Abstract: Through progress in pavement design developments, a pavement design method was developed, which is titled the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). Nowadays, the evolution in roads network and highways is observed in Saudi Arabia as a result of increasing in traffic volume. Therefore, the MEPDG currently is implemented for flexible pavement design by the Saudi Ministry of Transportation. Implementation of MEPDG for local pavement design requires the calibration of distress models under the local conditions (traffic, climate, and materials). This paper aims to prepare data for calibration of MEPDG in Central Saudi Arabia. Thus, the first goal is data collection for the design of flexible pavement from the local conditions of the Riyadh region. Since, the modifying of collected data to input data is needed; the main goal of this paper is the analysis of collected data. The data analysis in this paper includes processing each: Trucks Classification, Traffic Growth Factor, Annual Average Daily Truck Traffic (AADTT), Monthly Adjustment Factors (MAFi), Vehicle Class Distribution (VCD), Truck Hourly Distribution Factors, Axle Load Distribution Factors (ALDF), Number of axle types (single, tandem, and tridem) per truck class, cloud cover percent, and road sections selected for the local calibration. Detailed descriptions of input parameters are explained in this paper, which leads to providing of an approach for successful implementation of MEPDG. Local calibration of MEPDG to the conditions of Riyadh region can be performed based on the findings in this paper.
Abstract: As 3D video is explored as a hot research topic in the last few decades, free-viewpoint TV (FTV) is no doubt a promising field for its better visual experience and incomparable interactivity. View synthesis is obviously a crucial technology for FTV; it enables to render images in unlimited numbers of virtual viewpoints with the information from limited numbers of reference view. In this paper, a novel hybrid synthesis framework is proposed and blending priority is explored. In contrast to the commonly used View Synthesis Reference Software (VSRS), the presented synthesis process is driven in consideration of the temporal correlation of image sequences. The temporal correlations will be exploited to produce fine synthesis results even near the foreground boundaries. As for the blending priority, this scheme proposed that one of the two reference views is selected to be the main reference view based on the distance between the reference views and virtual view, another view is chosen as the auxiliary viewpoint, just assist to fill the hole pixel with the help of background information. Significant improvement of the proposed approach over the state-of –the-art pixel-based virtual view synthesis method is presented, the results of the experiments show that subjective gains can be observed, and objective PSNR average gains range from 0.5 to 1.3 dB, while SSIM average gains range from 0.01 to 0.05.
Abstract: This paper concerns with the problem of deep learning parameters tuning using a genetic algorithm (GA) in order to improve the performance of deep learning (DL) method. We present a GA based DL method for robot object recognition and grasping. GA is used to optimize the DL parameters in learning procedure in term of the fitness function that is good enough. After finishing the evolution process, we receive the optimal number of DL parameters. To evaluate the performance of our method, we consider the object recognition and robot grasping tasks. Experimental results show that our method is efficient for robot object recognition and grasping.
Abstract: The spoke type rotor can be used to obtain magnetic
flux concentration in permanent magnet machines. This allows the
air gap magnetic flux density to exceed the remanent flux density
of the permanent magnets but gives problems with leakage fluxes
in the magnetic circuit. The end leakage flux of one spoke type
permanent magnet rotor design is studied through measurements and
finite element simulations. The measurements are performed in the
end regions of a 12 kW prototype generator for a vertical axis
wind turbine. The simulations are made using three dimensional
finite elements to calculate the magnetic field distribution in the
end regions of the machine. Also two dimensional finite element
simulations are performed and the impact of the two dimensional
approximation is studied. It is found that the magnetic leakage flux
in the end regions of the machine is equal to about 20% of the flux
in the permanent magnets. The overestimation of the performance by
the two dimensional approximation is quantified and a curve-fitted
expression for its behavior is suggested.
