Abstract: This work involved the use of phytoremediation to
remediate an aged soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs). At microcosm scale, tests were prepared using soil samples
that have been collected in an industrial area with a total PCBs
concentration of about 250 μg kg-1. Medicago sativa and Lolium
italicum were the species selected in this study that is used as
“feasibility test" for full scale remediation. The experiment was
carried out with the addition of a mixture of randomly methylatedbeta-
cyclodextrins (RAMEB). At the end of the experiment analysis
of soil samples showed that in general the presence of plants has led
to a higher degradation of most congeners with respect to not
vegetated soil. The two plant species efficiencies were comparable
and improved by RAMEB addition with a final reduction of total
PCBs near to 50%. With increasing the chlorination of the congeners
the removal percentage of PCBs progressively decreased.
Abstract: This paper presents a new hardware interface using a
microcontroller which processes audio music signals to standard
MIDI data. A technique for processing music signals by extracting
note parameters from music signals is described. An algorithm to
convert the voice samples for real-time processing without complex
calculations is proposed. A high frequency microcontroller as the
main processor is deployed to execute the outlined algorithm. The
MIDI data generated is transmitted using the EIA-232 protocol. The
analyses of data generated show the feasibility of using
microcontrollers for real-time MIDI generation hardware interface.
Abstract: This article is devoted to the numerical solution of
large-scale quadratic eigenvalue problems. Such problems arise in
a wide variety of applications, such as the dynamic analysis of
structural mechanical systems, acoustic systems, fluid mechanics,
and signal processing. We first introduce a generalized second-order
Krylov subspace based on a pair of square matrices and two initial
vectors and present a generalized second-order Arnoldi process for
constructing an orthonormal basis of the generalized second-order
Krylov subspace. Then, by using the projection technique and the
refined projection technique, we propose a restarted generalized
second-order Arnoldi method and a restarted refined generalized
second-order Arnoldi method for computing some eigenpairs of largescale
quadratic eigenvalue problems. Some theoretical results are also
presented. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the
effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Abstract: A convenient and physically sound mathematical model of the external or I - V characteristic of solar cells generators is presented in this paper. This model is compared with the traditional model of p-n junction. The direct analytical calculation of load regime leads to a quadratic equation, which is importantly to simplify the calculations in the real time.
Abstract: The Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous Network on Chip (GALS NoC) is the most efficient solution that provides low latency transfers and power efficient System on Chip (SoC) interconnect. This study presents a GALS and generic NoC architecture based on a configurable router. This router integrates a sophisticated dynamic arbiter, the wormhole routing technique and can be configured in a manner that allows it to be used in many possible NoC topologies such as Mesh 2-D, Tree and Polygon architectures. This makes it possible to improve the quality of service (QoS) required by the proposed NoC. A comparative performances study of the proposed NoC architecture, Tore architecture and of the most used Mesh 2D architecture is performed. This study shows that Spidergon architecture is characterised by the lower latency and the later saturation. It is also shown that no matter what the number of used links is raised; the Links×Diameter product permitted by the Spidergon architecture remains always the lower. The only limitation of this architecture comes from it-s over cost in term of silicon area.
Abstract: Architecture as a form of art, whilst actively
developing, finds new methods and conceptions. Currently,
architectural animation is actively developing as a step, successive to
architectural visualization. Interesting vistas of architectural ideas
were discovered by artists of Japanese animation, in which there are
traditional spirits, kami, and imaginary spaces relating to them.
Anime art should be considered abstract painting, another kind of an
architectural workshop, where new architectural ideas are generated.
Abstract: In this article, by means of examination of Bolshevists
Turkistanskie Vedomosti" newspaper and “Erikti Oylar Organi" and
“Turkistanskyi Vestnik" newspapers which had been published
during 1917-1918, the fact that “Turkistan Governorship" established
in city of Kokand in November of 1917, within the framework of
former tsarist Russia Turkistan general-governorship, was the legal
government formed as a requisition of people of Turkistan was
proved. An examination of these two newspapers providing
information regarding history of “Turkistan Autonomy" but having
opposite to each other views makes it possible to obtain valuable data
concerning history of autonomy which was inappropriately
misrepresented during Soviet period.
