Abstract: This study presents an investigation of
electrochemical variables and an application of the optimal
parameters in operating a continuous upflow electrocoagulation
reactor in removing dye. Direct red 23, which is azo-based, was used
as a representative of direct dyes. First, a batch mode was employed
to optimize the design parameters: electrode type, electrode distance,
current density and electrocoagulation time. The optimal parameters
were found to be iron anode, distance between electrodes of 8 mm
and current density of 30 A·m-2 with contact time of 5 min. The
performance of the continuous upflow reactor with these parameters
was satisfactory, with >95% color removal and energy consumption
in the order of 0.6-0.7 kWh·m-3.
Abstract: A numerical study is made of laminar, unsteady flow
behind a rotationally oscillating circular cylinder using a recently
developed higher order compact (HOC) scheme. The stream function
vorticity formulation of Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations in cylindrical
polar coordinates are considered as the governing equations. The
temporal behaviour of vortex formation and relevant streamline
patterns of the flow are scrutinized over broad ranges of two
externally specified parameters namely dimensionless forced
oscillating frequency Sf and dimensionless peak rotation rate αm for
the Reynolds-s number Re = 200. Excellent agreements are found
both qualitatively and quantitatively with the existing experimental
and standard numerical results.
Abstract: Surveillance system is widely used in the traffic
monitoring. The deployment of cameras is moving toward a
ubiquitous camera (UbiCam) environment. In our previous study, a
novel service, called GPS-VT, was firstly proposed by incorporating
global positioning system (GPS) and visual tracking techniques for
the UbiCam environment. The first prototype is called GODTA
(GPS-based Moving Object Detection and Tracking Approach). For a
moving person carried GPS-enabled mobile device, he can be
tracking when he enters the field-of-view (FOV) of a camera
according to his real-time GPS coordinate. In this paper, GPS-VT
service is applied to the tracking of vehicles. The moving speed of a
vehicle is much faster than a person. It means that the time passing
through the FOV is much shorter than that of a person. Besides, the
update interval of GPS coordinate is once per second, it is
asynchronous with the frame rate of the real-time image. The above
asynchronous is worsen by the network transmission delay. These
factors are the main challenging to fulfill GPS-VT service on a
vehicle.In order to overcome the influence of the above factors, a
back-propagation neural network (BPNN) is used to predict the
possible lane before the vehicle enters the FOV of a camera. Then, a
template matching technique is used for the visual tracking of a target
vehicle. The experimental result shows that the target vehicle can be
located and tracking successfully. The success location rate of the
implemented prototype is higher than that of the previous GODTA.
Abstract: In this study, we are interested in the economic lot
scheduling problem (ELSP) that considers manufacturing of the
serviceable products and remanufacturing of the reworked products. In
this paper, we formulate a mathematical model for the ELSP with
reworks using the basic period approach. In order to solve this
problem, we propose a search algorithm to find the cyclic multiplier ki
of each product that can be cyclically produced for every ki basic
periods. This research also uses two heuristics to search for the optimal
production sequence of all lots and the optimal time length of the basic
period so as to minimize the average total cost. This research uses a
numerical example to show the effectiveness of our approach.
Abstract: Environmental accounting is a recent phenomenon in the modern jurisprudence. It may reflect the corporate governance mechanisms in line with the natural resources and environmental sound management and administration systems in any country of the world. It may be a corporate focused on the improving of the environmental quality. But it is often identified that it is ignored due to some reasons such as unconsciousness, lack of ethical education etc. At present, the world community is very much concerned about the state of the environmental accounting and auditing systems as it bears sustainability on the mother earth for our generations. It is one of the important tools for understanding on the role played by the natural environment in the economy. It provides adequate data which is highlighted both in the contribution of natural resources to economic well-being as well as the costs imposed by pollution or resource degradation. It can play a critical role as on be a part of the many international environmental organizations such as IUCN, WWF, PADELIA, WRI etc.; as they have been taking many initiatives for ensuring the environmental accouting for our competent survivals. The global state actors have already taken some greening accounting initiatives under the forum of the United Nations Division for Sustainable Dedevolpment, the United Nations Statistical Division, the United Nations Conference on Environment and development known as Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg Conference 2002 etc. This study will provide an overview of the environmental accounting education consisting of 25 respondents based on the primary and secondary sources.
Abstract: The groundwater is one of the main sources for
sustainability in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Intensive
developments in Al-Ain area lead to increase water demand, which
consequently reduced the overall groundwater quantity in major
aquifers. However, in certain residential areas within Al-Ain, it has
been noticed that the groundwater level is rising, for example in
Sha-ab Al Askher area. The reasons for the groundwater rising
phenomenon are yet to be investigated. In this work, twenty four
seismic refraction profiles have been carried out along the study
pilot area; as well as field measurement of the groundwater level in
a number of available water wells in the area. The processed
seismic data indicated the deepest and shallowest groundwater
levels are 15m and 2.3 meters respectively. This result is greatly
consistent with the proper field measurement of the groundwater
level. The minimum detected value may be referred to perched
subsurface water which may be associated to the infiltration from
the surrounding water bodies such as lakes, and elevated farms. The
maximum values indicate the accurate groundwater level within the
study area. The findings of this work may be considered as a
preliminary help to the decision makers.
