Abstract: We report herein the development and preliminary mechanical characterization of fully-dense multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-reinforced ceramics and glasses based on a completely new methodology termed High Shear Compaction (HSC). The tubes are introduced and bound to the matrix grains by aid of polymeric binders to form flexible green bodies which are sintered and densified by spark plasma sintering to unprecedentedly high densities of 100% of the pure-matrix value. The strategy was validated across a PyrexTM glass / MWCNT composite while no identifiable factors limit application to other types of matrices. Nondestructive evaluation, based on ultrasonics, of the dynamic mechanical properties of the materials including elastic, shear and bulk modulus as well as Poisson’s ratio showed optimum property improvement at 0.5 %wt tube loading while evidence of nanoscalespecific energy dissipative characteristics acting complementary to nanotube bridging and pull-out indicate a high potential in a wide range of reinforcing and multifunctional applications.
Abstract: Experimental investigations of the DC electric field effect on thermal decomposition of biomass, formation of the axial flow of volatiles (CO, H2, CxHy), mixing of volatiles with swirling airflow at low swirl intensity (S ≈ 0.2-0.35), their ignition and on formation of combustion dynamics are carried out with the aim to understand the mechanism of electric field influence on biomass gasification, combustion of volatiles and heat energy production. The DC electric field effect on combustion dynamics was studied by varying the positive bias voltage of the central electrode from 0.6 kV to 3 kV, whereas the ion current was limited to 2 mA. The results of experimental investigations confirm the field-enhanced biomass gasification with enhanced release of volatiles and the development of endothermic processes at the primary stage of thermochemical conversion of biomass determining the field-enhanced heat energy consumption with the correlating decrease of the flame temperature and heat energy production at this stage of flame formation. Further, the field-enhanced radial expansion of the flame reaction zone correlates with a more complete combustion of volatiles increasing the combustion efficiency by 3% and decreasing the mass fraction of CO, H2 and CxHy in the products, whereas by 10% increases the average volume fraction of CO2 and the heat energy production downstream the combustor increases by 5-10%
Abstract: In this paper, we introduce an NLG application for the automatic creation of ready-to-publish texts from big data. The resulting fully automatic generated news stories have a high resemblance to the style in which the human writer would draw up such a story. Topics include soccer games, stock exchange market reports, and weather forecasts. Each generated text is unique. Readyto-publish stories written by a computer application can help humans to quickly grasp the outcomes of big data analyses, save timeconsuming pre-formulations for journalists and cater to rather small audiences by offering stories that would otherwise not exist.
Abstract: In the present study, response surface methodology has been used to optimize turn-assisted deep cold rolling process of AISI 4140 steel. A regression model is developed to predict surface hardness and surface roughness using response surface methodology and central composite design. In the development of predictive model, deep cold rolling force, ball diameter, initial roughness of the workpiece, and number of tool passes are considered as model variables. The rolling force and the ball diameter are the significant factors on the surface hardness and ball diameter and numbers of tool passes are found to be significant for surface roughness. The predicted surface hardness and surface roughness values and the subsequent verification experiments under the optimal operating conditions confirmed the validity of the predicted model. The absolute average error between the experimental and predicted values at the optimal combination of parameter settings for surface hardness and surface roughness is calculated as 0.16% and 1.58% respectively. Using the optimal processing parameters, the surface hardness is improved from 225 to 306 HV, which resulted in an increase in the near surface hardness by about 36% and the surface roughness is improved from 4.84µm to 0.252 µm, which resulted in decrease in the surface roughness by about 95%. The depth of compression is found to be more than 300µm from the microstructure analysis and this is in correlation with the results obtained from the microhardness measurements. Taylor hobson talysurf tester, micro vickers hardness tester, optical microscopy and X-ray diffractometer are used to characterize the modified surface layer.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel heuristic algorithm that aims to determine the best size and location of distributed generators in unbalanced distribution networks. The proposed heuristic algorithm can deal with the planning cases where power loss is to be optimized without violating the system practical constraints. The distributed generation units in the proposed algorithm is modeled as voltage controlled node with the flexibility to be converted to constant power factor node in case of reactive power limit violation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and tested on the IEEE 37 -node feeder. The results obtained show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Abstract: It is a well-established fact that terrorism is one of the foremost threats to present-day international security. The creation of tools or mechanisms for confronting it in an effective and efficient manner will only be possible by way of an objective assessment of the phenomenon. In order to achieve this, this paper has the following three main objectives: Firstly, setting out to find the reasons that have prevented the establishment of a universally accepted definition of terrorism, and consequently trying to outline the main features defining the face of the terrorist threat in order to discover the fundamental goals of what is now a serious blight on world society. Secondly, trying to explain the differences between a terrorist movement and a terrorist organisation, and the reasons for which a terrorist movement can be led to transform itself into an organisation. After analysing these motivations and the characteristics of a terrorist organisation, an example of the latter will be succinctly analysed to help the reader understand the ideas expressed. Lastly, discovering and exposing the factors that can lead to the appearance of terrorist tendencies, and discussing the most efficient and effective responses that can be given to this global security threat.
