Abstract: Vermicomposting is the conversion of organic waste
into bio-fertilizers through the action of earthworm. This technology
is widely used for organic solid waste management. Waste corn pulp
blended with cow dung manure was vermicomposted over 30 days
using Eisenia fetida earthworms species. pH, temperature, moisture
content, and electrical conductivity were daily monitored. The
feedstock, vermicompost and vermiwash were analyzed for nutrient
composition. The average temperature and moisture content in the
vermi-reactor was 22.5°C and 42.5% respectively. The vermicompost
and vermiwash had an almost neutral pH whilst the electrical
conductivity was 21% higher in the vermicompost. The nitrogen and
potassium content was 57% and 79.6% richer in the vermicompost
respectively compared to the vermiwash. However, the vermiwash
was 84% richer in phosphorous as compared to vermicompost.
Furthermore, the vermiwash was 89.1% and 97.6% richer in Ca and
Mg respectively and was 97.8% richer in Na salts compared to the
vermicompost. The vermiwash also indicated a significantly higher
amount of micronutrients. Both bio-fertilizers were rich in nutrients
specification for fertilizers.
Abstract: Sedimentation formation is a complex hydraulic phenomenon that has emerged as a major operational and maintenance consideration in modern hydraulic engineering in general and river engineering in particular. Sediments accumulation along the river course and their eventual storage in a form of islands affect water intake in the canal systems that are fed by the storage reservoirs. Without proper management, sediment transport can lead to major operational challenges in water distribution system of arid regions like the Dez and Hamidieh command areas. The paper aims to investigate sedimentation in the Western Canal of Dez Diversion Weir using the SHARC model and compare the results with the two intake structures of the Hamidieh dam in Iran using SSIIM model. The objective was to identify the factors which influence the process, check reliability of outcome and provide ways in which to mitigate the implications on operation and maintenance of the structures. Results estimated sand and silt bed loads concentrations to be 193 ppm and 827ppm respectively. This followed ,ore or less similar pattern in Hamidieh where the sediment formation impeded water intake in the canal system. Given the available data on average annual bed loads and average suspended sediment loads of 165ppm and 837ppm in the Dez, there was a significant statistical difference (16%) between the sand grains, whereas no significant difference (1.2%) was find in the silt grain sizes. One explanation for such finding being that along the 6 Km river course there was considerable meandering effects which explains recent shift in the hydraulic behavior along the stream course under investigation. The sand concentration in downstream relative to present state of the canal showed a steep descending curve. Sediment trapping on the other hand indicated a steep ascending curve. These occurred because the diversion weir was not considered in the simulation model. The comparative study showed very close similarities in the results which explains the fact that both software can be used as accurate and reliable analytical tools for simulation of the sedimentation in hydraulic engineering.
Abstract: In this work we study analytically and numerically the
performance of the mean heave motion of an OWC coupled with the
governing equation of the spreading ocean waves due to the wide
variation in an open parabolic channel with constant depth. This
paper considers that the ocean wave propagation is under the
assumption of a shallow flow condition. In order to verify the effect
of the waves in the OWC firstly we establish the analytical model in
a non-dimensional form based on the energy equation. The proposed
wave-power system has to aims: one is to perturb the ocean waves as
a consequence of the channel shape in order to concentrate the
maximum ocean wave amplitude in the neighborhood of the OWC
and the second is to determine the pressure and volume oscillation of
air inside the compression chamber.
Abstract: This paper presents a new algorithm for the channel estimation of the OFDM system based on a pilot signal for the new generation of high data rate communication systems. In orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems over fast-varying fading channels, channel estimation and tracking is generally carried out by transmitting known pilot symbols in given positions of the frequency-time grid. In this paper, we propose to derive an improved algorithm based on the calculation of the mean and the variance of the adjacent pilot signals for a specific distribution of the pilot signals in the OFDM frequency-time grid then calculating of the entire unknown channel coefficients from the equation of the mean and the variance. Simulation results shows that the performance of the OFDM system increase as the length of the channel increase where the accuracy of the estimated channel will be increased using this low complexity algorithm, also the number of the pilot signal needed to be inserted in the OFDM signal will be reduced which lead to increase in the throughput of the signal over the OFDM system in compared with other type of the distribution such as Comb type and Block type channel estimation.
