Abstract: A four element prototype phased array surface probe
has been designed and constructed to improve clinical human
prostate spectroscopic data. The probe consists of two pairs of
adjacent rectangular coils with an optimum overlap to reduce the
mutual inductance. The two pairs are positioned on the anterior and
the posterior pelvic region and two couples of varactors at the input
of each coil undertake the procedures of tuning and matching. The
probe switches off and on automatically during the consecutive
phases of the MR experiment with the use of an analog switch that is
triggered by a microcontroller. Experimental tests that were carried
out resulted in high levels of tuning accuracy. Also, the switching
mechanism functions properly for various applied loads and pulse
sequence characteristics, producing only 10 μs of latency.
Abstract: The security of power systems against malicious cyberphysical
data attacks becomes an important issue. The adversary
always attempts to manipulate the information structure of the power
system and inject malicious data to deviate state variables while
evading the existing detection techniques based on residual test. The
solutions proposed in the literature are capable of immunizing the
power system against false data injection but they might be too costly
and physically not practical in the expansive distribution network.
To this end, we define an algebraic condition for trustworthy power
system to evade malicious data injection. The proposed protection
scheme secures the power system by deterministically reconfiguring
the information structure and corresponding residual test. More
importantly, it does not require any physical effort in either microgrid
or network level. The identification scheme of finding meters being
attacked is proposed as well. Eventually, a well-known IEEE 30-bus
system is adopted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
schemes.
Abstract: Historic religious buildings located in seismic areas
have developed different failure mechanisms. Simulation of failure
modes is done with computer programs through a nonlinear dynamic
analysis or simplified using the method of failure blocks. Currently
there are simulation methodologies of failure modes based on the
failure rigid blocks method only for Roman Catholic churches type.
Due to differences of shape in plan, elevation and construction
systems between Orthodox churches and Catholic churches, for the
first time there were initiated researches in the development of this
simulation methodology for Orthodox churches. In this article are
presented the first results from the researches. The theoretical results
were compared with real failure modes recorded at an Orthodox
church from Banat region, severely damaged by earthquakes in
1991. Simulated seismic response, using a computer program based
on finite element method was confirmed by cracks after earthquakes.
The consolidation of the church was made according to these
theoretical results, realizing a rigid floor connecting all the failure
blocks.
Abstract: Energy consumption is an important design issue for
Mobile Subscriber Station (MSS) in the standard IEEE 802.16e.
Because mobility of MSS implies that energy saving becomes an
issue so that lifetime of MSS can be extended before re-charging.
Also, the mechanism in efficiently managing the limited energy is
becoming very significant since a MSS is generally energized by
battery. For these, sleep mode operation is recently specified in the
MAC (Medium Access Control) protocol. In order to reduce the
energy consumption, we focus on the sleep-mode and wake-mode of
the MAC layer, which are included in the IEEE 802.16 standards [1-
2].
Abstract: General as well as the MSW management in Thailand is reviewed in this paper. Topics include the MSW generation, sources, composition, and trends. The review, then, moves to sustainable solutions for MSW management, sustainable alternative approaches with an emphasis on an integrated MSW management. Information of waste in Thailand is also given at the beginning of this paper for better understanding of later contents. It is clear that no one single method of MSW disposal can deal with all materials in an environmentally sustainable way. As such, a suitable approach in MSW management should be an integrated approach that could deliver both environmental and economic sustainability. With increasing environmental concerns, the integrated MSW management system has a potential to maximize the useable waste materials as well as produce energy as a by-product. In Thailand, the compositions of waste (86%) are mainly organic waste, paper, plastic, glass, and metal. As a result, the waste in Thailand is suitable for an integrated MSW management. Currently, the Thai national waste management policy starts to encourage the local administrations to gather into clusters to establish central MSW disposal facilities with suitable technologies and reducing the disposal cost based on the amount of MSW generated.
Abstract: This paper presents the design and analysis of a parallel
connected inverter configuration of. The configuration consists of
parallel connected three-phase dc/ac inverter. Series resistors added
to the inverter output to maintain same current in each inverter of the
two parallel inverters, and to reduce the circulating current in the
parallel inverters to the minimum. High frequency third harmonic
injection PWM (THIPWM) employed to reduce the total harmonic
distortion and to make maximum use of the voltage source. DSP was
used to generate the THIPWM and the control algorithm for the
converter. Selected experimental results have been shown to validate
the proposed system.
