Abstract: Several trillion cigarettes produced worldwide annually lead to many thousands of kilograms of toxic waste. Cigarette butts (CBs) accumulate in the environment due to the poor biodegradability of the cellulose acetate filters. This paper presents some of the results from a continuing study on recycling CBs into fired clay bricks. Physico-mechanical properties of fired clay bricks manufactured with different percentages of CBs are reported and discussed. The results show that the density of fired bricks was reduced by up to 30 %, depending on the percentage of CBs incorporated into the raw materials. Similarly, the compressive strength of bricks tested decreased according to the percentage of CBs included in the mix. The thermal conductivity performance of bricks was improved by 51 and 58 % for 5 and 10 % CBs content respectively. Leaching tests were carried out to investigate the levels of possible leachates of heavy metals from the manufactured clay-CB bricks. The results revealed trace amounts of heavy metals.
Abstract: Sandwich panels are widely used in the construction
industry for their ease of assembly, light weight and efficient thermal
performance. They are composed of two RC thin outer layers
separated by an insulating inner layer. In this research the inner
insulating layer is made of lightweight Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
(AAC) blocks which has good thermal insulation properties and yet
possess reasonable mechanical strength. The shear strength of the
AAC infill is relied upon to replace the traditionally used insulating
foam and to provide the shear capacity of the panel. A
comprehensive experimental program was conducted on full scale
sandwich panels subjected to bending. In this paper, detailed
numerical modeling of the tested sandwich panels is reported. Nonlinear
3-D finite element modeling of the composite action of the
sandwich panel is developed using ANSYS. Solid elements with
different crashing and cracking capabilities and different constitutive
laws were selected for the concrete and the AAC. Contact interface
elements are used in this research to adequately model the shear
transfer at the interface between the different layers. The numerical
results showed good correlation with the experimental ones
indicating the adequacy of the model in estimating the loading
capacity of panels.
Abstract: Intelligent traffic surveillance technology is an issue in
the field of traffic data analysis. Therefore, we need the technology to
detect moving objects in real-time while there are variations in background and natural light. In this paper, we proposed a Weighted-Center Surround Difference
method for object detection in outdoor environments. The proposed system detects objects using the saliency map that is obtained by
analyzing the weight of each layers of Gaussian pyramid. In order to validate the effectiveness of our system, we implemented the proposed
method using a digital signal processor, TMS320DM6437.
Experimental results show that blurred noisy around objects was effectively eliminated and the object detection accuracy is improved.
Abstract: This paper presents the findings of an
experimental investigation to study the effect of alkali content
in geopolymer mortar specimens exposed to sulphuric acid.
Geopolymer mortar specimens were manufactured from Class F fly
ash by activation with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium
silicate solution containing 5% to 8% Na2O. Durability of specimens
were assessed by immersing them in 10% sulphuric acid solution and
periodically monitoring surface deterioration and depth of
dealkalization, changes in weight and residual compressive strength
over a period of 24 weeks. Microstructural changes in the specimens
were studied with Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDAX.
Alkali content in the activator solution significantly affects the
durability of fly ash based geopolymer mortars in sulphuric acid.
Specimens manufactured with higher alkali content performed better
than those manufactured with lower alkali content. After 24 weeks in
sulphuric acid, specimen with 8% alkali still recorded a residual
strength as high as 55%.
Abstract: Small satellites have become increasingly popular recently as a means of providing educational institutes with the chance to design, construct, and test their spacecraft from beginning to the possible launch due to the low launching cost. This approach is remarkably cost saving because of the weight and size reduction of such satellites. Weight reduction could be realised by utilising electromagnetic coils solely, instead of different types of actuators. This paper describes the restrictions of using only “Electromagnetic" actuation for 3D stabilisation and how to make the magnetorquer based attitude control feasible using Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC). The design is developed to stabilize the spacecraft against gravity gradient disturbances with a three-axis stabilizing capability.