Abstract: We derive simple sets of equations to describe the microwave response of a thin film of magnetized hydrogen plasma in the presence of carbon nanotubes, which were grown by ironcatalyzed high-pressure disproportionation (HiPco). By considering the interference effects due to multiple reflections between thin plasma film interfaces, we present the effects of the continuously changing external magnetic field and plasma parameters on the reflected power, absorbed power, and transmitted power in the system. The simulation results show that the interference effects play an important role in the reflectance, transmittance and absorptance of microwave radiation at the magnetized plasma slab. As a consequence, the interference effects lead to a sinusoidal variation of the reflected intensity and can greatly reduce the amount of reflection power, but the absorption power increases.
Abstract: Uncertainties of a serial production line affect on the
production throughput. The uncertainties cannot be prevented in a
real production line. However the uncertain conditions can be
controlled by a robust prediction model. Thus, a hybrid model
including autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and
multiple polynomial regression, is proposed to model the nonlinear
relationship of production uncertainties with throughput. The
uncertainties under consideration of this study are demand, breaktime,
scrap, and lead-time. The nonlinear relationship of production
uncertainties with throughput are examined in the form of quadratic
and cubic regression models, where the adjusted R-squared for
quadratic and cubic regressions was 98.3% and 98.2%. We optimized
the multiple quadratic regression (MQR) by considering the time
series trend of the uncertainties using ARIMA model. Finally the
hybrid model of ARIMA and MQR is formulated by better adjusted
R-squared, which is 98.9%.
Abstract: This paper deals with new concept of using compressed atmospheric air as a zero pollution power source for running motorbikes. The motorbike is equipped with an air turbine in place of an internal combustion engine, and transforms the energy of the compressed air into shaft work. The mathematical modeling and performance evaluation of a small capacity compressed air driven vaned type novel air turbine is presented in this paper. The effect of isobaric admission and adiabatic expansion of high pressure air for different rotor to casing diameter ratios with respect to different vane angles (number of vanes) have been considered and analyzed. It is found that the shaft work output is optimum for some typical values of rotor / casing diameter ratios at a particular value of vane angle (no. of vanes). In this study, the maximum power is obtained as 4.5kW - 5.3kW (5.5-6.25 HP) when casing diameter is taken 100 mm, and rotor to casing diameter ratios are kept from 0.65 to 0.55. This value of output is sufficient to run motorbike.
Abstract: Discovering new biological knowledge from the highthroughput biological data is a major challenge to bioinformatics today. To address this challenge, we developed a new approach for protein classification. Proteins that are evolutionarily- and thereby functionally- related are said to belong to the same classification. Identifying protein classification is of fundamental importance to document the diversity of the known protein universe. It also provides a means to determine the functional roles of newly discovered protein sequences. Our goal is to predict the functional classification of novel protein sequences based on a set of features extracted from each protein sequence. The proposed technique used datasets extracted from the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database. A set of spectral domain features based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used. The proposed classifier uses multilayer back propagation (MLBP) neural network for protein classification. The maximum classification accuracy is about 91% when applying the classifier to the full four levels of the SCOP database. However, it reaches a maximum of 96% when limiting the classification to the family level. The classification results reveal that spectral domain contains information that can be used for classification with high accuracy. In addition, the results emphasize that sequence similarity measures are of great importance especially at the family level.
