Abstract: Active vibration control is an important problem in
structures. The objective of active vibration control is to reduce the vibrations of a system by automatic modification of the system-s
structural response. In this paper, the modeling and design of a fast
output sampling feedback controller for a smart flexible beam system embedded with shear sensors and actuators for SISO system using
Timoshenko beam theory is proposed. FEM theory, Timoshenko beam theory and the state space techniques are used to model the
aluminum cantilever beam. For the SISO case, the beam is divided into 5 finite elements and the control actuator is placed at finite
element position 1, whereas the sensor is varied from position 2 to 5, i.e., from the nearby fixed end to the free end. Controllers are
designed using FOS method and the performance of the designed FOS controller is evaluated for vibration control for 4 SISO models
of the same plant. The effect of placing the sensor at different locations on the beam is observed and the performance of the
controller is evaluated for vibration control. Some of the limitations of the Euler-Bernoulli theory such as the neglection of shear and
axial displacement are being considered here, thus giving rise to an accurate beam model. Embedded shear sensors and actuators have
been considered in this paper instead of the surface mounted sensors
and actuators for vibration suppression because of lot of advantages. In controlling the vibration modes, the first three dominant modes of
vibration of the system are considered.
Abstract: Physiological activity of the pineal gland with specific
responses in the reproductive territory may be interpreted by
monitoring the process parameters used in poultry practice in
different age batches of laying hens. As biological material were
used 105 laying hens, clinically healthy, belonging to ALBO SL-
2000 hybrid, raised on ground, from which blood samples were taken
at the age of 12 and 28 weeks. The haematological examinations
were concerned to obtain the total number of erythrocytes and
leukocytes and the main erythrocyte constant (RBC, PCV, MCV,
MCH, MCHC and WBC). The results allow the interpretation of the
reproductive status through the dynamics of the presented values.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate hydrogen production from alcohol wastewater by anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) under thermophillic operation. The ASBR unit used in this study had a liquid holding volume of 4 L and was operated at 6 cycles per day. The seed sludge taken from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket unit treating the same wastewater was boiled at 95 °C for 15 min before being fed to the ASBR unit. The ASBR system was operated at different COD loading rates at a thermophillic temperature (55 °C), and controlled pH of 5.5. When the system was operated under optimum conditions (providing maximum hydrogen production performance) at a feed COD of 60 000 mg/l, and a COD loading rate of 68 kg/m3 d, the produced gas contained 43 % H2 content in the produced gas. Moreover, the hydrogen yield and the specific hydrogen production rate (SHPR) were 130 ml H2/g COD removed and 2100 ml H2/l d, respectively.
Abstract: The key to the continued success of ANN depends, considerably,
on the use of hybrid structures implemented on cooperative
frame-works. Hybrid architectures provide the ability to the ANN
to validate heterogeneous learning paradigms. This work describes
the implementation of a set of Distributed and Hybrid ANN models
for Character Recognition applied to Anglo-Assamese scripts. The
objective is to describe the effectiveness of Hybrid ANN setups as
innovative means of neural learning for an application like multilingual
handwritten character and numeral recognition.
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: Sesame is one of the oldest and most important oil
crops as main crop and second crop agriculture. This study was
carried out to determine the effects of different inter- and intra-row
spacings on the yield and yield components on second crop sesame;
was set up in Antalya West Mediterranean Agricultural Research
Institue in 2009. Muganlı 57 sesame cultivar was used as plant
material. The field experiment was set up in a split plot design and
row spacings (30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 cm) were assigned to the main
plots and and intra-row spacings (5, 10, 20 and 30 cm) were assigned
to the subplots. Seed yield, oil ratio, oil yield, protein ratio and
protein yield were investigated. In general, wided inter row spacings
and intra-row spacings, resulted in decreased seed yield, oil yield and
protein yield. The highest seed yield, oil yield and protein yield
(respectively, 1115.0 kg ha-1, 551.3 kg ha-1, 224.7 kg ha-1) were
obtained from 30x5 cm plant density while the lowest seed yield, oil
yield and protein yield (respectively, 677.0 kg ha-1, 327.0 kg ha-1,
130.0 kg ha-1) were recorded from 70x30 cm plant density. As a
result, in terms of oil yield for second crop sesame agriculture, 30 cm
row spacing, and 5 cm intra row spacing are the most suitable plant
densities.
