Characterization of Carbon Based Nanometer Scale Coil Growth

The carbon based coils with the nanometer scale have the 3 dimension helix geometry. We synthesized the carbon nano-coils by the use of chemical vapor deposition technique with iron and tin as the catalysts. The fabricated coils have the external diameter of ranging few hundred nm to few thousand nm. The Scanning Electro-Microscope (SEM) and Tunneling Electro-Microscope has shown detail images of the coil-s structure. The fabrication of the carbon nano-coils can be grown on the metal and non-metal substrates, such as the stainless steel and silicon substrates. Besides growth on the flat substrate; they also can be grown on the stainless steel wires. After the synthesis of the coils, the mechanical and electro-mechanical property is measured. The experimental results were reported.

Compressed Adobe Technology Analyses as Local Sustainable Materials for Retrofitting against Earthquake Approaching India Experiences

Due to its geographical location, Iran is considered one of the earthquake-prone areas where the best way to decrease earthquake effects is supposed to be strengthening the buildings. Even though, one idea suggests that the use of adobe in constructing buildings be prohibited for its weak function especially in earthquake-prone areas, however, regarding ecological considerations, sustainability and other local skills, another idea pays special attention to adobe as one of the construction technologies which is popular among people. From the architectural and technological point of view, as strong sustainable building construction materials, compressed adobe construction materials make most of the construction in urban or rural areas ranging from small to big industrial buildings used to replace common earth blocks in traditional systems and strengthen traditional adobe buildings especially against earthquake. Mentioning efficient construction using compressed adobe system as a reliable replacement for traditional soil construction materials , this article focuses on the experiences of India in the fields of sustainable development of compressed adobe systems in the form of system in which the compressed soil is combined with cement, load bearing building with brick/solid concrete block system, brick system using rat trap bond, metal system with adobe infill and finally emphasizes on the use of these systems in the earthquake-struck city of Bam in Iran.

Performance Analysis of a Series of Adaptive Filters in Non-Stationary Environment for Noise Cancelling Setup

One of the essential components of much of DSP application is noise cancellation. Changes in real time signals are quite rapid and swift. In noise cancellation, a reference signal which is an approximation of noise signal (that corrupts the original information signal) is obtained and then subtracted from the noise bearing signal to obtain a noise free signal. This approximation of noise signal is obtained through adaptive filters which are self adjusting. As the changes in real time signals are abrupt, this needs adaptive algorithm that converges fast and is stable. Least mean square (LMS) and normalized LMS (NLMS) are two widely used algorithms because of their plainness in calculations and implementation. But their convergence rates are small. Adaptive averaging filters (AFA) are also used because they have high convergence, but they are less stable. This paper provides the comparative study of LMS and Normalized NLMS, AFA and new enhanced average adaptive (Average NLMS-ANLMS) filters for noise cancelling application using speech signals.

Error Propagation of the Hidden-Point Bar Method: Effect of Bar Geometry

The hidden-point bar method is useful in many surveying applications. The method involves determining the coordinates of a hidden point as a function of horizontal and vertical angles measured to three fixed points on the bar. Using these measurements, the procedure involves calculating the slant angles, the distances from the station to the fixed points, the coordinates of the fixed points, and then the coordinates of the hidden point. The propagation of the measurement errors in this complex process has not been fully investigated in the literature. This paper evaluates the effect of the bar geometry on the position accuracy of the hidden point which depends on the measurement errors of the horizontal and vertical angles. The results are used to establish some guidelines regarding the inclination angle of the bar and the location of the observed points that provide the best accuracy.

Hourly Electricity Load Forecasting: An Empirical Application to the Italian Railways

Due to the liberalization of countless electricity markets, load forecasting has become crucial to all public utilities for which electricity is a strategic variable. With the goal of contributing to the forecasting process inside public utilities, this paper addresses the issue of applying the Holt-Winters exponential smoothing technique and the time series analysis for forecasting the hourly electricity load curve of the Italian railways. The results of the analysis confirm the accuracy of the two models and therefore the relevance of forecasting inside public utilities.