Abstract: Computer game industry has experienced exponential
growth in recent years. A game is a recreational activity involving
one or more players. Game input is information such as data,
commands, etc., which is passed to the game system at run time from
an external source. Conversely, game outputs are information which
are generated by the game system and passed to an external target,
but which is not used internally by the game. This paper identifies a
new classification scheme for game input and output, which is based
on player-s input and output. Using this, relationship table for game
input classifier and output classifier is developed.
Abstract: Topology Optimization is a defined as the method of
determining optimal distribution of material for the assumed design
space with functionality, loads and boundary conditions [1].
Topology optimization can be used to optimize shape for the
purposes of weight reduction, minimizing material requirements or
selecting cost effective materials [2]. Topology optimization has been
implemented through the use of finite element methods for the
analysis, and optimization techniques based on the method of moving
asymptotes, genetic algorithms, optimality criteria method, level sets
and topological derivatives. Case study of Typical “Fuselage design"
is considered for this paper to explain the benefits of Topology
Optimization in the design cycle. A cylindrical shell is assumed as
the design space and aerospace standard pay loads were applied on
the fuselage with wing attachments as constraints. Then topological
optimization is done using Finite Element (FE) based software. This
optimization results in the structural concept design which satisfies
all the design constraints using minimum material.
Abstract: The paper presents an analytical solution for dispersion
of a solute in the peristaltic motion of a micropolar fluid in the
presence of magnetic field and both homogeneous and heterogeneous
chemical reactions. The average effective dispersion coefficient has
been found using Taylor-s limiting condition under long wavelength
approximation. The effects of various relevant parameters on the average
coefficient of dispersion have been studied. The average effective
dispersion coefficient increases with amplitude ratio, cross viscosity
coefficient and heterogeneous chemical reaction rate parameter. But it
decreases with magnetic field parameter and homogeneous chemical
reaction rate parameter. It can be noted that the presence of peristalsis
enhances dispersion of a solute.
Abstract: In this paper we present, propose and examine
additional membership functions for the Smoothing Transition
Autoregressive (STAR) models. More specifically, we present the
tangent hyperbolic, Gaussian and Generalized bell functions.
Because Smoothing Transition Autoregressive (STAR) models
follow fuzzy logic approach, more fuzzy membership functions
should be tested. Furthermore, fuzzy rules can be incorporated or
other training or computational methods can be applied as the error
backpropagation or genetic algorithm instead to nonlinear squares.
We examine two macroeconomic variables of US economy, the
inflation rate and the 6-monthly treasury bills interest rates.
Abstract: Relay based communication has gained considerable importance in the recent years. In this paper we find the end-toend statistics of a two hop non-regenerative relay branch, each hop being Nakagami-m faded. Closed form expressions for the probability density functions of the signal envelope at the output of a selection combiner and a maximal ratio combiner at the destination node are also derived and analytical formulations are verified through computer simulation. These density functions are useful in evaluating the system performance in terms of bit error rate and outage probability.
Abstract: Healthcare issues continue to pose huge problems and incur massive costs. As a result there are many challenging problems still unresolved. In this paper, we will carry out an extensive scientific survey of different areas of management and planning in an attempt to identify where there has already been a substantial contribution from management science methods to healthcare problems and where there is a clear potential for more work to be done. The focus will be on the read-across to the healthcare domain from such approaches applied generally to management and planning and how the methods can be used to improvement patient care. We conclude that, since the healthcare domain significantly differs from traditional areas of management and planning, in some cases there is a need to modify the approaches so as to incorporate the complexities of healthcare, and fully exploit the potential for improvement.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new methodology for the
optimal allocation and sizing of Embedded Generation (EG)
employing Real Coded Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) to minimize the
total power losses and to improve voltage profiles in the radial
distribution networks. RCGA is a method that uses continuous
floating numbers as representation which is different from
conventional binary numbers. The RCGA is used as solution tool,
which can determine the optimal location and size of EG in radial
system simultaneously. This method is developed in MATLAB. The
effect of EG units- installation and their sizing to the distribution
networks are demonstrated using 24 bus system.
