Abstract: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) hold much promise as a basis for disease-gene association. However, research is limited by the cost of genotyping the tremendous number of SNPs. Therefore, it is important to identify a small subset of informative SNPs, the so-called tag SNPs. This subset consists of selected SNPs of the genotypes, and accurately represents the rest of the SNPs. Furthermore, an effective evaluation method is needed to evaluate prediction accuracy of a set of tag SNPs. In this paper, a genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to tag SNP problems, and the K-nearest neighbor (K-NN) serves as a prediction method of tag SNP selection. The experimental data used was taken from the HapMap project; it consists of genotype data rather than haplotype data. The proposed method consistently identified tag SNPs with considerably better prediction accuracy than methods from the literature. At the same time, the number of tag SNPs identified was smaller than the number of tag SNPs in the other methods. The run time of the proposed method was much shorter than the run time of the SVM/STSA method when the same accuracy was reached.
Abstract: This paper presents an intelligent speed control
system based on fuzzy logic for a voltage source PWM inverter-fed
indirect vector controlled induction motor drive. Traditional indirect
vector control system of induction motor introduces conventional PI
regulator in outer speed loop; it is proved that the low precision of the
speed regulator debases the performance of the whole system. To
overcome this problem, replacement of PI controller by an intelligent
controller based on fuzzy set theory is proposed. The performance of
the intelligent controller has been investigated through digital
simulation using MATLAB-SIMULINK package for different
operating conditions such as sudden change in reference speed and
load torque. The simulation results demonstrate that the performance
of the proposed controller is better than that of the conventional PI
controller.
Abstract: The potential of economically cheaper cellulose
containing natural materials like rice husk was assessed for nickel
adsorption from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, contact time,
sorbent dose, initial metal ion concentration and temperature on the
uptake of nickel were studied in batch process. The removal of nickel
was dependent on the physico-chemical characteristics of the
adsorbent, adsorbate concentration and other studied process
parameters. The sorption data has been correlated with Langmuir,
Freundlich and Dubinin-Radush kevich (D-R) adsorption models. It
was found that Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms fitted well to the
data. Maximum nickel removal was observed at pH 6.0. The
efficiency of rice husk for nickel removal was 51.8% for dilute
solutions at 20 g L-1 adsorbent dose. FTIR, SEM and EDAX were
recorded before and after adsorption to explore the number and
position of the functional groups available for nickel binding on to
the studied adsorbent and changes in surface morphology and
elemental constitution of the adsorbent. Pseudo-second order model
explains the nickel kinetics more effectively. Reusability of the
adsorbent was examined by desorption in which HCl eluted 78.93%
nickel. The results revealed that nickel is considerably adsorbed on
rice husk and it could be and economic method for the removal of
nickel from aqueous solutions.
Abstract: In this paper, a novel deinterlacing algorithm is
proposed. The proposed algorithm approximates the distribution of the
luminance into a polynomial function. Instead of using one
polynomial function for all pixels, different polynomial functions are
used for the uniform, texture, and directional edge regions. The
function coefficients for each region are computed by matrix
multiplications. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed
method performs better than the conventional algorithms.
Abstract: In this article, using finite element analysis (FEA)
and an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), cold-sprayed titanium particles
on a steel substrate is investigated in term of cooling time and the
development of residual strains. Three cooling-down models of
sprayed particles after deposition stage are simulated and discussed:
the first model (m1) considers conduction effect to the substrate only,
the second model (m2) considers both conduction as well as
convection effect to the environment, and the third model (m3) which
is the same as the second model but with the substrate heated to a
near particle temperature before spraying. Thereafter, residual strains
developed in the third model is compared with the experimental
measurement of residual strains, which involved a Bruker D8
Advance Diffractometer using CuKa radiation (40kV, 40mA)
monochromatised with a graphite sample monochromator. For
deposition conditions of this study, a good correlation was found to
exist between the FEA results and XRD measurements of residual
strains.
Abstract: Since polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been
invented, it has emerged as a powerful tool in genetic analysis. The
PCR products are closely linked with thermal cycles. Therefore, to
reduce the reaction time and make temperature distribution uniform in
the reaction chamber, a novel oscillatory thermal cycler is designed.
