Search results for: spectrum of linear operators.2000 mathematic subject classification: 34A05
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4073

Search results for: spectrum of linear operators.2000 mathematic subject classification: 34A05

203 Effect of Strain and Storage Period on Some Qualitative and Quantitative Traits of Table Eggs

Authors: Hani N. Hermiz, Sukar H. Ali

Abstract:

This study include the effect of strain and storage period and their interaction on some quantitative and qualitative traits and percentages of the egg components in the eggs collected at the start of production (at age 24 weeks). Eggs were divided into three storage periods (1, 7 and 14) days under refrigerator temperature (5- 7)0C. Fifty seven eggs obtained randomly from each strain including Isa Brown and Lohman White. General Linear Model within SAS programme was used to analyze the collected data and correlations between the studied traits were calculated for each strain.Average egg weight (EW), Haugh Unit (HU), yolk index (YI), yolk % (HP), albumin % (AP) and yolk to albumin ratio (YAR) was 56.629 gm, 87.968 %, 0.493, 22.13%, 67.74% and 32.76 respectively. Egg produced from ISA Brown surpassed those produced by Lohman White significantly (P<0.01) in EW (59.337 vs. 53.921 g) and AP (68.46 vs. 67.02 %), while Lohman White surpassed ISA Brown significantly (P<0.01) in HU (91.998 against 83.939 %), YI (0.498 against 0.487), YP (22.83 against 21.44%) and YAR (34.12 against 31.40). Storage period did not have any significant effect on EW and YI. Increasing the storage period caused a significant (P<0.01) decrease in HU. A non-significant increasing in YP and significant decreasing in AP % due to increasing storage period caused a significant increasing in YAR. The interaction between strain and storage period affect EW, HU and YI significantly (P <0.01), while its effect on YP, AP and YAR was not significant. Highest and significant (P<0.01) correlation was recorded between YP with YAR (0.99) in both strains, while the lowest values were between AP with YAR and being -0.97 and -0.95 in ISA Brown and Lohman White, respectively. The conclusion: increasing storage period caused a few decreasing in egg weight and this enabling the consumer to store eggs without any damage. Because of using the albumin in many food industries, so it is very important to focus on its weight. The correlations between some of the studied traits were significant, which means that selection for any trait will improve other traits.

Keywords: Quality, Quantity, Storage period, Strain, Table egg

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1614
202 A Perceptually Optimized Wavelet Embedded Zero Tree Image Coder

Authors: A. Bajit, M. Nahid, A. Tamtaoui, E. H. Bouyakhf

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a Perceptually Optimized Embedded ZeroTree Image Coder (POEZIC) that introduces a perceptual weighting to wavelet transform coefficients prior to control SPIHT encoding algorithm in order to reach a targeted bit rate with a perceptual quality improvement with respect to the coding quality obtained using the SPIHT algorithm only. The paper also, introduces a new objective quality metric based on a Psychovisual model that integrates the properties of the HVS that plays an important role in our POEZIC quality assessment. Our POEZIC coder is based on a vision model that incorporates various masking effects of human visual system HVS perception. Thus, our coder weights the wavelet coefficients based on that model and attempts to increase the perceptual quality for a given bit rate and observation distance. The perceptual weights for all wavelet subbands are computed based on 1) luminance masking and Contrast masking, 2) the contrast sensitivity function CSF to achieve the perceptual decomposition weighting, 3) the Wavelet Error Sensitivity WES used to reduce the perceptual quantization errors. The new perceptually optimized codec has the same complexity as the original SPIHT techniques. However, the experiments results show that our coder demonstrates very good performance in terms of quality measurement.

Keywords: DWT, linear-phase 9/7 filter, 9/7 Wavelets Error Sensitivity WES, CSF implementation approaches, JND Just Noticeable Difference, Luminance masking, Contrast masking, standard SPIHT, Objective Quality Measure, Probability Score PS.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2007
201 A Failure Criterion for Unsupported Boreholes in Poorly Cemented Granular Formations

Authors: Sam S. Hashemi

Abstract:

The breakage of bonding between sand particles and their dislodgment from the borehole wall are among the main factors resulting in a borehole failure in poorly cemented granular formations. The grain debonding usually precedes the borehole failure and it can be considered as a sign that the onset of the borehole collapse is imminent. Detecting the bonding breakage point and introducing an appropriate failure criterion will play an important role in borehole stability analysis. To study the influence of different factors on the initiation of sand bonding breakage at the borehole wall, a series of laboratory tests was designed and conducted on poorly cemented sand samples. The total absorbed strain energy per volume of material up to the point of the observed particle debonding was computed. The results indicated that the particle bonding breakage point at the borehole wall was reached both before and after the peak strength of the thick-walled hollow cylinder specimens depending on the stress path and cement content. Three different cement contents and two borehole sizes were investigated to study the influence of the bonding strength and scale on the particle dislodgment. Test results showed that the stress path has a significant influence on the onset of the sand bonding breakage. It was shown that for various stress paths, there is a near linear relationship between the absorbed energy and the normal effective mean stress.

Keywords: Borehole stability, experimental studies, total strain energy, poorly cemented sands, particle bonding breakage.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1273
200 Cascaded ANN for Evaluation of Frequency and Air-gap Voltage of Self-Excited Induction Generator

Authors: Raja Singh Khela, R. K. Bansal, K. S. Sandhu, A. K. Goel

Abstract:

Self-Excited Induction Generator (SEIG) builds up voltage while it enters in its magnetic saturation region. Due to non-linear magnetic characteristics, the performance analysis of SEIG involves cumbersome mathematical computations. The dependence of air-gap voltage on saturated magnetizing reactance can only be established at rated frequency by conducting a laboratory test commonly known as synchronous run test. But, there is no laboratory method to determine saturated magnetizing reactance and air-gap voltage of SEIG at varying speed, terminal capacitance and other loading conditions. For overall analysis of SEIG, prior information of magnetizing reactance, generated frequency and air-gap voltage is essentially required. Thus, analytical methods are the only alternative to determine these variables. Non-existence of direct mathematical relationship of these variables for different terminal conditions has forced the researchers to evolve new computational techniques. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are very useful for solution of such complex problems, as they do not require any a priori information about the system. In this paper, an attempt is made to use cascaded neural networks to first determine the generated frequency and magnetizing reactance with varying terminal conditions and then air-gap voltage of SEIG. The results obtained from the ANN model are used to evaluate the overall performance of SEIG and are found to be in good agreement with experimental results. Hence, it is concluded that analysis of SEIG can be carried out effectively using ANNs.

