Abstract: We present a discussion of three adaptive filtering
algorithms well known for their one-step termination property, in
terms of their relationship with the minimal residual method. These
algorithms are the normalized least mean square (NLMS), Affine
Projection algorithm (APA) and the recursive least squares algorithm
(RLS). The NLMS is shown to be a result of the orthogonality
condition imposed on the instantaneous approximation of the Wiener
equation, while APA and RLS algorithm result from orthogonality
condition in multi-dimensional minimal residual formulation. Further
analysis of the minimal residual formulation for the RLS leads to
a triangular system which also possesses the one-step termination
property (in exact arithmetic)
Abstract: This paper presents a digital engineering library – the
Digital Mechanism and Gear Library, DMG-Lib – providing a multimedia collection of e-books, pictures, videos and animations in the domain of mechanisms and machines. The specific characteristic
about DMG-Lib is the enrichment and cross-linking of the different
sources. DMG-Lib e-books not only present pages as pixel images
but also selected figures augmented with interactive animations. The
presentation of animations in e-books increases the clearness of the
information.
To present the multimedia e-books and make them available in the
DMG-Lib internet portal a special e-book reader called StreamBook
was developed for optimal presentation of digitized books and to
enable reading the e-books as well as working efficiently and individually with the enriched information. The objective is to support different user tasks ranging from information retrieval to
development and design of mechanisms.
Abstract: A compact 1x3 power splitter based on Photonic
Crystal Waveguides (PCW) with flexible power splitting ratio is
presented in this paper. Multimode interference coupler (MMI) is
integrated with PCW. The device size reduction compared with the
conventional MMI power splitter is attributed to the large dispersion
of the PCW. Band Solve tool is used to calculate the band structure of
PCW. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is adopted to
simulate the relevant structure at 1550nm wavelength. The device is
polarization insensitive and allows the control of output (o/p) powers
within certain percentage points for both polarizations.
Abstract: Fuzzy controllers are potential candidates for the
control of nonlinear, time variant and also complicated systems. Anti
lock brake system (ABS) which is a nonlinear system, may not be
easily controlled by classical control methods. An intelligent Fuzzy
control method is very useful for this kind of nonlinear system. A
typical antilock brake system (ABS) by sensing the wheel lockup,
releases the brakes for a short period of time, and then reapplies again
the brakes when the wheel spins up. In this paper, an intelligent fuzzy
ABS controller is designed to adjust slipping performance for variety
of roads. There are tow major sections in the proposing control
system. First section consists of tow Fuzzy-Logic Controllers (FLC)
providing optimal brake torque for both front and rear wheels.
Second section which is also a FLC provides required amount of slip
and torque references properties for different kind of roads.
Simulation results of our proposed intelligent ABS for three different
kinds of road show more reliable and better performance in compare
with two other break systems.
Abstract: The two cart inverted pendulum system is a good
bench mark for testing the performance of system dynamics and
control engineering principles. Devasia introduced this system to
study the asymptotic tracking problem for nonlinear systems. In this
paper the problem of asymptotic tracking of the two-cart with an
inverted-pendulum system to a sinusoidal reference inputs via
introducing a novel method for solving finite-horizon nonlinear
optimal control problems is presented. In this method, an iterative
method applied to state dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) to obtain
a reliable algorithm. The superiority of this technique has been shown
by simulation and comparison with the nonlinear approach.
Abstract: The minimal condition for symmetry breaking in morphogenesis of cellular population was investigated using cellular automata based on reaction-diffusion dynamics. In particular, the study looked for the possibility of the emergence of branching structures due to mechanical interactions. The model used two types of cells an external gradient. The results showed that the external gradient influenced movement of cell type-I, also revealed that clusters formed by cells type-II worked as barrier to movement of cells type-I.