Abstract: Conservation of historical urban patterns in the traditional neighborhoods is a part of creating integrated urban environments that are socially more sustainable. Urbanization reflects on life conditions and social, physical, economical characteristics of the society. In this regard, historical zones and traditional regions are affected by dramatic interventions on these characteristics. This article focuses on the Uch Dukkan neighborhood located in Ardabil City in Azarbaijani region of Iran, which has been up to such interventions that leaded its transformation from the past to the present. After introducing a brief inventory of the main elements of the historical zone and the neighborhood; this study explores the changes and transformations in different periods; and their impacts on the quality of the environment and its social sustainability. The survey conducted in the neighborhood as part of this research study revealed that the Uch Dukkan neighborhood and the unique architectural heritage that it possesses have become more inactive physically and functionally in a decade. This condition requires an exploration and comparison of the present and the expected transformations of the meaning of social space from the most private unit to the urban scale. From this token, it is argued that an architectural point of view that is based on space order; use and meaning of space as a social and cultural image, should not be ignored. Based on the interplay between social sustainability, collective memory, and the urban environment, study aims to make the invisible portion of ignorance clear, that ends up with a weakness in defining the collective meaning of the neighborhood as a historic urban district. It reveals that the spatial possessions of the neighborhood are valuable not only for their historical and physical characteristics, but also for their social memory that is to be remembered and constructed further.
Abstract: The iron content of the ore used is crucial for the productivity and coke consumption rate in blast furnace pig iron production. Therefore, most iron ore deposits are processed in beneficiation plants to increase the iron content and remove impurities. In several comminution stages, the particle size of the ore is reduced to ensure that the iron oxides are physically liberated from the gangue. Subsequently, physical separation processes are applied to concentrate the iron ore. The fine-grained ore concentrates produced need to be transported, stored, and processed. For smooth operation of these processes, the flow properties of the material are crucial. The flowability of powders depends on several properties of the material: grain size, grain size distribution, grain shape, and moisture content of the material. The flowability of powders can be measured using ring shear testers. In this study, the influence of the moisture content on the flowability for the Krivoy Rog magnetite iron ore concentrate was investigated. Dry iron ore concentrate was mixed with varying amounts of water to produce samples with a moisture content in the range of 0.2 to 12.2%. The flowability of the samples was investigated using a Schulze ring shear tester. At all measured values of the normal stress (1.0 kPa – 20 kPa), the flowability decreased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3-5%. At higher moisture contents, the flowability was nearly constant, while at the maximum moisture content the flowability improved for high values of the normal stress only. The results also showed an improving flowability with increasing consolidation stress for all moisture content levels investigated. The wall friction angle of the dust with carbon steel (S235JR), and an ultra-high molecule low-pressure polyethylene (Robalon) was also investigated. The wall friction angle increased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3%. For higher moisture content levels, the wall friction angles were nearly constant. Generally, the wall friction angle was approximately 4° lower at the higher wall normal stress.
Abstract: Producer gas is a biomass derived gaseous fuel which is extensively used in internal combustion engines for power generation application. Unlike the conventional hydrocarbon fuels (Gasoline and Natural gas), the combustion properties of producer gas fuel are much different. Therefore, setting of optimal spark time for efficient engine operation is required. Owing to the fluctuating tendency of producer gas composition during gasification process, the heat release patterns (dictating the power output and emissions) obtained are quite different from conventional fuels. It was found that, valve lift timing is yet another factor which influences the burn rate of producer gas fuel, and thus, the heat release rate of the engine. Therefore, the present study was motivated to estimate the influence of valve lift timing analytically (Wiebe model) on the burn rate of producer gas through curve fitting against experimentally obtained mass fraction burn curves of several producer gas compositions. Furthermore, Wiebe models are widely used in zero-dimensional codes for engine parametric studies and are quite popular. This study also addresses the influence of hydrogen and methane concentration of producer gas on combustion trends, which are known to cause dynamics in engine combustion.
Abstract: Recently, collectable manufacturing data are rapidly
increasing. On the other hand, mega recall is getting serious as
a social problem. Under such circumstances, there are increasing
needs for preventing mega recalls by defect analysis such as
root cause analysis and abnormal detection utilizing manufacturing
data. However, the time to classify strings in manufacturing data
by traditional method is too long to meet requirement of quick
defect analysis. Therefore, we present String Length Distribution
Classification method (SLDC) to correctly classify strings in a short
time. This method learns character features, especially string length
distribution from Product ID, Machine ID in BOM and asset list.
