Abstract: The paper presents a new hybridization methodology involving Neural, Fuzzy and Rough Computing. A Rough Sets based approximation technique has been proposed based on a certain Neuro – Fuzzy architecture. A New Rough Neuron composition consisting of a combination of a Lower Bound neuron and a Boundary neuron has also been described. The conventional convergence of error in back propagation has been given away for a new framework based on 'Output Excitation Factor' and an inverse input transfer function. The paper also presents a brief comparison of performances, of the existing Rough Neural Networks and ANFIS architecture against the proposed methodology. It can be observed that the rough approximation based neuro-fuzzy architecture is superior to its counterparts.
Abstract: Silver/polylactide nanocomposites (Ag/PLA-NCs) were
synthesized via chemical reduction method in diphase solvent. Silver
nitrate and sodium borohydride were used as a silver precursor
and reducing agent in the polylactide (PLA). The properties of
Ag/PLA-NCs were studied as a function of the weight percentages
of silver nanoparticles (8, 16 and 32 wt% of Ag-NPs) relative to
the weight of PLA. The Ag/PLA-NCs were characterized by Xray
diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
electro-optical microscopy (EOM), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis)
and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). XRD patterns
confirmed that Ag-NPs crystallographic planes were face centered
cubic (fcc) type. TEM images showed that mean diameters of Ag-NPs
were 3.30, 3.80 and 4.80 nm. Electro-optical microscopy revealed
excellent dispersion and interaction between Ag-NPs and PLA films.
The generation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed from the UVvisible
spectra. FT-IR spectra showed that there were no significant
differences between PLA and Ag/PLA-NCs films. The synthesized
Ag/PLA-NCs were stable in organic solution over a long period of
time without sign of precipitation.
Abstract: This paper describes the design process and the realtime validation of an innovative autonomous mid-air flight and landing system developed by the Italian Aerospace Research Center in the framework of the Italian national funded project TECVOL (Technologies for the Autonomous Flight). In the paper it is provided an insight of the whole development process of the system under study. In particular, the project framework is illustrated at first, then the functional context and the adopted design and testing approach are described, and finally the on-ground validation test rig on purpose designed is addressed in details. Furthermore, the hardwarein- the-loop validation of the autonomous mid-air flight and landing system by means of the real-time test rig is described and discussed.
Abstract: Road authorities have confronted problems to
maintaining the serviceability of road infrastructure systems by using
various traditional methods of contracting. As a solution to these
problems, many road authorities have started contracting out road
maintenance works to the private sector based on performance
measures. This contracting method is named Performance-Based
Maintenance Contracting (PBMC). It is considered more costeffective
than other traditional methods of contracting. It has a
substantial success records in many developed and developing
countries over the last two decades. This paper discusses and
analyses the potential issues to be considered before the introduction
of PBMC in a country.
Abstract: Mathematical and computational modeling of calcium
signalling in nerve cells has produced considerable insights into how
the cells contracts with other cells under the variation of biophysical
and physiological parameters. The modeling of calcium signaling in
astrocytes has become more sophisticated. The modeling effort has
provided insight to understand the cell contraction. Main objective
of this work is to study the effect of voltage gated (Operated)
calcium channel (VOC) on calcium profile in the form of advection
diffusion equation. A mathematical model is developed in the form
of advection diffusion equation for the calcium profile. The model
incorporates the important physiological parameter like diffusion
coefficient etc. Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed.
Finite volume method is employed to solve the problem. A program
has been developed using in MATLAB 7.5 for the entire problem
and simulated on an AMD-Turion 32-bite machine to compute the
numerical results.
