Abstract: In this paper, we propose use of convolutional codes
for file dispersal. The proposed method is comparable in complexity
to the information Dispersal Algorithm proposed by M.Rabin and for
particular choices of (non-binary) convolutional codes, is almost as
efficient as that algorithm in terms of controlling expansion in the
total storage. Further, our proposed dispersal method allows string
search.
Abstract: This paper presents a new technique of compensation
of the effect of variation parameters in the direct field oriented
control of induction motor. The proposed method uses an adaptive
tuning of the value of synchronous speed to obtain the robustness for
the field oriented control. We show that this adaptive tuning allows
having robustness for direct field oriented control to changes in rotor
resistance, load torque and rotational speed. The effectiveness of the
proposed control scheme is verified by numerical simulations. The
numerical validation results of the proposed scheme have presented
good performances compared to the usual direct-field oriented
control.
Abstract: This research was aimed to develop and determine the
quality of online learning activities kit as well as to examine the
learning achievement of students and their satisfaction towards the kit
through authentic assessment. The tools in this research contained
online learning activities kit on plant in Thai literature in compliance
with the School Botanical Garden of Plant Genetic Conservation
Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess
Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the assessment form, the learning
achievement test, the satisfaction form and the authentic assessment
form. The population consisted of 40 students in the second range of
primary years (Prathomsuksa 4 to 6) at Ban Khao Rak School,
Suratthani Province, Thailand. The research results showed that the
content quality of the developed online learning activities kit as
assessed by the experts was 4.70 on average or at very high level.
The pre-test and post-test comparison was made to examine the
learning achievement and it revealed that the post-test score was
higher than the pre-test score with statistical significance at the .01
level. The satisfaction of the sampling group towards the online
learning activities kit was 4.74 or at the highest level. The authentic
assessment showed an average of 1.69 or at good level. Therefore,
the online learning activities kit on plant in Thai literature in
compliance with the School Botanical Garden of Plant Genetic
Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal
Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn could be used in real
classroom situations.
Abstract: The importance of supply chain and logistics
management has been widely recognised. Effective management of
the supply chain can reduce costs and lead times and improve
responsiveness to changing customer demands. This paper proposes a
multi-matrix real-coded Generic Algorithm (MRGA) based
optimisation tool that minimises total costs associated within supply
chain logistics. According to finite capacity constraints of all parties
within the chain, Genetic Algorithm (GA) often produces infeasible
chromosomes during initialisation and evolution processes. In the
proposed algorithm, chromosome initialisation procedure, crossover
and mutation operations that always guarantee feasible solutions
were embedded. The proposed algorithm was tested using three sizes
of benchmarking dataset of logistic chain network, which are typical
of those faced by most global manufacturing companies. A half
fractional factorial design was carried out to investigate the influence
of alternative crossover and mutation operators by varying GA
parameters. The analysis of experimental results suggested that the
quality of solutions obtained is sensitive to the ways in which the
genetic parameters and operators are set.
Abstract: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are
widely in use to improve quality, reliability of wireless transmission
and increase the spectral efficiency. However in MIMO systems,
multiple copies of data are received after experiencing various
channel effects. The limitations on account of complexity due to
number of antennas in case of conventional decoding techniques have
been looked into. Accordingly we propose a modified sphere decoder
(MSD-1) algorithm with lower complexity and give rise to system
with high spectral efficiency. With the aim to increase signal
diversity we apply rotated quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)
constellation in multi dimensional space. Finally, we propose a new
architecture involving space time trellis code (STTC) concatenated
with space time block code (STBC) using MSD-1 at the receiver for
improving system performance. The system gains have been verified
with channel state information (CSI) errors.
Abstract: For future Broad band ISDN, Asynchronous Transfer
Mode (ATM) is designed not only to support a wide range of traffic
classes with diverse flow characteristics, but also to guarantee the
different quality of service QOS requirements. The QOS may be
measured in terms of cell loss probability and maximum cell delay.