Abstract: Microparticles carrier systems made from naturally occurring polymers based on chitosan/casein system appears to be a promising carrier for the sustained release of orally and parenteral administered drugs. In the current study we followed a microencapsulation technique based aqueous coacervation method to prepare chitosan/casein microparticles of compositions 1:1, 1:2 and 1:5 incorporated with chloramphenicol. Glutaraldehyde was used as a chemical cross-linking agent. The microparticles were prepared by aerosol method and studied by optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis, swelling studies and drug release studies at various pH. The percentage swelling of the polymers are found to be in the order pH 4 > pH 10 > pH 7 and the increase in casein composition decrease the swelling percentage. The drug release studies also follow the above order.
Abstract: Coordinated supply chain represents major challenges
for the different actors involved in it, because each agent responds to
individual interests. The paper presents a framework with the
reviewed literature regarding the system's decision structure and
nature of demand. Later, it characterizes an agri food supply chain in
the Central Region of Colombia, it responds to a decentralized
distribution system and a stochastic demand. Finally, the paper
recommends coordinating the chain based on shared information, and
mechanisms for each agent, as VMI (vendor-managed inventory)
strategy for farmer-buyer relationship, information system for
farmers and contracts for transportation service providers.
Abstract: The article deals with numerical investigation of axisymmetric
subsonic air to air ejector. An analysis of flow and mixing
processes in cylindrical mixing chamber are made. Several modes
with different velocity and ejection ratio are presented. The mixing
processes are described and differences between flow in the initial
region of mixing and the main region of mixing are described. The
lengths of both regions are evaluated. Transition point and point
where the mixing processes are finished are identified. It was found
that the length of the initial region of mixing is strongly dependent on
the velocity ratio, while the length of the main region of mixing is
dependent on velocity ratio only slightly.
Abstract: Many studies have focused on the nonlinear analysis
of electroencephalography (EEG) mainly for the characterization of
epileptic brain states. It is assumed that at least two states of the
epileptic brain are possible: the interictal state characterized by a
normal apparently random, steady-state EEG ongoing activity; and
the ictal state that is characterized by paroxysmal occurrence of
synchronous oscillations and is generally called in neurology, a
seizure.
The spatial and temporal dynamics of the epileptogenic process is
still not clear completely especially the most challenging aspects of
epileptology which is the anticipation of the seizure. Despite all the
efforts we still don-t know how and when and why the seizure
occurs. However actual studies bring strong evidence that the
interictal-ictal state transition is not an abrupt phenomena. Findings
also indicate that it is possible to detect a preseizure phase.
Our approach is to use the neural network tool to detect interictal
states and to predict from those states the upcoming seizure ( ictal
state). Analysis of the EEG signal based on neural networks is used
for the classification of EEG as either seizure or non-seizure. By
applying prediction methods it will be possible to predict the
upcoming seizure from non-seizure EEG.
We will study the patients admitted to the epilepsy monitoring
unit for the purpose of recording their seizures. Preictal, ictal, and
post ictal EEG recordings are available on such patients for analysis
The system will be induced by taking a body of samples then
validate it using another. Distinct from the two first ones a third body
of samples is taken to test the network for the achievement of
optimum prediction. Several methods will be tried 'Backpropagation
ANN' and 'RBF'.
Abstract: In this work a new offline signature recognition system
based on Radon Transform, Fractal Dimension (FD) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) is presented. In the first step, projections of
original signatures along four specified directions have been performed using radon transform. Then, FDs of four obtained
vectors are calculated to construct a feature vector for each
signature. These vectors are then fed into SVM classifier for recognition of signatures. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of
the system several experiments are carried out. Offline signature
database from signature verification competition (SVC) 2004 is used
during all of the tests. Experimental result indicates that the proposed method achieved high accuracy rate in signature recognition.
