Abstract: This paper presents a critical study about the
application of Neural Networks to ion-exchange process. Ionexchange
is a complex non-linear process involving many factors
influencing the ions uptake mechanisms from the pregnant solution.
The following step includes the elution. Published data presents
empirical isotherm equations with definite shortcomings resulting in
unreliable predictions. Although Neural Network simulation
technique encounters a number of disadvantages including its “black
box", and a limited ability to explicitly identify possible causal
relationships, it has the advantage to implicitly handle complex
nonlinear relationships between dependent and independent
variables. In the present paper, the Neural Network model based on
the back-propagation algorithm Levenberg-Marquardt was developed
using a three layer approach with a tangent sigmoid transfer function
(tansig) at hidden layer with 11 neurons and linear transfer function
(purelin) at out layer. The above mentioned approach has been used
to test the effectiveness in simulating ion exchange processes. The
modeling results showed that there is an excellent agreement between
the experimental data and the predicted values of copper ions
removed from aqueous solutions.
Abstract: Structural redundancy is an interesting point in
seismic design of structures. Initially, the structural redundancy is
described as indeterminate degree of a system. Although many definitions are presented for redundancy in structures, recently the
definition of structural redundancy has been related to the configuration of structural system and the number of lateral load
transferring directions in the structure. The steel frames with infill walls are general systems in the constructing of usual residential buildings in some countries. It is
obviously declared that the performance of structures will be affected by adding masonry infill walls. In order to investigate the effect of
infill walls on the redundancy of the steel frame which constructed
with masonry walls, the components of redundancy including redundancy variation index, redundancy strength index and
redundancy response modification factor were extracted for the
frames with masonry infills. Several steel frames with typical storey number and various numbers of bays were designed and considered.
The redundancy of frames with and without infill walls was evaluated by proposed method. The results showed the presence of infill causes increase of redundancy.
Abstract: A novel methodology has been used to design an
evaporator coil of a refrigerant. The methodology used is through a
complete Computer Aided Design /Computer Aided Engineering
approach, by means of a Computational Fluid Dynamic/Finite
Element Analysis model which is executed many times for the
thermal-fluid exploration of several designs' configuration by an
commercial optimizer. Hence the design is carried out automatically
by parallel computations, with an optimization package taking the
decisions rather than the design engineer. The engineer instead takes
decision regarding the physical settings and initializing of the
computational models to employ, the number and the extension of the
geometrical parameters of the coil fins and the optimization tools to
be employed. The final design of the coil geometry found to be better
than the initial design.
Abstract: techniques are examined to overcome the
performance degradation caused by the channel dispersion using
slow frequency hopping (SFH) with dynamic frequency hopping
(DFH) pattern adaptation. In DFH systems, the frequency slots are
selected by continuous quality monitoring of all frequencies available
in a system and modification of hopping patterns for each individual
link based on replacing slots which its signal to interference ratio
(SIR) measurement is below a required threshold. Simulation results
will show the improvements in BER obtained by DFH in comparison
with matched frequency hopping (MFH), random frequency hopping
(RFH) and multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA)
in multipath slowly fading dispersive channels using a generalized
bandpass two-path transfer function model, and will show the
improvement obtained according to the threshold selection.
Abstract: The White Kwao (Pueraria mirifica), a potent phytoestrogenic medicinal plant, has long been use in Thailand as a traditional folkmedicine. However, no scientific information of the direct effect of White Kwao on the development of mammalian embryo was available. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of White Kwao extract on the in vitro development and implantation rate of mouse embryos. This study was designed into two experiments. In the first experiment, the two-cell stage mouse embryos were collected from the oviduct of superovulated mature female mice, and randomly cultured in three different media, the M16, M16 supplemented with 0.52μg esthinylestradiol-17β, and M16 supplemented with 10 mg/ml White Kwao extract. The culture was incubated in CO2 incubator at 37 oC . After the embryos were cultivated, the developments of embryos were observed every 24 hours for 5 days. The development rate of embryos from the two-cell stage to blastocyst stage in the media was with White Kwao was significantly higher (p
Abstract: Various assisted reproductive techniques have been
developed and refined to obtain a large number of offspring from
genetically superior animals or obtain offspring from infertile (or
subfertile) animals. The embryo transfer is one assisted reproductive
technique developed well, aimed at increased productivity of selected
females, disease control, importation and exportation of livestock,
rapid screening of AI sires for genetically recessive characteristics,
treatment or circumvention of certain types of infertility. Embryo
transfer also is a useful research tool for evaluating fetal and maternal
interactions. This technique has been applied to nearly every species
of domestic animal and many species of wildlife and exotic animals,
including humans and non-human primates. The successful of
embryo transfers have been limited to within-animal, homologous
replacement of the embryos. There are several examples of
interspecific and intergeneric embryo transfers in which embryos
implanted but did not develop to term: sheep and goat, mouse and rat.
