Abstract: This paper describes the development, modeling, and
testing of skyhook and MiniMax control strategies of semi-active
suspension. The control performances are investigated using
Matlab/Simulink [1], with a two-degree-of-freedom quarter car semiactive
suspension system model. The comparison and evaluation of
control result are made using software-in-the-loop simulation (SILS)
method. This paper also outlines the development of a hardware-inthe-
loop simulation (HILS) system. The simulation results show that
skyhook strategy can significantly reduce the resonant peak of body
and provide improvement in vehicle ride comfort. Otherwise,
MiniMax strategy can be employed to effectively improve drive
safety of vehicle by influencing wheel load. The two strategies can
be switched to control semi-active suspension system to fulfill
different requirement of vehicle in different stages.
Abstract: We apply a particle tracking technique to track the motion of individual pathogenic Leptospira. We observe and capture images of motile Leptospira by means of CCD and darkfield microscope. Image processing, statistical theories and simulations are used for data analysis. Based on trajectory patterns, mean square displacement, and power spectral density characteristics, we found that the motion modes are most likely to be directed motion mode (70%) and the rest are either normal diffusion or unidentified mode. Our findings may support the fact that why leptospires are very well efficient toward targeting internal tissues as a result of increase in virulence factor.
Abstract: Developed tool is one of system tools for easier access to various scientific areas and real time interactive learning between
lecturer and for hearing impaired students. There is no demand for the lecturer to know Sign Language (SL). Instead, the new software
tools will perform the translation of the regular speech into SL, after
which it will be transferred to the student. On the other side, the
questions of the student (in SL) will be translated and transferred to
the lecturer in text or speech. One of those tools is presented tool. It-s
too for developing the correct Speech Visemes as a root of total communication method for hearing impared students.
Abstract: It has often been said that the strength of any country
resides in the strength of its industrial sector, and Progress in
industrial society has been accomplished by the creation of new
technologies. Developments have been facilitated by the increasing
availability of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT), in
addition the implementation of advanced manufacturing technology
(AMT) requires careful planning at all levels of the organization to
ensure that the implementation will achieve the intended goals.
Justification and implementation of advanced manufacturing
technology (AMT) involves decisions that are crucial for the
practitioners regarding the survival of business in the present days of
uncertain manufacturing world. This paper assists the industrial
managers to consider all the important criteria for success AMT
implementation, when purchasing new technology. Concurrently,
this paper classifies the tangible benefits of a technology that are
evaluated by addressing both cost and time dimensions, and the
intangible benefits are evaluated by addressing technological,
strategic, social and human issues to identify and create awareness of
the essential elements in the AMT implementation process and
identify the necessary actions before implementing AMT.
Abstract: Large metal and concrete structures suffer by various kinds of deterioration, and accurate prediction of the remaining life is important. This paper informs about two methods for its assessment. One method, suitable for steel bridges and other constructions exposed to fatigue, monitors the loads and damage accumulation using information systems for the operation and the finite element model of the construction. In addition to the operation load, the dead weight of the construction and thermal stresses can be included into the model. The second method is suitable for concrete bridges and other structures, which suffer by carbonatation and other degradation processes, driven by diffusion. The diffusion constant, important for the prediction of future development, can be determined from the depth-profile of pH, obtained by pH measurement at various depths. Comparison with measurements on real objects illustrates the suitability of both methods.
Abstract: Globalization and therefore increasing tight competition among companies, have resulted to increase the importance of making well-timed decision. Devising and employing effective strategies, that are flexible and adaptive to changing market, stand a greater chance of being effective in the long-term. In other side, a clear focus on managing the entire product lifecycle has emerged as critical areas for investment. Therefore, applying wellorganized tools to employ past experience in new case, helps to make proper and managerial decisions. Case based reasoning (CBR) is based on a means of solving a new problem by using or adapting solutions to old problems. In this paper, an adapted CBR model with k-nearest neighbor (K-NN) is employed to provide suggestions for better decision making which are adopted for a given product in the middle of life phase. The set of solutions are weighted by CBR in the principle of group decision making. Wrapper approach of genetic algorithm is employed to generate optimal feature subsets. The dataset of the department store, including various products which are collected among two years, have been used. K-fold approach is used to evaluate the classification accuracy rate. Empirical results are compared with classical case based reasoning algorithm which has no special process for feature selection, CBR-PCA algorithm based on filter approach feature selection, and Artificial Neural Network. The results indicate that the predictive performance of the model, compare with two CBR algorithms, in specific case is more effective.
Abstract: The success of IT-projects concerning the
implementation of business application Software is strongly
depending upon the application of an efficient requirements
management, to understand the business requirements and to realize
them in the IT. But in fact, the Potentials of the requirements
management are not fully exhausted by small and medium sized
enterprises (SME) of the IT sector. To work out recommendations for
action and furthermore a possible solution, allowing a better exhaust
of potentials, it shall be examined in a scientific research project,
which problems occur out of which causes. In the same place, the
storage of knowledge from the requirements management, and its
later reuse are important, to achieve sustainable improvements of the
competitive of the IT-SMEs. Requirements Engineering is one of the
most important topics in Product Management for Software to
achieve the goal of optimizing the success of the software product.