Keywords: Self-Excited Induction Generator, Artificial NeuralNetworks, Exciting Capacitance and Saturated magnetizingreactance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1641
199 Route Training in Mobile Robotics through System Identification

Authors: Roberto Iglesias, Theocharis Kyriacou, Ulrich Nehmzow, Steve Billings

Abstract:

Fundamental sensor-motor couplings form the backbone of most mobile robot control tasks, and often need to be implemented fast, efficiently and nevertheless reliably. Machine learning techniques are therefore often used to obtain the desired sensor-motor competences. In this paper we present an alternative to established machine learning methods such as artificial neural networks, that is very fast, easy to implement, and has the distinct advantage that it generates transparent, analysable sensor-motor couplings: system identification through nonlinear polynomial mapping. This work, which is part of the RobotMODIC project at the universities of Essex and Sheffield, aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the interaction between the robot and its environment. One of the purposes of this research is to enable the principled design of robot control programs. As a first step towards this aim we model the behaviour of the robot, as this emerges from its interaction with the environment, with the NARMAX modelling method (Nonlinear, Auto-Regressive, Moving Average models with eXogenous inputs). This method produces explicit polynomial functions that can be subsequently analysed using established mathematical methods. In this paper we demonstrate the fidelity of the obtained NARMAX models in the challenging task of robot route learning; we present a set of experiments in which a Magellan Pro mobile robot was taught to follow four different routes, always using the same mechanism to obtain the required control law.

Keywords: Mobile robotics, system identification, non-linear modelling, NARMAX.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1681
198 Synthesis, Physicochemical Characterization and Study of the Antimicrobial Activity of Chlorobutanol

Authors: N. Hadhoum, B. Guerfi, T. M. Sider, Z. Yassa, T. Djerboua, M. Boursouti, M. Mamou, F. Z. Hadjadj Aoul, L. R. Mekacher

Abstract:

Introduction and objectives: Chlorobutanol is a raw material, mainly used as an antiseptic and antimicrobial preservative in injectable and ophthalmic preparations. The main objective of our study was the synthesis and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of chlorobutanol hemihydrates. Material and methods: Chlorobutanol was synthesized according to the nucleophilic addition reaction of chloroform to acetone, identified by an infrared absorption using Spectrum One FTIR spectrometer, melting point, Scanning electron microscopy and colorimetric reactions. The dosage of carvedilol active substance was carried out by assaying the degradation products of chlorobutanol in a basic solution. The chlorobutanol obtained was subjected to bacteriological tests in order to study its antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against strains such as Escherichia coli (ATCC 25 922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25 923) and Pseudomonas aeroginosa (ATCC = American type culture collection). The antifungal activity was evaluated against human pathogenic fungal strains, such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger provided by the parasitology laboratory of the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. Results and discussion: Chlorobutanol was obtained in an acceptable yield. The characterization tests of the product obtained showed a white and crystalline appearance (confirmed by scanning electron microscopy), solubilities (in water, ethanol and glycerol), and a melting temperature in accordance with the requirements of the European pharmacopoeia. The colorimetric reactions were directed towards the presence of a trihalogenated carbon and an alcohol function. The spectral identification (IR) showed the presence of characteristic chlorobutanol peaks and confirmed the structure of the latter. The microbiological study revealed an antimicrobial effect on all strains tested (Sataphylococcus aureus (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), E. coli (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Pseudomonas aeroginosa (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Candida albicans (MIC =2500 µg/ml), Aspergillus niger (MIC =2500 µg/ml)) with MIC values close to literature data. Conclusion: Thus, on the whole, the synthesized chlorobutanol satisfied the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia, and possesses antibacterial and antifungal activity; nevertheless, it is necessary to insist on the purification step of the product in order to eliminate the maximum impurities.

Keywords: Antimicrobial agent, bacterial and fungal strains, chlorobutanol, MIC.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 881
197 New Simultaneous High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for Determination of NSAIDs and Opioid Analgesics in Advanced Drug Delivery Systems and Human Plasma

Authors: Asad Ullah Madni, Mahmood Ahmad, Naveed Akhtar, Muhammad Usman

Abstract:

A new and cost effective RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of non steroidal anti inflammatory dugs Diclofenac sodium (DFS), Flurbiprofen (FLP) and an opioid analgesic Tramadol (TMD) in advanced drug delivery systems (Liposome and Microcapsules), marketed brands and human plasma. Isocratic system was employed for the flow of mobile phase consisting of 10 mM sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer and acetonitrile in molar ratio of 67: 33 with adjusted pH of 3.2. The stationary phase was hypersil ODS column (C18, 250×4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) with controlled temperature of 30 C°. DFS in liposomes, microcapsules and marketed drug products was determined in range of 99.76-99.84%. FLP and TMD in microcapsules and brands formulation were 99.78 - 99.94 % and 99.80 - 99.82 %, respectively. Single step liquid-liquid extraction procedure using combination of acetonitrile and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) as protein precipitating agent was employed. The detection limits (at S/N ratio 3) of quality control solutions and plasma samples were 10, 20, and 20 ng/ml for DFS, FLP and TMD, respectively. The Assay was acceptable in linear dynamic range. All other validation parameters were found in limits of FDA and ICH method validation guidelines. The proposed method is sensitive, accurate and precise and could be applicable for routine analysis in pharmaceutical industry as well as in human plasma samples for bioequivalence and pharmacokinetics studies.