Abstract: Metal matrix composites have been increasingly used
as materials for components in automotive and aerospace industries
because of their improved properties compared with non-reinforced
alloys. During machining the selection of appropriate machining
parameters to produce job for desired surface roughness is of great
concern considering the economy of manufacturing process. In this
study, a surface roughness prediction model using fuzzy logic is
developed for end milling of Al-SiCp metal matrix composite
component using carbide end mill cutter. The surface roughness is
modeled as a function of spindle speed (N), feed rate (f), depth of cut
(d) and the SiCp percentage (S). The predicted values surface
roughness is compared with experimental result. The model predicts
average percentage error as 4.56% and mean square error as 0.0729.
It is observed that surface roughness is most influenced by feed rate,
spindle speed and SiC percentage. Depth of cut has least influence.
Abstract: One of the most challenges for hard surface cleaning product is to get rid of soap scum, a filmy sticky layer in the bathroom. The deposits of soap scum can be removed by using a proper surfactant solution with chelating agent. Unfortunately, the conventional chelating agent, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), has low biodegradability, which can be tolerance in water resources and harmful to aquatic animal and microorganism. In this study, two biodegradable chelating agents, ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (EDDS) and glutamic acid diacetic acid (GLDA) were introduced as a replacement of EDTA. The result shows that using GLDA with amphoteric surfactant gave the highest equilibrium solubility of soap scum.
Abstract: This paper presents a new methodology to study power and energy consumption in mechatronic systems early in the development process. This new approach makes use of two modeling languages to represent and simulate embedded control software and electromechanical subsystems in the discrete event and continuous time domain respectively within a single co-model. This co-model enables an accurate representation of power and energy consumption and facilitates the analysis and development of both software and electro-mechanical subsystems in parallel. This makes the engineers aware of energy-wise implications of different design alternatives and enables early trade-off analysis from the beginning of the analysis and design activities.
Abstract: This research aimed at investigating the Cr (III), Cd
(II) and Pb (II) removal efficiencies by using the newly synthesized
metal oxides/ polyethersulfone (PES), Al2O3/PES and ZrO2/PES,
membranes from synthetic wastewater and exploring fouling
mechanisms. A Comparative study between the removal efficiencies
of Cr (III), Cd (II) and Pb (II) from synthetic and natural wastewater
by using adsorption onto agricultural by products and the newly
synthesized Al2O3/PES and ZrO2/PES membranes was conducted to
assess the advantages and limitations of using the metal oxides/PES
membranes for heavy metals removal. The results showed that about
99 % and 88 % removal efficiencies were achieved by the tested
membranes for Pb (II) and Cr (III), respectively.
Abstract: Machining is an important manufacturing process used to produce a wide variety of metallic parts. Among various machining processes, turning is one of the most important one which is employed to shape cylindrical parts. In turning, the quality of finished product is measured in terms of surface roughness. In turn, surface quality is determined by machining parameters and tool geometry specifications. The main objective of this study is to simultaneously model and optimize machining parameters and tool geometry in order to improve the surface roughness for AISI1045 steel. Several levels of machining parameters and tool geometry specifications are considered as input parameters. The surface roughness is selected as process output measure of performance. A Taguchi approach is employed to gather experimental data. Then, based on signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the best sets of cutting parameters and tool geometry specifications have been determined. Using these parameters values, the surface roughness of AISI1045 steel parts may be minimized. Experimental results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Studying alternative raw materials for biodiesel production is of major importance. The use of mixtures with incorporation of wastes is an environmental friendly alternative and might reduce biodiesel production costs. The objective of the present work was: (i) to study biodiesel production using waste frying oil mixed with pork lard and (ii) to understand how mixture composition influences biodiesel quality. Biodiesel was produced by transesterification and quality was evaluated through determination of several parameters according to EN 14214. The weight fraction of lard in the mixture varied from 0 to 1 in 0.2 intervals. Biodiesel production yields varied from 81.7 to 88.0 (wt%), the lowest yields being the ones obtained using waste frying oil and lard alone as raw materials. The obtained products fulfilled most of the determined quality specifications according to European biodiesel quality standard EN 14214. Minimum purity (96.5 wt%) was closely obtained when waste frying oil was used alone and when 0.2% of lard was incorporated in the raw material (96.3 wt%); however, it ranged from 93.9 to 96.3 (wt%) being always close to the limit. From the evaluation of the influence of mixture composition in biodiesel quality, it was possible to establish a model to be used for predicting some parameters of biodiesel resulting from mixtures of waste frying oil with lard when different lard contents are used.
