Abstract: This paper presents a customized deformable model
for the segmentation of abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms in
CTA datasets. An important challenge in reliably detecting aortic
aneurysm is the need to overcome problems associated with intensity
inhomogeneities and image noise. Level sets are part of an important
class of methods that utilize partial differential equations (PDEs) and
have been extensively applied in image segmentation. A Gaussian
kernel function in the level set formulation, which extracts the local
intensity information, aids the suppression of noise in the extracted
regions of interest and then guides the motion of the evolving contour
for the detection of weak boundaries. The speed of curve evolution
has been significantly improved with a resulting decrease in
segmentation time compared with previous implementations of level
sets. The results indicate the method is more effective than other
approaches in coping with intensity inhomogeneities.
Abstract: Robust stability and performance are the two most
basic features of feedback control systems. The harmonic balance
analysis technique enables to analyze the stability of limit cycles
arising from a neural network control based system operating over
nonlinear plants. In this work a robust stability analysis based on the
harmonic balance is presented and applied to a neural based control
of a non-linear binary distillation column with unstructured
uncertainty. We develop ways to describe uncertainty in the form of
neglected nonlinear dynamics and high harmonics for the plant and
controller respectively. Finally, conclusions about the performance of
the neural control system are discussed using the Nyquist stability
margin together with the structured singular values of the uncertainty
as a robustness measure.
Abstract: In this paper a study on the vibration of thin
cylindrical shells with ring supports and made of functionally
graded materials (FGMs) composed of stainless steel and
nickel is presented. Material properties vary along the
thickness direction of the shell according to volume fraction
power law. The cylindrical shells have ring supports which are
arbitrarily placed along the shell and impose zero lateral
deflections. The study is carried out based on third order shear
deformation shell theory (T.S.D.T). The analysis is carried out
using Hamilton-s principle. The governing equations of motion of
FGM cylindrical shells are derived based on shear deformation
theory. Results are presented on the frequency characteristics,
influence of ring support position and the influence of boundary
conditions. The present analysis is validated by comparing results
with those available in the literature.
Abstract: This paper presents a simple three phase power flow
method for solution of three-phase unbalanced radial distribution
system (RDN) with voltage dependent loads. It solves a simple
algebraic recursive expression of voltage magnitude, and all the data
are stored in vector form. The algorithm uses basic principles of
circuit theory and can be easily understood. Mutual coupling between
the phases has been included in the mathematical model. The
proposed algorithm has been tested with several unbalanced radial
distribution networks and the results are presented in the article. 8-
bus and IEEE 13 bus unbalanced radial distribution system results
are in agreements with the literature and show that the proposed
model is valid and reliable.
Abstract: The paper deals with the development of portable aerosol concentrator and its application for the determination of nitrites and nitrates. The device enables the continuous trapping of pollutants in the air. An extensive literature search has been elaborated which aims at the development of samplers and the possibilities of their application in the continuous determination of volatile organic compounds. The practical part of the paper is focused on the development of the portable aerosol concentrator. The device using the Aerosol Enrichment Unit has been experimentally verified and subsequently realized. It operates on the principle of equilibrium accumulation of pollutants from the gaseous phase using absorption liquid polydisperse aerosol. The device has been applied for monitoring nitrites and nitrates in the air. The chemiluminescence detector was used for detection; the achieved detection limit for nitrites was 28 ng/m3 and for nitrates 78 ng/m3.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to identify and
disseminate good practice in quality assurance and enhancement as
well as in teaching and learning at master level. This paper focuses
on the experience of the Erasmus Mundus Master program CIMET
(Color in Informatics and Media Technology). Amongst topics
covered, we discuss the adjustments necessary to a curriculum
designed for excellent international students and their preparation for
a global labor market.
Abstract: In this paper, we investigated the characteristic of a
clinical dataseton the feature selection and classification
measurements which deal with missing values problem.And also
posed the appropriated techniques to achieve the aim of the activity;
in this research aims to find features that have high effect to mortality
and mortality time frame. We quantify the complexity of a clinical
dataset. According to the complexity of the dataset, we proposed the
data mining processto cope their complexity; missing values, high
dimensionality, and the prediction problem by using the methods of
missing value replacement, feature selection, and classification.The
experimental results will extend to develop the prediction model for
cardiology.