Keywords: Diclofenac Sodium, Flurbiprofen, Tramadol, HPLCUV detection, Validation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1815
196 Introducing Principles of Land Surveying by Assigning a Practical Project

Authors: Introducing Principles of Land Surveying by Assigning a Practical Project

Abstract:

A practical project is used in an engineering surveying course to expose sophomore and junior civil engineering students to several important issues related to the use of basic principles of land surveying. The project, which is the design of a two-lane rural highway to connect between two arbitrary points, requires students to draw the profile of the proposed highway along with the existing ground level. Areas of all cross-sections are then computed to enable quantity computations between them. Lastly, Mass-Haul Diagram is drawn with all important parts and features shown on it for clarity. At the beginning, students faced challenges getting started on the project. They had to spend time and effort thinking of the best way to proceed and how the work would flow. It was even more challenging when they had to visualize images of cut, fill and mixed cross sections in three dimensions before they can draw them to complete the necessary computations. These difficulties were then somewhat overcome with the help of the instructor and thorough discussions among team members and/or between different teams. The method of assessment used in this study was a well-prepared-end-of-semester questionnaire distributed to students after the completion of the project and the final exam. The survey contained a wide spectrum of questions from students' learning experience when this course development was implemented to students' satisfaction of the class instructions provided to them and the instructor's competency in presenting the material and helping with the project. It also covered the adequacy of the project to show a sample of a real-life civil engineering application and if there is any excitement added by implementing this idea. At the end of the questionnaire, students had the chance to provide their constructive comments and suggestions for future improvements of the land surveying course. Outcomes will be presented graphically and in a tabular format. Graphs provide visual explanation of the results and tables, on the other hand, summarize numerical values for each student along with some descriptive statistics, such as the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation for each student and each question as well. In addition to gaining experience in teamwork, communications, and customer relations, students felt the benefit of assigning such a project. They noticed the beauty of the practical side of civil engineering work and how theories are utilized in real-life engineering applications. It was even recommended by students that such a project be exercised every time this course is offered so future students can have the same learning opportunity they had.

Keywords: Land surveying, highway project, assessment, evaluation, descriptive statistic.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1429
195 Experimenting the Influence of Input Modality on Involvement Load Hypothesis

Authors: Mohammad Hassanzadeh

Abstract:

As far as incidental vocabulary learning is concerned, the basic contention of the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) is that retention of unfamiliar words is, generally, conditional upon the degree of involvement in processing them. This study examined input modality and incidental vocabulary uptake in a task-induced setting whereby three variously loaded task types (marginal glosses, fill-in-task, and sentence-writing) were alternately assigned to one group of students at Allameh Tabataba’i University (n=2l) during six classroom sessions. While one round of exposure was comprised of the audiovisual medium (TV talk shows), the second round consisted of textual materials with approximately similar subject matter (reading texts). In both conditions, however, the tasks were equivalent to one another. Taken together, the study pursued the dual objectives of establishing a litmus test for the ILH and its proposed values of ‘need’, ‘search’ and ‘evaluation’ in the first place. Secondly, it sought to bring to light the superiority issue of exposure to audiovisual input versus the written input as far as the incorporation of tasks is concerned. At the end of each treatment session, a vocabulary active recall test was administered to measure their incidental gains. Running a one-way analysis of variance revealed that the audiovisual intervention yielded higher gains than the written version even when differing tasks were included. Meanwhile, task 'three' (sentence-writing) turned out the most efficient in tapping learners' active recall of the target vocabulary items. In addition to shedding light on the superiority of audiovisual input over the written input when circumstances are relatively held constant, this study for the most part, did support the underlying tenets of ILH.

Keywords: Evaluation, incidental vocabulary learning, input mode, involvement load hypothesis, need, search.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1107
194 Feature Analysis of Predictive Maintenance Models

Authors: Zhaoan Wang

Abstract:

Research in predictive maintenance modeling has improved in the recent years to predict failures and needed maintenance with high accuracy, saving cost and improving manufacturing efficiency. However, classic prediction models provide little valuable insight towards the most important features contributing to the failure. By analyzing and quantifying feature importance in predictive maintenance models, cost saving can be optimized based on business goals. First, multiple classifiers are evaluated with cross-validation to predict the multi-class of failures. Second, predictive performance with features provided by different feature selection algorithms are further analyzed. Third, features selected by different algorithms are ranked and combined based on their predictive power. Finally, linear explainer SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) is applied to interpret classifier behavior and provide further insight towards the specific roles of features in both local predictions and global model behavior. The results of the experiments suggest that certain features play dominant roles in predictive models while others have significantly less impact on the overall performance. Moreover, for multi-class prediction of machine failures, the most important features vary with type of machine failures. The results may lead to improved productivity and cost saving by prioritizing sensor deployment, data collection, and data processing of more important features over less importance features.

Keywords: Automated supply chain, intelligent manufacturing, predictive maintenance machine learning, feature engineering, model interpretation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1940
193 Hazard Contributing Factors Classification for Petrol Fuel Station

Authors: Mirza Munir Ahmed, S.R.M. Kutty, Mohd Faris Khamidi, Idris Othman, Azmi Mohd Shariff

Abstract:

Petrol Fuel Station (PFS) has potential hazards to the people, asset, environment and reputation of an operating company. Fire hazards, static electricity air pollution evoked by aliphatic and aromatic organic compounds are major causes of accident/incident occurrence at fuel station. Activities such as carelessness, maintenance, housekeeping, slips trips and falls, transportation hazard, major and minor injuries, robbery and snake bites has a potential to create unsafe conditions. The level of risk of these hazards varies according to location and country. The emphasis on safety considerations by the government is variable all around the world. Developed countries safety records are much better as compared to developing countries safety statistics. There is no significant approach available to highlight the unsafe acts and unsafe conditions during operation and maintenance of fuel station. Fuel station is the most commonly available facilities that contain flammable and hazardous materials. Due to continuous operation of fuel station they pose various hazards to people, environment and assets of an organization. To control these hazards, there is a need for specific approach. PFS operation is unique as compared to other businesses. For smooth operations it demands an involvement of operating company, contractor and operator group. This study will focus to address hazard contributing factors that have a potential to make PFS operation risky. One year data collected, 902 activities analyzed, comparisons were made to highlight significant contributing factors. The study will provide help and assistance to PFS outlet marketing companies to make their fuel station operation safer. It will help health safety and environment (HSE) professionals to arrest the gap available related to safety matters at PFS.

