Abstract: A special case of floating point data representation is block
floating point format where a block of operands are forced to have a joint
exponent term. This paper deals with the finite wordlength properties of
this data format. The theoretical errors associated with the error model for
block floating point quantization process is investigated with the help of error
distribution functions. A fast and easy approximation formula for calculating
signal-to-noise ratio in quantization to block floating point format is derived.
This representation is found to be a useful compromise between fixed point
and floating point format due to its acceptable numerical error properties over
a wide dynamic range.
Abstract: In this study, some physical and mechanical properties
of jujube fruits, were measured and compared at constant moisture
content of 15.5% w.b. The results showed that the mean length, width
and thickness of jujube fruits were 18.88, 16.79 and 15.9 mm,
respectively. The mean projected areas of jujube perpendicular to
length, width, and thickness were 147.01, 224.08 and 274.60 mm2,
respectively. The mean mass and volume were 1.51 g and 2672.80
mm3, respectively. The arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean
diameter and equivalent diameter varied from 14.53 to 20 mm, 14.5
to 19.94 mm, and 14.52 to 19.97 mm, respectively. The sphericity,
aspect ratio and surface area of jujube fruits were 0.91, 0.89 and
926.28 mm2, respectively. Whole fruit density, bulk density and
porosity of jujube fruits were measured and found to be 1.52 g/cm3,
0.3 g/cm3 and 79.3%, respectively. The angle of repose of jujube fruit
was 14.66° (±0.58°). The static coefficient of friction on galvanized
iron steel was higher than that on plywood and lower than that on
glass surface. The values of rupture force, deformation, hardness and
energy absorbed were found to be between 11.13-19.91N, 2.53-
4.82mm, 3.06-5.81N mm and 20.13-39.08 N/mm, respectively.
Abstract: A nucleotide sequence can be expressed as a numerical sequence when each nucleotide is assigned its proton number. A resulting gene numerical sequence can be investigated for its fractal dimension in terms of evolution and chemical properties for comparative studies. We have investigated such nucleotide fluctuation in the 16S rRNA gene of archaea thermophiles. The studied archaea thermophiles were archaeoglobus fulgidus, methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, methanocaldococcus jannaschii, pyrococcus horikoshii, and thermoplasma acidophilum. The studied five archaea-euryarchaeota thermophiles have fractal dimension values ranging from 1.93 to 1.97. Computer simulation shows that random sequences would have an average of about 2 with a standard deviation about 0.015. The fractal dimension was found to correlate (negative correlation) with the thermophile-s optimal growth temperature with R2 value of 0.90 (N =5). The inclusion of two aracheae-crenarchaeota thermophiles reduces the R2 value to 0.66 (N = 7). Further inclusion of two bacterial thermophiles reduces the R2 value to 0.50 (N =9). The fractal dimension is correlated (positive) to the sequence GC content with an R2 value of 0.89 for the five archaea-euryarchaeota thermophiles (and 0.74 for the entire set of N = 9), although computer simulation shows little correlation. The highest correlation (positive) was found to be between the fractal dimension and di-nucleotide Shannon entropy. However Shannon entropy and sequence GC content were observed to correlate with optimal growth temperature having an R2 of 0.8 (negative), and 0.88 (positive), respectively, for the entire set of 9 thermophiles; thus the correlation lacks species specificity. Together with another correlation study of bacterial radiation dosage with RecA repair gene sequence fractal dimension, it is postulated that fractal dimension analysis is a sensitive tool for studying the relationship between genotype and phenotype among closely related sequences.
