Abstract: Chloride induced corrosion of steel reinforcement is
the main cause of deterioration of reinforced concrete marine
structures. This paper investigates the relative performance of
alternative repair options with respect to the deterioration of
reinforced concrete bridge elements in marine environments. Focus is
placed on the initiation phase of reinforcement corrosion. A
laboratory study is described which involved exposing concrete
samples to accelerated chloride-ion ingress. The study examined the
relative efficiencies of two repair methods, namely Ordinary Portland
Cement (OPC) concrete and a concrete which utilised Ground
Granulated Blastfurnace Cement (GGBS) as a partial cement
replacement. The mix designs and materials utilised were identical to
those implemented in the repair of a marine bridge on the South East
coast of Ireland in 2007. The results of this testing regime serve to
inform input variables employed in probabilistic modelling of
deterioration for subsequent reliability based analysis to compare the
relative performance of the studied repair options.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate the
performance of the developed two point block method designed for
two processors for solving directly non stiff large systems of higher
order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The method calculates
the numerical solution at two points simultaneously and produces
two new equally spaced solution values within a block and it is
possible to assign the computational tasks at each time step to a
single processor. The algorithm of the method was developed in C
language and the parallel computation was done on a parallel shared
memory environment. Numerical results are given to compare the
efficiency of the developed method to the sequential timing. For
large problems, the parallel implementation produced 1.95 speed-up
and 98% efficiency for the two processors.
Abstract: In the recent past, there has been an increasing interest
in applying evolutionary methods to Knowledge Discovery in
Databases (KDD) and a number of successful applications of Genetic
Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) to KDD have been
demonstrated. The most predominant representation of the
discovered knowledge is the standard Production Rules (PRs) in the
form If P Then D. The PRs, however, are unable to handle
exceptions and do not exhibit variable precision. The Censored
Production Rules (CPRs), an extension of PRs, were proposed by
Michalski & Winston that exhibit variable precision and supports an
efficient mechanism for handling exceptions. A CPR is an
augmented production rule of the form:
If P Then D Unless C, where C (Censor) is an exception to the rule.
Such rules are employed in situations, in which the conditional
statement 'If P Then D' holds frequently and the assertion C holds
rarely. By using a rule of this type we are free to ignore the exception
conditions, when the resources needed to establish its presence are
tight or there is simply no information available as to whether it
holds or not. Thus, the 'If P Then D' part of the CPR expresses
important information, while the Unless C part acts only as a switch
and changes the polarity of D to ~D.
This paper presents a classification algorithm based on evolutionary
approach that discovers comprehensible rules with exceptions in the
form of CPRs.
The proposed approach has flexible chromosome encoding, where
each chromosome corresponds to a CPR. Appropriate genetic
operators are suggested and a fitness function is proposed that
incorporates the basic constraints on CPRs. Experimental results are
presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: Image restoration involves elimination of noise. Filtering techniques were adopted so far to restore images since last five decades. In this paper, we consider the problem of image restoration degraded by a blur function and corrupted by random noise. A method for reducing additive noise in images by explicit analysis of local image statistics is introduced and compared to other noise reduction methods. The proposed method, which makes use of an a priori noise model, has been evaluated on various types of images. Bayesian based algorithms and technique of image processing have been described and substantiated with experimentation using MATLAB.
Abstract: The paper discusses the results obtained to predict
reinforcement in singly reinforced beam using Neural Net (NN),
Support Vector Machines (SVM-s) and Tree Based Models. Major
advantage of SVM-s over NN is of minimizing a bound on the
generalization error of model rather than minimizing a bound on
mean square error over the data set as done in NN. Tree Based
approach divides the problem into a small number of sub problems to
reach at a conclusion. Number of data was created for different
parameters of beam to calculate the reinforcement using limit state
method for creation of models and validation. The results from this
study suggest a remarkably good performance of tree based and
SVM-s models. Further, this study found that these two techniques
work well and even better than Neural Network methods. A
comparison of predicted values with actual values suggests a very
good correlation coefficient with all four techniques.
