Abstract: The composite pavement system considered in this paper is composed of a functional surface layer, a fiber reinforced asphalt middle layer and a fiber reinforced lean concrete base layer. The mix design of the fiber reinforced lean concrete corresponds to the mix composition of conventional lean concrete but reinforced by fibers. The quasi-absence of research on the durability or long-term performances (fatigue, creep, etc.) of such mix design stresses the necessity to evaluate experimentally the long-term characteristics of this layer composition. This study tests the creep characteristics as one of the long-term characteristics of the fiber reinforced lean concrete layer for composite pavement using a new creep device. The test results reveal that the lean concrete mixed with fiber reinforcement and fly ash develops smaller creep than the conventional lean concrete. The results of the application of the CEB-FIP prediction equation indicate that a modified creep prediction equation should be developed to fit with the new mix design of the layer.
Abstract: Influences of the amount of phenolic, curing temperature and curing time on the Mechanical Properties of phenolic/fiber composite were investigated by using two-level factorial design. The latter was used to determine the affects of those factors on mechanical properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the affects of amount of phenolic, curing temperature and curing time of the composite to determine the best condition for mechanical properties according to MIL-I-24768 by the tensile strength is more than 103 MPa.
Abstract: A total of 60 male mule ducks and 60 male Muscovy ducks were allotted into three groups (n = 20) to estimate the effects of overfeeding (two and four meals) versus ad libitum feeding on productive performance traits, foie gras production, internal organs, and blood parameters.
The results show that force-feeding four meals significantly increased (P < 0.01) body weight, weight gain, and gain percentage compared to force-feeding two meals. Both force-feeding regimes (two or four meals) induced significantly higher body weight, weight gain, gain percentage, and absolute carcass weight than ad libitum feeding; however, carcass percentage was significantly higher in ad libitum feeding. Mule ducks had significantly higher weight gain and weight gain percentages than Muscovy ducks.
Feed consumption per kilogram of foie gras and per kilogram weight gain was lower for the four-meal than for the two-meal forced feeding regime. Force-feeding four meals induced significantly higher liver weight and percentage (488.96 ± 25.78g, 7.82 ± 0.40%) than force-feeding two meals (381.98 ± 13.60g, 6.42 ± 0.21%). Moreover, feed conversion was significantly higher under forced feeding than under ad libitum feeding (77.65 ± 3.41g, 1.72 ± 0.05%; P < 0.01).
Forced feeding (two or four meals) increased all organ weights (intestine, proventriculus, heart, spleen, and pancreas) over ad libitum feeding weights, except for the gizzard; however intestinal and abdominal fat values were higher for four-meal forced feeding than for two-meal forced feeding.
Overfeeding did not change blood parameters significantly compared to ad libitum feeding; however, four-meal forced feeding improved the quality of foie gras since it significantly increased the percentage of grade A foie gras (62.5%) at the expense of grades B (33.33%) and C (4.17%) compared with the two-meal forced feeding.
The mortality percentage among Muscovy ducks during the forced feeding period was 22.5%, compared to 0% in mule ducks. Liver weight was highly significantly correlated with life weight after overfeeding and certain blood plasma traits.
Abstract: This study intends to improve the bond performance of the polypropylene fiber used as reinforcing fiber for concrete by changing its shape into double crimped type through the enhancement its fabrication process. The bond performance of such double crimped fiber is evaluated by applying the JCI SF-8 (dog-bone shape) testing method. The test results reveal that the double crimped fiber develops bond performance improved by more than 19% compared to the conventional crimped type fiber.
Abstract: This paper proposes a method of remotely controlling robots with arm gestures using surface electromyography (EMG) and accelerometer sensors attached to the operator’s wrists. The EMG and accelerometer sensors receive signals from the arm gestures of the operator and infer the corresponding movements to execute the command to control the robot. The movements of the robot include moving forward and backward and turning left and right. The accuracy is over 99% and movements can be controlled in real time.