Abstract: Phytotoxicity of Daphne gnidium L. was evaluated
through the effect of incorporating leaves, stems and roots biomass
into soil (at 12.5, 25, 50g/Kg) and irrigation by their aqueous extracts
(50g/L), on the growth of two crops (Lactuca sativa L. and Raphanus
sativus L.) and two weeds (Peaganum harmala L. and Scolymus
maculatus L.). Results revealed a perceptible phytotoxic effect which
increased with dose and concentration. At the highest dose, roots and
leaves residues was the most toxic and caused total inhibition
respectively, for lettuce and thistle seedling growth. Irrigation with
aqueous extracts of D. gnidium different organs decreased also
seedlings length of all test species. Stems extract was more inhibitor
on thistle than peganum seedling growth; it induced a significant
reduction of 80% and 67%, for, respectively, roots and shoots.
Results of the present study suggest that different organs of D.
gnidium could be exploited in the management of agro-ecosystems.
Abstract: This paper proposes two types of non-isolated
direct AC-DC converters. First, it shows a buck-boost
converter with an H-bridge, which requires few components
(three switches, two diodes, one inductor and one capacitor) to
convert AC input to DC output directly. This circuit can handle
a wide range of output voltage. Second, a direct AC-DC buck
converter is proposed for lower output voltage applications.
This circuit is analyzed with output voltage of 12V. We
describe circuit topologies, operation principles and simulation
results for both circuits.
Abstract: This case study investigates the effects of reactive
focus on form through negotiation on the linguistic development of
an adult EFL learner in an exclusive private EFL classroom. The
findings revealed that in this classroom negotiated feedback occurred
significantly more often than non-negotiated feedback. However, it
was also found that in the long run the learner was significantly more
successful in correcting his own errors when he had received nonnegotiated
feedback than negotiated feedback. This study, therefore,
argues that although negotiated feedback seems to be effective for
some learners in the short run, it is non-negotiated feedback which
seems to be more effective in the long run. This long lasting effect
might be attributed to the impact of schooling system which is itself
indicative of the dominant culture, or to the absence of other
interlocutors in the course of interaction.
Abstract: This research attempts to explore gaps in Information
Systems (IS) and innovation literatures by developing a model of
Information Technology (IT) capability in enabling innovation. The
research was conducted by using semi-structured interview with six
innovators in business consulting, financial, healthcare and academic
organizations. The interview results suggest four elements of ITenabled
innovation capability which are information (ability to
capture ideas and knowledge), connectivity (ability to bridge
geographical boundary and mobilize human resources),
communication (ability to attain and engage relationships between
human resources) and transformation (ability to change the functions
and process integrations) in defining IT-enabled innovation platform.
The results also suggests innovators- roles and IT capability.
Abstract: Most buildings have been using anchor bolts
commonly for installing outdoor advertising structures. Anchor bolts
of common carbon steel are widely used and often installed
indiscriminately by inadequate installation standards. In the area
where strong winds frequently blow, falling accidents of outdoor
advertising structures can occur and cause a serious disaster, which is
very dangerous and to be prevented. In this regard, the development of
high-performance anchor bolts is urgently required. In the present
study, 25Cr-8Ni-1.5Si-1Mn-0.4C alloy was produced by traditional
vacuum induction melting (VIM) for the application of anchor bolt.
The alloy composition is revealed as a duplex microstructure from
thermodynamic phase analysis by FactSage® and confirmed by
metallographic experiment. Addition of Nitrogen to the alloy was
found to reduce the ferritic phase domain and significantly increase the
hardness and the tensile strength. Microstructure observation revealed
mixed structure of austenite and ferrite with fine carbide distributed
along the grain and phase boundaries.
Abstract: In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the
Hybrid-MIMO Receiver Scheme (HMRS) in Cognitive Radio
network (CR-network). We investigate the efficiency of the proposed
scheme which the energy level and user number of primary user are
varied according to the characteristic of CR-network. HMRS can
allow users to transmit either Space-Time Block Code (STBC) or
Spatial-Multiplexing (SM) streams simultaneously by using
Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) and Maximum Likelihood
Detection (MLD). From simulation, the results indicate that the
interference level effects to the performance of HMRS. Moreover,
the exact closed-form capacity of the proposed scheme is derived and
compared with STBC scheme.