The sample is placed in a fixed chamber, and three constant isothermal
zones are established and lined in the system. The sample is oscillated
and contacted with three different isothermal zones to complete
thermal cycles. This study presents the design of the geometric
characteristics of the chamber. The commercial software
CFD-ACE+TM is utilized to investigate the influences of various
materials, heating times, chamber volumes, and moving speed of the
chamber on the temperature distributions inside the chamber. The
chamber moves at a specific velocity and the boundary conditions
with time variations are related to the moving speed. Whereas the
chamber moves, the boundary is specified at the conditions of the
convection or the uniform temperature. The user subroutines compiled
by the FORTRAN language are used to make the numerical results
realistically. Results show that the reaction chamber with a rectangular
prism is heated on six faces; the effects of various moving speeds of
the chamber on the temperature distributions are examined. Regarding
to the temperature profiles and the standard deviation of the
temperature at the Y-cut cross section, the non-uniform temperature
inside chamber is found as the moving speed is larger than 0.01 m/s.
By reducing the heating faces to four, the standard deviation of the
temperature of the reaction chamber is under 1.4×10-3K with the range
of velocities between 0.0001 m/s and 1 m/s. The nature convective
boundary conditions are set at all boundaries while the chamber moves
between two heaters, the effects of various moving velocities of the
chamber on the temperature distributions are negligible at the assigned
time duration.
Abstract: We address the problem of joint beamforming and multipath channel parameters estimation in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) communication systems that employ Multiple-Access Interference (MAI) suppression techniques in the uplink (from mobile to base station). Most of the existing schemes rely on time multiplex a training sequence with the user data. In WCDMA, the channel parameters can also be estimated from a code multiplexed common pilot channel (CPICH) that could be corrupted by strong interference resulting in a bad estimate. In this paper, we present new methods to combine interference suppression together with channel estimation when using multiple receiving antennas by using adaptive signal processing techniques. Computer simulation is used to compare between the proposed methods and the existing conventional estimation techniques.
Abstract: Traffic enforcement units (the Police) are partly
responsible for the severity and frequency of the traffic accidents via
the effectiveness of their safety measures. The Police claims that the
reductions in accidents and their severities occur largely by their
timely interventions at the black spots, through traffic management
or temporary changes in the road design (guiding, reducing speeds
and eliminating sight obstructions, etc.). Yet, some other external
factors than the Police measures may intervene into which such
claims require a statistical confirmation. In order to test the net
impact of the Police contribution in the reduction of the number of
crashes, Chi square test was applied for 25 spots (streets and
intersections) and an average evaluation was achieved for general
conclusion in the case study of Izmir city. Separately, the net impact
of economic crisis in the reduction of crashes is assessed by the
trend analysis for the case of the economic crisis with the probable
reduction effects on the trip generation or modal choice. Finally, it
was proven that the Police measures were effective to some degree as
they claimed, though the economic crisis might have only negligible
contribution to the reductions in the same period observed.
Abstract: This paper presents a solution for ceramic cutting tools availability in interrupted machining. Experiments were performed on a special fixture – the interrupted cut simulator. This fixture was constructed at our Department of Machining and Assembly within the scope of a project by the Czech Science Foundation. The goals of the tests were to contribute to the wider usage of these cutting materials in machining, especially in interrupted machining. Through the centuries, producers of ceramic cutting tools have taken big steps forward. Namely, increasing durability in maintaining high levels of strength and hardness lends an advantage. Some producers of these materials advise cutting inserts for interrupted machining at the present time [1, 2].
Abstract: Twenty seven tektites from the Wenchang area, Hainan
province (south China) and five tektites from the Khon Kaen area
(northeast Thailand) were analyzed for major and trace element
contents and Rb-Sr isotopic compositions. All the samples studied are
splash-form tektites. Tektites of this study are characterized by high
SiO2 contents ranging from 71.95 to 74.07 wt% which is consistent
with previously published analyses of Australasian tektites. The trace
element ratios Ba/Rb (avg. 3.89), Th/Sm (avg. 2.40), Sm/Sc (avg.
0.45), Th/Sc (avg. 0.99) and the rare earth elements (REE) contents of
tektites of this study are similar to the average upper continental crust.