Abstract: A game using electro-oculography (EOG) as control signal was introduced in this study. Various EOG signals are generated by eye movements. Even though EOG is a quite complex type of signal, distinct and separable EOG signals could be classified from horizontal and vertical, left and right eye movements. Proper signal processing was incorporated since EOG signal has very small amplitude in the order of micro volts and contains noises influenced by external conditions. Locations of the electrodes were set to be above and below as well as left and right positions of the eyes. Four control signals of up, down, left and right were generated. A microcontroller processed signals in order to simulate a DDR game. A LCD display showed arrows falling down with four different head directions. This game may be used as eye exercise for visual concentration and acuity. Our proposed EOG control signal can be utilized in many other applications of human machine interfaces such as wheelchair, computer keyboard and home automation.
Abstract: Appropriate and progressive tool for analyzing behavior of low volume roads are probabilistic models used in reliability analyses. The necessary part of the probabilistic model is the deterministic model of structural behavior. The FE model of low volume roads is created in the ANSYS software. It is able to determine the state of stress and deformation in any point of the structure and thus generate data required for the reliability analysis. The paper compares two material constitutive models used for modeling of unbound non-homogenous materials used in low volume roads. The first model is linear elastic model according to Hook theory (H model), the second one is nonlinear elastic-plastic Drucker-Prager model (D-P model).
Abstract: Present study numerically investigates the flow field and heat transfer of water in two dimensional sinusoidal and rectangular corrugated wall channels. Simulations are performed for fully developed flow conditions at inlet sections of the channels that have 12 waves. The temperature of the input fluid is taken to be less than that temperature of wavy walls. The governing continuity, momentum and energy equations are numerically solved using finite volume method based on SIMPLE technique. The investigation covers Reynolds number in the rage of 100-1000. The effects of the distance between upper and lower corrugated walls are studied by varying Hmin/Hmax ratio from 0.3 to 0.5 for keeping wave length and wave amplitude values fixed for both geometries. The effects of the wall geometry, Reynolds number and the distance between walls on the flow characteristics, the local Nusselt number and heat transfer are studied. It is found that heat transfer enhancement increases by usage of corrugated horizontal walls in an appropriate Reynolds number regime and channel height.
Abstract: Logarithms reduce products to sums and powers to products; they play an important role in signal processing, communication and information theory. They are primarily
used for hardware calculations, handling multiplications, divisions,
powers, and roots effectively. There are three commonly
used bases for logarithms; the logarithm with base-10 is called
the common logarithm, the natural logarithm with base-e and
the binary logarithm with base-2. This paper demonstrates different
methods of calculation for log2 showing the complexity
of each and finds out the most accurate and efficient besides
giving insights to their hardware design. We present a new
method called Floor Shift for fast calculation of log2, and
then we combine this algorithm with Taylor series to improve
the accuracy of the output, we illustrate that by using two
examples. We finally compare the algorithms and conclude
with our remarks.
Abstract: As creative economy is important theme for national policy, many countries have been raising investments through national R&D programs. Since not all of programs are aligned with the ultimate vision and R&D investment is one of the most decisive elements, the strategic fit of national R&D programs should be evaluated for effective resource allocation. This study aims at identifying the factors of strategic fit of national R&D program on the creative economy policy. For this purpose, the balanced scorecard (BSC) model for R&D is utilized to translate national strategic objectives into a set of coherent performance factors.
