Abstract: In this paper, the effects of thermodynamic,
hydrodynamic and geometric of an air cooled condenser on COP of
vapor compression cycle are investigated for a fixed condenser facing
surface area. The system is utilized with a scroll compressor,
modeled based on thermodynamic and heat transfer equations
employing Matlab software. The working refrigerant is R134a whose
thermodynamic properties are called from Engineering Equation
Software. This simulation shows that vapor compression cycle can
be designed by different configurations and COPs, economical and
optimum working condition can be obtained via considering these
parameters.
Abstract: Snoring is prevalent and is the most significant feature
of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Ignore the therapies of SDB will
lead to serious problems in health. Based on the research of
mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatments of snoring, oral appliances are
ensured in therapeutic effect and compliance, especially the
mandibular advancement devices (MADs). Market survey includes
commercial product reviews and patent analyses. Due to pay more
attention to the sleep medicine, the oral appliances are considered as a
standard treatment of snoring that promoted by American Academy of
Sleep Medicine (AASM). There are more and more adjustable MADs
developed since 1995. According to the patent analyses, there are
many drawbacks existed in the present design, such as uncomfortable,
high cost, bulky volume, and complex adjustment. In this study,
several new designs of the MAD are proposed.
Abstract: Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is an effective technique for preventing potential problems and actions needed to error cause removal. On the other hand, the oil producing companies paly a critical role in the oil industry of Iran as a developing country out of which, Sepahan Oil Co. has a considerable contribution. The aim of this research is to show how FMEA could be applied and improve the quality of products at Sepahan Oil Co. For this purpose, the four liter production line of the company has been selected for investigation. The findings imply that the application of FMEA has reduced the scraps from 50000 ppm to 5000 ppm and has resulted in a 0.92 percent decrease of the oil waste.
Abstract: The present work presents a method of calculating the
ductility of rectangular sections of beams considering nonlinear
behavior of concrete and steel. This calculation procedure allows us
to trace the curvature of the section according to the bending
moment, and consequently deduce ductility. It also allowed us to
study the various parameters that affect the value of the ductility. A
comparison of the effect of maximum rates of tension steel, adopted
by the codes, ACI [1], EC8 [2] and RPA [3] on the value of the
ductility was made. It was concluded that the maximum rate of steels
permitted by the ACI [1] codes and RPA [3] are almost similar in
their effect on the ductility and too high. Therefore, the ductility
mobilized in case of an earthquake is low, the inverse of code EC8
[2]. Recommendations have been made in this direction.
Abstract: Intelligent traffic surveillance technology is an issue in
the field of traffic data analysis. Therefore, we need the technology to
detect moving objects in real-time while there are variations in background and natural light. In this paper, we proposed a Weighted-Center Surround Difference
method for object detection in outdoor environments. The proposed system detects objects using the saliency map that is obtained by
analyzing the weight of each layers of Gaussian pyramid. In order to validate the effectiveness of our system, we implemented the proposed
method using a digital signal processor, TMS320DM6437.
Experimental results show that blurred noisy around objects was effectively eliminated and the object detection accuracy is improved.
Abstract: This paper presents the findings of an
experimental investigation to study the effect of alkali content
in geopolymer mortar specimens exposed to sulphuric acid.
Geopolymer mortar specimens were manufactured from Class F fly
ash by activation with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium
silicate solution containing 5% to 8% Na2O. Durability of specimens
were assessed by immersing them in 10% sulphuric acid solution and
periodically monitoring surface deterioration and depth of
dealkalization, changes in weight and residual compressive strength
over a period of 24 weeks. Microstructural changes in the specimens
were studied with Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDAX.
Alkali content in the activator solution significantly affects the
durability of fly ash based geopolymer mortars in sulphuric acid.
Specimens manufactured with higher alkali content performed better
than those manufactured with lower alkali content. After 24 weeks in
sulphuric acid, specimen with 8% alkali still recorded a residual
strength as high as 55%.