Abstract: the intension in this work is to investigate the effect of
different bending manifold pipes on engine performance for different
engine speed. Power, Torque, and BSFC were calculated and
presented to show the effect of varying bending pipes angles on them
for all cases considered. A special program used to carry out the
calculations. A simulation model for 4-cylinders spark ignition
engine with turbocharger has been built and calculated. The analysis
of the results shows that for 120o angle the torque increases about
40% at 3000 rpm and 25% at 4000 rpm without changing in fuel
consumption. For 90o angle the increment in torque is about 10 %.
For the same bending angle the increment in brake power is around
40% at 3000 rpm and 25% at 4000 rpm. The increment in fuel
consumption is about 12% for 60o and 30% for 90o between (6000-
7000) rpm.
Abstract: Web sites are rapidly becoming the preferred media
choice for our daily works such as information search, company
presentation, shopping, and so on. At the same time, we live in a
period where visual appearances play an increasingly important
role in our daily life. In spite of designers- effort to develop a web
site which be both user-friendly and attractive, it would be difficult
to ensure the outcome-s aesthetic quality, since the visual
appearance is a matter of an individual self perception and opinion.
In this study, it is attempted to develop an automatic system for
web pages aesthetic evaluation which are the building blocks of
web sites. Based on the image processing techniques and artificial
neural networks, the proposed method would be able to categorize
the input web page according to its visual appearance and aesthetic
quality. The employed features are multiscale/multidirectional
textural and perceptual color properties of the web pages, fed to
perceptron ANN which has been trained as the evaluator. The
method is tested using university web sites and the results
suggested that it would perform well in the web page aesthetic
evaluation tasks with around 90% correct categorization.
Abstract: Validity is an overriding consideration in language testing. If a test score is intended for a particular purpose, this must be supported through empirical evidence. This article addresses the validity of a multiple-choice achievement test (MCT). The test is administered at the end of each semester to decide about students' mastery of a course in general English. To provide empirical evidence pertaining to the validity of this test, two criterion measures were used. In so doing, a Cloze test and a C-test which are reported to gauge general English proficiency were utilized. The results of analyses show that there is a statistically significant correlation among participants' scores on the MCT, Cloze, and Ctest. Drawing on the findings of the study, it can be cautiously deduced that these tests measure the same underlying trait. However, allowing for the limitations of using criterion measures to validate tests, we cannot make any absolute claim as to the validity of this MCT test.
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: 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: The 'wind-rain' house has a courtyard with glazed
roof, which allows more direct sunlight to come into indoor spaces
during the winter. The glazed roof can be partially opened or closed
and automatically controlled to provide natural ventilation in order to
adjust for indoor thermal conditions and the roof area can be shaded
by reflective insulation materials during the summer. Two field
studies for evaluating indoor thermal conditions of the two 'windrain'
houses have been carried out by author in 2009 and 2010.
Indoor and outdoor air temperature and relative humidity adjacent to
floor and ceiling of the two sample houses were continuously tested
at 15-minute intervals, 24 hours a day during the winter months.
Based on field study data, this study investigates relationships
between building design and indoor thermal condition of the 'windrain'
house to improve the future house design for building thermal
comfort and energy efficiency
Abstract: Mostly the systems are dealing with time varying
signals. The Power efficiency can be achieved by adapting the system
activity according to the input signal variations. In this context
an adaptive rate filtering technique, based on the level crossing sampling
is devised. It adapts the sampling frequency and the filter order
by following the input signal local variations. Thus, it correlates the
processing activity with the signal variations. Interpolation is required
in the proposed technique. A drastic reduction in the interpolation
error is achieved by employing the symmetry during the interpolation
process. Processing error of the proposed technique is
calculated. The computational complexity of the proposed filtering
technique is deduced and compared to the classical one. Results
promise a significant gain of the computational efficiency and hence
of the power consumption.