Abstract: Macrophomina phaseolina is a devastating soil-borne
fungal plant pathogen that causes charcoal rot disease in many
economically important crops worldwide. So far, no registered
fungicide is available against this plant pathogen. This study was
planned to examine the antifungal activity of an allelopathic grass
Cenchrus pennisetiformis (Hochst. & Steud.) Wipff. for the
management of M. phaseolina isolated from cowpea [Vigna
unguiculata (L.) Walp.] plants suffering from charcoal rot disease.
Different parts of the plants viz. inflorescence, shoot and root were
extracted in methanol. Laboratory bioassays were carried out using
different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, …, 3.0 g mL-1) of methanolic
extracts of the test allelopathic grass species to assess the antifungal
activity against the pathogen. In general, extracts of all parts of the
grass exhibited antifungal activity. All the concentrations of
methanolic extracts of shoot and root significantly reduced fungal
biomass by 20–73% and 40–80%, respectively. Methanolic shoot
extract was fractionated using n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate
and n-butanol. Different concentrations of these fractions (3.125,
6.25, …, 200 mg mL-1) were analyzed for their antifungal activity.
All the concentrations of n-hexane fraction significantly reduced
fungal biomass by 15–96% over corresponding control treatments.
Higher concentrations (12.5–200 mg mL-1) of chloroform, ethyl
acetate and n-butanol also reduced the fungal biomass significantly
by 29–100%, 46–100% and 24–100%, respectively.
Abstract: management of medical devices in hospitals includes
the planning of medical equipment acquisition and maintenance. The
presence of critical and non-critical areas together with technological
proliferation render the management of medical devices very
complex. This study creates an easy and objective methodology for
the analysis of medical equipment maintenance, that makes the
management of medical devices more feasible. The study has been
carried out at Florence Hospital Careggi and it aims to help the
clinical engineering department to manage medical equipment by
clarifying the hospital situation through a characterization of the
different areas, technologies and fault typologies.
Abstract: This paper is a review on the aspects and approaches of design an image cryptosystem. First a general introduction given for cryptography and images encryption and followed by different techniques in image encryption and related works for each technique surveyed. Finally, general security analysis methods for encrypted images are mentioned.
Abstract: This paper deals with condition monitoring of electric switch machine for railway points. Point machine, as a complex electro-mechanical device, switch the track between two alternative routes. There has been an increasing interest in railway safety and the optimal management of railway equipments maintenance, e.g. point machine, in order to enhance railway service quality and reduce system failure. This paper explores the development of Kolmogorov- Smirnov (K-S) test to detect some point failures (external to the machine, slide chairs, fixing, stretchers, etc), while the point machine (inside the machine) is in its proper condition. Time-domain stator Current signatures of normal (healthy) and faulty points are taken by 3 Hall Effect sensors and are analyzed by K-S test. The test is simulated by creating three types of such failures, namely putting a hard stone and a soft stone between stock rail and switch blades as obstacles and also slide chairs- friction. The test has been applied for those three faults which the results show that K-S test can effectively be developed for the aim of other point failures detection, which their current signatures deviate parametrically from the healthy current signature. K-S test as an analysis technique, assuming that any defect has a specific probability distribution. Empirical cumulative distribution functions (ECDF) are used to differentiate these probability distributions. This test works based on the null hypothesis that ECDF of target distribution is statistically similar to ECDF of reference distribution. Therefore by comparing a given current signature (as target signal) from unknown switch state to a number of template signatures (as reference signal) from known switch states, it is possible to identify which is the most likely state of the point machine under analysis.
Abstract: Overall cost is a significant consideration in any
decision-making process. Although many studies were carried out on
overall cost in construction, little has treated the uncertainties of real
life cycle development. On the basis of several case studies, a
feedback process was performed on the historical data of studied
buildings. This process enabled to identify some factors causing
uncertainty during the operational period. As a result, the research
proposes a new method for assessing the overall cost during a part of
the building-s life cycle taking account of the building actual value,
its end-of-life value and the influence of the identified life cycle
uncertainty factors. The findings are a step towards a higher level of
reliability in overall cost evaluation taking account of some usually
unexpected uncertainty factors.
Abstract: The aim of this research is to determine how preservice Turkish teachers perceive themselves in terms of problem solving skills. Students attending Department of Turkish Language Teaching of Gazi University Education Faculty in 2005-2006 academic year constitute the study group (n= 270) of this research in which survey model was utilized. Data were obtained by Problem Solving Inventory developed by Heppner & Peterson and Personal Information Form. Within the settings of this research, Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was found as .87. Besides, reliability coefficient obtained by split-half technique which splits odd and even numbered items of the scale was found as r=.81 (Split- Half Reliability). The findings of the research revealed that preservice Turkish teachers were sufficiently qualified on the subject of problem solving skills and statistical significance was found in favor of male candidates in terms of “gender" variable. According to the “grade" variable, statistical significance was found in favor of 4th graders.