Abstract: Some physico-chemical characteristics and mineral
composition of 'Karayemis' (Prunus laurocerasus L.) fruits which
grown naturally in Norteast Turkey was studied. 28 minerals ( Al,
Mg, B, Mn, Co, Na, Ca, Ni, Cd, P, Cr, Pb, Cu, S, Fe, Zn, K, Sr, Li,
As, V, Ag, Ba, Br, Ga, In, Se, Ti) were analyzed and 19 minerals
were present at ascertainable levels. Karayemis fruit was richest in
potassium (7938.711 ppm), magnesium (1242.186 ppm) and calcium
(1158.853 ppm). And some physico-chemical characteristics of
Karayemis fruit was investigated. Fruit length, fruit width, fruit
thickness, fruit weight, total soluble solids, colour, protein, crude ash,
crude fiber, crude oil values were determined as 2.334 cm, 1.884 cm,
2.112 cm, 5.35 g, 20.1 %, S99M99Y99, 0.29 %, 0.22 %, 6.63 % and
0.001 %, respectively. The seed of fruit mean weight, length, width
and thickness were found to be 0.41 g, 1.303 cm, 0.921 cm and
0.803, respectively.
Abstract: A new approach for facial expressions recognition based on face context and adaptively weighted sub-pattern PCA (Aw-SpPCA) has been presented in this paper. The facial region and others part of the body have been segmented from the complex environment based on skin color model. An algorithm has been proposed to accurate detection of face region from the segmented image based on constant ratio of height and width of face (δ= 1.618). The paper also discusses on new concept to detect the eye and mouth position. The desired part of the face has been cropped to analysis the expression of a person. Unlike PCA based on a whole image pattern, Aw-SpPCA operates directly on its sub patterns partitioned from an original whole pattern and separately extracts features from them. Aw-SpPCA can adaptively compute the contributions of each part and a classification task in order to enhance the robustness to both expression and illumination variations. Experiments on single standard face with five types of facial expression database shows that the proposed method is competitive.
Abstract: In this paper we considered the Neumann problem for
the fourth order differential equation. First we define the weighted Sobolev space
2 Wα and generalized solution for this equation. Then we consider the existence and uniqueness of the generalized solution,
as well as give the description of the spectrum and of the domain of definition of the corresponding operator.
Abstract: In 2002 an amendment to SOLAS opened for
lightweight material constructions in vessels if the same fire safety as
in steel constructions could be obtained. FISPAT (FIreSPread
Analysis Tool) is a computer application that simulates fire spread
and fault injection in cruise vessels and identifies fire sensitive areas.
It was developed to analyze cruise vessel designs and provides a
method to evaluate network layout and safety of cruise vessels. It
allows fast, reliable and deterministic exhaustive simulations and
presents the result in a graphical vessel model. By performing the
analysis iteratively while altering the cruise vessel design it can be
used along with fire chamber experiments to show that the
lightweight design can be as safe as a steel construction and that
SOLAS regulations are fulfilled.
Abstract: This study aimed to present the mechanical
performance evaluation of the dynamic hip screw (DHS) for
trochanteric fracture by means of finite element method. The
analyses were performed based on stainless steel and titanium
implant material definitions at various stages of bone healing and
including implant removal. The assessment of the mechanical
performance used two parameters, von Mises stress to evaluate the
strength of bone and implant and elastic strain to evaluate fracture
stability. The results show several critical aspects of dynamic hip
screw for trochanteric fracture stabilization. In the initial stage of
bone healing process, partial weight bearing should be applied to
avoid the implant failure. In the late stage of bone healing, stainless
steel implant should be removed.