By applying the proposal to strings in actual manufacturing data, we
verified that the classification time of strings can be reduced by 80%.
As a result, it can be estimated that the requirement of quick defect
analysis can be fulfilled.
Abstract: Motion estimation occupies the heaviest computation in HEVC (high efficiency video coding). Many fast algorithms such as TZS (test zone search) have been proposed to reduce the computation. Still the huge computation of the motion estimation is a critical issue in the implementation of HEVC video codec. In this paper, motion estimator architecture with optimized number of PEs (processing element) is presented by exploiting early termination. It also reduces hardware size by exploiting parallel processing. The presented motion estimator architecture has 8 PEs, and it can efficiently perform TZS with very high utilization of PEs.
Abstract: The growing popularity of solid state thermoelectric
devices in cooling applications has sparked an increasing diversity of
thermoelectric coolers (TECs) on the market, commonly known as
“Peltier modules”. They can also be used as generators, converting
a temperature difference into electric power, and opportunities are
plentiful to make use of these devices as thermoelectric generators
(TEGs) to supply energy to low power, autonomous embedded
electronic applications. Their adoption as energy harvesters in this
new domain of usage is obstructed by the complex thermoelectric
models commonly associated with TEGs. Low cost TECs for the
consumer market lack the required parameters to use the models
because they are not intended for this mode of operation, thereby
urging an alternative method to obtain electric power estimations
in specific operating conditions. The design of the test setup
implemented in this paper is specifically targeted at benchmarking
commercial, off-the-shelf TECs for use as energy harvesters in
domestic environments: applications with limited temperature
differences and space available. The usefulness is demonstrated by
testing and comparing single and multi stage TECs with different
sizes. The effect of a boost converter stage on the thermoelectric
end-to-end efficiency is also discussed.
Abstract: This investigation aims at analyzing and determining the relation between two very important variables in the human resource management: The organizational climate and the performance assessment. This study aims at contributing with knowledge in the search of the relation between the mentioned variables because the literature still does not provide solid evidence to this respect and the cases revised are incipient to reach conclusions enabling a typology about this relation.To this regard, a correlational and cross-sectional perspective was adopted in which quantitative and qualitative techniques were chosen with the total of the workers of the tourist service company PTS Peru. In order to measure the organizational climate, the OCQ (Organization Climate Questionnaire) from was used; it has 50 items and measures 9 dimensions of the Organizational Climate. Also, to assess performance, a questionnaire with 21 items and 6 dimensions was designed. As a means of assessment, a focus group was prepared and was applied to a worker in every area of the company. Additionally, interviews to human resources experts were conducted. The results of the investigation show a clear relation between the organizational climate and the personnel performance assessment as well as a relation between the nine dimensions of the organizational climate and the work performance in general and with some of its dimensions.
Abstract: Absolute pitch is the ability to identify a musical note without a reference tone. Training for absolute pitch often occurs in preschool education. It is necessary to clarify how well the trainee can make use of synesthesia in order to evaluate the effect of the training. To the best of our knowledge, there are no existing methods for objectively confirming whether the subject is using synesthesia. Therefore, in this study, we present a method to distinguish the use of color-auditory synesthesia from the separate use of color and audition during absolute pitch training. This method measures blood volume in the prefrontal cortex using functional Near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and assumes that the cognitive step has two parts, a non-linear step and a linear step. For the linear step, we assume a second order ordinary differential equation. For the non-linear part, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to create an inverse filter of such a complex system as the brain. Therefore, we apply a method based on a self-organizing map (SOM) and are guided by the available data. The presented method was tested using 15 subjects, and the estimation accuracy is reported.
