Towards External Varieties to Internal Varieties − Modular Perspective

Product customization is an essential requirement for manufacturing firms to achieve higher customers- satisfaction and fulfill business target. In order to achieve these objectives, firms need to handle both external varieties such as customer preference, government regulations, cultural considerations etc and internal varieties such as functional requirements of product, production efficiency, quality etc. Both of the varieties need to be accumulated and integrated together for the purpose of producing customized product. These varieties are presented and discussed in this paper along with the perspectives of modular product design and development process. Other development strategies such as modularity, component commonality, product family design and product platform are presented with a view to achieve product variety quickly and economically. A case example both for the concept of modular design and platform based product development process is also presented with the help of design structure matrix (DSM) tool. This paper is concluded with several managerial implications and future research direction.

Development of Circulating Support Environment of Multilingual Medical Communication using Parallel Texts for Foreign Patients

The need for multilingual communication in Japan has increased due to an increase in the number of foreigners in the country. When people communicate in their nonnative language, the differences in language prevent mutual understanding among the communicating individuals. In the medical field, communication between the hospital staff and patients is a serious problem. Currently, medical translators accompany patients to medical care facilities, and the demand for medical translators is increasing. However, medical translators cannot necessarily provide support, especially in cases in which round-the-clock support is required or in case of emergencies. The medical field has high expectations from information technology. Hence, a system that supports accurate multilingual communication is required. Despite recent advances in machine translation technology, it is very difficult to obtain highly accurate translations. We have developed a support system called M3 for multilingual medical reception. M3 provides support functions that aid foreign patients in the following respects: conversation, questionnaires, reception procedures, and hospital navigation; it also has a Q&A function. Users can operate M3 using a touch screen and receive text-based support. In addition, M3 uses accurate translation tools called parallel texts to facilitate reliable communication through conversations between the hospital staff and the patients. However, if there is no parallel text that expresses what users want to communicate, the users cannot communicate. In this study, we have developed a circulating support environment for multilingual medical communication using parallel texts. The proposed environment can circulate necessary parallel texts through the following procedure: (1) a user provides feedback about the necessary parallel texts, following which (2) these parallel texts are created and evaluated.

The Effect of Pyridoxine and Different Levels of Nitrogen on Physiological Indices of Corn(Zea Mays L.var.sc704)

One field experiment was conducted on corn (Zea mays L.Var. SC 704) to study the effect of three different basic levels of nitrogen (90, 140and 190 Kg/ha as urea) with 0.01% and 0.02% pyridoxine pre-sowing seed soaking for 8 hours. Water-soaked seeds were treated as controled. biomass production was recorded on 45, 70 and 95 days after sowing. Total dry material (TDM), leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) was calculated form 45until 95 days after sowing. Yield and its components such as kernel yield, grain weight, biologic yield, harvest index and protein percentage was measured at harvest. In general, 0.02% pyridoxine and 190 Kg pure nitrogen/ha was shown gave maximum value for growth and yield parameters. N190 + 0.02 % pyridoxine enhanced seed yield and biologic yield by 57.15% and 62.98% compared to 90kg N and water – soaked treatment.

Stochastic Scheduling to Minimize Expected Lateness in Multiple Identical Machines

There are many real world problems in which parameters like the arrival time of new jobs, failure of resources, and completion time of jobs change continuously. This paper tackles the problem of scheduling jobs with random due dates on multiple identical machines in a stochastic environment. First to assign jobs to different machine centers LPT scheduling methods have been used, after that the particular sequence of jobs to be processed on the machine have been found using simple stochastic techniques. The performance parameter under consideration has been the maximum lateness concerning the stochastic due dates which are independent and exponentially distributed. At the end a relevant problem has been solved using the techniques in the paper..