Based on the chemical composition, it is suggested that tektites in this
study are derived from similar parental material and are similar to the
post-Archean upper crustal rocks. The major and trace element
abundances of tektites analyzed indicate that the parental material of
tektites may be a terrestrial sedimentary deposit. The tektites from the
Wenchang area, Hainan Island have high positive εSr(0)
values-ranging from 184.5~196.5 which indicate that the parental
material for these tektites have similar Sr isotopic compositions to old
terrestrial sedimentary rocks and they were not dominantly derived
from recent young sediments (such as soil or loess). Based on Rb-Sr
isotopic data, it has been suggested by Blum (1992) [1]that the
depositional age of sedimentary target materials is close to 170Ma
(Jurassic). According to the model suggested by Ho and Chen
(1996)[2], mixing calculations for various amounts and combinations
of target rocks have been carried out. We consider that the best fit for
tektites from the Wenchang area is a mixture of 47% shale, 23%
sandstone, 25% greywacke and 5% quartzite, and the other tektites
from Khon Kaen area is a mixture of 46% shale, 2% sandstone, 20%
greywacke and 32% quartzite.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new design of spatial FIR
filter to automatically detect water level from a video signal of
various river surroundings. A new approach in this report applies
"addition" of frames and a "horizontal" edge detector to distinguish
water region and land region. Variance of each line of a filtered
video frame is used as a feature value. The water level is recognized
as a boundary line between the land region and the water region.
Edge detection filter essentially demarcates between two distinctly
different regions. However, the conventional filters are not
automatically adaptive to detect water level in various lighting
conditions of river scenery. An optimized filter is purposed so that
the system becomes robust to changes of lighting condition. More
reliability of the proposed system with the optimized filter is
confirmed by accuracy of water level detection.
Abstract: The launching nose plays an important role in the
incremental launching construction. The parameters of the launching
nose essentially affect the internal forces of the girder during the
construction. The appropriate parameters can decrease the internal
forces in the girder and save the material and reduce the cost. The
simplified structural model, which is made with displacement method
according to the characteristic of incremental launching construction
and the variation rule of the internal forces, calculates and analyzes the
effect of the length, the rigidity and weight of launch nose on the
internal forces of girder during the incremental launching
construction. The method, which can calculate the launching nose
parameters for the optimum incremental launching construction, is
achieved. This method is simple, reliable and easy for practical use.
Abstract: Group contribution based models are widely used in
industrial applications for its convenience and flexibility. Although a
number of group contribution models have been proposed, there were
certain limitations inherent to those models. Models based on group
contribution excess Gibbs free energy are limited to low pressures and
models based on equation of state (EOS) cannot properly describe
highly nonideal mixtures including acids without introducing
additional modification such as chemical theory. In the present study
new a new approach derived from quantum chemistry have been used
to calculate necessary EOS group interaction parameters. The
COSMO-RS method, based on quantum mechanics, provides a
reliable tool for fluid phase thermodynamics. Benefits of the group
contribution EOS are the consistent extension to hydrogen-bonded
mixtures and the capability to predict polymer-solvent equilibria up to
high pressures. The authors are confident that with a sufficient
parameter matrix the performance of the lattice EOS can be improved
significantly.
Abstract: The wisest economic decision of United States in the
20th century was establishing the favorable international monetary
system, and capturing the leadership position in it. This decision gave
economic hegemony to the US for the next more than 7 decades. The
continuation of this hegemony till the next decade seems difficult as
the US economy is under continuous streams of recessions since
2007. On the other hand, Chinese economy is progressing with a
very fast speed and is estimated to pass the US economy till 2025, in
various aspects. Will the US be able to continue its leadership in the
IMS? Will China replace US in the international monetary system?
The answers to these questions have been explored by comparing the
economic competitiveness of US and China, with respect to each
other. The paper concludes that the change in global economic
environment will compel US to share the leadership of international
monetary system with China. This sharing will solve most problems
of the current IMS, but will also birth some new problems.
Abstract: Wavelet transforms are multiresolution
decompositions that can be used to analyze signals and images.
Image compression is one of major applications of wavelet
transforms in image processing. It is considered as one of the most
powerful methods that provides a high compression ratio. However,
its implementation is very time-consuming. At the other hand,
parallel computing technologies are an efficient method for image
compression using wavelets. In this paper, we propose a parallel
wavelet compression algorithm based on quadtrees. We implement
the algorithm using MatlabMPI (a parallel, message passing version
of Matlab), and compute its isoefficiency function, and show that it is
scalable. Our experimental results confirm the efficiency of the
algorithm also.
