Abstract: Mega urban transport projects (MUTPs) are
increasingly being used in urban environments to ameliorate the
problem of congestion. However, a number of problems with regard
to mega projects have been identified. In particular the seemingly
institutionalised over estimation of economic benefits and persistent
cost over runs, could mean that the wrong projects are selected, and
that the projects that are selected cost more than they should. Studies
to date have produced a number of solutions to these problems,
perhaps most notably, the various methods for the inclusion of the
private sector in project provision. However the problems have
shown significant intractability in the face of these solutions. This
paper provides a detailed examination of some of the problems
facing mega projects and then examines Foucault-s theory of
'governmentality' as a possible frame of analysis which might shed
light on the intractability of the problems that have been identified,
through an identification of the art of government in which MUTPs
occur.
Abstract: In manufacturing industries, development of measurement leads to increase the number of monitoring variables and eventually the importance of multivariate control comes to the fore. Statistical process control (SPC) is one of the most widely used as multivariate control chart. Nevertheless, SPC is restricted to apply in processes because its assumption of data as following specific distribution. Unfortunately, process data are composed by the mixture of several processes and it is hard to estimate as one certain distribution. To alternative conventional SPC, therefore, nonparametric control chart come into the picture because of the strength of nonparametric control chart, the absence of parameter estimation. SVDD based control chart is one of the nonparametric control charts having the advantage of flexible control boundary. However,basic concept of SVDD has been an oversight to the important of data characteristic, density distribution. Therefore, we proposed DW-SVDD (Density Weighted SVDD) to cover up the weakness of conventional SVDD. DW-SVDD makes a new attempt to consider dense of data as introducing the notion of density Weight. We extend as control chart using new proposed SVDD and a simulation study of various distributional data is conducted to demonstrate the improvement of performance.
Abstract: Fractional Fourier Transform is a generalization of the classical Fourier Transform which is often symbolized as the rotation in time- frequency plane. Similar to the product of time and frequency span which provides the Uncertainty Principle for the classical Fourier domain, there has not been till date an Uncertainty Principle for the Fractional Fourier domain for a generalized class of finite energy signals. Though the lower bound for the product of time and Fractional Fourier span is derived for the real signals, a tighter lower bound for a general class of signals is of practical importance, especially for the analysis of signals containing chirps. We hence formulate a mathematical derivation that gives the lower bound of time and Fractional Fourier span product. The relation proves to be utmost importance in taking the Fractional Fourier Transform with adaptive time and Fractional span resolutions for a varied class of complex signals.
Abstract: This paper describes a system, in which various methods of text summarizing can be adapted to Polish. A structure of the system is presented. A modular construction of the system and access to the system via the Internet are signaled.
Abstract: This paper presents an iterative algorithm to find a
inverse kinematic solution of 5-DOF robot. The algorithm is to
minimize the iteration number. Since the 5-DOF robot cannot give full
orientation of tool. Only z-direction of tool is satisfied while rotation
of tool is determined by kinematic constraint. This work therefore
described how to specify the tool direction and let the tool rotation free.
The simulation results show that this algorithm effectively worked.
Using the proposed iteration algorithm, error due to inverse kinematics
converged to zero rapidly in 5 iterations. This algorithm was applied in
real welding robot and verified through various practical works.
Abstract: The focus of this paper is to construct daily time series
exchange rate forecast models of Samoan Tala/USD and Tala/AUD
during the year 2008 to 2012 with neural network The performance
of the models was measured by using varies error functions such as
Root Square mean error (RSME), Mean absolute error (MAE), and
Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Our empirical findings
suggest that AR (1) model is an effective tool to forecast the
Tala/USD and Tala/AUD.
Abstract: A DC servomotor position control system using a Fuzzy Logic Sliding mode Model Following Control or FLSMFC approach is presented. The FLSMFC structure consists of an integrator and variable structure system. The integral control is introduced into it in order to eliminated steady state error due to step and ramp command inputs and improve control precision, while the fuzzy control would maintain the insensitivity to parameter variation and disturbances. The FLSMFC strategy is implemented and applied to a position control of a DC servomotor drives. Experimental results indicated that FLSMFC system performance with respect to the sensitivity to parameter variations is greatly reduced. Also, excellent control effects and avoids the chattering phenomenon.
Abstract: The primary objective of this research is to improve the flexural capacity of FRP strengthened RC Beam structures with Aluminum and Titanium laminates. FRP rupture of flexural strengthened RC beams using FRP plates generally occurs at the interface between FRP plate and the beam. Therefore, in order to prevent brittle rupture and improve the ductility of the system, this research was performed by using Aluminum and Titanium materials between the two different structural systems. The research also aims to provide various strengthening/retrofitting methods for RC beam structures and to conduct a preliminary analysis of the demands on the structural systems. This was achieved by estimation using the experimental data from this research to identify a flexural capacity for the systems. Ultimately, the preliminary analysis of current study showed that the flexural capacity and system demand ductility was significantly improved by the systems inserted with Aluminum and Titanium anchor plates. Further verification of the experimental research is currently on its way to develop a new or reliable design guideline to retrofit/strengthen the concrete-FRP structural system can be evaluated.