Abstract: Experiments have been carried out at the Latvia
University of Agriculture Department of Food Technology. The aim
of this work was to assess the effect of thermal treatment in flexible
retort pouch packaging on the quality of potatoes’ produce during the
storage time. Samples were evaluated immediately after retort
thermal treatment; and following 1; 2; 3 and 4 storage months at the
ambient temperature of +18±2ºC in vacuum packaging from
polyamide/polyethylene (PA/PE) and aluminum/polyethylene
(Al/PE) film pouches with barrier properties. Experimentally the
quality of the potatoes’ produce in dry butter and mushroom
dressings was characterized by measuring pH, hardness, color,
microbiological properties and sensory evaluation. The sterilization
was effective in protecting the produce from physical, chemical, and
microbial quality degradation. According to the study of obtained
data, it can be argued that the selected product processing technology
and packaging materials could be applied to provide the safety and
security during four-month storage period.
Abstract: Turbulence studies were made in the wake of a rotating
circular cylinder in a uniform free stream. The interest was to
examine the turbulence properties at the suppression of periodicity in
vortex formation process. An experimental study of the turbulent near
wake of a rotating circular cylinder was made at a Reynolds number
of 9000 for velocity ratios, λ between 0 and 2.7. Hot-wire
anemometry and particle image velocimetry results indicate that the
rotation of the cylinder causes significant changes in the vortical
activities. The turbulence quantities are getting smaller as λ increases
due to suppression of coherent vortex structures.
Abstract: The importance for manipulating an incorporated
scaffold and directing cell behaviors is well appreciated for tissue
engineering. Here, we developed newly nano-topographic oxidized
silicon nanosponges capable of being various chemical modifications
to provide much insight into the fundamental biology of how cells
interact with their surrounding environment in vitro. A wet etching
technique is exerted to allow us fabricated the silicon nanosponges in a
high-throughput manner. Furthermore, various organo-silane
chemicals enabled self-assembled on the surfaces by vapor deposition.
We have found that Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells displayed
certain distinguishable morphogenesis, adherent responses, and
biochemical properties while cultured on these chemical modified
nano-topographic structures in compared with the planar oxidized
silicon counterparts, indicating that cell behaviors can be influenced
by certain physical characteristic derived from nano-topography in
addition to the hydrophobicity of contact surfaces crucial for cell
adhesion and spreading. Of particular, there were predominant
nano-actin punches and slender protrusions formed while cells were
cultured on the nano-topographic structures. This study shed potential
applications of these nano-topographic biomaterials for controlling
cell development in tissue engineering or basic cell biology research.
Abstract: The present paper concerns with the influence of fiber
packing on the transverse plastic properties of metal matrix
composites. A micromechanical modeling procedure is used to
predict the effective mechanical properties of composite materials at
large tensile and compressive deformations. Microstructure is
represented by a repeating unit cell (RUC). Two fiber arrays are
considered including ideal square fiber packing and random fiber
packing defined by random sequential algorithm. The
micromechanical modeling procedure is implemented for
graphite/aluminum metal matrix composite in which the
reinforcement behaves as elastic, isotropic solids and the matrix is
modeled as an isotropic elastic-plastic solid following the von Mises
criterion with isotropic hardening and the Ramberg-Osgood
relationship between equivalent true stress and logarithmic strain.
The deformation is increased to a considerable value to evaluate both
elastic and plastic behaviors of metal matrix composites. The yields
strength and true elastic-plastic stress are determined for
graphite/aluminum composites.
Abstract: In this study, synthesis of biomemitic patterned nano
hydroxyapatite-starch biocomposites using different concentration of
starch to evaluate effect of polymer alteration on biocomposites
structural properties has been reported. Formation of hydroxyapatite
nano particles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Size and morphology of the
samples were characterized using scanning and transmission electron
microscopy (SEM and TEM). It seems that by increasing starch
content, the more active site of polymer (oxygen atoms) can be
provided for interaction with Ca2+ followed by phosphate and
hydroxyl group.
Abstract: Collected data must be organized to be utilized efficiently, and hierarchical classification of data is efficient approach to organize data. When data is classified to multiple categories or annotated with a set of labels, users request multi-labeled data by giving a set of labels. There are several interpretations of the data expressed by a set of labels. This paper discusses which data is expressed by a set of labels by introducing orders for sets of labels and shows that there are four types of orders, which are characterized by whether the labels of expressed data includes every label of the given set of labels within the range of the set. Desirable properties of the orders, data is also expressed by the higher set of labels and different sets of labels express different data, are discussed for the orders.
