Abstract: The paper is focused on monitoring of dependencies
of different composition concretes on elastic modulus values.
To obtain a summary of elastic modulus development in dependence
of concrete composition design variability was the objective
of the experiment. Essential part of this work was initiated
as a reaction to building practice when questions of elastic moduli
arose at the same time and which mostly did not obtain the required
and expected values from concrete constructions.
Abstract: Implementation of advanced technologies requires
sophisticated instruments that deal with the operation, control,
restoration and protection of rapidly growing power system network
under normal and abnormal conditions. Presently, the applications of
Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) are widely found in real time
operation, monitoring, controlling and analysis of power system
network as it eliminates the various limitations of supervisory control
and data acquisition system (SCADA) conventionally used in power
system. The use of PMU data is very rapidly increasing its
importance for online and offline analysis. Wide area measurement
system (WAMS) is developed as new technology by use of multiple
PMUs in power system. The present paper proposes a model of
Matlab based PMU using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)
algorithm and evaluation of its operation under different
contingencies. In this paper, PMU based two bus system having
WAMS network is presented as a case study.
Abstract: Today, there is a large number of political transcripts
available on the Web to be mined and used for statistical analysis,
and product recommendations. As the online political resources are
used for various purposes, automatically determining the political
orientation on these transcripts becomes crucial. The methodologies
used by machine learning algorithms to do an automatic classification
are based on different features that are classified under categories
such as Linguistic, Personality etc. Considering the ideological
differences between Liberals and Conservatives, in this paper, the
effect of Personality traits on political orientation classification is
studied. The experiments in this study were based on the correlation
between LIWC features and the BIG Five Personality traits. Several
experiments were conducted using Convote U.S. Congressional-
Speech dataset with seven benchmark classification algorithms. The
different methodologies were applied on several LIWC feature sets
that constituted by 8 to 64 varying number of features that are
correlated to five personality traits. As results of experiments,
Neuroticism trait was obtained to be the most differentiating
personality trait for classification of political orientation. At the same
time, it was observed that the personality trait based classification
methodology gives better and comparable results with the related
work.
Abstract: Perception, evaluation and representation of the
environment have been the subject of many disciplines including
psychology, geography and architecture. In environmental and social
psychology literature there are several evidences which suggest that
cognitive representations about a place consisted of not only
geographic items but also social and cultural. Mental representations
of residence area or a country are influenced and determined by
social-demographics, the physical and social context. Thus, all
mental representations of a given place are also social
representations. Cognitive maps are the main and common
instruments that are used to identify spatial images and the difference
between physical and subjective environments. The aim of the
current study is investigating the mental and social representations of
Turkey in university students’ minds. Data was collected from 249
university students from different departments (i.e. psychology,
geography, history, tourism departments) of Ege University.
Participants were requested to reflect Turkey in their mind onto the
paper drawing sketch maps. According to the results, cognitive maps
showed geographic aspects of Turkey as well as the context of
symbolic, cultural and political reality of Turkey. That is to say, these
maps had many symbolic and verbal items related to critics on social
and cultural problems, ongoing ethnic and political conflicts, and
actual political agenda of Turkey. Additionally, one of main
differentiations in these representations appeared in terms of the East
and West side of the Turkey, and the representations of the East and
West was varied correspondingly participants’ cultural background,
their ethnic values, and where they have born. The results of the
study were discussed in environmental and social psychological
perspective considering cultural and social values of Turkey and
current political circumstances of the country.
Abstract: Fibre cement plates, often used in construction,
generally are made using quartz as an inert material, cement as a
binder and cellulose as a fibre. This paper, first of all, investigates the
mechanical properties and durability of fibre cement plates when
quartz is both partly and fully replaced with diatomite. Diatomite
does not only have lower density compared to quartz but also has
high pozzolanic activity. The main objective of this paper is the
investigation of the effects of supplementary cementing materials
(SCMs) on the short and long term mechanical properties and
durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using
diatomite. Supplementary cementing materials such as ground
granulated blast furnace slug (GGBS) and fly ash (FA) are used in
this study. Volume proportions of 10, 20, 30 and 40% of GGBS and
FA are used as partial replacement materials to cement. Short and
long term mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural
strengths as well as sorptivity characteristics and mass were
investigated. Consistency and setting time at each replacement levels
of SCMs were also recorded. The effects of using supplementary
cementing materials on the carbonation and sulphate resistance of
fibre cement plates were then experimented. The results, first of all,
show that the use of diatomite as a full or partial replacement to
quartz resulted in a systematic decrease in total mass of the fibre
cement plates. The reduction of mass was largely due to the lower
density and finer particle size of diatomite compared to quartz. The
use of diatomite did not only reduce the mass of these plates but also
increased the compressive strength significantly as a result of its high
pozzolanic activity. The replacement levels of both GGBS and FA
resulted in a systematic decrease in short term compressive strength
with increasing replacement levels. This was essentially expected as
the total rate of hydration is much lower in GGBS and FA than that
of cement. Long term results however, indicated that the compressive
strength of fibre cement plates prepared using both GGBS and FA
increases with time and hence the compressive strength of plates
prepared using SCMs is either equivalent or more than the
compressive strength of plates prepared using cement alone.