Abstract: Graph based image segmentation techniques are
considered to be one of the most efficient segmentation techniques
which are mainly used as time & space efficient methods for real
time applications. How ever, there is need to focus on improving the
quality of segmented images obtained from the earlier graph based
methods. This paper proposes an improvement to the graph based
image segmentation methods already described in the literature. We
contribute to the existing method by proposing the use of a weighted
Euclidean distance to calculate the edge weight which is the key
element in building the graph. We also propose a slight modification
of the segmentation method already described in the literature, which
results in selection of more prominent edges in the graph. The
experimental results show the improvement in the segmentation
quality as compared to the methods that already exist, with a slight
compromise in efficiency.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to improve our
understanding of vulnerability and environmental change; it's causes
basically show the intensity, its distribution and human-environment
effect on the ecosystem in the Apodi Valley Region, This paper is
identify, assess and classify vulnerability and environmental change
in the Apodi valley region using a combined approach of landscape
pattern and ecosystem sensitivity. Models were developed using the
following five thematic layers: Geology, geomorphology, soil,
vegetation and land use/cover, by means of a Geographical
Information Systems (GIS)-based on hydro-geophysical parameters.
In spite of the data problems and shortcomings, using ESRI-s ArcGIS
9.3 program, the vulnerability score, to classify, weight and combine
a number of 15 separate land cover classes to create a single indicator
provides a reliable measure of differences (6 classes) among regions
and communities that are exposed to similar ranges of hazards.
Indeed, the ongoing and active development of vulnerability
concepts and methods have already produced some tools to help
overcome common issues, such as acting in a context of high
uncertainties, taking into account the dynamics and spatial scale of
asocial-ecological system, or gathering viewpoints from different
sciences to combine human and impact-based approaches. Based on
this assessment, this paper proposes concrete perspectives and
possibilities to benefit from existing commonalities in the
construction and application of assessment tools.
Abstract: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has many
different important applications especially in pattern detection
such as face detection / recognition. Therefore, for real time
applications, the response time is required to be as small as
possible. In this paper, new implementation of PCA for fast
face detection is presented. Such new implementation is
designed based on cross correlation in the frequency domain
between the input image and eigenvectors (weights).
Simulation results show that the proposed implementation of
PCA is faster than conventional one.
Abstract: The study was carried out to evaluated effect of S-gridling on fruit growth and quality of wax apple. The study was laid in Random completed block design with four replicated. Four treatment were applied as follows: S-girdling, fruit thinning plus bagging with 2,4-D sprayed, fruit thinning plus bagging and the control treatment. 2,4D was sprayed at the small bud and petal fall stage. Girdling was applied three week before flowering. The effect of all treatments on fruit growth was measured weekly. Number of flower, fruit set, fruit drop, fruit crack, and fruit quality were recorded. The result indicated that S-girdling, 2,4D application produced the lowest bud drop, fruit drop compared to untreated control. S-girdling improved faster fruit growth producing the best final fruit length and diameter compared to untreated control. S-girdling also markedly enhanced fruit set, fruit weight, and total soluble solid, reduced fruit crack, titratable acidity. On the other hand, it was noticed that with 2,4-D application also increased the fruit growth rate, improved physiological and biochemical characters of fruit than control treatment. It was concluded that S-girdling was recommended as the industry norm to increase fruit set, fruit quality in wax apple. 2,4D application had a distinctive and significant effect on most of the fruit quality characteristics assessed.
Abstract: During the last years, the genomes of more and more
species have been sequenced, providing data for phylogenetic recon-
struction based on genome rearrangement measures. A main task in
all phylogenetic reconstruction algorithms is to solve the median of
three problem. Although this problem is NP-hard even for the sim-
plest distance measures, there are exact algorithms for the breakpoint
median and the reversal median that are fast enough for practical use.
In this paper, this approach is extended to the transposition median as
well as to the weighted reversal and transposition median. Although
there is no exact polynomial algorithm known even for the pairwise
distances, we will show that it is in most cases possible to solve
these problems exactly within reasonable time by using a branch and
bound algorithm.