Abstract: this study was carried out to investigate the changes in
quality parameters of rye bread packaged in different polymer films
during convection air-flow thermal treatment process. Whole loafs of
bread were placed in polymer pouches, which were sealed in reduced
pressure air ambiance, bread was thermally treated in
at temperature +(130; 140; and 150) ± 5 ºC within 40min, as long as
the core temperature of the samples have reached accordingly
+80±1 ºC. For bread packaging pouches were used: anti-fog
Mylar®OL12AF and thermo resistant combined polymer material.
Main quality parameters was analysed using standard methods:
temperature in bread core, bread crumb and crust firmness value,
starch granules volume and microflora. In the current research it was
proved, that polymer films significantly influence rye bread quality
parameters changes during thermal treatment. Thermo resistant
combined polymer material film could be recommendable for
packaged rye bread pasteurization, for maximal bread quality
parameter keeping.
Abstract: Fundamental motivation of this paper is how gaze estimation can be utilized effectively regarding an application to games. In games, precise estimation is not always important in aiming targets but an ability to move a cursor to an aiming target accurately is also significant. Incidentally, from a game producing point of view, a separate expression of a head movement and gaze movement sometimes becomes advantageous to expressing sense of presence. A case that panning a background image associated with a head movement and moving a cursor according to gaze movement can be a representative example. On the other hand, widely used technique of POG estimation is based on a relative position between a center of corneal reflection of infrared light sources and a center of pupil. However, a calculation of a center of pupil requires relatively complicated image processing, and therefore, a calculation delay is a concern, since to minimize a delay of inputting data is one of the most significant requirements in games. In this paper, a method to estimate a head movement by only using corneal reflections of two infrared light sources in different locations is proposed. Furthermore, a method to control a cursor using gaze movement as well as a head movement is proposed. By using game-like-applications, proposed methods are evaluated and, as a result, a similar performance to conventional methods is confirmed and an aiming control with lower computation power and stressless intuitive operation is obtained.
Abstract: Protein structure determination and prediction has
been a focal research subject in the field of bioinformatics due to the
importance of protein structure in understanding the biological and
chemical activities of organisms. The experimental methods used by
biotechnologists to determine the structures of proteins demand
sophisticated equipment and time. A host of computational methods
are developed to predict the location of secondary structure elements
in proteins for complementing or creating insights into experimental
results. However, prediction accuracies of these methods rarely
exceed 70%.
Abstract: This research focuses on the effect of weight
percentage variation and size variation of MgFeSi added,
gating system design and reaction chamber design on inmold
process. By using inmold process, well-known problem of
fading is avoided because the liquid iron reacts with
magnesium in the mold and not, as usual, in the ladle. During
the pouring operation, liquid metal passes through the
chamber containing the magnesium, where the reaction of the
metal with magnesium proceeds in the absence of atmospheric
oxygen [1].In this paper, the results of microstructural
characteristic of ductile iron on this parameters are mentioned.
The mechanisms of the inmold process are also described [2].
The data obtained from this research will assist in producing
the vehicle parts and other machinery parts for different
industrial zones and government industries and in transferring
the technology to all industrial zones in Myanmar. Therefore,
the inmold technology offers many advantages over traditional
treatment methods both from a technical and environmental,
as well as an economical point of view. The main objective of
this research is to produce ductile iron castings in all industrial
sectors in Myanmar more easily with lower costs. It will also
assist the sharing of knowledge and experience related to the
ductile iron production.
Abstract: In this study, we discussed the effects on the thermal
comfort of super high-rise residences that how effected by the high
thermal capacity structural components. We considered different
building orientations, structures, and insulation methods. We used the
dynamic simulation software THERB (simulation of the thermal
environment of residential buildings). It can estimate the temperature,
humidity, sensible temperature, and heating/cooling load for multiple
buildings. In the past studies, we examined the impact of
air-conditioning loads (hereinafter referred to as AC loads) on the
interior structural parts and the AC-usage patterns of super-high-rise
residences.