Abstract: Since 2004, we have been developing an in-situ storage image sensor (ISIS) that captures more than 100 consecutive images at a frame rate of 10 Mfps with ultra-high sensitivity as well as the video camera for use with this ISIS. Currently, basic research is continuing in an attempt to increase the frame rate up to 100 Mfps and above. In order to suppress electro-magnetic noise at such high frequency, a digital-noiseless imaging transfer scheme has been developed utilizing solely sinusoidal driving voltages. This paper presents highly efficient-yet-accurate expressions to estimate attenuation as well as phase delay of driving voltages through RC networks of an ultra-high-speed image sensor. Elmore metric for a fundamental RC chain is employed as the first-order approximation. By application of dimensional analysis to SPICE data, we found a simple expression that significantly improves the accuracy of the approximation. Similarly, another simple closed-form model to estimate phase delay through fundamental RC networks is also obtained. Estimation error of both expressions is much less than previous works, only less 2% for most of the cases . The framework of this analysis can be extended to address similar issues of other VLSI structures.
Abstract: This paper proposes a vertical beamforming concept
to a cellular network employing Fractional Frequency Reuse
technique including with cell sectorization. Two different beams are
utilized in cell-center and cell-edge, separately. The proposed concept
is validated through computer simulation in term of SINR and
channel capacity. Also, comparison when utilizing horizontal and
vertical beam formation is in focus. The obtained results indicate
that the proposed concept can improve the performance of the
cellular networks comparing with the one using horizontal
beamforming.
Abstract: The predictability of masonry arch bridges and their
behaviour is widely considered doubtful due to the lack of knowledge
about the conditions of a given masonry arch bridge. The assessment
methods for masonry arch bridges are MEXE, ARCHIE, RING and
Frame Analysis Method. The material properties of the masonry and
fill material are extremely difficult to determine accurately.
Consequently, it is necessary to examine the effect of load dispersal
angle through the fill material, the effect of variations in the stiffness
of the masonry, the tensile strength of the masonry mortar continuum
and the compressive strength of the masonry mortar continuum. It is
also important to understand the effect of fill material on load
dispersal angle to determine their influence on ratings. In this paper a
series of parametric studies, to examine the sensitivity of assessment
ratings to the various sets of input data required by the frame analysis
method, are carried out.
Abstract: Wheat has a bimodal starch granule population and the dependency of the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis on particle size has been investigated. Ungelatinised wheaten starch granules were separated into two populations by sedimentation and decantation. Particle size was analysed by laser diffraction and morphological characteristics were viewed using SEM. The sedimentation technique though lengthy, gave satisfactory separation of the granules. Samples (10μm and original) were digested with a-amylase using a dialysis model. Granules of 10μm (p10μm. Moreover, the digestion rate was dependent on particle size whereby smaller granules produced higher rate of release. The methodology and results reported here can be used as a basis for further evaluations designed to delay the release of glucose during the digestion of native starches.
Abstract: Plant growth is affected by the osmotic stress as well as toxicity of salt in leaves. In order to study of salt stress effects on stomatal conductance and growth rate and relationship between them as wells osmotic and Na+-specific effects on these traits, four bread wheat genotypes differing in salt tolerance were selected. Salinity was applied when the leaf 4 was fully expanded. Sodium (Na+) concentrations in flag leaf blade at 3 salinity levels (0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) were measured. Salt-tolerant genotypes showed higher stomatal conductance and growth rate compared to salt-sensitive ones. After 10 and 20 days exposure to salt, stomatal conductance and relative growth rate were reduced, but the reduction was greater in sensitive genotypes. Growth rate was reduced severely in the first period (1-10 days) of salt commencements and it was due to osmotic effect of salt not Na+ toxicity. In the second period (11-20 days) after salt treatment growth reduced only when salt accumulated to toxic concentrations in the leaves. A positive relationship between stomatal conductance and relative growth rate showed that stomatal conductance can be a reliable indicator of growth rate, and finally can be considered as a sensitive indicator of the osmotic stress. It seems 20 days after salinity, the major effect of salt, especially at low to moderate salinity levels on growth properties was due to the osmotic effect of salt, not to Na+-specific effects within the plant.
Abstract: The paper deals with a mathematical model for fluid dynamic flows on road networks which is based on conservation laws. This nonlinear framework is based on the conservation of cars. We focus on traffic circle, which is a finite number of roads that meet at some junctions. The traffic circle with junctions having either one incoming and two outgoing or two incoming and one outgoing roads. We describe the numerical schemes with the particular boundary conditions used to produce approximated solutions of the problem.
