Abstract: During this day a considerable amount of Leachate is produced with high amounts of organic material and nutrients needed plants. This study has done in order to scrutinize the effect of Leachate compost on the pH, EC and organic matter percentage in the form of statistical Factorial plan through randomizing block design with three main and two minor treatments and also three replications during three six month periods. Major treatments include N: Irrigation with the region-s well water as a control, I: Frequent irrigation with well water and Leachate, C: Mixing Leachate and water well (25 percent leachate + 75 percent ordinary well water) and secondary treatments, include DI: surface drip irrigation and SDI: sub surface drip irrigation. Results of this study indicated significant differences between treatments and also there were mixing up with the control treatment in the reduction of pH, increasing soluble salts and also increasing the organic matter percentage. This increase is proportional to the amount of added Leachate and in the treatment also proportional to higher mixture of frequent treatment. Therefore, since creating an acidic pH increases the ability to absorb some nutrient elements such as phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper and manganese are increased and the other hand, organic materials also improve many physical and chemical properties of soil are used in Leachate trash Consider health issues as refined in the green belts around cities as a liquid fertilizer recommended.
Abstract: In the context of global climate change, flooding and sea level rise is increasingly threatening coastal urban areas, in which large population is continuously concentrated. Dutch experiences in urban water system management provide high reference value for sustainable coastal urban development projects. Preliminary studies shows the urban water system in Almere, a typical Dutch polder city, have three kinds of operational modes, achieving functions as: (1) coastline control – strong multiple damming system prevents from storm surges and maintains sufficient capacity upon risks; (2) high flexibility – large area and widely scattered open water system greatly reduce local runoff and water level fluctuation; (3) internal water maintenance – weir and sluice system maintains relatively stable water level, providing excellent boating and landscaping service, coupling with water circulating model maintaining better water quality. Almere has provided plenty of hints and experiences for ongoing development of coastal cities in emerging economies.
Abstract: This study presents the performance of membrane
bioreactor in treating high phosphate wastewater. The laboratory
scale MBR was operated at permeate flux of 25 L/m2.h with a hollow
fiber membrane (polypropylene, approx. pore size 0.01 - 0.2 μm) at
hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12 hrs. Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and energy diffusive X-ray (EDX) analyzer were
used to characterize the membrane foulants. Results showed that the
removal efficiencies of COD, TSS, NH3-N and PO4
3- were 93, 98, 80
and 30% respectively. On average 91% of influent soluble microbial
products (SMP) were eliminated, with the eliminations of
polysaccharides mostly above 80%. The main fouling resistance was
cake resistance. It should be noted that SMP were found in major
portions of mixed liquor that played a relatively significant role in
membrane fouling. SEM and EDX analyses indicated that the
foulants covering the membrane surfaces comprises not only organic
substances but also inorganic elements including Mg, Ca, Al, K and
P.
Abstract: It is well known that during the developments in the
economic sector and through the financial crises occur everywhere in
the whole world, volatility measurement is the most important
concept in financial time series. Therefore in this paper we discuss
the volatility for Amman stocks market (Jordan) for certain period of
time. Since wavelet transform is one of the most famous filtering
methods and grows up very quickly in the last decade, we compare
this method with the traditional technique, Fast Fourier transform to
decide the best method for analyzing the volatility. The comparison
will be done on some of the statistical properties by using Matlab
program.
Abstract: The world demand for potable water is
increasing every day with growing population. Desalination
using solar energy is suitable for potable water production
from brackish and seawater. In this paper, we present a
theoretical study of solar distillation in a single basin under
the open environmental conditions of Chabahar-Iran. The still
has a base area of 2000mm×500mm with a glass cover
inclined at 25° in order to obtain extra solar energy. We model
the still and conduct its energy balance equations under minor
assumptions. We computed the temperatures of glass cover,
seawater interface, moist air and bottom using numerical
method. The investigation addressed the following: The still
productivity, distilled water salinity and still performance in
terms of the still efficiency. Calculated still productivity in
July was higher than December. So in this paper, we show
that still productivity is directly functioning of solar radiation.