Super-high-rise residences have more structural components such
as pillars and beams than do ordinary apartment buildings. The
skeleton is generally made of concrete and steel, which have high
thermal-storage capacities. The thermal-storage capacity of
super-high-rise residences is considered to have a larger impact on the
AC load and thermal comfort than that of ordinary residences.
We show that the AC load of super-high-rise units would be
reduced by installing insulation on the surfaces of interior walls that
are not usually insulated in Japan.
Abstract: Aldehydes as secondary lipid oxidation products are highly specific to the oxidative degradation of particular polyunsaturated fatty acids present in foods. Gas chromatographic analysis of those volatile compounds has been widely used for monitoring of the deterioration of food products. Developed static headspace gas chromatography method using flame ionization detector (SHS GC FID) was applied to monitor the aldehydes present in processed foods such as bakery, meat and confectionary products.
Five selected aldehydes were determined in samples without any sample preparation, except grinding for bakery and meat products. SHS–GC analysis allows the separation of propanal, pentanal, hexanal, heptanal and octanal, within 15min. Aldehydes were quantified in fresh and stored samples, and the obtained range of aldehydes in crackers was 1.62±0.05 – 9.95±0.05mg/kg, in sausages 6.62±0.46 – 39.16±0.39mg/kg; and in cocoa spread cream 0.48±0.01 – 1.13±0.02mg/kg. Referring to the obtained results, the following can be concluded, proposed method is suitable for different types of samples, content of aldehydes varies depending on the type of a sample, and differs in fresh and stored samples of the same type.
Abstract: A retrospective study was undertaken to record the
occurrence and pattern of fractures in small animals (dogs and cats)
from year 2005 to 2010. A total of 650 cases were presented in small
animal surgery unit out of which of 116 (dogs and cats) were
presented with history of fractures of different bones. A total of
17.8% (116/650) cases were of fractures which constituted dogs 67%
while cats were 23%. The majority of animals were intact. Trauma in
the form of road side accident was the principal cause of fractures in
dogs whereas as in cats it was fall from height. The ages of the
fractured dog ranged from 4 months to 12 years whereas in cat it was
from 4 weeks to 10 years. The femoral fractures represented 37.5%
and 25% respectively in dogs and cats. Diaphysis, distal metaphyseal
and supracondylar fractures were the most affected sites in dog and
cats. Tibial fracture in dogs and cats represented 21.5% and 10%
while humoral fractures were 7.9% and 14% in dogs and cats
respectively. Humoral condyler fractures were most commonly seen
in puppies aged 4 to 6 months. Fractured radius-ulna incidence was
19% and 14% in dogs and cats respectively. Other fractures recorded
were of lumbar vertebrae, mandible and metacarpals etc. The
management comprised of external and internal fixation in both the
species. The most common internal fixation technique employed was
Intramedullary fixation in long followed by other methods like stack
or cross pinning, wiring etc as per findings in the cases. The cast
bandage was used majorly as mean for external coaptation. The
paper discusses the outcome of the case as per the technique
employed.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to analyze influence of
differences of heat insulation methods on indoor thermal environment and comfort of apartment buildings.
This study analyzes indoor thermal environment and comfort on units of apartment buildings using calculation software "THERB" and
compares three different kinds of heat insulation methods. Those are
outside insulation on outside walls, inside insulation on outside walls and interior insulation. In terms of indoor thermal environment, outside insulation is the best to stabilize room temperature. In winter, room temperature on
outside insulation after heating is higher than other and it is kept 3-5 degrees higher through all night. But the surface temperature with
outside insulation did not dramatically increase when heating was used, which was 3 to 5oC lower than the temperature with other
insulation. The PMV of interior insulation fall nearly range of comfort when the heating and cooling was use.
Abstract: The main objectives of this paper are to measure
pollutants concentrations in the oil refinery area in Kuwait over three
periods during one year, obtain recent emission inventory for the
three refineries of Kuwait, use AERMOD and the emission inventory
to predict pollutants concentrations and distribution, compare model
predictions against measured data, and perform numerical
experiments to determine conditions at which emission rates and the
resulting pollutant dispersion is below maximum allowable limits.
