Abstract: DNA Barcode provides good sources of needed
information to classify living species. The classification problem has
to be supported with reliable methods and algorithms. To analyze
species regions or entire genomes, it becomes necessary to use the
similarity sequence methods. A large set of sequences can be
simultaneously compared using Multiple Sequence Alignment which
is known to be NP-complete. However, all the used methods are still
computationally very expensive and require significant computational
infrastructure. Our goal is to build predictive models that are highly
accurate and interpretable. In fact, our method permits to avoid the
complex problem of form and structure in different classes of
organisms. The empirical data and their classification performances
are compared with other methods. Evenly, in this study, we present
our system which is consisted of three phases. The first one, is called
transformation, is composed of three sub steps; Electron-Ion
Interaction Pseudopotential (EIIP) for the codification of DNA
Barcodes, Fourier Transform and Power Spectrum Signal Processing.
Moreover, the second phase step is an approximation; it is
empowered by the use of Multi Library Wavelet Neural Networks
(MLWNN). Finally, the third one, is called the classification of DNA
Barcodes, is realized by applying the algorithm of hierarchical
classification.
Abstract: The lifetime of a wireless sensor network can be
effectively increased by using scheduling operations. Once the
sensors are randomly deployed, the task at hand is to find the largest
number of disjoint sets of sensors such that every sensor set provides
complete coverage of the target area. At any instant, only one of these
disjoint sets is switched on, while all other are switched off. This
paper proposes a heuristic search method to find the maximum
number of disjoint sets that completely cover the region. A
population of randomly initialized members is made to explore the
solution space. A set of heuristics has been applied to guide the
members to a possible solution in their neighborhood. The heuristics
escalate the convergence of the algorithm. The best solution explored
by the population is recorded and is continuously updated. The
proposed algorithm has been tested for applications which require
sensing of multiple target points, referred to as point coverage
applications. Results show that the proposed algorithm outclasses the
existing algorithms. It always finds the optimum solution, and that
too by making fewer number of fitness function evaluations than the
existing approaches.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a new segmentation approach
for liver lesions in regions of interest within MRI (Magnetic
Resonance Imaging). This approach, based on a two-cluster Fuzzy CMeans
methodology, considers the parameter variable compactness
to handle uncertainty. Fine boundaries are detected by a local
recursive merging of ambiguous pixels with a sequential forward
floating selection with Zernike moments. The method has been tested
on both synthetic and real images. When applied on synthetic images,
the proposed approach provides good performance, segmentations
obtained are accurate, their shape is consistent with the ground truth,
and the extracted information is reliable. The results obtained on MR
images confirm such observations. Our approach allows, even for
difficult cases of MR images, to extract a segmentation with good
performance in terms of accuracy and shape, which implies that the
geometry of the tumor is preserved for further clinical activities (such
as automatic extraction of pharmaco-kinetics properties, lesion
characterization, etc.).
Abstract: In this paper, the specific sound Transmission Loss
(TL) of the Laminated Composite Plate (LCP) with different material
properties in each layer is investigated. The numerical method to
obtain the TL of the LCP is proposed by using elastic plate theory. The
transfer matrix approach is novelty presented for computational
efficiency in solving the numerous layers of dynamic stiffness matrix
(D-matrix) of the LCP. Besides the numerical simulations for
calculating the TL of the LCP, the material properties inverse method
is presented for the design of a laminated composite plate analogous to
a metallic plate with a specified TL. As a result, it demonstrates that
the proposed computational algorithm exhibits high efficiency with a
small number of iterations for achieving the goal. This method can be
effectively employed to design and develop tailor-made materials for
various applications.
Abstract: New design of three dimensional (3D) flywheel system
based on gimbal and gyro mechanics is proposed. The 3D flywheel
device utilizes the rotational motion of three spherical shells and the
conservation of angular momentum to achieve planar locomotion.
Actuators mounted to the ring-shape frames are installed within the
system to drive the spherical shells to rotate, for the purpose of steering
and stabilization. Similar to the design of 2D flywheel system, it is
expected that the spherical shells may function like a “flyball” to store
and supply mechanical energy; additionally, in comparison with
typical single-wheel and spherical robots, the 3D flywheel can be used
for developing omnidirectional robotic systems with better mobility.
The Lagrangian method is applied to derive the equation of motion of
the 3D flywheel system, and simulation studies are presented to verify
the proposed design.