Deixis and Personalization in Ad Slogans

This study examines the use of the persuasive strategy of deixis and personalization in advertising slogans. This rhetorical/ stylistic and linguistic strategy has been found to be widely used in advertising slogans for over a century. A total of five hundred advertising slogans of multinational companies in both product and service sectors were obtained. The analysis reveals the 3 main components of this strategy as being deictic words, absolute uniqueness and personal pronouns. The percentage and mean of the use of the 3 components are tabulated. The findings show that advertisers have used this persuasive strategy in creative ways to persuade consumers to buy their products and services.

Algebraic Specification of Serializability for Partitioned Transactions

The usual correctness condition for a schedule of concurrent database transactions is some form of serializability of the transactions. For general forms, the problem of deciding whether a schedule is serializable is NP-complete. In those cases other approaches to proving correctness, using proof rules that allow the steps of the proof of serializability to be guided manually, are desirable. Such an approach is possible in the case of conflict serializability which is proved algebraically by deriving serial schedules using commutativity of non-conflicting operations. However, conflict serializability can be an unnecessarily strong form of serializability restricting concurrency and thereby reducing performance. In practice, weaker, more general, forms of serializability for extended models of transactions are used. Currently, there are no known methods using proof rules for proving those general forms of serializability. In this paper, we define serializability for an extended model of partitioned transactions, which we show to be as expressive as serializability for general partitioned transactions. An algebraic method for proving general serializability is obtained by giving an initial-algebra specification of serializable schedules of concurrent transactions in the model. This demonstrates that it is possible to conduct algebraic proofs of correctness of concurrent transactions in general cases.

Waste Oils pre-Esterification for Biodiesel Synthesis: Effect of Feed Moisture Contents

A process flowsheet was developed in ChemCad 6.4 to study the effect of feed moisture contents on the pre-esterification of waste oils. Waste oils were modelled as a mixture of triolein (90%), oleic acid (5%) and water (5%). The process mainly consisted of feed drying, pre-esterification reaction and methanol recovery. The results showed that the process energy requirements would be minimized when higher degrees of feed drying and higher preesterification reaction temperatures are used.

Dissipation of Higher Mode using Numerical Integration Algorithm in Dynamic Analysis

In general dynamic analyses, lower mode response is of interest, however the higher modes of spatially discretized equations generally do not represent the real behavior and not affects to global response much. Some implicit algorithms, therefore, are introduced to filter out the high-frequency modes using intended numerical error. The objective of this study is to introduce the P-method and PC α-method to compare that with dissipation method and Newmark method through the stability analysis and numerical example. PC α-method gives more accuracy than other methods because it based on the α-method inherits the superior properties of the implicit α-method. In finite element analysis, the PC α-method is more useful than other methods because it is the explicit scheme and it achieves the second order accuracy and numerical damping simultaneously.

An Investigation into Kanji Character Discrimination Process from EEG Signals

The frontal area in the brain is known to be involved in behavioral judgement. Because a Kanji character can be discriminated visually and linguistically from other characters, in Kanji character discrimination, we hypothesized that frontal event-related potential (ERP) waveforms reflect two discrimination processes in separate time periods: one based on visual analysis and the other based on lexcical access. To examine this hypothesis, we recorded ERPs while performing a Kanji lexical decision task. In this task, either a known Kanji character, an unknown Kanji character or a symbol was presented and the subject had to report if the presented character was a known Kanji character for the subject or not. The same response was required for unknown Kanji trials and symbol trials. As a preprocessing of signals, we examined the performance of a method using independent component analysis for artifact rejection and found it was effective. Therefore we used it. In the ERP results, there were two time periods in which the frontal ERP wavefoms were significantly different betweeen the unknown Kanji trials and the symbol trials: around 170ms and around 300ms after stimulus onset. This result supported our hypothesis. In addition, the result suggests that Kanji character lexical access may be fully completed by around 260ms after stimulus onset.