In this paper, ATM networks in which the virtual path (VP)
concept is implemented are considered. By applying the Markov
Deterministic process method, an efficient algorithm to compute the
minimum capacity required to satisfy the QOS requirements when
multiple classes of on-off are multiplexed on to a single VP. Using
the result, we then proposed a simple algorithm to determine different
combinations of VP to achieve the optimum of the total capacity
required for satisfying the individual QOS requirements (loss- delay).
Abstract: Treatment of tar-containing wastewater is necessary
for the successful operation of biomass gasification plants (BGPs). In
the present study, tar-containing wastewater was treated using lime
and alum for the removal of in-organics, followed by adsorption on
powdered activated carbon (PAC) for the removal of organics. Limealum
experiments were performed in a jar apparatus and activated
carbon studies were performed in an orbital shaker. At optimum
concentrations, both lime and alum individually proved to be capable
of removing color, total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved
solids (TDS), but in both cases, pH adjustment had to be carried out
after treatment. The combination of lime and alum at the dose ratio
of 0.8:0.8 g/L was found to be optimum for the removal of inorganics.
The removal efficiency achieved at optimum
concentrations were 78.6, 62.0, 62.5 and 52.8% for color, alkalinity,
TSS and TDS, respectively. The major advantages of the lime-alum
combination were observed to be as follows: no requirement of pH
adjustment before and after treatment and good settleability of
sludge. Coagulation-precipitation followed by adsorption on PAC
resulted in 92.3% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and
100% phenol removal at equilibrium. Ammonia removal efficiency
was found to be 11.7% during coagulation-flocculation and 36.2%
during adsorption on PAC. Adsorption of organics on PAC in terms
of COD and phenol followed Freundlich isotherm with Kf = 0.55 &
18.47 mg/g and n = 1.01 & 1.45, respectively. This technology may
prove to be one of the fastest and most techno-economically feasible
methods for the treatment of tar-containing wastewater generated
from BGPs.
Abstract: The cuticular hydrocarbons of Pamphagus elephas
(Orthoptera: Pamphagidae) has been analysed by gas
chromatography and by combined gas chromatograph-mass
spectrometry. The following hydrocarbon classes have been
identified in insect cuticular hydrocarbons are: n-alkanes and
methylalkanes comprising Monomethyl-, dimethyl-and
trimethylalkanes. Sexual dimorphism is observed in long chain
alkanes (C24-C36) present on male and female. The cuticulars
hydrocarbons of P.elephas ranged from 24 to 36 carbons and
incluted n-alkanes, Dimethylalkanes and Trimethylalkanes. nalkanes
represented by (C24-C36,72,7% on male and 79,2% on
female), internally branched Monomethylalkanes identified were
(C25, C30-C32,C35-C37;11% on male and 9,4% on female),
Dimethylalkanes detected are (C31-C32, C36; 2,2% on male and
2,06% on female) and Trimethylalkanes detected are (C32, C36;
3,1% on male and 4, 97 on female). Larvae male and female (stage
7) showed the same quality of n-alkanes observed in adults.
However a difference quantity is noted.
Abstract: One of the factors to maintain system survivability is
the adequate reactive power support to the system. Lack of reactive
power support may cause undesirable voltage decay leading to total
system instability. Thus, appropriate reactive power support scheme
should be arranged in order to maintain system stability. The strength
of a system capacity is normally denoted as system loadability. This
paper presents the enhancement of system loadability through
optimal reactive power planning technique using a newly developed
optimization technique, termed as Multiagent Immune Evolutionary
Programming (MAIEP). The concept of MAIEP is developed based
on the combination of Multiagent System (MAS), Artificial Immune
System (AIS) and Evolutionary Programming (EP). In realizing the
effectiveness of the proposed technique, validation is conducted on
the IEEE-26-Bus Reliability Test System. The results obtained from
pre-optimization and post-optimization process were compared
which eventually revealed the merit of MAIEP.