An immunological rejections and placental incompatibility between
the embryo and the surrogate mother appear to restrict interspecific
embryo transfer/interspecific pregnancy. Recently, preimplantation
embryo manipulation procedures have been applied, such as
technique of inner cell mass transfer. This technique will possible to
overcome the reproductive barrier interspecific embryo
transfer/interspecific pregnancy, if there is a protective mechanism
which prevents recognition of the foreign fetus by the mother of the
other species
Abstract: Voltage collapse is instability of heavily loaded electric
power systems that cause to declining voltages and blackout. Power
systems are predicated to become more heavily loaded in the future
decade as the demand for electric power rises while economic and
environmental concerns limit the construction of new transmission
and generation capacity. Heavily loaded power systems are closer to
their stability limits and voltage collapse blackouts will occur if
suitable monitoring and control measures are not taken. To control
transmission lines, it can be used from FACTS devices.
In this paper Harmony search algorithm (HSA) and Genetic
Algorithm (GA) have applied to determine optimal location of
FACTS devices in a power system to improve power system stability.
Three types of FACTS devices (TCPAT, UPFS, and SVC) have been
introduced. Bus under voltage has been solved by controlling reactive
power of shunt compensator. Also a combined series-shunt
compensators has been also used to control transmission power flow
and bus voltage simultaneously.
Different scenarios have been considered. First TCPAT, UPFS, and
SVC are placed solely in transmission lines and indices have been
calculated. Then two types of above controller try to improve
parameters randomly. The last scenario tries to make better voltage
stability index and losses by implementation of three types controller
simultaneously. These scenarios are executed on typical 34-bus test
system and yields efficiency in improvement of voltage profile and
reduction of power losses; it also may permit an increase in power
transfer capacity, maximum loading, and voltage stability margin.
Abstract: Infrastructure investments are important in developing
countries, it will not only help to foster the economic growth of a
nation, but it will also act as a platform in which new forms of
partnership and collaboration can be developed mainly in East Asian
countries. Since the last two decades, many infrastructure projects
had been completed through build-operate-transfer (BOT) type of
procurement. The developments of BOT have attracted participation
of local and foreign private sector investor to secure funding and to
deliver projects on time, within the budget and to the required
specifications. Private sectors are preferred by the government in
East Asia to participate in BOT projects due to lack of public
funding. The finding has resulted that the private sector or promoter
of the BOT projects is exposed to multiple risks which have been
discussed in this paper. Effective risk management methods and
good managerial skills are required in ensuring the success of the
project. The review indicated that mitigation measures should be
employed by the promoter throughout the concession period and
support from the host government is also required in ensuring the
success of the BOT project.
Abstract: Malate dehydrogenase-glutamate oxaloacetate
aminotransferase (MDh-GOAT) enzyme complex (the EC) was
isolated and purified from wheat and rise, their some main physicchemical
properties were studied. Michael-s constants of the EC
MDh-GOAT to malate, glutamate and NAD were investigated. This
kinetic results show a high relationship to glutamate. Taking into
account important role of the the EC in catabolism of glutamate – the
central amino acid of a nitric exchange, there is a sharp necessity of
deeper studying of this enzyme complex. Therefore the basic purpose
of the work is studying the basic physical and chemical properties of
this enzyme complex discovered by us, which would be very
important for understanding the mechanisms of reaction catalyzed by
the EC.
Abstract: This paper presents the study of hardness profile of spur gear heated by induction heating process in function of the machine parameters, such as the power (kW), the heating time (s) and the generator frequency (kHz). The global work is realized by 3D finite-element simulation applied to the process by coupling and resolving the electromagnetic field and the heat transfer problems, and it was performed in three distinguished steps. First, a Comsol 3D model was built using an adequate formulation and taking into account the material properties and the machine parameters. Second, the convergence study was conducted to optimize the mesh. Then, the surface temperatures and the case depths were deeply analyzed in function of the initial current density and the heating time in medium frequency (MF) and high frequency (HF) heating modes and the edge effect were studied. Finally, the simulations results are validated using experimental tests.