Keywords: Accident, Contributing factors, carelessness, fire, explosion, injuries.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7332
192 Disparity of Learning Styles and Cognitive Abilities in Vocational Education

Authors: Mimi Mohaffyza Mohamad, Yee Mei Heong, Nurfirdawati Muhammad Hanafi Tee Tze Kiong

Abstract:

This study is conducted to investigate the disparity of between learning styles and cognitive abilities specifically in Vocational Education.  Felder and Silverman Learning Styles Model (FSLSM) was applied to measure the students’ learning styles while the content in Building Construction Subject consists; knowledge, skills and problem solving were taken into account in constructing the elements of cognitive abilities. Building Construction is one of the vocational courses offered in Vocational Education structure. There are four dimension of learning styles proposed by Felder and Silverman intended to capture student learning preferences with regards to processing either active or reflective, perception based on sensing or intuitive, input of information used visual or verbal and understanding information represent with sequential or global learner. Felder-Solomon Learning Styles Index was developed based on FSLSM and the questions were used to identify what type of student learning preferences. The index consists 44 item-questions characterize for learning styles dimension in FSLSM. The achievement test was developed to determine the students’ cognitive abilities. The quantitative data was analyzed in descriptive and inferential statistic involving Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The study discovered students are tending to be visual learners and each type of learner having significant difference whereas cognitive abilities there are different finding for each type of learners in knowledge, skills and problem solving. This study concludes the gap between type of learner and the cognitive abilities in few illustrations and it explained how the connecting made. The finding may help teachers to facilitate students more effectively and to boost the student’s cognitive abilities.

Keywords: Learning Styles, Cognitive Abilities, Dimension of Learning Styles, Learning Preferences.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2593
191 Synthesis, Physicochemical Characterization and Study of the Antimicrobial Activity of Chlorobutanol

Authors: H. Nadia, G. Bahdja, S. Thili Malha, Y. Zahoua, D. Taoufik, B. Mourad, M. Marzouk, F. Z. Hadjadj Aoul, L. R. Mekacher

Abstract:

Introduction and objectives: Chlorobutanol is a raw material, mainly used as an antiseptic and antimicrobial preservative in injectable and ophthalmic preparations. The main objective of our study was the synthesis and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of chlorobutanol hemihydrates. Material and methods: Chlorobutanol was synthesized according to the nucleophilic addition reaction of chloroform to acetone, identified by an infrared absorption using Spectrum One FTIR spectrometer, melting point, Scanning electron microscopy and colorimetric reactions. The dosage of Carvedilol active substance was carried out by assaying the degradation products of chlorobutanol in a basic solution. The chlorobutanol obtained was subjected to bacteriological tests in order to study its antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against strains such as Escherichia coli (ATCC 25 922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25 923) and Pseudomonas aeroginosa (ATCC = American type culture collection). The antifungal activity was evaluated against human pathogenic fungal strains, such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger provided by the parasitology laboratory of the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. Results and discussion: Chlorobutanol was obtained in an acceptable yield. The characterization tests of the product obtained showed a white and crystalline appearance (confirmed by scanning electron microscopy), solubilities (in water, ethanol and glycerol), and a melting temperature in accordance with the requirements of the European pharmacopoeia. The colorimetric reactions were directed towards the presence of a trihalogenated carbon and an alcohol function. The spectral identification (IR) showed the presence of characteristic chlorobutanol peaks and confirmed the structure of the latter. The microbiological study revealed an antimicrobial effect on all strains tested (Sataphylococcus aureus (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), E. coli (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Pseudomonas aeroginosa (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Candida albicans (MIC =2500 µg/ml), Aspergillus niger (MIC =2500 µg/ml)) with MIC values close to literature data. Conclusion: Thus, on the whole, the synthesized chlorobutanol satisfied the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia, and possesses antibacterial and antifungal activity; nevertheless it is necessary to insist on the purification step of the product in order to eliminate the maximum impurities.

Keywords: Antimicrobial agent, bacterial and fungal strains, chlorobutanol, MIC.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1851
190 Analysis and Design of Inductive Power Transfer Systems for Automotive Battery Charging Applications

Authors: Wahab Ali Shah, Junjia He

Abstract:

Transferring electrical power without any wiring has been a dream since late 19th century. There were some advances in this area as to know more about microwave systems. However, this subject has recently become very attractive due to their practiScal systems. There are low power applications such as charging the batteries of contactless tooth brushes or implanted devices, and higher power applications such as charging the batteries of electrical automobiles or buses. In the first group of applications operating frequencies are in microwave range while the frequency is lower in high power applications. In the latter, the concept is also called inductive power transfer. The aim of the paper is to have an overview of the inductive power transfer for electrical vehicles with a special concentration on coil design and power converter simulation for static charging. Coil design is very important for an efficient and safe power transfer. Coil design is one of the most critical tasks. Power converters are used in both side of the system. The converter on the primary side is used to generate a high frequency voltage to excite the primary coil. The purpose of the converter in the secondary is to rectify the voltage transferred from the primary to charge the battery. In this paper, an inductive power transfer system is studied. Inductive power transfer is a promising technology with several possible applications. Operation principles of these systems are explained, and components of the system are described. Finally, a single phase 2 kW system was simulated and results were presented. The work presented in this paper is just an introduction to the concept. A reformed compensation network based on traditional inductor-capacitor-inductor (LCL) topology is proposed to realize robust reaction to large coupling variation that is common in dynamic wireless charging application. In the future, this type compensation should be studied. Also, comparison of different compensation topologies should be done for the same power level.