Abstract: Obesity and osteoporosis are the two diseases whose
increasing prevalence and high impact on the global morbidity and
mortality, during the two recent decades, have gained a status of
major health threats worldwide. Obesity purports to affect the bone
metabolism through complex mechanisms. Debated data on the
connection between the bone mineral density and fracture prevalence
in the obese patients are widely presented in literature. There is
evidence that the correlation of weight and fracture risk is sitespecific.
This study is aimed at determining the connection between
the bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS)
parameters in Ukrainian women suffering from obesity. We
examined 1025 40-89-year-old women, divided them into the groups
according to their body mass index: Group A included 360 women
with obesity whose BMI was ≥30 kg/m2, and Group B – 665 women
with no obesity and BMI of
Abstract: Supply chains are the backbone of trade and
commerce. Their logistics use different transport corridors on regular
basis for operational purpose. The international supply chain
transport corridors include different infrastructure elements (e.g.
weighbridge, package handling equipments, border clearance
authorities, and so on). This paper presents the use of multi-agent
systems (MAS) to model and simulate some aspects of transportation
corridors, and in particular the area of weighbridge resource
optimization for operational profit. An underlying multi-agent model
provides a means of modeling the relationships among stakeholders
in order to enable coordination in a transport corridor environment.
Simulations of the costs of container unloading, reloading, and
waiting time for queuing up tracks have been carried out using data
sets. Results of the simulation provide the potential guidance in
making decisions about optimal service resource allocation in a trade
corridor.
Abstract: Aim of this research study is to investigate and
establish the characteristics of brain dominances (BD) and multiple
intelligences (MI). This experimentation has been conducted for the
sample size of 552 undergraduate computer-engineering students. In
addition, mathematical formulation has been established to exhibit
the relation between thinking and intelligence, and its correlation has
been analyzed. Correlation analysis has been statistically measured
using Pearson’s coefficient. Analysis of the results proves that there
is a strong relational existence between thinking and intelligence.
This research is carried to improve the didactic methods in
engineering learning and also to improve e-learning strategies.
Abstract: Intermittent behavior near the boundary of phase
synchronization in the presence of noise is studied. In certain range of
the coupling parameter and noise intensity the intermittency of eyelet
and ring intermittencies is shown to take place. Main results are
illustrated using the example of two unidirectional coupled Rössler
systems. Similar behavior is shown to take place in two
hydrodynamical models of Pierce diode coupled unidirectional.
Abstract: Boiling process is characterized by the rapid
formation of vapour bubbles at the solid–liquid interface (nucleate
boiling) with pre-existing vapour or gas pockets. Computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) is an important tool to study bubble dynamics. In
the present study, CFD simulation has been carried out to determine
the bubble detachment diameter and its terminal velocity. Volume of
fluid method is used to model the bubble and the surrounding by
solving single set of momentum equations and tracking the volume
fraction of each of the fluids throughout the domain. In the
simulation, bubble is generated by allowing water-vapour to enter a
cylinder filled with liquid water through an inlet at the bottom. After
the bubble is fully formed, the bubble detaches from the surface and
rises up during which the bubble accelerates due to the net balance
between buoyancy force and viscous drag. Finally when these forces
exactly balance each other, it attains a constant terminal velocity. The
bubble detachment diameter and the terminal velocity of the bubble
are captured by the monitor function provided in FLUENT. The
detachment diameter and the terminal velocity obtained are compared
with the established results based on the shape of the bubble. A good
agreement is obtained between the results obtained from simulation
and the equations in comparison with the established results.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach for the classification of
an unstructured format description for identification of file formats.