Abstract: Segmentation is an important step in medical image
analysis and classification for radiological evaluation or computer
aided diagnosis. This paper presents the problem of inaccurate lung
segmentation as observed in algorithms presented by researchers
working in the area of medical image analysis. The different lung
segmentation techniques have been tested using the dataset of 19
patients consisting of a total of 917 images. We obtained datasets of
11 patients from Ackron University, USA and of 8 patients from
AGA Khan Medical University, Pakistan. After testing the algorithms
against datasets, the deficiencies of each algorithm have been
highlighted.
Abstract: Vermiculite was used to develop inorganic
carrier-based formulations of fluorescent pseudomonad strains
R62 and R81. The effect of bio-inoculation of fluorescent
pseudomonad strains R62 and R81 (plant growth promoting
and biocontrol agent) on growth responses of Vigna-mungo
under field condition was enumerated. The combined bioinoculation
of these two organisms in a formuation increased
the pods yield by 300% in comparison to the control crop.
There was also significant increment in the other plant growth
responses such as dry root weight, dry shoot weight, shoot
length and number of branches per plant.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach based on the
adoption of a distributed cognition framework and a non parametric
multicriteria evaluation methodology (DEA) designed specifically to
compare e-commerce websites from the consumer/user viewpoint. In
particular, the framework considers a website relative efficiency as a
measure of its quality and usability. A website is modelled as a black
box capable to provide the consumer/user with a set of
functionalities. When the consumer/user interacts with the website to
perform a task, he/she is involved in a cognitive activity, sustaining a
cognitive cost to search, interpret and process information, and
experiencing a sense of satisfaction. The degree of ambiguity and
uncertainty he/she perceives and the needed search time determine
the effort size – and, henceforth, the cognitive cost amount – he/she
has to sustain to perform his/her task. On the contrary, task
performing and result achievement induce a sense of gratification,
satisfaction and usefulness. In total, 9 variables are measured,
classified in a set of 3 website macro-dimensions (user experience,
site navigability and structure). The framework is implemented to
compare 40 websites of businesses performing electronic commerce
in the information technology market. A questionnaire to collect
subjective judgements for the websites in the sample was purposely
designed and administered to 85 university students enrolled in
computer science and information systems engineering
undergraduate courses.
Abstract: Lactic acid alone and its combined application with
nisin were evaluated for reducing population of naturally occurring
microorganisms on chilled shrimp. Fresh shrimps were dipped in 0,
1.0% and 2.0% (v/v) lactic acid alone and their combined application
with 0.04 (g/L/kg) nisin solution for 10 min. Total plate counts of
aerobic bacteria (TPCs), Psychrotrophic counts, population of
Pseudomonas spp., H2S producing bacteria and Lactic acid bacteria
(LAB) on shrimps were determined during storage at 4 °C. The
results indicated that total plate counts were 2.91 and 2.63 log CFU/g
higher on untreated shrimps after 7 and 14 days of storage,
respectively, than on shrimps treated with 2.0% lactic acid combined
with 0.04 (g/L/kg) nisin. Both concentrations of lactic acid indicated
significant reduction on Pseudomonas counts during storage, while
2.0% lactic acid combined with nisin indicated the highest reduction.
In addition, H2S producing bacteria were more sensitive to high
concentration of lactic acid combined with nisin during storage.
Abstract: The wireless sensor networks have been extensively
deployed and researched. One of the major issues in wireless sensor
networks is a developing energy-efficient clustering protocol.
Clustering algorithm provides an effective way to prolong the lifetime
of a wireless sensor networks. In the paper, we compare several
clustering protocols which significantly affect a balancing of energy
consumption. And we propose an Energy-Efficient Distributed
Unequal Clustering (EEDUC) algorithm which provides a new way of
creating distributed clusters. In EEDUC, each sensor node sets the
waiting time. This waiting time is considered as a function of residual
energy, number of neighborhood nodes. EEDUC uses waiting time to
distribute cluster heads. We also propose an unequal clustering
mechanism to solve the hot-spot problem. Simulation results show that
EEDUC distributes the cluster heads, balances the energy
consumption well among the cluster heads and increases the network
lifetime.