Representation of Power System for Electromagnetic Transient Calculation

The new idea of analyze of power system failure with use of artificial neural network is proposed. An analysis of the possibility of simulating phenomena accompanying system faults and restitution is described. It was indicated that the universal model for the simulation of phenomena in whole analyzed range does not exist. The main classic method of search of optimal structure and parameter identification are described shortly. The example with results of calculation is shown.

Small Wind Turbine Hybrid System for Remote Application: Egyptian Case Study

The objective of this research is to study the technical and economic performance of wind/diesel/battery (W/D/B) system supplying a remote small gathering of six families using HOMER software package. The electrical energy is to cater for the basic needs for which the daily load pattern is estimated. Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Energy (COE) are used as economic criteria, while the  measure of performance is % of power shortage. Technical and economic parameters are defined to estimate the feasibility of the system under study. Optimum system configurations are estimated for two sites. Using HOMER software, the simulation results showed that W/D/B systems are economical for the assumed community sites as the price of generated electricity is about 0.308 $/kWh, without taking external benefits into considerations. W/D/B systems are more economical than W/B or diesel alone systems, as the COE is 0.86 $/kWh for W/B and 0.357 $/kWh for diesel alone.

Performance Evaluation of Improved Ball End Magnetorheological Finishing Process

A novel nanofinishing process using improved ball end magnetorheological (MR) finishing tool was developed for finishing of flat as well as 3D surfaces of ferromagnetic and non ferromagnetic workpieces. In this process a magnetically controlled ball end of smart MR polishing fluid is generated at the tip surface of the tool which is used as a finishing medium and it is guided to follow the surface to be finished through computer controlled 3-axes motion controller. The experiments were performed on ferromagnetic workpiece surface in the developed MR finishing setup to study the effect of finishing time on final surface roughness. The performance of present finishing process on final finished surface roughness was studied. The surface morphology was observed under scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscope. The final surface finish was obtained as low as 19.7 nm from the initial surface roughness of 142.9 nm. The outcome of newly developed finishing process can be found useful in its applications in aerospace, automotive, dies and molds manufacturing industries, semiconductor and optics machining etc.

An Application of the Sinc-Collocation Method to a Three-Dimensional Oceanography Model

In this paper, we explore the applicability of the Sinc- Collocation method to a three-dimensional (3D) oceanography model. The model describes a wind-driven current with depth-dependent eddy viscosity in the complex-velocity system. In general, the Sinc-based methods excel over other traditional numerical methods due to their exponentially decaying errors, rapid convergence and handling problems in the presence of singularities in end-points. Together with these advantages, the Sinc-Collocation approach that we utilize exploits first derivative interpolation, whose integration is much less sensitive to numerical errors. We bring up several model problems to prove the accuracy, stability, and computational efficiency of the method. The approximate solutions determined by the Sinc-Collocation technique are compared to exact solutions and those obtained by the Sinc-Galerkin approach in earlier studies. Our findings indicate that the Sinc-Collocation method outperforms other Sinc-based methods in past studies.

Switched Reluctance Generator for Wind Power Applications

Green house effect has becomes a serious concern in many countries due to the increase consumption of the fossil fuel. There have been many studies to find an alternative power source. Wind energy found to be one of the most useful solutions to help in overcoming the air pollution and global. There is no agreed solution to conversion of wind energy to electrical energy. In this paper, the advantages of using a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) for wind energy applications. The theoretical study of the self excitation of a SRG and the determination of the variable parameters in a SRG design are discussed. The design parameters for the maximum power output of the SRG are computed using Matlab simulation. The designs of the circuit to control the variable parameters in a SRG to provide the maximum power output are also discussed.

Multi-Case Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MC-MOSA): New Approach to Adapt Simulated Annealing to Multi-objective Optimization

In this paper a new approach is proposed for the adaptation of the simulated annealing search in the field of the Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO). This new approach is called Multi-Case Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MC-MOSA). It uses some basics of a well-known recent Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing proposed by Ulungu et al., which is referred in the literature as U-MOSA. However, some drawbacks of this algorithm have been found, and are substituted by other ones, especially in the acceptance decision criterion. The MC-MOSA has shown better performance than the U-MOSA in the numerical experiments. This performance is further improved by some other subvariants of the MC-MOSA, such as Fast-annealing MC-MOSA, Re-annealing MCMOSA and the Two-Stage annealing MC-MOSA.