The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining
techniques to support file format selection with just the unstructured
text description that comprises the most important format features for
a particular organisation. Subsequently, the file format indentification
method employs file format classifier and associated configurations to
support digital preservation experts with an estimation of required file
format. Our goal is to make use of a format specification knowledge
base aggregated from a different Web sources in order to select file
format for a particular institution. Using the naive Bayes method,
the decision support system recommends to an expert, the file format
for his institution. The proposed methods facilitate the selection of
file format and the quality of a digital preservation process. The
presented approach is meant to facilitate decision making for the
preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain
expert knowledge and specifications of file formats. To facilitate
decision-making, the aggregated information about the file formats is
presented as a file format vocabulary that comprises most common
terms that are characteristic for all researched formats. The goal is to
suggest a particular file format based on this vocabulary for analysis
by an expert. The sample file format calculation and the calculation
results including probabilities are presented in the evaluation section.
Abstract: Experts, enterprises and operators expect that the
bandwidth request will increase up to rates of 100 to 1,000 Mbps
within several years. Therefore the most important question is which
technology shall satisfy the future consumer broadband demands.
Currently the consensus is, that the fiber technology has the best
technical characteristics to achieve such the high bandwidth rates.
But fiber technology is so far very cost-intensive and resource
consuming. To avoid these investments, operators are concentrating
to upgrade the existing copper and hybrid fiber coax infrastructures.
This work presents a comparison of the copper and fiber
technologies including an overview about the current German
broadband market. Both technologies are reviewed in the terms of
demand, willingness to pay and economic efficiency in connection
with the technical characteristics.
Abstract: A pilot field study was conducted at the Jagjeetpur
Municipal Sewage treatment plant situated in the Haridwar town in
Uttarakhand state, India. The objectives of the present study were to
study the effect of treated wastewater on the production of various
paddy varieties (Sharbati, PR-114, PB-1, Menaka, PB1121 and PB
1509) and the emission of GHG gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) as
compared to the same varieties grown in the control plots irrigated
with fresh water. Of late, the concept of water footprint assessment
has emerged, which explains enumeration of various types of water
footprints of an agricultural entity from its production to processing
stages. Paddy, the most water demanding staple crop of Uttarakhand
state, displayed a high green water footprint value of 2474.12 m3/
Ton. Most of the wastewater irrigated varieties displayed up to 6%
increase in production, except Menaka and PB-1121, which showed a
reduction in production (6% and 3% respectively), due to pest and
insect infestation. The treated wastewater was observed to be rich in
Nitrogen (55.94 mg/ml Nitrate), Phosphorus (54.24 mg/ml) and
Potassium (9.78 mg/ml), thus rejuvenating the soil quality and not
requiring any external nutritional supplements. A Percentage increase
of GHG gases of irrigation with treated municipal wastewater as
compared to control plots was observed as 0.4% - 8.6% (CH4), 1.1%
- 9.2% (CO2), and 0.07% - 5.8% (N2O). The variety, Sharbati,
displayed maximum production (5.5 ton/ha) and emerged as the most
resistant variety against pests and insects. The emission values of
CH4, CO2 and N2O were 729.31 mg/m2/d, 322.10 mg/m2/d and
400.21 mg/m2/d in water stagnant condition.
This study highlighted a successful possibility of reuse of
wastewater for non-potable purposes offering the potential for
exploiting this resource that can replace or reduce the existing use of
fresh water sources in agriculture sector.
Abstract: Submerged arc welding is a very complex process. It
is a very efficient and high performance welding process. In this
present study an attempt have been done to reduce the welding
distortion by increased amount of oxide flux through TiO2 in
submerged arc welding process. Care has been taken to avoid the
excessiveness of the adding agent for attainment of significant
results. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based BAT algorithm is
used for the parametric optimization purpose in which DEA is used
to convert multi response parameters into a single response
parameter. The present study also helps to know the effectiveness of
the addition of TiO2 in active flux during submerged arc welding
process.