Abstract: Maize and Indian mustard are significant crops in
semi-arid climate zones of India. Improved water management
requires precise scheduling of irrigation, which in turn requires an
accurate computation of daily crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Daily
crop evapotranspiration comes as a product of reference
evapotranspiration (ET0) and the growth stage specific crop
coefficients modified for daily variation. The first objective of
present study is to develop crop coefficients Kc for Maize and Indian
mustard. The estimated values of Kc for maize at the four crop
growth stages (initial, development, mid-season, and late season) are
0.55, 1.08, 1.25, and 0.75, respectively, and for Indian mustard the Kc
values at the four growth stages are 0.3, 0.6, 1.12, and 0.35,
respectively. The second objective of the study is to compute daily
crop evapotranspiration from ET0 and crop coefficients. Average
daily ETc of maize varied from about 2.5 mm/d in the early growing
period to > 6.5 mm/d at mid season. The peak ETc of maize is 8.3
mm/d and it occurred 64 days after sowing at the reproductive growth
stage when leaf area index was 4.54. In the case of Indian mustard,
average ETc is 1 mm/d at the initial stage, >1.8 mm/d at mid season
and achieves a peak value of 2.12 mm/d on 56 days after sowing.
Improved schedules of irrigation have been simulated based on daily
crop evapo-transpiration and field measured data. Simulation shows a
close match between modeled and field moisture status prevalent
during crop season.
Abstract: This is a cross-cultural study that determines South
African multinational enterprises (MNEs) entry strategies as they
invest in Africa. An integrated theoretical framework comprising the
transaction cost theory, Uppsala model, eclectic paradigm and the
distance framework was adopted. A sample of 40 South African
MNEs with 415 existing FDI entries in Africa was drawn. Using an
ordered logistic regression model, the impact of culture on the choice
of degree of control by South African MNEs in Africa was
determined. Cultural distance was one of significant factors that
influenced South African MNEs- choice of degree of control.
Furthermore, South African MNEs are risk averse in all countries in
Africa but minimize the risks differently across sectors. Service
sectors chooses to own their subsidiaries 100% and avoid dealing
with the locals while manufacturing, resources and construction
choose to have a local partner to share the risk.
Abstract: The approach proposed here is oriented in the direction of fuzzy system for the analysis and the synthesis of intelligent climate controllers, the simulation of the internal climate of the greenhouse is achieved by a linear model whose coefficients are obtained by identification. The use of fuzzy logic controllers for the regulation of climate variables represents a powerful way to minimize the energy cost. Strategies of reduction and optimization are adopted to facilitate the tuning and to reduce the complexity of the controller.
Abstract: Renewed interest in propeller propulsion on aircraft
configurations combined with higher propeller loads lead to the question how the effects of the propulsion on model support disturbances
should be accounted for. In this paper, the determination of engine power effects on support interference of sting-mounted models is
demonstrated by a measurement on a four-engine turboprop aircraft.
CFD results on a more generic model are presented in order to clarify
the possible mechanism behind engine power effects on support
interference. The engine slipstream induces a local change in angle
of sideslip at the model sting thereby influencing the sting near-field and far-field effects. Whether or not the net result of these changes
in the disturbance pattern leads to a significant engine power effect depends on the configuration of the wind tunnel model and the test
setup.
Abstract: This paper presents a multi-objective order allocation
planning problem with the consideration of various real-world
production features. A novel hybrid intelligent optimization model,
integrating a multi-objective memetic optimization process, a Monte
Carlo simulation technique and a heuristic pruning technique, is
proposed to handle this problem. Experiments based on industrial data
are conducted to validate the proposed model. Results show that (1)
the proposed model can effectively solve the investigated problem by
providing effective production decision-making solutions, which
outperformsan NSGA-II-based optimization process and an industrial
method.
Abstract: This paper presented two new efficient algorithms
for contour approximation. The proposed algorithm is compared
with Ramer (good quality), Triangle (faster) and Trapezoid (fastest)
in this work; which are briefly described. Cartesian co-ordinates of
an input contour are processed in such a manner that finally
contours is presented by a set of selected vertices of the edge of the
contour. In the paper the main idea of the analyzed procedures for
contour compression is performed. For comparison, the mean
square error and signal-to-noise ratio criterions are used.