Abstract: Wireless sensor networks are consisted of hundreds or
thousands of small sensors that have limited resources.
Energy-efficient techniques are the main issue of wireless sensor
networks. This paper proposes an energy efficient agent-based
framework in wireless sensor networks. We adopt biologically
inspired approaches for wireless sensor networks. Agent operates
automatically with their behavior policies as a gene. Agent aggregates
other agents to reduce communication and gives high priority to nodes
that have enough energy to communicate. Agent behavior policies are
optimized by genetic operation at the base station. Simulation results
show that our proposed framework increases the lifetime of each node.
Each agent selects a next-hop node with neighbor information and
behavior policies. Our proposed framework provides self-healing,
self-configuration, self-optimization properties to sensor nodes.
Abstract: In recent years, the number of natural disasters in Laos has a trend to increase, especially the disaster of flood. To make a flood plan risk management in the future, it is necessary to understand and analyze the characteristics of the rainfall and Mekong River level data. To reduce the damage, this paper presents the flood risk analysis in Luangprabang and Vientiane, the prefecture of Laos. In detail, the relationship between the rainfall and the Mekong River level has evaluated and appropriate countermeasure for flood was discussed.
Abstract: In this paper, we show that the association of the PI
regulators for the speed and stator currents with a control strategy
using the linearization by state feedback for an induction machine
without speed sensor, and with an adaptation of the rotor resistance.
The rotor speed is estimated by using the model reference adaptive
system approach (MRAS). This method consists of using two
models: The first is the reference model and the second is an
adjustable one in which two components of the stator flux, obtained
from the measurement of the currents and stator voltages are
estimated. The estimated rotor speed is then obtained by canceling
the difference between stator-flux of the reference model and those
of the adjustable one. Satisfactory results of simulation are obtained
and discussed in this paper to highlight the proposed approach.
Abstract: This paper gives an overview of a deep drawing
process by pressurized liquid medium separated from the sheet by a
rubber diaphragm. Hydroforming deep drawing processing of sheet
metal parts provides a number of advantages over conventional
techniques. It generally increases the depth to diameter ratio possible
in cup drawing and minimizes the thickness variation of the drawn
cup. To explore the deformation mechanism, analytical and
numerical simulations are used for analyzing the drawing process of
an AA6061-T4 blank. The effects of key process parameters such as
coefficient of friction, initial thickness of the blank and radius
between cup wall and flange are investigated analytically and
numerically. The simulated results were in good agreement with the
results of the analytical model. According to finite element
simulations, the hydroforming deep drawing method provides a more
uniform thickness distribution compared to conventional deep
drawing and decreases the risk of tearing during the process.
Abstract: In this paper, we apply a semismooth active set method to image inpainting. The method exploits primal and dual features of a proposed regularized total variation model, following after the technique presented in [4]. Numerical results show that the method is fast and efficient in inpainting sufficiently thin domains.
Abstract: Trends in business intelligence, e-commerce and
remote access make it necessary and practical to store data in
different ways on multiple systems with different operating systems.
As business evolve and grow, they require efficient computerized
solution to perform data update and to access data from diverse
enterprise business applications. The objective of this paper is to
demonstrate the capability of DTS [1] as a database solution for
automatic data transfer and update in solving business problem. This
DTS package is developed for the sales of variety of plants and
eventually expanded into commercial supply and landscaping
business. Dimension data modeling is used in DTS package to
extract, transform and load data from heterogeneous database
systems such as MySQL, Microsoft Access and Oracle that
consolidates into a Data Mart residing in SQL Server. Hence, the
data transfer from various databases is scheduled to run automatically
every quarter of the year to review the efficient sales analysis.
Therefore, DTS is absolutely an attractive solution for automatic data
transfer and update which meeting today-s business needs.
Abstract: Potatoes are a good source of carotenoids, which are lipophilic compounds synthesized in plastids from isoprenoids. The aim of this research was to determine the content of carotenoids in relationship with the colour of organically and conventionally cultivated potato genotypes before and after period of storage. In cooperation with the State Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute (Latvia), six potato genotypes were studied: 'Agrie dzeltenie', 'Prelma', 'Imanta', 'S-03135-10', 'S-99108-8' and 'S-01063-5'. All the genotypes were cultivated under three different conditions: organically and conventionally (two conditions). The content of carotenoids was determined by using spectrophotometer and the colour – L*a*b* system. The results of current research show that after the period of storage, carotenoid amount has increased and in conventionally cultivated potatoes it varies from 228.514 to 552.434 μg 100 g-1 while in organically cultivated potato genotypes – from 45.485 to 662.699 μg 100 g-1 FW. Colour of potato flesh was changing during storage.