Durability characteristics of fibre cement plates prepared using SCMs
were enhanced significantly. Measurements of sopritivty
characteristics were also indicated that the plates prepared using
SCMs has much lower water absorption capacities compared to
plates prepared cement alone. Much higher resistance to carbonation
and sulphate attach were observed with plates prepared using SCMs.
The results presented in this paper show that the use of SCMs does
not only support the production of more sustainable construction
materials but also enhances the mechanical properties and durability
characteristics of fibre cement plates.
Abstract: Model predictive control is a kind of optimal feedback
control in which control performance over a finite future is optimized
with a performance index that has a moving initial time and a moving
terminal time. This paper examines the stability of model predictive
control for linear discrete-time systems with additive stochastic
disturbances. A sufficient condition for the stability of the closed-loop
system with model predictive control is derived by means of a linear
matrix inequality. The objective of this paper is to show the results
of computational simulations in order to verify the effectiveness of
the obtained stability condition.
Abstract: The sea waves carry thousands of GWs of power
globally. Although there are a number of different approaches to
harness offshore energy, they are likely to be expensive, practically
challenging, and vulnerable to storms. Therefore, this paper considers
using the near shore waves for generating mechanical and electrical
power. It introduces two new approaches, the wave manipulation and
using a variable duct turbine, for intercepting very wide wave fronts
and coping with the fluctuations of the wave height and the sea level,
respectively. The first approach effectively allows capturing much
more energy yet with a much narrower turbine rotor. The second
approach allows using a rotor with a smaller radius but captures
energy of higher wave fronts at higher sea levels yet preventing it
from totally submerging. To illustrate the effectiveness of the first
approach, the paper contains a description and the simulation results
of a scale model of a wave manipulator. Then, it includes the results
of testing a physical model of the manipulator and a single duct, axial
flow turbine in a wave flume in the laboratory. The paper also
includes comparisons of theoretical predictions, simulation results,
and wave flume tests with respect to the incident energy, loss in wave
manipulation, minimal loss, brake torque, and the angular velocity.
Abstract: A novel method is presented for obtaining the stress
field induced by an edge dislocation in a multilayered composite. To
demonstrate the applications of the obtained solution, we consider the
problem of an interfacial crack in a periodically layered bimaterial
medium. The crack is modelled as a continuous distribution of edge
dislocations and the Distributed Dislocation Technique (DDT) is
utilized to obtain numerical results for the energy release rate (ERR).
The numerical implementation of the dislocation solution in
MATLAB is also provided.
Abstract: This paper presents development results of usage of
C-OTDR monitoring systems for rail traffic management. The COTDR
method is based on vibrosensitive properties of optical fibers.
Analysis of Rayleigh backscattering radiation parameters changes
which take place due to microscopic seismoacoustic impacts on the
optical fiber allows to determine seismoacoustic emission source
positions and to identify their types. This approach proved successful
for rail traffic management (moving block system, weigh- in-motion
system etc.).
Abstract: In the field of fashion design, 3D Mannequin is a kind
of assisting tool which could rapidly realize the design concepts.
While the concept of 3D Mannequin is applied to the computer added
fashion design, it will connect with the development and the
application of design platform and system. Thus, the situation
mentioned above revealed a truth that it is very critical to develop a
module of 3D Mannequin which would correspond with the necessity
of fashion design. This research proposes a concrete plan that
developing and constructing a system of 3D Mannequin with Kinect.
In the content, ergonomic measurements of objective human features
could be attained real-time through the implement with depth camera
of Kinect, and then the mesh morphing can be implemented through
transformed the locations of the control-points on the model by
inputting those ergonomic data to get an exclusive 3D mannequin
model. In the proposed methodology, after the scanned points from the
Kinect are revised for accuracy and smoothening, a complete human
feature would be reconstructed by the ICP algorithm with the method
of image processing. Also, the objective human feature could be
recognized to analyze and get real measurements. Furthermore, the
data of ergonomic measurements could be applied to shape morphing
for the division of 3D Mannequin reconstructed by feature curves. Due
to a standardized and customer-oriented 3D Mannequin would be
generated by the implement of subdivision, the research could be
applied to the fashion design or the presentation and display of 3D
virtual clothes. In order to examine the practicality of research
structure, a system of 3D Mannequin would be constructed with JAVA
program in this study. Through the revision of experiments the
practicability-contained research result would come out.