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: In Lebanon, public construction projects are awarded
to the contractor submitting the lowest bid price based on a
competitive bidding process. The contractor has to make a strategic
decision in choosing the appropriate bid price that will offer a
satisfactory profit with a greater probability to win. A simulation
model for bid price decision making based on the lowest bid price
evaluation is developed. The model, built using Crystal Ball decisionengineering
software, considers two main factors affecting the
bidding process: the number of qualified bidders and the size of the
project. The validity of the model is tested on twelve separate
projects. The study also shows how to use the model to conduct risk
analysis and help any specific contractor to decide on his bid price
with associated certainty level in a scientific method.
Abstract: This work describes refrigeration effects during storage on total protein and amino acids composition of raw and processed flour of two pearl millet cultivars (Ashana and Dembi). The protein content of the whole raw flour was found to be 14.46 and 13.38% for Ashana and Dembi cultivars, respectively. Dehulling of the grains reduced the protein content to 13.38 and 12.67% for the cultivars, respectively. For both cultivars, the protein content of the whole and dehulled raw flour before and after cooking was slightly decreased when the flour was stored for 60 days even after refrigeration. The effect of refrigeration process in combination with the storage period, cooking or dehulling was found to be vary between amino acids and even between cultivars. Regardless of the storage period and processing method, the amino acids content was remained unchanged after refrigeration for both cultivars.
Abstract: The entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema
feltiaeare are components of many biological pesticides. The
biological pesticides are applicated by means a spraying machines.
The influence of high pressure operating time on viability of
nematodes has been experimentally investigated in order to explain if
static pressure inside of the sprayers installation was able to destroy
nematodes. The value of pressure was 55 MPa and its maximum
operating time was 3 hours. Changes were found in viability of
pressurized samples of nematodes, mixed with water.
Abstract: Twenty - nine Holstein cows were used to evaluate the effects of different dry period (DP) lengths on milk yield and composition, some blood metabolites, and complete blood count (CBC). Cows were assigned to one of 2 treatments: 1) 60-d dry period, 2) 35-d DP. Milk yield, from calving to 60 days, was not different for cows on the treatments (p =0.130). Cows in the 35-d DP produced more milk protein and SNF compare with cows in treatment 1 (p ≤ 0.05). Serum glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta hydroxyl butyrate acid (BHBA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urea, and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) were all similar among the treatments. Body condition score (BCS), body weight (BW), complete blood count (CBC) and health problems were similar between the treatments. The results of this study demonstrated we can reduce the dry period length to 35 days with no problems.
Abstract: This paper represents an investigation on how exploiting multiple transmit antennas by OFDM based wireless LAN subscribers can mitigate physical layer error rate. Then by comparing the Wireless LANs that utilize spatial diversity techniques with the conventional ones it will reveal how PHY and TCP throughputs behaviors are ameliorated. In the next step it will assess the same issues based on a cellular context operation which is mainly introduced as an innovated solution that beside a multi cell operation scenario benefits spatio-temporal signaling schemes as well. Presented simulations will shed light on the improved performance of the wide range and high quality wireless LAN services provided by the proposed approach.
Abstract: Proteins or genes that have similar sequences are likely to perform the same function. One of the most widely used techniques for sequence comparison is sequence alignment. Sequence alignment allows mismatches and insertion/deletion, which represents biological mutations. Sequence alignment is usually performed only on two sequences. Multiple sequence alignment, is a natural extension of two-sequence alignment. In multiple sequence alignment, the emphasis is to find optimal alignment for a group of sequences. Several applicable techniques were observed in this research, from traditional method such as dynamic programming to the extend of widely used stochastic optimization method such as Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and Simulated Annealing. A framework with combination of Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing is presented to solve Multiple Sequence Alignment problem. The Genetic Algorithm phase will try to find new region of solution while Simulated Annealing can be considered as an alignment improver for any near optimal solution produced by GAs.