Keywords: Coil design, contactless charging, electrical automobiles, inductive power transfer, operating frequency.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 944
189 Determining the Maximum Lateral Displacement Due to Sever Earthquakes without Using Nonlinear Analysis

Authors: Mussa Mahmoudi

Abstract:

For Seismic design, it is important to estimate, maximum lateral displacement (inelastic displacement) of the structures due to sever earthquakes for several reasons. Seismic design provisions estimate the maximum roof and storey drifts occurring in major earthquakes by amplifying the drifts of the structures obtained by elastic analysis subjected to seismic design load, with a coefficient named “displacement amplification factor" which is greater than one. Here, this coefficient depends on various parameters, such as ductility and overstrength factors. The present research aims to evaluate the value of the displacement amplification factor in seismic design codes and then tries to propose a value to estimate the maximum lateral structural displacement from sever earthquakes, without using non-linear analysis. In seismic codes, since the displacement amplification is related to “force reduction factor" hence; this aspect has been accepted in the current study. Meanwhile, two methodologies are applied to evaluate the value of displacement amplification factor and its relation with the force reduction factor. In the first methodology, which is applied for all structures, the ratio of displacement amplification and force reduction factors is determined directly. Whereas, in the second methodology that is applicable just for R/C moment resisting frame, the ratio is obtained by calculating both factors, separately. The acquired results of these methodologies are alike and estimate the ratio of two factors from 1 to 1.2. The results indicate that the ratio of the displacement amplification factor and the force reduction factor differs to those proposed by seismic provisions such as NEHRP, IBC and Iranian seismic code (standard no. 2800).

Keywords: Displacement amplification factor, Ductility factor, Force reduction factor, Maximum lateral displacement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2847
188 Preferred Character Size for Oblique Angles

Authors: Photjanat Phimnom, Haruetai Lohasiriwat

Abstract:

In today’s world, the LED display has been used for presenting visual information under various circumstances. Such information is an important intermediary in the human information processing. Researchers have been investigated diverse factors that influence this process effectiveness. The letter size is undoubtedly one major factor that has been tested and recommended by many standards and guidelines. However, viewing information on the display from direct perpendicular position is a typical assumption whereas many actual events are required viewing from the angles. This current research aims to study the effect of oblique viewing angle and viewing distance on ability to recognize alphabet, number, and English word. The total of ten participants was volunteered to our 3 x 4 x 4 within subject study. Independent variables include three distance levels (2, 6, and 12 m), four oblique angles (0, 45, 60, 75 degree), and four target types (alphabet, number, short word, and long word). Following the method of constant stimuli our study suggests that the larger oblique angle, ranging from 0 to 75 degree from the line of sight, results in significant higher legibility threshold or larger font size required (p-value < 0.05). Viewing distance factor also shows to have significant effect on the threshold (p-value < 0.05). However, the effect from distance factor is expected to be confounded by the quality of the screen used in our experiment. Lastly, our results show that single alphabet as well as single number are recognized at significant lower threshold (smaller font size) as compared to both short and long words (p-value < 0.05). Therefore, it is recommended that when designs information to be presented on LED display, understanding of all possible ranges of oblique angle should be taken into account in order to specify the preferred letter size. Additionally, the recommendation of letter size for 100% legibility in our tested conditions is provided in the paper.

Keywords: Letter Size, Oblique Angle, Viewing Distance, Legibility Threshold.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1301
187 Effect of Twelve Weeks Brisk Walking on Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, and Anthropometric Circumference of Obese Males

Authors: Kaukab Azeem

Abstract:

Introduction: Obesity is a major health risk issue in the present day of life for one and all globally. Obesity is one of the major concerns for public health according to recent increasing trends in obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes. ( Kazuya, 1994).and hyperlipidemia, (Sakata,1990) .which are more prevalent in Japanese adults with body mass index (BMI) values Z25 kg/m2.( Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare,1997). The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of twelve weeks of brisk walking on blood pressure and body mass index, anthropometric measurements of obese males. Method: Thirty obese (BMI= above 30) males, aged 18 to 22 years, were selected from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The subject-s height (cm) was measured using a stadiometer and body mass (kg) was measured with a electronic weighing machine. BMI was subsequently calculated (kg/m2). The blood pressure was measured with standardized sphygmomanometer in mm of Hg. All the measurements were taken twice before and twice after the experimental period. The pre and post anthropometric measurements of waist and hip circumference were measured with the steel tape in cm. The subjects underwent walking schedule two times in a week for 12 weeks. The 45 minute sessions of brisk walking were undertaken at an average intensity of 65% to 85% of maximum HR (HRmax; calculated as 220-age). Results & Discussion: Statistical findings revealed significant changes from pre test to post test in case of both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure in the walking group. Results also showed significant decrease in their body mass index and anthropometric measurements i.e. (waist & hip circumference). Conclusion: It was concluded that twelve weeks brisk walking is beneficial for lowering of blood pressure, body mass index, and anthropometric circumference of obese males.

Keywords: Anthropometric, Blood pressure, Body mass index

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3030
186 The Influence of Project-Based Learning and Outcome-Based Education: Interior Design Tertiary Students in Focus

Authors: Omneya Messallam

Abstract:

Technology has been developed dramatically in most of the educational disciplines. For instance, digital rendering subject, which is being taught in both Interior and Architecture fields, is witnessing almost annually updated software versions. A lot of students and educators argued that there will be no need for manual rendering techniques to be learned. Therefore, the Interior Design Visual Presentation 1 course (ID133) has been chosen from the first level of the Interior Design (ID) undergraduate program, as it has been taught for six years continually. This time frame will facilitate sound observation and critical analysis of the use of appropriate teaching methodologies. Furthermore, the researcher believes in the high value of the manual rendering techniques. The course objectives are: to define the basic visual rendering principles, to recall theories and uses of various types of colours and hatches, to raise the learners’ awareness of the value of studying manual render techniques, and to prepare them to present their work professionally. The students are female Arab learners aged between 17 and 20. At the outset of the course, the majority of them demonstrated negative attitude, lacking both motivation and confidence in manual rendering skills. This paper is a reflective appraisal of deploying two student-centred teaching pedagogies which are: Project-based learning (PBL) and Outcome-based education (OBE) on ID133 students. This research aims of developing some teaching strategies to enhance the quality of teaching in this given course over an academic semester. The outcome of this research emphasized the positive influence of applying such educational methods on improving the quality of students’ manual rendering skills in terms of: materials, textiles, textures, lighting, and shade and shadow. Furthermore, it greatly motivated the students and raised the awareness of the importance of learning the manual rendering techniques.