Abstract: This study, for its research subjects, uses patients who
had undergone total knee replacement surgery from the database of the
National Health Insurance Administration. Through the review of
literatures and the interviews with physicians, important factors are
selected after careful screening. Then using Cross Entropy Method,
Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression, and Particle Swarm
Optimization, the weight of each factor is calculated and obtained. In
the meantime, Excel VBA and Case Based Reasoning are combined
and adopted to evaluate the system. Results show no significant
difference found through Genetic Algorithm Logistic Regression and
Particle Swarm Optimization with over 97% accuracy in both
methods. Both ROC areas are above 0.87. This study can provide
critical reference to medical personnel as clinical assessment to
effectively enhance medical care quality and efficiency, prevent
unnecessary waste, and provide practical advantages to resource
allocation to medical institutes.
Abstract: Diagnostic enzymes like aspartate aminotransferase
(AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase
(ALP) were determined as indices of heavy metal pollution in Tilapia
guinensis. Three different sets of fishes treated with lead (Pb), iron
(Fe) and copper (Cu) were used for the study while a fourth group
with no heavy metal served as a control. Fishes in each of the groups
were exposed to 2.65mg/l of Pb, 0.85mg/l of Fe and 0.35 mg/l of Cu
in aerated aquaria for 96 hours. Tissue fractionation of the liver
tissues was carried out and the three diagnostic enzymes (AST, ALT,
and ALP) were estimated. Serum levels of the same diagnostic
enzymes were also measured. The mean values of the serum enzyme
activity for ALP in each experimental group were 19.5±1.62,
29.67±2.17 and 1.15±0.27 IU/L for Pb, Fe and Cu groups compared
with 9.99±1.34 IU/L enzyme activity in the control. This result
showed that Pb and Fe caused increased release of the enzyme into
the blood circulation indicating increased tissue damage while Cu
caused a reduction in the serum level as compared with the level in
the control group. The mean values of enzyme activity obtained in
the liver were 102.14±6.12, 140.17±2.06 and 168.23±3.52 IU/L for
Pb, Fe and Cu groups, respectively compared to 91.20±9.42 IU/L
enzyme activity for the control group. The serum and liver AST and
ALT activities obtained in Pb, Fe, Cu and control groups are
reported. It was generally noted that the presence of the heavy metal
caused liver tissues damage and consequent increased level of the
diagnostic enzymes in the serum.
Abstract: In this paper a new methodology for vendor selection
and supply quotas determination (VSSQD) is proposed. The problem
of VSSQD is solved by the model that combines revised weighting
method for determining the objective function coefficients, and a
multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) method based on the
cooperative game theory for VSSQD. The criteria used for VSSQD
are: (1) purchase costs and (2) product quality supplied by individual
vendors. The proposed methodology has been tested on the example
of flour purchase for a bakery with two decision makers.
Abstract: In this paper a new model for center of motion
creating is proposed. This new method uses cables. So, it is very
useful in robots because it is light and has easy assembling process.
In the robots which need to be in touch with some things this method
is so useful. It will be described in the following. The accuracy of the
idea is proved by two experiments. This system could be used in the
robots which need a fixed point in the contact with some things and
make a circular motion.
Abstract: Socio-economic development, which is seen around
the world today, has contributed to the emergence of new problems
of a social nature. Different political, historical, geographical or
economic conditions cause that, in addition to global issues of social
policy such as an aging population, unemployment, migration,
countries, regions, there are also specific new problems that require
diagnosis, individualized approach and efficient, planned solutions.
These should include, among others, digital addiction, peer violence,
obesity among children, the problem of ‘legal highs’, stress,
depression, diseases associated with environmental pollution etc. The
central authorities, selected most often with the tools specific to
representative democracy, that is, the general election, for many
reasons, inter alia, organizational, communication, are not able to
effectively diagnose their intensity, territorial distribution, and thus to
effectively fight them. This article aims to show how in Poland,
citizens influence solving problems related to the broader social
policy implemented at the local government level and indicates the
possibilities of improving those solutions. The conclusions of
theoretical analysis have been supported by empirical studies, which
tested the use of instruments of participatory democracy in the
planning and creation of communal strategies for solving social
problems in one of the Polish voivodeships.