Abstract: The objective of this study is to evaluate the threshold
stress of the clay with sand subgrade soil. Threshold stress can be
defined as the stress level above which cyclic loading leads to
excessive deformation and eventual failure. The thickness
determination of highways formations using the threshold stress
approach is a more realistic assessment of the soil behaviour because
it is subjected to repeated loadings from moving vehicles. Threshold
stress can be evaluated by plastic strain criterion, which is based on
the accumulated plastic strain behaviour during cyclic loadings [1].
Several conditions of the all-round pressure the subgrade soil namely,
zero confinement, low all-round pressure and high all-round pressure
are investigated. The threshold stresses of various soil conditions are
determined. Threshold stress of the soil are 60%, 31% and 38.6% for
unconfined partially saturated sample, low effective stress saturated
sample, high effective stress saturated sample respectively.
Abstract: Region covariance (RC) descriptor is an effective
and efficient feature for visual tracking. Current RC-based tracking
algorithms use the whole RC matrix to track the target in video
directly. However, there exist some issues for these whole RCbased
algorithms. If some features are contaminated, the whole RC
will become unreliable, which results in lost object-tracking. In
addition, if some features are very discriminative to the
background, other features are still processed and thus reduce the
efficiency. In this paper a new robust tracking method is proposed,
in which the whole RC matrix is decomposed into several low rank
matrices. Those matrices are dynamically chosen and processed so
as to achieve a good tradeoff between discriminability and
complexity. Experimental results have shown that our method is
more robust to complex environment changes, especially either
when occlusion happens or when the background is similar to the
target compared to other RC-based methods.
Abstract: The early diagnostic decision making in industrial processes is absolutely necessary to produce high quality final products. It helps to provide early warning for a special event in a process, and finding its assignable cause can be obtained. This work presents a hybrid diagnostic schmes for batch processes. Nonlinear representation of raw process data is combined with classification tree techniques. The nonlinear kernel-based dimension reduction is executed for nonlinear classification decision boundaries for fault classes. In order to enhance diagnosis performance for batch processes, filtering of the data is performed to get rid of the irrelevant information of the process data. For the diagnosis performance of several representation, filtering, and future observation estimation methods, four diagnostic schemes are evaluated. In this work, the performance of the presented diagnosis schemes is demonstrated using batch process data.
Abstract: The study area receives a wide variety of wastes
generated by municipalities and the industries like paints and
pigments, metal processing industries, thermal power plants electroprocessing
industries etc. The Physico-chemical and structural
investigation of water from river Pandu indicated high level of
chlorides and calcium which made the water unsuitable for human
use. Algae like Cyclotella fumida, Asterionella Formosa,
Cladophora glomerata, Pediastrum simplex, Scenedesmus bijuga,
Cladophora glomerata were the dominant pollution tolerant species
recorded under these conditions. The sensitive and less abundant
species of algae included Spirogyra sps., Merismopedia sps. The
predominance colonies of Zygnema sps, Phormidium sps,
Mycrocystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia minima, Pandorina morum,
seems to correlate with high organic contents of Pandu river water.
This study assumes significance as some algae can be used as
bioindicators of water pollution and algal floral of a municipal drain
carrying waste effluents from industrial area Kanpur and discharge
them into the river Pandu flowing onto southern outskirts of Kanpur
city.
Abstract: This paper provides a replacement policy for warranty products with different failure rate from the consumer-s viewpoint. Assume that the product is replaced once within a finite planning horizon, and the failure rate of the second product is lower than the failure rate of the first product. Within warranty period (WP), the failed product is corrected by minimal repair without any cost to the consumers. After WP, the failed product is repaired with a fixed repair cost to the consumers. However, each failure incurs a fixed downtime cost to the consumers over a finite planning horizon. In this paper, we derive the model of the expected total disbursement cost within a finite planning horizon and some properties of the optimal replacement policy under some reasonable conditions are obtained. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the features of the optimal replacement policy under various maintenance costs.
Abstract: Accurate evaluation of damping ratios involving soilstructure interaction (SSI) effects is the prerequisite for seismic design of in-situ buildings. This study proposes a combined approach to identify damping ratios of SSI systems based on ambient excitation technique. The proposed approach is illustrated with main test process, sampling principle and algorithm steps through an engineering example, as along with its feasibility and validity. The proposed approach is employed for damping ratio identification of 82 buildings in Xi-an, China. Based on the experimental data, the variation range and tendency of damping ratios of these SSI systems, along with the preliminary influence factor, are shown and discussed. In addition, a fitting curve indicates the relation between the damping ratio and fundamental natural period of SSI system.
Abstract: This paper deals with the experimental investigations
of the in-cylinder tumble flows in an unfired internal combustion
engine with a flat piston at the engine speeds ranging from 400 to
1000 rev/min., and also with the dome and dome-cavity pistons at an
engine speed of 1000 rev/min., using particle image velocimetry.
