Abstract: Radiofrequency (RF) lesioning of nerves have been commonly used to alleviate chronic pain, where RF current preventing transmission of pain signals through the nerve by heating the nerve causing the pain. There are some factors that affect the temperature distribution and the nerve lesion size, one of these factors is the inhomogeneities in the tissue medium. Our objective is to calculate the temperature distribution and the nerve lesion size in an inhomogeneous medium surrounding the RF electrode. A two 3-D finite element models are used to compare the temperature distribution in the homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium. Also the effect of temperature-dependent electric conductivity on maximum temperature and lesion size is observed. Results show that the presence of an inhomogeneous medium around the RF electrode has a valuable effect on the temperature distribution and lesion size. The dependency of electric conductivity on tissue temperature increased lesion size.
Abstract: In Mauritius, much emphasis is put on measures to
combat the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Health promotion campaigns for the adoption of healthy behaviors
and screening programs are done regularly by local authorities and
NCD surveys are carried out at intervals. However, the health
behaviors of the poor have not been investigated so far. This study
aims to give an insight on the perceptions of health status and
lifestyle health behaviors of poor people in Mauritius. A crosssectional
study among 83 persons benefiting from social aid in a
selected urban district was carried out. Results showed that 51.8% of
respondents perceived that they had good health status. 57.8% had no
known NCD whilst 25.3% had hypertension, followed by diabetes
(16.9%), asthma (9.6%) and heart disease (7.2%).They had low
smoking (10.8%) and alcohol consumption (6.0%) as well as high
physical activity prevalence (54.2%). These results were significantly
different from the NCD survey carried out in the general population.
Consumption of vegetables in the study was high. Overweight and
obesity trends were however similar to the NCD survey report 2009.
These findings contrast with other international studies showing poor
people having poor perceptions of health status and unhealthy
behavioral choices. Whether these positive health behaviors of poor
people in Mauritius arise out of choice or whether it is because the
alternative behavior is too costly remains to be investigated further.
Abstract: Negation is useful in the majority of the real world applications. However, its introduction leads to semantic and canonical problems. We propose in this paper an approach based on stratification to deal with negation problems. This approach is based on an extension of predicates nets. It is characterized with two main contributions. The first concerns the management of the whole class of stratified programs. The second contribution is related to usual operations optimizations on stratified programs (maximal stratification, incremental updates ...).
Abstract: A novel file splitting technique for the reduction of the nth-order entropy of text files is proposed. The technique is based on mapping the original text file into a non-ASCII binary file using a new codeword assignment method and then the resulting binary file is split into several subfiles each contains one or more bits from each codeword of the mapped binary file. The statistical properties of the subfiles are studied and it is found that they reflect the statistical properties of the original text file which is not the case when the ASCII code is used as a mapper. The nth-order entropy of these subfiles are determined and it is found that the sum of their entropies is less than that of the original text file for the same values of extensions. These interesting statistical properties of the resulting subfiles can be used to achieve better compression ratios when conventional compression techniques are applied to these subfiles individually and on a bit-wise basis rather than on character-wise basis.
Abstract: A combination of photosynthetic bacteria along with
anaerobic acidogenic bacteria is an ideal option for efficient
hydrogen production. In the present study, the optimum
concentration of substrates for the growth of Rhodobacter
sphaeroides was found by response surface methodology. The
optimum combination of three individual fatty acids was determined
by Box Behnken design. Increase of volatile fatty acid concentration
decreased the growth. Combination of sodium acetate and sodium
propionate was most significant for the growth of the organism. The
results showed that a maximum biomass concentration of 0.916 g/l
was obtained when the concentrations of acetate, propionate and
butyrate were 0.73g/l,0.99g/l and 0.799g/l, respectively. The growth
was studied under an optimum concentration of volatile fatty acids
and at a light intensity of 3000 lux, initial pH of 7 and a temperature
of 35°C.The maximum biomass concentration of 0.92g/l was
obtained which verified the practicability of this optimization.
Abstract: In this paper, the process of obtaining Q and R
matrices for optimal pitch aircraft control system has been described.
Since the innovation of optimal control method, the determination of
Q and R matrices for such system has not been fully specified. The
value of Q and R for optimal pitch aircraft control application, have
been simulated and calculated. The suitable results for Q and R have
been observed through the performance index (PI). If the PI is small
“enough", we would say the Q & R values are suitable for that
certain type of optimal control system. Moreover, for the same value
of PI, we could have different Q and R sets. Due to the rule-free
determination of Q and R matrices, a specific method is brought to
find out the rough value of Q and R referring to rather small value of
PI.
Abstract: The problem of wastewater treatment in Egypt is a two-fold problem; the first part concerning the existing rural areas, the second one dealing with new industrial/domestic areas. In Egypt several agricultural projects have been initiated by the government and the private sector as well, in order to change its infrastructure. As a reliable energy source, photovoltaic pumping systems have contributed to supply water for local rural communities worldwide; they can also be implemented to solve the problem “wastewater environment pollution". The solution of this problem can be categorised as recycle process. In addition, because of regional conditions past technologies are being reexamined to select a smallscale treatment system requiring low construction and maintenance costs. This paper gives the design guidelines of a Photovoltaic Small- Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant (PVSSWTP) based on technologies that can be transferred.