Abstract: This study presents design of a carbon silicon electrode
for iontophorsis treatment towards alopecia. The alopecia is a medical
description means loss of hair from the body. For solving this problem,
the drug need to be delivered into the scalp, therefore, the
iontophoresis was chosen to use in this treatment. However, almost
common electrodes of iontophoresis device are made with metal
material, the electrodes could give patients hurt when they using it, and
it is hard to avoid the hair for attaching the hair. For this reason, an
electrode is made with silicon material to decrease the hurt from the
electrodes, and the carbon material is mixed in it for increasing
conductance. The several cones with stainless material on the
electrode make the electrode is able to void hair to attach the affected
part. According to the results of a vivo-experiment, the carbon silicon
electrode showed a good performance and in treatment comfortably.
Abstract: The aim of this research was to calculate the
mechanical properties of Pd3Rh and PdRh3 ordered alloys. The
molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique was used to obtain
temperature dependence of the energy, the Yong modulus, the shear
modulus, the bulk modulus, Poisson-s ratio and the elastic stiffness
constants at the isobaric-isothermal (NPT) ensemble in the range of
100-325 K. The interatomic potential energy and force on atoms were
calculated by Quantum Sutton-Chen (Q-SC) many body potential.
Our MD simulation results show the effect of temperature on the
cohesive energy and mechanical properties of Pd3Rh as well as
PdRh3 alloys. Our computed results show good agreement with the
experimental results where they have been available.
Abstract: The activities of alkaline phosphatase and Ca2+ATPase in mud crab (Scylla serrata) collected from a soft-shell crab farm in Chantaburi Province, Thailand, in several stages of molting cycle were observed. The results showed that the activity of alkaline phosphatase in gill after molting was highly significant (p
Abstract: One of the main objectives of order reduction is to
design a controller of lower order which can effectively control the
original high order system so that the overall system is of lower
order and easy to understand. In this paper, a simple method is
presented for controller design of a higher order discrete system.
First the original higher order discrete system in reduced to a lower
order model. Then a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID)
controller is designed for lower order model. An error minimization
technique is employed for both order reduction and controller
design. For the error minimization purpose, Differential Evolution
(DE) optimization algorithm has been employed. DE method is
based on the minimization of the Integral Squared Error (ISE)
between the desired response and actual response pertaining to a
unit step input. Finally the designed PID controller is connected to
the original higher order discrete system to get the desired
specification. The validity of the proposed method is illustrated
through a numerical example.
Abstract: We show that in a two-channel sampling series expansion
of band-pass signals, any finitely many missing samples can
always be recovered via oversampling in a larger band-pass region.
We also obtain an analogous result for multi-channel oversampling
of harmonic signals.
Abstract: The use of neural networks for recognition application is generally constrained by their inherent parameters inflexibility after the training phase. This means no adaptation is accommodated for input variations that have any influence on the network parameters. Attempts were made in this work to design a neural network that includes an additional mechanism that adjusts the threshold values according to the input pattern variations. The new approach is based on splitting the whole network into two subnets; main traditional net and a supportive net. The first deals with the required output of trained patterns with predefined settings, while the second tolerates output generation dynamically with tuning capability for any newly applied input. This tuning comes in the form of an adjustment to the threshold values. Two levels of supportive net were studied; one implements an extended additional layer with adjustable neuronal threshold setting mechanism, while the second implements an auxiliary net with traditional architecture performs dynamic adjustment to the threshold value of the main net that is constructed in dual-layer architecture. Experiment results and analysis of the proposed designs have given quite satisfactory conducts. The supportive layer approach achieved over 90% recognition rate, while the multiple network technique shows more effective and acceptable level of recognition. However, this is achieved at the price of network complexity and computation time. Recognition generalization may be also improved by accommodating capabilities involving all the innate structures in conjugation with Intelligence abilities with the needs of further advanced learning phases.