Abstract: This paper proposes a framework for product
development including hardware and software components. It
provides separation of hardware dependent software, modifications of
current product development process, and integration of software
modules with existing product configuration models and assembly
product structures. In order to decide the dependent software, the
framework considers product configuration modules and engineering
changes of associated software and hardware components. In order to
support efficient integration of the two different hardware and
software development, a modified product development process is
proposed. The process integrates the dependent software development
into product development through the interchanges of specific product
information. By using existing product data models in Product Data
Management (PDM), the framework represents software as modules
for product configurations and software parts for product structure.
The framework is applied to development of a robot system in order to
show its effectiveness.
Abstract: Free convection effects and heat transfer due to a pulsating point heat source embedded in an infinite, fluid saturated, porous dusty medium are studied analytically. Both velocity and temperature fields are discussed in the form of series expansions in the Rayleigh number, for both the fluid and particle phases based on the mean heat generation rate from source and on the permeability of the porous dusty medium. This study is carried out by assuming the Rayleigh number small and the validity of Darcy-s law. Analytical expressions for both phases are obtained for second order mean in both velocity and temperature fields and evolution of different wave patterns are observed in the fluctuating part. It has been observed that, at the vicinity of the origin, the second order mean flow is influenced only by relaxation time of dust particles and not by dust concentration.
Abstract: A challenging problem in radar signal processing is to
achieve reliable target detection in the presence of interferences. In
this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for automatic censoring of
radar interfering targets in log-normal clutter. The proposed
algorithm, termed the forward automatic censored cell averaging
detector (F-ACCAD), consists of two steps: removing the corrupted
reference cells (censoring) and the actual detection. Both steps are
performed dynamically by using a suitable set of ranked cells to
estimate the unknown background level and set the adaptive
thresholds accordingly. The F-ACCAD algorithm does not require
any prior information about the clutter parameters nor does it require
the number of interfering targets. The effectiveness of the F-ACCAD
algorithm is assessed by computing, using Monte Carlo simulations,
the probability of censoring and the probability of detection in
different background environments.
Abstract: Lighting upgrades involve relatively lower costs which
allow the benefits to be spread more widely than is possible with any
other energy efficiency measure. In order to popularize the adoption of
CFL in Taiwan, the authority proposes to implement a new energy efficient lamp comparative label system. The current study was
accordingly undertaken to investigate the factors affecting the performance and the deviation of actual and labeled performance of
commercially available integrated CFLs. In this paper, standard test
methods to determine the electrical and photometric performances of
CFL were developed based on CIE 84-1989 and CIE 60901-1987,
then 55 selected CFLs from market were tested. The results show that
with higher color temperature of CFLs lower efficacy are achieved. It
was noticed that the most packaging of CFL often lack the information of Color Rendering Index. Also, there was no correlation between
price and performance of the CFLs was indicated in this work. The results of this paper might help consumers to make more informed
CFL-purchasing decisions.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyze the islands
tourist travel information sources, as well as for the satisfaction of the
tourist destination services. This study used questionnaires to the
island of Taiwan to the Penghu Islands to engage in tourism activities
tourist adopt the designated convenience sampling method, a total of
889 valid questionnaires were collected. After statistical analysis, this
study found that: 1. tourists to the Penghu Islands travel information
source for “friends and family came to Penghu". 2. Tourists feel the
service of the outlying islands of Penghu, the highest feelings of
“friendly local residents". 3. There are different demographic variables
affect the tourist travel information source and service satisfaction.
Based on the findings of this study not only for Penghu's tourism
industry with the unit in charge of the proposed operating and
suggestions for future research to other researchers.
Abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of
texturizers on the rheological properties of the apple mass and
desserts made from various raw materials. The apple varieties -
‘Antonovka’, ‘Baltais Dzidrais’, and ‘Zarja Alatau’ harvested in
Latvia, were used for the experiment. The apples were processed in a
blender unpeeled for obtaining a homogenous mass. The apple mass
was analyzed fresh and after storage at –18ºC. Both fresh and thawed
apple mass samples with added gelatin, xantan gum, and sodium
carboxymethylcellulose were whisked obtaining dessert. Pectin, pH
and soluble dry matter of the product were determined. Apparent
viscosity was measured using a rotational viscometer DV–III Ultra.
