: This in vitro study was carried out to assess the microleakage properties of nano-filled glass ionomer in comparison to resin-reinforced glass ionomers. Material and Methods: 40 deciduous molar teeth were included in this study. Class-II cavity was prepared in a standard form for all the specimens. The teeth were randomly distributed into two groups (20 per group) according to the restorative material used either nano-glass ionomer or Photac Fill glass ionomer restoration. All specimens were thermocycled for 1000 cycles between 5 and 55 °C. After that, the teeth were immersed in 2% methylene blue dye then sectioned and evaluated under a stereomicroscope. Microleakage was assessed using linear dye penetration and on a scale from zero to five. Results: Two way ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant lower degree of microleakage in both occlusal and gingival restorations (0.4±0.2), (0.9±0.1) for nano-filled glass ionomer group in comparison to resin modified glass ionomer (2.3±0.7), (2.4±0.5). No statistical difference was found between gingival and occlusal leakage regarding the effect of the measured site. Conclusion: Nano-filled glass ionomer shows superior sealing ability which enables this type of restoration to be used in minimum invasive treatment.

Keywords: Microleakage, nano-ionomer, resin-reinforced glass ionomer, proximal cavity preparation.

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180 Energy Based Temperature Profile for Heat Transfer Analysis of Concrete Section Exposed to Fire on One Side

Authors: Pattamad Panedpojaman

Abstract:

For fire safety purposes, the fire resistance and the structural behavior of reinforced concrete members are assessed to satisfy specific fire performance criteria. The available prescribed provisions are based on standard fire load. Under various fire scenarios, engineers are in need of both heat transfer analysis and structural analysis. For heat transfer analysis, the study proposed a modified finite difference method to evaluate the temperature profile within a cross section. The research conducted is limited to concrete sections exposed to a fire on their one side. The method is based on the energy conservation principle and a pre-determined power function of the temperature profile. The power value of 2.7 is found to be a suitable value for concrete sections. The temperature profiles of the proposed method are only slightly deviate from those of the experiment, the FEM and the FDM for various fire loads such as ASTM E 119, ASTM 1529, BS EN 1991-1-2 and 550 oC. The proposed method is useful to avoid incontinence of the large matrix system of the typical finite difference method to solve the temperature profile. Furthermore, design engineers can simply apply the proposed method in regular spreadsheet software.

Keywords: temperature profile, finite difference method, concrete section, one-side fire exposed, energy conservation

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179 A Software Tool Design for Cerebral Infarction of MR Images

Authors: Kyoung-Jong Park, Woong-Gi Jeon, Hee-Cheol Kim, Dong-Eog Kim, Heung-Kook Choi

Abstract:

The brain MR imaging-based clinical research and analysis system were specifically built and the development for a large-scale data was targeted. We used the general clinical data available for building large-scale data. Registration period for the selection of the lesion ROI and the region growing algorithm was used and the Mesh-warp algorithm for matching was implemented. The accuracy of the matching errors was modified individually. Also, the large ROI research data can accumulate by our developed compression method. In this way, the correctly decision criteria to the research result was suggested. The experimental groups were age, sex, MR type, patient ID and smoking which can easily be queries. The result data was visualized of the overlapped images by a color table. Its data was calculated by the statistical package. The evaluation for the utilization of this system in the chronic ischemic damage in the area has done from patients with the acute cerebral infarction. This is the cause of neurologic disability index location in the center portion of the lateral ventricle facing. The corona radiate was found in the position. Finally, the system reliability was measured both inter-user and intra-user registering correlation.

Keywords: Software tool design, Cerebral infarction, Brain MR image, Registration

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178 End-to-End Spanish-English Sequence Learning Translation Model

Authors: Vidhu Mitha Goutham, Ruma Mukherjee

Abstract:

The low availability of well-trained, unlimited, dynamic-access models for specific languages makes it hard for corporate users to adopt quick translation techniques and incorporate them into product solutions. As translation tasks increasingly require a dynamic sequence learning curve; stable, cost-free opensource models are scarce. We survey and compare current translation techniques and propose a modified sequence to sequence model repurposed with attention techniques. Sequence learning using an encoder-decoder model is now paving the path for higher precision levels in translation. Using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) encoder and a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) decoder background, we use Fairseq tools to produce an end-to-end bilingually trained Spanish-English machine translation model including source language detection. We acquire competitive results using a duo-lingo-corpus trained model to provide for prospective, ready-made plug-in use for compound sentences and document translations. Our model serves a decent system for large, organizational data translation needs. While acknowledging its shortcomings and future scope, it also identifies itself as a well-optimized deep neural network model and solution.

Keywords: Attention, encoder-decoder, Fairseq, Seq2Seq, Spanish, translation.

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177 In vitro Susceptibility of Madurella mycetomatis to the Extracts of Anogeissus leiocarpus Leaves

Authors: Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb Elsiddig, Abdel Khalig Muddather, Hiba Abdel Rahman Ali, Saad Mohamed Hussein Ayoub

Abstract:

Anogeissus leiocarpus (Combretaceae) is well known for its medicinal uses in African traditional medicine, for treating many human diseases mainly skin diseases and infections. Mycetoma disease is a fungal and/ or bacterial skininfection, mainly cause by Madurella mycetomatis fungus. This study was carried out in vitro to investigate the antifungal activity of Anogeissus leiocarpus leaf extracts against the isolated pathogenic Madurella mycetomatis, by using the NCCLS modified method compared to Ketoconazole standard drug, and MTT assay. The bioactive fraction was subjected to chemical analysis implementing different chromatographic analytical methods (TLC, HPLC, and LC-MS/MS). The results showed significance antifungal activity of A. leiocarpus leaf extracts against the isolated pathogenic M. mycetomatis, compared to negative and positive controls. The chloroform fraction showed the highest antifungal activity. The chromatographic analysis of the chloroform fraction with the highest activity showed the presence of important bioactive compounds such as ellagic and flavellagic acids derivatives, flavonoids and stilbenoid, which are well known for their antifungal activity.