Abstract: Ontologies and tagging systems are two different ways to organize the knowledge present in the current Web. In this paper we propose a simple method to model folksonomies, as tagging systems, with ontologies. We show the scalability of the method using real data sets. The modeling method is composed of a generic ontology that represents any folksonomy and an algorithm to transform the information contained in folksonomies to the generic ontology. The method allows representing folksonomies at any instant of time.
Abstract: Ultrasonic machining (USM) is a non-traditional
machining process being widely used for commercial machining of
brittle and fragile materials such as glass, ceramics and
semiconductor materials. However, USM could be a viable
alternative for machining a tough material such as titanium; and this
aspect needs to be explored through experimental research. This
investigation is focused on exploring the use of ultrasonic machining
for commercial machining of pure titanium (ASTM Grade-I) and
evaluation of tool wear rate (TWR) under controlled experimental
conditions. The optimal settings of parameters are determined
through experiments planned, conducted and analyzed using Taguchi
method. In all, the paper focuses on parametric optimization of
ultrasonic machining of pure titanium metal with TWR as response,
and validation of the optimized value of TWR by conducting
confirmatory experiments.
Abstract: There is wide range of scientific workflow systems
today, each one designed to resolve problems at a specific level. In
large collaborative projects, it is often necessary to recognize the
heterogeneous workflow systems already in use by various partners
and any potential collaboration between these systems requires
workflow interoperability. Publish/Subscribe Scientific Workflow
Interoperability Framework (PS-SWIF) approach was proposed to
achieve workflow interoperability among workflow systems. This
paper evaluates the PS-SWIF approach and its system to achieve
workflow interoperability using Web Services with asynchronous
notification messages represented by WS-Eventing standard. This
experiment covers different types of communication models provided
by Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC). These models are:
Chained processes, Nested synchronous sub-processes, Event
synchronous sub-processes, and Nested sub-processes
(Polling/Deferred Synchronous). Also, this experiment shows the
flexibility and simplicity of the PS-SWIF approach when applied to a
variety of workflow systems (Triana, Taverna, Kepler) in local and
remote environments.
Abstract: The research is to minimize environmental damage
pertinent to maritime activities about the operation of lighter boat
anchorage and its tugboat. The guidance on upgrading current
harbor service and infrastructure has been provided to Kho Sichang
Municpality. This will involve a study of the maritime logistics of
the water area under jurisdiction of the Sichang island Municipality
and possible recommendations may involve charging taxes,
regulations and fees. With implementing these recommendations will
help in protection of the marine environment and in increasing
operator functionality. Additionally, our recommendation is to
generate a consistent revenue stream to the municipality. The action
items contained in this research are feasible and effective, the success
of these initiatives are heavily dependent upon successful promotion
and enforcement. Promoting new rules and regulations effectively
and peacefully can be done through theories and techniques used in
the psychology of persuasion. In order to assure compliance with the
regulations, the municipality must maintain stringent patrols and
fines for violators. In order to become success, the Municipality
must preserve a consistent, transparent and significant enforcement
system. Considering potential opportunities outside of the current
state of the municipality, the authors recommend that Koh Sichang be
given additional jurisdiction to capture value from the master vessels,
as well as to confront the more significant environmental challenges
these vessels pose. Finally, the authors recommend that the Port of
Koh Sichang Island obtain a free port status in order to increase
economic viability and overall sustainability.
Abstract: Paper is dealing with vulnerability concerning elements of hydrological structures and elements of technological equipments which are acceptable for groundwater resources. The vulnerability assessment stems from the application of the register of hazards and a potential threat to individual water source elements within each type of hazard. The proposed procedure is pattern for assessing the risks of disturbance, damage, or destruction of water source by the identified natural or technological hazards and consequently for classification of these risks in relation to emergency water supply. Using of this procedure was verified on selected groundwater resource in particular region, which seems to be as potentially useful for crisis planning system.