Abstract: The present study addresses problems and solutions
related to new functional food production. Wheat (Triticum aestivum
L) bran obtained from industrial mill company “Dobeles
dzirnavieks”, was used to investigate them as raw material like
nutrients for Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12. Enzymatic hydrolysis of
wheat bran starch was carried out by α-amylase from Bacillus
amyloliquefaciens (Sigma Aldrich). The Viscozyme L purchased
from (Sigma Aldrich) were used for reducing released sugar.
Bifidibacterium lactis Bb-12 purchased from (Probio-Tec® CHR
Hansen) was cultivated in enzymatically hydrolysed wheat bran
mash. All procedures ensured the number of active Bifidobacterium
lactis Bb-12 in the final product reached 105 CFUg-1. After enzymatic
and bacterial fermentations sample were freeze dried for analysis of
chemical compounds. All experiments were performed at Faculty of
Food Technology of Latvia University of Agriculture in January-
March 2013. The obtained results show that both types of wheat bran
(enzymatically treated and non-treated) influenced the fermentative
activity and number of Bifidibacterium lactis Bb-12 viable in wheat
bran mash. Amount of acidity strongly increase during the wheat
bran mash fermentation. The main objective of this work was to
create low-energy functional enzymatically and bacterially treated
food from wheat bran using enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates
and following cultivation of Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12.
Abstract: Factoring Boolean functions is one of the basic operations in algorithmic logic synthesis. A novel algebraic factorization heuristic for single-output combinatorial logic functions is presented in this paper and is developed based on the set theory paradigm. The impact of factoring is analyzed mainly from a low power design perspective for standard cell based digital designs in this paper. The physical implementation of a number of MCNC/IWLS combinational benchmark functions and sub-functions are compared before and after factoring, based on a simple technology mapping procedure utilizing only standard gate primitives (readily available as standard cells in a technology library) and not cells corresponding to optimized complex logic. The power results were obtained at the gate-level by means of an industry-standard power analysis tool from Synopsys, targeting a 130nm (0.13μm) UMC CMOS library, for the typical case. The wire-loads were inserted automatically and the simulations were performed with maximum input activity. The gate-level simulations demonstrate the advantage of the proposed factoring technique in comparison with other existing methods from a low power perspective, for arbitrary examples. Though the benchmarks experimentation reports mixed results, the mean savings in total power and dynamic power for the factored solution over a non-factored solution were 6.11% and 5.85% respectively. In terms of leakage power, the average savings for the factored forms was significant to the tune of 23.48%. The factored solution is expected to better its non-factored counterpart in terms of the power-delay product as it is well-known that factoring, in general, yields a delay-efficient multi-level solution.
Abstract: In this study, numerical simulations on laminar flow in
sinusoidal wavy shaped tubes were conducted for mean Reynolds
number of 250, which is in the range of physiological flow-rate and
investigated flow structures, pressure distribution and particle
trajectories both in steady and periodic inflow conditions. For
extensive comparisons, various wave lengths and amplitudes of sine
function for geometry of tube models were employed. The results
showed that small amplitude secondary curvature has significant
influence on the nature of flow patterns and particle mixing
mechanism. This implies that characterizing accurate geometry is
essential in accurate predicting of in vivo hemodynamics and may
motivate further study on any possibility of reflection of secondary
flow on vascular remodeling and pathophysiology.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a robust disease detection
method, called adaptive orientation code matching (Adaptive OCM),
which is developed from a robust image registration algorithm:
orientation code matching (OCM), to achieve continuous and
site-specific detection of changes in plant disease. We use two-stage
framework for realizing our research purpose; in the first stage,
adaptive OCM was employed which could not only realize the
continuous and site-specific observation of disease development, but
also shows its excellent robustness for non-rigid plant object searching
in scene illumination, translation, small rotation and occlusion changes
and then in the second stage, a machine learning method of support
vector machine (SVM) based on a feature of two dimensional (2D)
xy-color histogram is further utilized for pixel-wise disease
classification and quantification. The indoor experiment results
demonstrate the feasibility and potential of our proposed algorithm,
which could be implemented in real field situation for better
observation of plant disease development.