Abstract: A high-frequency low-power sinusoidal quadrature
oscillator is presented through the use of two 2nd-order low-pass
current-mirror (CM)-based filters, a 1st-order CM low-pass filter and
a CM bilinear transfer function. The technique is relatively simple
based on (i) inherent time constants of current mirrors, i.e. the
internal capacitances and the transconductance of a diode-connected
NMOS, (ii) a simple negative resistance RN formed by a resistor load
RL of a current mirror. Neither external capacitances nor inductances
are required. As a particular example, a 1.9-GHz, 0.45-mW, 2-V
CMOS low-pass-filter-based all-current-mirror sinusoidal quadrature
oscillator is demonstrated. The oscillation frequency (f0) is 1.9 GHz
and is current-tunable over a range of 370 MHz or 21.6 %. The
power consumption is at approximately 0.45 mW. The amplitude
matching and the quadrature phase matching are better than 0.05 dB
and 0.15°, respectively. Total harmonic distortions (THD) are less
than 0.3 %. At 2 MHz offset from the 1.9 GHz, the carrier to noise
ratio (CNR) is 90.01 dBc/Hz whilst the figure of merit called a
normalized carrier-to-noise ratio (CNRnorm) is 153.03 dBc/Hz. The
ratio of the oscillation frequency (f0) to the unity-gain frequency (fT)
of a transistor is 0.25. Comparisons to other approaches are also
included.
Abstract: The financial crisis has decreased the opportunities of
small businesses to acquire financing through conventional financial
actors, such as commercial banks. This credit constraint is partly the
reason for the emergence of new alternatives of financing, in addition
to the spreading opportunities for communication and secure
financial transfer through Internet. One of the most interesting venues
for finance is termed “crowdfunding". As the term suggests
crowdfunding is an appeal to prospective customers and investors to
form a crowd that will finance projects that otherwise would find it
hard to generate support through the most common financial actors.
Crowdfunding is in this paper divided into different models; the
threshold model, the microfinance model, the micro loan model and
the equity model. All these models add to the financial possibilities of
emerging entrepreneurs.
Abstract: Car failure detection is a complicated process and
requires high level of expertise. Any attempt of developing an expert
system dealing with car failure detection has to overcome various
difficulties. This paper describes a proposed knowledge-based
system for car failure detection. The paper explains the need for an
expert system and the some issues on developing knowledge-based
systems, the car failure detection process and the difficulties involved
in developing the system. The system structure and its components
and their functions are described. The system has about 150 rules for
different types of failures and causes. It can detect over 100 types of
failures. The system has been tested and gave promising results.
Abstract: A five-class density histogram with an index named cumulative density was proposed to analyze the short-term HRV. 150 subjects participated in the test, falling into three groups with equal numbers -- the healthy young group (Young), the healthy old group (Old), and the group of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Results of multiple comparisons showed a significant differences of the cumulative density in the three groups, with values 0.0238 for Young, 0.0406 for Old and 0.0732 for CHF (p
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to investigate Thai Muslims’ way of life through the way their clothes. The data of this qualitative research were collected from related documents and research reports, ancient cloths and clothing, and in-depth interviews with clothes owners and weavers.
The research found that in the 18th century Thai Muslims in the three southern border provinces used many types of clothing in their life. At home women wore plain clothes. They used checked cloths to cover the upper part of their body from the breasts down to the waist. When going out, they used Lima cloth and So Kae with a piece of Pla-nging cloth as a head scarf. For men, they wore a checked sarong as a lower garment, and wore no upper garment. However, when going out, they wore Puyo Potong. In addition, Thai Muslims used cloths in various religious rites, namely, the rite of placing a baby in a cradle, the Masoyawi rite, the Nikah rite, and the burial rite. These types of cloths were related to the way of life of Thai Muslims from birth to death. They reflected the race, gender, age, social status, values, and beliefs in traditions that have been inherited.