Pectin content in frozen apple mass decreased significantly (p
Abstract: Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process can be
used for water purification or the desalination of salt water. The
process simply consists of a flat sheet hydrophobic micro porous
PTFE membrane and diaphragm vacuum pump without a condenser
for the water recovery or trap. The feed was used aqueous NaCl
solution. The VMD experiments were performed to evaluate the heat
and mass transfer coefficient of the boundary layer in a membrane
module. The only operating parameters are feed inlet temperature,
and feed flow rate were investigated. The permeate flux was strongly
affected by the feed inlet temperature, feed flow rate, and boundary
layer heat transfer coefficient. Since lowering the temperature
polarization coefficient is essential enhance the process performance
considerable and maximizing the heat transfer coefficient for
maximizes the mass flux of distillate water. In this paper, the results
of VMD experiments are used to measure the boundary layer heat
transfer coefficient, and the experimental results are used to reevaluate
the empirical constants in the Dittus- Boelter equation.
Abstract: In Grid computing, a data transfer protocol called
GridFTP has been widely used for efficiently transferring a large volume
of data. Currently, two versions of GridFTP protocols, GridFTP
version 1 (GridFTP v1) and GridFTP version 2 (GridFTP v2), have
been proposed in the GGF. GridFTP v2 supports several advanced
features such as data streaming, dynamic resource allocation, and
checksum transfer, by defining a transfer mode called X-block mode.
However, in the literature, effectiveness of GridFTP v2 has not been
fully investigated. In this paper, we therefore quantitatively evaluate
performance of GridFTP v1 and GridFTP v2 using mathematical
analysis and simulation experiments. We reveal the performance
limitation of GridFTP v1, and quantitatively show effectiveness of
GridFTP v2. Through several numerical examples, we show that by
utilizing the data streaming feature, the average file transfer time of
GridFTP v2 is significantly smaller than that of GridFTP v1.
Abstract: Heart-s electric field can be measured anywhere on
the surface of the body (ECG). When individuals touch, one person-s
ECG signal can be registered in other person-s EEG and elsewhere
on his body. Now, the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis
that physical contact (hand-holding) of two persons changes their
heart rate variability. Subjects were sixteen healthy female (age: 20-
26) which divided into eight sets. In each sets, we had two friends
that they passed intimacy test of J.sternberg. ECG of two subjects
(each set) acquired for 5 minutes before hand-holding (as control
group) and 5 minutes during they held their hands (as experimental
group). Then heart rate variability signals were extracted from
subjects' ECG and analyzed in linear feature space (time and
frequency domain) and nonlinear feature space. Considering the
results, we conclude that physical contact (hand-holding of two
friends) increases parasympathetic activity, as indicate by increase
SD1, SD1/SD2, HF and MF power (p
Abstract: As an adult man and woman love each other and come to have faith in each other as their spouse, they marry each other. Recently people-s economic life has become individualized and women are enjoying a high education level and increased participation in social activities, and these changes are creating environment favorable for single life. Thus, an increasing number of people are choosing celibacy, and many people prefer cohabitation to marriage. Nevertheless, marriage is still regarded as a must-to-do in our thought. Most of people throughout the world admit marriage as one of natural processes of life, and is an important passage rite in life that all people experience as we can see everywhere in the world despite the diversity of lifestyles. With regard to wedding ceremony, however, each country and culture has its own unique tradition and style of festival. It is not just a congratulatory ceremony but contains multiple concepts representing the age, country or culture. Moreover, the form and contents of wedding ceremony changes over time, and such features of wedding ceremony are well represented in films. This study took note of the fact that films reflect and reproduce each country-s historicity, culturality and analyzed four films, which are believed to show differences between Eastern and Western wedding ceremonies. The selected films are: A Perfect Match (2002), Marriage Is a Crazy Thing (2001), Bride Wars (2009) and 27 Dresses (2008). The author attempted to examine wedding ceremonies described in the four films, differences between the East and the West suggested by the films, and changes in their societies.