Abstract: This paper examines the modeling and analysis of a
cruise control system using a Petri net based approach, task graphs,
invariant analysis and behavioral properties. It shows how the
structures used can be verified and optimized.
Abstract: Arenga pinnata is an abundantly natural fiber that can be used for sound proof material. However, the scientific data of acoustics properties of Arenga pinnata was not available yet. In this study the sound absorption of pure arenga pinnata was measured. The thickness of Arenga pinnata was varied in 10 mm, 20 mm, 30mm, and 40mm. This work was carried out to investigate the potential of using Arenga pinnata fiber as raw material for sound absorbing material. Impedance Tube Method was used to measure sound absorption coefficient (α). The Measurements was done in accordance with ASTM E1050-98, that is the standard test method for impedance and absorption of acoustical materials using a tube, two microphones and a digital frequency analysis system . The results showed that sound absorption coefficients of Arenga pinnata were good from 2000 Hz to 5000 Hz within the range of 0.75 – 0.90. The optimum sound absorption coefficient was obtained from the thickness of 40 mm. These results indicated that Arenga pinnata fiber is promising to be used as raw material of sound absorbing material with low cost, light, and biodegradable.
Abstract: This paper provides a replacement policy for warranty products with different failure rate from the consumer-s viewpoint. Assume that the product is replaced once within a finite planning horizon, and the failure rate of the second product is lower than the failure rate of the first product. Within warranty period (WP), the failed product is corrected by minimal repair without any cost to the consumers. After WP, the failed product is repaired with a fixed repair cost to the consumers. However, each failure incurs a fixed downtime cost to the consumers over a finite planning horizon. In this paper, we derive the model of the expected total disbursement cost within a finite planning horizon and some properties of the optimal replacement policy under some reasonable conditions are obtained. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the features of the optimal replacement policy under various maintenance costs.
Abstract: A study concerning the photocatalytic decolourization
of Congo red (CR) dye, over artificial UV irradiation is presented.
Photocatalysts based on a commercial titanium dioxide (TiO2)
modified with transition metals (Ni, Cu and Zn) were used. The
dopage method used was wet impregnation. A TiO2 sample without
salt was subjected to the same hydrothermal treatment to be used as
reference. Congo red solutions to several pH conditions (natural and
basic) were used to evaluate photocatalytic performance of each
doped catalysts. Photodecolourization percentage was measured
spectrofotrometically after 3 h of treatment to 499 nm as response
variable. Kinetics investigations of photodegradation indicated that
reactions obey to Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and pseudo–first
order law. The rate constant studies of photocatalytic decolourization
reactions for Zn–TiO2 and Cu–TiO2 photocatalysts indicated that in
all cases the rate constant of the reaction was higher than that of TiO2
undoped. These results show that nature of the metal modifying the
TiO2 influence on the efficiency of the photocatalyst evaluated in
process. Ni does not present an additional effect compared with TiO2,
while Zn enhances the photoactivity due to its electronic properties.
Abstract: A new blind symbol by symbol equalizer is proposed.
The operation of the proposed equalizer is based on the geometric
properties of the two dimensional data constellation. An unsupervised
clustering technique is used to locate the clusters formed by the
received data. The symmetric properties of the clusters labels are
subsequently utilized in order to label the clusters. Following this
step, the received data are compared to clusters and decisions are
made on a symbol by symbol basis, by assigning to each data
the label of the nearest cluster. The operation of the equalizer is
investigated both in linear and nonlinear channels. The performance
of the proposed equalizer is compared to the performance of a CMAbased
blind equalizer.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to introduce and study a new concept of strong double χ2 (M,A, Δ) of fuzzy numbers and also some properties of the resulting sequence spaces of fuzzy numbers were examined.