Abstract: This paper analysis the integrated use of safety monitoring with the domestic and international latest research on rail safety protection system, and focus on the implementation of an organic whole system, with the monitoring and early warning, risk assessment, predictive control and emergency rescue system. The system framework, contents and system structure of Security system is proposed completely. It-s pointed out that the Security system is a negative feedback system composed of by safety monitoring and warning system, risk assessment and emergency rescue system. Safety monitoring and warning system focus on the monitoring target monitoring, early warning, tracking, integration of decision-making, for objective and subjective risks factors. Risk assessment system analysis the occurrence of a major Security risk mechanism, determines the standard of the future short, medium and long term safety conditions, and give prop for development of safety indicators, accident analysis and safety standards. Emergency rescue system is with the goal of rapid and effective rescue work for accident, to minimize casualties and property losses.
Abstract: Semiconductor nanomaterials like TiO2 nanoparticles
(TiO2-NPs) approximately less than 100 nm in diameter have become
a new generation of advanced materials due to their novel and
interesting optical, dielectric, and photo-catalytic properties. With the
increasing use of NPs in commerce, to date few studies have
investigated the toxicological and environmental effects of NPs.
Motivated by the importance of TiO2-NPs that may contribute to the
cancer research field especially from the treatment prospective
together with the fractal analysis technique, we have investigated the
effect of TiO2-NPs on colony morphology in the dark condition
using fractal dimension as a key morphological characterization
parameter. The aim of this work is mainly to investigate the cytotoxic
effects of TiO2-NPs in the dark on the growth of human cervical
carcinoma (HeLa) cell colonies from morphological aspect. The in
vitro studies were carried out together with the image processing
technique and fractal analysis. It was found that, these colonies were
abnormal in shape and size. Moreover, the size of the control
colonies appeared to be larger than those of the treated group. The
mean Df +/- SEM of the colonies in untreated cultures was
1.085±0.019, N= 25, while that of the cultures treated with TiO2-NPs
was 1.287±0.045. It was found that the circularity of the control
group (0.401±0.071) is higher than that of the treated group
(0.103±0.042). The same tendency was found in the diameter
parameters which are 1161.30±219.56 μm and 852.28±206.50 μm
for the control and treated group respectively. Possible explanation of
the results was discussed, though more works need to be done in
terms of the for mechanism aspects. Finally, our results indicate that
fractal dimension can serve as a useful feature, by itself or in
conjunction with other shape features, in the classification of cancer
colonies.
Abstract: Quantitative researching on the degree of incidence between the logistics industry and relevant macroscopic system elements is the basis of reasonable and scientific policy on industrial development. In the light of the macro-level, the logistics industry system is consisted of multiple macroscopic agents such as macro-economic, infrastructure, social environment, market demanding, the traditional industry, industry life cycle, policy , system and so on. This paper studies the grey incidence among the macroscopic agents in the logistics industry system. It is demonstrated that the releasing of the logistics services from the logistics outsourcing enterprises determines the growth of the logistics size. Although the information and communication technology is able to promote the formation of the modern logistics industry to some extent, the development of the modern logistics industry depends more on the development of national economy and the investment in the capital assets of the logistics industry.
Abstract: Dietary macro and micro nutrients in their respective proportion and fractions present a practical potential tool to fabricate milk constituents since cells of lactating mammary glands obtain about 80 % of milk synthesis nutrients from blood, reflecting the existence of an isotonic equilibrium between blood and milk. Diverting milk biosynthetic activities through manipulation of nutrients towards producing milk not only keeping in view its significance as natural food but also as food item which prevents or dilutes the adverse effects of some diseases (like cardiovascular problem by saturated milk fat intake) has been area of interest in the last decade. Nutritional modification / supplementation has been reported to enhance conjugated linoleic acid, fatty acid type and concentration, essential fatty acid concentration, vitamin B12& C, Se, Cu, I and Fe which are involved to counter the health threats to human well being. Synchronizing dietary nutrients aimed to modify rumen dynamics towards synthesis of nutrients or their precursors to make their drive towards formulated milk constituents presents a practical option. Formulating dietary constituents to design milk constituents will let the farmers, consumers and investors know about the real potential and profit margins associated with this enterprise. This article briefly recapitulates the ways and means to modify milk constituents keeping an eye on human health and well being issues, which allows milk to serve more than a food item.