Charge-Pump with a Regulated Cascode Circuit for Reducing Current Mismatch in PLLs

The charge-pump circuit is an important component in a phase-locked loop (PLL). The charge-pump converts Up and Down signals from the phase/frequency detector (PFD) into current. A conventional CMOS charge-pump circuit consists of two switched current sources that pump charge into or out of the loop filter according to two logical inputs. The mismatch between the charging current and the discharging current causes phase offset and reference spurs in a PLL. We propose a new charge-pump circuit to reduce the current mismatch by using a regulated cascode circuit. The proposed charge-pump circuit is designed and simulated by spectre with TSMC 0.18-μm 1.8-V CMOS technology.

Sequence-based Prediction of Gamma-turn Types using a Physicochemical Property-based Decision Tree Method

The γ-turns play important roles in protein folding and molecular recognition. The prediction and analysis of γ-turn types are important for both protein structure predictions and better understanding the characteristics of different γ-turn types. This study proposed a physicochemical property-based decision tree (PPDT) method to interpretably predict γ-turn types. In addition to the good prediction performance of PPDT, three simple and human interpretable IF-THEN rules are extracted from the decision tree constructed by PPDT. The identified informative physicochemical properties and concise rules provide a simple way for discriminating and understanding γ-turn types.

Natural Radioactivity Measurements of Basalt Rocks in Sidakan District Northeastern of Kurdistan Region-Iraq

The amounts of radioactivity in the igneous rocks have been investigated; samples were collected from the total of eight basalt rock types in the northeastern of Kurdistan region/Iraq. The activity concentration of 226Ra (238U) series, 228Ac (232Th) series, 40K and 137Cs were measured using Planar HPGe and NaI(Tl) detectors. Along the study area the radium equivalent activities Raeq in Bq/Kg of samples under investigation were found in the range of 22.16 to 77.31 Bq/Kg with an average value of 44.8 Bq/Kg, this value is much below the internationally accepted value of 370 Bq/Kg. To estimate the health effects of this natural radioactive composition, the average values of absorbed gamma dose rate D (55 nGyh-1), Indoor and outdoor annual effective dose rates Eied (0.11 mSvy-1) . and Eoed (0.03 mSvy-1), External hazard index Hex (0.138) and internal hazard index Hin(0.154), and representative level index Iγr (0.386) have been calculated and found to be lower than the worldwide average values.

Aliveness Detection of Fingerprints using Multiple Static Features

Fake finger submission attack is a major problem in fingerprint recognition systems. In this paper, we introduce an aliveness detection method based on multiple static features, which derived from a single fingerprint image. The static features are comprised of individual pore spacing, residual noise and several first order statistics. Specifically, correlation filter is adopted to address individual pore spacing. The multiple static features are useful to reflect the physiological and statistical characteristics of live and fake fingerprint. The classification can be made by calculating the liveness scores from each feature and fusing the scores through a classifier. In our dataset, we compare nine classifiers and the best classification rate at 85% is attained by using a Reduced Multivariate Polynomial classifier. Our approach is faster and more convenient for aliveness check for field applications.

Real Time Monitoring of Long Slender Shaft by Distributed-Lumped Modeling Techniques

The aim of this paper is to determine the stress levels at the end of a long slender shaft such as a drilling assembly used in the oil or gas industry using a mathematical model in real-time. The torsional deflection experienced by this type of drilling shaft (about 4 KM length and 20 cm diameter hollow shaft with a thickness of 1 cm) can only be determined using a distributed modeling technique. The main objective of this project is to calculate angular velocity and torque at the end of the shaft by TLM method and also analyzing of the behavior of the system by transient response. The obtained result is compared with lumped modeling technique the importance of these results will be evident only after the mentioned comparison. Two systems have different transient responses and in this project because of the length of the shaft transient response is very important.