Abstract: The Beshar River is one aquatic ecosystem, which is
located next to the city of Yasuj in southern Iran. The Beshar river
has been contaminated by industrial factories such as effluent of
sugar factory, agricultural and other activities in this region such as,
Imam Sajjad hospital, drainage from agricultural farms, Yasuj urban
surface runoff and effluent of wastewater treatment plants ,specially
Yasuj waste water treatment plant. In order to evaluate the effects of
these pollutants on the quality of the Beshar river, five monitoring
stations were selected along its course. The first station is located
upstream of Yasuj near the Dehnow village; stations 2 to 4 are
located east, south and west of city; and the 5th station is located
downstream of Yasuj. Several water quality parameters were
sampled. These include pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen
demand (BOD), temperature, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved
solids and discharge or flow measurements. Water samples from the
five stations were collected and analyzed to determine the following
physicochemical parameters: EC, pH, T.D.S, T.H, No2, DO, BOD5,
COD during 2008 to 2010. The study shows that the BOD5 value of
station 1 is at a minimum (1.7 ppm) and increases downstream from
stations 2 to 4 to a maximum (11.6 ppm), and then decreases at
station 5. The DO values of station 1 is a maximum (8.45 ppm),
decreases downstream to stations 2 - 4 which are at a minimum (3.1
ppm), before increasing at station 5. The amount of BOD and TDS
are highest at the 4th station and the amount of DO is lowest at this
station, marking the 4th station as more highly polluted than the
other stations .This study shows average amount of the water quality
parameters in first year of sampling (2008) have had a better quality
relation to third year in 2010 because of recent drought in this region
and pollutant increasing .As the Beshar river path after 5th station
goes through the mountain area with more slope and flow velocity
,so the physicochemical parameters improve at the 5th station due to
pollutant degradation and dilution. Finally the point and nonpoint
pollutant sources of Beshar river were determined and compared to
the monitoring results.
Abstract: Throughput is an important measure of performance of production system. Analyzing and modeling of production throughput is complex in today-s dynamic production systems due to uncertainties of production system. The main reasons are that uncertainties are materialized when the production line faces changes in setup time, machinery break down, lead time of manufacturing, and scraps. Besides, demand changes are fluctuating from time to time for each product type. These uncertainties affect the production performance. This paper proposes Bayesian inference for throughput modeling under five production uncertainties. Bayesian model utilized prior distributions related to previous information about the uncertainties where likelihood distributions are associated to the observed data. Gibbs sampling algorithm as the robust procedure of Monte Carlo Markov chain was employed for sampling unknown parameters and estimating the posterior mean of uncertainties. The Bayesian model was validated with respect to convergence and efficiency of its outputs. The results presented that the proposed Bayesian models were capable to predict the production throughput with accuracy of 98.3%.
Abstract: In this study, how affects the narrative of Positive
Psychothreapy which is named “The Three Small Gold Statues "the
adloescent-s perception is investigated The sample included 90
adolescents who were high school students. Firstly the narrative was
read. Then three questions which were about the narrative were
asked. The questions were: What kind of things did you recall what
kind of results did you conculde, and also how could you use this
narrative in your real life problems. Responds were analyzed by
content analysis method. According to research findings the narrative
had a great effect for adolescent perceptions, and also the tale could
be used at school counselling programs.
Abstract: We evaluated the effect of sensory (direct current
(DC), 600μA) and motor (monophasic current, pulse duration 300μs,
100 Hz, 2.5-3mA) intensities of cathodal electrical stimulation (ES)
current to release VEGF and biomechanical properties of wound. 54
male Sprague-dawley rats were randomly assigned into one control
and two experimental groups. A full thickness skin incision was
made on animals- dorsal region. The experimental groups received
ES for 1h/day and every other day. VEGF expression was measured
in skin on the 7th day after surgical incision and tensile strength was
measured on 21st day. On the 7th day, the values of skin VEGF in the
sensory group were significantly greater than those of the other
groups (p < 0.05). Sensory and Motor intensity stimulation, can not
improve the biomechanical properties of the repaired wounds.
It seems the mechanical environment induced by sensory and
motor intensity of electrical stimulation, could not simulate the role
of normal daily stress and strain to maturation of collagen fibers and
their cross links. Further work is needed to determine the relationship
between VEGF expression after ES and its effect on tensile strength
of healed wound.