Practical Implication: Woven in these cloths are the lost local wisdom, and therefore, aesthetics on the cloths are like mirrors reflecting the background of people in this region that is fading away. These cloths are pages of a local history book that is of importance and value worth for preservation and publicity so that they are treasured. Government organizations can expand and materialize the knowledge received from the study in accordance with government policy in supporting the One Tambon, One Product project.
Abstract: In today-s turbulent environment, companies are faced with two principal challenges. On the one hand, it is necessary to produce ever more cost-effectively to remain competitive. On the other hand, factories need to be transformable in order to manage unpredictable changes in the corporate environment. To deal with these different challenges, companies use the philosophy of lean production in the first case, in the second case the philosophy of transformability. To a certain extent these two approaches follow different directions. This can cause conflicts when designing factories. Therefore, the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA) of the Leibniz University of Hanover has developed a procedure to allow companies to evaluate and design their factories with respect to the requirements of both philosophies.
Abstract: The emergence of mobile application services and App
Store has led to the explosive growth of user innovation, which users
voluntarily contribute to. User innovation communities where end
users freely reveal innovative ideas and needs with other community
members are becoming increasingly influential in this area. However,
user-s ideas in user innovation community are not enough to be new
service opportunity, because some of them can already developed as
existing services in App Store. Moreover, the existing services similar
to new service opportunity can be significant references to apply
analogy to develop service concept. In response, this research
proposes Case-Based Reasoning approach to matching the user needs
and existing services, identifying unmet opportunistic user needs, and
retrieving similar services with opportunity. Due to its intuitive and
transparent algorithm, users related to App Store innovation
communities can easily employ Case-Based Reasoning based
approach to their innovation.
Abstract: Background: This investigated the mental health of the elderly survivors six months, ten months and two years after the “5.12 Wenchuan" earthquake. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-two physically healthy older survivors from earthquake-affected Mianyang County were interviewed. The measures included the Revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R, Chinese version, for PTSD) and a Chinese Mental Health Inventory for the Elderly (MHIE). A repeated measures ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The follow-up group had a statistically significant lower IES-R score and lower MHIE score than the initial group ten months after the earthquake. Two years later, the score of IES-R in follow-up group were still lower than that of non-follow-up group, but no differences were significant on the score of MHIE between groups. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between scores of IES-R and MHIE. Conclusion: The earthquake has had a persistent negative impact on older survivors- mental health within the two-year period and that although the PTSD level declined significantly with time, it did not disappear completely.
Abstract: This paper presents an algorithm for the recognition
and tracking of moving objects, 1/10 scale model car is used to verify
performance of the algorithm. Presented algorithm for the recognition
and tracking of moving objects in the paper is as follows. SURF
algorithm is merged with Lucas-Kanade algorithm. SURF algorithm
has strong performance on contrast, size, rotation changes and it
recognizes objects but it is slow due to many computational
complexities. Processing speed of Lucas-Kanade algorithm is fast but
the recognition of objects is impossible. Its optical flow compares the
previous and current frames so that can track the movement of a pixel.
The fusion algorithm is created in order to solve problems which
occurred using the Kalman Filter to estimate the position and the
accumulated error compensation algorithm was implemented. Kalman
filter is used to create presented algorithm to complement problems
that is occurred when fusion two algorithms. Kalman filter is used to
estimate next location, compensate for the accumulated error. The
resolution of the camera (Vision Sensor) is fixed to be 640x480. To
verify the performance of the fusion algorithm, test is compared to
SURF algorithm under three situations, driving straight, curve, and
recognizing cars behind the obstacles. Situation similar to the actual is
possible using a model vehicle. Proposed fusion algorithm showed
superior performance and accuracy than the existing object
recognition and tracking algorithms. We will improve the performance
of the algorithm, so that you can experiment with the images of the
actual road environment.
Abstract: By employing BS (Base Station) cooperation we can
increase substantially the spectral efficiency and capacity of cellular
systems. The signals received at each BS are sent to a central unit that
performs the separation of the different MT (Mobile Terminal) using
the same physical channel. However, we need accurate sampling and
quantization of those signals so as to reduce the backhaul
communication requirements.