Abstract: This work presents an improved single fiber pull-out
test for fiber/matrix interface characterization. This test has been
used to study the Inter-Facial Shear Strength ‘IFSS’ of hemp fibers
reinforced polypropylene (PP). For this aim, the fiber diameter
has been carefully measured using a tomography inspired method.
The fiber section contour can then be approximated by a circle
or a polygon. The results show that the IFSS is overestimated if
the circular approximation is used. The Influence of the molding
temperature on the IFSS has also been studied. We find that a molding
temperature of 183◦C leads to better interfacial properties. Above or
below this temperature the interface strength is reduced.
Abstract: Distillery spentwash contains high chemical oxygen
demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), color, total
dissolved solids (TDS) and other contaminants even after biological
treatment. The effluent can’t be discharged as such in the surface
water bodies or land without further treatment. Reverse osmosis (RO)
treatment plants have been installed in many of the distilleries at
tertiary level in many of the distilleries in India, but are not properly
working due to fouling problem which is caused by the presence of
high concentration of organic matter and other contaminants in
biologically treated spentwash. In order to make the membrane
treatment a proven and reliable technology, proper pre-treatment is
mandatory. In the present study, ultra-filtration (UF) for pretreatment
of RO at tertiary stage has been performed. Operating
parameters namely initial pH (pHo: 2–10), trans-membrane pressure
(TMP: 4-20 bars) and temperature (T: 15-43°C) were used for
conducting experiments with UF system. Experiments were
optimized at different operating parameters in terms of COD, color,
TDS and TOC removal by using response surface methodology
(RSM) with central composite design. The results showed that
removal of COD, color and TDS was 62%, 93.5% and 75.5%
respectively, with UF, at optimized conditions with increased
permeate flux from 17.5 l/m2/h (RO) to 38 l/m2/h (UF-RO). The
performance of the RO system was greatly improved both in term of
pollutant removal as well as water recovery.
Abstract: In this study, to clarify the effectiveness of an
aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated tool for cutting sintered
steel, tool wear was experimentally investigated. The sintered steel
was turned with the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)- and
(Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated cemented carbide tools according to the
physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. Moreover, the tool wear of
the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated item was compared
with that of the (Al,Cr)N coated tool. Furthermore, to clarify the tool
wear mechanism of the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-coating film for
cutting sintered steel, Scanning Electron Microscope observation and
Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy mapping analysis were
conducted on the abraded surface. The following results were
obtained: (1) The wear progress of the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated
tool was the slowest among that of the five coated tools. (2) Adding
carbon (C) to the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coating film
was effective for improving the wear-resistance. (3) The main wear
mechanism of the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, the (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)-
and the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coating films was abrasive wear.
Abstract: The economic use and ease of construction of profiled
deck composite slab is marred with the complex and un-economic
strength verification required for the serviceability and general safety
considerations. Beside these, albeit factors such as shear span length,
deck geometries and mechanical frictions greatly influence the
longitudinal shear strength, that determines the ultimate strength of
profiled deck composite slab, and number of methods available for its
determination; partial shear and slope-intercept are the two methods
according to Euro-code 4 provision. However, the complexity
associated with shear behavior of profiled deck composite slab, the
use of these methods in determining the load carrying capacities of
such slab yields different and conflicting values. This couple with the
time and cost constraint associated with the strength verification is a
source of concern that draws more attentions nowadays, the issue is
critical. Treating some of these known shear strength influencing
factors as random variables, the load carrying capacity violation of
profiled deck composite slab from the use of the two-methods
defined according to Euro-code 4 are determined using reliability
approach, and comparatively studied. The study reveals safety values
from the use of m-k method shows good standing compared with that
from the partial shear method.
Abstract: Bicycle Level of Service (BLOS) is a measure for
evaluating street conditions for cyclists. Currently, various methods
are proposed for BLOS. These analytical methods however have
some drawbacks: they usually assume cyclists as users that can share
street facilities with motorized vehicles, it is not easy to link them to
design process and they are not easy to follow. In addition, they only
support a narrow range of cycling facilities and may not be applicable
for all situations. Along this, the current paper introduces various
effective design factors for bicycle-friendly streets. This study
considers cyclists as users of streets who have special needs and
facilities. Therefore, the key factors that influence BLOS based on
different cycling facilities that are proposed by developed guidelines
and literature are identified. The combination of these factors
presents a complete set of effective design factors for bicycle-friendly
streets. In addition, the weight of each factor in existing BLOS
models is estimated and these effective factors are ranked based on
these weights. These factors and their weights can be used in further
studies to propose special bicycle-friendly street design model.