Keywords: Manual renders, outcome-based education, project-based learning, personal competences, and visual presentation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 798
185 Morphology and Risk Factors for Blunt Aortic Trauma in Car Accidents - An Autopsy Study

Authors: Ticijana Prijon, Branko Ermenc

Abstract:

Background: Blunt aortic trauma (BAT) includes various morphological changes that occur during deceleration, acceleration and/or body compression in traffic accidents. The various forms of BAT, from limited laceration of the intima to complete transection of the aorta, depends on the force acting on the vessel wall and the tolerance of the aorta to injury. The force depends on the change in velocity, the dynamics of the accident and of the seating position in the car. Tolerance to aortic injury depends on the anatomy, histological structure and pathomorphological alterations due to aging or disease of the aortic wall. An overview of the literature and medical documentation reveals that different terms are used to describe certain forms of BAT, which can lead to misinterpretation of findings or diagnoses. We therefore, propose a classification that would enable uniform systematic screening of all forms of BAT. We have classified BAT into three morphologycal types: TYPE I (intramural), TYPE II (transmural) and TYPE III (multiple) aortic ruptures with appropriate subtypes. Methods: All car accident casualties examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine from 2001 to 2009 were included in this retrospective study. Autopsy reports were used to determine the occurrence of each morphological type of BAT in deceased drivers, front seat passengers and other passengers in cars and to define the morphology of BAT in relation to the accident dynamics and the age of the fatalities. Results: A total of 391 fatalities in car accidents were included in the study. TYPE I, TYPE II and TYPE III BAT were observed in 10,9%, 55,6% and 33,5%, respectively. The incidence of BAT in drivers, front seat and other passengers was 36,7%, 43,1% and 28,6%, respectively. In frontal collisions, the incidence of BAT was 32,7%, in lateral collisions 54,2%, and in other traffic accidents 29,3%. The average age of fatalities with BAT was 42,8 years and of those without BAT 39,1 years. Conclusion: Identification and early recognition of the risk factors of BAT following a traffic accident is crucial for successful treatment of patients with BAT. Front seat passengers over 50 years of age who have been injured in a lateral collision are the most at risk of BAT.

Keywords: Aorta, blunt trauma, car accidents, morphology, risk factors.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2066
184 Extracting the Coupled Dynamics in Thin-Walled Beams from Numerical Data Bases

Authors: Mohammad A. Bani-Khaled

Abstract:

In this work we use the Discrete Proper Orthogonal Decomposition transform to characterize the properties of coupled dynamics in thin-walled beams by exploiting numerical simulations obtained from finite element simulations. The outcomes of the will improve our understanding of the linear and nonlinear coupled behavior of thin-walled beams structures. Thin-walled beams have widespread usage in modern engineering application in both large scale structures (aeronautical structures), as well as in nano-structures (nano-tubes). Therefore, detailed knowledge in regard to the properties of coupled vibrations and buckling in these structures are of great interest in the research community. Due to the geometric complexity in the overall structure and in particular in the cross-sections it is necessary to involve computational mechanics to numerically simulate the dynamics. In using numerical computational techniques, it is not necessary to over simplify a model in order to solve the equations of motions. Computational dynamics methods produce databases of controlled resolution in time and space. These numerical databases contain information on the properties of the coupled dynamics. In order to extract the system dynamic properties and strength of coupling among the various fields of the motion, processing techniques are required. Time- Proper Orthogonal Decomposition transform is a powerful tool for processing databases for the dynamics. It will be used to study the coupled dynamics of thin-walled basic structures. These structures are ideal to form a basis for a systematic study of coupled dynamics in structures of complex geometry.

Keywords: Coupled dynamics, geometric complexity, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), thin walled beams.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 976
183 Buckling Optimization of Radially-Graded, Thin-Walled, Long Cylinders under External Pressure

Authors: Karam Y. Maalawi

Abstract:

This paper presents a generalized formulation for the problem of buckling optimization of anisotropic, radially graded, thin-walled, long cylinders subject to external hydrostatic pressure. The main structure to be analyzed is built of multi-angle fibrous laminated composite lay-ups having different volume fractions of the constituent materials within the individual plies. This yield to a piecewise grading of the material in the radial direction; that is the physical and mechanical properties of the composite material are allowed to vary radially. The objective function is measured by maximizing the critical buckling pressure while preserving the total structural mass at a constant value equals to that of a baseline reference design. In the selection of the significant optimization variables, the fiber volume fractions adjoin the standard design variables including fiber orientation angles and ply thicknesses. The mathematical formulation employs the classical lamination theory, where an analytical solution that accounts for the effective axial and flexural stiffness separately as well as the inclusion of the coupling stiffness terms is presented. The proposed model deals with dimensionless quantities in order to be valid for thin shells having arbitrary thickness-to-radius ratios. The critical buckling pressure level curves augmented with the mass equality constraint are given for several types of cylinders showing the functional dependence of the constrained objective function on the selected design variables. It was shown that material grading can have significant contribution to the whole optimization process in achieving the required structural designs with enhanced stability limits.

Keywords: Buckling instability, structural optimization, functionally graded material, laminated cylindrical shells, externalhydrostatic pressure.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2312
182 Color Characteristics of Dried Cocoa Using Shallow Box Fermentation Technique

Authors: Khairul Bariah Sulaiman, Tajul Aris Yang

Abstract:

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.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2916
181 Integration of Educational Data Mining Models to a Web-Based Support System for Predicting High School Student Performance

Authors: Sokkhey Phauk, Takeo Okazaki

Abstract:

The challenging task in educational institutions is to maximize the high performance of students and minimize the failure rate of poor-performing students. An effective method to leverage this task is to know student learning patterns with highly influencing factors and get an early prediction of student learning outcomes at the timely stage for setting up policies for improvement. Educational data mining (EDM) is an emerging disciplinary field of data mining, statistics, and machine learning concerned with extracting useful knowledge and information for the sake of improvement and development in the education environment. The study is of this work is to propose techniques in EDM and integrate it into a web-based system for predicting poor-performing students. A comparative study of prediction models is conducted. Subsequently, high performing models are developed to get higher performance. The hybrid random forest (Hybrid RF) produces the most successful classification. For the context of intervention and improving the learning outcomes, a feature selection method MICHI, which is the combination of mutual information (MI) and chi-square (CHI) algorithms based on the ranked feature scores, is introduced to select a dominant feature set that improves the performance of prediction and uses the obtained dominant set as information for intervention. By using the proposed techniques of EDM, an academic performance prediction system (APPS) is subsequently developed for educational stockholders to get an early prediction of student learning outcomes for timely intervention. Experimental outcomes and evaluation surveys report the effectiveness and usefulness of the developed system. The system is used to help educational stakeholders and related individuals for intervening and improving student performance.

