Abstract: Due the proliferation of smartphones in everyday use, several different outdoor navigation systems have become available. Since these smartphones are able to connect to the Internet, the users can obtain location-based information during the navigation as well. The users could interactively get to know the specifics of a particular area (for instance, ancient cultural area, Statue Park, cemetery) with the help of thus obtained information. In this paper, we present an Augmented Reality system which uses Semantic Web technologies and is based on the interaction between the user and the smartphone. The system allows navigating through a specific area and provides information and details about the sight an interactive manner.
Abstract: For vacuum cleaned dust filters there exist no calculation methods to determine design parameters (e.g. traverse velocity of the nozzle, filter area…). In this work a method to calculate the optimum traverse velocity of the nozzle of an industrial-size flat dust filter at a given mean pressure drop and filter face velocity was elaborated. Well-known equations for the design of a cleanable multi-chamber bag-house-filter were modified in order to take into account a continuously regeneration of a dust filter by a nozzle. Thereby, the specific filter medium resistance and the specific cake resistance values are needed which can be derived from filter tests under constant operation conditions.
A lab-scale filter test rig was used to derive the specific filter media resistance value and the specific cake resistance value for vacuum cleaned filter operation. Three different filter media were tested and the determined parameters were compared to each other.
Abstract: To relieve the burden of reasoning on a point to point basis, in many domains there is a need to reduce large and noisy data sets into trends for qualitative reasoning. In this paper we propose and describe a new architectural design pattern called REDUCER for reducing large and noisy data sets that can be tailored for particular situations. REDUCER consists of 2 consecutive processes: Filter which takes the original data and removes outliers, inconsistencies or noise; and Compression which takes the filtered data and derives trends in the data. In this seminal article we also show how REDUCER has successfully been applied to 3 different case studies.
Abstract: Globalization is putting enormous pressure on the business organizations specially manufacturing one to rethink the supply chain in innovative manners. Inventory consumes major portion of total sale revenue. Effective and efficient inventory management plays a vital role for the successful functioning of any organization. Selection of inventory policy is one of the important purchasing activities. This paper focuses on selection and ranking of alternative inventory policies. A deterministic quantitative model based on Distance Based Approach (DBA) method has been developed for evaluation and ranking of inventory policies. We have employed this concept first time for this type of the selection problem. Four inventory policies economic order quantity (EOQ), just in time (JIT), vendor managed inventory (VMI) and monthly policy are considered. Improper selection could affect a company’s competitiveness in terms of the productivity of its facilities and quality of its products. The ranking of inventory policies is a multi-criteria problem. There is a need to first identify the selection criteria and then processes the information with reference to relative importance of attributes for comparison. Criteria values for each inventory policy can be obtained either analytically or by using a simulation technique or they are linguistic subjective judgments defined by fuzzy sets, like, for example, the values of criteria. A methodology is developed and applied to rank the inventory policies.
Abstract: This study investigates the level of existence of organized retail crime in supermarkets of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The store managers, security managers and general employees were asked about the types of retail crimes occur in the stores. Three independent variables were related to the report of organized retail theft. The independent variables are: 1) the supermarket profile (volume, location, standard and type of the store), 2) the social physical environment of the store (maintenance, cleanness and overall organizational cooperation), 3) the security techniques and loss prevention electronics techniques used. The theoretical framework of this study based on the social disorganization theory. This study concluded that the organized retail theft, in specific, organized theft is moderately apparent in Riyadh stores. The general result showed that the environment of the stores has an effect on the prevalence of organized retail theft with relation to the gender of thieves, age groups, working shift, type of stolen items as well as the number of thieves in one case. Among other reasons, some factors of the organized theft are: economic pressure of customers based on the location of the store. The dealing of theft also was investigated to have a clear picture of stores dealing with organized retail theft. The result showed that mostly, thieves sent without any action and sometimes given written warning. Very few cases dealt with by police. There are other factors in the study can be looked up in the text. This study suggests solving the problem of organized theft; first, is "the well distributing of the duties and responsibilities between the employees especially for security purposes". Second "Installation of strong security system" and "Making well-designed store layout". Third is "giving training for general employees" and "to give periodically security skills training of employees". There are other suggestions in the study can be looked up in the text.