Abstract: Experimental economics is subject to criticism with
regards to frequently discussed the trade-off between internal and
external validity requirements, which seems to be critically flawed.
This paper evaluates incompatibility of trade-off condition and
condition of internal validity as a prerequisite for external validity. In
addition, it outlines the imprecise concept of artificiality, which is
found to be rather improving the external validity and seems to
strengthen the illusory status of external versus internal validity
tension. Internal validity is further analyzed with regards to Duhem-
Quine problem, where unpredictability argument is significantly
weakened trough application of inductivism within the illustrative
hypothetical-deductive model. Our discussion partially weakens
critical arguments related to the robustness of results in experimental
economics, if the perfectly controlled experimental environment is
secured.
Abstract: The security of cloud services is the concern of cloud
service providers. In this paper, we will mention different
classifications of cloud attacks referred by specialized organizations.
Each agency has its classification of well-defined properties. The
purpose is to present a high-level classification of current research in
cloud computing security. This classification is organized around
attack strategies and corresponding defenses.
Abstract: A sensory network consists of multiple detection
locations called sensor nodes, each of which is tiny, featherweight
and portable. A single path routing protocols in wireless sensor
network can lead to holes in the network, since only the nodes
present in the single path is used for the data transmission. Apart
from the advantages like reduced computation, complexity and
resource utilization, there are some drawbacks like throughput,
increased traffic load and delay in data delivery. Therefore, multipath
routing protocols are preferred for WSN. Distributing the traffic
among multiple paths increases the network lifetime. We propose a
scheme, for the data to be transmitted through a dominant path to
save energy. In order to obtain a high delivery ratio, a basic route
reconstruction protocol is utilized to reconstruct the path whenever a
failure is detected. A basic reconstruction routing (BRR) algorithm is
proposed, in which a node can leap over path failure by using the
already existing routing information from its neighbourhood while
the composed data is transmitted from the source to the sink. In order
to save the energy and attain high data delivery ratio, data is
transmitted along a multiple path, which is achieved by BRR
algorithm whenever a failure is detected. Further, the analysis of
how the proposed protocol overcomes the drawback of the existing
protocols is presented. The performance of our protocol is compared
to AOMDV and energy efficient node-disjoint multipath routing
protocol (EENDMRP). The system is implemented using NS-2.34.
The simulation results show that the proposed protocol has high
delivery ratio with low energy consumption.
Abstract: Nowadays, the use of renewable energy sources has been increasingly great because of the cost increase and public demand for clean energy sources. One of the fastest growing sources is wind energy. In this paper, Wind Diesel Hybrid System (WDHS) comprising a Diesel Generator (DG), a Wind Turbine Generator (WTG), the Consumer Load, a Battery-based Energy Storage System (BESS), and a Dump Load (DL) is used. Voltage is controlled by Diesel Generator; the frequency is controlled by BESS and DL. The BESS elimination is an efficient way to reduce maintenance cost and increase the dynamic response. Simulation results with graphs for the frequency of Power System, active power, and the battery power are presented for load changes. The controlling parameters are optimized by using Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA). The simulation results for the BESS/no BESS cases are compared. Results show that in no BESS case, the frequency control is more optimal than the BESS case by using ICA.
Abstract: The main function of Medium Access Control (MAC) is to share the channel efficiently between all nodes. In the real-time scenario, there will be certain amount of wastage in bandwidth due to back-off periods. More bandwidth will be wasted in idle state if the back-off period is very high and collision may occur if the back-off period is small. So, an optimization is needed for this problem. The main objective of the work is to reduce delay due to back-off period thereby reducing collision and increasing throughput. Here a method, called the virtual back-off algorithm (VBA) is used to optimize the back-off period and thereby it increases throughput and reduces collisions. The main idea is to optimize the number of transmission for every node. A counter is introduced at each node to implement this idea. Here counter value represents the sequence number. VBA is classified into two types VBA with counter sharing (VBA-CS) and VBA with no counter sharing (VBA-NCS). These two classifications of VBA are compared for various parameters. Simulation is done in NS-2 environment. The results obtained are found to be promising.