Abstract: This study sought to uncover the complex role of
stress in the workplace by investigating both positive (eustress) and
negative (distress) stress responses. In particular, the study tested a
mediation model in which organisational stressors (person-job fit and
role overload) influence employee affective wellbeing, both directly
and indirectly through stress responses. Participants were recruited
from retail and finance organisations in Australia and New Zealand,
and asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire. A total of
140 individuals returned completed questionnaires. The results show
that person-job fit influenced eustress, which in turn had a positive
effect on employee affective wellbeing; and role overload impacted
distress, which in turn held a negative influence on affective
wellbeing. These findings indicate that different organisational
stressors have unique relationships with eustress and distress
responses. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with raw or heat-treated sunflower oil seed with two levels of 7.5% or 15% on unsaturated fatty acids in milk fat and performances of high-yielding lactating cows. Twenty early lactating Holstein cows were used in a complete randomized design. Treatments included: 1) CON, control (without sunflower oil seed). 2) LS-UT, 7.5% raw sunflower oil seed. 3) LS-HT, 7.5% heat-treated sunflower oil seed. 4) HS-UT, 15% raw sunflower oil seed. 5) HS-HT, 15% heat-treated sunflower oil seed. Experimental period lasted for 4 wk, with first 2 wk used for adaptation to the diets. Supplementation with 7.5% raw sunflower seed (LS-UT) tended to decrease milk yield, with 28.37 kg/d compared with the control (34.75 kg/d). Milk fat percentage was increased with the HS-UT treatment that obtained 3.71% compared with CON that was 3.39% and without significant different. Milk protein percent was decreased high level sunflower oil seed treatments (15%) with 3.18% whereas CON treatment is caused 3.40% protein. The cows fed added low sunflower heat-treated (LS-HT) produced milk with the highest content of total unsaturated fatty acid with 32.59 g/100g of milk fat compared with the HS-UT with 23.59 g/100g of milk fat. Content of C18 unsaturated fatty acids in milk fat increased from 21.68 g/100g of fat in the HS-UT to 22.50, 23.98, 27.39 and 30.30 g/100g of fat from the cow fed HS-HT, CON, LS-UT and LS-HT treatments, respectively. C18:2 isomers of fatty acid in milk were greater by LSHT supplementation with significant effect (P < 0.05). Total of C18 unsaturated fatty acids content was significantly higher in milk of animal fed added low heat-treated sunflower (7.5%) than those fed with high sunflower. In all, results of this study showed that diet cow's supplementation with sunflower oil seed tended to reduce milk production of lactating cows but can improve C18 UFA (Unsaturated Fatty Acid) content in milk fat. 7.5% level of sunflower oil seed that heated seemed to be the optimal source to increase UFA production.
Abstract: Occurrence of a multiple-points fault in machine operations could result in exhibiting complex fault signatures, which could result in lowering fault diagnosis accuracy. In this study, a multiple-points defect model (MPDM) is proposed which can simulate fault signature-s dynamics for n-points bearing faults. Furthermore, this study identifies that in case of multiple-points fault in the rotary machine, the location of the dominant component of defect frequency shifts depending upon the relative location of the fault points which could mislead the fault diagnostic model to inaccurate detections. Analytical and experimental results are presented to characterize and validate the variation in the dominant component of defect frequency. Based on envelop detection analysis, a modification is recommended in the existing fault diagnostic models to consider the multiples of defect frequency rather than only considering the frequency spectrum at the defect frequency in order to incorporate the impact of multiple points fault.
Abstract: High-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying
uses a combustion process to heat the gas flow and coating material.
A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed to
predict gas dynamic behavior in a HVOF thermal spray gun in which
premixed oxygen and propane are burnt in a combustion chamber
linked to a parallel-sided nozzle. The CFD analysis is applied to
investigate axisymmetric, steady-state, turbulent, compressible,
chemically reacting, subsonic and supersonic flow inside and outside
the gun. The gas velocity, temperature, pressure and Mach number
distributions are presented for various locations inside and outside
the gun. The calculated results show that the most sensitive
parameters affecting the process are fuel-to-oxygen gas ratio and
total gas flow rate. Gas dynamic behavior along the centerline of the
gun depends on both total gas flow rate and fuel-to-oxygen gas ratio.