Keywords: Academic performance prediction system, prediction model, educational data mining, dominant factors, feature selection methods, student performance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 917
180 Intraoperative ICG-NIR Fluorescence Angiography Visualization of Intestinal Perfusion in Primary Pull-Through for Hirschsprung Disease

Authors: Mohammad Emran, Colton Wayne, Shannon M Koehler, P. Stephen Almond, Haroon Patel

Abstract:

Purpose: Assessment of anastomotic perfusion in Hirschsprung disease using Indocyanine Green (ICG)-near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence angiography. Introduction: Anastomotic stricture and leak are well-known complications of Hirschsprung pull-through procedures. Complications are due to tension, infection, and/or poor perfusion. While a surgeon can visually determine and control the amount of tension and contamination, assessment of perfusion is subject to surgeon determination. Intraoperative use of ICG-NIR enhances this decision-making process by illustrating perfusion intensity and adequacy in the pulled-through bowel segment. This technique, proven to reduce anastomotic stricture and leak in adults, has not been studied in children to our knowledge. ICG, an FDA approved, nontoxic, non-immunogenic, intravascular (IV) dye, has been used in adults and children for over 60 years, with few side effects. ICG-NIR was used in this report to demonstrate the adequacy of perfusion during transanal pullthrough for Hirschsprung’s disease. Method: 8 patients with Hirschsprung disease were evaluated with ICG-NIR technology. Levels of affected area ranged from sigmoid to total colonic Hirschsprung disease. After leveling, but prior to anastomosis, ICG was administered at 1.25 mg (< 2 mg/kg) and perfusion visualized using an NIR camera, before and during anastomosis. Video and photo imaging was performed and perfusion of the bowel was compared to surrounding tissues. This showed the degree of perfusion and demarcation of perfused and non-perfused bowel. The anastomosis was completed uneventfully and the patients all did well. Results: There were no complications of stricture or leak. 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) had modification of the plan based on ICG-NIR imaging. Conclusion: Technologies that enhance surgeons’ ability to visualize bowel perfusion prior to anastomosis in Hirschsprung’s patients may help reduce post-operative complications. Further studies are needed to assess the potential benefits.

Keywords: Colonic anastomosis, fluorescence angiography, Hirschsprung disease, pediatric surgery, SPY, ICG, NIR.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 600
179 Analyzing the Impact of Indian Architecture on the Architecture of Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia

Authors: Sriranjani Srinivasan

Abstract:

To appreciate Indian art and architecture by studying it in India alone will only lead to partial understanding of the whole story and the variety of the statement has been amply proved by subsequent decades of patient research. The results of the work of the Archaeological Survey of India forms only one half of the picture, the other half emerges with the studies of the archaeology and art of the Far East that progressed almost simultaneously under the Archaeological Survey of the Dutch East Indies, the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), or French School of Asian Studies, and allied institutions. The conclusions arrived at have only rendered the assertion that India produced her ultimate master pieces only through foreign influences and in foreign lands (the South-Eastern peninsular and archipelagic regions) almost axiomatic. Angkor in Cambodia and Borobudur in Java, undoubtedly the two greatest architectural marvels of Indian genius, for in content and spirit these (and other monuments of varying magnitudes), are purely Indian, would well illustrate the statement mentioned earlier. Stimulated research followed the discoveries and among the many studies and publications of such pioneers like Coedes, Parmentier, Coomaraswamy and many others in Dutch, French and English made growing contributions to the subject. This paper will discuss in detail the impact of India on the architecture of South East Asia by detailed comparison of architectural styles, elements, and construction materials of a few specific architectural master pieces, in both India and South East Asian countries. It will also analyze the reasoning behind the influence of India on South East Asian countries in spite of them being exposed to the equally culturally rich and civilized kingdoms of China. The intention of this paper is to understand that, conquest by war is not always the only reason for architectural influences and impacts.

Keywords: Architectural influence, Buddhist architecture, Indian architecture, Southeast Asian architecture.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1237
178 A Three Elements Vector Valued Structure’s Ultimate Strength-Strong Motion-Intensity Measure

Authors: A. Nicknam, N. Eftekhari, A. Mazarei, M. Ganjvar

Abstract:

This article presents an alternative collapse capacity intensity measure in the three elements form which is influenced by the spectral ordinates at periods longer than that of the first mode period at near and far source sites. A parameter, denoted by β, is defined by which the spectral ordinate effects, up to the effective period (2T1), on the intensity measure are taken into account. The methodology permits to meet the hazard-levelled target extreme event in the probabilistic and deterministic forms. A MATLAB code is developed involving OpenSees to calculate the collapse capacities of the 8 archetype RC structures having 2 to 20 stories for regression process. The incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method is used to calculate the structure’s collapse values accounting for the element stiffness and strength deterioration. The general near field set presented by FEMA is used in a series of performing nonlinear analyses. 8 linear relationships are developed for the 8structutres leading to the correlation coefficient up to 0.93. A collapse capacity near field prediction equation is developed taking into account the results of regression processes obtained from the 8 structures. The proposed prediction equation is validated against a set of actual near field records leading to a good agreement. Implementation of the proposed equation to the four archetype RC structures demonstrated different collapse capacities at near field site compared to those of FEMA. The reasons of differences are believed to be due to accounting for the spectral shape effects.