Abstract: In cryptography, confusion and diffusion are very
important to get confidentiality and privacy of message in block
ciphers and stream ciphers. There are two types of network to provide
confusion and diffusion properties of message in block ciphers. They
are Substitution- Permutation network (S-P network), and Feistel
network. NLFS (Non-Linear feedback stream cipher) is a fast and
secure stream cipher for software application. NLFS have two modes
basic mode that is synchronous mode and self synchronous mode.
Real random numbers are non-deterministic. R-box (random box)
based on the dynamic properties and it performs the stochastic
transformation of data that can be used effectively meet the
challenges of information is protected from international destructive
impacts. In this paper, a new implementation of stochastic
transformation will be proposed.
Abstract: As the remedy used music becomes active and
meditation effect through the music is verified, people take a growing
interest about psychological balance or remedy given by music. From
traditional studies, it is verified that the music of which spectral
envelop varies approximately as 1/f (f is frequency) down to a
frequency of low frequency bandwidth gives psychological balance.
In this paper, we researched signal properties of music which gives
psychological balance. In order to find this, we derived the property
from voice. Music composed by voice shows large value in NCSD.
We confirmed the degree of deference between music by curvature of
normalized cumulative spectral distribution. In the music that gives
psychological balance, the curvature shows high value, otherwise, the
curvature shows low value.
Abstract: In this paper, we studied some properties of geodesic on some open surfaces: Hyperboloid, Paraboloid and Funnel Surface. Geodesic equation in the v-Clairaut parameterization was calculated and reduced to definite integral. Some geodesics on some open surfaces as mention above were classified by Clairaut's relation.
Abstract: A self-compacting concrete (SCC) is the one that can
be placed in the form and can go through obstructions by its own
weight and without the need of vibration. Since its first development
in Japan in 1988, SCC has gained wider acceptance in Japan, Europe
and USA due to its inherent distinct advantages. Although there are
visible signs of its gradual acceptance in the North Africa through its
limited use in construction, Libya has yet to explore the feasibility
and applicability of SCC in new construction. The contributing
factors to this reluctance appear to be lack of any supportive
evidence of its suitability with local aggregates and the harsh
environmental conditions. The primary aim of this study is to explore
the feasibility of using SCC made with local aggregates of Eastern
Province of Libya by examining its basic properties characteristics.
This research consists of: (i) Development of a suitable mix for SCC
such as the effect of water to cement ratio, limestone and silica fume
that would satisfy the requirements of the plastic state; (ii) Casting of
concrete samples and testing them for compressive strength and unit
weight. Local aggregates, cement, admixtures and industrial waste
materials were used in this research.
The significance of this research lies in its attempt to provide
some performance data of SCC made in the Eastern Province of
Libya so as to draw attention to the possible use of SCC.
Abstract: Nowadays, the focus on renewable energy and alternative fuels has increased due to increasing oil prices, environment pollution, and also concern on preserving the nature. Biodiesel has been known as an attractive alternative fuel although biodiesel produced from edible oil is very expensive than conventional diesel. Therefore, the uses of biodiesel produced from non-edible oils are much better option. Currently Jatropha biodiesel (JBD) is receiving attention as an alternative fuel for diesel engine. Biodiesel is non-toxic, biodegradable, high lubricant ability, highly renewable, and its use therefore produces real reduction in petroleum consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Although biodiesel has many advantages, but it still has several properties need to improve, such as lower calorific value, lower effective engine power, higher emission of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and greater sensitivity to low temperature. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is effective technique to reduce NOX emission from diesel engines because it enables lower flame temperature and oxygen concentration in the combustion chamber. Some studies succeeded to reduce the NOX emission from biodiesel by EGR but they observed increasing soot emission. The aim of this study was to investigate the engine performance and soot emission by using blended Jatropha biodiesel with different EGR rates. A CI engine that is water-cooled, turbocharged, using indirect injection system was used for the investigation. Soot emission, NOX, CO2, carbon monoxide (CO) were recorded and various engine performance parameters were also evaluated.