Abstract: Understanding how precipitation inter-annually
changes and its implication in agricultural drought and production change in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth season is critical for crop production in China. MODIS Temperature-Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) and daily mean precipitation time series for the main growth season(Feb. to May) of winter wheat from 2000 to 2010
were used to analyze the distribution of trends of precipitation,
agricultural drought and winter wheat yield change respectively, and
relationships between them in North China region(Huang-huai-hai
region, HHH region), China. The results indicated that the trend of
precipitation in HHH region past 11 years was increasing, which had
induced generally corresponding decreasing trend of agricultural
drought and increasing trend of wheat yield, while the trend of drought
was spatially diverse. The study could provide a basis for agricultural
drought research during winter wheat season in HHH region under the
ground of climate change.
Abstract: Among all mechanical joining processes, welding has
been employed for its advantage in design flexibility, cost saving,
reduced overall weight and enhanced structural performance.
However, for structures made of relatively thin components, welding
can introduce significant buckling distortion which causes loss of
dimensional control, structural integrity and increased fabrication
costs. Different parameters can affect buckling behavior of welded
thin structures such as, heat input, welding sequence, dimension of
structure. In this work, a 3-D thermo elastic-viscoplastic finite
element analysis technique is applied to evaluate the effect of shell
dimensions on buckling behavior and entropy generation of welded
thin shells. Also, in the present work, the approximated longitudinal
transient stresses which produced in each time step, is applied to the
3D-eigenvalue analysis to ratify predicted buckling time and
corresponding eigenmode. Besides, the possibility of buckling
prediction by entropy generation at each time is investigated and it is
found that one can predict time of buckling with drawing entropy
generation versus out of plane deformation. The results of finite
element analysis show that the length, span and thickness of welded
thin shells affect the number of local buckling, mode shape of global
buckling and post-buckling behavior of welded thin shells.
Abstract: If there exists a nonempty, proper subset S of the set of all (n+1)(n+2)/2 inertias such that S Ôèå i(A) is sufficient for any n×n zero-nonzero pattern A to be inertially arbitrary, then S is called a critical set of inertias for zero-nonzero patterns of order n. If no proper subset of S is a critical set, then S is called a minimal critical set of inertias. In [Kim, Olesky and Driessche, Critical sets of inertias for matrix patterns, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 57 (3) (2009) 293-306], identifying all minimal critical sets of inertias for n×n zero-nonzero patterns with n ≥ 3 and the minimum cardinality of such a set are posed as two open questions by Kim, Olesky and Driessche. In this note, the minimum cardinality of all critical sets of inertias for 4 × 4 irreducible zero-nonzero patterns is identified.
Abstract: Today, the preferences and participation of the TD groups such as the elderly and disabled is still lacking in decision-making of transportation planning, and their reactions to certain type of policies are not well known. Thus, a clear methodology is needed. This study aimed to develop a method to extract the preferences of the disabled to be used in the policy-making stage that can also guide to future estimations. The method utilizes the combination of cluster analysis and data filtering using the data of the Arao city (Japan). The method is a process that follows: defining the TD group by the cluster analysis tool, their travel preferences in tabular form from the household surveys by policy variableimpact pairs, zones, and by trip purposes, and the final outcome is the preference probabilities of the disabled. The preferences vary by trip purpose; for the work trips, accessibility and transit system quality policies with the accompanying impacts of modal shifts towards public mode use as well as the decreasing travel costs, and the trip rate increase; for the social trips, the same accessibility and transit system policies leading to the same mode shift impact, together with the travel quality policy area leading to trip rate increase. These results explain the policies to focus and can be used in scenario generation in models, or any other planning purpose as decision support tool.
Abstract: A considerable progress has been achieved in transient
stability analysis (TSA) with various FACTS controllers. But, all
these controllers are associated with single transmission line. This
paper is intended to discuss a new approach i.e. a multi-line FACTS
controller which is interline power flow controller (IPFC) for TSA of
a multi-machine power system network. A mathematical model of
IPFC, termed as power injection model (PIM) presented and this
model is incorporated in Newton-Raphson (NR) power flow
algorithm. Then, the reduced admittance matrix of a multi-machine
power system network for a three phase fault without and with IPFC
is obtained which is required to draw the machine swing curves. A
general approach based on L-index has also been discussed to find
the best location of IPFC to reduce the proximity to instability of a
power system. Numerical results are carried out on two test systems
namely, 6-bus and 11-bus systems. A program in MATLAB has
been written to plot the variation of generator rotor angle and speed
difference curves without and with IPFC for TSA and also a simple
approach has been presented to evaluate critical clearing time for test
systems. The results obtained without and with IPFC are compared
and discussed.