Abstract: Vacant City of Cape Town-owned land lying unutilized and -productive could be developed for land uses such as urban agriculture that may improve the livelihoods of low income families. The new City of Cape Town zoning scheme includes an Urban Agriculture zoning for the first time. Unstructured qualitative interviews among town planners revealed their optimism about this inclusion as it will provide low-income residents with opportunities to generate an income. An existing farming community at Philippi, located within the municipal boundary of the city, was approached and empirical data obtained through questionnaires provided proof that urban agriculture could be viable in a coastal metropolitan city such as Cape Town even if farmers only produce for their own households. The lease method proposed for urban agriculture is a usufruct agreement conferring the right to another party, other than the legal owner, to enjoy the use and advantages of the property.
Abstract: Our study was designed to highlight changes in
certain biochemical parameters (CH, TG, HDL, GOT, GPT, LDL and
CRP), obese women infertile fertile witnesses and research potential
pathophysiological link between obesity and infertility in this
population of women. This practical work was focused on a
population of 24 obese women infertile, compared to controls,
subjects without any pathology causing disruption of parameters to
be studied to determine the contribution of obesity in the etiology of
infertility. The assay results revealed a highly significant difference
between the two groups in serum CH, TG, HDL, TGO and TGP (P
Abstract: Our study was designed to determine the metabolic
changes of some biochemical parameters (cholesterol, triglyceride,
Iron, uric acid, Urea and folic acid) and highlight their changes in 57
women of the region Batna, during the first trimester of pregnancy.
This practical work was done with 27 women with missed
miscarriage, compared with 30 control subjects of normal pregnant
women. The assay results revealed a highly significant difference (P
= 0.0006) between the two groups in serum iron (64.00 vs 93.54) and
in the rate of folate (6.70 vs 9.22) (P
Abstract: Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength
and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid
cyclic loading. Liquefaction and related phenomena have been
responsible for huge amounts of damage in historical earthquakes
around the world.
Modeling of soil behavior is the main step in soil liquefaction
prediction process. Nowadays, several constitutive models for sand
have been presented. Nevertheless, only some of them can satisfy this
mechanism. One of the most useful models in this term is
UBCSAND model. In this research, the capability of this model is
considered by using PLAXIS software. The real data of superstition
hills earthquake 1987 in the Imperial Valley was used. The results of
the simulation have shown resembling trend of the UBC3D-PLM
model.
Abstract: This paper investigates the energy storage
technologies that can potentially enhance the use of solar energy.
Water electrolysis systems are seen as the principal means of
producing a large amount of hydrogen in the future. Starting from the
analysis of the models of the system components, a complete
simulation model was realized in the Matlab-Simulink environment.
Results of the numerical simulations are provided. The operation of
electrolysis and photovoltaic array combination is verified at various
insulation levels. It is pointed out that solar cell arrays and
electrolysers are producing the expected results with solar energy
inputs that are continuously varying.
Abstract: An effort for the detection of damages in the
reinforcement bars of reinforced concrete members using PZTs is
presented. The damage can be the result of excessive elongation of
the steel bar due to steel yielding or due to local steel corrosion. In
both cases the damage is simulated by considering reduced diameter
of the rebar along the damaged part of its length. An integration
approach based on both electromechanical admittance methodology
and guided wave propagation technique is used to evaluate the
artificial damage on the examined longitudinal steel bar. Two
actuator PZTs and a sensor PZT are considered to be bonded on the
examined steel bar. The admittance of the Sensor PZT is calculated
using COMSOL 3.4a. Fast Furrier Transformation for a better
evaluation of the results is employed. An effort for the quantification
of the damage detection using the root mean square deviation
(RMSD) between the healthy condition and damage state of the
sensor PZT is attempted. The numerical value of the RSMD yields a
level for the difference between the healthy and the damaged
admittance computation indicating this way the presence of damage
in the structure. Experimental measurements are also presented.