In this paper we consider the optimization of the quantizers for BS
cooperation systems. Four different quantizer types are analyzed and
optimized to allow better SQNR (Signal-to-Quantization Noise
Ratio) and BER (Bit Error Rate) performance.
Abstract: The position and momentum space information entropies
of hydrogen atom are exactly evaluated. Using isospectral
Hamiltonian approach, a family of isospectral potentials is constructed having same energy eigenvalues as that of the original potential. The information entropy content is obtained in position
space as well as in momentum space. It is shown that the information
entropy content in each level can be re-arranged as a function of deformation parameter.
Abstract: Intellectual capital reporting becomes critical at
universities, mainly due to the fact that knowledge is the main output
as well as input in these institutions. In addition, universities have
continuous external demands for greater information and
transparency about the use of public funds, and are increasingly
provided with greater autonomy regarding their organization,
management, and budget allocation. This situation requires new
management and reporting systems. The purpose of the present study
is to provide a model for intellectual capital report in Spanish
universities. To this end, a questionnaire was sent to every member of
the Social Councils of Spanish public universities in order to identify
which intangible elements university stakeholders demand most. Our
proposal for an intellectual capital report aims to act as a guide to
help the Spanish universities on the road to the presentation of
information on intellectual capital which can assist stakeholders to
make the right decisions.
Abstract: An empirical study of web applications that use
software frameworks is presented here. The analysis is based on two
approaches. In the first, developers using such frameworks are
required, based on their experience, to assign weights to parameters
such as database connection. In the second approach, a performance
testing tool, OpenSTA, is used to compute start time and other such
measures. From such an analysis, it is concluded that open source
software is superior to proprietary software. The motivation behind
this research is to examine ways in which a quantitative assessment
can be made of software in general and frameworks in particular.
Concepts such as metrics and architectural styles are discussed along
with previously published research.
Abstract: The hand is one of the essential parts of the body for
carrying out Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Individuals use their
hands and fingers in everyday activities in the both the workplace
and home. Hand-intensive tasks require diverse and sometimes
extreme levels of exertion, depending on the action, movement or
manipulation involved. The authors have undertaken several studies
looking at grip choice and comfort. It is hoped that in providing
improved understanding of discomfort during ADLs this will aid in
the design of consumer products.
Previous work by the authors outlined a methodology for
calculating pain frequency and pain level for a range of tasks. From
an online survey undertaken by the authors with regards
manipulating objects during everyday tasks, tasks involving
gripping were seen to produce the highest levels of pain and
discomfort. Questioning of the participants showed that cleaning
tasks were seen to be ADL's that produced the highest levels of
discomfort, with women feeling higher levels of discomfort than
men.
This paper looks at the methodology for calculating pain
frequency and pain level with particular regards to gripping
activities. This methodology shows that activities such as mopping,
sweeping and hoovering shows the highest numbers of pain
frequency and pain level at 3112.5 frequency per month while the
pain level per person doing this action was 0.78.The study then uses
thin-film force sensors to analyze the force distribution in the hand
whilst hoovering and compares this for differing grip styles and
genders. Women were seen to have more of their hand under a
higher pressure than men when undertaking hoovering. This
suggests that women may feel greater discomfort than men since
their hand is at a higher pressure more of the time.
Abstract: This paper presents a new method of analog fault diagnosis based on back-propagation neural networks (BPNNs) using wavelet decomposition and fractal dimension as preprocessors. The proposed method has the capability to detect and identify faulty components in an analog electronic circuit with tolerance by analyzing its impulse response. Using wavelet decomposition to preprocess the impulse response drastically de-noises the inputs to the neural network. The second preprocessing by fractal dimension can extract unique features, which are the fed to a neural network as inputs for further classification. A comparison of our work with [1] and [6], which also employs back-propagation (BP) neural networks, reveals that our system requires a much smaller network and performs significantly better in fault diagnosis of analog circuits due to our proposed preprocessing techniques.