Abstract: In the present study an attempt has been made to re-engineer traditional wadi into wholesome ready-to-use cereal-pulse-based chunks rich in protein quality and fibre content. Chunks were made using extrusion-dehydration combination. Two formulations i.e., whole green gram dhal with instant oats and washed green gram dhal with whole oats were formulated. These chunks are versatile in nature as they can be easily incorporated in day-to-day home-made preparations such as pulao, potato curry and kadhi. Cereal-pulse ratio was calculated using NDpCal%. Limiting amino acids such as lysine, tryptophan, methionine, cysteine and threonine were calculated for maximum amino acid profile in cereal-pulse combination. Time-temperature combination for extrusion at 130oC and dehydration at 65oC for 7 hours and 15 minutes were standardized to obtain maximum protein and fibre content. Proximate analysis such as moisture, fat and ash content were analyzed. Protein content of formulation was 62.10% and 68.50% respectively. Fibre content of formulations was 2.99% and 2.45%, respectively. Using a 5-point hedonic scale, consumer preference trials of 102 consumers were conducted and analyzed. Evaluation of chunks prepared in potato curry, kadi and pulao showed preferences for colour 82%, 87%, 86%, texture and consistency 80%, 81%, 88%, flavour and aroma 74%, 82%, 86%, after taste 70%, 75%, 86% and overall acceptability 77%, 75%, 88% respectively. High temperature inactivates antinutritional compounds such as trypsin inhibitors, lectins, saponins etc. Hence, availability of protein content was increased. Developed products were palatable and easy to prepare.
Abstract: In the current study, energy and exergy analysis of a 65 MW steam power plant was carried out. This study investigated the effect of variations of overall conductance of the super heater on the performance of an existing steam power plant located in Derna, Libya. The performance of the power plant was estimated by a mathematical modelling which considers the off-design operating conditions of each component. A fully interactive computer program based on the mass, energy and exergy balance equations has been developed. The maximum exergy destruction has been found in the steam generation unit. A 50% reduction in the design value of overall conductance of the super heater has been achieved, which accordingly decreases the amount of the net electrical power that would be generated by at least 13 MW, as well as the overall plant exergy efficiency by at least 6.4%, and at the same time that would cause an increase of the total exergy destruction by at least 14 MW. The achieved results showed that the super heater design and operating conditions play an important role on the thermodynamics performance and the fuel utilization of the power plant. Moreover, these considerations are very useful in the process of the decision that should be taken at the occasions of deciding whether to replace or renovate the super heater of the power plant.
Abstract: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental illnesses today. It is believed to be caused by a combination of several factors, including stress. Stress can be quantitatively evaluated using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), one of the best indices to evaluate anxiety. Although STAI scores are widely used in applications ranging from clinical diagnosis to basic research, the scores are calculated based on a self-reported questionnaire. An objective evaluation is required because the subject may intentionally change his/her answers if multiple tests are carried out. In this article, we present a modified index called the “multi-channel Laterality Index at Rest (mc-LIR)” by recording the brain activity from a wider area of the frontal lobe using multi-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The presented index aims to measure multiple positions near the Fpz defined by the international 10-20 system positioning. Using 24 subjects, the dependencies on the number of measuring points used to calculate the mc-LIR and its correlation coefficients with the STAI scores are reported. Furthermore, a simple linear regression was performed to estimate the STAI scores from mc-LIR. The cross-validation error is also reported. The experimental results show that using multiple positions near the Fpz will improve the correlation coefficients and estimation than those using only two positions.
Abstract: In this paper, the design of integrated sleep scheduling for relay nodes and user equipments under a Donor eNB (DeNB) in the mode of Time Division Duplex (TDD) in LTE-A is presented. The idea of virtual time is proposed to deal with the discontinuous pattern of the available radio resource in TDD, and based on the estimation of the traffic load, three power saving schemes in the top-down strategy are presented. Associated mechanisms in each scheme including calculation of the virtual subframe capacity, the algorithm of integrated sleep scheduling, and the mapping mechanisms for the backhaul link and the access link are presented in the paper. Simulation study shows the advantage of the proposed schemes in energy saving over the standard DRX scheme.
Abstract: Trackside induced airflow velocities, also known as
slipstream velocities, are an important criterion for the design of
high-speed trains. The maximum permitted values are given by the
Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and have to be
checked in the approval process. For train manufactures it is of great
interest to know in advance, how new train geometries would perform
in TSI tests. The Reynolds number in moving model experiments is
lower compared to full-scale. Especially the limited model length
leads to a thinner boundary layer at the rear end. The hypothesis is
that the boundary layer rolls up to characteristic flow structures in the
train wake, in which the maximum flow velocities can be observed.