From the two-dimensional in-cylinder flow measurements, tumble
flow analysis is carried out in the combustion space on a vertical
plane passing through cylinder axis. To analyze the tumble flows,
ensemble average velocity vectors are used and to characterize it,
tumble ratio is estimated. From the results, generally, we have found
that tumble ratio varies mainly with crank angle position. Also, at the
end of compression stroke, average turbulent kinetic energy is more
at higher engine speeds. We have also found that, at 330 crank angle
position, flat piston shows an improvement of about 85 and 23% in
tumble ratio, and about 24 and 2.5% in average turbulent kinetic
energy compared to dome and dome-cavity pistons respectively
Abstract: A study concerning the photocatalytic decolourization
of Congo red (CR) dye, over artificial UV irradiation is presented.
Photocatalysts based on a commercial titanium dioxide (TiO2)
modified with transition metals (Ni, Cu and Zn) were used. The
dopage method used was wet impregnation. A TiO2 sample without
salt was subjected to the same hydrothermal treatment to be used as
reference. Congo red solutions to several pH conditions (natural and
basic) were used to evaluate photocatalytic performance of each
doped catalysts. Photodecolourization percentage was measured
spectrofotrometically after 3 h of treatment to 499 nm as response
variable. Kinetics investigations of photodegradation indicated that
reactions obey to Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and pseudo–first
order law. The rate constant studies of photocatalytic decolourization
reactions for Zn–TiO2 and Cu–TiO2 photocatalysts indicated that in
all cases the rate constant of the reaction was higher than that of TiO2
undoped. These results show that nature of the metal modifying the
TiO2 influence on the efficiency of the photocatalyst evaluated in
process. Ni does not present an additional effect compared with TiO2,
while Zn enhances the photoactivity due to its electronic properties.
Abstract: In this study, cometabolic biodegradation of
chloroform was experimented with mixed cultures in the presence of
various organic solvents like methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone,
acetonitrile and toluene as these are predominant discharges in
pharmaceutical industries. Toluene and acetone showed higher
specific chloroform degradation rate when compared to other
compounds. Cometabolic degradation of chloroform was further
confirmed by observation of free chloride ions in the medium. An
extended Haldane model, incorporating the inhibition due to
chloroform and the competitive inhibition between primary
substrates, was developed to predict the biodegradation of primary
substrates, cometabolic degradation of chloroform and the biomass
growth. The proposed model is based on the use of biokinetic
parameters obtained from single substrate degradation studies. The
model was able to satisfactorily predict the experimental results of
ternary and quaternary mixtures. The proposed model can be used for
predicting the performance of bioreactors treating discharges from
pharmaceutical industries.
Abstract: For the past couple of decades Weak signal detection
is of crucial importance in various engineering and scientific
applications. It finds its application in areas like Wireless
communication, Radars, Aerospace engineering, Control systems and
many of those. Usually weak signal detection requires phase sensitive
detector and demodulation module to detect and analyze the signal.
This article gives you a preamble to intrusion detection system which
can effectively detect a weak signal from a multiplexed signal. By
carefully inspecting and analyzing the respective signal, this
system can successfully indicate any peripheral intrusion. Intrusion
detection system (IDS) is a comprehensive and easy approach
towards detecting and analyzing any signal that is weakened and
garbled due to low signal to noise ratio (SNR). This approach
finds significant importance in applications like peripheral security
systems.
Abstract: With continuous rise of oil price, how to develop alternative energy source has become a hot topic around the world. This study discussed the dynamic characteristics of an island power system operating under random wind speed lower than nominal wind
speeds of wind turbines. The system primarily consists of three diesel engine power generation systems, three constant-speed variable-pitch wind turbines, a small hydraulic induction generation system, and lumped static loads. Detailed models based on Matlab/Simulink were developed to cater for the dynamic behavior of the system. The results suggested this island power system can operate stably in this operational mode. This study can serve as an important reference for planning, operation, and further expansion of island power systems.
Abstract: Impaired fertility may be the result of indirect
consumption of anti-fertility agents through food. Monosodium
glutamate (MSG) has been widely used as food additive, flavour
enhancer and included in vaccines. This study focuses in determining
the gonadotoxic and cytotoxic effect of MSG on selected sperm
parameters such as sperm viability, sperm membrane integrity and
testes cytoarchitecture of male mice via histological examination to
determine its effect on spermatogenesis. Twenty-four Mus musculus
were randomly divided into 4 groups and given intraperitoneal
injections (IP) daily for 14 days of different MSG concentrations at
250, 500 and 1000mg/kg MSG to body weight to induce obesity.
Saline was given to control group. Mice were sacrificed and analysis
revealed abnormalities in values for sperm parameters and damages
to testes cytoarchitecture of male mice. The results recorded
decreased viability (p0.05) with degenerative structures in seminiferous tubule of
testes. The results indicated various implications of MSG on male
mice reproductive system which has consequences in fertility
potential.