Keywords: Collapse capacity, fragility analysis, spectral shape effects, IDA method.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1752
177 Support Vector Regression for Retrieval of Soil Moisture Using Bistatic Scatterometer Data at X-Band

Authors: Dileep Kumar Gupta, Rajendra Prasad, Pradeep Kumar, Varun Narayan Mishra, Ajeet Kumar Vishwakarma, Prashant Kumar Srivastava

Abstract:

An approach was evaluated for the retrieval of soil moisture of bare soil surface using bistatic scatterometer data in the angular range of 200 to 700 at VV- and HH- polarization. The microwave data was acquired by specially designed X-band (10 GHz) bistatic scatterometer. The linear regression analysis was done between scattering coefficients and soil moisture content to select the suitable incidence angle for retrieval of soil moisture content. The 250 incidence angle was found more suitable. The support vector regression analysis was used to approximate the function described by the input output relationship between the scattering coefficient and corresponding measured values of the soil moisture content. The performance of support vector regression algorithm was evaluated by comparing the observed and the estimated soil moisture content by statistical performance indices %Bias, root mean squared error (RMSE) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE). The values of %Bias, root mean squared error (RMSE) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) were found 2.9451, 1.0986 and 0.9214 respectively at HHpolarization. At VV- polarization, the values of %Bias, root mean squared error (RMSE) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) were found 3.6186, 0.9373 and 0.9428 respectively.

Keywords: Bistatic scatterometer, soil moisture, support vector regression, RMSE, %Bias, NSE.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3177
176 Application of Interferometric Techniques for Quality Control of Oils Used in the Food Industry

Authors: Andres Piña, Amy Meléndez, Pablo Cano, Tomas Cahuich

Abstract:

The purpose of this project is to propose a quick and environmentally friendly alternative to measure the quality of oils used in food industry. There is evidence that repeated and indiscriminate use of oils in food processing cause physicochemical changes with formation of potentially toxic compounds that can affect the health of consumers and cause organoleptic changes. In order to assess the quality of oils, non-destructive optical techniques such as Interferometry offer a rapid alternative to the use of reagents, using only the interaction of light on the oil. Through this project, we used interferograms of samples of oil placed under different heating conditions to establish the changes in their quality. These interferograms were obtained by means of a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer using a beam of light from a HeNe laser of 10mW at 632.8nm. Each interferogram was captured, analyzed and measured full width at half-maximum (FWHM) using the software from Amcap and ImageJ. The total of FWHMs was organized in three groups. It was observed that the average obtained from each of the FWHMs of group A shows a behavior that is almost linear, therefore it is probable that the exposure time is not relevant when the oil is kept under constant temperature. Group B exhibits a slight exponential model when temperature raises between 373 K and 393 K. Results of the t-Student show a probability of 95% (0.05) of the existence of variation in the molecular composition of both samples. Furthermore, we found a correlation between the Iodine Indexes (Physicochemical Analysis) and the Interferograms (Optical Analysis) of group C. Based on these results, this project highlights the importance of the quality of the oils used in food industry and shows how Interferometry can be a useful tool for this purpose.

Keywords: Food industry, interferometric, oils, quality control.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2133
175 A Real Time Set Up for Retrieval of Emotional States from Human Neural Responses

Authors: Rashima Mahajan, Dipali Bansal, Shweta Singh

Abstract:

Real time non-invasive Brain Computer Interfaces have a significant progressive role in restoring or maintaining a quality life for medically challenged people. This manuscript provides a comprehensive review of emerging research in the field of cognitive/affective computing in context of human neural responses. The perspectives of different emotion assessment modalities like face expressions, speech, text, gestures, and human physiological responses have also been discussed. Focus has been paid to explore the ability of EEG (Electroencephalogram) signals to portray thoughts, feelings, and unspoken words. An automated workflow-based protocol to design an EEG-based real time Brain Computer Interface system for analysis and classification of human emotions elicited by external audio/visual stimuli has been proposed. The front end hardware includes a cost effective and portable Emotiv EEG Neuroheadset unit, a personal computer and a set of external stimulators. Primary signal analysis and processing of real time acquired EEG shall be performed using MATLAB based advanced brain mapping toolbox EEGLab/BCILab. This shall be followed by the development of MATLAB based self-defined algorithm to capture and characterize temporal and spectral variations in EEG under emotional stimulations. The extracted hybrid feature set shall be used to classify emotional states using artificial intelligence tools like Artificial Neural Network. The final system would result in an inexpensive, portable and more intuitive Brain Computer Interface in real time scenario to control prosthetic devices by translating different brain states into operative control signals.

Keywords: Brain Computer Interface (BCI), Electroencephalogram (EEG), EEGLab, BCILab, Emotiv, Emotions, Interval features, Spectral features, Artificial Neural Network, Control applications.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5258
174 FACTS Based Stabilization for Smart Grid Applications

Authors: Adel M. Sharaf, Foad H. Gandoman

Abstract:

Nowadays, Photovoltaic-PV Farms/ Parks and large PV-Smart Grid Interface Schemes are emerging and commonly utilized in Renewable Energy distributed generation. However, PVhybrid- Dc-Ac Schemes using interface power electronic converters usually has negative impact on power quality and stabilization of modern electrical network under load excursions and network fault conditions in smart grid. Consequently, robust FACTS based interface schemes are required to ensure efficient energy utilization and stabilization of bus voltages as well as limiting switching/fault onrush current condition. FACTS devices are also used in smart grid- Battery Interface and Storage Schemes with PV-Battery Storage hybrid systems as an elegant alternative to renewable energy utilization with backup battery storage for electric utility energy and demand side management to provide needed energy and power capacity under heavy load conditions. The paper presents a robust interface PV-Li-Ion Battery Storage Interface Scheme for Distribution/Utilization Low Voltage Interface using FACTS stabilization enhancement and dynamic maximum PV power tracking controllers. Digital simulation and validation of the proposed scheme is done using MATLAB/Simulink software environment for Low Voltage- Distribution/Utilization system feeding a hybrid Linear-Motorized inrush and nonlinear type loads from a DC-AC Interface VSC-6- pulse Inverter Fed from the PV Park/Farm with a back-up Li-Ion Storage Battery.

Keywords: AC FACTS, Smart grid, Stabilization, PV-Battery Storage, Switched Filter-Compensation (SFC).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3201