Abstract: In recent years a new method of combination
treatment for cancer has been developed and studied that has led to
significant advancements in the field of cancer therapy. Hyperthermia
is a traditional therapy that, along with a creation of a medically
approved level of heat with the help of an alternating magnetic AC
current, results in the destruction of cancer cells by heat. This paper
gives details regarding the production of the spherical nanocomposite
PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in order to be used for medical purposes such as tumor
treatment by hyperthermia. To reach a suitable and evenly distributed
temperature, the nanocomposite with core-shell morphology and
spherical form within a 100 to 200 nanometer size was created using
phase separation emulsion, in which the magnetic nano-particles γ-
Fe2O3 with an average particle size of 20 nano-meters and with
different percentages of 0.2, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 were covered by
polyvinyl alcohol. The main concern in hyperthermia and heat
treatment is achieving desirable specific absorption rate (SAR) and
one of the most critical factors in SAR is particle size. In this project
all attempts has been done to reach minimal size and consequently
maximum SAR. The morphological analysis of the spherical
structure of the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 was achieved by SEM
analyses and the study of the chemical bonds created was made
possible by FTIR analysis. To investigate the manner of magnetic
nanocomposite particle size distribution a DLS experiment was
conducted. Moreover, to determine the magnetic behavior of the γ-
Fe2O3 particle and the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in different
concentrations a VSM test was conducted. To sum up, creating
magnetic nanocomposites with a spherical morphology that would be
employed for drug loading opens doors to new approaches in
developing nanocomposites that provide efficient heat and a
controlled release of drug simultaneously inside the magnetic field,
which are among their positive characteristics that could significantly
improve the recovery process in patients.
Abstract: This paper describes the main features of a knowledge-based system evaluation method. System evaluation is placed in the context of a hybrid legal decision-support system, Advisory Support for Home Settlement in Divorce (ASHSD). Legal knowledge for ASHSD is represented in two forms, as rules and previously decided cases. Besides distinguishing the two different forms of knowledge representation, the paper outlines the actual use of these forms in a computational framework that is designed to generate a plausible solution for a given case, by using rule-based reasoning (RBR) and case-based reasoning (CBR) in an integrated environment. The nature of suitability assessment of a solution has been considered as a multiple criteria decision-making process in ASHAD evaluation. The evaluation was performed by a combination of discussions and questionnaires with different user groups. The answers to questionnaires used in this evaluations method have been measured as a fuzzy linguistic term. The finding suggests that fuzzy linguistic evaluation is practical and meaningful in knowledge-based system development purpose.
Abstract: In this paper, we proposed a novel SCR (Silicon Controlled
Rectifier) - based ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) protection device for I/O
and power clamp. The proposed device has a higher holding voltage
characteristic than conventional SCR. These characteristics enable to have
latch-up immunity under normal operating conditions as well as superior full
chip ESD protection. The proposed device was analyzed to figure out
electrical characteristics and tolerance robustness in term of individual
design parameters (D1, D2, D3). They are investigated by using the
Synopsys TCAD simulator. As a result of simulation, holding voltage
increased with different design parameters. The holding voltage of the
proposed device changes from 3.3V to 7.9V. Also, N-Stack structure ESD
device with the high holding voltage is proposed. In the simulation results,
2-stack has holding voltage of 6.8V and 3-stack has holding voltage of
10.5V. The simulation results show that holding voltage of stacking
structure can be larger than the operation voltage of high-voltage
application.
Abstract: The degradation of concrete due to various hygrochemo-
mechanical actions is inevitable for the structures particularly
built to store water. Therefore, it is essential to determine the material
properties of dam-like structures due to ageing to predict the behavior
of such structures after a certain age. The degraded material
properties are calculated by introducing isotropic degradation index.
The predicted material properties are used to study the behavior of
aged dam at different ages. The dam is modeled by finite elements
and displacement and is considered as an unknown variable. The
parametric study reveals that the displacement is quite larger for
comparatively lower design life of the structure because the
degradation of elastic properties depends on the design life of the
dam. The stresses in dam cam be unexpectedly large at any age with
in the design life. The outcomes of the present study indicate the
importance of the consideration ageing effect of concrete exposed to
water for the safe design of dam throughout its life time.
Abstract: The Figaro AM-1 sensor module which employs TGS
2600 model gas sensor in air quality assessment was used. The
system was coupled with a microprocessor that enables sensor
module to create warning message via telephone. This low cot sensor
system’s performance was compared with a DiagNose II commercial
electronic nose system. Both air quality sensor and electronic nose
system employ metal oxide chemical gas sensors. In the study
experimental setup, data acquisition methods for electronic nose
system, and performance of the low cost air quality system were
evaluated and explained.