Abstract: In this paper, we address the problem of identifying academic reputation of researchers using scientific metrics in different research areas. Due to the characteristics of each area, researchers can present different behaviors. In previous work, we define Rep-Index that makes use of a profile template to individually identify the reputation of researchers. The Rep-Index is comprehensive and adaptive because involves hole trajectory of the researcher built throughout his career and can be used in different areas and in different contexts. Now, we compare our metric (Rep-Index) with the h-index and the g-index through experiments with researchers in the fields of Economics, Dentistry and Computer Science. We analyze the trajectory of 830 Brazilian researchers from the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), which receive grants research productivity. The grants are aimed at productivity researchers that stand out among their peers, enhancing their scientific normative criteria established by CNPq. Of the 830 researchers, 210 are in the area of Economics, 216 of Dentistry e 404 of Computer Science. The experiments show that our metric is strongly correlated with h-index, g-index and CNPq ranking. We also show good results for our hypothesis that our metric can be used to evaluate research in several areas. We apply our metric (Rep-Index) to compare the behavior of researchers in relation to their h-index and g-index through extensive experiments. The experiments showed that our metric is strongly correlated with h-index, g-index and CNPq ranking.
Abstract: This paper presents an application of the Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methodology to a turret punching machine in an elevators company, in Portugal. The work was developed during five months, in the ambit of a master thesis in Industrial Engineering and Management. The Lean Production tool SMED was applied to reduce setup times in order to improve the production flexibility of the machine. The main results obtained were a reduction of 64% in setup time (from 15.1 to 5.4min), 50% in work-in-process amount (from 12.8 to 6.4 days) and 99% in the distance traveled by the operator during the internal period (from 136.7 to 1.7m). These improvements correspond to gains of about €7,315.38 per year.
Abstract: Stiffness of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in flexible pavement is largely dependent of temperature, mode of testing and age of pavement. Accurate measurement of HMA stiffness is thus quite challenging. This study determines HMA stiffness based on Finite Element Model (FEM) and validates the results using field data. As a first step, stiffnesses of different layers of a pavement section on Interstate 40 (I-40) in New Mexico were determined by Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test. Pavement temperature was not measured at that time due to lack of temperature probe. Secondly, a FE model is developed in ABAQUS. Stiffness of the base, subbase and subgrade were taken from the FWD test output obtained from the first step. As HMA stiffness largely varies with temperature it was assigned trial and error approach. Thirdly, horizontal strain and vertical stress at the bottom of the HMA and temperature at different depths of the pavement were measured with installed sensors on the whole day on December 25th, 2012. Fourthly, outputs of FEM were correlated with measured stress-strain responses. After a number of trials a relationship was developed between the trial stiffness of HMA and measured mid-depth HMA temperature. At last, the obtained relationship between stiffness and temperature is verified by further FWD test when pavement temperature was recorded. A promising agreement between them is observed. Therefore, conclusion can be drawn that linear elastic FEM can accurately predict the stiffness and the structural response of flexible pavement.
Abstract: Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2) gases. Detonative mixtures of oxyhydrogens with various combinations of these two gases were used in Gas Detonation Forming (GDF) to form sheets of mild steel. In die forming experiments, three types of conical dies with apex angles of 60, 90 and 120 degrees were used. Pressure of mixtures inside the chamber before detonation was varied from 3 Bar to 5 Bar to investigate the effect of pre-detonation pressure in the forming process. On each conical die, several experiments with different percentages of Hydrogen were carried out to determine the optimum gaseous mixture. According to our results the best forming process occurred when approximately 50-70%. Hydrogen was employed in the mixture. Furthermore, the experimental results were compared to the ones from FEM analysis. The FEM simulation results of thickness strain, hoop strain, thickness variation and deformed geometry are promising.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to test how advanced digital technology enables a more effective training on the handwriting of children with handwriting deficit. This study implemented the graphomotor apparatuses to a computer-assisted instruction system. In a randomized controlled trial, the experiments for verifying the intervention effect were conducted. Forty two children with handwriting deficit were assigned to computer-assisted instruction, sensorimotor training or control (no intervention) group. Handwriting performance was measured using the Elementary reading/writing test and computerized handwriting evaluation before and after 6 weeks of intervention. Analysis of variance of change scores were conducted to show whether statistically significant difference across the three groups. Significant difference was found among three groups. Computer group shows significant difference from the other two groups. Significance was denoted in near-point, far-point copy, dictation test, and writing from phonetic symbols. Writing speed and mean stroke velocity in near-, far-point and short paragraph copy were found significantly difference among three groups. Computer group shows significant improvement from the other groups. For clinicians and school teachers, the results of this study provide a motor control based insight for the improvement of handwriting difficulties.