Abstract: The advantage of using non-linear passive damping
system in vibration control of two adjacent structures is investigated
under their base excitation. The base excitation is El Centro
earthquake record acceleration. The damping system is considered as
an optimum and effective non-linear viscous damper that is
connected between two adjacent structures. A MATLAB program is
developed to produce the stiffness and damping matrices and to
determine a time history analysis of the dynamic motion of the
system. One structure is assumed to be flexible while the other has a
rule as laterally supporting structure with rigid frames. The response
of the structure has been calculated and the non-linear damping
coefficient is determined using optimum LQR algorithm in an
optimum vibration control system. The non-linear parameter of
damping system is estimated and it has shown a significant advantage
of application of this system device for vibration control of two
adjacent tall building.
Abstract: Asymmetric incremental sheet forming (AISF) could significantly reduce costs incurred by the fabrication of complex industrial components with a minimal environmental impact. The AISF experiments were carried out on commercially pure titanium (Ti-Gr2), Timetal (15-3-3-3) alloy, and Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-Gr5) alloy. A special testing geometry was used to characterize the titanium alloys properties from the point of view of the forming zone and titanium structure effect. The structure and properties of the materials were assessed by means of metallographic analyses and microhardness measurements.The highest differences in the parameters assessed as a function of the sampling zone were observed in the case of alpha-phase Ti-Gr2at the expense of the most substantial sheet thinning occurrence. A springback causes a smaller stored deformation in Timetal (β alloy) resulting in less pronounced microstructure refinement and microhardness increase. Ti-6Al-4V alloy exhibited early failure due to its poor formability at ambient temperature.
Abstract: This article is concerned with the determination of the static interaction of a vertically loaded rigid circular disc embedded at the interface of a horizontal layer sandwiched in between two different transversely isotropic half-spaces called as tri-material full-space. The axes of symmetry of different regions are assumed to be normal to the horizontal interfaces and parallel to the movement direction. With the use of a potential function method, and by implementing Hankel integral transforms in the radial direction, the government partial differential equation for the solely scalar potential function is transformed to an ordinary 4th order differential equation, and the mixed boundary conditions are transformed into a pair of integral equations called dual integral equations, which can be reduced to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind, which is solved analytically. Then, the displacements and stresses are given in the form of improper line integrals, which is due to inverse Hankel integral transforms. It is shown that the present solutions are in exact agreement with the existing solutions for a homogeneous full-space with transversely isotropic material. To confirm the accuracy of the numerical evaluation of the integrals involved, the numerical results are compared with the solutions exists for the homogeneous full-space. Then, some different cases with different degrees of material anisotropy are compared to portray the effect of degree of anisotropy.
Abstract: As internet continues to expand its usage with an
enormous number of applications, cyber-threats have significantly
increased accordingly. Thus, accurate detection of malicious traffic in
a timely manner is a critical concern in today’s Internet for security.
One approach for intrusion detection is to use Machine Learning (ML)
techniques. Several methods based on ML algorithms have been
introduced over the past years, but they are largely limited in terms of
detection accuracy and/or time and space complexity to run. In this
work, we present a novel method for intrusion detection that
incorporates a set of supervised learning algorithms. The proposed
technique provides high accuracy and outperforms existing techniques
that simply utilizes a single learning method. In addition, our
technique relies on partial flow information (rather than full
information) for detection, and thus, it is light-weight and desirable for
online operations with the property of early identification. With the
mid-Atlantic CCDC intrusion dataset publicly available, we show that
our proposed technique yields a high degree of detection rate over 99%
with a very low false alarm rate (0.4%).