Effect on Physicochemical and Sensory Attributes of Bread Substituted with Different Levels of Matured Soursop (Anona muricata) Flour

Soursop (Anona muricata) is one of the underutilized tropical fruits containing nutrients, particularly dietary fibre and antioxidant properties that are beneficial to human health. This objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of matured soursop pulp flour (SPF) to be substituted with high-protein wheat flour in bread. Bread formulation was substituted with different levels of SPF (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%). The effect on physicochemical properties and sensory attributes were evaluated. Higher substitution level of SPF resulted in significantly higher (p

Fundamental Equation of Complete Factor Synergetics of Complex Systems with Normalization of Dimension

It is by reason of the unified measure of varieties of resources and the unified processing of the disposal of varieties of resources, that these closely related three of new basic models called the resources assembled node and the disposition integrated node as well as the intelligent organizing node are put forth in this paper; the three closely related quantities of integrative analytical mechanics including the disposal intensity and disposal- weighted intensity as well as the charge of resource charge are set; and then the resources assembled space and the disposition integrated space as well as the intelligent organizing space are put forth. The system of fundamental equations and model of complete factor synergetics is preliminarily approached for the general situation in this paper, to form the analytical base of complete factor synergetics. By the essential variables constituting this system of equations we should set twenty variables respectively with relation to the essential dynamical effect, external synergetic action and internal synergetic action of the system.

New Approach to Spectral Analysis of High Bit Rate PCM Signals

Pulse code modulation is a widespread technique in digital communication with significant impact on existing modern and proposed future communication technologies. Its widespread utilization is due to its simplicity and attractive spectral characteristics. In this paper, we present a new approach to the spectral analysis of PCM signals using Riemann-Stieltjes integrals, which is very accurate for high bit rates. This approach can serve as a model for similar spectral analysis of other competing modulation schemes.

Information Technology Application for Knowledge Management in Medium-Size Businesses

Result of the study on knowledge management systems in businesses was shown that the most of these businesses provide internet accessibility for their employees in order to study new knowledge via internet, corporate website, electronic mail, and electronic learning system. These business organizations use information technology application for knowledge management because of convenience, time saving, ease of use, accuracy of information and knowledge usefulness. The result indicated prominent improvements for corporate knowledge management systems as the following; 1) administrations must support corporate knowledge management system 2) the goal of corporate knowledge management must be clear 3) corporate culture should facilitate the exchange and sharing of knowledge within the organization 4) cooperation of personnel of all levels must be obtained 5) information technology infrastructure must be provided 6) they must develop the system regularly and constantly. 

A Virtual Reality Laboratory for Distance Education in Chemistry

Simulations play a major role in education not only because they provide realistic models with which students can interact to acquire real world experiences, but also because they constitute safe environments in which students can repeat processes without any risk in order to perceive easier concepts and theories. Virtual reality is widely recognized as a significant technological advance that can facilitate learning process through the development of highly realistic 3D simulations supporting immersive and interactive features. The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of virtual reality-s use in chemistry instruction as well as to present an integrated web-based learning environment for the simulation of chemical experiments. The proposed application constitutes a cost-effective solution for both schools and universities without appropriate infrastructure and a valuable tool for distance learning and life-long education in chemistry. Its educational objectives are the familiarization of students with the equipment of a real chemical laboratory and the execution of virtual volumetric analysis experiments with the active participation of students.

A New Hybrid Model with Passive Congregation for Stock Market Indices Prediction

In this paper, we propose a new hybrid learning model for stock market indices prediction by adding a passive congregation term to the standard hybrid model comprising Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with Genetic Algorithm (GA) operators in training Neural Networks (NN). This new passive congregation term is based on the cooperation between different particles in determining new positions rather than depending on the particles selfish thinking without considering other particles positions, thus it enables PSO to perform both the local and global search instead of only doing the local search. Experiment study carried out on the most famous European stock market indices in both long term and short term prediction shows significantly the influence of the passive congregation term in improving the prediction accuracy compared to standard hybrid model.

Regional Security Issue: Central Asian Countries and NATO Cooperation (On the Example of Kazakhstan)

Kazakhstan attaches the great importance to cooperation with European countries within the framework of multilateral security organizations such as NATO. Cooperation of Kazakhstan with the NATO is a prominent aspect of strengthening of regional security of republic. It covers a wide spectrum of areas, such as reform of sector of defense and security, military operative compatibility of armed forces of NATO member-countries and Kazakhstan, civil emergency planning and scientific cooperation. The cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO is based on the mutual interests of neighboring republics in the region so that the existing forms of cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO will not be negatively perceived both in Asia as well as among CIS countries. Kazakhstan tailors its participation in the PfP programme through an annual Individual Partnership Programme, selecting those activities that will help achieve the goals it has set in the IPAP. Level of cooperation within the limits of PfP essentially differs on each republic. Cooperation with Kazakhstan progressed most of all since has been signed IPAP from the NATO