Abstract: The Choquet integral is a tool for the information fusion that is very effective in the case where fuzzy measures associated with it are well chosen. In this paper, we propose a new approach for calculating fuzzy measures associated with the Choquet integral in a context of data fusion in multimodal biometrics. The proposed approach is based on genetic algorithms. It has been validated in two databases: the first base is relative to synthetic scores and the second one is biometrically relating to the face, fingerprint and palmprint. The results achieved attest the robustness of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Multimodal biometric systems integrate the data presented by multiple biometric sources, hence offering a better performance than the systems based on a single biometric modality. Although the coupling of biometric systems can be done at different levels, the fusion at the scores level is the most common since it has been proven effective than the rest of the fusion levels. However, the scores from different modalities are generally heterogeneous. A step of normalizing the scores is needed to transform these scores into a common domain before combining them. In this paper, we study the performance of several normalization techniques with various fusion methods in a context relating to the merger of three unimodal systems based on the face, the palmprint and the fingerprint. We also propose a new adaptive normalization method that takes into account the distribution of client scores and impostor scores. Experiments conducted on a database of 100 people show that the performances of a multimodal system depend on the choice of the normalization method and the fusion technique. The proposed normalization method has given the best results.
Abstract: The characteristics of physiological blood flow in human carotid arterial bifurcation model have been numerically studied using a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis. This computational model with the fluid-structure interaction is constructed to investigate the flow characteristics and wall shear stress in the carotid artery. As the flow begins to decelerate after the peak flow, a large recirculation zone develops at the non-divider wall of both internal carotid artery (ICA) and external carotid artery (ECA) in FSI model due to the elastic energy stored in the expanding compliant wall. The calculated difference in wall shear stress (WSS) in both Non-FSI and FSI models is a range of between 5 and 11% at the mean WSS. The low WSS corresponds to regions of carotid artery that are more susceptible to atherosclerosis.
Abstract: A major goal in animal genetics is to understand the role of common genetic variants in diseases susceptibility and production traits. Sahiwal cattle can be considered as a global animal genetic resource due to its relatively high milk producing ability, resistance against tropical diseases and heat tolerant. CYP11B1 gene provides instructions for making a mitochondrial enzyme called steroid 11-beta-hydroxylase. It catalyzes the 11deoxy-cortisol to cortisol and 11deoxycorticosterone to corticosterone in cattle. The bovine CYP11B1 gene is positioned on BTA14q12 comprises of eight introns and nine exons and protein is associated with mitochondrial epithelium. The present study was aimed to identify the single-nucleotide polymorphisms in CYP11B1 gene in Sahiwal cattle breed of Pakistan. Four polymorphic sites were identified in exon one of CYP11B1 gene through sequencing approach. Significant finding was the incidence of the C→T polymorphism in 5'-UTR, causing amino acid substitution from alanine to valine (A30V) in Sahiwal cattle breed. That Ala/Val polymorphism may serve as a powerful genetic tool for the development of DNA markers that can be used for the particular traits for different local cattle breeds.
Abstract: The objective of this study is to present and to analyze the feasibility of using steel fibers as reinforcement in the cementations matrix to minimize the effect of free shrinkage which is a major cause of cracks that have can observe on concrete structures, also to improve the mechanical resistances of this concrete reinforced. The experimental study was performed on specimens with geometric characteristics adapted to the testing. The tests of shrinkage apply on prismatic specimens, equipped with rods fixed to the ends with different dosages of fibers, it should be noted that the fibers used are hooked end of 50mm length and 67 slenderness. The results show that the compressive strength and flexural strength increases as the degree of incorporation of fibbers increases. And the shrinkage deformations are generally less important for fibers-reinforced concrete to those appearing in the concrete without fibers.