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of auction theory literature. We present a general review on literature of various auctions and focus ourselves specifically on an English auction. We are interested in modelling bidder's behavior in an English auction environment. And hence, we present an overview of the New Zealand wool auction followed by a model that would describe a bidder's decision making behavior from the New Zealand wool auction. The mathematical assumptions in an English auction environment are demonstrated from the perspective of the New Zealand wool auction.
Abstract: Urbanization has been found to impact stormwater
runoff quantity and quality. A study catchment with mixed land use,
residential and industrial were investigated and the water quality
discharged from the catchment were sampled and tested for four
basic water quality parameters; BOD5, NH3-N, NO3-N and P. One
dry weather flow and several stormwater runoff were sampled.
Results were compared to the USEPA stormwater quality benchmark
values and the Interim National Water Quality Standards for
Malaysia (INWQS). The concentration of the parameters was found
to vary significantly between storms and the pollutant of concern was
found to be NO3-N.
Abstract: Automotive suspension system is important part of car
comfort and safety. In this article automotive active suspension with
linear motor as actuator is designed using H-infinity control. This
paper is focused on comparison of different controller designed for
quart, half or full-car model (and always used for “full" car). Special
attention is placed on energy demand of the whole system. Each
controller configuration is simulated and then verified on the
hydraulic quarter car test bed.
Abstract: Multi-Radio Multi-Channel (MRMC) systems are key to power control problems in wireless mesh networks (WMNs). In this paper, we present asynchronous multiple-state based power control for MRMC WMNs. First, WMN is represented as a set of disjoint Unified Channel Graphs (UCGs). Second, each network interface card (NIC) or radio assigned to a unique UCG adjusts transmission power using predicted multiple interaction state variables (IV) across UCGs. Depending on the size of queue loads and intra- and inter-channel states, each NIC optimizes transmission power locally and asynchronously. A new power selection MRMC unification protocol (PMMUP) is proposed that coordinates interactions among radios. The efficacy of the proposed method is investigated through simulations.
Abstract: The equilibrium process of plasma nitrogen species by
chemical kinetic reactions along various pressures is successfully
investigated. The equilibrium process is required in industrial
application to obtain the stable condition when heating up the
material for having homogenous reaction. Nitrogen species densities
is modeled by a continuity equation and extended Arrhenius form.
These equations are used to integrate the change of density over the
time. The integration is to acquire density and the reaction rate of
each reaction where temperature and time dependence are imposed.
A comparison is made with global model within pressure range of 1-
100mTorr and the temperature of electron is set to be higher than
other nitrogen species. The results shows that the chemical kinetic
model only agrees for high pressure because of no power imposed;
while the global model considers the external power along the
pressure range then the electron and nitrogen species give highly
quantity densities by factor of 3 to 5.
Abstract: Non-premixed turbulent combustion Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been carried out in a simplified methanefuelled coaxial jet combustor employing Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of LES in modelling non-premixed combustion using a commercial software, FLUENT, and investigate the effects of the grid density and chemistry models employed on the accuracy of the simulation results. A comparison has also been made between LES and Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) predictions. For LES grid sensitivity test, 2.3 and 6.2 million cell grids are employed with the equilibrium model. The chemistry model sensitivity analysis is achieved by comparing the simulation results from the equilibrium chemistry and steady flamelet models. The predictions of the mixture fraction, axial velocity, species mass fraction and temperature by LES are in good agreement with the experimental data. The LES results are similar for the two chemistry models but influenced considerably by the grid resolution in the inner flame and near-wall regions.
Abstract: This paper proposes an adaptive sliding mode
controller which combines adaptive control and sliding
mode control to control a nonlinear robotic manipulator
with uncertain parameters. We use an adaptive algorithm
based on the concept of sliding mode control to alleviate the
chattering phenomenon of control input. Adaptive laws are
developed to obtain the gain of switching input and the
boundary layer parameters. The stability and convergence
of the robotic manipulator control system are guaranteed
by applying the Lyapunov theorem. Simulation results
demonstrate that the chattering of control input can be
alleviated effectively. The proposed controller scheme can
assure robustness against a large class of uncertainties and
achieve good trajectory tracking performance.