Abstract: Switched-mode converters play now a significant role in
modern society. Their operation are often crucial in various electrical
applications affecting the every day life. Therefore, the quality of
the converters needs to be reliably verified. Recent studies have
shown that the converters can be fully characterized by a set of
frequency responses which can be efficiently used to validate the
proper operation of the converters. Consequently, several methods
have been proposed to measure the frequency responses fast and
accurately. Most often correlation-based techniques have been applied.
The presented measurement methods are highly sensitive to
external errors and system nonlinearities. This fact has been often
forgotten and the necessary uncertainty analysis of the measured
responses has been neglected. This paper presents a simple approach
to analyze the noise and nonlinearities in the frequency-response
measurements of switched-mode converters. Coherence analysis is
applied to form a confidence interval characterizing the noise and
nonlinearities involved in the measurements. The presented method is
verified by practical measurements from a high-frequency switchedmode
converter.
Abstract: Granular computing deals with representation of information in the form of some aggregates and related methods for transformation and analysis for problem solving. A granulation scheme based on clustering and Rough Set Theory is presented with focus on structured conceptualization of information has been presented in this paper. Experiments for the proposed method on four labeled data exhibit good result with reference to classification problem. The proposed granulation technique is semi-supervised imbibing global as well as local information granulation. To represent the results of the attribute oriented granulation a tree structure is proposed in this paper.
Abstract: In this paper, mathematical models for permutation flow shop scheduling and job shop scheduling problems are proposed. The first problem is based on a mixed integer programming model. As the problem is NP-complete, this model can only be used for smaller instances where an optimal solution can be computed. For large instances, another model is proposed which is suitable for solving the problem by stochastic heuristic methods. For the job shop scheduling problem, a mathematical model and its main representation schemes are presented.
Abstract: Corrugated wire mesh laminates (CWML) are a class
of engineered open cell structures that have potential for applications
in many areas including aerospace and biomedical engineering. Two
different methods of fabricating corrugated wire mesh laminates from
stainless steel, one using a high temperature Lithobraze alloy and the
other using a low temperature Eutectic solder for joining the
corrugated wire meshes are described herein. Their implementation is
demonstrated by manufacturing CWML samples of 304 and 316
stainless steel (SST). It is seen that due to the facility of employing
wire meshes of different densities and wire diameters, it is possible to
create CWML laminates with a wide range of effective densities. The
fabricated laminates are tested under uniaxial compression. The
variation of the compressive yield strength with relative density of the
CWML is compared to the theory developed by Gibson and Ashby for
open cell structures [22]. It is shown that the compressive strength of
the corrugated wire mesh laminates can be described using the same
equations by using an appropriate value for the linear coefficient in the
Gibson-Ashby model.
Abstract: Motivated by Microsoft Co. Academic Program
initiative, the department of Information Technology in King Saud
University has adopted Microsoft products in three courses. The
initiative aimed at enhancing the abilities of the university graduates
and equipping them with skills that would help them in the job
market. A number of methods of collecting assessment data were
used to evaluate the course adoption initiative. Assessment data
indicated that the goal of the course adoption is being achieved and
that the students were much better prepared to design applications
and administrate networks.
Abstract: Brain Computer Interface (BCI) has been recently
increased in research. Functional Near Infrared Spectroscope (fNIRs)
is one the latest technologies which utilize light in the near-infrared
range to determine brain activities. Because near infrared technology
allows design of safe, portable, wearable, non-invasive and wireless
qualities monitoring systems, fNIRs monitoring of brain
hemodynamics can be value in helping to understand brain tasks. In
this paper, we present results of fNIRs signal analysis indicating that
there exist distinct patterns of hemodynamic responses which
recognize brain tasks toward developing a BCI. We applied two
different mathematics tools separately, Wavelets analysis for
preprocessing as signal filters and feature extractions and Neural
networks for cognition brain tasks as a classification module. We
also discuss and compare with other methods while our proposals
perform better with an average accuracy of 99.9% for classification.