Abstract: The cDNA encoding the 326 amino acids of a Class I
basic chitinase gene from Leucaena leucocephala de Wit (KB3,
Genbank accession: AAM49597) was cloned under the control of
CaMV35S promoter in pCAMBIA 1300 and transferred to
Koshihikari. Calli of Koshihikari rice was transformed with
agrobacterium with this construct expressing the chitinase and β-
glucouronidase (GUS). The frequencies of calli 90 % has been
obtained from rice seedlings cultured on NB medium. The high
regeneration frequencies, 74% was obtained from calli cultured on
regeneration medium containing 4 mg/l BAP, and 7 g/l phytagel at
25°C. Various factors were studied in order to establish a procedure
for the transformation of Koshihikari Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Supplementation of 50 mM acetosyringone to the medium during
coculivation was important to enhance the frequency to transient
transformation. The 4 week-old scutellum-derived calli were
excellent starting materials. Selection medium based on NB medium
supplement with 40 mg/l hygromycin and 400 mg/l cefotaxime were
an optimized medium for selection of transformed rice calli. The
percentage of transformation 70 was obtained. Recombinant calli and
regenerated rice plants were checked the expression of chitinase and
gus by PCR, northern blot gel, southern blot gel, and gus assay.
Chitinase and gus were expressed in all parts of recombinant rice.
The rice line expressing the KB3 chiitnase was more resistant to the
blast fungus Fusarium monoliforme than control line.
Abstract: Recently, genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique have attracted considerable attention among various modern heuristic optimization techniques. The GA has been popular in academia and the industry mainly because of its intuitiveness, ease of implementation, and the ability to effectively solve highly non-linear, mixed integer optimization problems that are typical of complex engineering systems. PSO technique is a relatively recent heuristic search method whose mechanics are inspired by the swarming or collaborative behavior of biological populations. In this paper both PSO and GA optimization are employed for finding stable reduced order models of single-input- single-output large-scale linear systems. Both the techniques guarantee stability of reduced order model if the original high order model is stable. PSO method is based on the minimization of the Integral Squared Error (ISE) between the transient responses of original higher order model and the reduced order model pertaining to a unit step input. Both the methods are illustrated through numerical example from literature and the results are compared with recently published conventional model reduction technique.
Abstract: This paper presents a compact thermoelectric power generator system based on temperature difference across the element. The system can transfer the burning heat energy to electric energy directly. The proposed system has a thermoelectric generator and a power control box. In the generator, there are 4 thermoelectric modules (TEMs), each of which uses 2 thermoelectric chips (TEs) and 2 cold sinks, 1 thermal absorber, and 1 thermal conduction flat board. In the power control box, there are 1 storing energy device, 1 converter, and 1 inverter. The total net generating power is about 11W. This system uses commercial portable gas stoves or burns timber or the coal as the heat source, which is easily obtained. It adopts solid-state thermoelectric chips as heat inverter parts. The system has the advantages of being light-weight, quite, and mobile, requiring no maintenance, and havng easily-supplied heat source. The system can be used a as long as burning is allowed. This system works well for highly-mobilized outdoors situations by providing a power for illumination, entertainment equipment or the wireless equipment at refuge. Under heavy storms such as typhoon, when the solar panels become ineffective and the wind-powered machines malfunction, the thermoelectric power generator can continue providing the vital power.
Abstract: The authors present an algorithm for order reduction of linear dynamic systems using the combined advantages of stability equation method and the error minimization by Genetic algorithm. The denominator of the reduced order model is obtained by the stability equation method and the numerator terms of the lower order transfer function are determined by minimizing the integral square error between the transient responses of original and reduced order models using Genetic algorithm. The reduction procedure is simple and computer oriented. It is shown that the algorithm has several advantages, e.g. the reduced order models retain the steady-state value and stability of the original system. The proposed algorithm has also been extended for the order reduction of linear multivariable systems. Two numerical examples are solved to illustrate the superiority of the algorithm over some existing ones including one example of multivariable system.
Abstract: This paper describes the process used in the
automation of the Maritime UAV commands using the Kinect sensor.
The AR Drone is a Quadrocopter manufactured by Parrot [1] to be
controlled using the Apple operating systems such as iPhones and
Ipads. However, this project uses the Microsoft Kinect SDK and
Microsoft Visual Studio C# (C sharp) software, which are compatible
with Windows Operating System for the automation of the navigation
and control of the AR drone.
The navigation and control software for the Quadrocopter runs on
a windows 7 computer. The project is divided into two sections; the
Quadrocopter control system and the Kinect sensor control system.