Efficient Numerical Model for Studying Bridge Pier Collapse in Floods

High level and high velocity flood flows are potentially harmful to bridge piers as evidenced in many toppled piers, and among them the single-column piers were considered as the most vulnerable. The flood flow characteristic parameters including drag coefficient, scouring and vortex shedding are built into a pier-flood interaction model to investigate structural safety against flood hazards considering the effects of local scouring, hydrodynamic forces, and vortex induced resonance vibrations. By extracting the pier-flood simulation results embedded in a neural networks code, two cases of pier toppling occurred in typhoon days were reexamined: (1) a bridge overcome by flash flood near a mountain side; (2) a bridge washed off in flood across a wide channel near the estuary. The modeling procedures and simulations are capable of identifying the probable causes for the tumbled bridge piers during heavy floods, which include the excessive pier bending moments and resonance in structural vibrations.

A New Method for Extracting Ocean Wave Energy Utilizing the Wave Shoaling Phenomenon

Fossil fuels are the major source to meet the world energy requirements but its rapidly diminishing rate and adverse effects on our ecological system are of major concern. Renewable energy utilization is the need of time to meet the future challenges. Ocean energy is the one of these promising energy resources. Threefourths of the earth-s surface is covered by the oceans. This enormous energy resource is contained in the oceans- waters, the air above the oceans, and the land beneath them. The renewable energy source of ocean mainly is contained in waves, ocean current and offshore solar energy. Very fewer efforts have been made to harness this reliable and predictable resource. Harnessing of ocean energy needs detail knowledge of underlying mathematical governing equation and their analysis. With the advent of extra ordinary computational resources it is now possible to predict the wave climatology in lab simulation. Several techniques have been developed mostly stem from numerical analysis of Navier Stokes equations. This paper presents a brief over view of such mathematical model and tools to understand and analyze the wave climatology. Models of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations have been developed to estimate the wave characteristics to assess the power potential. A brief overview of available wave energy technologies is also given. A novel concept of on-shore wave energy extraction method is also presented at the end. The concept is based upon total energy conservation, where energy of wave is transferred to the flexible converter to increase its kinetic energy. Squeezing action by the external pressure on the converter body results in increase velocities at discharge section. High velocity head then can be used for energy storage or for direct utility of power generation. This converter utilizes the both potential and kinetic energy of the waves and designed for on-shore or near-shore application. Increased wave height at the shore due to shoaling effects increases the potential energy of the waves which is converted to renewable energy. This approach will result in economic wave energy converter due to near shore installation and more dense waves due to shoaling. Method will be more efficient because of tapping both potential and kinetic energy of the waves.

Text Mining Technique for Data Mining Application

Text Mining is around applying knowledge discovery techniques to unstructured text is termed knowledge discovery in text (KDT), or Text data mining or Text Mining. In decision tree approach is most useful in classification problem. With this technique, tree is constructed to model the classification process. There are two basic steps in the technique: building the tree and applying the tree to the database. This paper describes a proposed C5.0 classifier that performs rulesets, cross validation and boosting for original C5.0 in order to reduce the optimization of error ratio. The feasibility and the benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated by means of medial data set like hypothyroid. It is shown that, the performance of a classifier on the training cases from which it was constructed gives a poor estimate by sampling or using a separate test file, either way, the classifier is evaluated on cases that were not used to build and evaluate the classifier are both are large. If the cases in hypothyroid.data and hypothyroid.test were to be shuffled and divided into a new 2772 case training set and a 1000 case test set, C5.0 might construct a different classifier with a lower or higher error rate on the test cases. An important feature of see5 is its ability to classifiers called rulesets. The ruleset has an error rate 0.5 % on the test cases. The standard errors of the means provide an estimate of the variability of results. One way to get a more reliable estimate of predictive is by f-fold –cross- validation. The error rate of a classifier produced from all the cases is estimated as the ratio of the total number of errors on the hold-out cases to the total number of cases. The Boost option with x trials instructs See5 to construct up to x classifiers in this manner. Trials over numerous datasets, large and small, show that on average 10-classifier boosting reduces the error rate for test cases by about 25%.