The numerical simulations show that the axial gas velocity and Mach
number distribution depend on both flow rate and ratio; the highest
velocity is achieved at the higher flow rate and most fuel-rich ratio.
In addition, the results reported in this paper illustrate that the
numerical simulation can be one of the most powerful and beneficial
tools for the HVOF system design, optimization and performance
analysis.
Abstract: Pomegranate and pomegranate juices (PJs) have taken
great attention for their health benefits in the last years. As there is an
increasing concern about potential health benefits of ellagic acid, it is
of great interest to evaluate alterations in ellagic acid concentration of
commercial PJs. The purpose of this study is to analyze total
phenolic, free and total ellagic acid content of six commercial PJs
sold in Turkish markets using HPLC.
The results showed that some commercial PJs had markedly high
total phenolic and ellagic acid content. Total phenolic substances of
commercial PJs range from 796.71 to 4608.91 mg GAE/l. Free
amount of ellagic acid in commercial PJs range from 27.64 to 111.78
mg/l. Samples are hydrolyzed with concentrated HCl at 93oC for 2
and 24 hour and influences of temperature and time parameters on
hydrolization were investigated. Thermal processing for
pasteurization increased ellagic acid via ellagitannins hydrolysis.
Abstract: .Hardware realization of a Neural Network (NN), to a large extent depends on the efficient implementation of a single neuron. FPGA-based reconfigurable computing architectures are suitable for hardware implementation of neural networks. FPGA realization of ANNs with a large number of neurons is still a challenging task. This paper discusses the issues involved in implementation of a multi-input neuron with linear/nonlinear excitation functions using FPGA. Implementation method with resource/speed tradeoff is proposed to handle signed decimal numbers. The VHDL coding developed is tested using Xilinx XC V50hq240 Chip. To improve the speed of operation a lookup table method is used. The problems involved in using a lookup table (LUT) for a nonlinear function is discussed. The percentage saving in resource and the improvement in speed with an LUT for a neuron is reported. An attempt is also made to derive a generalized formula for a multi-input neuron that facilitates to estimate approximately the total resource requirement and speed achievable for a given multilayer neural network. This facilitates the designer to choose the FPGA capacity for a given application. Using the proposed method of implementation a neural network based application, namely, a Space vector modulator for a vector-controlled drive is presented
Abstract: This paper presents the 20-GHz fractional PLL (Phase
Locked Loop) circuit for the next generation Wi-Fi by using 90 nm
TSMC process. The newly suggested millimeter wave 16/17
pre-scalar is designed and verified by measurement to make the
fractional PLL having a low quantization noise. The operational
bandwidth of the 60 GHz system is 15 % of the carrier frequency
which requires large value of Kv (VCO control gain) resulting in
degradation of phase noise. To solve this problem, this paper adopts
AFC (Automatic Frequency Controller) controlled 4-bit millimeter
wave VCO with small value of Kv. Also constant Kv is implemented
using 4-bit varactor bank. The measured operational bandwidth is 18.2
~ 23.2 GHz which is 25 % of the carrier frequency. The phase noise of
-58 and -96.2 dBc/Hz at 100 KHz and 1 MHz offset is measured
respectively. The total power consumption of the PLL is only 30 mW.
Abstract: For a given specific problem an efficient algorithm has been the matter of study. However, an alternative approach orthogonal to this approach comes out, which is called a reduction. In general for a given specific problem this reduction approach studies how to convert an original problem into subproblems. This paper proposes a formal modeling language to support this reduction approach in order to make a solver quickly. We show three examples from the wide area of learning problems. The benefit is a fast prototyping of algorithms for a given new problem. It is noted that our formal modeling language is not intend for providing an efficient notation for data mining application, but for facilitating a designer who develops solvers in machine learning.