The Kinect sensor is connected to the computer using a USB cable
from which commands can be sent to and from the Kinect sensors.
The AR drone has Wi-Fi capabilities from which it can be connected
to the computer to enable transfer of commands to and from the
Quadrocopter.
The project was implemented in C#, a programming language that
is commonly used in the automation systems. The language was
chosen because there are more libraries already established in C# for
both the AR drone and the Kinect sensor.
The study will contribute toward research in automation of
systems using the Quadrocopter and the Kinect sensor for navigation
involving a human operator in the loop. The prototype created has
numerous applications among which include the inspection of vessels
such as ship, airplanes and areas that are not accessible by human
operators.
Abstract: The present study focuses on the discussion over the
parameter of Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Sensitivity analysis is
applied to assess the effect of the parameters of ANN on the prediction
of turbidity of raw water in the water treatment plant. The result shows
that transfer function of hidden layer is a critical parameter of ANN.
When the transfer function changes, the reliability of prediction of
water turbidity is greatly different. Moreover, the estimated water
turbidity is less sensitive to training times and learning velocity than
the number of neurons in the hidden layer. Therefore, it is important to
select an appropriate transfer function and suitable number of neurons
in the hidden layer in the process of parameter training and validation.
Abstract: Transportation is one of the main activities related to
creating value for the tourists. Transport management in tourism
mainly focuses on managing transfer points and vehicle capacity.
However, transport service level must also be ensured as it now
relates to tourist-s experiences. This paper emphasizes on the
responsiveness as one of key service performance measures. An
evaluation framework is developed and illustarted by using the case
of small bus service in Pattaya city. It can be seen as a great potential
for the city to utilize the small bus transportation in order to meet the
needs of more diverse group of passengers and to support the
expansion of tourist areas. The framework integrates with service
operations management, logistics, and tourism behavior perspectives.
The findings from the investigation of existing small bus service are
presented and preliminarily validate the usability of the framework.
Abstract: Modeling transfer phenomena in several chemical
engineering operations leads to the resolution of partial differential
equations systems. According to the complexity of the operations
mechanisms, the equations present a nonlinear form and analytical
solution became difficult, we have then to use numerical methods
which are based on approximations in order to transform a
differential system to an algebraic one.Finite element method is one
of numerical methods which can be used to obtain an accurate
solution in many complex cases of chemical engineering.The packed
columns find a large application like contactor for liquid-liquid
systems such solvent extraction. In the literature, the modeling of this
type of equipment received less attention in comparison with the
plate columns.A mathematical bidimensionnal model with radial and
axial dispersion, simulating packed tower extraction behavior was
developed and a partial differential equation was solved using the
finite element method by adopting the Galerkine model. We
developed a Mathcad program, which can be used for a similar
equations and concentration profiles are obtained along the column.
The influence of radial dispersion was prooved and it can-t be
neglected, the results were compared with experimental concentration
at the top of the column in the extraction system:
acetone/toluene/water.
Abstract: Numerical study of a plane jet occurring in a vertical
heated channel is carried out. The aim is to explore the influence of
the forced flow, issued from a flat nozzle located in the entry section
of a channel, on the up-going fluid along the channel walls. The
Reynolds number based on the nozzle width and the jet velocity
ranges between 3 103 and 2.104; whereas, the Grashof number based
on the channel length and the wall temperature difference is 2.57
1010. Computations are established for a symmetrically heated
channel and various nozzle positions. The system of governing
equations is solved with a finite volumes method. The obtained
results show that the jet-wall interactions activate the heat transfer,
the position variation modifies the heat transfer especially for low
Reynolds numbers: the heat transfer is enhanced for the adjacent
wall; however it is decreased for the opposite one. The numerical
velocity and temperature fields are post-processed to compute the
quantities of engineering interest such as the induced mass flow rate,
and the Nusselt number along the plates.
Abstract: We address the balancing problem of transfer lines in
this paper to find the optimal line balancing that minimizes the nonproductive
time. We focus on the tool change time and face
orientation change time both of which influence the makespane. We
consider machine capacity limitations and technological constraints
associated with the manufacturing process of auto cylinder heads.
The problem is represented by a mixed integer programming model
that aims at distributing the design features to workstations and
sequencing the machining processes at a minimum non-productive
time. The proposed model is solved by an algorithm established using
linearization schemes and Benders- decomposition approach. The
experiments show the efficiency of the algorithm in reaching the
exact solution of small and medium problem instances at reasonable
time.