Abstract: Human activities are increasingly based on the use of remote resources and services, and on the interaction between
remotely located parties that may know little about each other. Mobile agents must be prepared to execute on different hosts with
various environmental security conditions. The aim of this paper is to
propose a trust based mechanism to improve the security of mobile
agents and allow their execution in various environments. Thus, an
adaptive trust mechanism is proposed. It is based on the dynamic interaction between the agent and the environment. Information
collected during the interaction enables generation of an environment
key. This key informs on the host-s trust degree and permits the mobile agent to adapt its execution. Trust estimation is based on
concrete parameters values. Thus, in case of distrust, the source of problem can be located and a mobile agent appropriate behavior can
be selected.
Abstract: Formaldehyde is the illegal chemical substance used
for food preservation in fish and vegetable. It can promote
carcinogenesis. Superoxide dismutases are the important
antioxidative enzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide
anion into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The resultant level of
oxidative stress in formaldehyde-treated lymphocytes was
investigated. The formaldehyde concentrations of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80
and 120μmol/L were treated in human lymphocytes for 12 hours.
After 12 treated hours, the superoxide dismutase activity change was
measured in formaldehyde-treated lymphocytes. The results showed
that the formaldehyde concentrations of 60, 80 and 120μmol/L
significantly decreased superoxide dismutase activities in
lymphocytes (P < 0.05). The change of superoxide dismutase
activity in formaldehyde-treated lymphocytes may be the biomarker
for detect cellular injury, such as damage to DNA, due to
formaldehyde exposure.
Abstract: A state of the art Speaker Identification (SI) system
requires a robust feature extraction unit followed by a speaker
modeling scheme for generalized representation of these features.
Over the years, Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC)
modeled on the human auditory system has been used as a standard
acoustic feature set for speech related applications. On a recent
contribution by authors, it has been shown that the Inverted Mel-
Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (IMFCC) is useful feature set for
SI, which contains complementary information present in high
frequency region. This paper introduces the Gaussian shaped filter
(GF) while calculating MFCC and IMFCC in place of typical
triangular shaped bins. The objective is to introduce a higher
amount of correlation between subband outputs. The performances
of both MFCC & IMFCC improve with GF over conventional
triangular filter (TF) based implementation, individually as well as
in combination. With GMM as speaker modeling paradigm, the
performances of proposed GF based MFCC and IMFCC in
individual and fused mode have been verified in two standard
databases YOHO, (Microphone Speech) and POLYCOST
(Telephone Speech) each of which has more than 130 speakers.
Abstract: This paper presents an adaptive technique for generation
of data required for construction of artificial neural network-based
performance model of nano-scale CMOS inverter circuit. The training
data are generated from the samples through SPICE simulation. The
proposed algorithm has been compared to standard progressive sampling
algorithms like arithmetic sampling and geometric sampling.
The advantages of the present approach over the others have been
demonstrated. The ANN predicted results have been compared with
actual SPICE results. A very good accuracy has been obtained.
Abstract: The concept of privacy, seen in connection to the consumer's private space and personalization, has recently gained a higher importance as a consequence of the increasing marketing efforts of the organizations based on the capturing, processing and usage of consumer-s personal data.Paper intends to provide a definition of the consumer-s private space based on the types of personal data the consumer is willing to disclose, to assess the attitude toward personalization and to identify the means preferred by consumers to control their personal data and defend their private space. Several implications generated through the definition of the consumer-s private space are identified and weighted from both the consumers- and organizations- perspectives.
Abstract: Many Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) applications necessitate secure multicast services for the purpose of broadcasting delay sensitive data like video files and live telecast at fixed time-slot. This work provides a novel method to deal with end-to-end delay and drop rate of packets. Opportunistic Routing chooses a link based on the maximum probability of packet delivery ratio. Null Key Generation helps in authenticating packets to the receiver. Markov Decision Process based Adaptive Scheduling algorithm determines the time slot for packet transmission. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed protocol ensures better performance in terms of packet delivery ratio, average end-to-end delay and normalized routing overhead.