Abstract: In this work, simulation algorithms for contact drying
of agitated particulate materials under vacuum and at atmospheric
pressure were developed. The implementation of algorithms gives a
predictive estimation of drying rate curves and bulk bed temperature
during contact drying. The calculations are based on the penetration
model to describe the drying process, where all process parameters
such as heat and mass transfer coefficients, effective bed properties,
gas and liquid phase properties are estimated with proper
correlations. Simulation results were compared with experimental
data from the literature. In both cases, simulation results were in good
agreement with experimental data. Few deviations were identified
and the limitations of the predictive capabilities of the models are
discussed. The programs give a good insight of the drying behaviour
of the analysed powders.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the development of bond graph
dynamic model of the mechanical dynamics of an excavating mechanism
previously designed to be used with small tractors, which are
fabricated in the Engineering Workshops of Jomo Kenyatta University
of Agriculture and Technology. To develop a mechanical dynamics
model of the manipulator, forward recursive equations similar to
those applied in iterative Newton-Euler method were used to obtain
kinematic relationships between the time rates of joint variables
and the generalized cartesian velocities for the centroids of the
links. Representing the obtained kinematic relationships in bondgraphic
form, while considering the link weights and momenta as
the elements led to a detailed bond graph model of the manipulator.
The bond graph method was found to reduce significantly the number
of recursive computations performed on a 3 DOF manipulator for a
mechanical dynamic model to result, hence indicating that bond graph
method is more computationally efficient than the Newton-Euler
method in developing dynamic models of 3 DOF planar manipulators.
The model was verified by comparing the joint torque expressions
of a two link planar manipulator to those obtained using Newton-
Euler and Lagrangian methods as analyzed in robotic textbooks. The
expressions were found to agree indicating that the model captures
the aspects of rigid body dynamics of the manipulator. Based on
the model developed, actuator sizing and valve sizing methodologies
were developed and used to obtain the optimal sizes of the pistons
and spool valve ports respectively. It was found that using the pump
with the sized flow rate capacity, the engine of the tractor is able to
power the excavating mechanism in digging a sandy-loom soil.
Abstract: This article analyses conspiracy theories as part of the
wider discourses of missionary politics. It presents a case study of
Venezuela and describes how its leaders use conspiracy theories as
political tools. Through quotes taken form Venezuelan president
Chavez-s public speeches and other sources, and through a short
analysis of the ideological basis of his discourses, it shows how
conspiracy theories are constructed and how they affect the local
political praxis. The article also describes how conspiracy theories
have been consistently used as an important part of the construction of
a political religion for the New Man of the Bolivarian Revolution. It
concludes that the use of conspiracy theories by political leaders
produces a sense of loss of political agency.
Abstract: 98% of the energy needed in Taiwan has been
imported. The prices of petroleum and electricity have been
increasing. In addition, facility capacity, amount of electricity
generation, amount of electricity consumption and number of Taiwan
Power Company customers have continued to increase. For these
reasons energy conservation has become an important topic. In the
past linear regression was used to establish the power consumption
models for chillers. In this study, grey prediction is used to evaluate
the power consumption of a chiller so as to lower the total power
consumption at peak-load (so that the relevant power providers do not
need to keep on increasing their power generation capacity and facility
capacity).
In grey prediction, only several numerical values (at least four
numerical values) are needed to establish the power consumption
models for chillers. If PLR, the temperatures of supply chilled-water
and return chilled-water, and the temperatures of supply cooling-water
and return cooling-water are taken into consideration, quite accurate
results (with the accuracy close to 99% for short-term predictions)
may be obtained. Through such methods, we can predict whether the
power consumption at peak-load will exceed the contract power
capacity signed by the corresponding entity and Taiwan Power
Company. If the power consumption at peak-load exceeds the power
demand, the temperature of the supply chilled-water may be adjusted
so as to reduce the PLR and hence lower the power consumption.