Abstract: CloudSim is a useful tool to simulate the cloud
environment. It shows the service availability, the power consumption,
and the network traffic of services on the cloud environment.
Moreover, it supports to calculate a network communication delay
through a network topology data easily. CloudSim allows inputting a
file of topology data, but it does not provide any generating process.
Thus, it needs the file of topology data generated from some other
tools. The BRITE is typical network topology generator. Also, it
supports various type of topology generating algorithms. If CloudSim
can include the BRITE, network simulation for clouds is easier than
existing version. This paper shows the potential of connection between
BRITE and CloudSim. Also, it proposes the direction to link between
them.
Abstract: The machining performance is determined by the
frequency characteristics of the machine-tool structure and the
dynamics of the cutting process. Therefore, the prediction of dynamic
vibration behavior of spindle tool system is of great importance for the
design of a machine tool capable of high-precision and high-speed
machining. The aim of this study is to develop a finite element model
to predict the dynamic characteristics of milling machine tool and
hence evaluate the influence of the preload of the spindle bearings. To
this purpose, a three dimensional spindle bearing model of a high
speed engraving spindle tool was created. In this model, the rolling
interfaces with contact stiffness defined by Harris model were used to
simulate the spindle bearing components. Then a full finite element
model of a vertical milling machine was established by coupling the
spindle tool unit with the machine frame structure. Using this model,
the vibration mode that had a dominant influence on the dynamic
stiffness was determined. The results of the finite element simulations
reveal that spindle bearing with different preloads greatly affect the
dynamic behavior of the spindle tool unit and hence the dynamic
responses of the vertical column milling system. These results were
validated by performing vibration on the individual spindle tool unit
and the milling machine prototype, respectively. We conclude that
preload of the spindle bearings is an important component affecting
the dynamic characteristics and machining performance of the entire
vertical column structure of the milling machine.
Abstract: To support mobility in ATM networks, a number of
technical challenges need to be resolved. The impact of handoff
schemes in terms of service disruption, handoff latency, cost
implications and excess resources required during handoffs needs to
be addressed. In this paper, a one phase handoff and route
optimization solution using reserved PVCs between adjacent ATM
switches to reroute connections during inter-switch handoff is
studied. In the second phase, a distributed optimization process is
initiated to optimally reroute handoff connections. The main
objective is to find the optimal operating point at which to perform
optimization subject to cost constraint with the purpose of reducing
blocking probability of inter-switch handoff calls for delay tolerant
traffic. We examine the relation between the required bandwidth
resources and optimization rate. Also we calculate and study the
handoff blocking probability due to lack of bandwidth for resources
reserved to facilitate the rapid rerouting.
Abstract: This paper presents a new hardware interface using a
microcontroller which processes audio music signals to standard
MIDI data. A technique for processing music signals by extracting
note parameters from music signals is described. An algorithm to
convert the voice samples for real-time processing without complex
calculations is proposed. A high frequency microcontroller as the
main processor is deployed to execute the outlined algorithm. The
MIDI data generated is transmitted using the EIA-232 protocol. The
analyses of data generated show the feasibility of using
microcontrollers for real-time MIDI generation hardware interface.
Abstract: This article is devoted to the numerical solution of
large-scale quadratic eigenvalue problems. Such problems arise in
a wide variety of applications, such as the dynamic analysis of
structural mechanical systems, acoustic systems, fluid mechanics,
and signal processing. We first introduce a generalized second-order
Krylov subspace based on a pair of square matrices and two initial
vectors and present a generalized second-order Arnoldi process for
constructing an orthonormal basis of the generalized second-order
Krylov subspace. Then, by using the projection technique and the
refined projection technique, we propose a restarted generalized
second-order Arnoldi method and a restarted refined generalized
second-order Arnoldi method for computing some eigenpairs of largescale
quadratic eigenvalue problems. Some theoretical results are also
presented. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the
effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the design and
implementation of an online rule-based Expert Systems for Islamic
medication. T his Online Islamic Medication Expert System (OIMES)
focuses on physical illnesses only. Knowledge base of this Expert
System contains exhaustively the types of illness together with their
related cures or treatments/therapies, obtained exclusively from the
Quran and Hadith. Extensive research and study are conducted to
ensure that the Expert System is able to provide the most suitable
treatment with reference to the relevant verses cited in Quran or
Hadith. These verses come together with their related 'actions'
(bodily actions/gestures or some acts) to be performed by the patient
to treat a particular illness/sickness. These verses and the instructions
for the 'actions' are to be displayed unambiguously on the computer
screen. The online platform provides the advantage for patient getting
treatment practically anytime and anywhere as long as the computer
and Internet facility exist. Patient does not need to make appointment
to see an expert for a therapy.