Abstract: The main parameters affecting the workability are the
water content, particle size, and the total surface of the grains, as long
as the mixing water begins by wetting the surface of the grains and
then fills the voids between the grains to form entrapped water, the
quantity of water remaining is called free water. The aim of this study is to undertake a fractal approach through
the relationship between the concrete formulation parameters and
workability. To develop this approach a series of concrete taken from
the literature was investigated by varying formulation parameters
such as G/S, the quantity of cement C and the quantity of water W. We also call another model as the model of water layer thickness
and model of paste layer thickness to judge their relevance, hence the
following results: the relevance of the water layer thickness model is
considered as a relevant when there is a variation in the water
quantity. The model of the paste layer thickness is only applicable if
we considered that the paste is made with the grain value Dmax =
2.85: value from which we see a stability of the model.
Abstract: This paper describes a new approach which can be
used to interpret the experimental creep deformation data obtained
from miniaturized thin plate bending specimen test to the
corresponding uniaxial data based on an inversed application of the
reference stress method. The geometry of the thin plate is fully
defined by the span of the support, l, the width, b, and the thickness,
d. Firstly, analytical solutions for the steady-state, load-line creep
deformation rate of the thin plates for a Norton’s power law under
plane stress (b→0) and plane strain (b→∞) conditions were obtained,
from which it can be seen that the load-line deformation rate of the
thin plate under plane-stress conditions is much higher than that
under the plane-strain conditions. Since analytical solution is not
available for the plates with random b-values, finite element (FE)
analyses are used to obtain the solutions. Based on the FE results
obtained for various b/l ratios and creep exponent, n, as well as the
analytical solutions under plane stress and plane strain conditions, an
approximate, numerical solutions for the deformation rate are
obtained by curve fitting. Using these solutions, a reference stress
method is utilised to establish the conversion relationships between
the applied load and the equivalent uniaxial stress and between the
creep deformations of thin plate and the equivalent uniaxial creep
strains. Finally, the accuracy of the empirical solution was assessed
by using a set of “theoretical” experimental data.
Abstract: Processing of Al-19.4Si alloy by high intensive
electron beam has been carried out and multiple increases in fatigue
life of the material have been revealed. Investigations of structure and
surface modified layer destruction of Al-19.4Si alloy subjected to
multicycle fatigue tests to fracture have been carried out by methods
of scanning electron microscopy. The factors responsible for the
increase of fatigue life of Al-19.4Si alloy have been revealed and
analyzed.
Abstract: In this study, nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy and nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy
parameters of 14N (Nitrogen in imidazole ring) in N–H…O hydrogen
bonding for Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate were calculated via
density functional theory. We considered a five-molecule model
system of Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate. Also we examined
the trends of environmental effect on hydrogen bonds as well as
cooperativity. The functional used in this research is M06-2X which
is a good functional and the obtained results has shown good
agreement with experimental data. This functional was applied to
calculate the NMR and NQR parameters. Some correlations among
NBO parameters, NMR and NQR parameters have been studied
which have shown the existence of strong correlations among them.
Furthermore, the geometry optimization has been performed using
M062X/6-31++G(d,p) method. In addition, in order to study
cooperativity and changes in structural parameters, along with
increase in cluster size, natural bond orbitals have been employed.
Abstract: Steepest descent method is a simple gradient method
for optimization. This method has a slow convergence in heading to
the optimal solution, which occurs because of the zigzag form of the
steps. Barzilai and Borwein modified this algorithm so that it
performs well for problems with large dimensions. Barzilai and
Borwein method results have sparked a lot of research on the method
of steepest descent, including alternate minimization gradient method
and Yuan method. Inspired by previous works, we modified the step
size of the steepest descent method. We then compare the
modification results against the Barzilai and Borwein method,
alternate minimization gradient method and Yuan method for
quadratic function cases in terms of the iterations number and the
running time. The average results indicate that the steepest descent
method with the new step sizes provide good results for small
dimensions and able to compete with the results of Barzilai and
Borwein method and the alternate minimization gradient method for
large dimensions. The new step sizes have faster convergence
compared to the other methods, especially for cases with large
dimensions.