Abstract: The effect of extraction solvent upon properties
of carrageenan from Eucheuma cottonii was studied. The
distilled water and KOH solution (concentration 0.1- 0.5N) were
used as the solvent. Extraction process was carried out in water
bath equipped by stirrer with constant speed of 275 rpm with a
constant ratio of seaweed weight to solvent volume ( 1:50 g/mL)
at 86oC for 45 minutes. The extract was then precipitated in 3
volume of 90% ethanol, oven dried at 60oC. Based on
experimental data, alkali significantly influenced yield and
properties of extracted carrageenan. The extracted carrageenan
was found to have essentially identical FTIR spectra to the
reference samples of kappa-carrageenan. Increasing the KOH
concentration led to carrageenan containing less sulfate content
and intrinsic viscosity. The gel strength increased along with the
increasing of KOH concentration. The decreasing of intrinsic
viscosity value indicates that a polymer degradation occurs
during alkali extraction.
Abstract: Small cracks or chips of a product appear very
frequently in the course of continuous production of an automatic
press process system. These phenomena become the cause of not only
defective product but also damage of a press mold. In order to solve
this problem AE system was introduced. AE system was expected to
be very effective to real time detection of the defective product and to
prevention of the damage of the press molds.
In this study, for pick and analysis of AE signals generated from the
press process, AE sensors/pre-amplifier/analysis and processing board
were used as frequently found in the other similar cases. For analysis
and processing the AE signals picked in real time from the good or bad
products, specialized software called cdm8 was used. As a result of
this work it was conformed that intensity and shape of the various AE
signals differ depending on the weight and thickness of metal sheet
and process type.
Abstract: The performance of adaptive beamforming degrades
substantially in the presence of steering vector mismatches. This
degradation is especially severe in the near-field, for the
3-dimensional source location is more difficult to estimate than the
2-dimensional direction of arrival in far-field cases. As a solution, a
novel approach of near-field robust adaptive beamforming (RABF) is
proposed in this paper. It is a natural extension of the traditional
far-field RABF and belongs to the class of diagonal loading
approaches, with the loading level determined based on worst-case
performance optimization. However, different from the methods
solving the optimal loading by iteration, it suggests here a simple
closed-form solution after some approximations, and consequently,
the optimal weight vector can be expressed in a closed form. Besides
simplicity and low computational cost, the proposed approach reveals
how different factors affect the optimal loading as well as the weight
vector. Its excellent performance in the near-field is confirmed via a
number of numerical examples.
Abstract: this paper presents a novel neural network controller
with composite adaptation low to improve the trajectory tracking
problems of biped robots comparing with classical controller. The
biped model has 5_link and 6 degrees of freedom and actuated by
Plated Pneumatic Artificial Muscle, which have a very high power to
weight ratio and it has large stoke compared to similar actuators. The
proposed controller employ a stable neural network in to approximate
unknown nonlinear functions in the robot dynamics, thereby
overcoming some limitation of conventional controllers such as PD
or adaptive controllers and guarantee good performance. This NN
controller significantly improve the accuracy requirements by
retraining the basic PD/PID loop, but adding an inner adaptive loop
that allows the controller to learn unknown parameters such as
friction coefficient, therefore improving tracking accuracy.
Simulation results plus graphical simulation in virtual reality show
that NN controller tracking performance is considerably better than
PD controller tracking performance.
Abstract: We investigated oxidative DNA damage caused by
radio frequency radiation using 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'-
deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) generated in mice tissues after exposure
to 900 MHz mobile phone radio frequency in three independent
experiments. The RF was generated by a Global System for Mobile
Communication (GSM) signal generator. The radio frequency field
was adjusted to 25 V/m. The whole body specific absorption rate
(SAR) was 1.0 W/kg. Animals were exposed to this field for 30 min
daily for 30 days. 24 h post-exposure, blood serum, brain and spleen
were removed and DNA was isolated. Enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure 8-oxodG
concentration. All animals survived the whole experimental period.
The body weight of animals did not change significantly at the end of
the experiment. No statistically significant differences observed in
the levels of oxidative stress. Our results are not in favor of the
hypothesis that 900 MHz RF induces oxidative damage.