The idea is to enlarge the boundary layer using roughness elements
at the train model head so that the ratio between the boundary
layer thickness and the car width at the rear end is comparable to a
full-scale train. This may lead to similar flow structures in the wake
and better prediction accuracy for TSI tests. In this case, the design
of the roughness elements is limited by the moving model rig. Small
rectangular roughness shapes are used to get a sufficient effect on the
boundary layer, while the elements are robust enough to withstand
the high accelerating and decelerating forces during the test runs. For
this investigation, High-Speed Particle Image Velocimetry (HS-PIV)
measurements on an ICE3 train model have been realized in the
moving model rig of the DLR in Göttingen, the so called tunnel
simulation facility Göttingen (TSG). The flow velocities within the
boundary layer are analysed in a plain parallel to the ground. The
height of the plane corresponds to a test position in the EN standard
(TSI). Three different shapes of roughness elements are tested. The
boundary layer thickness and displacement thickness as well as the
momentum thickness and the form factor are calculated along the
train model. Conditional sampling is used to analyse the size and
dynamics of the flow structures at the time of maximum velocity
in the train wake behind the train. As expected, larger roughness
elements increase the boundary layer thickness and lead to larger
flow velocities in the boundary layer and in the wake flow structures.
The boundary layer thickness, displacement thickness and momentum
thickness are increased by using larger roughness especially when
applied in the height close to the measuring plane. The roughness
elements also cause high fluctuations in the form factors of the
boundary layer. Behind the roughness elements, the form factors
rapidly are approaching toward constant values. This indicates that
the boundary layer, while growing slowly along the second half of
the train model, has reached a state of equilibrium.
Abstract: This work contributes a statistical model and simulation
framework yielding the best estimate possible for the potential
herbicide reduction when using the MoDiCoVi algorithm all the
while requiring a efficacy comparable to conventional spraying. In
June 2013 a maize field located in Denmark were seeded. The field
was divided into parcels which was assigned to one of two main
groups: 1) Control, consisting of subgroups of no spray and full dose
spraty; 2) MoDiCoVi algorithm subdivided into five different leaf
cover thresholds for spray activation. In addition approximately 25%
of the parcels were seeded with additional weeds perpendicular to
the maize rows. In total 299 parcels were randomly assigned with
the 28 different treatment combinations. In the statistical analysis,
bootstrapping was used for balancing the number of replicates. The
achieved potential herbicide savings was found to be 70% to 95%
depending on the initial weed coverage. However additional field
trials covering more seasons and locations are needed to verify
the generalisation of these results. There is a potential for further
herbicide savings as the time interval between the first and second
spraying session was not long enough for the weeds to turn yellow,
instead they only stagnated in growth.
Abstract: Genetic algorithms (GA) are applied to the solution
of high-dimensional optimization problems. Additionally, sensitivity
analysis (SA) is usually carried out to determine the effect on optimal
solutions of changes in parameter values of the objective function.
These two analyses (i.e., optimization and sensitivity analysis)
are computationally intensive when applied to high-dimensional
functions. The approach presented in this paper consists in performing
the SA during the GA execution, by statistically analyzing the data
obtained of running the GA. The advantage is that in this case
SA does not involve making additional evaluations of the objective
function and, consequently, this proposed approach requires less
computational effort than conducting optimization and SA in two
consecutive steps.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine and evaluate the top-down and bottom-up leadership development programs focused on human capital that improve the performance of a company. This study reports on the external top-down leadership development program supported by a consulting company and the internal participatory action research of the bottom-up program. The sickness rate and the lost time incident failure rate decreased and the ideas produced for cost savings improved, leading to increased earnings during the top-down program. The estimated cost savings potential of the bottom-up program was 3.8 million euro based on the cost savings of meeting habits, maintenance practices and the way of working in production. The results of this study are useful for those who plan and evaluate leadership development and human capital productivity consultation programs to improve the performance of a company.