Abstract: The nature of adsorbed species on catalytic surface
over an industrial precipitated iron-based high temperature catalyst
during FTS was investigated by in-situ DRIFTS and chemical
trapping. The formulation of the mechanism of oxygenates formation
and key intermediates were also discussed. Numerous oxygenated
precursors and crucial intermediates were found by in-situ DRIFTS,
such as surface acetate, acetyl and methoxide. The results showed that
adsorbed molecules on surface such as methanol or acetaldehyde
could react with basic sites such as lattice oxygen or free surface
hydroxyls. Adsorbed molecules also had reactivity of oxidizing.
Moreover, acetyl as a key intermediate for oxygenates was observed
by investigation of CH3OH + CO and CH3I + CO + H2. Based on the
nature of surface properties, the mechanism of oxygenates formation
on precipitated iron-based high temperature catalyst was discussed.
Abstract: Compared to oil production from microorganisms, little work has been performed for mixed culture of microalgae and yeast. In this article it is aimed to show high oil accumulation potential of mixed culture of microalgae Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 and oleaginous yeast Torulaspora maleeae Y30 using sugarcane molasses as substrate. The monoculture of T. maleeae Y30 grew faster than that of microalgae Chlorella sp. KKU-S2. In monoculture of yeast, a biomass of 6.4g/L with specific growth rate (m) of 0.265 (1/d) and lipid yield of 0.466g/L were obtained, while 2.53g/L of biomass with m of 0.133 (1/d) and lipid yield of 0.132g/L were obtained for monoculture of Chlorella sp. KKU-S2. The biomass concentration in the mixed culture of T. maleeae Y30 with Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 increased faster and was higher compared with that in the monoculture and mixed culture of microalgae. In mixed culture of microalgae Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 and C. vulgaris TISTR8580, a biomass of 3.47g/L and lipid yield of 0.123 g/L were obtained. In mixed culture of T. maleeae Y30 with Chlorella sp. KKU-S2, a maximum biomass of 7.33 g/L and lipid yield of 0.808g/L were obtained. Maximum cell yield coefficient (YX/S, 0.229g/L), specific yield of lipid (YP/X, 0.11g lipid/g cells) and volumetric lipid production rate (QP, 0.115 g/L/d) were obtained in mixed culture of yeast and microalgae. Clearly, T. maleeae Y30 and Chlorella sp. KKU-S2 use sugarcane molasses as organic nutrients efficiently in mixed culture under mixotrophic growth. The biomass productivity and lipid yield are notably enhanced in comparison with monoculture.
Abstract: Rice seed expression (cDNA) library in the Lambda
Zap 11® phage constructed from the developing grain 10-20 days
after flowering was transformed into yeast for functional
complementation assays in three salt sensitive yeast mutants S.
cerevisiae strain CY162, G19 and Axt3K. Transformed cells of G19
and Axt3K with pYES vector with cDNA inserts showed enhance
tolerance than those with empty pYes vector. Sequencing of the
cDNA inserts revealed that they encode for the putative proteins with
the sequence homologous to rice putative protein PROLM24
(Os06g31070), a prolamin precursor. Expression of this cDNA did
not affect yeast growth in absence of salt. Axt3k and G19 strains
expressing the PROLM24 were able to grow upto 400 mM and 600
mM of NaCl respectively. Similarly, Axt3k mutant with PROLM24
expression showed comparatively higher growth rate in the medium
with excess LiCl (50 mM). The observation that expression of
PROLM24 rescued the salt sensitive phenotypes of G19 and Axt3k
indicates the existence of a regulatory system that ameliorates the
effect of salt stress in the transformed yeast mutants. However, the
exact function of the cDNA sequence, which shows partial sequence
homology to yeast UTR1 is not clear. Although UTR1 involved in
ferrous uptake and iron homeostasis in yeast cells, there is no
evidence to prove its role in Na+ homeostasis in yeast cells. Absence
of transmembrane regions in Os06g31070 protein indicates that salt
tolerance is achieved not through the direct functional
complementation of the mutant genes but through an alternative
mechanism.
Abstract: Increase in globalization of capital markets brings the
higher requirements on financial information provided for investors
who look for a highly comparable information. Paper deals with the
advantages and limitations of applying International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the Czech Republic and Ukraine. As a
greatest limit for full adoption of IFRS shall be acknowledged the
strong connection of continental accounting to tax system and
enormous high administrative burden for IFRS appliers.