Numerical Simulation of Deoilin Hydrocyclones

In this research the separation efficiency of deoiling hydrocyclone is evaluated using three-dimensional simulation of multiphase flow based on Eulerian-Eulerian finite volume method. The mixture approach of Reynolds Stress Model is also employed to capture the features of turbulent multiphase swirling flow. The obtained separation efficiency of Colman's design is compared with available experimental data and showed that the separation curve of deoiling hydrocyclones can be predicted using numerical simulation.

Sandvik Ceramic Cutting Tool Tests with an Interrupted Cut Simulator

The paper is dealing by testing of ceramic cutting tools with an interrupted machining. Tests will be provided on fixture – interrupted cut simulator. This simulator has 4 mouldings on circumference and cutting edge is put a shocks during 1 revolution. Criteria of tool wear are destruction of cutting tool or 6000 shocks. Like testing cutting tool material will be products of Sandvik Coromant 6190, 620, 650 and 670. Machined materials was be steels 15 128 (13MoCrV6). Cutting speed (408 m.min-1 and 580 m.min-1) and cutting feed (0,15 mm; 0,2 mm; 0,25 mm and 0,3 mm) were variable parameters and cutting depth was constant parameter.

Multilevel Fuzzy Decision Support Model for China-s Urban Rail Transit Planning Schemes

This paper aims at developing a multilevel fuzzy decision support model for urban rail transit planning schemes in China under the background that China is presently experiencing an unprecedented construction of urban rail transit. In this study, an appropriate model using multilevel fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is developed. In the decision process, the followings are considered as the influential objectives: traveler attraction, environment protection, project feasibility and operation. In addition, consistent matrix analysis method is used to determine the weights between objectives and the weights between the objectives- sub-indictors, which reduces the work caused by repeated establishment of the decision matrix on the basis of ensuring the consistency of decision matrix. The application results show that multilevel fuzzy decision model can perfectly deal with the multivariable and multilevel decision process, which is particularly useful in the resolution of multilevel decision-making problem of urban rail transit planning schemes.

Zero Truncated Strict Arcsine Model

The zero truncated model is usually used in modeling count data without zero. It is the opposite of zero inflated model. Zero truncated Poisson and zero truncated negative binomial models are discussed and used by some researchers in analyzing the abundance of rare species and hospital stay. Zero truncated models are used as the base in developing hurdle models. In this study, we developed a new model, the zero truncated strict arcsine model, which can be used as an alternative model in modeling count data without zero and with extra variation. Two simulated and one real life data sets are used and fitted into this developed model. The results show that the model provides a good fit to the data. Maximum likelihood estimation method is used in estimating the parameters.

Numerical Analysis of Thermal Conductivity of Non-Charring Material Ablation Carbon-Carbon and Graphite with Considering Chemical Reaction Effects, Mass Transfer and Surface Heat Transfer

Nowadays, there is little information, concerning the heat shield systems, and this information is not completely reliable to use in so many cases. for example, the precise calculation cannot be done for various materials. In addition, the real scale test has two disadvantages: high cost and low flexibility, and for each case we must perform a new test. Hence, using numerical modeling program that calculates the surface recession rate and interior temperature distribution is necessary. Also, numerical solution of governing equation for non-charring material ablation is presented in order to anticipate the recession rate and the heat response of non-charring heat shields. the governing equation is nonlinear and the Newton- Rafson method along with TDMA algorithm is used to solve this nonlinear equation system. Using Newton- Rafson method for solving the governing equation is one of the advantages of the solving method because this method is simple and it can be easily generalized to more difficult problems. The obtained results compared with reliable sources in order to examine the accuracy of compiling code.