Abstract: In this study, photocatalytic degradation of phenol by
titanium dioxide (TiO2) in aqueous solution was evaluated. The UV
energy of solar light was utilized by compound parabolic collectors
(CPCs) technology. The effect of irradiation time, initial pH, and
dosage of TiO2 were investigated. Aromatic intermediates (catechol,
benzoquinone, and hydroquinone) were quantified during the reaction
to study the pathways of the oxidation process. 94.5% degradation
efficiency of phenol was achieved after 150 minutes of irradiation
when the initial concentration was 100 mg/L. The dosage of TiO2
significantly affected the degradation efficiency of phenol. The
observed optimum pH for the reaction was 5.2. Phenol photocatalytic
degradation fitted to the pseudo-first order kinetic according to
Langmuir–Hinshelwood model.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of an experimental
study on the effects of elevated temperature on compressive and
flexural strength of Normal Strength Concrete (NSC), High Strength
Concrete (HSC) and High Performance Concrete (HPC). In addition,
the specimen mass and volume were measured before and after
heating in order to determine the loss of mass and volume during the
test. In terms of non-destructive measurement, ultrasonic pulse
velocity test was proposed as a promising initial inspection method
for fire damaged concrete structure. 100 Cube specimens for three
grades of concrete were prepared and heated at a rate of 3°C/min up
to different temperatures (150, 250, 400, 600, and 900°C). The results
show a loss of compressive and flexural strength for all the concretes
heated to temperature exceeding 400°C. The results also revealed that
mass and density of the specimen significantly reduced with an
increase in temperature.
Abstract: Analyzing classroom assessments is one of the responsibilities of the teacher. It aims improving teacher’s instruction and assessment as well as student learning. The present study investigated factors that might explain variation in teachers’ practices regarding analysis of classroom assessments. The factors considered in the investigation included gender, in-service assessment training, teaching load, teaching experience, knowledge in assessment, attitude towards quantitative aspects of assessment, and self-perceived competence in analyzing assessments. Participants were 246 in-service teachers in Oman. Results of a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that self-perceived competence was the only significant factor explaining the variance in teachers’ analysis of assessments. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Abstract: A thin gold metal layer was deposited on the top of
silicon oxide films containing embedded Si nanocrystals (Si-nc). The
sample was annealed in a gas containing nitrogen, and subsequently
characterized by photoluminescence. We obtained 3-fold
enhancement of photon emission from the Si-nc embedded in silicon
dioxide covered with a Gold layer as compared with an uncovered
sample. We attribute this enhancement to the increase of the
spontaneous emission rate caused by the coupling of the Si-nc
emitters with the surface plasmons (SP). The evolution of PL
emission with laser irradiated time was also collected from covered
samples, and compared to that from uncovered samples. In an
uncovered sample, the PL intensity decreases with time,
approximately with two decay constants. Although the decrease of
the initial PL intensity associated with the increase of sample
temperature under CW pumping is still observed in samples covered
with a gold layer, this film significantly contributes to reduce the
permanent deterioration of the PL intensity. The resistance to
degradation of light-emitting silicon nanocrystals can be increased by
SP coupling to suppress the permanent deterioration. Controlling the
permanent photodeterioration can allow to perform a reliable optical
gain measurement.
Abstract: Slab sliding system (SSS) with Coulomb friction
interface between slab and supporting frame is a passive structural
vibration control technology. The system can significantly reduce the
slab acceleration and accompanied lateral force of the frame. At the
same time it is expected to cause the slab displacement magnification
by sliding movement. To obtain the general comprehensive seismic
response of a single story structure, inelastic response spectra were
computed for a large ensemble of ground motions and a practical range
of structural periods and friction coefficient values. It was shown that
long period structures have no trade-off relation between force
reduction and displacement magnification with respect to elastic
response, unlike short period structures. For structures with the
majority of mass in the slab, the displacement magnification value can
be predicted according to simple inelastic displacement relation for
inelastically responding SDOF structures because the system behaves
elastically to a SDOF structure.