Abstract: The development of biomimetic micro-aerial-vehicles
(MAVs) with flapping wings is the future trend in military/domestic
field. The successful flight of MAVs is strongly related to the
understanding of unsteady aerodynamic performance of low Reynolds
number airfoils under dynamic flapping motion. This study explored
the effects of flapping frequency, stroke amplitude, and the inclined
angle of stroke plane on lift force and thrust force of a bio-inspiration
corrugated airfoil with 33 full factorial design of experiment and
ANOVA analysis. Unsteady vorticity flows over a corrugated thin
airfoil executing flapping motion are computed with time-dependent
two-dimensional laminar incompressible Reynolds-averaged
Navier-Stokes equations with the conformal hybrid mesh. The tested
freestream Reynolds number based on the chord length of airfoil as
characteristic length is fixed of 103. The dynamic mesh technique is
applied to model the flapping motion of a corrugated airfoil. Instant
vorticity contours over a complete flapping cycle clearly reveals the
flow mechanisms for lift force generation are dynamic stall, rotational
circulation, and wake capture. The thrust force is produced as the
leading edge vortex shedding from the trailing edge of airfoil to form a
reverse von Karman vortex. Results also indicated that the inclined
angle is the most significant factor on both the lift force and thrust
force. There are strong interactions between tested factors which mean
an optimization study on parameters should be conducted in further
runs.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the possible
effect of some variables such as age, gender, blood sugar level, and
duration of diabetes on the serum level of zinc in diabetic individuals
from Murzuk area. Serum zinc (Zn), Fasting blood sugar (FBS),
hemoglobin HbA1c (HbA1c) were evaluated in 46 type I diabetic
subjects (group 1), 48 type II diabetic subjects (group 2) and 43
healthy individuals (control) of both genders aged (30-81) years. Data
showed that both diabetic groups have significantly higher (P0.05) differences in serum Zn levels were observed
between Males and Females. Serum Zn levels were non-significantly
decreased with increasing age. In type II diabetic subjects, serum Zn
levels were non-significantly decreased with increasing duration of
disease whereas those in type I were non-significantly increased.
Abstract: Aim of this study is to evaluate a new three-equation turbulence model applied to flow and heat transfer through a pipe. Uncertainty is approximated by comparing with published direct numerical simulation results for fully-developed flow. Error in the mean axial velocity, temperature, friction, and heat transfer is found to be negligible.
Abstract: We study the possibility of using geometric operators
in the selection of human resources. We develop three new methods
that use the ordered weighted geometric (OWG) operator in different
indexes used for the selection of human resources. The objective of
these models is to manipulate the neutrality of the old methods so the
decision maker is able to select human resources according to his
particular attitude. In order to develop these models, first a short
revision of the OWG operator is developed. Second, we briefly
explain the general process for the selection of human resources.
Then, we develop the three new indexes. They will use the OWG
operator in the Hamming distance, in the adequacy coefficient and in
the index of maximum and minimum level. Finally, an illustrative
example about the new approach is given.
Abstract: Beta-spline is built on G2 continuity which guarantees
smoothness of generated curves and surfaces using it. This curve is
preferred to be used in object design rather than reconstruction. This
study however, employs the Beta-spline in reconstructing a 3-
dimensional G2 image of the Stanford Rabbit. The original data
consists of multi-slice binary images of the rabbit. The result is then
compared with related works using other techniques.
Abstract: The aim for this research is to deliberately discuss
how and why the contexts of culture are the main significant factors
which need to be considered when conducting the international
business oversea. As a consequence of understanding these various
factors, the researcher would be able to infer some suggestions to the
international organizations. With this in mind, the results of the
understanding in a national culture environment can support the
organizations to settle its international strategies which may be useful
to develop the national export and import effectiveness. This data
collecting methods will be concentrated upon 5-10 interviews from
the senior members and business officers in the international
company in Thailand by e-mail interview and analyses the individual
manager’s viewpoint. As well as, focus on the questionnaires which
the respondents were selected randomly around 100 samples from
UK and Thailand, together with providing a functional sample size
and comparable to data. The results of the study question the role of
national culture, which contributed to in international business
effectiveness and emphasize the positive and negative aspects, as
well as suggestions to business investors are informed.
Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of source separation
in images. We propose a FastICA algorithm employing a modified
Gaussian contrast function for the Blind Source Separation.
Experimental result shows that the proposed Modified Gaussian
FastICA is effectively used for Blind Source Separation to obtain
better quality images. In this paper, a comparative study has been
made with other popular existing algorithms. The peak signal to
noise ratio (PSNR) and improved signal to noise ratio (ISNR) are
used as metrics for evaluating the quality of images. The ICA metric
Amari error is also used to measure the quality of separation.
Abstract: Knowledge is a key asset for any organisation to
sustain competitive advantages, but it is difficult to identify and
represent knowledge which is needed to perform activities in
business processes. The effective knowledge management and
support for relevant business activities definitely gives a huge impact
to the performance of the organisation as a whole. This is because
that knowledge have the functions of directing, coordinating and
controlling actions within business processes. The study has
introduced organisational morphology, a norm-based approach by
applying semiotic theories which emphasise on the representation of
knowledge in norms. This approach is concerned with the
identification of activities into three categories: substantive,
communication and control activities. All activities are directed by
norms; hence three types of norms exist; each is associated to a
category of activities. The paper describes the approach briefly and
illustrates the application of this approach through a case study of
academic activities in higher education institutions. The result of the
study shows that the approach provides an effective way to profile
business knowledge and the profile enables the understanding and
specification of business requirements of an organisation.