Abstract: The Taiwan government has started to promote the “Plain Landscape Afforestation and Greening Program" since 2002. A key task of the program was the payment for environmental services (PES), entitled the “Plain Landscape Afforestation Policy" (PLAP), which was certificated by the Executive Yuan on August 31, 2001 and enacted on January 1, 2002. According to the policy, it is estimated that the total area of afforestation will be 25,100 hectares by December 31, 2007. Until the end of 2007, the policy had been enacted for six years in total and the actual area of afforestation was 8,919.18 hectares. Among them, Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) was accounted for 7,960 hectares (with 2,450.83 hectares as public service area) which occupied 86.22% of the total afforestation area; the private farmland promoted by local governments was accounted for 869.18 hectares which occupied 9.75% of the total afforestation area. Based on the above, we observe that most of the afforestation area in this policy is executed by TSC, and the achievement ratio by TSC is better than by others. It implies that the success of the PLAP is seriously related to the execution of TSC. The objective of this study is to analyze the relevant policy planning of TSC's participation in the PLAP, suggest complementary measures, and draw up effective adjustment mechanisms, so as to improve the effectiveness of executing the policy. Our main conclusions and suggestions are summarized as follows: 1. The main reason for TSC’s participation in the PLAP is based on their passive cooperation with the central government or company policy. Prior to TSC’s participation in the PLAP, their lands were mainly used for growing sugarcane. 2. The main factors of TSC's consideration on the selection of tree species are based on the suitability of land and species. The largest proportion of tree species is allocated to economic forests, and the lack of technical instruction was the main problem during afforestation. Moreover, the method of improving TSC’s future development in leisure agriculture and landscape business becomes a key topic. 3. TSC has developed short and long-term plans on participating in the PLAP for the future. However, there is no great willingness or incentive on budgeting for such detailed planning. 4. Most people from TSC interviewed consider the requirements on PLAP unreasonable. Among them, an unreasonable requirement on the number of trees accounted for the greatest proportion; furthermore, most interviewees suggested that the government should continue to provide incentives even after 20 years. 5. Since the government shares the same goals as TSC, there should be sufficient cooperation and communication that support the technical instruction and reduction of afforestation cost, which will also help to improve effectiveness of the policy.
Abstract: This study was carried out to reveal the bacterial composition of aerosol in the studied abattoirs. Bacteria isolated were characterized according to microbiological standards. Factors such as temperature and distance were considered as variable in this study. The isolation was carried out at different temperatures such as 27oC, 31oC and 29oC and at various distances of 100meters and 200meters away from the slaughter sites. Result obtained showed that strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus alimentarius and Micrococcus sp. were identified. The total viable counts showed that more microorganisms were present in the morning while the least viable count of 388cfu was recorded in the evening period of this study. This study also showed that more microbial loads were recorded the further the distance is to the slaughter site. Conclusively, the array of bacteria isolated suggests that abattoir sites may be a potential source of pathogenic organisms to commuters if located within residential environment.
Abstract: Flash floods are considered natural disasters that can
cause casualties and demolishing of infra structures. The problem is
that flash floods, particularly in arid and semi arid zones, take place
in very short time. So, it is important to forecast flash floods earlier to
its events with a lead time up to 48 hours to give early warning alert
to avoid or minimize disasters. The flash flood took place over Wadi
Watier - Sinai Peninsula, in October 24th, 2008, has been simulated,
investigated and analyzed using the state of the art regional weather
model. The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model, which is a
reliable short term forecasting tool for precipitation events, has been
utilized over the study area. The model results have been calibrated
with the real data, for the same date and time, of the rainfall
measurements recorded at Sorah gauging station. The WRF model
forecasted total rainfall of 11.6 mm while the real measured one was
10.8 mm. The calibration shows significant consistency between
WRF model and real measurements results.