Abstract: Artificial neural networks have gained a lot of interest
as empirical models for their powerful representational capacity,
multi input and output mapping characteristics. In fact, most feedforward
networks with nonlinear nodal functions have been proved to
be universal approximates. In this paper, we propose a new
supervised method for color image classification based on selforganizing
feature maps (SOFM). This algorithm is based on
competitive learning. The method partitions the input space using
self-organizing feature maps to introduce the concept of local
neighborhoods. Our image classification system entered into RGB
image. Experiments with simulated data showed that separability of
classes increased when increasing training time. In additional, the
result shows proposed algorithms are effective for color image
classification.
Abstract: This paper investigates the parametric stability of an
axially moving web subjected to non-uniform in-plane edge
excitations on two opposite, simply-supported edges. The web is
modeled as a viscoelastic plate whose constitutive relation obeys the
Kelvin-Voigt model, and the in-plane edge excitations are expressed
as the sum of a static tension and a periodical perturbation. Due to the
in-plane edge excitations, the moving plate may bring about
parametric instability under certain situations. First, the in-plane
stresses of the plate due to the non-uniform edge excitations are
determined by solving the in-plane forced vibration problem. Then,
the dependence on the spatial coordinates in the equation of transverse
motion is eliminated by the generalized Galerkin method, which
results in a set of discretized system equations in time. Finally, the
method of multiple scales is utilized to solve the set of system
equations analytically if the periodical perturbation of the in-plane
edge excitations is much smaller as compared with the static tension of
the plate, from which the stability boundaries of the moving plate are
obtained. Numerical results reveal that only combination resonances
of the summed-type appear under the in-plane edge excitations
considered in this work.
Abstract: Aurèsregion is one of the arid and semi-arid areas that
have suffered climate crises and overexploitation of natural resources
they have led to significant land degradation. The use of remote sensing data allowed us to analyze the land and
its spatiotemporal changes in the Aurès between 1987 and 2013, for
this work, we adopted a method of analysis based on the exploitation
of the images satellite Landsat TM 1987 and Landsat OLI 2013, from
the supervised classification likelihood coupled with field surveys of
the mission of May and September of 2013. Using ENVI EX software by the superposition of the ground cover
maps from 1987 and 2013, one can extract a spatial map change of
different land cover units. The results show that between 1987 and
2013 vegetation has suffered negative changes are the significant
degradation of forests and steppe rangelands, and sandy soils and
bare land recorded a considerable increase. The spatial change map land cover units between 1987 and 2013
allows us to understand the extensive or regressive orientation of
vegetation and soil, this map shows that dense forests give his place
to clear forests and steppe vegetation develops from a degraded forest
vegetation and bare, sandy soils earn big steppe surfaces that explain
its remarkable extension.
The analysis of remote sensing data highlights the profound
changes in our environment over time and quantitative monitoring of
the risk of desertification.
Abstract: Optic disk segmentation plays a key role in the mass
screening of individuals with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma
ailments. An efficient hardware-based algorithm for optic disk
localization and segmentation would aid for developing an automated
retinal image analysis system for real time applications. Herein,
TMS320C6416DSK DSP board pixel intensity based fractal analysis
algorithm for an automatic localization and segmentation of the optic
disk is reported. The experiment has been performed on color and
fluorescent angiography retinal fundus images. Initially, the images
were pre-processed to reduce the noise and enhance the quality. The
retinal vascular tree of the image was then extracted using canny
edge detection technique. Finally, a pixel intensity based fractal
analysis is performed to segment the optic disk by tracing the origin
of the vascular tree. The proposed method is examined on three
publicly available data sets of the retinal image and also with the data
set obtained from an eye clinic. The average accuracy achieved is
96.2%. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first work reporting
the use of TMS320C6416DSK DSP board and pixel intensity based
fractal analysis algorithm for an automatic localization and
segmentation of the optic disk. This will pave the way for developing
devices for detection of retinal diseases in the future.
Abstract: Background: The change in foot posture can possibly
generate changes in the pelvic alignment. There is still a lack of
evidence about the effects of bilateral and unilateral flatfoot on
possible changes in pelvic alignment. The purpose of this study was
to investigate the effect of flatfoot on the sagittal and frontal planes of
pelvic postures. Materials and Methods: 56 subjects, aged 18–40
years, were assigned into three groups: 20 healthy subjects, 19
subjects with bilateral flexible second-degree flat foot, and 17
subjects with unilateral flexible second-degree flat foot. 3D
assessment of the pelvis using the formetric-II device was used to
evaluate pelvic alignment in the frontal and sagittal planes by
measuring pelvic inclination and pelvic tilt angles. Results: ANOVA
test with LSD test were used for statistical analysis. Both Unilateral
and bilateral second degree flatfoot produced significant (P