Computational time of analyzed methods is estimated depending on
a number of numerical operations. Experimental results are
obtained both in terms of image quality, compression ratios, and
speed. The main advantages of the analyzed algorithm is small
numbers of the arithmetic operations compared to the existing
algorithms.
Abstract: This paper proposes the method combining artificial
neural network (ANN) with particle swarm optimization (PSO) to
implement the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) by controlling
the rotor speed of the wind generator. First, the measurements of wind
speed, rotor speed of wind power generator and output power of wind
power generator are applied to train artificial neural network and to
estimate the wind speed. Second, the method mentioned above is
applied to estimate and control the optimal rotor speed of the wind
turbine so as to output the maximum power. Finally, the result reveals
that the control system discussed in this paper extracts the maximum
output power of wind generator within the short duration even in the
conditions of wind speed and load impedance variation.
Abstract: Information Technology (IT) projects are always
accompanied by various risks and because of high rate of failure in
such projects, managing risks in order to neutralize or at least
decrease their effects on the success of the project is strongly
essential. In this paper, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) is
exploited as a means of risk evaluation methodology to prioritize and
organize risk factors faced in IT projects. A real case of IT projects, a
project of design and implementation of an integrated information
system in a vehicle producing company in Iran is studied. Related
risk factors are identified and then expert qualitative judgments about
these factors are acquired. Translating these judgments to fuzzy
numbers and using them as an input to FAHP, risk factors are then
ranked and prioritized by FAHP in order to make project managers
aware of more important risks and enable them to adopt suitable
measures to deal with these highly devastative risks.
Abstract: This paper proposes a set of quasi-static mathematical
model of magnetic fields caused by high voltage conductors of
distribution transformer by using a set of second-order partial
differential equation. The modification for complex magnetic field
analysis and time-harmonic simulation are also utilized. In this
research, transformers were study in both balanced and unbalanced
loading conditions. Computer-based simulation utilizing the threedimensional
finite element method (3-D FEM) is exploited as a tool
for visualizing magnetic fields distribution volume a distribution
transformer. Finite Element Method (FEM) is one among popular
numerical methods that is able to handle problem complexity in
various forms. At present, the FEM has been widely applied in most
engineering fields. Even for problems of magnetic field distribution,
the FEM is able to estimate solutions of Maxwell-s equations
governing the power transmission systems. The computer simulation
based on the use of the FEM has been developed in MATLAB
programming environment.
Abstract: This study examines causal link between energy use and economic growth for five South Asian countries over period 1971-2006. Panel cointegration, ECM and FMOLS are applied for short and long run estimates. In short run unidirectional causality from per capita GDP to per capita energy consumption is found, but not vice versa. In long run one percent increase in per capita energy consumption tend to decrease 0.13 percent per capita GDP. i.e. Energy use discourage economic growth. This short and long run relationship indicate energy shortage crisis in South Asia due to increased energy use coupled with insufficient energy supply. Beside this long run estimated coefficient of error term suggest that short term adjustment to equilibrium are driven by adjustment back to long run equilibrium. Moreover, per capita energy consumption is responsive to adjustment back to equilibrium and it takes 59 years approximately. It specifies long run feedback between both variables.
Abstract: We demonstrate a way to count the number of Young
tableau u of shape λ = (k, k,L, k) with | λ |= lk by expanding
Schur function. This result gives an answer to the question that was put
out by Jenny Buontempo and Brian Hopkins.
Abstract: Dextran is a D-glucose polymer which is produced by
Leuconostoc mesenteroides grown in a sucrose-rich media. The
organism was obtained from the Persian Type Culture Collection
(PTCC) and was transferred in MRS broth medium at 30°C and pH
6.8 for 24 h. After preparation of inoculums, organisms were
inoculated into five liquid fermentation media containing either
molasses or cheese whey or different combinations of cheese whey
and molasses. After certain fermentation period, the produced
dextran was separated and dried. Dextran yield was calculated and
significant differences in different media were observed.
Furthermore, FT-IR analysis was performed and the results showed
that there were no significant differences in the produced dextran
structures.