Keywords: Anogeissus leiocarpus, crude extracts and fractions of Anogeissus leiocarpus, in vitro susceptibility of Madurella mycetomatis, Madurella mycetomatis.

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176 The Mechanical Response of a Composite Propellant under Harsh Conditions

Authors: Xin Tong, Jin-sheng Xu, Xiong Chen, Ya Zheng

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to study the mechanical properties of HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene) composite propellant under harsh conditions. It describes two tests involving uniaxial tensile tests of various strain rates (ranging from 0.0005 s-1 to 1.5 s-1), temperatures (ranging from 223 K to 343 K) and high-cycle fatigue tests under low-temperature (223 K, frequencies were set at 50, 100, 150 Hz) using DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer). To highlight the effect of small pre-strain on fatigue properties of HTPB propellant, quasi-static stretching was carried out before fatigue loading, and uniaxial tensile tests at constant strain rates were successively applied. The results reveal that flow stress of propellant increases with reduction in temperature and rise in strain rate, and the strain rate-temperature equivalence relationship could be described by TTSP (time-temperature superposition principle) incorporating a modified WLF equation. Moreover, the rate of performance degradations and damage accumulation of propellant during fatigue tests increased with increasing strain amplitude and loading frequencies, while initial quasi-static loading has a negative effect on fatigue properties by comparing stress-strain relations after fatigue tests.

Keywords: Fatigue, HTPB propellant, tensile properties, time-temperature superposition principle.

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175 Study of Optical Properties of a Glutathione Capped Gold Nanoparticles Using Linker (MHDA) by Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Authors: A. Deręgowska, J. Depciuch, R. Wojnarowska, J. Polit, D. Broda, H. Nechai, M. Gonchar, and E. Sheregii

Abstract:

16-Mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) and tripeptide glutathione conjugated with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are characterized by Fourier Transform InfaRared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technique based on FTIR spectroscopy has become an important tool in biophysics, which is perspective for the study of organic compounds. FTIR-spectra of MHDA shows the line at 2500 cm-1 attributed to thiol group which is modified by presence of Au-NPs, suggesting the formation of bond between thiol group and gold. We also can observe the peaks originate from characteristic chemical group. A Raman spectrum of the same sample is also promising. Our preliminary experiments confirm that SERS-effect takes place for MHDA connected with Au-NPs and enable us to detected small number (less than 106 cm-2) of MHDA molecules. Combination of spectroscopy methods: FTIR and SERS – enable to study optical properties of Au- NPs and immobilized bio-molecules in context of a bio-nano-sensors.

Keywords: Glutathione; gold nanoparticles, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, MHDA, surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

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174 Analysis of Combined Heat Transfer through the Core Materials of VIPs with Various Scattering Properties

Authors: Jaehyug Lee, Tae-Ho Song

Abstract:

Vacuum Insulation Panel (VIP) can achieve very low thermal conductivity by evacuating its inner space. Heat transfer in the core materials of highly-evacuated VIP occurs by conduction through the solid structure and radiation through the pore. The effect of various scattering modes in combined conduction-radiation in VIP is investigated through numerical analysis. The discrete ordinates interpolation method (DOIM) incorporated with the commercial code FLUENT® is employed. It is found that backward scattering is more effective in reducing the total heat transfer while isotropic scattering is almost identical with pure absorbing/emitting case of the same optical thickness. For a purely scattering medium, the results agrees well with additive solution with diffusion approximation, while a modified term is added in the effect of optical thickness to backward scattering is employed. For other scattering phase functions, it is also confirmed that backwardly scattering phase function gives a lower effective thermal conductivity. Thus the materials with backward scattering properties, with radiation shields are desirable to lower the thermal conductivity of VIPs.

Keywords: Combined conduction and radiation, discrete ordinates interpolation method, scattering phase function, vacuum insulation panel.

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173 A New Brazilian Friction-Resistant Low Alloy High Strength Steel – A Life Testing Approach

Authors: D. I. De Souza, G. P. Azevedo, R. Rocha

Abstract:

In this paper we will develop a sequential life test approach applied to a modified low alloy-high strength steel part used in highway overpasses in Brazil.We will consider two possible underlying sampling distributions: the Normal and theInverse Weibull models. The minimum life will be considered equal to zero. We will use the two underlying models to analyze a fatigue life test situation, comparing the results obtained from both.Since a major chemical component of this low alloy-high strength steel part has been changed, there is little information available about the possible values that the parameters of the corresponding Normal and Inverse Weibull underlying sampling distributions could have. To estimate the shape and the scale parameters of these two sampling models we will use a maximum likelihood approach for censored failure data. We will also develop a truncation mechanism for the Inverse Weibull and Normal models. We will provide rules to truncate a sequential life testing situation making one of the two possible decisions at the moment of truncation; that is, accept or reject the null hypothesis H0. An example will develop the proposed truncated sequential life testing approach for the Inverse Weibull and Normal models.

Keywords: Sequential life testing, normal and inverse Weibull models, maximum likelihood approach, truncation mechanism.

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