Abstract: This paper proposes a new performance characterization for the test strategy intended for second order filters denominated Transient Analysis Method (TRAM). We evaluate the ability of the addressed test strategy for detecting deviation faults under simultaneous statistical fluctuation of the non-faulty parameters. For this purpose, we use Monte Carlo simulations and a fault model that considers as faulty only one component of the filter under test while the others components adopt random values (within their tolerance band) obtained from their statistical distributions. The new data reported here show (for the filters under study) the presence of hard-to-test components and relatively low fault coverage values for small deviation faults. These results suggest that the fault coverage value obtained using only nominal values for the non-faulty components (the traditional evaluation of TRAM) seem to be a poor predictor of the test performance.
Abstract: Avalanche release of snow has been modeled in the present studies. Snow is assumed to be represented by semi-solid and the governing equations have been studied from the concept of continuum approach. The dynamical equations have been solved for two different zones [starting zone and track zone] by using appropriate initial and boundary conditions. Effect of density (ρ), Eddy viscosity (η), Slope angle (θ), Slab depth (R) on the flow parameters have been observed in the present studies. Numerical methods have been employed for computing the non linear differential equations. One of the most interesting and fundamental innovation in the present studies is getting initial condition for the computation of velocity by numerical approach. This information of the velocity has obtained through the concept of fracture mechanics applicable to snow. The results on the flow parameters have found to be in qualitative agreement with the published results.
Abstract: Agriculture products are being more demanding in
market today. To increase its productivity, automation to produce
these products will be very helpful. The purpose of this work is to
measure and determine the ripeness and quality of watermelon. The
textures on watermelon skin will be captured using digital camera.
These images will be filtered using image processing technique. All
these information gathered will be trained using ANN to determine
the watermelon ripeness accuracy. Initial results showed that the best
model has produced percentage accuracy of 86.51%, when measured
at 32 hidden units with a balanced percentage rate of training dataset.
Abstract: fibers of pure cellulose can be made from some bacteria such as acetobacter xylinum. Bacterial cellulose fibers are very pure, tens of nm across and about 0.5 micron long. The fibers are very stiff and, although nobody seems to have measured the strength of individual fibers. Their stiffness up to 70 GPa. Fundamental strengths should be at least greater than those of the best commercial polymers, but best bulk strength seems to about the same as that of steel. They can potentially be produced in industrial quantities at greatly lowered cost and water content, and with triple the yield, by a new process. This article presents a critical review of the available information on the bacterial cellulose as a biological nonwoven fabric with special emphasis on its fermentative production and applications. Characteristics of bacterial cellulose biofabric with respect to its structure and physicochemical properties are discussed. Current and potential applications of bacterial cellulose in textile, nonwoven cloth, paper, films synthetic fiber coating, food, pharmaceutical and other industries are also presented.
Abstract: Task of object localization is one of the major
challenges in creating intelligent transportation. Unfortunately, in
densely built-up urban areas, localization based on GPS only
produces a large error, or simply becomes impossible. New
opportunities arise for the localization due to the rapidly emerging
concept of a wireless ad-hoc network. Such network, allows
estimating potential distance between these objects measuring
received signal level and construct a graph of distances in which
nodes are the localization objects, and edges - estimates of the
distances between pairs of nodes. Due to the known coordinates of
individual nodes (anchors), it is possible to determine the location of
all (or part) of the remaining nodes of the graph. Moreover, road
map, available in digital format can provide localization routines
with valuable additional information to narrow node location search.
However, despite abundance of well-known algorithms for solving
the problem of localization and significant research efforts, there are
still many issues that currently are addressed only partially. In this
paper, we propose localization approach based on the graph mapped
distances on the digital road map data basis. In fact, problem is
reduced to distance graph embedding into the graph representing area
geo location data. It makes possible to localize objects, in some cases
even if only one reference point is available. We propose simple
embedding algorithm and sample implementation as spatial queries
over sensor network data stored in spatial database, allowing
employing effectively spatial indexing, optimized spatial search
routines and geometry functions.
Abstract: Building Sector is the major electricity consumer and
it is costly to building owners. Therefore the application of thermal
energy storage (TES) has gained attractive to reduce energy cost.
Many attractive tariff packages are being offered by the electricity
provider to promote TES. The tariff packages offered higher cost of
electricity during peak period and lower cost of electricity during off
peak period. This paper presented the return of initial investment by
implementing a centralized air-conditioning plant integrated with
thermal energy storage with partially operation strategies. Building
load profile will be calculated hourly according to building
specification and building usage trend. TES operation conditions will
be designed according to building load demand profile, storage
capacity, tariff packages and peak/off peak period. The Payback
Period analysis method was used to evaluate economic analysis. The
investment is considered a good investment where by the initial cost
is recovered less than ten than seven years.
Abstract: The Sphere Method is a flexible interior point algorithm for linear programming problems. This was developed mainly by Professor Katta G. Murty. It consists of two steps, the centering step and the descent step. The centering step is the most expensive part of the algorithm. In this centering step we proposed some improvements such as introducing two or more initial feasible solutions as we solve for the more favorable new solution by objective value while working with the rigorous updates of the feasible region along with some ideas integrated in the descent step. An illustration is given confirming the advantage of using the proposed procedure.